a dios le pido

I am behind on posting this~~but I just wanted to share some photos from last weekend. Some of my foreigner and Korean friends all gathered at my apartment, and we had our Latin Fiesta part dos (the first one included gallo pinto ~~ thanks, Evelyn, for teaching me so well on it!~~ and salad (by Haley), complimented by a fantastic sangria, only to be topped off by an American classic (with a Korean twist)--s'mores). This past Saturday, I really wanted to have another Latin night and share some traditional food and dancing with my friends before heading to Daegu again to dance the night away at Babalu. Jade was awesome and came and helped me cook again...I had my first experience with de-veining shrimp (which I have now come to find out simply means cleaning out all the poop! yuck!). It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be but still a lot more work than just pulling off the tails, that's for sure. Thankfully we had two people, so it didn't take too long. Before long, people were showing up, and we were having a great time eating and dancing and sharing fellowship. Below are some pictures from the night. 

To top things off, I also had my first Spanish lesson. So excited to finally be learning it and be able to converse, rather than just merely listening and responding in English. I feel that as I am learning Korean (another second language ~~ because we all know how little French I have retained...sorry, Mme L! I think if I were to live in a French-speaking country, though, it would come back to me)...I am able to better learn another language, too. I have more sounds to my vocabulary, and my mind is in "language-learning" mode. I think my mind is learning how to best store and remember the new languages (even though language learning is definitely NOT my forte...but I still try to work hard!).

strawberry fields

Short, little post, but I just had to tell you about my favorite fruit ahjussi. You see, he is such a sweet man...and he always comes on Sunday evenings with his truck and sells seasonal fruit. Before, I always bought tangerines from him, but then he stopped coming for about a month. I was so sad...I always wanted to support him. But then, a few weeks ago, he came back...this time with his truck full of oranges and strawberries. I asked him why he hadn't come these days, and he told me it was because the tangerines were out of season.

Unlike the USA, winter is the season for strawberries in Korea...and let me tell you, these strawberries ROCK! So sweet and juicy...far better than any of the strawberries I've eaten in the USA. And so now I go every Sunday to get my styrofoam container of strawberries. His fruit truly IS the best in Indong (AND the cheapest! I can get a box of strawberries for 4,000-5,000 W....cheapest yet AND the best taste!). What I love about this ahjussi is that one, he is always so quiet and kind and sincere; two, his fruit has the best taste and quality. It is common in Korea (and accepted by all) that people selling fruits or vegetables will throw in a few bad ones with the good in order for them to get rid of the older produce. It's always so sad to get home and already have to throw away a couple of them. I forgot what the Korean word is for this "practice," but it does happen. UNLIKE this common way of doing things, my ahjussi ALWAYS has the best fruit, and there is never even ONE bad piece in them! (I think I may be a little influenced by a current Kdrama, Bachelor's Vegetable Store, too, where it talks about the experiences in the vegetable selling industry...and these guys on the drama want to always serve the best quality produce at the best price with a warm smile. I think of that drama when I visit my ahjussi...) Always the freshest fruits served with a kind and sincere smile. Another reason I look forward to Sundays. ^.^

And today when I went to get my strawberries, he even gave me another box for free! Wow, I was so thankful. I will eat well!

if you don't like the weather, wait 20 minutes

If you don't like the weather, wait 20 minutes...I thought this saying only applied to the Ozarks. But, you know....It's beginning to feel a lot like home here in the sense of weather. Over this past week, It snows in the mornings, is a warm spring day in the afternoons, and gets really windy and cold at night. I thought it was weird the first day this happened, but now it is Friday, and it seems to be a recurring phenomenon. Ozarks meets Gumi. In fact, I've started to coin the phrase, "only in Korea," to what was previously only applied to "Only in the Ozarks." I was just telling my friends the other night about the true meaning of that phrase when I told them the story of a couple Ozark guys who broke out of prison but only got caught after they were breaking back in! (Seriously, who does that?!?)

teaching flute in korea

I have a little time this morning because I don't start teaching camp this week until after lunchtime, so I thought I would write a short post on teaching flute in Korea.


For those of you who don't know already, I have the opportunity to go each month to an orphanage here in Gumi and teach flute to one of the boys there (as well as tutoring in English to another student and playing with some of the younger kids). It has been such a blessing. Music (and dance) really does transcend language and mere words. Much like music..."dance is the hidden language of the soul" (Martha Graham). I don't know very much Korea...and especially not terms necessary for explaining flute playing, and he doesn't know much English or really even talk much at all, but something beautiful happens when two minds are set on creating something real with mere notes on a page. Even without many words, it is so encouraging to see his progress during these past few months. I never really know if he is enjoying the lessons or not, but he still does it every week ...

A few times in the past, I have been able to teach/rehearse with the flute students at our elementary school, too. This past week, they came for an hour every day, and I was able to work with them on Pomp and Circumstance, which they will be playing tomorrow at the 6th grade graduation ceremony. Above that, I enjoyed teaching them new practice strategies such as related scales using different rhythms and tone work in order to improve their overall playing. I could tell a difference by the end of the week with their improvement, and I hope they realized the same thing. My desire is that they put these warm-up techniques to use in their daily practice and continue to grow.

The way we are taught flute in America is different in some ways from the way they are taught here in Korea. One stark difference is that they learns notes based on "fixed do." For you non-music people out there, let me explain. In the USA, we learn music based on the note names: A,B,C,D,E,F,G. Koreans do not. If I say, "Play F," I am met with blank stares. In terms of a scale on "do," there is what is called "moveable do" where the first note of the scale is "do." (C scale= C is do, D scale=D is do....etc....) In "fixed do," "do" is "C" no matter what scale you are playing. This is still hard for me to think in, especially when I am used to note names and "moveable do," but I think there are many positives to using this technique. My bet is that they have a better sense of the pitch of each note since they are learning this from a very young age. No wonder pretty much all Koreans can sing so well!

"Praise him with tambourine and dancing,
   praise him with the strings and flute..." ~Psalm 150:4

salsa on 1 vs. on 2

AMEN, brother! Just DANCE!!!



Just found this online...story of my life. HILARIOUS!!! hahaaha Who cares??!?~~~ LET'S JUST DANCE!!!

(***TRANSLATION: COPIED FROM YOUTUBE LINK. I IN NO WAY CLAIM THIS VIDEO OR IT'S TRANSLATIONS. THANKS TO DRBILLOFHEALTH.COM FOR MAKING THIS!)

Shit Salsa Dancers Say (The On1 vs. On2 battle continues) (with translation)
Moral of the story: Less talking, more dancing!http://www.drbillofhealth.com

ENGLISH and SPANISH Translation Below
Traducido por el Güero Salsero
----------------------------------------------------------------
Guy: Ola mami chula, quieres bailar?
(English: Hey sexy, you wanna dance?)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Girl: Whoa, slow down there turbo! Do you like to dance on one? Or on two.
(Español: Hey, tranquilo! Te gusta bailar en 1 o 2?)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Guy:what is all this funny talk about one and two? Tengo rítmo en mi sangre y siento la música en mi alma.
(Español: 1 y 2? De que estas hablando?)
(English: I have rhythm in my blood and I feel the music in my soul)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Girl: Do you know what I mean? L.A. style. You start with your left foot forward. 1, 2, 3? and 5, 6, 7.
(Español: Sabes al que me estoy refiriendo? El estilo Los Angeles. Pa' 'lante con tu pie izquierdo. 1, 2, 3 y 5, 6, 7.)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Guy: De que estas hablando pendeja?
(English: What are you talking about, you hammerhead[dummy]?)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Girl: Or if you prefer new york style, you go 2, 3, 6, 7 with the clave. But remember to spin me on 2, with open breaks and cross body leads on the 6.
(Español: O si prefieres el estilo nueva york, es 2,3 - 6,7 con la clave. Pero no no te olvides, me giras en el 2 con los "open breaks" y "cross body leads" en 6.)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Guy: Ay no manches! Quien eres tu para decirme como bailar? You only learned to dance one month ago, and your timing sucks. I am doing you a favor by asking you to dance in the first place.
(English: Whoa, get out! Who are you to tell me how to dance?)
(Español: Recien aprendiste a bailar hace un mes y te falta ritmo. Te hice un favor cuando te invité a bailar!)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Girl: Or perhaps you are a purist and you like Cuban style, dancing in circles to all that confusing syncopated shit. I prefer heavy salsa like Cheo Feliciano, Marvin Santiago, or Ray Barretto. It is the ONLY way! I do not like all that limp dick salsa romantica on one.
(Español: O tal vez seas "purist" y te gusta el estilo cubano, bailando en círculos a esa mierda sincopada. Yo prefiero la salsa dura como Cheo Feliciano, Marvin Santiago, o Ray Barretto. Es el UNICO estilo! No me late la salsa romantica en uno.)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Guy: Could you please shut the f**k up for one minute? So do you want to dance or not?
(Español: Cállate tu maldita boca por un solo minuto. Quieres bailar o no?)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Girl: I dance with the team at Latin Verga across town.I also like when we dance outside on the beach, but not when it's raining.
(Español: Yo bailo por el equipo Latin Verga. Me gusta cuando bailamos en la playa, pero no cuando esta lloviendo).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Guy: Ay yay yay....bueno... una pregunta...(burlandose de ella) cuando llueve, te gusta vergotitas o vergototas?
(English: Right, so, a question for you (teasing her). When it rains, do you like big or little rain drops - Note: this is a Mexican albur which does not translate to English - ask a Mexican friend to explain).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Girl: I'm sorry, my high school spanish is a bit rusty. What did you say?
(Español: Perdon, se me olvidó el español que aprendí en la escuela. Que dijiste?)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Guy: Never mind. Olvídalo. So do you want to dance or not?
(Español: Quieres bailar o no?)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Girl: Well I don't know, I'm not really a fan of this particular song. I suppose it's okay. Yeah let's dance then.
(Español: Pues, no sé. No me gusta ésta canción. Bueno, ok, si, vamos a bailar pues).
----------------------------------------------------------------
Guy: You have got to be kidding me. Te estas burlando? Por favor, no lo hagas aun mas complicado!
(English: Are you joking? Don't make things even more complicated!)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Girl: Ah....look. The song has ended already. Sorry amigo. Maybe next time...
(Español: Ah, mira, se acabó la cancion ya! Perdón amigo, tal vez la próxima, eh?)

different scents for different gents

Have you guys ever seen the Old Spice commercial, "Different Scents for Different Gents"? (Shout out to my old roomies~~Miss Kourtney, thank you so much for introducing this gem to me a couple years ago!) I can literally quote this whole thing. LOVE it! Watch it a couple times, and it just gets funnier each time! (This is a follow-up commercial to the Original Old Spice commercial played during the Super Bowl of 2010?)

And so.....before you read ANY further, you HAVE to check out this link~~it's literally 30 seconds long. It will give the the basis against which to read the rest of this post. ^.~ 

....which brings me to last weekend.


Jade and I, after going to a Mannam (a huge volunteer organization here in Korea and elsewhere) cultural event, met a couple new friends and went to dinner at one of the best (although still no where close to the real thing) "Mexican" restaurants here in Daegu (Caliente), followed by Seth showing us all to one of the salsa clubs in Daegu, Babalu. To find it, from where we started (and I'm partly writing this for myself, so I won't forget! Sorry to the Daegu people~~I seriously don't know ANYTHING about Daegu, so the directions might suck~~please, kindly help me!), you go down cell phone street in downtown Daegu and turn left at the end of the street at that BIG intersection, then walk straight a few blocks and turn left on the street where the taxi stand starts. This is the "club" street, I have been told...and it will be a few blocks up on your left (club Frog and an ATM are across the street). It is on the 4th floor...Babalu Salsa Club. I hear the cover is 8,000 W, and I am not sure what this includes (maybe a drink?). There is a beginners lesson 730-9pm , and the dance starts around 9pm and goes until 2am.

And THUS brings me to the topic of this post...

So, they always say...you can smell the Latinos when they come in. Yes, very true. I can honestly recall being in my second salsa club in Seoul and all of a sudden I caught a wiff of something. Now, I can't smell very well, as many people can attest, but my nose picks up on this. I stand up straight and start sniffing again to make sure my faulty nose wasn't lying to me. Yes, indeed, it was there: the smell of Latin America. My eyes start to scan across the dimmly lit dance floor, as I seek to find the one face that will stand out. Ah ha! And there he was, a latin guy from Venezula!

And so...last weekend, at Babalu, it was no different. Ahhh...the sweet smell of Latin America. Doesn't it always make your heart smile?? And these times, while in Korea, my heart smiles extra big since guys in Korea don't really wear cologne. Every country I have been to seems to have a different scent, you know? Have any of you traveled and experienced this? But I find Korea is the one country that doesn't really have a smell. I can completely understand my Korean friends now when I ask them what the USA's "smell" is: perfume. Haha.

But let me tell you the best part (oh, who am I kidding? This whole NIGHT was a best part!)...Jade and I are sitting chatting earlier in the evening, and I turn to her and say, "You know what, Jade...I really miss the Latin culture. I miss dancing with my aunts...I miss all my Latin friends. I'll tell you what...I am going to pray right here: God, please bring me Latin friends. Yes, God, even here in South Korea, IN DAEGU. And Jade,  I TOTALLY have faith He WILL do it! I know it seems crazy to ask for Latin people...IN KOREA...and in Daegu, of all places...but I have total faith and complete trust that He will do this. I prayed and prayed for a group of Korean friends, and look at the big family He's now given me. He's gonna do it."

And not but an hour or so later...

GOD IS GOOD!!!  CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!

I went over and started talking to this couple that came in: Julio and Jasmine. Jasmine tells me how they are from Peru and are working at a factory here in Daegu. They had been here for 5 years already (or was it that they were going to be there for a total of 5 years? It was hard to hear/shout over the loud music). And slowly, more and more walked in...all, from what I found out, from Peru. Some for different lengths of time and for different reasons. Oh, it was a gift from God! And if you read my previous post, you can understand this next statement even more...it was nice to be dancing with real men...bring it on, Shakira! (haha, maybe this should be my new nickname!). It was so nice to just dance...not the ballroom style like Koreans are strict to follow...but to just feel the music.

I forgot for the night that I was in Korea. I felt like Cinderella who didn't want the clock to strike midnight. I wanted to stay in this moment...the scents, the dancing, the Spanish-speaking, the culture...all of it. I felt like I was back home again. It was, once again, a beautiful reminder of God's promise to give us the desires of our hearts. Sometimes we are even afraid to desire. As Christians, many of us feel that we must put aside our desires, which we see as selfish, and live a boring life. As Eldridge writes, "Worst of all, the modern church mistakenly teaches its people to kill desire (calling it sin) and replace it with duty or obligation (calling it sanctification). As a result, at best Christians tend to live safe, boring lives of resignation." But this is all wrong...we are called to freedom. God places desires on our hearts and invites us to awaken those desires.

*May he give you the desire of your heart
   and make all your plans succeed. ~Psalm 20:4

*Take delight in the LORD,
   and he will give you the desires of your heart. ~Psalm 37:4

*He fulfills the desires of those who fear him;
   he hears their cry and saves them. ~Psalm 145:19

blue hair and steamy ramyeon

Friday after Korean lessons, I really wanted to color my hair. The last time was around October at this AMAZING salon, JUNO, in Busan (a special thanks to my lovely Miss Gina for that rec!). I was a little offset by the price, but my friend and I were in Busan to relax for a long weekend and while she was already doing her hair, I figured I should take advantage of the time and relax...plus, I really loved one of the stylist's hair. I had no fear that I was going to get EXACTLY what I wanted.

Now, in Daegu, at this new place on Friday, I was closed to terrified and almost leaving in fear. I showed pictures of my previous hair color that I wanted, but they took it as black. BLACK?! Ummm~~NO WAY, JOSE!!! At one point, it was even asked if I wanted more of a blue color. ARE YOU KIDDDDDDDDDDING ME????!?!?!! 

BLUE HAIR?!?!?!?!?!!!!

THANKFULLY, this really nice guy walks over to my seat in the middle of getting his hair cut to help out. His English was great. Oh, man, a blessing from above! Turns out he was born in Seattle but moved when he was younger, has been living in Japan, and came over to Korea for a concert. Here, my only assumption is that he came for the Beast concert happening Saturday in Seoul, but then he tells me he plays saxophone. Alright, man~~musicians unite!

And so... finally, the stylist and I were on the same page, and I anxiously waited for the dye to finish processing, really having no idea what was going to come out of it all. It's like those white mystery airheads. Remember those things? Yeah~~I just prayed it wasn't black and it wasn't blue and it wouldn't be completely ridiculous for me to go to school or public wearing it lol.

Final Result: SUCCESS! .....Whew! I sure took in a sigh of relief and gratefulness after that!

....Which brings me to another "faux pas"-ish of the day...maybe more of a chance to once again learn patience for the common belief in Korea: Elders are ALWAYS right, even when they are WRONG. PERIOD.

At this point, it's about 930pm, and I realize that I forgot to ever eat dinner. I walk over to the train station to get my ticket for the 10pm train back to Gumi, and stop by the udong restaurant in the train station only to find out it's closed. I decide my next best bet for some warm noodles is grabbing some QUICK ramyeon at the convenience store across the street from the station. I grab a bowl of instant ramyeon and fill it with hot water. At this point, I am praying the water isn't too hot because I have only a few minutes to eat it after it sits its 3 minutes. Heck, at this point, I didn't even care if I ate it half-uncooked! And then...just at this moment of setting my cup ramyeon on the table in the store to wait, the ahjussi comes up and takes it and puts it in the microwave for 3 minutes. WHAT?!?! NO!!!!!!!!! 

He walks away back to the front counter with the other ahjussi. At this point, my heart sinks. I have no time, and now I just bought some ramyeon and won't even be able to eat it. TT.TT So...as to try and not disrespect him AND kind of still play the dumb card, if necessary, I decide to get my ramyeon out early. I quietly slip out of my chair and crouch down below the level of the microwave, hoping that the one button I press will, in fact, quietly open the microwave, and I can attempt to cool my noodles for even just ONE minute. Assa! (A Korean expression similar to our "Alright! Yes!") I then slip back into my chair and hunch over my ramyeon that I have now saved from a complete volcanic explosion of heat. I slowly lift the lid and try to stir the half-cooked noodles a bit~~still steaming beyond what I know I can handle. Oh, boy, what am I going to do. 

And then...JUST as I am surveying my rescued ramyeon with a growing grin of success, the ahjussi comes over and says no, no and puts the ramyeon back in the microwave. Ohhhhhhh. Oh snap. FAIL. 

I didn't dare test my luck again after that (haha, and probably the fact that the ahjussi stayed right in front of the microwave had some say in it too ^.~). The microwave sounds and the ramyeon is set out in front of me...long face and all, as steam BELLOWS out of the lid and into my face.

Final Result: I may not have gotten dinner that night, but I sure got one dang good facial! ^.~