Home Sweet Coronado-Dog Beach

It has been quite the little minute since I have blogged. Oops. Oh well, that's the beauty of blogging...you do what you want, when you want to do it (which happens to be a personality flaw of mine as well, hmmm...ehh, that's for another blog).

After spending July through the end of October in North Carolina waiting for Luke to serve the remainder of his sentence in Asian hell, we have finally settled into our new home. To say its amazing here doesn't do it justice, but I'll say it anyway. If you've been reading my previous entries, you know that when I say I really, really like it here then that means something...because, I don't use the term "really, really like" lightly. But seriously, I love it.

I plan (haha) to have lots more posts soon!

We took Zeus and Fritz to "Dog Beach" last weekend. Fritz needs a little socialization and Zeus just needs some fun and this little strand of beach was perfect for both....except Zeus is a nervous wreck at times. He clearly thinks the ocean is going to eat him!

The boys playing at the beach!

Zeus wants Luke to get out of the water. Can you tell?

Fritz did well; he played nice with all the dogs (possibly because he was getting green beans as treats for being nice!)

And Zeus needs a few more times in the water so that he can stop having panic attacks when he (or Luke) gets in the water. I wonder where he gets his nervous personality from?

In case you were wondering, yes, we are in shorts in December here. Hehe.

"You is smart."

"One of the greatest challenges in life is being yourself in a world that’s trying to make you like everyone else".

I found this on a blog today, actually because Ashton Kutcher referenced it on his twitter (yes, there is your window on how interesting my life is right about now [insert long sigh]).

Anyway, I love it because for me, its so true. I am not like anyone else. No, really. I mean, I'm really not like most other people. I look like everyone else and I act like everyone else, but deep down, when you really get to know me, I'm a strange cookie. Just ask Luke :-/  I like that I'm not blindly fitting into a mold that everyone else has made for themselves, but if I'm being honest, it can get a little lonely actually. And pretty confusing sometimes. It can certainly lead to self-doubt as you question why you aren't happy doing the things that other people seem to be so happy doing that you swear you actually see a ray of sunshine streaming from their ass.

Sometimes I find myself (or other people in my life) trying to make my life, my interests, my aspirations match the people that one would claim to be "normal" or "successful". And when I do this, I generally end up feeling like a fish trying to drive a car or something.

Anyway, I have to thank my mama for always making me feel like my weirdness makes me special and that its okay to not take the same path in life as everyone thinks you should.

"You is kind. You is smart. You is important."--The Help

Loveee that movie! This reminds me of my childhood. Mainly because I was so tender-hearted that everyday my mama would have to give me a little pep talk because someone at school hurt my feelings. My, my, how things have changed. 

And more recently I have to thank my husband for holding my hand (and sometimes kicking me in the ass) so that I don't get lost in my head where dogs rule the world and colorful things are all it takes to make me happy.



Hence....

my new bag.

Tee hee :)

We all have our own streaks of weird and our own way of doing things, but I have to remind myself often that just because its the right way for one person, doesn't mean its the right way for me. And I've found that when I find people that comprehend this concept and that understand the fact that everyone doesn't have to wear the same "happy face", it makes me cherish them even more.

No but really, shut up.

I saw this in the news last week about this woman, Shoshana Hebshi, who got detained on 9/11, along with two other men on her flight.

You can read the story here. And you can see her blog entry about it here.

It does suck that she had to go through such an incident. Really, I'm not trying to downplay the shock and embarrassment of the whole thing for her. I'm sure it was awful and scary and I am sorry for her. But seriously, I have to just say get over it.

The fact is that this country is constantly targeted by terrorists, who happen to fall into a particular ethnicity. When there is a threat to our country, like the possible threat on the tenth anniversary of 9/11 this year, how are we supposed to stop it from happening? Racial profiling is unfair, yes, but sometimes its the only way. I will say its probably a lot better than being blown up, right?

{{....yesss, I'll give a minute to think about that one.....yep, that's what I thought.}}

If a woman who looks like me has threatened to blow up a building (or insert any appropriate scenario you want), then I can't say that I blame any law enforcement individual for stopping me simply because I look like that individual. I realize that this is a slightly different scenario, but you get the point.

Her husband used social media to express that she was detained because of the color of her skin (paraphrasing). This just really, really infuriates me. It's so dramatic! What if some other person on her plane was detained and actually had a bomb...would people have been so outraged then? It's only "the color of his/her skin" when something suspicious isn't found. But if authorities searched a person of a certain ethnicity and actually found something, then what? Was he racially profiled before he was deemed a threat? Hmmm.

I am sure I would be extremely upset if this happened to me, but it just seems that sometimes America is expected to have everything perfect at all times and to be respectful of every single race and religion, all the while being 100 percent politically correct and keeping every single American citizen safe. I'm sorry, but the keeping us safe part is much more pressing in my opinion than being respectful of the millions of people part.

At this point, if the way to keep passengers on planes (and any other place for that matter) is to do things that aren't perfectly comfortable and politically correct, I welcome it. America may not be perfect, but we strive to make every single person who lives here happy. But first comes safety. Unfortunately, everything changed on 9/11/01. And while our country works out the kinks and fine tunes the safety strategies, I'll gladly have patience and understanding.

And the people who want to sit back and complain about every little thing, yet still expect to be safe in this country should try to swallow the pill that is reality and then maybe drink a cup of shut the eff up. Or better yet, I encourage them to get out of this country. Go live in some other country and see if you don't come back singing America's praises, flaws and all. Yes, I've done that. So there.

If you are ashamed to stand by your colors, you had better seek another flag. ~Author Unknown

I would just like to insert the word *bitches* after "flag". Seems appropriate. ;-)

Yoga Love

I started doing yoga last winter, not really because I was super interested or because of all the awesome benefits, but because there was literally no way I was going out in the freezing cold in Korea to jog which had been my usual means of exercise. I tried jogging in our parking garage in the apartment complex, but after a few days my lungs actually felt burned. I don't know how to describe it, but I concluded that the fumes from the underground parking garage were perhaps not the best thing to be huffing in and out while trying to exercise. So, in an effort to not do more harm than good to my body, my yoga love was born.

I downloaded Body by Bethenny on iTunes and didn't even have a mat the first time I did it. There were some moves that were challenging, but I got through it and felt such calmness after I was finished. And seriously, there is not a lot of calm going on in the realm of my body, so to feel it, was quite significant for me. After I went on jogs, I always came back starving, but yoga was different. I felt like I had actually done something, but not like I had to grab the first pizza in sight.

The morning after I had done my first session, I didn't think I could move. I was shocked because all I had done was some weird ninja moves in my opinion, but it worked muscles in my body that I didn't know I had! I am far from Ms. Fitness, so when I asked Luke why my ribs were hurting, he kindly, while laughing at me, explained that there were muscles there. Wow, I had no idea.

After I had done the Bethenny workout a few times, I downloaded the Jillian Michael's Yoga Meltdown which was really good also, but significantly harder because she incorporates reps into the yoga moves. It's not tradional yoga at all, and really the calm feeling is not quite there for me, but I still love to do this workout, just not when I'm feeling tired.

I really prefer doing exercises alone, so these workouts are great for me. If you are looking for something to do, try these!

Benefits of yoga:

*increases flexibility

*builds muscle tone

*improves posture

*deep breathing helps lung capacity

*decreases stress, increases calmness

*people feel happier

*can decrease risks of heart disease, stroke, and high blood pressure

More benefits of yoga

Looking for someone? This may help!

Remember, if your sense of humor is hiding and has been for the last 10 years, this isn't the place for you, little pumpkin.

Here's what I think--

The more one talks about, advertises, and tries to convince others that they:

a) are a wonderful example of a Christian
b) are in the greatest relationship ever known to man
c) shop all the time
d) are so busy that they don't know what to do
e) have an exciting life
f) are working out every day all day
g) have a lot of money
h) ate a healthy meal

....the more I know that they:

a) can be found at a bar with a hooker the night before church
b) can be found, ahem, anywhere but together in a year or two and in the meantime, probably with the wonderful example of a Christian above and yes, the hooker too
c) can be found at yard sales in wealthy neighborhoods (no, nothing wrong with that!), fighting with their husband about money on any given day, getting served divorce papers
d) can be found on the couch 20 hours a day
e) can be found on the couch crying 20 hours a day
f) can be found maybe at a gym staring at themselves in a mirror, but probably in the vicinity of the couch
g) can be found arguing with their partner about money, divorcing their partner for spending all their money, divorcing their partner because he/she no longer has any money, or the most likely answer, working as a janitor and selling drugs on the side.
h) can be found at the greasiest food place in town, then on their couch with powdered donuts all over their face

The point is...people that have and are and do, simply do not feel the need to gush about what they have and what they do and what they are and how many crunches their monstrous abs did today at the gym or how much their boyfriend loves them, or how busy they are.

I'm gonna go to bed now...I have a super busy day tomorrow that I have to prepare for. So if you're looking for me...I'll be with all the busy people.

On this day in 2009...

Facebook told me today that on this day in 2009, my status said, "Jenny Leigh Adams is a very happy girl :)"

I distinctly remember where I was when I wrote this and why. Its funny how things happen and how fast two years can pass us by as it feels like just yesterday to me. This moment is so vivid in my memory and when I close my eyes for just a second, I can almost return to this day and remember everything about it. I can certainly remember the genuine smile that was coming from my heart and soul that day. I was standing in my bathroom, having just gotten home from a jog, which by the way, was NOT why I was so happy. I did not then, and do not now like jogging, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do, right? So I was standing in the bathroom, about to shower and get ready for the night ahead and I was feeling overwhelmingly happy .

A week or so earlier, I had taken a beach trip with a group of friends. One of which was a loud, overbearing, stubborn, opinionated, arrogant, annoying asshole of a guy that I couldn't get away from fast enough who, as the weekend went on, became the sweetest, most thoughtful, smart, generous, comforting, attentive, funny guy that I couldn't get enough of. It just so happens that the guy that made me so happy in 2009, just became my husband :)

So, on this day in 2011, Jenny Leigh Adams Layman is still a very happy girl :)

First dinner in Destin, FL August 2009

Newlyweds in NC, August 2011

More Bangkok Pictures

Tricky tricky!

Cats are everywhere here

Lying Buddha

Street vendors selling things that you would see at a yard sale from the 80s...things that look like they have probably been sitting out there since the 80s.

Fruit at a market

Temple of the Dawn- So pretty

Climbing back down the Temple of the Dawn...its about 282 ft high This was my favorite place there. The colors and details of the building are gorgrous.

An eel escaped from one of these buckets and a man and a woman were chasing it down the street!

We are in the boat looking at the view from the river...this is the backside of a market.

A glimpse of Thailand-Bangkok

So I have done a terrible, terrible job at blogging about our travels since living in Korea. Pardon me for being wrapped up in all the other aspects of living there...(see every other blog for details). We went to Japan in February, Thailand in June, and St. Lucia in July, which doesn't count for our Asia travels because its not Asia...but, anyway. I'm going to try to add some of our travel experiences to the blog because for one, I probably won't remember it in 10 years unless I write about it and two, so that you guys can see that I don't always hate everything and everyone I come into contact with. ;)

Our first stop in Thailand was Bangkok. This city has a very different feel to it. It is very care-free, eccentric, and unpredictable. The air is hot and sticky. The people are friendly and extremely tricky, but in the form of being helpful. For example, we walked down the street right after arriving at our hotel and this nice little older lady helped me cross the street. The reason for this was because I was lagging behind the crowd and well, to put it simply, if you're in the road when the light turns green, you get ran over. Traffic=crazy. She was so sweet and giving us all kinds of ideas about things to do in town. "Do your wifey like jewelry?" she asked Luke. She said, "you go here, to da jewelry mart, good price for youuuu, I speak Thai, I tell tuk-tuk drivaa to take you to jewelry and wait for you outside while you buy nice gifff for yo wifey." She got really pushy. Turns out, this was the first of many experiences lije this here. After we arrived at a small private building down an alley, Luke and I decided she had gotten the tuk-tuk take us to her cousin's jewelry store.

There are floating markets, river boat rides, and beautiful temples to see here. The nightlife is also good, however, we never made it out to any bars or clubs. Touring the temples and stuff during the day was super tiring. Prices are dirt cheap for the most part. A tuk-tuk ride (not a cab, more like a fast golf cart) cost about 10-50 cents, cabs are cheap, and Chinatown has great things...like jewelry. I am pretty sure I found where Forever 21 gets their accessories, for a lot cheaper. The only thing that was really pricey was the food and drinks at our hotel. $25 for a glass of wine.We stayed at Lebua Hotel in downtown Bangkok. It had a great view of the city and the river. We toured temples and the King's palace, where Luke had to have on long pants and I had to cover my shoulders and have on a longer skirt. Our hotel warned us that when we went to the palace, there would be men at the first entrance (there are 3) that would tell us that the palace was closed. We got there and there were men dressed in guard uniforms that said "palace security" on them and they told us that the palace was closed, but would reopen at 3pm. One guy then gave us a map and directions to another temple that we could visit in the meantime. I walked away from him, but Luke let him tell him all about the other place before he decided that it was another scam! :) Who knew Luke was more nice than me?!?! We walked down further and sure enough, the palace was not closed at all.

The architecture and colors of the buildings were amazing! But it was so hot. We ate dinner at the hotel every meal because I think I have what you could call a food phobia, so I can't talk much about Thai food and restaurants. Poor Luke never gets to try the dirty street food when we travel. While I think I am doing him a favor by not stopping to get random food, I do tell him I will go with him if he wants to eat it...I just can't partake in all the yummy goodness with him.

The upsides: the sites*the shopping*the experience of being in a city with such a different vibe than other places*the temples and other amazing buildings*the adrenaline ride that is the tuk-tuk...nothing like darting across raging lanes of cars in a motorized golf cart*the good prices*the palace*the markets*the people are really nice for the most part*

The downsides: the tricky people preying on tourists*melting my chi straighter into a puddle of plastic by using the wrong outlet*its kind of dirty*the smell can put you on your knees at times*prostitution is legal*sometimes things feel a little sketchy*the stray dogs and cats :( *

We took so many pictures, but here are just a few....

Tuk-tuk

Restaurant at Lebua

Just a view of downtown

View from our hotel balcony

Street food

Closer view of the details on the building

Grande Palace

Restaurant

River view

Grande Palace

Loved these guys

One of the many Buddhas we visited

On our way to the Lying Buddha

Wat arun- Temple of the Dawn

View from the top of Wat arun

Love all the colors

There are many buildings inside the Grande Palace, but the King doesn't live in any of them!

The King lives here. No tourists allowed.

Another day, another dollar? no, another...really special person.

Today I went to get my nails done, you know, just wanting a normal day at the nail salon, but no, I left swimming in influenza. I walked in and there were no customers, which isn't really surprising since nail places are popping up faster than those gross little mushrooms that suddenly infest your pretty front yard in the summertime. Anyway, there is a girl that seemingly works there, listening to an ipod while eating this cookie thing that was shaped like a straw. She asked me what I needed, I told her and I sat down. After two different women came up and asked me again what I wanted, she plopped down in the chair in front of me sucking on a cookie straw. She then started telling me about how far she has to drive to work, and her boyfriend was gonna pick up her son because he got fired from his second job, but if he didn't then she was gonna have to ask the baby's daddy because it would be an hour before she got home if she had to go all the way over there...and so on and so forth. Now, I usually have this inate ability to make people shut up in front of me. But really, I didn't have it today. And I don't know why. She asked me questions, good lawd did she ask me questions! Where was I from? Did I live around here? Why did I leave my husband in Korea? Didn't Korea have anything fun? Do I "got" a kid with him? (my husband) "Do" Korea have lots of nice restaurants? *sighhh* I was actually just so taken aback by her, that I think I lost my "look" that I give when I just want to be left alone. If I had it, she didn't seem to notice. Thennnnn, she coughs on me. Ok, strike 1 biatch! I am a germophobe and I don't appreciate you spraying my face with your nastiness. Ughh! So, I am getting gel nail polish so every few minutes she has to stop and wait for my nails to dry under the UV light. Everytimeeee, my nails were drying, she would open up her little manicure box and start picking at her cuticles with one of the tools and then she would just put it right back, without washing it! Strike 2!! By the way, all she did was repaint my nails, so she wasn't using the tools on me. I would have freaked out! Next, she begins to file her toenails right in front of me...ummm, waittt. Is this actually happening? I'm actually paying for this experience.Thennn, she is checking my polish to see if its dry when she starts rubbing on her nose and sniffing. She said, "I think Im getting sick.." Then she shoves another cookie straw thing in her mouth. Strike 3!! I went home to bathe in bleach.

When I was leaving, this lady came in and yelled in an all out southern dialect, "I don't know how good you people can speak Aaanglish, but I'm diabetic! And if you cut me while you're givin' me a pedicure, I'm gone bleed like'a stuck hawg!" Baaaahahahaha. Bless her heart.

How do I stumble upon all the specialness of the world? And how do I make it stop? 

On another note, I am so excited for November that I can't stand it! I cannot wait for San Diego with Lucas <3

Country Music and Classy People

So, Luke and I went to a Kenny Chesney concert last weekend and as expected, there were all kinds of people that came out of the woods, trailor parks, and 1.4 million dollar homes, apparently...but I'll get to that later. I am always amazed, and really pretty overwhelmed in big crowds like that. I usually find that I can barely watch what I went to see for watching all the people that creep out to these events. There were what looked like 13-year-old girls with their butt cheeks peeking out of their shorts, as well as 55-year-olds with their butt cheeks, more falling than anything else, out of their shorts. Some of which I thought if the wind blew much harder, their cheeks would surely flap so hard in the wind, that they may indeed mistake it for an actual slap on the ass from Billy Bob, sitting next to them, and take it as a compliment. As the crowd started making their way to their seats, I really hoped that we wouldn't have weirdos sitting next to us for the whole concert! Well, you can't always get what you want, right? There were so many freaks around us...but just to name a few:

Betty Sue and Elvira- These two ladies were behind us and up a little, but they were there to partayyy. Clearly, they hadn't been out of the house since the 1980s. How do I know? Their hair, their make up, their clothes, their dancing, and their embarrassing desire to show all the hot men how hot they were. Only one problem, its 2011 and they are not 20 anymore. Nobody that has been out of the house within the last few decades would have acted like they had just been let out of a basement closet somewhere. They were the first to get up and start dancing like maniacs and giving the guys bedroom eyes, although it was a little hard to see through the blue eyeshadow and giant frizzy black permed hair. They did get the attention of a man though, and I'm pretty sure he had just left the Hooters tent and instead of wings, he had swallowed a whole hooters girl.

Tweedle-dee and Tweedle dumb- Next, these two women, probably mid to late 30s, sat down next to Luke. The redhead was having the time of her life flipping her hair around and taking pictures of all the boys half her age that were topless. Her friend was a little bit of a chubster and didn't seem to want the attention. The redhead asks Luke to take a picture and then tells him that "we have to get up and party with her!" Then she leans over and grabs Luke's chest and looks at me and says, "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't mean to grab your...his chest....I'm so drunk..." Ok, not that big of a deal. The redhead then scooted by us bouncing with every step towards a younger man, while her friend scuttled behind her with her head down.

The Baptists- The Baptists were dressed like they were going to church in the deep south instead of a concert, which would be fine I guess, if they wouldn't have looked like it was so painful to actually be at the concert. They wouldn't move and really, I thought they must've fallen asleep for most of the show. I still can't figure out why they were there. The wife especially. She was clearly offended that they weren't singing hymns.

The very best, errr, worst of the night was right dead in front of us.

The Cougar and the Cupcake- With a daiquiri in hand and daughter in tow, the Cougar makes her way and sits down right in front of Luke. Complete with a bleach blonde pixie (with a giant pink flower growing out of the side of her head), a black dress, and flowered cowboy boots, she slowly updates her facebook status on her iphone (with her daughter's help) and slurped away at her drink. It was her daughter's 16th birthday and she was in a precious little yellow, frilly number with her boots and her crying mother by her side. The cougar told us all it was her daughter's birthday and she was a disaster. She was soooo sad that she had a 16-year-old. I saw that Ms. Cougar wasn't wearing a wedding ring and made the assumption (her need for attention and man-gawking helped with this) that she was fresh out of a divorce and living off a pretty penny from her rich ex-husband. Meanwhile, Cougar tries to pour Cupcake some of her daiquiri into a cup so that she can partake in the fun. She's 16 right!? That's old enough to drink with your cougar mom. This story continues a little later....

Bangs and her man- In front of me sat the weirdest of the weird. This poor woman, Lord help her, I don't know what in the hell happened to her hair, but good gawd it was awful! Picture bangs that start 3-4 inches from the hairline on the forehead...then taken and with the world's smallest curling iron, rolled until they looked like a hotdog. It was just one roll of sausage-hair. I can only hope it was an accident because she looked like she may have been a cast member in The Hills Have Eyes.  Her bangs literally started at the back of her head, and the rest of her hair (what wasn't rolled on her forehead) was in a little loop in a scrunchie on the back of her head. Okay...then, her husband comes up and is just all over her. He is decent-looking and clearly in the military by his proudly-worn buzz cut. They have another couple with them, who is, for an intents and purposes, normal looking. I hear Bangs' man lean over and tell her in her ear, "Don't you even worry about it. Don't let it bother you. You are the most beautiful woman here, don't you worry about all these other women. And you know why? Because you don't even have to try." I'm sorry, what?? What do you meeeeean, she doesn't have to try. *sigh* Did he not see the sausage dog laying on her head? Anyway, Bangs and her female friend start dancing and having a grand time. Bangs' man disappears for like an hour and comes back hammertimed. She sent him to get her a drink and kept looking around for him while he was gone. I am pretty sure he met some girls and was having a grand ole time minus Bangs and her sausage dog. He came back and told her the line was long or something and they continued their PDAs. Luke decided he had either just got caught cheating on her or just got home from a deployment.

Bang's man and The Cougar- I went to the bathroom, came back and Luke told me that the cougar told him "Don't get married, its not worth it." What a bitter bitch whore! Please go back to your mid-life disaster and your 1.4 million dollar mansion (which she told Luke she had just moved out of and didn't ask for it or money with the divorce...that's probably because she was having too much fun with her daughter's boyfriend and got caught!!! Pure speculation.) Anyway, by this time Kenny Chesney is onstage and everyone is standing up and dancing. Bangs' husband is kissing her and hugging her and may have well been humping her jeans and Cougar and Cupcake and dancing and smiling and laughing...then...Bangs' man reaches over and grabs Cougar's ass. Cougar looks over at him a little startled, then smiled and moved closer so he could have better access. WTF is going on? Luke and I can hardly watch the concert because we have some Jerry Springer shit going on right in front of us. Suddenly, Cupcake gets pulled into the middle of this sandwich between Bangs and her "semi-normal" friend. Cupcake is getting bounced around between these two women and I dunno, something about it just felt really, really strange. Meanwhile, Bangs' husband is kissing her while groping the Cougar, ahem, in the back and the front. After she got released from the estrogen sandwich, poor little Cupcake's little ruffles are just blowing in the wind while she dances with Mommy, and she has no clue that Mommy is letting Bangs' husband fondle her the entire time! It was appalling! And hilarious! The Cougar loved every minute of it. Hopefully Cupcake won't grow up to be like Mommy, but I kind of doubt it since Cougar was pointing out shirtless guys for Cupcake to see.

By the end of the night, Bangs was crying because her man went from telling her how beautiful she was to cussing her out over a set of car keys. He couldn't stand up anymore at that point. Elvira and Betty Sue left with Billy Bob (I'm pretty sure they fed him chicken wings all night long). The Cougar was crying again because Bang's man stopped grabbing her ass--or because Cupcake was 16, or because she had to move out of her mansion.

Class, class, class!

Respectfully Yours

So, before we got to Korea, I didn't google "Korean culture and traditions" or anything. For some strange reason, I wasn't the least bit interested even before I got here as to what this place was about. I did have about a thousand or so hits on google for my search "koreans eat dogs" though. Somehow, this was the beginning and end to my interest in Korea and their culture. Now, I am not trying to say that all their culture and traditions are bobo; I am just saying that upon learning about their taste for dog, I closed some all of the doors that led to my giving a shit about them. Ok, moving on. Despite the fact that I did not attempt to learn about Koreans, this was inevitable upon arriving here. I learned a lot as I worked in the school. I learned to take my super cute shoes off and trade them in for a pair of communal, hideous, 2 sizes too big, blue or red slippers (thanks for the choice, guys...really, really, thoughtful) which more times than I can count, caused me to trip and on a daily basis and made me wear a face of disgust. Why? Why do they make you wear these pathetic shoes that ruin your day? One reason, respect. Another reason, they don't want to bring the outside grossness into their house. Okay, I can deal with these...but only because I have to. My thoughts on this??? Hmm, let's see. First of all, why do I have to respect you and take off my shoes when clearly you don't respect the fact that I want to wear my own shoes and not share with a bunch of people who I don't even know if they took a bath today!! To combat feet fungus, I wore socks....every single day...no matter what I was wearing, socks came with me in my purse to school, so that I could put them on to go with my stylish slippers. After a while, who cares what your wearing because you are about to ruin that cute dress with a freaking pair of socks and bright blue slippers!! Infuriated...every single day about this which leads me to my second thought about this. Sometimes, I chose to only sport my socks around and not wear the slippers. Why not, right? The floor is clean because nobody is allowed to walk around in there with shoes on, including the guy working on the toliet or fixing the air conditioner or bringing a new supply of water (since you can't drink the water here thanks to some parasite...yippiee!) Anyway, all these poor fools are walking around with no shoes on! It just looks so strange and is just gross to me. So, back to the clean floor...I just wear my socks since this has clearly got to be cleaner than any floor ever. Wrong!!! Not true at all. I get home the first day of wearing my socks at school, and it looks like I've been slipping and sliding all over the dirtiest Piggly Wiggly in the south for 100 hours! WTF? Can someone please explain the damn logic behind this? Like most everything else here, there is no freaking logic. It is pointless.

Koreans also have this hierarchy system when it comes to walking on a sidewalk or...anywhere for that matter. It is respectful and expected for you to move out of the path of anyone that is older than you. So, if a person that's older than you is walking toward you on the sidewalk, then you move over and let them pass. It doesn't sound that bad, right? Well, its not, until one of them purposefully steps into your pathway just to make you move out of their way and show their superiority. This is definitely up there on my list of "I hate all these things about this place". While running with the dogs the other day, this older-than-me man was walking towards me and this older-than-him couple was walking in front of me, going the same direction I was. So, ra-tard, moves out of the way for the couple in front of me and quickly steps right back in my path. I'm thinking, "little buddy, this aint tha day"...haha! Now, I have stayed in the same place as I have been running the entire time. He was on the other side of the sidewalk before, but moved across the sidewalk just to walk in my path. So, what had happened was...he got smashed into. I mean, really dude, really?!?!? I was just trying to get a little jog on with my dogs and forget that I am living in this freaking place, which is impossible, by the way, because I have to launch myself over piles of trash, rotten food, and puddles of phlegm as I run...but hey, that's not so bad, huh?! Anyway, Ra-tard got what he deserved in my opinion. And before you go getting your feathers ruffled, it wasn't like he was some wrinkled old man, hunched over with brittle bones and a crooked back, just barely making his way down the sidewalk or anything! He wasn't that old. Gah. The only thing that would have made it better is if my dog would've nipped his ankle. *evil laugh*

Ok well, I've done enough bashing for one blog entry I guess. The point is, there is no point to most of this and that respecting others here is a one-way street. Give respect and get....to smell and see the gutter that is this country.  

Dog's Rights

Rave


I suscribed to this adorable magazine called Bark/ The Dog Culture Magazine recently and love it. It features tons of great articles and just lots of pictures and information about dogs. If you are a dog lover, I highly recommend it!



John Bradshaw, author of Dog Sense, created the "Bill of Right's for Dogs" and I couldn't agree more with every single one of them.

A Bill Of Rights for Dogs

By John Bradshaw

1.           We are dogs, not wolves. We have lived with mankind since you were hunter-gatherers, and are now no more or less domesticated than you are. We assert the right to be treated as ourselves, and not as any kind of wild animal.
2.          We assert the right to have our perceptions of the world taken into account, especially where our senses are superior to yours.
3.          We assert the right to have our feelings, which are real if unlike yours, allowed for and comprehended. We are neither inferior humans, nor senseless robots.
4.          Our mental capacities are considerable, but again different from those of mankind. We assert the right to be understood by our owners, who should not expect us to comprehend every word they say, nor presume that we learn as human children do.5.          We assert the right to be taught how to cope with the world of man. For although we are the product of your world, we are not born to understand it, and need to be introduced gradually, with care and with kindness.
6.          Our language is rich and sophisticated. We assert the right to be comprehended, in the same way that we attempt to comprehend you.
7.          We are fundamentally social animals, and we assert the right to the company of our own kind.
8.          We are domesticated animals, and assert our right to the company of humans. If we are to be left on our own, we need to be trained to cope with that isolation.
9.          We are individuals, each dog with its own personality. We therefore assert the right to be judged on our own merits, and not according to the reputation of breed or type.
10.        We have served mankind faithfully for tens of thousands of years.  Whilst we are born to serve, we assert the right for our needs and our dignity to be respected in all the capacities, both traditional and novel, that humanity may require.
11.         We assert our right to a future. Having adapted our bodies and our lives to your needs, we have forfeited much of our capacity for independence. We therefore require mankind’s assistance as we meet the future together.


Again, this is from John Bradshaw's book,  Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet (Basic Books; 2011).

I so hope one day, animals get all the rights they deserve <3

nothing is easy...dogs and kimchi

So, like I knew it would be...its proven extremely hard (impossible) to find someone to groom Zeus and Fritz here. And this has nothing to do with the fact that I was googling "koreans eat dogs" 6 months before we came here! This is a real problem!...aside from my fear that instead of grooming them, they will roast them for dinner to eat along with their rotten vegetables that they bury under the ground for a few weeks, then dig up and call it kimchi (or maybe they used their high-tech kimchi fridge to rot their veggies). Either way, slimy, fermented cabbage, with a little dog on the side. Gross. Anyway! There are no groomers on base, and even when I asked the vet to recommend a Korean groomer off base, they said "Ummm, we can't do that." Ha! It wasn't like I needed much of a reason not to trust Korean dog groomers, but that was all it took. Thankfully, Luke is like one of those handy pocket knives that you get that has all kinds of little helpful devices that fold out from all sides of it; and it turns out, he has some serious dog grooming skills. And I mean that in like a "roaring, beat your chest, scratch your balls, burp really loud" manly kind of way. His dog grooming skills are very manly. Now, ladies...if you haven't found a guy that will groom your dog, cook you dinner, and rub your back while watching the latest Reese Witherspoon flick, you are clearly living your life the wrong way.
And for the record, I was picky about dog groomers in America too! Gahhhh. I know what you're thinking and I know you are judging me for using the words their and they. But the fact is, I am not a Korean and they are Koreans. There is a difference. And seriously, some of them eat dogs. So there.

Also, just in case you wondered what two very bored miniature schnauzers look like...

They drag all their toys out daily...and even their winter sweaters some days. Life is hard for all of us over here in kimchi country.

Snot, poop, and other fun things....

So, a lot of people back home always ask me how I am liking teaching English in Korea. I thought I would give you guys an example of a day in my life at school that happened recently.

****These are just cute pictures that I took in class. This blog is not about any one of them. There are many more students than this is my class.  These are, however, a few of my favorites!****

One random Tuesday or something a couple of weeks ago, some of my children tried to put me in the grave. Maybe not physically, but mentally for sure.

Class had started we were all in the gym, which is a big room where we have "song and dance time", when some of my students randomly started coming up to me and saying something in Korean. So, being that I had no clue what they were saying and they had no clue how to tell me in English what they were saying, we continued with our songs. We went back to the classroom and started learning all about the letter "D", all the while the students are still saying this thing in Korean and I am telling them "I do not speak Korean!!" I do make several attempts to figure out what they are saying, but geezzz, I didn't know. I asked them, "Do you need to go to the bathroom?" "Do you want water?" They stared back blankly at my face. These sweet little angels can make a grown up feel like the dumbest idiot on the face of the earth with their looks they give you. This time was no different; they were looking at me like I was an alien that just walked into their world. As I tried to continue the lesson, the students at this point, are damn-near chanting this phrase that sounded like "Shinanboyahya". So my classroom had gradually turned into what I thought was perhaps a cultish chant party for 4 year olds, instead of learning that "dog" started with "d". So, the kids are all staring at me with these eyes that demand attention and chanting "Shinanboyahya....Shinanboyahya....Shinanboyahya". It began to sound more like "Shinanboyahhhhhhyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa". All the while, I'm still trying to get them to repeat the word "dog" and "donkey".  One little girl, I will call her Miss Priss, is standing up in her chair, which is really not abnormal for her. She does what she wants. She was looking at me, but then I noticed she had her chin propped up on her little hand, with her elbow leaning on the desk, as she stood in her chair. Her eyes were gazed toward the ceiling with a look of blissful release and that's when it hit me. So I rushed over to her, grabbed her up and ran her to the bathroom. Another Korean teacher took her to help her go to the bathroom, but like I expected, she had already gone...in her pants. Two of the other little girls quickly ran to the bathroom once they figured out that it was okay. So she comes back, all smiles, ready to have story time with all the other kids on the carpet in the classroom, with a stylish new pair of pajama pants on. Rounding these kids up for story time is real, real fun. After we were all on the carpet, another little girl, Miss Sneaky, sat on one side of me, sneezed directly at my face, wiped the snot coming out of her nose, and then grabbed my hand. On the other side of me is the little boy that makes my life a living hell (seriously, do not underestimate a 4 year old). He began, like always, sticking two fingers up his nose and pulling out whatever he could find, as far up as he could find it. And then of course, he proceeds to eat everything he pulled out of his nose. Now, this kid is serious about his nose-picking and clearly enjoys the taste of what comes out because it doesn't matter to him whether he pulls something really snotty out or not, he is going to lick every single one of his fingers for any remnants that may be left on them from his nose. So, on this day, he happened to be having an awesome day for himself and his never-ending quest for snot because he pulled out the most slimy, glistening, 2 inch, stringy piece of snot that you can imagine. The look on his face when he looked at his finger was like he had just found the golden ticket to the Willy Wonka factory. He smiled in such a way that you would have thought nothing else could ever make him happier. Now, all of the other kids and myself are staring at him in horror (ok, maybe I was in horror, they were just curious) to see what he was going to do with it. Well, we wouldn't have to wonder long because he lapped it up like a thirsty dog and licked his lips clean, but only after licking all his other fingers, of course. So, as I am trying to swallow my own gags, I put my hands over my mouth and said "OH------MY-------GOD, the students quickly did the same thing as me and started giggling about it. Not one minute after this, Miss Sneaky said, "Shinanboyaaahaaaaa", so of course I took her to the bathroom. I came back thinking I would read the story, but was met immediately with  Miss Priss saying again, "Shinanboyaahaaaa". I leave the other kids in the classroom, so that I can help Miss Priss go to the bathroom. I thought she must not have finished her potty in her pants. So I plopped her up on the potty and waited for her to go pee. Well, it never happened. But what did happen was her sweet, cute, adorable little face turned red and she started grunting and doing some serious work on the potty. By this time, I am starting to feel a little defeated...and really, really dirty. See, being that we don't have children yet, I don't actually come face to face with this type of thing very often. Koreans don't keep an abundance of toilet paper in the bathroom, so I quickly snap out of my shock and realize this is something I will be needing very soon. I go grab the paper, come back and ask her if she is finished. She says, "dayyyyyy" which means yes in Korean so I hand her some tissue paper and she looks at it like she has never seen such in her life. I tell her what to do with it and she hands it back to me and says something very adamently in Korean. Realizing she would not be wiping herself, I peered over her to see what I was up against. Are you serious?! This is sooo not what I signed up for!!!! I haven't even had the pleasure of wiping my own child's dirty little ass yet! Soooo, I do it, of course I do it! I am an adult and I can do whatever my job requires of me! Haha...I'm chanting this to myself at this point...or either I am telling myself what my mother always told me in bad situations..."this too shall pass". So, as I am kneeling on the ground...in a bathroom (and if you know me and my slightly germophobic tendencies, you know the state of mind I must be in). I mean, it can only go up from here, right?! I am about to pull Miss Priss's pants up and someone taps me on the shoulder. I turn around and I am now face-to-face with a four year old's little uncircumsized weiner, just flapping at my face. He is staring at me and says "Shinanboyaaahhaaaa". I almost knock Miss Priss over trying to get away from the little guy and his little buddy that's hanging in my face, staring at my nose... because it is, for some reason, bringing up my horrific fear of parasitic worms. I told him "OMG just goooo to the bathroom, you don't have to ask me...OR show me!!!!!!"

Really, I mean really? Thank God class was almost over. I needed a glass of wine or ten, some deep meditation, and a long shower with a lot of soap.

This post should tell you two things:

1. I do not like to teach tiny children that cannot understand me, that pick their noses with an odd passion, and that cannot wipe their own ass.

2. I am in no way, shape, or form, a teacher at heart.

Okay 3...I am deathly afraid of worms.

Love and Dogs

Tonight I feel such sadness about the way the world works...the way life works. I've said before, that I always see the bad and I guess this is no different, but on a deeper level I suppose. Today, my mom was told it was time to put her dog to sleep. He has been sick for quite a while, but being the fighter that he is, he has managed to pull through. This dog has been her companion, her shoulder to lean on, her pillow to cry on, her best friend for years and years. He has seen her through every up and every down, every pain, every tear, and every smile. Some people think that "a dog is just a dog". I happen to disagree with those people, and I question the depth of their soul. Animals cannot communicate with us through spoken word, but to me that does not mean that they are lacking. To take the time to bond with an animal softens one's heart. Many people lack the ability to shut out the noise of the world, and focus on something that has no voice. I do not understand these people, and I have very little respect for any person that does not respect an animal. When my mom told me about her dog, my mind began to travel down the same road it often does and it brought me back to the same place it brings me everytime. Deep sadness. Call me negative, call me a downer...a pessimist. I don't really care. The fact is that there are awful, horrific things going on in the world and just life in general can be so mean....that's for another post though. Pets get such a small amount of time on this earth compared to most of us. I love Zeus and Fritz more than I can explain and they have given me such an overwhelming amount of happiness. I realize that they will not be with me forever, so I choose to try and make their short little lives as sweet as possible....even if that means cramming them in the bed with me at night and ending up with a foot and a half of space to sleep in. I know that when the day comes that I am faced with the situation that my mom is now, I will never regret the times I rushed home to let them out of their room to play and the nights that I crammed them in the bed with me instead of telling them to get in their own bed.


"He is my other eyes that can see above the clouds; my other ears that hear above the winds. He is the part of me that can reach out into the sea. He has told me a thousand times over that I am his reason for being; by the way he rests against my leg; by the way he thumps his tail at my smallest smile; by the way he shows his hurt when I leave without taking him. (I think it makes him sick with worry when he is not along to care for me.) When I am wrong, he is delighted to forgive. When I am angry, he clowns to make me smile. When I am happy, he is joy unbounded. When I am a fool, he ignores it. When I succeed, he brags. Without him, I am only another man. With him, I am all-powerful. He is loyalty itself. He has taught me the meaning of devotion. With him, I know a secret comfort and a private peace. He has brought me understanding where before I was ignorant. His head on my knee can heal my human hurts. His presence by my side is protection against my fears of dark and unknown things. He has promised to wait for me... whenever... wherever - in case I need him. And I expect I will - as I always have. He is just my dog."
- Gene Hill

"Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring--it was peace."
- Milan Kundera

"You may have a dog that won't sit up, roll over or even cook breakfast, not because she's too stupid to learn how but because she's too smart to bother."
- Rick Horowitz, Chicago Tribune

"The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven, not man's."
- Mark Twain, Letter to W D Howells, 4/2/1899

Diagnosis...delusional.

Last week I found a lump on Zeus' shoulder. Now, being the panic disorder person that I am, I freaked out. Ok, I haven't been medically diagnosed with panic disorder, geezzz! But I do panic...and it does cause disorder in my life a whole lot. Anyway, back to the lump. So, I am nervously feeling around trying to diagnose "the best dog in the world-another animal could not possibly hold a candle to this dog", all the while trying to keep calm on the outside and to hide just how crazy my mind goes at the thought of something bad. He has had cysts before, but this was no cyst. I knew what a cyst felt like, and this was not a cyst!!!!(my mind racing). Luckily, I had an appointment with the vet already scheduled to get the dogs' nails trimmed the following week, so I tried to put it in the back of my mind until then. In all actuality, I diagnosed Zeus with cancer the second my fingers felt the lump in the first place, but in accordance with the rules and regulations of sane people, I attempted to look on the bright side of things and realize that it was probably nothing....Didn't work for me. The next few days went by, but the fact that my dog had a cancerous lump on his shoulder lurked in the front of my mind. He seemed super tired and his eyes looked so much more sad than his normal eyes did. "Omg, its the cancer", I thought. Then last night, the night before his appointment at the vet, he threw up. This was going right along with my diagnosis. I was so worried about my little buddy! Today was the appointment at the vet. I got Zeus and Fritz ready to go, dreading what I was going to hear about Zeus. As the vet examined him, I told her about the lump. She felt around and found it. She was really quiet and she examined the lump for what felt like 10 minutes before she said something. She just looked at me and said, "I'll be right back". I nervously waited and she appeared back in the room with a small device. I held Zeus and got ready for the bad news. The device beeped and she made a diagnosis. Zeus' cancer was........his microchip. That's right folks. His microchip. I am such a neurotic, crazy lady that I diagnosed my dog's microchip as a cancerous lump. What is wrong with me?! I don't know, but whatever it is...its exhausting. Wowzers.

On another note, its Valentine's Day today and Lucas sent me flowers :) And even though I pretend to be a cold-hearted biatch that grimaces at nice gestures and doesn't like anything sweet or sappy, my heart smiled when I saw them. Thank God for Luke, who never fails to ride the waves of insanity with me and who gives me flowers to stare at instead of a cancerous microchip on my dog's shoulder.

When your glass is always empty...and someone near you always has bad breath...

Ok, so I am innately a negative person. I meet people and I see their flaws before their good qualities. I find ten reasons not to like them before I can find one reason to tolerate them. I walk into a room and I am the first one to notice if someone ate garlic...or kimchi as is the case in good ole Korea or if the lighting is bad or if the music sucks, etc...etc. I am plagued by this keen sense of the negative. Not to say that I don't find the positives as well, but they are usually not the first things I point out. Does this suck about me? Yes. Is it a major personality flaw? Yes. So, I am trying to make strides to tweak my flaws a bit. It seems very simple. But I am telling you, when I walk up to someone and the first thing I see is that their left nostril is bigger than the right or that their nose is taking a slight left turn instead of pointing straight, what do I do? I don't notice these things intentionally, geez. And I am not just talking about looks either. The vastness of the things I can talk about in a negative way is monumental. Like, Luke and I just went to Japan which was awesome no doubt, but one day we were "exploring". Well, to me, that consisted of walking around a parking lot for 30 minutes after we'd just spent an hour climbing a mountain to see a castle. It didn't feel adventurous and it didn't feel much like roaming around a jungle finding new and exciting things. My legs felt like they were going to fall completely off and I was about to start searching for fresh water that had rallied on a leaf somewhere because I was dying of thirst, so I said, "what are we gonna do next?...I'd like to be doing anything but this" and Bam! Negative Nelly reared her ugly face. I mean here we are, exploring a new country (parking lot) and I want to be doing something else (sitting and drinking water...and shopping maybe). I'm trying to look on the bright side of life, but its hard ya know? Its like being constipated for a week, but telling yourself you should be thankful that you have the opportunity to be constipated because there are starving children in Africa who would love to be constipated right now. See? It just doesn't work well for me. Anyway, my blog may turn into my "bitch it out" place, so if you don't want to hear it, then don't read it I guess. I really, really want to be sunshine and rainbows, but damnit, its just not in me. I do, however, want to stop noticing long nose hairs, spoiled bratty children, inattentive husbands with roaming eyes, dingy curtains on buses, and bad smells...to name a few.

I have to mention, that there is a house next to our apartment here that is right across the wall from us, made out of I don't know what all, cardboard, plywood, old plastic tables, and maybe some car doors or something. This house has a mile long pipe coming from its roof that constantly puts out smoke. Now, as if its not bad enough that it is 1 degree outside and I am out at midnight taking the dogs out, I have to wade through this thick, nasty ass smoke and inhale the most gut-wrenching stench while doing it. I know, I know, its sad that people live in something like that, but more importantly, what the hell are they burning in there? I am so tired of coming back inside smelling like a mixture of roasted pig asshole, baked cow intestines, and burnt hair that I just don't know what to do.

Here's to making lemonade out of lemons... :-/

Happy 2011!!

It's now 2011, and since 2010 was such as amazing year for me, I want my first blog to highlight some of the things from the previous year. I spent NYE 2010 with my best friend, Michele and her boyfriend, my boyfriend Luke, and my boyfriend's brother Kyle and his girlfriend in Atlanta. It was great fun and I felt that I couldn't have celebrated the eve of a new year with better people.

Night before NYE

Little did I know, in two weeks time, right as I started my last semester of college, my boyfriend that I loved and adored more than anything in the world would break up with me and I would be devastated beyond belief (don't hate him yet!). Two weeks after the boyfriend broke my heart, he came crawling back. Haha, and yes, I actually envision him crawling to my doorstep and even though that may not have actually happened, my pride says it did.

St. Patty's Day in Savannah

Graduation!

In May, Luke took me to celebrate my graduation and birthday in Mexico! It was the best vacation ever, and I loved every minute of it with him. Besides being my first time out of the country (if Mexico counts), Luke took me snorkeling for the first time and I loved it! This was surprising being that I will not step two feet into the ocean without running, in full panic back to shore. But, it was super clear water, and I was entranced with the beauty under the water. The fish and their colors were simply amazing! We followed a sea turtle swimming for a bit, which I adored! Don't get me wrong, I kept looking across the way under the water to such a distance that it became murky, and envisioning a shark coming to eat me, but thankfully this didn't happen.We also went sea kayaking-ummm, no thanks. I kept feeling like we were stranded at sea in that little kayak! Anyway, great scenery, great experiences, and all with my best friend and love!

Mexico

In late June, Luke found out he was moving to South Korea for his next assignment...which was my worst nightmare. Ughhh! It was a scary concept to me, but we decided that I would look for a job teaching English here, and if I found one, then I would come with him. So, in August I got hired at Sogang Language Program and began preparing for my first move out of the country.

On Thursday, October 28th, Luke asked me to be his wife!! I was beyond ecstatic and beyond shocked! It was the last thing I expected at the time and he did an amazing job planning the evening and keeping it all a secret from me! It was a day that I had thought about and wished for since I fell in love with him, and it was happening!! I was on cloud 9 and still am at this moment when I think about him being my HUSBAND! Ahhh :)

On November 8th, after a very long and painful period of preparation and paperwork and boxes and movers, we all (me, Luke, Zeus, and Fritz) boarded the plane to come to Korea...

In the car, on the way to Atlanta to board the plane!

 Preparing for landing in Korea!

Home Sweet Home for a year...

2010 was a year full of ups and downs, gaining and losing friendships, losing a love and getting it back again, seeing new things and realizing I no longer wanted to see some old things, moving on and moving up, crying and laughing, lots of reality and lots of dreaming, and some things living and some things dying. Some friendships were tested this year, which maybe happens often among friends or maybe it doesn't. I don't know. But some stood and some fell. I am content knowing that the ones that mattered, stood, and always will stand. I take the good with the bad in life because I know that there are many storms, and behind the storms, there will always be the sun.