Dust Me Off

I'm still feeling a teensy bit homesick, but overall, things have taken the upswing once again. The weather was pretty nice over the weekend, so I went out to Hongdae on Friday, a wine/cheese party on Saturday, and shopping Myeongdong on Sunday. I had intended on buying a new cellphone because I freaking loathe my Moto razr that I've had for the past year. I had my heart all set on buying this really cool new Sky phone, but it was about $400. Heartbreaking. Even though I'd just been paid for my extra classes and had a nice lump of won to spend as I saw fit, it just felt like too much at that moment. So instead, I bought a few cute dresses and some new summer flats. It was cheaper than buying a new phone and I didn't feel nearly as guilty.

Dean and I are going to Italy for 2 weeks in August! SMOE is paying for the roundtrip flight, and even though Italy may be kind of cliche, we both wanted to go. I went there for almost a month when I was a kid but Dean's never been. We initially were thinking of something more exotic, but we wanted to be able to get around on our own without a guide while still having a relaxed time. Spain was high on our list for a while, since both of us studied Spanish in high school/college. But in the end, Italy won out. We'll be dividing our 2 weeks between Rome, Lucca, and San Gimignano. Rome will take care of the uber-touristy part of the trip, while Lucca and San Gimignano will be great places to unwind.

Final exams are biting at the heels of both teachers and students this week. With the tests looming closer and closer, the students are being a strange mix of more boring and more neurotically crazy than usual. Next week will be chill, since I don't teach during finals week. For my extra classes this week, we're just watching About a Boy (we found it subbed online, and I really, really love that movie).

On a random note, I was reading the Lonely Planet's guide to Italy while standing on the subway yesterday. I happened to be standing on the side of the train closest to the where the eldery have their special seating. All of a sudden, this old man had stood up and said, "Please, sit! Sit down!" while smiling and gesturing to his now vacant seat. I was really surprised, bowed, and said that it was alright. He smiled again and went to the door to get off at that station. But that really struck me. I feel like I usually get dirty looks from the older generation for things like wearing jeans with rips in them or showing my shoulders (somehow, wearing booting shorts/skirts is seen as normal, but wearing a tank top can get you some really dirty looks).

I've gone kind of nutso with cyworld collages. I'm such a slow cyworld learner, honestly. But I figured out how to do them a few days ago and since have gone completely overboard with them. Cyworld can be more addicting than Facebook in some ways. For instance, as much as I love the clean style of Facebook, Cy is fun because it is shamelessly cute/pretty/cool. I still favor FB since uh, I speak English, but Cy definitely gets points for creativity.

cy1

cy2

(so amazingly "azn")

Extra: I did my hair all vintage-y and here are the results.

This title is Dust Me Off by Tilly and the Wall

I can't get out of bed

Stomach sick, dizzy head

Singing helps alright

But I've been singing all night

Try to open up my eyes

Take some time to realize

Sometimes shit won't feel alright

Got to remember to fight...

Off the darkness that comes in sometimes

Turn that sorrow into something that feels right

You're a true friend I can count on when I'm blue

You pull me up, you dust me off, you pull me through

mizer_unmei: Thanks for the

mizer_unmei:
Thanks for the site! I love researching those kinds of things for trip
planning. I definitely want to hit up some of the smaller sites rather
than just the big ones.

clemie186:
Yeah, all my friends are going to the Philippines at the end of this
month and they're quite lucky. I have to work a summer camp that
week. :( The cellphones here are so frustrating, because sometimes,
I've heard you can haggle and get a great deal but other times, they're
like...$600. I need to shopping for one with a really bossy Korean
person.

lazlyher: It's in 독산3동 ...I guess the closest subway station would be Guro Digital.

fatcupoftea:
Art portfolio? Where are you applying? I almost did art as a major
and considered going to SCAD, RISD, or MICA, but I backed out of the
idea halfway through my senior year. Have fun getting it ready,
though, and going to Taiwan!

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by: the real ginger

Jun 30, 2008 6:26pm

Hey there...I'm a bit of a lurker ^^;;
I love reading your blog!

Have fun in Italy! I love Italy!! Super awesome designer shopping + yummy Italian food + amazing architecture/art + a TON of the nicest/welcoming people you will ever meet! Just watch out for pocket pickers! Last summer one guy tried to take my grandmother's purse, but she held on to it and hit the guy with her purse XD (grandma <33). My family was actually planning to go to Italy, Spain, and Egypt together this summer, but I have to finish my art portfolio + trip to Taiwan. So my parents are meeting up with some of my relatives in Italy...hoping my mom will remember me while shopping XD

by: fatcupoftea

Jun 28, 2008 8:16pm

whats the school that u teach, and where is it located in korea?? :D

by: lazlyher

Jun 28, 2008 12:09am

Italy! I don't know much about Europe, but I do want to go sometime in the future.
All my friends are on a school trip right nowin Europe and I regret not going with them :( So I'm pretty jealous of you!

New cellphone eh? i'm planning to get one too this summer, and I've been looking at the price ranges in Asia, they're usually in the $300-$400 range for a decent/new cellphone so don't feel guilty ditching your motorola :P I'm not very fond of them either

by: clemie186

Jun 27, 2008 11:45am

I'm going for... both? Heh. My sister is studying Korean over the summer at Kyunghee's Suwon campus, but she's going to be there most of the time with class and all. I'll probably be wandering around the city in search of books, used CDs and kimchi jjigae. ^^;

If you wanted to check out some sites this book, Rome: Oxford Archaeological Guide, is a good reference. It's basically a travel guide with details on 150+ ancient sites. It can get kinda annoyingly tediously in some parts, but it's got a LOT of information on the history of monuments and the reconstructed pictures are lovely.

by: mizer_unmei

Jun 26, 2008 2:38pm

KTZ811: I'm making some good extra money this semester due to the number of extra classes I teach for my school, so I'm going to be saving that plus a bit extra. Our sleeping expenses are hovering around $900-$1000, but other than food, I won't be buying much. I might buy a cool scarf or piece of jewelry, but I'm not planning on spending a lot.

Cooler als Penn...: The great thing about Italy is that there is SO much to do, but at the same time, the country isn't even that big. It makes traveling a lot less stressful since there are trains/buses that go everywhere, as well.

cookieTOP: Well, the soompi blog is actually more time consuming than I thought it would be! I can try to do an entry about specific places or at least make a general FAQ post where I can post links to entries on this blog about different festivals, cities, attractions, etc. That might make a good project for this summer if I get some free time.

mizer_unmei: I considered being a Classics or History major, so I took some great classes on the history of the ancient Mediterraenean--I could study that stuff all day long. (huuuuge dork, as well) Are you coming to Seoul to visit family or just for fun?

j00n: I have a US cy but I never use it. I use facebook for my English speaking friends and my Korean cy account is to keep in touch with people from Korea.

Jun 25, 2008 7:40pm

Yo,

Cyworld has a US version if you didn't know. Was launched a couple years ago.

http://us.cyworld.com

by: j00n

Jun 25, 2008 5:41pm

I adore Italy. I haven't been there, but I'm a big enough Ancient Rome and Latin geek to go completely gaga over it. If you're into ancient culture one of the first stops I'd make would be the Parthenon. It was the biggest dome built up to that time and I've developed an infatuation with it after studying it for a class.

And your vintage hair is gorgeous! I always wanted to know how to do tight finger curls with a bob. But I could never pull off a bob. Heh...

Thanks for this journal. I'm going to Seoul in a couple weeks and it's nice to know what's going on and how the culture is. I know next to nothing of Korean, so I hope I'll be able to get by. ^^;

Jun 25, 2008 11:50am

Hey.

I was wondering. If and when you have free time are you able to make a blog about S.Korea. Like what you like to do and where you like to travel to in S.Korea. I'll be there during the month of AUgust, and I've been reading your blog nonstop. :) I love the way you write.

Anyhow I just wanted to know what are the goods & bad. That's all.

Thanks and Have fune in Italy.

by: cookieTOP

Jun 25, 2008 10:11am

Yeah I should've known that Venice would be so expensive during the summer. I'll definitely try to visit during some other time of the year. Wow the other places sound so amazing...so much to do, so little time ^^ Thanks for the Italian overview!

by: Cooler als Penn...

Jun 24, 2008 1:00pm

Finally a new update :]. I've been bored and waited for your new blog, lol!

But anyways, wow that's so lucky of you to have SMOE pay for your round trip! I should be under that organization if I ever want to teach in Seoul ^_^. So how much pocket money do you think you'll need to travel around Italy? I want to go there too, ahh but it seems so expensive T_T. BUT! I hope you have fun!

I also have a cyworld but it's the US version of Cyworld. It's more entertaining than FB, I agree.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Because in this world, love is more hungered for than bread."

by: KTZ811

Jun 24, 2008 12:24am

koncettina: My mom is 100% Italian--her grandparents were fresh off the boat from Italy (father's side from Rome, mother's side from Sicily). I always identified more with the Italian Americans than the Korean Americans because of this, which um, can be kind of weird, I suppose. I love Italian food (it's my favorite--my mom cooked Italian for dinner 4/7 nights of the week), Italian art, Italian history...so I'm really excited to go back. I use a Nikon D40 with the f/1.8 50 mm lens, and honestly, it's the lens that makes the huge difference. I wasn't getting NEARLY as good photos with the lens that comes in the kit for the D40. The 50 mm lens was only $130 and it was 100% worth it. For photos like going out, I use a Canon Powershot A540. I used the Canon for all the pictures in this post except for the ones in the first collage.

Cooler als Penn...: I wanted to visit Venice again, as well, but it was too difficult to find great places to stay. It's really expensive to travel in Italy during the summer, and since Venice is so limited by how many hotels/b&b's there are, the prices were so, so expensive. I didn't want to spend over $100 a night to stay in a mediocre b&b, so we cut it out of our trip. The great thing about Italy is that you can visit the stunning Almalfi Coast, the beautiful vineyards and rolling lands of Tuscany, the mountains in the north, the ancient cities like Rome, quiet fortresses like San Gimignano, or Sicily (which has a totally different flair than the mainland). We really wanted to visit Lucca, which is more secluded, small, and less touristy and I'm looking forward to that part of the trip the most.

Jun 24, 2008 12:05am

Italy? Wow! I've always wanted to go there ^^ I'm probably going to visit sometime next year and definitely want to hit up Venice and Rome at the least! What are some other nice things to do in Italy? I, of course, want to visit some less-touristy places as well!

The Cyworld collages are cute :) It reminds me of the time when a friend of mine showed me how to make ringtones, and I literally spent all weekend making so many of them. But since I made it so tedious, I only got about 10 songs to work "perfectly" the way I wanted them too. Haha...what a delightful way to waste time.

Jun 23, 2008 9:32pm

I'm so happy that you're going to Italy!!! I'm 100% Italian (with some Irish thrown in). It is easy to get around there without help. I hope you and Dean enjoy!

I have a Katana II, and I adore it! =] I think that was sweet of the old man to ask you to take his seat. I love random gestures of kindess, you don't get a lot out here. Of course you would know that! :D I go to Cyworld every once in a while, granted that I can read and write Korean it doesn't mean that I understand a freaking word of it though! But it is very cute, it makes me smile.

And your pictures of you hair rocked major socks. Oh I've been meaning to ask(even though I'm positive I've asked before) what kind of camera do you own? I'm headed towards a DSLR or anything that breaks apart from that...so yeah. Fill me in on that one will ya?!

<3333

by: koncettina

Jun 23, 2008 7:46am

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mizer_unmei: Thanks for the