Currently, I’m on a Korean kick. This includes trying to vegetarianize Korean dishes, making slightly more of an effort than normal in Korean class, and watching “Bad Couple,” my second foray into the world of rom-com dramas.

This week in Korean class, we’ve started a new chapter about getting one’s hair done. (Sorry, KLEARtextbook, but you’re kind of reaching here.) We learned to say all sorts of semi-useful things in a hair salon and barbershop (“Just trim a little in the back, please!”).

Today, I asked the subset of Korean-speaking Facebook friends if I should color or perm my hair.

This seems logical to me because other people who speak Korean are most likely Korean and thus have the same hair that I do. Moreover, they probably grew up in a culture that doesn’t fetishize Asians and their glossy black hair. Therefore, they can give me more accurate advice.

The results were split. Two votes for both, two votes for color only.

I like low-maintenance hairstyles, and I haven’t cut my hair since last May. However, maybe I should switch things up? Sassy highlights? Loose curls/waves?

For the record, despite the boyfriend’s ardent protestations, I eventually plan to rock the ajumma perm and look like every other old Korean lady.

Related posts:

1. Korean is funny.
2. Korean family dinner
3. Korean celebration dinner

So on Monday morning, Jessica and I went to the gym to pump some iron. We mostly concentrated on our lower body, with various torture strategies exercises like single-leg dumbbell deadlifts and weighted alternating lunges.

Yesterday, we ran five miles. I am not exaggerating when I say that every step felt like someone was punching me in the ass cheek. I honestly don’t know how I got through five miles at a decent pace, but I’m glad I stretched things out a little.

Long story short, it is two days later, and I’m still hobbling around like a cripple. Particularly pathetic is the fact that I have to use my arm strength to lower myself down into a chair (or, you know, onto the toilet to pee). I’m hoping things turn a corner tomorrow.

Today, Jessica and I also went to get our passports renewed. I had pretty much one of the least flattering passport photos of all time. Seriously. People who saw it didn’t say, “Oh, no! You look cute, just young!” or something to contradict my self-deprecating statements. They said something like “Wow! That doesn’t look like you at all!” Today, my Korean teacher said (in Korean–with appropriate hand gestures) that my face has slimmed down a lot. I’ll let you read between the lines there.

My new picture is slightly better (too lazy to scan, sorry!), but the Passport Agency doesn’t want you to smile anymore. I guess I’ll count myself lucky that my photo actually looks like me this time.

That’s about all I have to say for now. I am exhausted, so I’m gonna’ go the fuck to sleep.

Related posts:

1. The dawn of a new era
2. Questions for you
3. 20 Fail

I’ve decided to chronicle my uke progress on the blog because it will be fun to see how far I get with lessons and (hopefully) consistent practice. And also, this is my blog, and I do what I want.

Without further ado, let’s channel some Marc Cohn up in here!

I feel the need to apologize for some of my singing/strumming, but it just comes off as fishing for compliments. So, watch if you want.

Related posts:

1. Ukulele ninja
2. A collection of thoughts

On Students: Most of the time, teaching ESL is awesome because the students really value me as an instructor. They are appreciative and see me as a veritable font of English knowledge. However, sometimes, we get students that we refer to as “malcontents.” Today, a student rolled his eyes are me, refused to make a name tag, and yelled at me about the ever-touchy issue of Taiwan’s sovereignty. For the record, I teach a class about pronunciation, and I was giving examples of how to say “My name is ____. I’m from (City, Country).”

On the Ukulele: This is seriously one of the best decisions I have ever made. It is so fun and cute and kind of like a guitar. Somehow, because it is small, I find it easier to practice and play. Strumming during commercials? I’m all about that.

On Rejection: I didn’t mention this on the blog, but for the second year in a row, I have been rejected in the first round from a (US) Government Scholarship to study Korean this coming summer. Rejection sucks, and I always get sore about the amount of time I put into my essays and assembling my application materials. Even worse, both years, the rejection letter states that due to the high volume of applicants, the committee is unable to give me any feedback about my rejection.

On Perseverence: Yesterday, I decided to apply for another scholarship, this time through the University, to study Korean abroad this summer as well as to receive funding to study it next year in grad school.

On Deadlines:  Oops. The deadline for the scholarship was TODAY. Good thing I raced around like a chicken with my head cut off and got all my materials in on time. Statement of Purpose banged out in three hours? I got this! Also, there is a special spot in the afterlife waiting for my Korean teacher and two professors who agreed to furnish letters of reference on such short notice. This week, I’ll be writing some thank you notes.

On Life, Post-School: I have made the boyfriend promise me that he will not let me enroll in ANY MORE school after this. Well, I could potentially go back to school, but I have to take a break and work outside of the Ivory Tower for awhile.

**Important: To any and all readers of this blog, remind me that I want to live abroad, preferably in my 20′s before I strap myself with a mortgage and other such obligations. Even though I will try to convince myself that I really want to settle somewhere, get a 9-5 job, and decorate a condo, what I really want to do is take advantage of my freedom and live overseas.**

On Korean : I’m 99% sure that I’m going to go to Korea this summer to study, whether or not I get this second scholarship (which would subsidize my trip). While it will be costly to travel, study, and live abroad, this is pretty much the only time in my life that I will have such a large chunk of time to devote to studying. Certainly, I  won’t be able to take eight weeks vacation from an office job. And as Jessica pointed out, I can write off the cost as professional development.

On Bodger: He farted.

Related posts:

1. Do what makes you happy, or something.
2. I did well!
3. Teacher gifts

Obviously, I couldn’t show up empty-handed, so I made my first pie out of a book Mom gave me for Christmas. To be honest, I was too intimidated by crust to make a “real” pie, so I made a peanut butter pie with chocolate graham cracker crust. (That’s tastier anyway.) I think it turned out pretty well, though it looks like a disaster here:

This morning, Jessica and I went running in the damp, icy fog. Very few people were out, so I think that we deserve to pat ourselves on the back for being troopers.

• 8.72 miles in 1:21.02 (9:19 min./mile pace)

Jessica is also leaving in a few months, which is very sad. Fortunately, I have managed to insert myself into several of her weekly workouts so she is forced to spend time with me this semester. What, Jessica? You’re busy writing a dissertation and starting a new career and moving in with your fiancé and planning a wedding-of-awesomeness? Obviously, these are lower on the priority list than spending as much time as possible with yours truly!

Speaking of workouts, those have been happening. I’m actually taking a new approach to running and exercise in general this semester. It is one that I think will be more satisfying and enjoyable and ultimately, more productive. Perhaps I’ll blog about that soon.

In the mean time, I’m going to go to bed and grumble about how much time I had to spend in meetings and trainings at the gym today. The good news? I’m now trained and certified in First Aid and CPR!

Related posts:

1. Pie & Bike Lessons
2. Week Events!
3. 20 Fail

In a few weeks, I will be furiously cramming a slice of bread in my mouth as I run out the door after the bus, with wet hair and a jacket half-zipped. Ah, class.

In any event, in an effort to keep up my 2012 Resolutions, I purchased my ukulele and had my first lesson today.

Isn’t it cute? I’m very excited to learn more than two chords and one strum pattern! By the way, Bodger is freaked out by it.

I have to confess that I didn’t dress up in a skirt/dress at all last week. Thus, I will try to double up at some point because clearly, this matters a lot.

Related posts:

1. 2012 Resolutions
2. The dawn of a new era
3. Beantown Holiday

Notice that the car is sideways here. That’s because we gracefully slid off the road into a snow bank/ditch. Seriously! We have had a total of 4″ of accumulation, but thanks to the 30mph winds, all the snow built up on the shoulder of the road.

As the sun went down, it looked like this:

While we waited for the tow-truck, Dan and I alternated getting out of the car to assess the situation. Unfortunately, Dan was ready to teach in his gym shorts and a hoodie–not exactly cold weather gear. I wore my big snowboots, which came in handy when I literally fell into a snow drift up to my knees.

Eventually, we got pulled out of the ditch (along with the five or six other cars) and made it to the gym, only about 20 minutes late. I was able to jump in and even teach my three tracks!

Dedication!

Big thanks and apologies to Dan for driving me! If I have to get stuck in a snowdrift, I’m glad it’s with you!

Related posts:

1. Korean face mask adventure
2. Mondays feel like poop.
3. Let it snow!

Here are some photos from our last few days in Richmond:

In past years, I have made a vague resolution to “be a nicer person” and then immediately failed. Thus, I gave up that resolution this year.

In general, I think I’m a pretty nice person. This is not to say that I don’t have room for improvement (swearing and judging!). However, I finally realized that instead of just trying to be nicer, I should try to fix the things that contribute to my not-being-nice, such as feeling unproductive or inadequate.

Here are my three resolutions for 2012:

Dress up in a skirt or dress (or other lady-like ensemble) at least once a week.  My normal grad school attire is jeans, a t-shirt, a jacket/sweater, and sneakers. Obviously, this isn’t going to fly in the “real” workplace. I don’t intend to become a fashionista (anti-minimalist), but I want to work on looking and acting slightly more polished in anticipation of getting a job in the near-ish future. I think I deserve respect, so if I look like I respect and take care of myself, I think we’re getting somewhere. This resolution does not include make-up, but if  I figure it out along the way, all the better! [I already wore a dress and cardigan to dinner with Ashley last Wednesday. One week down!]

Learn to play the ukulele. I don’t want to be one of those adults who bemoans losing any and all musical training, and I want to pick up a fulfilling hobby. I was debating learning to knit or quilt, but neither of those jive as nicely with my minimalist lifestyle as an instrument does. Plus, a ukulele will allow me to accompany myself when I sing off-tune in the apartment, but it won’t bother the neighbors like a tuba would.

Spend less time on the Internet. This is the most ambiguous of my resolutions because I’m not quite sure how to implement a plan of attack. In general, I want to reduce to amount of time that I feel is wasted on the Interwebs (Facebook! Blogs!). That is, I will still be connected, but I want to reduce the amount of time I could use more productively (on Resolution #2, for example)!

And there you have it. My three resolutions for 2012. I have other goals, such as cleaning the apartment bi-weekly and opening an index fund, but I really want to focus on these specific three this year. When I ring in 2013 (provided we haven’t all perished in the apocalypse), I hope to be better-dressed, proficient at the ukulele, and a savvy consumer of Internet media–and through these things, a happier person.

(Not a real dog, Bodger.)

And here are the boyfriend’s resolutions for the year:

• Avoid spending time watching movies he has seen/dislikes on Saturday afternoon TV.
• Do a programming project
• Read articles on The Economist instead of sports articles on ESPN

Related posts:

1. Peace out, 2011!
2. Beantown Holiday

The boyfriend and I had a lovely New Year’s trip to Boston, our first visit in four years.

There is a city-wide event called First Night in Boston on New Year’s Eve. There are different cultural events all over the city, starting with a big parade:

There were also elaborate ice sculptures (which were sadly melted by the next day):

At midnight, there was a fireworks show in Boston Harbor. After dinner, we made our way (we thought) to the docks to see them, but due to a hiccup in the boyfriend’s knowledge of Boston geography, we ended up in south Boston, far away. About three minutes to midnight, we finally got on track. Thus, we rang in 2012 with this view of the midnight fireworks:

It is an amusing story and certainly something I will remember for years to come. Also, we determined that I have a better sense of direction that the boyfriend.

After New Year’s Eve, we did several other fun things in Bean-town.

We checked off Massachusetts on our list of state capitol photos. I think we’re up to seven or so now.

We walked around Quincy Market and marveled at the big-ass tree:

We lunched at the Union Oyster House, America’s Oldest restaurant:

One dinner was at Rabia’s, our favorite Italian restaurant in the North End. Please note the couple feeding each other in the corner:

Also, in the North End,  I had a raspberry-lime rickey (soda) and tasted my first lobster tail (a flaky pastry filled with delicious French cream).

We didn’t eat it all, so I had to carry that heavy thing back to the hotel:

At Har-fard, we visited the boyfriend’s freshman dorm:

And his upperclassman dorm:

(The boyfriend’s sophomore dorm room was the room in which Facebook was created several years before!)

We also saw the Occupy Harvard structure yurt…where he did not live:

We also met up with Gebre, one of the boyfriend’s suitemates, for lunch at Yenching (one of their favorite Chinese restaurants in Harvard Square):

And the next day, we had dinner and bubble tea with Shuyu and Lyric. Shuyu lived in the boyfriend’s upperclassman residence, and Lyric is one of our high school friends:

Overall, it was a really great trip and a fantastic Christmas present to each other. I dragged the boyfriend to every realty office window I could find to price condos in the city, so maybe we will end up living there after graduation. (But seriously, it feels like that will never get here.)

And because this post is already too long, I will end it here. Resolution list to come!

Related posts:

1. Peace out, 2011!
2. Post-holiday Post
3. Nom nom 4th of July

Tomorrow, the boyfriend’s parents are driving us to the airport at 4am, and our flight departs at 6am. (It’s an hour-long drive to the airport.) On one hand, this gives us all day in Boston. On the other hand, we are supposed to stay up up until at least midnight so we can ring in 2012, Boston-style. I think an afternoon/early evening nap will be in order.

This year, I’m going to shake things up and make at least one New Year’s Resolution. Are you going to make one? Please share! I’ll share mine and the boyfriend’s in the next post.

Related posts:

1. 2011 Illinois Marathon Relay
2. Deer Creek Fall Challenge 2011
3. 2011 Cleveland Marathon