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Their luminosity superceded here by the greedy glow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