Who Cares?

If you take a gander towards the right and maybe scroll down a bit, you can notice that I've added a new feature to my blog.  Now you can follow me minute by minute and know exactly what I'm doing at all times via Twitter.  I don't really know who cares about this besides maybe my parents and my stalkers, but there you go.  

I forgot that I opened a Twitter account over a year ago in one of my masters classes and am now just opening another one because I forgot the password.  I'm not quite sure what the point of Twitter is, but feel free to add me as a friend.  

The South Korea Diet

Korea proves to be good for the waistline.  I recently weighed myself and realized that I've lost a considerable amount of weight since coming to Korea about 4 1/2 months ago.  I can't say that I've really been trying to lose weight, it just kind of happened and I welcome nice little surprises like that.  So because it's the new year and we're all trying to lose a few LBs, I'll let you in on my non-diet secrets.  Here's a step by step guide: 1.  Move to South Korea. 2.  Don't use a car.  Instead, walk everywhere, or use public transportation. 3.  When using said public transportation (namely the subway), take the stairs everywhere instead of the escalator or elevator. 4.  Eat like a Korean.  This involves lots of spicy food (which burns extra calories) and no cheese (that alone is probably why I've lost weight). 5.  Do not sit on the bus.  Instead, stand and hold on for dear life.  The buses operate with a stick shift in Korea.  This involves a lot of abrupt stopping and starting and incredible corner-turning.  Standing on the bus provides an incredible ab workout because every core muscle is needed to stop from careening across the bus. 6.  Hike up one of the many mountains in Korea.  This is a favorite Korean pasttime. 7.  Walk outside in the cold.  Being slightly cold burns more calories. 8.  Take up another favorite Korean tradition, taekwondo. 9.  Do not speak the same language as food delivery services.  This will ensure that you burn at least some calories as you walk to the nearest pizza place. 10.  Develop a love for kimchi.  Apparently it's very healthy.  So is every other food in Korea, according to Koreans. 11.  Don't take the elevator to your apartment.  Instead, walk up the stairs.  12.  Eat healthy things for "dessert", like sweet potatoes. 13.  Surround yourself with people who wear a size 0-2.  It's a great motivator to continue healthy behaviors.   14.  Realize that you can't fit into any clothes in the country unless you're a size 0-2.  It's another great motivator to continue healthy behaviors. If you'd like more weight loss tips, check out my weight loss blog: Health is the New Black. Anna Rickert MN

Heads up

Things are looking up for old Anna Rickert.  Actually things weren't looking down, but when the television quote fits, I wear it... sorry about the mixed metaphor.  Anyway, there has been a lot of construction happening about a half block away from me.  Now in Korea, I've wisely steered away from construction sites because I still would like to live a few more years. About a month ago I was standing on the corner of an intersection.  There were about five construction workers installing a camera at the intersection.  Now don't get me started on cameras at intersections and Big Brother and whatnot.  But that's in America.  This intersection could really use a camera because Koreans regard red lights as yellow lights and taxi and moped drivers don't regard red lights at all.  So when I am hit by a car at this intersection, I guess I would like to see my near-death experience caught on tape.  (Don't worry, Mom, I only cross the intersection when pedestrians have the right of way and after about a ten second pause to let the taxis and scooters speed by because red and green look the same to them.) While I was standing at the corner of the intersection watching the construction workers install the camera, I saw a couple of them almost have near-death experiences of their own.  And they wouldn't have been caught on tape because it wasn't installed yet.  One of the men was up about two stories, in one of those machines that carries people up to fix telephone wires, when he dropped some of the tools he was using to install the camera.  I'm not well-versed in the way of tools, so we'll assume it was a wrench and maybe a screw driver?  Anyway, he dropped them and almost hit a couple construction workers below him.  Luckily no pedestrians were hit either because they would not have had the good fortune of wearing construction helmets like the workers.  Now instead of bringing the guy down quickly and safely in the machine to get his tools, another construction worker decided it would be more convenient for him to throw the wrench back up to the construction worker two stories above him.  Remember, this is all in the middle of a busy sidewalk that is not blocked off to pedestrians.  Of course, the man two stories up did not catch the wrench the first time, and the wrench plummeted back down to the ground.  The construction worker dodged the wrench and it hit the ground.  The worker attempted to throw it to him again. He didn't catch it a second time.  And sadly, (or fortunately) the light turned green and I was able to cross safely to the other side of the road and never found out if the wrench was returned to the man, but I do know that the camera is now installed and there were no outlined chalk-bodies on the ground at the intersection, so I can only assume it ended fairly safely. Ever since I witnessed that incident, I have tried to avoid all construction areas and to cover my head and keep a watchful eye out for falling tools if I do have to walk by construction.  I avoided an area near my apartment that has been under construction for the past couple weeks and so never realized what they were working on.  Then on Saturday, I walked around the corner and behold, (cue the chorus music and rays of light shining down from the sky) it's a Starbucks!  I now have a Starbucks half a block from my apartment.  Before this, the closest one was a 15-20 minute walk from my apartment in the opposite direction of my school.  I do realize this is a blessing and a curse.  I have a tendency to spend a good portion of my hard-earned money at Starbucks in the States.  And it doesn't help that Starbucks is way more expensive here in Korea (yeah, I didn't think it could get any more expensive either) but at least they know how to make coffee, which is more than I can say for 98% of the Korean population. MN

A very brief recap of Kate's visit.

As I blog, Kate is flying on her way to the U.S.  Her flight took off at 3:00 pm and as far as I know she is on that flight.  Unfortunately I had to work today so she had to get herself to the airport.  Luckily it's quite easy from my place, just a long subway ride.  You can see her thoughts on Korea on the guest blog post she wrote a couple days ago.  

It was great having her here.  Kate and I reunited in Korea is probably the best thing to happen to this country since kimchi.  We did quite a bit despite her being sick for about three days.  We shopped in Insadong, a shopping area in Seoul with a lot of traditional Korean items, went out for Korean barbeque, saw Twilight, did quite a bit of shopping, saw some palaces in Seoul, partied until eight in the morning on New Year's in Seoul (everyone needs to see the sunrise on New Year's at least once--we managed to see it in Bupyeong), saw policemen dressed in riot gear to guard against rioters on New Year's, visited my school (my students loved her--my vice principal told us that many of the boys were asking if she had a boyfriend), ate great Indian food, hung out with my friends, visited a Korean hospital, and shopped some more.  

Here are some pictures I took while she was visiting.  

Ten things to do before I die

I've got a thought-provoker for you today. And it's not my original idea at all. I was tagged in a note on Facebook today by a friend. He asked everyone who he tagged to respond and list ten things they would like to do before they die. Now I like to make lists, so I happily obliged. I think I've mentally made this list many times in my head. But now I'm putting it down on blog, (and adding a few more than ten). For me, life is all about the experiences. More than anything else, this is what I'm realizing this year. Here is my list of ten, and then some (in no particular order):
1. Write a novel/publish a book
2. Be fluent in another language... probably Spanish
3. Travel to all seven continents
4. Get a PhD
5. Get married, have two children
6. Treat my parents to a vacation, or do something else to show my appreciation for putting up with my sorry self for the last 25 years (even though they've loved every minute of it, I know it).
7. Run a marathon.
8. Play guitar well
9. Be an extra in a movie
10. Learn to surf
11.  Pay off my credit card debt
12.  Go to India and Nepal
13.  Travel to at least 50% of the world
14.  Feel like I've made a difference in the world, no matter how small
15.  Contribute to the betterment of education
16.  See the seven wonders of the world

I've included only things that are do-able.  Now I'm thinking I can knock quite a few of these off my list before I'm 30.  I best get started.

I'm curious, readers, what are some things you would like to do before you die?  Leave your comments here, because I'm interested in others' goals too.  Let's get started on a great new year!

Anna Rickert MN

I benefit from political unrest in Thailand. (Ok, I feel a little bad about it.)

Wow, look at me blog.  I just have so much to catch up on it seems.  Don't even get me started on my sister's visit.  That will come in a later post.  Meanwhile, read her guest blogger post below.  It's quite good.  I think she has a blogging career in her future.  

Anyway, tonight we paid for our tickets to Thailand.  Seven of us booked our flight about a month ago, but the travel agency didn't make us pay for our flight at that time because there was so much instability in Thailand at that time.  (This was right around the time the airport was taken over by protesters.)  We tried to find the cheapest flight possible, and we did alright.  We secured a comparable price to what other people we know had booked.  Today when someone in our group called the travel agency to set up a time to pay, we were told our flights would be over $200 cheaper.  Not too bad.  I think Thailand has been losing out on a bit of tourism because of the political unrest, and as much as I hate to see people not getting along, I am not complaining about the price drop in our plane tickets.

My poor students.

During January and February, my students are on "vacation" because their school year ended last week.  Now I put quotations around vacation because apparently vacation in Korea does not mean the same thing as vacation in America.  Two weeks ago I asked a few of my students what they were going to do during vacation.  They all replied, "Come to school."  I asked them why they would come to school during vacation; they told me that they would begin studying for the next semester.  So each day while they are on vacation they come to school to study.  Oh, but don't worry, they only come to school for eight hours instead of the usual eleven hours during the normal school year.  

Today I asked a few of my students (I teach a speaking class to ten boys during winter "vacation") what they did for New Year's.  I asked if it was common for them to stay up until midnight and celebrate the new year.  One boy told me that he was at "academy" at midnight, meaning he was at a private school studying at midnight on New Year's Eve.  I tell you, my students are little robots who are bred from early on to study study study and work work work.

Interview with an expatriate.

I was interviewed by the Expat Interviews website about my experiences living and working in Korea.  For those who follow my blog religiously (thank you, Mom) it's probably all information you already know. But for those who don't, please check out my interview.  Also, there is some great information on the website for those who are considering living abroad in Korea or any other foreign country.    

a little note from Kate

Hello readers! This is Kate, doing a little guest-blogging in Anna's blog. Korea's pretty great thus far. Even though I've been sick, I've really enjoyed my time here. Here is a list of my favorite things about Korea, in no particular order.

a. Cute Overload: Korea is almost too cute to handle. Everything, from food to cell phones to semi-trucks, is decorated with cute little cartoons or faces. A lot of the food, especially meat, is animated, which makes me wonder how Koreans can eat it. Usually when things such as chickens or cows take on human characteristics it makes it harder to eat them. But not for Koreans. They love them some squid and eels.

b. Public Transportation: Korea has a great subway and bus system. I very much enjoy not having to drive. For many, driving is a freedom but for me it has always been just an added stressor. I like that I can get to pretty much anywhere I'd want to go by subway and I don't have to worry about getting lost.

c. Korean Hospitals: Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined myself going to a hospital during my visit here. But that's exactly what happened on Saturday. I just have tonsilitis, so don't worry too much. The people at the hospital were SO nice to us. The woman at the info desk, who didn't speak English, walked us all across the hospital to where we needed to be and helped us check in and everything. So did a lot of other workers. It was great. And once I finally got to see the doctor, I think he gave me a much more comprehensive examination than what I've experienced at home. I even got to see the inside of my throat from a camera, which is just about as gross as it sounds. Overall, I give the hospital a B, because I did have to sit in the waiting room for about 2 hours.

d. Old Things: Anna and I went to Seoul on Friday and visited this old palace. It was really beautiful, but I didn't really understand how it could be considered a palace. I guess you'd need to see the pictures to understand, so I'll let you see those once we get home. Anyways, I think I really like old things, especially looking at them. Under the umbrella of "things" I am not including old people, because here old people often blatantly stare.

So those are just some of my thoughts about Korea so far. Obviously I do like more than 4 things, I am just too lazy to think of some more. I hope those of you in the states are doing well, and I'll see you on Thursday!