11.11: pepero day! or in korea, "bbeh bbeh roh" day...

you know those long, chocolate covered sticks? well, some marketing genius decided that november 11th looked like the pepero cookies so all these brain-washed kids buy these snacks and give them to friends, family, and well-deserving teachers. i even received a few myself. will upload a couple of pics later.

i've gotten so many compliments on my new hairstyle. one teacher said she's going to call my name randomly sometimes so i can swish my hair back & forth like some shampoo commercial. haha. some other korean teacher got the 'magic straight' perm, but she paid $30 for hers and i paid $____ for mine. people were saying that u can tell the difference in quality. i felt really bad for her, but the teacher was okay with it. sheesh. korean women are so honest, huh? and my students were saying how pretty and how much better i looked. i musta looked like crap before, huh? haha. one other teacher said she didn't recognize me. what da freak? it's like i'm a new person or something!

my dad's coming today! i can't wait to see all the things my sister & mom bought for me. oh and i guess it will be good seeing my dad. JUST KIDDING!! i'm planning on buying him and my uncle (my younger uncle who i don't see too often) some yummy dinner. :D

i'm starting to have sleeping problems again. it happened when i was at my other cousin's house. i couldn't sleep there b/c it was just so dang noisy. now i have problems sleeping again. and i dunno why. and my lower back is starting to hurt. but i know why. b/c i have to slouch alot. in the bus and at school. i need to make a concerted(?) effort to keep my back straight. either that, i'm getting old. hardy har har.

korean tv is changing. years ago it was taboo to talk about plastic surgery and sex on tv. last night i was watching some talk show and that's all they talked about. it was shocking to me. haha. my cousin says korea is becoming more open about stuff like that. even singers are becoming more "wild". hyori's video, "hey girl" is being censored for being too racy/sexy. but it's NOTHING compared to those rapper videos back home. i watched "hey girl" again yesterday and i didn't think it was racy at all. but i guess i'm just used to it.

that's all for now. will upload pics in a few days including my new hairstyle! (^.^)v

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again my internet wasn't working so here's the entry from yesterday, wednesday...

my dad came! and funny thing...sean & his dad were on the same plane, too! they met at the baggage claim in korea and talked a bit. i didn't think sean was taking korean air so i didn't expect that, but yeah, "it's a small world". the flight took 15 hours!! usually it takes 13, but there was something wrong in siberia and so they had to fly around for 2 hrs. isn't that a lil scary? anyways, they're all safe and sound in korea.

i waited until 9:15pm (!!) to eat dinner with my dad and uncle who had waited at the airport for 2 hrs b/c he didn't know of the delay. very tiring, i bet. my dad slept over here (where i am now) b/c he went out with my uncle to take care of some business today. it was kinda funny to see my dad in korea. anyways, i got some goodies (shirts, sweaters, and homemade cds) from my family. it was like getting Christmas presents. haha.

i received more pepero yesterday from the kids at school. i'm gonna get fat. ugh. maybe i should try that milk/vinegar diet. nahhh!! (^.^)v

Squirted 8:07 PM by E-J Yi

life in korea as i know it: here's just a bunch of random news...and this will be a long entry cuz the internet wouldn't work for a while so i had to wait, but without further ado...

*some high school 12th grade girl committed suicide after taking her final exam. this final exam is the most important test of a korean student's life. it determines what college/university you go to. she wrote in her suicide note that she thought she had missed alot of questions. what da freak? she didn't even get her test results back! instead she thought she missed alot, wrote a note saying goodbye, and threw herself off the balconey of her apartment. so sad, so scary. on this test day, 10th & 11th graders, parents, and teachers stand outside the school gates welcoming & encouraging the seniors to do well on their tests. they even showed a bunch of parents praying outside the school gates. oh and if you're late, you have to wait till next year to take the test so some kids had to ride emergency ambulances to get to school on time. i think it's wrong to put such pressure on one test.

*a new diet fad: 2 times a day (morning & evening) mix 200 ml of milk with 3 tablespoons of VINEGAR. drink for 2 weeks and you will lose 4 inches off your waist. some korean teacher's friend did it and it worked. now that korean teacher is doing it. she said you can't drink the mixture slowly or you'll get grossed out. ew!! but she's done it for 3 days she said. she said she'll let me know after 2 weeks if it worked. i'll let ya'll know too. btw, you can still eat all your meals and not exercise with this diet "drink". blech.

*76% of korea is learning english at some institution. crazy, huh? i don't think even that many people can speak english that well in america. jk. but yeah, i was surprised to hear that.

*i killed a bug yesterday. basically looked like a small millipede. they're harmless my cousin says, but i hate bugs. so i drowned it with the shower head and forced it down the drain. i did this at 1am in the morning. took me about 10 minutes cuz the freakin' bug wouldn't die!! i really need to get over my fear. sheesh.

*another new fad in korea: parties. instead of going clubbing and barhopping where you're forced to drink (basically), the new thing is to throw a party at some club. but most people aren't getting drunk. they're just out there to dance and have a non-alcoholic good time. (does that sound like an oxymoron to some of you?) anyways, you pay a cover charge (anywhere from $10-$30) and it's basically a dance. bunch of celebs have been going to parties in apkujung. one korean teacher has been going alot and wants to invite me next time. haha, we'll see.

*my dad's coming to korea this week! gonna bring me some goodies. haha. he'll be here for maybe 2-3 weeks. hopefully i won't get too stressed. ;) oh and sean's coming too! can't wait!

and now for some school news...

*i kept meaning to write this b/c it makes me lol when i think about it. :) there's this canadian teacher, shamus, who's absolutely hilarious to me. sometimes new students don't have english names so the teacher has to make up names for the kids. at first, i took this pretty seriously and gave names that matched the kid. basically if they looked like a "michael" i would call them "michael". not shamus. he'd think of the most original name. i didn't think this was very nice, but his reasoning was that they could change it if they wanted. plus they didn't understand the names either. so he started naming some kids "snapper" or "hoser". he actually wanted to name some kids "what", "shut up", and "i don't know" so when the korean teachers asked them their english names, that's what they would respond with. yesterday shamus named a kid "jub-jub" after the simpsons' character. (i dunno since i don't watch the simpsons, but i thought it was funny anyway.) but my ALL-TIME favorite name shamus gave is "CA$H MONEY"!! hahaha. makes me laugh just thinking about it. "ca$h money?" "here!" :D i also found out that he's been writing funny comments on the kids' report cards since neither the kids or parents understand english that well so he'll write stuff like:

if bobby were an animal, he'd be a dolphin because he's so playful.

or he'd write (my personal fav):

bobby is a slice short of a loaf of bread.

kinda bad, huh? but i thought it was hilarious. yes, idioms are so difficult to learn. especially for koreans who take things literally.

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guess what? i got my hair straightened!! i got the "magic perm". it makes ur hair MORE straight than a regular straight perm. plus it lasts alot longer. up to 6 months. your (actually my) hair feels soooooo soft and it looks so smooth. it took 2.5 hrs, but it's worth it. i've gotten alot of compliments for it so i guess my hair wasn't looking so good before. my mom told me not to get it cuz she said i should have a "softer" look, but i was wanting this for a long time. i'll have to get it again before i leave korea so you guys back home can see what a REALLY straight, straight perm looks like! :)

had some FRIED chicken last night. OH SOOOO GOOD!! i've been wanting to eat it for a while, but had to time until last night. korean fried chicken is a lot less greasy so i really like it. and we also got some marinated fried chicken which was good b/c it was sweet and spicy. i'm drooling just thinking about it. :D

yesterday i finally went to onnuri church. my parents had been bugging me like crazy to go there since there's a big english service. there was like over 200 people there. bunch of white people there too. (haha, i say this even tho i was with a new zealander too!) anyways, it's alot like english service in america so it was pretty good. i liked the senior pastor, leo rhee, who's from chicago. he doesn't speak korean that well so he speaks english just like us, korean-americans. even korean-koreans have a hard time understanding him cuz they say his english is too fast. he also has a great sense of humor. it was pretty hot in the room yesterday so he asked that they turn down the heat (it's chilly in korea now). he told us that when he teaches the youth kids and they complain about how hot it is, he goes, "well, get used to it b/c this is what hell's going to be like! it's going to be hotter than this for you!" LOL! my kinda humor. he was just joking, of course. :)

mavs play houston this friday (thurs, dallas time) so i might go watch it at a teacher's apartment. but it's at 10:30am so i'm still thinking about it. me and 2 other guys? hmm. alright time for me to help my aunt with something for her school. i think i'm translating an abstract for her. *gulp* (^.^)v

and a special HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my friend grace!! i dunno how i would have survived college without you. miss u lots. <3, me

Squirted 8:10 PM by E-J Yi