Coconut Curry Soup

Red curry paste (4 tbsp or to taste)
5 cups water
2 cups coconut milk
Oil
2 Vegetable bouillon cubes
1 stalks green onion, diagonally sliced
1/2 large carrot, sliced thin
150g bean sprouts
Noodles, uncooked
175g Tofu, cubed
Cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp basil

Heat oil in pot, high heat. Add water and bouillon and coconut milk. Bring to boil. Add curry paste and whisk well.
In a separate pan, cook carrots with oil.
Add carrots, basil, noodles. Cook 5 min. Reduce heat to medium. Add tofu and half green onions. Just before serving, add bean sprouts, tomatoes and garnish each bowl with remaining green onions.

egotism: A Birthday Present to Myself

e·go·tism (ē'gə-tĭz'əm, ĕg'ə-)
n.

1. The tendency to speak or write of oneself excessively and boastfully.
2. An inflated sense of one's own importance; conceit. See synonyms at conceit.

Egotistical Musings: Things I Like About Me

1. I wear jewelry well
2. I picked up Korean pretty quickly and I have good pronunciation
3. I have learned to cook and sometimes it's really delicious
4. There are a couple kids out there whose development is attributed to my teaching and love
5. I am very brave
6. I make good coffee
7. I only wear makeup on the weekends and then people think I look really good
8. When I lose weight, I lose it in my face and it makes a big difference
9. My handwriting
10. I am a good communicator
11. I am delusional in my beliefs about world peace
12. I am a good person and have strong values without any basis in religion
13. My feet
14. I have a good sense of adventure
15. My eclectic taste in music

embracement

noun

A ready taking up of something: adoption, espousal.


Things I Like About Life In Korea and Plan to Carry On With At Home

1. CHOPSTICKS
2. A granny bike with basket for transportation
3. Using culinary scissors instead of a knife
4. Brushing my teeth after every meal, even if I'm not at home
5. Coffee shops
6. Fruit
7. NO SHOES in the house
8. Slippers
9. Hiking
10. Recycling
11. Gochujang

abscond

Try to ignore the avarice: solicitous posters and signs, sycophantic flashing and billboards
Look up
Nebulous shading of grays and blacks that blend amorously
Too dark to be noticed often
without help from the stars
Their luminosity superceded here by the greedy glow
streetlamps and spotlights and headlights
Look down
Tiny gingko leaves that spatter the ground
worn and rent like delicate Asian fans
in preternatural shades of yellow and green
Even here
There are places where pavement, brick, cement
cannot hold back the strength in the roots
the ground wavers, swells, buckles
as the trees burgeon even under such restraint

garrulous

gar·ru·lous (găr'ə-ləs, găr'yə-)

1. Given to excessive and often trivial or rambling talk; tiresomely talkative.
2. Wordy and rambling: a garrulous speech.

[From Latin garrulus, from garrīre, to chatter.]

garrulously gar'ru·lous·ly adv.
garrulousness gar'ru·lous·ness n.

I'm having this problem lately where I feel like I constantly have exciting news, and I keep telling people the same things. It's annoying, no doubt.
I think I'm going to try to solve the problem by just blabbing about it here via weblog whenever I feel the urge.

I'm getting laser eye surgery! It's super exciting. I haven't been able to see on my own since I was in third grade so this will be a much anticipated change of pace. I'm a little nervous when I really think about it. I will be awake the whole time while they cut a small flap on the top of my cornea, fold it back, and use a laser to remove the bad cells in my cornea. Then they'll fold the flap back and do the other eye. It will only take 15 minutes for both eyes but how will I manage this without screaming and running out of the room? I'm a little worried, and I'm sure that I will have to pee about a million times. Anyway Ryan will be there. And then I'll sleep for the rest of the weekend (an added bonus if you ask me) and come Monday morning, I'll be seeing 20/20 the second I open my eyes! It's almost too good to believe.

The trees are all red and orange and there are gingko seeds everywhere. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ginkgo_biloba) It's Autumn in Korea, and it's hard to believe these will be my last weeks of decent Korean weather. It's all cold from here! I'm having sudden mini bouts of panic when I realize that I won't have another chance to do this or that after the next couple weeks.

Tell me your thoughts on couchsurfing, please. (www.couchsurfing.org) I felt a little off about it at first but after doing some research it seems like a pretty decent option. Not just because it's free, but because the lodging comes with an experienced member of the society you're visiting. I'm wondering what you think, or if you've had experiences with this.

Lastly, does anyone have any brilliant ideas for means of earning a living while studying for our masters' at school full time? Ryan and I have decided we don't want to work.

harbinger

har·bin·ger (här'bĭn-jər)
n.
One that indicates or foreshadows what is to come; a forerunner.
tr.v., -gered, -ger·ing, -gers.
To signal the approach of; presage.


I am a person who loves trees. Every year there is one day when I feel completely shellshocked to look up and find that they have no leaves left. Every year I don't know how that happens - I'm outside every day and I love trees. Do I forget to pay attention? What am I so busy doing, looking at, thinking about?

This little transition is quick, sometimes alarmingly so. I am doing my very best to pay extremely close attention this year. I am noticing the leaves as they fall and what color they are, and how many are in little gatherings on the pavement under trees, and how many are caught up in mini gusts of dirty city air blowing by me. I don't want to miss it again. This will likely be my last Asian Autumn, and I should really do well to remember it. I vow not to multitask my way through my morning bike rides to work, when I think the air is most indicative of the fall to come. The old expression about taking time to smell the roses. I think I need to take time to watch the trees.

Also in the spirit of fall, I am joining my gang for a weekend on an island this weekend for Chuseok. We will not wear hanbok, give monetary gifts, bow to each other, or eat rice cakes. There will be barbecued vegetables, lots of green, card games, beer, mountain hikes, and lake views. I'm really looking forward to it. I've been suffering the physical manifestations of stress lately, which is, as always, awful yet so fascinating.
Weekends out of the city are so important.

abate

v., a·bat·ed, a·bat·ing, a·bates.
v.tr.
To reduce in amount, degree, or intensity; lessen. See synonims at decrease.
To deduct from an amount; subtract.


A List of Things I Want to Do Before Leaving Korea in 165 days
1. Temple Stay in a mountain
2. Hike Bukhansan in the snow. It made me so happy when I did it in January 2008.
3. Have a lot of Girls' Nights with Kim Laura Elizabeth Heather etc
4. Get Yummy Teacher to teach me how to cook a few choice things so I won't have to miss them when I leave
5. Go back to Seoraksan
6. Go to Namdaemun one late weekend night
7. take pictures of city sights that I'm long bored of but will look back fondly on when I'm gone
8. Get Laser Eye surgery
9. Visit doctors and dentists that will be overpriced without insurance in my own country

solitary

sol·i·tar·y (sŏl'ĭ-tĕr'ē)

adj.

1. Existing, living, or going without others; alone: a solitary traveler. See synonyms at alone.
2. Happening, done, or made alone: a solitary evening; solitary pursuits such as reading and sewing.
3. Remote from civilization; secluded: a solitary retreat.
4. Having no companions; lonesome or lonely.
5. Zoology. Living alone or in pairs only: solitary wasps; solitary sparrows.
6. Single and set apart from others: a solitary instance of cowardice.

I took the GRE today, part 1. It was hard! I hope I did okay.

Since I had to take the GRE today, I got the day off work. Wahoo! I admit it's a little weird that there was maybe even a little more more anticipation re the day off than there was about the GRE. It was super. After the GRE, I went to Itaewon and walked around by myself. I took the subway by myself, had lunch by myself, developed a deep love for Coldstone Creamery by myself, wandered in and out of shops by myself, read books in the bookstore by myself, bought some groceries by myself, took the bus home by myself.

In Japan I did things alone a lot. I spent most Fridays alone, as a matter of fact, since no one else shared that day off. I loved it then too, I feel like those days were such important quality time. I felt so composed and relaxed and peaceful.

On the bus ride home I fell asleep and woke up looking for Ryan, he was not in the seat next to me so I looked around at seats behind me for a minute until I remembered he was not with me.

How can it be that I do kind of miss being alone and still enjoy it so much, but would still never, given the option, pass up the time I spend with Ryan and Kim and the rest of my cronies for this kind of afternoon? Weird, right?

appraise

tr.v., -praised, -prais·ing, -prais·es.

To evaluate, especially in an official capacity.
To estimate the quality, amount, size, and other features of; judge. See synonyms at estimate.


Ryan and I made a 5-year-plan. We made it on Sunday and it's kept us in very good moods all week so far. I cannot divulge some of the details of it, as that might jinx them, but I can tell you that it's kind of like this:
2009- almost over so whatever
2010- finish up in Korea, go on awesome trip in the spring, return to NY in the summer, go to school in the fall (Ryan or both of us)
2011 - is a little depressing since it's basically just the fall of 2010, times 2.
2012 - Ryan will graduate and big stuff is happening
2013/2014 - are as of yet, combined, as they are just too far into the future for our brains to fathom. I will be 30 and Ryan will be 32, OMG!

Anyway, I think 5 year plans are good, but I have to be careful. I have 5.5 months of Korea left and I'm a little worried I'm just going to wish them away. Maybe an island-hopping weekend will help me get back in the present, and when I'm finished with the GRE and thinking about graduate applications... Is this healthy?

fecund

adj.
Capable of producing offspring or vegetation; fruitful.
Marked by intellectual productivity. See synonyms at fertile.
[Middle English, from Old French fecond, from Latin fēcundus.]



(note: I am not referring to my capability of producing offspring here!)





I'm on a roll, seriously.



I'm taking Part 1 of the GRE in T- 16 days (and I'm looking forward to the half-day off work as much as I'm dreading the exam) and I'm learning like 20 new words a day. Yessss. I've also been re-learning all the math I learned in elementary school, which is a little scary but must be a good thing considering I'm 25 years old. Geeze. Square roots and exponents and PEMDAS, oh my!

Also, I'm Girl on a Budget. I got drunk and cabbed home on W40,000 last week, and bought W24,000 of groceries for the week. I took a cab to work this week which was against the budget plan, but whatever, I had the world's worst headache and couldn't cope. I'll walk home. Hopefully I'll have enough for 1. laser eye surgery this fall, 2. Mission: Trip of a Lifetime in the spring, 3. Sustained Living in NYC in the summer.

I'm back at the gym full blast, and I saw a new number on the scale yesterday (it was gone this morning but hey, I still saw it). Wahoo.

What else? Well I still hate my job but that's okay. I'm leaving the country in 179 days. That's right. 179. Really, probably more like 178.5 since it's after lunch.

Is love the end?

Now is the time of our comfort and plenty
These are the days we've been working for
Nothing can touch us and nothing can harm us
And nothing goes wrong anymore
Singing a song with your feet on the dashboard
The cigarette streaming into the night
These are the things that I want to remember
I want to remember you by

They won't come again, because love is the end
Oh no, my friend, love is the end

I took off my clothes and I ran to the ocean
Looking for somewhere to start anew
And when I was drowning in that holy water
All I could think of was you
Oh my friend, love is the end
So best not pretend, because love is the end

Take it back, don't let it die
Or rage against the fall of night
Because I still do depend on you
So don't say those words that run me through

Woah, oh oh
Love is the end
So let's not pretend, because love is the end

So I tread the only road
The only road I know
Nowhere to go, but home
Nowhere to go
Maybe our time is up
But still you can't abandon
All the principles of love
Don't say those words
Don't say those words
Don't say those words
Don't say those words

- Keane

entangle

tr.v., -gled, -gling, -gles.

1. To twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; snarl.
2. To complicate; confuse.
3. To involve in or as if in a tangle. See synonyms at catch.

entanglement en·tan'gle·ment n.
entangler en·tan'gler n.


I'm agog about the GRE.

I'm hoping if I blog this, it will become true. At the moment, it's not really. I studied last night though. Drifted off to sleep with exponents, square roots, and analogies swirling through my head. I woke up at 6am having dreamt that I'd gotten an email saying I have to submit the first part of the test by email before 3pm. Panic!
Meanwhile, I'm concerned I'm losing my edge at the gym and need to regain steam. By day, I've transformed into Ms. Viola Swamp in an effort to reclaim control over the 6 year olds that have my lucidity.
I haven't been busy in a long time and I'm not sure I'm going to handle it well.

anticipate

anticipate
v., -pat·ed, -pat·ing, -pates.
v.tr.

To look forward to, especially with pleasure; expect: anticipated a pleasant hike in the country.
To deal with beforehand; act so as to mitigate, nullify, or prevent: anticipated the storm by boarding up the windows. See synonyms at expect.
To cause to happen in advance; accelerate.
To use in advance, as income not yet available.

I'm all about the future right now. I can't stop thinking about what's up next and making mental to-do lists for things that I won't need to consider for 5-6 months. This morning in the shower I planned for a "yard sale" that Ryan and Kim and I could co-host to get rid of all the "stuff" in our apartments. It would be a great way to clear out, help out friends and get some extra last-minute spending money for our jaunt around SEA. We could advertise it on facebook and make cute little price tags and serve tea...

See what I mean? I'm way ahead of myself.

gamble

gam·ble (găm'bəl)
., -bled, -bling, -bles.
v.intr.
1. a. To bet on an uncertain outcome, as of a contest.
b. To play a game of chance for stakes.
2. To take a risk in the hope of gaining an advantage or a benefit.
3. To engage in reckless or hazardous behavior

I'm not sure if you know the story of how Ryan and I came to be, but it's a good one. I'll leave it out of this post because well, most of you probably already do.
Anyway, yesterday was the one year anniversary of Ryan's permanent arrival in Korea!
This means that Ryan and I, though we've been "together" pretty much since just after we met in December 2007, have now been TOGETHER (in the literal sense) for a whole year now.
But most of all, I think it means we're gonna make it. When Ryan and I decided he'd move here to Korea so that we could be together, that was a pretty big gamble on love we took. Have you seen the size of the place we live in? It's nearly unfit for cohabitation. We've spent all but 6 nights together since last July and we haven't killed each other, or even gotten angry enough to second guess that giant gamble. This is commendable, especially for a couple of New Yorkers who didn't know the other existed just 7 months earlier. So, give us a little credit. Credit is due! Yes, we piss each other off sometimes (Ryan turns on the aircon in his sleep and then steals my blanket... I make him late for everything) but we love each other more (he always takes out the recycling... I always make the coffee).

It's worth taking a moment to let anyone know who doubted that gamble (or other similar gambles) that it's all worked out in our favor. Coming from someone who doesn't often take gambles and who usually steers clear of the mushier side of life, this should mean a lot.

I'm very happy to be half the proof of how worth it a gamble on love can be.

i'm worried about my creativity

Here is the thing. I was an English writing major for Pete's sake. I'm worried that I have spent the majority of the last 18 months talking to Korean Kindergarteners and casual friends. This can't possibly be having a good effect on my grammar, vocabulary or reading level. I've got to get on this.
I am registered to take the GRE in 2 months and Part One is ANALYTICAL WRITING. My initial reaction was to scoff in the face of the writing portion but given a bit more thought, I'm concerned. I don't think I'm as smart as I used to be. True I still read, but mostly silly chick lit (like my current pick: Chasing Harry Winston, not exactly great literary works) but I never write anything but sentences like "I like lollipops" or "We eat nuts" for kindergarten purposes.

So, I'm going to try to get back some of my old literary wit and try to see if I remember how to write.