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I am the best! (That is the translation to the Korean in the title. More on that later)

Wow I'm high. No not in that sense (I don't want to go to jail and be deported in Korea). But I just won a competition... more on that later. But first let me update you...

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It was the best of times, It was the worst of times...

So I thought that when I came back from the States I was finally going to be able to keep up with my blog. You see before the only reason why I didn't was because I was lazy, and that was all about to change...

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Back in Korea, and busy as a bee

I just got back to Korea last week, and life is fun as usual. America was a blast. I made sure to visit a Korea-town in every city I went to. I had $8 ddukbokki in NYC, and saw $10 soju in LA. Scary stuff. As usual since this is a Korea blog I wont write much about the US, but it was fun.

Ddukbokki in NYC

$10 soju

The day after I arrived I took my placement test at Yonsei University to begin studying Korean.
I had just gotten back and remembered no Korean mind you, but happily, I was placed into level 2. Seems about right. If I had pushed a bit more it might have been level 3 but I would have severe gaps in my grammar knowledge. Well, the bad news is the closest stop to Yonsei is Sinchon, and I live in Nowon. That's about an hr and a half commute. Because from Sinchon station its still about a 20 minute walk, or I could take a bus. Either way- Horrible.

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They're coming to America

(obligatory fobby peace sign I now have in every picture
-Taken yesterday before my last day of work for a month)

I love that song by Neil Diamond
Except, it's me, I'm coming to America. I'm heading there on Monday. Don't fret, it's just for vacation. Karamel will still be in Korea for a long while yet. So, I am pumped, excited, nervous. I don't know what to expect. You see I left for Korea December 2008 and I have not been back since. Korea has changed so much since I've been here but probably more on that in another post. This one is about America

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Summertime Fun:

Jisan Rock Festival -
In true keeping with things I hadn't done on my list for what might possibly be my last year in Korea I decided to hit up the Jisan Valley Rock Festival. Unlike DJ fest where you stayed awake all night, this one was a several nights in a row, which required you getting accommodation  or better yet, a tent.

Pool

Mudfest take 2

Jjokbae festival: Cool festival outside of Seoul

Drum and base

Spring Summary

Among the highlights of the spring time were:

Toga Party - My friend held an awesome toga party on the top of his roof. Sadly, it was the last party he had there as he left Korea soon after. In the past he has held some awesome parties on his roof top including Halloween parties, toga parties, pajamas parties etc. I'd been to a ton but it was my first time to go to the toga one. His parties were always fun because the entire rough and school are all to ourselves, but they were a pain to get to because he lived so far away. After riding a train all the way to Bun-dang you have to take a bus about 20 more minutes. These parties are definitely over-nighters. I met some fun people and had a great time...

DJ Fest- Living in Korea for 3 years and yet I had still never been to DJ fest, which is an epic event. DJ's from all over the world playing at massive stages and so much booze and fun, partying overnight basically. What was probably the funniest part of it was that I had on a shirt that said 왜국인 (pronounced waegukin meaning foreigner) on it. And everyone either wanted to know if I knew what it meant or take a picture with me. Given the monstrosities I have seen in Korea when they buy "English" shirts (f-bombs on kids, random gibberish) I can see why they'd be amused, but I bought that shirt because I knew what it said... And I wanted to give them a reason to read it instead of say it. And acknowledge that I knew.

Paragliding
This was an awesome opportunity and I so glad I did it. I did it in tandem with an expert over in Yangpyeong. The scary part is the leap off the mountain, but once you are in the air it is so much fun... And then the landing is a bit frightening too. I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I went through a group via meetup, but it may not be too hard to organize on your own.

Rafting and Bungee Jumping
To round out the spring I also decided to try another thing on my bucket list. I went on a rafting and bungee jumping trip. The scenery was beautiful and I definitely belly-flopped off a cliff to some horrifying bruises. We also may have almost killed our guide in some fierce rapids, but he ended up all right. Then came the bungee-jumping... I was terrified. I had to not thing about it, or I would give up and freak out. In the end I just jumped. My scream was terrifying, and gave way to enthusiasm, which soon quickly changed to boredom as I hung over the river waiting to be picked up by boat. All over in like 45 seconds. Totally worth it though. And with that and paragliding out of the way all I have left on my sky-high bucket list is to skydive and join the mile-high club... (dad if you read this I was kidding about the last one)...

Such a fun and eventful spring.

The Get Healthy Project: Part 3 - The Results.

apples with peanut butter:

my favorite snack

So, most importantly, you probably wonder what the results are. I am 20lbs lighter, I feel more energetic than I have ever felt in my life and I feel so much more confident, given that this is prime summer time/bathing suit season.

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The Get Healthy Project: Part 2- The process

Ok, so as I mentioned before, I started out the unhealthy way. I stopped eating due to isolation and depression. Then, I probably did something that was even unhealthier. I decided to do the master cleanse. You know, the spicy lemonade diet. I figured it was time to cleanse my body of all the fermented, process and fatty crap and alcohol I had put into it. I was already planning to do it before the falling out, so it made it easier to say I had to go home because I couldn't eat or drink. Otherwise, mentally, I would have been screwed.

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The Get Healthy Project: Part 1 - The Reasons

A delicious donut from Krispy Kreme in Korea
But see what happens below.

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It's been a long time

I shouldn't have left you, without a dope beat to step to... (Anybody remember that Aaliyah song?)



Anyways, so much has been going on, but that is no excuse. I have so many stories that I will have to go back and write about, but I wanted to say I am still alive. Here is a quick update to catch you up on things

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UV – Itaewon Freedom Feat. JYP, 2PM & miss A (Music Video) | RemixTheVideo

This Video has me cracking up, and there are so many parodies of it. I'm not really sure what is going on or why, but I like it.



UV – Itaewon Freedom Feat. JYP, 2PM & miss A (Music Video) | RemixTheVideo

It's kind of old now, but still great fun

My Heart Bleeds for Japan

Living in Korea, we are practically neighbors, I've been there twice, and it's the country that spawned Hello Kitty!!! But mostly, because as a human, I must. I've been trying to figure out ways I can help as a person living in Korea and an expat, so I did some research.

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Spring is almost here (and it's 2011)

I know I've been really behind on posting. So much has been happening. But the birds are chirping, the flowers are blossoming and so Karamel comes out of hibernation. Cherry Blossoms :)

It's been a long winter and to survive it I've picked up many alarming habits... the most obvious one being ethanol consumption (wait, I always do that). But I started watching tons of TV shows - I got into How I met your mother, 30 rock, Modern Family , and so many more.

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2010 Roundup - How it all Ended

I can't even begin to recount all the fun things that happened since I last posted. One of the biggest realizations was that these postings of the holidays could be my last one in Korea. The thing I am proudest of from the past year - Finally ranking number one in student surveys. I was always in the top 5 but ...Yay
Anyways I will just list some of the highlights

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