Starting my own business.

Inc. magazine had kind of a cool cover story this week! It's about young CEO's under thirty who started their own business. It includes the guy who started the "Etsy" website, a place for artists and crafters to sell their stuff online; a girl who started her own skateboarding line of shoes for girls; and the online site "Pownce" which organizes blogs, file sharing, and chatting.
Pownce allows friends to send each other messages and trade files. Pownce was started by a 25 year old along with 2 others. People who had similar ideas and then combined forces.
With my friend, Amber, talking about all her ideas for business(under wraps in case anyone steals them) it's got me thinking about what could I do to make money. America is supposed to inspire creativity and entrepreneurship and who wants to work for corporations anyway, with the current state of Wall Street?
Here is my idea:

Start my own English school: teaching online
selling stuff on Etsy like Betsy
Import "Pomp" Shoes from Korea

And others.

Anyone want to join forces with me?

So, America, can you please hit rewind and go back two years?

I'm soooo confused!
In the two years that I've been gone from home, some things have changed.
First of all, the money looks like play money. When did purple and red hit the scene? It's always been green and black for as long as I can remember.

Also, from my friend, Jessica from New York. She was getting some coffee out of the coffee machine and she described it as 'ballin'.
It made me feel like my grandmother. When did all this culture happen?

Also, I knew that gas would be expensive, but 4.09 a gallon! Whoah! It used to be 2.50 when I left.

I'm sure there's other confusing things...but I'll fill you in later as they pop up.

My Caffeine Addiction

Well, friends, I'm about to fill you in on my new resolution: I have to give up coffee. Not completely, mind you, but just enough so I don't have the jitters.
Also, am pretty sure my afternoon slump is caffeine related. So, from now on, I will drink tea in the mornings, or half and half coffee(half regular/half decaf).
I have actually started to prefer tea now. Maybe it's been my long stay in Asia which has swayed me. That or my English friend, Jo, who introduced me to the finer things in life like tea with milk.
So, Starbucks sells this brand, TAZO. I know many of you think going to Starbucks is kind of selling out. But I love it. Also, Tazo actually comes from Portland, Oregon! So, if I buy it here in Portland, than I'm not paying for any extra transportation cost! Unless it's made here, than shipped to some distributing facility in Ohio, and then shipped back to Starbucks here...But that would be ridiculous...
Anyway, Tazo Chai tea is simply gorgeous. With a little lowfat milk and honey: you are set up for a nice early morning wake up treat.

Funny

It was April Fools Day this week, and so, there was the obligatory prank to play on my poor, unsuspecting students. I pretended that there was a surprise test: not too original, but still, worthwhile. Of course, only about half of the students understood what was going on. The rest, barely knew what hit them. But for the smiles and laughter from those who actually understood what was going on, it was enough for me to have my fun.

Also fun from the classroom, was a comment from another one of my students. In my afterschool advanced English class (affectionately called 'English Maniacs' by my co-teacher), we were working on the textbook.
'What is your favorite season?' asked one ninth grader to his friend.
'Summer'
Since this was too easy for them, I asked them, 'Why?'
The first student answered for his friend, 'He wants to show off his six-pack!!' Ha ha. It was funny. But, the other student wasn't sure of the joke, and had to get the Korean translation from his friend. Of course, it wasn't funny then. Oh well. At least I could enjoy it.

Janie-cutest girl on the block

I'm sorry, I've just gotta say: isn't my niece precious in her little pigtails???

세해복많이받으세요! Much Happiness on Lunar New Year!

It is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and I am at home, blogging. Many Koreans, such as my friends Nami and Choi Chang, will be visiting their family today, and bowing to their elders in the traditional way as shown in the video. It is just one of the many ways Koreans show respect for their elders.
When you are a child, even up to university, and you bow to your grandmother/grandfather or uncles/aunts/mother/father they are supposed to give you money. As much as 10 or 20 dollars each time. The more money you get, the more you are loved. But, if they only give you 10 cents...then it's too sad. So, as you can see, as a child, you can look forward to this day. My friend, Jolie, who is American but is married to a Korean, says she always has to give money to her husband's little nephews/nieces.

Korean Class 101

Oh my goodness, you guys! I found the best website ever for learning Korean! It's called, "Koreanclass101.com". The reason it is so good is: for one, it gives me a chance to record my own voice and compare it to a native speakers. Because it's on the website and not a real person, I can press play over and over again, and not have to annoy my real Korean friends, by making them repeat the same line over and over again! Genius!
And for another, it has a variety of levels to fit my needs. So, I can review my skills with the Beginner class, and more than challenge myself with the Intermediate level class.
The Korean culture classes are good, too. And I already love Keith and Seol, the two main teachers, because I've listened to them over and over again all week. And I feel like they're my best friends.

I think you who want to improve your Korean, should definitely check it out. Just click on the banner in the sidebar. And get started.

Christmas in the Northwest

Yes, I got to go home for the Holidays, to the beautiful, snowy, Northwest. Yes, snow. It only happens once every twenty years, I guess, but there was indeed snow on Christmas day. Well, that was great. But even better was the (almost) 4 weeks I had. Spending QT with my family, especially and most notedly, my niece and nephew who've grown up in the time it takes to blink!


Here they are: that's Jack and Janie. Jack is almost 4 and Janie is almost 2. From the moment Jack and Janie woke me up in the morning at 8am, my time was full with taking Jack to preschool, story time, trips to the play area at the mall, naptime, etc, etc. But, my sister and I also managed to get away to see the movie, Juno. Yes, it was one busy, never-a-dull moment, whirlwind: hanging out with the Hyatts.

Before going to the Hyatts, however, there was a calm before the storm. I also got to visit my mom in Boise, for a week. My mom, who is the 'home improvement/project' queen, actually didn't have anything for me to do this time. We whiled away the time shopping and going to movies, and eating all the pumpkin pie and squash pie we could handle; finally working it all off with a snowshoeing adventure at Bogus Basin.

Lastly, I made a major decision while home: I've decided it's time to go back to Grad school. I was all set and enrolled two years ago before I came to Korea, at George Fox in the MAT program. But then, I decided I just wasn't ready yet, and so came to teach English here in Korea, instead. Well, June is the last chance for me to start before my application expires, and I'll have to reapply all over again. Soooo, I have to tell my school that I will be leaving a few months earlier than I told them I would. Heartbreaking. I don't want to tell them. But, I must.

Okay, that's all for now.

I am Legend

나는전설니다 The scariest movie I've ever seen. And, I unwittingly went to it by myself! Which wasn't the smartest move. And, then, to top it off, it was 11pm when the movie finished and I had to walk down a dark street all alone to get home.

Well, I will not be doing that again. Last night, after a nice work dinner party to celebrate the end of the year, I found myself alone on a Friday with nothing to do. So, I veered into a movie cineplex on my way home. The only English movie available was "I am Legend". My very girly, conservative friend, Jolie had said she wanted to see that. So, I though it would be safe. Without knowing anything else other than the commando-looking Will Smith on the movie poster, I bought a ticket.
I was in for a real surprise. First of all, I hate scary movies. With the exception of suspense movies like Alfred Hitchcock.
In the opening scene, Will Smith is racing his red mustang(?) down a street in the ghost town of New York City. Really cool. I am hooked. However, what started out as an interesting action/adventure movie quickly turned into my worst nightmare!

The first time he chases a deer into a dark, dank corridor, I knew nothing good could come of it. That's when I almost grabbed onto the complete stranger's arm next to me.

The rest of the movie was more of the same. Freaky looking monsters that vaguely resemble humans only with rabies like symptoms. The only reason I stayed to the end, was because I wanted to make sure everything turned out alright. And it did, but I don't think I will be feeling safe after dark for awhile.