missing Beijing

I missed Beijing .I went Beijing for 4 days with Luis. Now, I am in Seoul. I became familiar with my city quickly. Also, I feel more comfortable in my house. Of course, Seoul is my hometown and the trip was only for 4 days , just for relaxation with Luis. It was quite successful. I had a lot of fun and I had so meaningful time with him. Moreover, I think that through this trip, we found more about each other. That’s why I missed Beijing, not only Beijing, but I missed the time I was in Beijing with him.

Bad me

Sorry to JiYoung and the blog. I have not written in this blog for some time now. I apologize for that. I have been busy, but that is not an excuse, I should have taken the time to write on this blog. I want to share it with JiYoung, it is important to me. I just have been learning how to deal with the general fatigue from getting used to waking up at 5:30 and not coming home until 9:30. I have been staying out all day in order to practice piano and finish things at work. I wish I could say that I have not been home because of meeting JiYoung, but unfortunately I cannot say that. She and I have not been able to see much of each other recently because of multiple reasons. But I think that one reason will go away soon. Her back is getting better and I am very happy about that. I want her to be back to her normal self, I don’t want her to worry about her back anymore.

I will write every day again. I will not be lazy!!!

Sore and unwritten week

long- week. I got a simple surgery on Wednesday. It took one and half hour. It was not painful as I was worried. After anesthesia injection, I did not feel any pain but feel really really strange. The most impressive thing was surroundings of surgery rooms. I saw many surgery rooms and each room had a different patient and doctors. Blood was normal things, and ’ching ching’ sounds that many metal things made together were also common. It was not good experience but special. It was first time to wear an operating gown and first time to got surgery with consciousness.

After surgery, I did not do anything.  I should not bend my back and I tried not to move my left arm. It was uncomfortable especially during sleeping. But the saddest thing was I could not go outside even those good weather!! feel little depressed and it caused me to sleep a lot. Finally, I could not stand that situation, I met Luis and Sarah yesterday. My body condition was better than I expected! Probably, this is because I met my most comfortable and lovely person.

Crazy week!

This week has felt the same as when you are traveling very quickly in a car and you try to look at the ground. You cannot see it because it is passing by too quickly. I feel like Monday and Tuesday came and went in such a hurry. Monday, I had to do laundry and clean my apartment then go to practice. Tuesday, I had a lesson, then practiced and work of course. When I fill my days with so much work I feel good, but at the same time it is quite hectic and a little bit tiring. I need to make myself stronger so that I don’t feel tired. Doing more work will make my body get used to it, then it will be easier to do it.

I got to meet JiYoung on Tuesday night, it was so great, I felt very hungry and stressed, but she made me feel much better and we got to talk about our trip more!!!

콩국수 day

yes, the only I remember about today is 콩국수. I made it first time but it was not bad. Luis told me it tastes good and I trust him  I prepared bean for 콩국수 since yesterday and recieved mom’s recipe. It was relieved the first 콩국수 did not fail!!!

Then I had conversation class and the topic made me think about my life direction.  The topic was about Yale university bans some illustrations which dealt with Muslim in a negative way. The beginning of conversation was why and how it happened, but at the end,  we talked about painter’s life and how to keep their soul in this commercial period.

Then I came home, did some drawings and stretching then slept deeply.

Fruitful Friday

Friday was most eventful, but in a highly pleasant way.

After my morning shift JiYoung came to my place and made delicious 공국수. It was her first time making it, and it turned out to be very delicious. It was so much fun helping her while she made it. I like cooking with her, we can talk about things while we cook and we can have fun cooking and tasting the food as we make it. So after making it we sat and ate and talked about many things. Then she was very kind and made me a hot towel to help my neck feel better. It felt very good and was very relaxing. We took a nap before we both had to leave. It was so refreshing.

After that, I went to practice piano. I had a very nice time practicing. I have learned most of the songs my teacher assigned me. I also feel more comfortable playing now. My hands are becoming more and more familiar with the piano.

At night, I met Matt and we went to an open air bar overlooking Seonlung park, it was very very nice. It was a very nice night, fresh air and good temperature. We drank a bottle of wine to celebrate Matt’s recovery. After that we went to a small japanese place and had okonomeyaki. Delicious! Then I came home.

They passed as if they were one

My Wednesday and Thursday passed in the blink of an eye.

Wednesday started with my painting lesson. I painted on fans; my fan painting became better than yesterday. I felt and realized how to deal with brush touch on a weak and thin fan paper. Moreover, I realized how to use my glitters on fan. It spread overall on strong and thick color painting while It attached on point of painting when I painted smoothly on the fan. It was great except I became very hungry. After lesson, I went to Luis’ home in a rush. I got delicious gazpacho, I thought it was yummy but just for me, it was unfamiliar to eat. I will try again! We had a nice time as much as I did not want to leave there. Then, my evening started and finished with paintings.

Thursday also started my painting lesson. I finished fan paintings but I put it at my teacher’s house, She said one of them would go to her brother who is famous fashion designer in Italy. I thought it would be great! Then I met Sarah, and we chatted many things from temple stay to bicycle. It was good because I felt that time did not English class (I met Sarah usually in D.E) rather, I felt as if I met my old friend but also felt sad because she will leave Korea.  Then I met Luis for a while and asked him about email from my graduate school. I really appreciated for his help felt something full in my mind. Sharing good or bad news with meaningful person makes my life affluent. My Thursday evening was the same as other Thursday except I could not finish my writing for Friday lesson…

towards the end of the week

Wednesday, there is nothing productive to note as far as music goes, except for the fact that I downloaded lots of music theory books!!! I practiced a little while at home on my keyboard. On the other hand, I did get to spend a very nice afternoon with my girlfriend. I made food for her that she did not like all that much. But that is ok, I don’t expect her to like everything that I make.

Thursday was quite eventful. I woke up, went to work, met Simon for lunch and then went to practice. It is nice, I am starting to get to the point where I don’t know how much time passes because of my concentration while playing. I practiced for about an hour and a half. After this, I drank coffee at timothy’s then unexpectedly got to see JiYoung for a little bit before work. It was a nice surprise. After work I had margaritas with Simon. We talked about the idea of ‘home’ and basic human decency (which we both think is hard to find). It was a nice chat for a wonderful night. We sat outside and enjoyed the wonderful weather. It was great, except they closed before we could have a third margarita!!!

Tuesday

Simple Tuesday but it was busy day.

My painting lesson started at 12:30pm, so I continued to paint some of my previous painting on fans (From last week, I painted on several fans) Then!!! I went to my uncle’s house with my family. Our whole family got together because of performing a religious service, but not too much religious just for remembering my grandpa per year. We ate delicious food and every woman worked for cooking and washing dishes. I don’t like that only women worked for cooking and washing dishes but it is our family tradition. Since there were over 10 people, so I had to wash tons of dishes. However, it was good time to meet my cousin and to chat our life stories. In addition, since my uncle moved his home and Tuesday was first day to invite families, I gave one of my fan paintings to my uncle. My aunt and uncle gave me a big smile and I felt happy and some of achievement. It was so meaningful that I could forget my annoying about housework.

wet socks and a sore neck

Two things plagued my Tuesday.

1. Rain. Lots of rain, in unexpected amounts and durations. I didn’t take my umbrella to work today because I thought it wouldn’t rain. Well, at about 9 am, it started pouring and pretty much continued the rest of the day. I had a decent lunch at the Hyundae department store, I ate mandu and a cinnamon roll. I couldn’t resist it, it was calling out to me from the counter!!! As I walked to my piano lesson, my shoes and socks must have been playing some kind of game called, ‘find the pothole’. Both socks and shoes were wet. A feeling I am not too happy with.

2. Sore neck. I don’t know how it started, but I think it might have been from sleeping in my chair at work. Well, what else can I do at 7 or 8 in the morning after having only slept 5 hours or so. It is quite painful, I cannot move my head quickly and my arm hurts when I raise it. Why are our bodies so weak!!!!!

On a brighter note, I had a great piano lesson today. I think my teacher was happy with my playing, plus I felt much more confident than last week. We played many songs, we even sight-read through a simple duet. She gave me quite a bit of homework, so I will definitely have to work hard on practicing before my next lesson. After my lesson, I stayed for about 50 minutes more to practice. It was great, I got lost in concentration and didn’t notice the time pass at all. It is so pleasant, playing the piano really is enjoyable. I cannot wait to be able to play more fluidly!

One other thing, I am not head teacher, which is not such a big problem. But I was also dealt the duty of having to teach a business group class. It is not that I don’t want to, but the timing is so horrible. It starts at 12 and ends at 1. That means I lose two hours from my free time. I could definitely use the extra money, because that means two more hours of classes, so I will go ahead and do it so I can save some money for a trip.