Cryptic Messages

Dear Hasebe-san,

I feel like Olive from Ella Enchanted (the book, NOT the movie): "You o me 6 KJs.  I danced with the prince to times while you were eeting.  Pa me."  Substitute a few word changes where appropriate but the sentiment is the same.  Seriously, kid, please write on your blog.  

Love,
Me


Dear Self,

Lately, you're like Sophie when she invented that really amazing weed killer.  Something's gotta change.

Love,
Me


Dear Weather,

Tuesday, I drowned.  Yesterday, I was comfortable.  Today, I'm freezing.  It's not March yet.  But is it spring?

Love,
Me


Dear World of Kpop,

"In related news, popcorn prices have increased by over 9000 percent."

Love,
Me


Dear Pump,

I'd like to know what you do with all that water I gave you.  Where does it all go?  It's a closed loop and there are no known leaks.  I live in perpetual fear that I will break you but frankly, you're getting a bit greedy, don't you think?

Love,
Me 


Dear Downton Abbey,

I don't know who died and outraged the world in season 3.  However, since I know it happens, I'm less inclined to love you wholeheartedly in seasons 1  and 2.  I can see you for what you are, oh manipulative one.  One can only pray real life is kinder than your writers.  Otherwise, we'll all suffer from emotional whiplash.

Love,
Me

Here are some recent random pictures I've taken.  I really love the tree.  Its gaping scars...

I might be biased

Last year, one of my friends attended a Kpop concert in which she was immediately asked by some very eager and excited girls, "Who's your bias?"

It's a funny question but one that makes sense.  Essentially, which group are you most here to see?  Which person in that group is the one that keeps you interested?  For a culture like Kpop in which there are literally hundreds of bands with similar music styles, a bias is what draws you to one band over the other.  Further, within a band of boys (or girls), having a bias helps you start to distinguish the members from each other.  Otherwise it's just a mass of all similar looking boys (or girls) who change their hair color and clothes every thirty seconds.

Picking a bias is always kind of a random thing for me but, for some reason, they usually stick.  My bias within Shinee?  Onew, all the way.  Why?  I have absolutely no idea.  I mean, there are lots of great things about him: he's smart and witty and he doesn't mind making mistakes; he also takes his career in stride and knows when to take something seriously and when not to.  But why I chose him over Jonghyun, Minho, Taemin or Key who all have pretty impressive qualities themselves is not anything that I can really put my finger on.  (Although I do like awkward people and I'm not sure anything quite beats the Onew Condition when it comes to awkward)

A bias is also kind of a funny thing because it can have little to do with actual musical tastes.  For example, my favorite Korean band is CNBlue but I don't know much about the band itself other than genuine appreciation for their music.  In this way, they work like an American band.  I love their music, own their albums, listen to it in the car and sing along but for the most part, I don't spend my free time looking them up.  A bias on the other hand - it could be the most inane article on some random kpop website and suddenly I'm convinced, "I need to read this and find out if Onew really does insist on having pink sprinkles on his ice cream cones."  (Not a real story but if it were, you can bet I probably read it)

All of this is just to give you a glimpse at the power of a bias in my funny little life.  Of course, everyone really knows that my biggest bias is none other than Makoto Hasebe.  I first noticed him during the World Cup but how I noticed him is a mystery to even myself.

No matter, just like with a Kpop bias, this bias gave me a team to cheer for and a player to watch.  Soon enough, the rest of the team became familiar to me.  Before I knew it, I suddenly had a favorite team in the Bundesliga as well.

On Friday, I had the rare occurrence of watching Hasebe play (via ESPN3).  Since the World Cup, I can count the number of times I've watched Hasebe play on one hand.  While I settled into the game, I couldn't help but smile as I watched him move around the field and interact with his teammates; I was reminded all over again why this kid first caught my eye.  I like to think that, despite my bias, I am still pretty fair in my assessment.  I don't have any illusions that Hasebe is the best player in the Bundesliga or even the best player on his team.  I've read enough reports on him to know that although a good technical player with good dribbling and ball handling skills, he is slow for a midfielder and he sometimes struggles to attack and push the game up field.  However, on Friday, as I watched I felt that I was competently gauging that he was playing a good game.  He was aggressively moving the play forward but also solidly proved to be where he needed to be in his position as defensive midfielder.  Yet, when the second half of the game started, Hasebe was promptly subbed out of the game.

Source: 

I stared at the screen in shock.  Had my bias really affected my judgment so much?

The answer is Yes.  But not for the reasons you think.  I went back and rewatched the game.  Hasebe did play a solid game.  It wasn't error free but, then again, no one was.

So, here's really how my bias affected me:  I spent part of my Friday watching a soccer game.  I spent part of my weekend on and off thinking about that soccer game and my assessment of it.  I spent part of my Tuesday rewatching that soccer game.  In short: I am a soccer fan.

This from the girl who dreamed about (American) football in middle school, the girl who played rugby in college and the girl who never bothered to find the time to sit down and just watch sports.

So, how is it that I now schedule time and energy dedicated to the "beautiful game"?

Well, like I said, a bias can be a funny thing.

Source:

My Playlist Lately

I'm like the anti-hipster.  I like things when it's no longer cool to like them.  This applies most definitely to my music.  However, despite that fact, I still somehow find it necessary to listen to these songs on repeat for days on end.

These are the songs that have been dominating my headphones lately.

One Direction - What Makes You Beautiful

Yeah, I've listened to this song nonstop for about five days now.  I should be wildly embarrassed but I've decided this is the theme song for my family.  The women in my family are pretty amazing and absolutely beautiful and I don't think they realize it (with the exception of perhaps Baby who hasn't a doubt in her head that she's beautiful).

Venus - Shinhwa

On second thought, maybe I should be infinitely more embarrassed about this song.  I can't seem to figure out why I listen to this song on repeat.  I think it's because a boyband composed of thirty-somethings that is still going strong (and in fact, making a comeback after a four year hiatus) is such a baffling concept to me.  It's also somehow gratifying to know that skinny boybands grow up into normal sized manbands.

Five Days - Patrick Nuo

I was reminded of this song with the video above of Hasebe-san pulling off some pretty fabulous soccer moves.  If only I could see more of this in Hasebe these days.  I do love his passing game and his crosses but there's still something so fabulously cheering about watching that kid take on defenders on his own.  This song supports my theory in a roundabout upbeat way.  (Note: He did decide to singlehandedly break down the North Korean defense during a recent game by dribbling through it because he realized the North Koreans were doing too well against the Japanese passing game.  While I didn't get to see it, when I read about it in an article, I cheered.)  (Note: Once again, too many opinions about a man I don't know)

Jaywalking - Eye Candy (Shut Up Flower Boy Band OST)

If I could translate Korean, I so would do it for this song.  I love the way the melody ebbs and flows with the lyrics.  Probably one of the best fake band songs I've heard in a long time.  I can't get over how much fun this song is.

It's Not Like It Isn't Lonely This Way - Yen-J

I'm breaking my usual rules left and right today.  I usually only include official videos by that group (when possible) but this English translation is pretty good and I thought it might be nice for once for people to understand what the music I like says.  I've loved Yen-j for a while now.  So it should be no surprise that he made an appearance on my oft played lately.  But what surprised me is that it was this song that I kept wanting to listen to.  It's so sad and poignant.

Fantastic Baby - Bigbang

For as much as I claim I don't really like these guys, they certainly keep showing up on my playlist.  Silly T.O.P and his "Fantastic Baby."  It's fantastically addictive.  I could do without his blue hair though.  I do like Bigbang because most of their music makes excellent running/workout music.

Sherlock - Shinee

I love these boys.  And even though Taemin looks like a girl and Minho looks awkward dancing in skinny jeans, I keep pushing Replay.  (Ha! I'm too funny)  Onew continues to reign as my favorite in the group although I still can't place my finger on 'why'.  

The Blues

(1) I was talking with my sister on the phone the other day and she was telling me adorable stories about my niece. One night, my sister put the Baby down to sleep.  As my sister walked out of the room, she heard my niece quietly practicing words to herself.  "B..b...b..lue.  B..lue...  Blue."

(2) BIGBANG, a Korean pop band, put out this music video entitled Blue about a week ago.  It seems someone besides my niece has been practicing how to say 'blue' as well.  I really like this song and find it wonderfully appropriate that kpop is keeping up with the current trends of my niece.

(3) The Samurai Blues played this morning (5:30 EST) and lost to Uzbekistan.  Sad day.   I was hoping for a good successful game for my boys.  Instead, most of the team will have to take their jet lagged little selves back to their various teams with only a second place finish in their group for this round of the World Cup qualifiers.

Source: Tumblr.
Photo credit: Koki NAGAHAMA

Source: Tumblr,
Photo credit: Koki NAGAHAMA

In any case, it was nice to have them back home for a few days.  I always forget how much I miss them in their roles as JNT representatives rather than Bundesliga spieler, etc until they're back in Japan.  But by the time I've rejoiced in having them back in Japan, they've already played and left again.  Such is the life of a fan in a time zone 14 hours behind.

(4) It's the last day in February. I was supposed to hear from the NSF if I was going to get the Japanese internship by the end of February. I was really hoping for that internship. Now I have to learn to deal without it. Singing my blues on repeat above.

(5) The day started out with some fabulous thunderstorms and heavy rain. I normally love rain. However, since Kato-san is currently out of commission, that meant I walked 30 minutes to work in the pouring down rain. On the other hand, this is the gorgeous view that greeted me last night when I left the lab to walk home.

Yes or No?

Koo Ja Cheol and Srdjan Lakic got transferred (loaned out) to other squads.  On one hand, with all the new transfers into Wolfsburg, they might have better chances to play and shine on other teams.  On the other, I don't really want to say good-bye to "too kind for his own good" Lakic and "closest teammate of Hasebe" Koo.  [Source]

Source

Source

SMTown put out a new MV, "What is Love" both in Chinese (Exo-M vocalists) and in Korean (Exo-K vocalists).  My sister who speaks Korean likes the Korean version more and I like the Chinese version more.  That means that the songs work in their respective languages.  On the other hand, I can't tell anyone apart.
Chinese version:

Korean version: 

How many distinct people can you see?  (Answer at the end of the videos)  Also, which version do you like more?

**Edit: The dancing in the Korean version is so much cooler.  Having flames and explosions (seen in the Chinese version) in a ballad-style song just doesn't fit.

Your Words are Like Honey

I found this news clip yesterday while looking through the normal slew of Korean pop culture stuff.  (Good luck getting through this)

The Stars That Overseas Viewers [Outside of South Korea] Wish to Go on a Date With

If I had to pick a few of my favorite lines...

"Celebrities seem unreachable - like distant stars that are far out of reach."  Isn't it against the rules to define a word using the word?  


"His kindness and gentle qualities that's shown on the variety program 'We Got Married' melted away the viewers' hearts and he emerged as one of the most popular male stars."  Melted away the viewers' hearts?  Does that even make sense?  Being number 1 on the music charts in Taiwan for over a year didn't help?


"But what people love about him even more is his eccentric personality that makes it seem like he's living in a completely different world."  Is that a nice way to say, 'he's weird'?


"You'll have to spend hours and hours preparing for your date to look more beautiful than him."  Are you saying I'm not pretty enough?


"We are sure that his bright smile has made countless women faint and collapse to the ground."  I'd like to see the statistics on that one.


"He may not be the most handsome or the sexiest guy in the world..." Is this a real compliment or a back-handed one?  


"He's also a true romantic who would probably write a beautiful song for the leading lady in his life."  Probably is the operative word.  And do you really want that anyway?  One of his last hits was entitled Heartbreaker.  


"His deep mesmerizing eyes make him look like the hero of a romantic comic book."  His greatest aspiration in life, I'm sure.  

"Even the Mokpo dialect would sound charming if he were the one who spoke it."  Another complisult?  


Props to the girl who voiced this news clip.  She deserves an award of some sort for getting through that without laughing.

And now that you know what this is about, go back and watch the whole thing and laugh your head off.

You're welcome.  Have a nice day.

Discoteca

It's no secret that my sisters and I try to influence our niece with our preferences in music.  Ever since the  very first time I held Alexis in my arms, I've been singing to her.  Most of that has been Asian music since that is what I listen to.  When I try to distract her on my sister's cell phone during long car rides, it's Asian music videos that I pull up.  Likewise, other siblings have tried similar approaches.  In her short little life, she's heard music in English, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and French.  

To my excitement, The Niece fangirls over Korean pop boyband B2ST.  Seriously, the first time I showed her Bad Girl she went crazy in a way that shocked even her mother.  Here is a clip my sister caught of the little one rocking out and creating her own choreography to B2ST's Fiction.  One year old and already such a sense of rhythm.  I would like to claim that I have half of those genes.  

Last weekend, I got a glimpse of the flavor of music that my niece chooses for herself.  Whenever I put on a music video, my niece would toddle over to the clock radio near the bed and turn it on.  Then she would sit back and dance to it with consistent, rhythmically accurate choreography.  The music?  Latin.

"Really, Baby?  This is the music you like?"  She laughed.

I turned it off.  A few minutes later, she went back and turned it back on.  We stopped and stared.

Soon enough, our conversation moved to other things but every so often, during those lulls, we would remember that that music was still playing and the niece was off-and-on dancing to it.  (Babies are easily distracted creatures)  Her mother would ask, "That music is still playing?"  I teased, "Baby, your mother wants you to turn your music off.  Go shut it off."  Alexis would just laugh and dance away from my reach.  We'd forget about the music as the conversation took off again and then at the next lull, that situation would replay.

I would tease Alexis about listening to music she can't understand but I guess her aunts have done a pretty good job at setting that precedent.

(In all truth, right now, my niece is really just obsessed with buttons.  She also figured out how to turn the hotel phone onto speakerphone and would have dialed China if we had given her the chance)

Everyone's Selling Something

Sometimes we just can't figure out what that is.

Can you?  These are all ads, I promise.

Shinee:


Girls' Generation and 2PM:


B2ST:


Atsuto Uchida:


Makoto Hasebe:


Volkswagen France:




My friend recently challenged me to put subtitles on ads.  Here goes:

Shinee: Cool, well-dressed kids like us eat chicken!

SNSD & 2PM: Extremely attractive people have loved and fought for the chance to be your lifeguard at the Caribbean Bay amusement park.

B2ST: We sing and dance.  (I think they failed to make the connection between that and the BBQ - sorry "baby baby baby cute" doesn't count)

Atsuto Uchida: I am awesome and nonchalant; Go buy Adidas so you can be nonchalantly awesome too.

Makoto Hasebe: The Puma Powercat shoe unifies Japan. (Can I just say that this is the ultimate ad to get people like me?  Asia, Hasebe, soccer AND tap dancing?  What are you going to show next - the moon landing?)

Volkswagen France: Now or never - buy the car of your dreams.

Dance Break

If I were to have a Bucket list before leaving Cville, having an Asian dance party would be on it.  Why?  Because there is a TON of great dance music out there in the Asian pop world that my friends need to listen to and love.  It's like all the great parts of American music with clean lyrics.  (And if they aren't clean, we can't tell right?)  (But they're clean.  I'm about 95% sure of that)  Plus, the last dance party I went to, it was embarrassing to ask a friend during every song, "What song is this?  Who sings it?"

To get the dance floor full of people dancing rather than that awkward standing around staring at each other, I'd play this number: Neverland by U-Kiss


And then there's the fun song that tells you how to dance.  They are very helpful for those who aren't good at making up choreography.  Lucky Guy by Kim Hyun Joong


This one does that too.  But since it's in Korean, we can't tell.  Sound effects are helpful.  Clap Your Hands by 2NE1


No dance is complete without a good rock song: In My Head by CNBLUE


Or two: Flower Rock by FT Island.  Rock songs are perfect because all you have to do is jump up and down and you're good and even cool.


You always need a good swing song at any dance for those who like a slightly different feel.  Mayday's Ok La has a really fun 60's beach feel.


Since we're going slightly retro, there should always include a disco song.  Those are so much fun to dance to.  Roly-Poly by T-ARA (It's pronounced rolly polly) Note the modest clothes.


Don't you like those songs that start out sounding like a slow song and then end up being fast?  And then you laugh at the couples who start forming and then awkwardly look at each other as suddenly the beat is not conducive to the deacon shuffle? Get Out by JYJ.


On the topic of JYJ and awkward moments.  Don't you love those songs that you're singing and dancing to and then you suddenly think, "Wait?  What am I singing about?"  Empty by JYJ is one such song.  It's a clean song but it's kind of mean.  I had to laugh when they sang this at the closing ceremony of some sports competition in Korea.  Really?  I mean, really?


I love the rock ballad that everyone loves but no one dances to.  We just stand around and scream out the chorus as loud as we can while standing in large groups, arms linked.  Stranger by SOLER.  Every dance should have this song even if it's not to dance to.  (Ok, so I would be the only one who sings this song but you get the idea)


And finally, the slow song.  This one has all the elements of a perfect slow song: a clear beat, the electric guitar and a ballad feel that makes it perfect to belt out to for the wallflowers.  Because of Love by William Wei.



And there you have it.  Just a sampling of the musical awesomeness that my dance party would have.

It's 2 AM

Yes, I should be in bed.  I will be heading there shortly.  I have a deadline tomorrow (today) and I'm so worried that I'm going to wake up and it will be past the cut-off time that I'm doing all I can to be almost completely ready now.

As it is, there have been some awesome short tidbits of conversations with friends recently that make me smile.

Sister: I've been worried about you and your iodine.
Me: Oh, I'm fine.  The doctor says I'm healthy.
Sister: Good.  Did you know that today is the birthday of Marie Curie? And her research killed her. Of course, she was doing it with a man she loved, so I suppose that helped. :-)
(This is not meant as a slight to Marie Curie or to her research or husband.  I just found this adorable in light of the fact that my sister was worried that my research was killing me)

Friend: I'm kind of worried about getting these notes to Dustin.
Me: Why didn't he come over here and study with you?
Friend: <shaking her head> I don't know.
Me: Did you ask him?
Friend: No.  <light bulb switches on> That's probably why.

Sister: Alexis' new favorite word is 'no'. I ask her, 'Do you want milk?' She says, 'no!' 'Do you want water?' She says again, 'no!' I offer her a banana, 'Do you want a banana?' She speaks up again, 'no!' But really, she did want the banana.
Me: <laughing> I think it's about time for her to start learning 'yes'.

Friend (native Japanese): I was in the store the other day and this person said my son was adorable.  I had no idea what she meant.
Me: That's a good thing.
Friend: Adorable sounds like the word for 'thief' in Japanese.  I thought she was calling my son a thief.

Today was a good day:
I voted.
I got dressed up in a beautiful yukata.
I saw my friend 'Shuai Ge'
Did UKiss really just say, "Don't deny the R-squared Pi" in their song?  Because that's hilarious and as fabulous as my high school's cheer:  "e to the x dx, e to the x dy, sin cos cos sin, 3.14159..."  Nerds unite!

Definitely tired.

では,また.

Blue Monday

The world is achingly beautiful today.  And I'm in my lab, trying to motivate myself to work.

Dear Ashin,

I realize that life is sometimes beyond description that doesn't mean you can just make up acronyms that have no meaning.  Hahahaha.  I'm laughing with you not at you, I promise.  Hahahaha.  No, really.  OAOA.

Love,
Me


Dear Wang Leehom,

Did you just sing that that girl was beautiful?  I'm not quite sure.  It was a little vague.  Could you repeat that line again?  And again?  And again?  Thanks.

Love,
Me


Dear SMEnt,

My apologies for teasing Shinee, Super Junior and SNSD for their interesting use of English in their songs.  How could I have missed the ultimate on BoA's Hurricane?  "Electronic Manic Supersonic Bionic Energy"  takes the cake.  I'm starting to see a pattern though: supersonic, hypertonic, fantastic, elastic... You do realize that there are words outside of those that end in 'ic' that rhyme in the English language, right?

Love,
Me


Dear Self,

Stop freaking out and get to work.

Love,
Me

Laws of Attraction

It started when my sister asked if I thought a certain picture of Donghae looked like Zac Efron.  Since one of my friends and I have a thing for Zac, I thought I'd ask her.  

Lee Donghae of Super Junior

Zac Efron

Her response?

"Um...you know that guy is Asian."  

"Um...well, yes, he is."  

She insisted, "I think it's too hard for me to get past that to think that he looks like Zac Efron."  

I was shocked, floored.  She couldn't see the similarity in his expression and stance?  I let it go because honestly, I only somewhat saw the resemblance between Zac and Donghae myself.  I was intrigued though.  I asked her about it later - she admitted that she didn't find Asians attractive at all.  

Makoto Hasebe of Japan NT and Vfl Wolfsburg Fussball

Me: Not at all, at all?  You don't think Makoto is attractive?

Friend: Nope.  

Me: What?! Not at all?  But you said he reminds you of one of our other friends who you do find attractive.

Friend: Sorry.  He's just not attractive.

Me: How can that be?

Friend: At least I can appreciate that you think he's attractive.  

I think I pushed the issue for a long time, absolutely baffled.  We both find lots of different types of men attractive but for some reason she is just not attracted to Asians.  

Confused, I started asking other friends about their honest opinions about Asian men.  In fact, last night, I spent an entire hour searching for famous Asians that my roommate would classify as 'handsome'.  She blew through my IGA club in a second:  "I don't think men should be pretty."  "Definitely NOT handsome."  "Ewww."  

Lee Minho

Yunho of DBSK

Kim Hyun Joong of SS501

The search felt like an uphill battle.  I had no idea what her definition of 'handsome' was.  And it seemed the more I looked, I had no better idea than when I began. 

Hawick Lau

Song Seung Hun

Jo Hyun Jae

These all just got 'eh'

She insisted there was some handsome man from Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.  I went and looked up the cast.  There's a character in that movie whose role is "Exceedingly Handsome Man."  Did she agree?  Not at all.  (To be honest, neither did I)

In desperation, I started just looking up random actors in Japan and China even if I didn't think they were handsome just trying to figure out who/what she considered attractive.  Those didn't really work either.  

I started to wonder if something was wrong with my friends.  Or me.  Did I just have that bad of taste in men?  

Probably a little of both.  :)  

You see one of my friends has a weakness for tall, thin men.  While there are definitely tall, thin Asians (Lee Minho and Maya Yoshida both stand at 6'2")  the majority of men that I show this friend for a check on attractiveness average around 5'9".  

The other friend likes men are manly and who have square jaw lines.  Facial hair of course always helps but no long hair.  Again, there are some very hairy Asians but if the three-foot calendar of Makoto's head on my wall is any indication, some Asians can't grow anything more than a mustache.  (I finally found someone she found swoon-worthy: Akihiro Ienaga and Cha Seung Won)  

This attractive man who plays soccer
 for Mallorca, Spain stands at 5'9"

Actor Cha Seung Won stands at 6'2"

So, what's going on?

Last year, in a frustrating conversation with men.  Let's be honest: it wasn't a conversation.  I was a fly on a wall while I heard men that I'm acquainted with complain about women and their frustrations in dating women.  At one point, one of the men made the argument, "If you lined up 100 women and had men choose who was most attractive, they would probably all agree that about five of them were attractive.  But if you lined up 100 men and had women choose who was most attractive, it's anyone's guess."  (I wasn't sure why this made him so frustrated about dating women. To me, it seems that women's varying tastes in men would mean that he would have more of a chance of a girl finding him attractive.)

In any case, my friends and I just might be proving his theory correct.

Disclaimers:
***Looking back over this group of individuals, I think this might say more about my taste in men than anything about my friend's interests
*****Contrary to some ideas, I actually don't think all Asians are attractive or that all men I find attractive are Asian.
**My definition of attractiveness actually comes down to personality.  

Apologist

Dear English class,

I know that you are all anxious to read and discuss current events but lately, all the issues on the news just make me depressed.  Thanks for being good sports and humoring me with discussing the history of the ad industry in America instead.

Love,
Me

The Japanese version

The American version (sadly, I kind of like the Japanese one better)

Dear Taemin,

You are the cutest thing ever.  My sister and I want to adopt you.  We will be the best American noonas you never had.

Love,
Me

With hair like that and those blue-green contacts in, 

he looks like he might just belong in the family....Kind of.  

Dear Research,

I used to think something was wrong with you.  Now I understand, it's really just me.  I have no idea what I'm doing.

Love,
Me


Dear Kato,

I almost didn't know what to think when you went two weeks without a check engine light on.  I'm still in shock.  Inspections are up this month.  I life half in fear and half in hope.  Be a loyal sidekick, there's a dear.

Love,
Me


Dear F4,

Didn't I say you would grow to love me?  And buy me expensive things?  Although I wasn't happy to find my milk souring and my ice cream in a puddle in the freezer, it has been nice to get that nice new white shiny big fridge.  Several times a day now, I walk over to the fridge to open it and marvel how tiny my collection of food now looks.  Might I recommend a new dishwasher next?  Or a new stove?

Love,
Me


Dear Chinese PhD people,

I know that six years seems a long time to be in a graduate PhD program.  Believe me, I still wonder how I so blindly walked into this.  However, it's still a respectable time to graduate in.  Please stop laughing at me and bluntly telling me exactly how I've been messing up in my life plans.  Graduate school, you see, is already doing a great job at that.

Love,
Me


Dear Life,

A few weeks ago, while driving back from DC, a reverend giving a sermon on the radio said that the most common question he finds among people is, "Who am I?"  Thanks to you, I am getting a clear picture of who I am and who I am not.  However, that also comes with a healthy dose of, "I have no idea what I'm doing."  Care to enlighten me?

Love,
Me


Dear Vfl Wolfsburg,

People think I only like you because of a certain one of your teammates <cough Makoto Hasebe cough>. But honestly, I like your whole team.  I love Marcel for his zealous attention to Facebook.  I love Mandzukic for that amazing talent he has to look both disgusted and confused in every picture I've seen of him.  I love that Lakic's greatest self-admitted weakness is being too nice.  (You can guess that from just a glance at him - his eyes are too kind)  I also completely respect Hasan, Christian and Josue and so many others.  (Ochs, Helmes)  Now that you've made me a loyal fan, I'd love if it you'd start to show the rest of the Bundesliga what you're made of.

Love,
Me

Source: Vfl Wolfburg Fussball Webseite

Dear Taiwan,

It's that time of year again.  (Haha, when is it not that time of year?)  You know, that time when I miss you and wish that you and I were nearer?  But seriously, I'm craving hotpot and night markets and my friends.  Any chance you want to start a significant space program?  

Love,

Me

Dongsaeng, you're so pretty

A few weeks ago, when I put labels on my blog posts, I realized that I mentioned and talked about SHINee (pronounced like 'Shiny') quite a bit.

To be honest, I really like these kids:

(1) They have good music.

This was their debut song and it just never gets old.  This is also the SHINee magic dance - it works with almost every pop song the kpop industry releases.  At press, I've probably tried upwards of 50 songs.

(2) They are funny.  (I don't know the source of these quotes; my sister sent them to me a long time ago)

"I know about women. I know that they're not men."
-Shinee: Minho

"Dear future wife, darling. I'm sorry I haven't been a good husband. Let's have children quickly. Or I'll be infertile"
-Shinee: Jonghyun

"It was my first time seeing people with blonde hair overseas. So I was like, 'ah. this is overseas.'"
-Shinee: Taemin

"Don't say random stuff. It makes me do random things."
-Shinee: Onew

"Onew has the confused image, but he is indeed confused."
-Shinee: Jonghyun

"The extent of our appetite is shocking. I won't be surprised if it scares off people"
-Shinee: Jonghyun

"It will be fine if I don't start eating. It's even more difficult to stop eating once I start."
-Shinee: Key
(3) They have survived the horrible haircuts that some stylist convinced them was the greatest thing ever. (The Lucifer concept was the worst. I would like to think this was when they first debuted and 'didn't know any better' but this was just last year)
Taemin: They gave him long, punk rocker hair but it just makes him look like a pretty girl.

Minho: Okay, so Minho doesn't really look that bad.  They can give him the worst haircut in the world and he still looks handsome but that doesn't mean you should.  Does his hair remind anyone else of Spock?

Jonghyun: It's like a lion mane concept.

Key: Words cannot describe how weird this is.  They shaved one quarter of his head and dyed the stubble blonde?

Onew:  He is the oldest but how they made him look like a middle aged man is beyond me.

I watch every video they put out, even the Japanese releases of all the same old songs.  Despite my like for them, I am a little embarrassed to admit, with every new video, I have to ask for help in telling them apart.  I can't seem to keep their faces and names straight.

Recently, though, (my life is boring), I finished watching a TV show with them in it.  I learned that I like Onew more than Key (which was surprising) and that I liked all of them more than Super Junior (shocker).
But the biggest benefit of watching this show is that I think I can now tell Taemin and Onew apart on any video/hairstyle SHINee can throw my direction.

Win!

Singin' in Korean

Dear Self,

When you hurriedly chat to your sister, "brb.  RAIN" so that you could go dance in the sudden torrential downpour outside your apartment and you come back sopping wet to find said sister wondering if you were suddenly (and randomly) excited about the Korean pop star, I think it's safe to assume everyone thinks/knows you're crazy.

Love, 

Me

Dear Kpop,

Do you know what 'supersonic' and 'hypertonic' even mean?  Why put them into a song, then, about taxis?  It makes me want to respond in kind by writing songs with random Korean words that rhyme.  What do you think of 아줌마 가지마 ?  Don't Go, Auntie!  I think it's going to be a great hit.  

Love, 

Me

Dear Korean Netizens,

I understand the impressiveness of good English from Koreans;  I myself get excited to hear it.  However, if the person speaking English was born and raised in America, don't you think you should be more concerned if they don't speak English well? 

Love,

Me

Dear Taiwan,

Now that you've put out a good drama, I simultaneously lay in giddy anticipation of the next episode and in anxious expectation that you'll ruin it all.  In any case, it's a refreshing change from the usual predictable story warmed over a million times and it makes me feel like the fan girl/ drama addict that everyone thinks I am.

Love,

Me

Dear William Wei,

Your music is amazing and your English is superb.  I hope you like Americans because I've decided you're marrying my youngest sister whether you (or she) like it or not.  I must have you in the family!

Love,

Me

My sister specified once she
wanted a man with guitars.
Check and check.  

More about Living, Less about Surviving

Friday:
Ford Focus     Virginia     Rain     West Virginia     Only one radio station?     Rain     Maryland     Downpour   Soccer jersey     Sweatshirt     Ragnar T-shirt    Poncho     Mosquitoes    Bug spray   Waiting    Passing out water    Laughing    Engineer-ish    Breathtaking sunset    Sarah   Anna   Marc   one-sided rivalry against the Tutus?     Buffalo Wild Wings     BYU v. Central Florida    The art of being an umpire    Samurai Blue   Soccer   Makoto Hasebe    Of course, who else?   West Virginia   Two radio stations, finally!   Virginia

Saturday:
Kato   Lost    Four 1st Streets, really?     Cemetery    Service project     Clean Up    Brer Rabbit     Bloody forehead? - nope, it's just berry juice     1 scooter     1 toy gun     1 VHS cassette     1 tire rim   1 nature-reclaimed roll of carpet   Lots of bottles and glass     3 tires     1 truck fender     1 toilet     1 80's TV set     an entire treehouse     Bags and bags and bags and bags of random trash     Spudnuts     Long country drive     50 Llama points?!     Avoid the cemetery    Free Union    Won the Animal Game     Lis     Jenny     Hello Baby     Kelly     RS Broadcast     President Carter   Patience   Rhys    Jolene        

Sunday:
Bruises    Bugbites     wishing I was Melanie     Choir Practice     Church     Miso    Life with lots of siblings    Dinner Group    Lindsey    Isa    Super Junior    Shinee     Beast     Makoto Hasebe    (it's a good sign I'm tired when he comes up)


A weekend worth living.

Lousy Wednesday/Sweet Thursday

I've always relied on Steinbeck to make it through a week.  Sadly, my day has started out as anything but...

As a result, I'm going to share some things that make me smile.  These are not things that bring me genuine joy. They're pretty mindless.  However, my thoughts are driving me crazy so mind-numbing can be a good thing.  We're in survival mode.

(1) Samurai Blue funny soccer pictures (all pictures from Tumblr)

I'm not sure if Makoto is trying to wash his hair or check
for lice.  But he's pretty excited about it.  

Random assortment of arms, legs and bodies with Atsuto
just sitting happily on top.  

Umm... Havenaar-san, you have three arms.  

Hugging it out always works best.

(2) Peppy Kpop music: Again, no promises for much depth


I have no idea what a Bling Girl is supposed to mean in this context but it's a happy song.


I love that the Korean  "Why"  in English is transliterated as "Wait Yo!"  Somehow those two very similar sounding sounds have wildly different meanings.  And yet ZE.A seems completely happy with this inconsistency.


It turns out these 15 seconds are the best 15 seconds of the entire song.  I love the dance step starting at 0:09.  My sister thinks it's unimpressive but it reminds me of my dreams of tap dancing so I watch it over and over and over.  And also, put any other man in a sleeveless button up and a weird bejeweled vest and I'd think, "What were you thinking?!" but looking at it, I just think, "Oh hey, it's Yunho!"  IGA VP all the way.


Jonghyun and Minhyuk.  I adore these kids.

(3) Puddle Jumping.  With all the rain lately, it's been nice to go outside and jump around in the puddles.  Childish?  Maybe.  Satisfying?  Absolutely!

Hold on, 黎姐妹.  You'll make it yet.

Here's hoping that all of you have a sweet(er) Thursday.

Smokey the Bear Wants You

Hands down, this is my favorite Mary Tyler Moore Show episode.  Rhoda meets a great guy who seems to be absolutely everything she wants in a man, both personality and social and economic standing in the world.  Until...

Rhoda: "He's a forest freak, that's what."
Mary: "Just because he asked you to go on a hike?"
Rhoda: "No,  he just gave up a vice-presidency of a big company to go back to college to study to become...get this!  A Forest Ranger!"
Mary: "A forest ranger?  uh...why?"
Rhoda: "He has some stupid idea about being happy."

The episode interestingly addresses the concept of choosing careers and even second careers, our hopes versus our realities:

Mary: "Murray, have you ever thought about it?  If you could do something different with your life, you know, anything at all, what would you do?"
Murray: "Oh, I'd do a lot of things. I'd climb some of the world's great peaks. I'd build a little kind of raft and sail it to Tahiti.  Wallpaper my rec room."
Mary: "How about you, Mr. Grant?"
Mr Grant: "Me?  I'm happy just doing what I'm doing.  I'm happy running this newsroom and...I'm happy telling people that this conversation just doesn't interest me."
Ted: "Oh, well, wait a minute.  Don't I get a chance?"
Mary: "Sure, Ted.  What would you do?"
Ted: "You mean, if I could be anything that I wanted to be?"
Mary: "Right, anything!"
Ted: "I'd be Cary Grant."
Murray: "That's a person!  We are talking about a way of life."
Ted: "I don't understand."
Murray: "What else is new...Now look, Ted.  Just forget about a specific person.  Now, what would you like to do if you dropped out?"
Ted: "You mean, if I couldn't be Cary Grant?"
Murray: "Right."
Ted: "I don't know.  I haven't given it much thought.... I guess I'd be a king!"

Recently, I found a similar question asked of my dear Shinee boys:

MC: What would you be if you were not in Shinee?  (I'll put them in the order in the photo so you know who is who)
Onew: Lawyer
Taemin: EMT
Jonghyun: Teacher
Minho: Fireman
Key: Ke$ha

(I knew there was a reason Key was always my favorite)

But joking aside, I've been in a lot of conversations with people who are trying to figure out their lives.  They've spent some amount of time (even years) walking down a certain path and find themselves hitting a wall.  After trying to break down that wall again and again in hopes of changing themselves for the path, they start to vaguely wonder if maybe that wall is there because it's not the right path rather than that they aren't the right person yet.  But it's a struggle to know what is best, what is right.

Thoughts?  Advice?

Fangirling

I'm counting down the time until Makoto Hasebe decides to finally post on his blog again (it's been 3 days already)

I'm counting down the minutes until Super Junior releases their new MV resulting in me either giving them a "second chance" (for the hundredth time) or parting ways forever.

I'm counting down the days until I get to see my adorable niece and take a billion pictures of her and listen to her say her favorite word, "Baby" and hope she decides to take her first step while I'm there and sing kpop with her and dance with her and listen to her addicting, adorable laugh and celebrate knowing her for an entire year.

Short and Sweet

I realized that I have a problem with being verbose.  I can talk on and on and on about something that should only take a few words to say.  Perhaps it's because it's because I haven't quite solidified my opinion.  Perhaps it's because I'm afraid to express an opinion.  Perhaps it's because my English struggles enough lately that I am still searching for the words to express my opinion in a way that would hopefully not be offensive to those who disagree.  (I am, after all and in spite of my best efforts, a people pleaser.)

So here's an exercise in brevity.

10 Words Or Less:

On Research:  Nothing significant yet - adviser pushing for graduation in June. 

On Femininity: I am who I am - and in everything still female.

On Wearing Makeup: It's still just me - I was hoping for something better. 

On Kpop: Sometimes it's so fake that it all just annoys me. 

On Super Junior: The sight of you makes me sick right now --- literally.

On Kdramas: Only your pretty cameras make you addicting - You're overly predictable.  

On Chinese (language): Recently, we've been close - let's stay that way.

On Japanese (language): Signing up for podcasts was a bad idea.

On Bundesliga: New season starts tomorrow - where can I watch games?

On Makoto Hasebe:  Google translate struggles, but at least awesomeness needs no translation. 

On Ward Choir: You take what I give and make it beautiful. 

On My Birthday: I am not ready to face it.  Time machine anyone?

On American Politics and the Economy:  I can't bear to watch but can't afford not to.

On Family:  Surprisingly, still surprised to discover how related we really are.

On Reading: Nothing quite feeding my soul lately - what am I missing?

On Marriage: It's a great idea - But how does one get there?

 

Jason Hakka: Short and sweet

 Alexis: The sweetest little shortie