Hello, hello!
I think it is wonderful and interesting that Africans can be found living in every country around the world (in my experience anyway). A testament to African fortitude and determination and resourcefulness I believe, that we can survive anywhere!
Anyway, today I feel the need to speak about my experiences with the Nigerians here in Seoul.
I live in Itaewon, which is considered the international area of Seoul. Most foreigners are located here (the US military base is here) and there is a large African community here, mostly Nigerians.
And it is impossible for a girl to walk down the street without getting accosted! Sometimes it is funny, but (lots of times) not!
"Hello, my name is _ _ _ _ _, can I have your number?" is usually how the convo goes. From zero to phone number in 30 seconds flat! They shake your hand with one hand and have their cell phone in the other! And if you say no, (which, invariably I say!) "Oh sister, why,why? Do you not want to get to know me. I am just a man. Can I not get to know you. I just want to be your friend. Oh, please, would you like a friend. I want to get to know you. How am I to get to know you, sister, please, please. Why, are you afraid of me? Come on sister." And on, and on, and on! I can be standing in the street, turning down a guy for literally 20 minutes! What the hell! And while this prattle is going on, they are holding your hand and trying to pull you in their direction!
They also try to walk me home! I have to stop in the street so they don't accompany me to my door! I mean, a little attention is a nice thing but, come on! As beautiful as I am (insert your favorite picture of me in your mind here!), there is no way I am so hot you want to follow me home! Sheesh!
I'm gonna have to start taking taxi's home so I can arrive in one piece!
Well, the adventure continues!
see you!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
FAN DEATH-a
Hello, hello!
I know it's been forever but there's nothing new under the sun!
Today I am writing to tell you about a Korean belief called. . . FAN DEATH. or in Korean fan death-a, you have to say the a at the end!
So it's summer and of course the heat is stifling here. I mean,well. . . stifling. So speaking with my students about using the fan to keep cool and they all say
"oh,teache-er you can no fan on when sleeping. You die! Very bad!"
That's right people. The Koreans believe that if you sleep, in a room, with all windows and doors closed, you will die. FAN DEATH-a.
Now, my students couldn't explain why this is, but they fully believe this to be true. They've seen the deaths on tv and in the newspaper, so it must be true!
I found some grown ups to ask, thinking, of course, they would blow it off and tell me the origin of the superstition. Guess what I found out? Not a superstition folks! Many, many adults told me FAN DEATH-a is TRUE!!!! If you sleep with the fan on, with all windows and doors closed, you will indeed die. FACT.
How can this possibly happen? Well, let me tell you. There are two schools of thought that I have heard on FAN DEATH-a. One is that leaving the fan on makes your body so cold, that eventually your heart stops and you die. Presumably from hypothermia.
Now, I looked up hypothermia and there are 3 stages to progress through until death. And this all takes longer than 24 hours if you are not submerged in water.
I tried to tell my Korean colleagues this amazing fact but, alas, to no avail. They say FAN DEATH-a is FACT and that's that.
The second way to die via FAN DEATH-a, and I believe this is a more common belief, is through lack of air. That's right, having the windows and doors closed does not allow fresh air into the room. The fan therefore circulates old, stale air and this, indeed, leads to death.
Hard to believe I know, but hey, facts are facts. And for those of you that have a heard time believing in FAN DEATH-a, I have attached a video that proves, this can happen. . . to you. So boys and girls, don't sleep with the fan on!
A note of advice from Korea!
I know it's been forever but there's nothing new under the sun!
Today I am writing to tell you about a Korean belief called. . . FAN DEATH. or in Korean fan death-a, you have to say the a at the end!
So it's summer and of course the heat is stifling here. I mean,well. . . stifling. So speaking with my students about using the fan to keep cool and they all say
"oh,teache-er you can no fan on when sleeping. You die! Very bad!"
That's right people. The Koreans believe that if you sleep, in a room, with all windows and doors closed, you will die. FAN DEATH-a.
Now, my students couldn't explain why this is, but they fully believe this to be true. They've seen the deaths on tv and in the newspaper, so it must be true!
I found some grown ups to ask, thinking, of course, they would blow it off and tell me the origin of the superstition. Guess what I found out? Not a superstition folks! Many, many adults told me FAN DEATH-a is TRUE!!!! If you sleep with the fan on, with all windows and doors closed, you will indeed die. FACT.
How can this possibly happen? Well, let me tell you. There are two schools of thought that I have heard on FAN DEATH-a. One is that leaving the fan on makes your body so cold, that eventually your heart stops and you die. Presumably from hypothermia.
Now, I looked up hypothermia and there are 3 stages to progress through until death. And this all takes longer than 24 hours if you are not submerged in water.
I tried to tell my Korean colleagues this amazing fact but, alas, to no avail. They say FAN DEATH-a is FACT and that's that.
The second way to die via FAN DEATH-a, and I believe this is a more common belief, is through lack of air. That's right, having the windows and doors closed does not allow fresh air into the room. The fan therefore circulates old, stale air and this, indeed, leads to death.
Hard to believe I know, but hey, facts are facts. And for those of you that have a heard time believing in FAN DEATH-a, I have attached a video that proves, this can happen. . . to you. So boys and girls, don't sleep with the fan on!
A note of advice from Korea!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Korean Acupuncture!
Hello, hello!
I have a mild case of carpal tunnel and sometimes I use acupuncture to treat it. I decided to go to an acupuncturist here, in Korea. There is an international clinic near where I live in Itaewon and there is an acupuncturist there. So I traveled over there to check it out.
When I went into the suite, it appeared small but I thought I probably couldn't see the whole room from the doorway. There was noone there so I said "Annyong ha shimnikka". This man came from out of the bathroom and said hello. And it was pretty obvious that he was. . . blind. So I talked to him and he said he was the acupuncturist and it cost 20 grand ($20) for a 1 hour treatment. I said thank you maybe next time and left.
As I was walking down the hall, I thought, part of the reason I am here in Korea is for the experience. And if this man is a blind acupuncturist, he must have been in business for a long, long time. And it's not like I haven't had painful acupuncture before. So if it hurts I just won't go visit him again. So, what the heck, I may as well give it a try.
So I went back and told him I would love a treatment.
He says, right this way, and I realized the suite was as small as I initially thought. It is only one room and in the corner is a queen sized bed. Ooookkay. The bed had a bright yellow spread on it and he layed a matching yellow towel over a small pillow and then told me to lie down on my back. So I moved to the center of the bed. He asked where my pain was and I said my forearms and wrists and he said ok. He climbed to the end of the bed, got his little tray with his needles and cotton swabs and alcohol, then reached out his hand trying to find me! I finally grabbed his hand and said, "here I am!" He squatted on the bed on his haunches like a frog and prepared to insert the first needle. I cringed just like in the movie theater when the scary music starts to play. But, viola, I didn't feel a thing! So he placed a bunch of needles on my arm and shoulder. And then he moved down to my feet on the bed. . . and stayed there!
Now, as some of you may know, one of my best friends, Michelle, is an acupuncturist. She has a wonderful practice in Berkeley and I have been on her table many a time. At this point, I have got to do a comparison between Michelle's practice and the blind guys practice.
Michelle: beautiful room full of ambiance. There are soft colors and paintings on the wall and muted lighting.
Blind guy: one room studio full of clutter.
Michelle: nice massage table for you to lay on that has buckwheat pillows for your head.
Blind guy: queen size mattress with small lumpy towel covered pillow.
Michelle: soothing, calming instrumental music
Blind guy: korean talk show with lots of piped in laughter
Then, once Michelle puts the needles in, she covers your eyes with a small lavender pillow and leaves you for about 45 minutes to chill and fall into a restful sleep. My blind guy stayed, squatting like a frog, at the end of the mattress! I thought, if he stays there for 45 minutes I am going to scream! Luckily, he only left the needles in for about 20 minutes. Even though I hate conversation when I am receiving any kind of treatment, I decided I had better talk to him to take my mind off the awkward circumstances. I was trying to find out how long he had been an acupuncturist, but he would just say, "oh, long, long time!" and he asked me if I had ever heard of Korean acupuncture before because it was very, very famous.
Then, thankfully, he removed the needles and started the massage. Of course, at the word, MASSAGE, I pictured like a nice swedish rubbing motion or something similar. Of course that wasn't the case. He grabbed my shoulder and was like kneading so hard my whole body was shaking back and forth, back and forth. I thought, Oooookkkay. It didn't hurt, didn't feel good either! But, he was finally finished and I paid him and left.
Hey, I'm here for the experience and you can't get any better than a blind acupuncturist for a new experience!
I have a mild case of carpal tunnel and sometimes I use acupuncture to treat it. I decided to go to an acupuncturist here, in Korea. There is an international clinic near where I live in Itaewon and there is an acupuncturist there. So I traveled over there to check it out.
When I went into the suite, it appeared small but I thought I probably couldn't see the whole room from the doorway. There was noone there so I said "Annyong ha shimnikka". This man came from out of the bathroom and said hello. And it was pretty obvious that he was. . . blind. So I talked to him and he said he was the acupuncturist and it cost 20 grand ($20) for a 1 hour treatment. I said thank you maybe next time and left.
As I was walking down the hall, I thought, part of the reason I am here in Korea is for the experience. And if this man is a blind acupuncturist, he must have been in business for a long, long time. And it's not like I haven't had painful acupuncture before. So if it hurts I just won't go visit him again. So, what the heck, I may as well give it a try.
So I went back and told him I would love a treatment.
He says, right this way, and I realized the suite was as small as I initially thought. It is only one room and in the corner is a queen sized bed. Ooookkay. The bed had a bright yellow spread on it and he layed a matching yellow towel over a small pillow and then told me to lie down on my back. So I moved to the center of the bed. He asked where my pain was and I said my forearms and wrists and he said ok. He climbed to the end of the bed, got his little tray with his needles and cotton swabs and alcohol, then reached out his hand trying to find me! I finally grabbed his hand and said, "here I am!" He squatted on the bed on his haunches like a frog and prepared to insert the first needle. I cringed just like in the movie theater when the scary music starts to play. But, viola, I didn't feel a thing! So he placed a bunch of needles on my arm and shoulder. And then he moved down to my feet on the bed. . . and stayed there!
Now, as some of you may know, one of my best friends, Michelle, is an acupuncturist. She has a wonderful practice in Berkeley and I have been on her table many a time. At this point, I have got to do a comparison between Michelle's practice and the blind guys practice.
Michelle: beautiful room full of ambiance. There are soft colors and paintings on the wall and muted lighting.
Blind guy: one room studio full of clutter.
Michelle: nice massage table for you to lay on that has buckwheat pillows for your head.
Blind guy: queen size mattress with small lumpy towel covered pillow.
Michelle: soothing, calming instrumental music
Blind guy: korean talk show with lots of piped in laughter
Then, once Michelle puts the needles in, she covers your eyes with a small lavender pillow and leaves you for about 45 minutes to chill and fall into a restful sleep. My blind guy stayed, squatting like a frog, at the end of the mattress! I thought, if he stays there for 45 minutes I am going to scream! Luckily, he only left the needles in for about 20 minutes. Even though I hate conversation when I am receiving any kind of treatment, I decided I had better talk to him to take my mind off the awkward circumstances. I was trying to find out how long he had been an acupuncturist, but he would just say, "oh, long, long time!" and he asked me if I had ever heard of Korean acupuncture before because it was very, very famous.
Then, thankfully, he removed the needles and started the massage. Of course, at the word, MASSAGE, I pictured like a nice swedish rubbing motion or something similar. Of course that wasn't the case. He grabbed my shoulder and was like kneading so hard my whole body was shaking back and forth, back and forth. I thought, Oooookkkay. It didn't hurt, didn't feel good either! But, he was finally finished and I paid him and left.
Hey, I'm here for the experience and you can't get any better than a blind acupuncturist for a new experience!
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Jane & Ching-ching
Hello, this is Ajenai.
Jane is a friend of my moms and she has a two-year old son named Treasure. Jane is from Africa and she lives in a nice house across from a market. She lives near my street, up a huge flight of stone steps and to the left..
She is a nice woman and is very friendly. She goes to church on Sunday's and goes places with her son. She speaks English well and her son is a good boy for his age.
She makes food by hand like in Africa. She makes the dough then cooks it and sometimes she makes treats. She is a very nice woman.
At Jane's house I played with her son. We played with his toy instruments and he rode around in his toy car. We watched a little TV and then I read him a story. He put in his Barney DVD and he watched that. When it was over I helped Jane make an African treat called Ching-ching.
I helped cut the dough into little squares while Jane made more dough slices for me to cut. When the dough was in little squares, Jane put them in a pot of oil and fried them. I took another chunk of dough from the big piece of dough and flattened it out.
I folded it over and layed it out. Then I cut int into small slices and gave them to Jane to cut into little cubes. We made three batches and put the fried cubes into a bowl. We ate them hot. Jane made more batches of the Ching-ching treat while I played with Treasure again. At eight, Treasures dad came home and I left.
Ching-ching Recipe
Here is a recipe for an African treat called ching-ching. I learned how to make it at Jane's house. You can make it too!
You Need:
flour
butter
sugar
nutmeg
1. mix with hands
2. take out a chunk
3. roll out flat
4. cut into strips (toss out edges)
5. cut strips into small cubes
6. fry in oil till brown
7. enjoy!
Jane is a friend of my moms and she has a two-year old son named Treasure. Jane is from Africa and she lives in a nice house across from a market. She lives near my street, up a huge flight of stone steps and to the left..
She is a nice woman and is very friendly. She goes to church on Sunday's and goes places with her son. She speaks English well and her son is a good boy for his age.
She makes food by hand like in Africa. She makes the dough then cooks it and sometimes she makes treats. She is a very nice woman.
At Jane's house I played with her son. We played with his toy instruments and he rode around in his toy car. We watched a little TV and then I read him a story. He put in his Barney DVD and he watched that. When it was over I helped Jane make an African treat called Ching-ching.
I helped cut the dough into little squares while Jane made more dough slices for me to cut. When the dough was in little squares, Jane put them in a pot of oil and fried them. I took another chunk of dough from the big piece of dough and flattened it out.
I folded it over and layed it out. Then I cut int into small slices and gave them to Jane to cut into little cubes. We made three batches and put the fried cubes into a bowl. We ate them hot. Jane made more batches of the Ching-ching treat while I played with Treasure again. At eight, Treasures dad came home and I left.
Ching-ching Recipe
Here is a recipe for an African treat called ching-ching. I learned how to make it at Jane's house. You can make it too!
You Need:
flour
butter
sugar
nutmeg
1. mix with hands
2. take out a chunk
3. roll out flat
4. cut into strips (toss out edges)
5. cut strips into small cubes
6. fry in oil till brown
7. enjoy!
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Visit from America!!
Hello, hello!
My mom was here! and my sister, of course!
They stayed for almost 3 weeks and guess what? I wasn't even ready to kill them by the time they left! It was a really nice visit (even though I was kicked out of my own queen sized bed and had to sleep with the kid!).
The most important thing to check out when anyone goes to a foreign country is. . . the food, of course. So I had an entire menu of my favorite places to show my mom and sister. Thai food (Pattay, my favorite place!), italian food (Santorio), Mediterranean food (Petra), greek food (Istanbul, yum), baked goods (Paris Baguette!), Australian food (Outback Steakhouse), and even good old American food (Subway, Friday's, Bennigans, McDonald's, & Costco!).
After a few days my sister was like," Am I in Korea or where the hell are we? I want some Korean food!" Sorry, no can do. I've been in Korea over 200 days and guess what? Not a fan of the food! I couldn't even think of where to go let alone recommend a place to go. So, Mikaela set out on her own Korean Cuisine adventure. Once she found some things she liked she had to drag the rest of us (kicking and screaming!) along for the ride! And, it actually turned out not to be too terrible! A slide show of one of our adventures should be posted too.
We actually went to two different ones. The first was in Insadong. Mikaela found some place cause she said, "look, there's lots of Koreans in there. That's always a good sign!" Which is not a bad guidline I guess but it's pretty scary when you sit down and the menu has 6 items on it! I was like, where's the rest! And you could tell we were not happy at first! But then the food came and we each liked something so it was cool. Second place we went was a Korean BBQ. The lady brought dish after dish after dish out to the table until there was barely room for it all. Then she brought a bowl of water which she put on the grill and a bunch of leafy greens, which also went on the grill. Next she brought out the meat. We were sitting there staring with what must have been blank looks on our faces because she commenced to show us exactly how to eat the food! Once we got the idea of what went with what, it was actually quite tasty.
Anyway, I had a great time when they were here and was sorry to see them go. If anyone else wants to come visit. . . I have 2 bedrooms. I'm just saying! It would be nice!
Until Next Time!
a & a
Monday, April 14, 2008
Viewing Ne Yo Pictures
Hey, you know I'm new at this! If you click on the title of the below article, you can view my slideshow!
Enjoy
a & a
Enjoy
a & a
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