Where the Laughter & Love Always Continues . . .

Co-winkie-dink

I am not alone. My brother is in Korea. I have not seen him as of yet, but yesterday he called to say that he was in his hotel in Korea. He's here in Korea to work. I'm currently in the lobby of his hotel waiting for him so that we can get to know Korea together. The time since I knew he was defintitely coming to Korea to now was soooooo slow. Last night I couldn't sleep because my mind was racing of all the things I can show him. It's also his first visit to Korea; we left Korea when he was 3. It's amazing how things happen. How God shines through in our lives. My brother is here on business, but it's perfect that we're here together. My cell phone number here is 010-6874-5977. The first three is the area code. The next four is interesting--I was born on June 8th and my brother was born in 1974. The last four digits are the same ones as my aunts. Huuummmm. Then, I noticed that my aunt and uncle's license plate. There's a 42 and some Korean letters and then 6876. 6876 is my birthdate. My aunt is 43.  Of all the numbers in the world, those are the number combinations on the cellphone and license plate. Amazing, huh?

Independence of Korea

I came to Korea without much knowledge of Korea's history. I know the basics: royalty ruled for centuries, Japan invaded and ruled Korea, the Korean War, and the division of North and South. I did not know details of the periods. I've been learning a lot as I've been visiting the palaces and Korea's War Memorial Museum. I learned the most while visiting the Sodaemun Prison and Independence Park. I remember one time my dad teaching my brother and me that the Japanese were bad and cruel people. He talked about how they invaded Korea and were cruel to Koreans. Now, I understand why my dad made prejudice remarks. Japan's history in Korea was not pleasant to say the least. Koreans wanted independence from Japanese ruling and demonstrated on March 1, 1919. Koreans were imprisoned, tortured, and executed for their stance. Japan was not as cruel to other countries they ruled over. Koreans were tortured in extreme ways: fingernails being pulled out, wall-coffins were used, and women were raped.
I don't hate the Japanese people. I don't like the history of war and invasion. I'm glad to say my future sister-in-law is Japanese. My parents both approved my brother's proposal to Michelle and her family.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that it's important to stay on top of what's going on with the world...to listen and speak out when things are injust. I believe war is necessary...but as a last means. It's important to know why we are fighting in a war and to know if it is done in the least violent but effective manner. No matter my opinion, I'm making sure my voice counts. From abroad, I'm voting. I hope you do too.

Funny Things

I have such a great opportunity to get to know my grandma. She's old but not too old to forget all of her memories. I go through the woods to get to her place. One time I was taking her bread....all I needed was a red-hooded coat and a wolf. It cracks me up as I walk to her place.

My grandma cracks me up. She can talk for hours. She was sick for several days with a cold. I went to visit her, but thought that I was tiring her out. So as she talked, I laid down next to her as she talked about the days when my mom was a kid. I understood 1/4 of what she was saying. She said let's sleep. I woke up an hour later: she had done the laundry and hung the clothes out to dry and was cleaning outside. My grandma said that she couldn't sleep and needed to get up before she got a headache from laying down. I was more tired than my grandma.

One time I was in a store that was closing out. The salesman/owner was a character. A customer was asking how much several items cost. He said to stop asking so many questions; his mouth was beginning to hurt. Another customer was asking if the clothing came in other sizes. The guy replied to look for it. If there's no other sizes, there's none. The owner cracked me up. I immediately left.

Bukhansan National Park

My Uncle Dong Sun took me along on his regular Sunday hike up the mountainside of Bukhansan National Park. I thought my mountain hiking days were over after hiking with Flo in Yellow Mountain. Rather, I had hoped it was over. Hiking was never my thing. Most of my time is spent looking down at the ground and fearing that I may be hit by branches. Although the hike was tough, I enjoyed it overall. My uncle was Roadrunner but was kind to wait and help me at various points. His ankle was greatly injured but he continues to hike and beat all the odds...just because what else is there. I took many breaks of taking pictures and staying refreshed.

It was cool. I was prepared to go on some form of transportation to get the hiking trails. Not necessary. The street hiking was crazy. I thought my aunt's home was on a steep street, but another nicer area had 'crazy' steep-high streets. I was exhausted when we were at the start of the "trail". My uncle knows various routes that majority of people do not know. I actually had to climb over rocks in order to continue on the route. I had not planned on hiking mountain trails after my Yellow Mountain experience (I did enough to last me a long time), but I'm glad I did it. I appreciate Korea's landscape and history after seeing it from a high point. It's different than seeing it afar from Seoul Tower. I am planning to hike some more, hopefully go further than what I did before.

Oh yeah, there are Buddhist temples up on the sides of mountains because at one point in Korean history they were pushed upwards due to intolerance.

Male or Female?

When my cousin showed me pictures of Korean celebrities, I couldn't tell if they were male or female. What do you think? Are the following images of male(s) or female(s)?

First Post Abroad: China

Sept. 19,2004 1:40 am

Okay, okay. I'm ready.. I usually need something to kick start my posts. My friend Mena (one of the co-desingers of Typepad) recommended that I write short, spontaneous reflections, but I'm too use to typing and editing my essays for school that it deters me from making posts at my site.

I can't sleep. It's 1:30 am and need to wake up 6 am to go out with my aunt's family. My mind is on hyperspeed. I'm greatly enjoying my stay with my aunt's family. I honestly like my adventure.

My stopover in China was not too good. I did not have a great time there, but it was definitely good to have experienced it. My dearest friend Florence was hosting me and was awesome, as usual. It was interesting to see her in an unfamiliar setting. The essence of her was the same, but in a different cultural setting. It's cool to be able to separate some part of culture and the individual. (This is my sociological background coming out.) Flo's international group of friends were very friendly, and Flo's parents' apartment in the middle of Shanghai was wonderful. BUT from my short experience of Shanghai, overall I did not care for it. My senses were greatly strained from the cultural differences. Also, I was in mental and physical stress before the trip. I did not sleep the night before leaving because I had an overwhelming amount of things to do before leaving. I was tired but excited as the pilot said that he was preparing to land. The humidity hit me as I left the plane. Shanghai would be sunny (not too hot but I'd get very sweaty from all the walking), rainy, and windy all in one day. (I hate extreme weather---I grew up in LA.) I was not prepared for the different smells: heavy pollution and food. The sense of smell determines what food tastes good. The food may have been good, but to me they did not smell good. I was tired and not feeling too great but not eating much. The food wasn't what I'd normally eat, not in an American Chinese resturant or even Flo's house in America. I was also very irregular (didn't go to the bathroom too much----which was kinda a "relief" cuz not all the bathrooms had toilets. If toilets were available, most of the time they were disgusting.) Another factor was that I was tired. I experienced jetlag and yet couldn't sleep comfortably. My mind was not at rest. One night I had a dream and woke up screaming. In addition the mosquitos loved me; I was their nightly (and some daytimes) Thanksgiving meal. I still have scabs from their bites. (Actually, I'm liked by mosquitos internationally. I still have marks left by bites from Cali.) Oh, my mind may not have been too rested since I was not expressing myself too much. I knew no words in Mandarian (Chinese) nor did I really have a great desire to go through the process of learning it. There were quite a few people in Shanghai who knew English, but I mostly interacted with Flo and the housekeeper.

My experience of Shanghai was nevertheless good to experience. I have more to share on another post. I would not want to discourage a person from traveling to Shanghai. My experience at that time was wasn't the best but wouldn't take it back even if I knew what I know now. Traveling and getting to know people in another culture is VERY INTERESTING. I ddin't think about traveling before, but now I see how traveling is good.

Photos: Travel

2005

2005 April: My future Sister-In-Law Michelle celebrated her bachelorette party on a cruise to Ensenada, Mexico. http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/20054_bachelorette_party/index.html

2004

2004 October: Hiked with my Uncle on Bukhansan Mountain http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200410_hike_on_bukhansan_/index.html

2004 October: Went on a trip to the southern part of Korea with my cousin Nam Ge and his family. They were having festival in the area we spent most of our time. http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200410_trip_to_southern_a/index.html

2004 October: There are many historical Catholic churches in Seoul, especially because there was a period in their history where Catholics were persecuted for their faith. http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200410_catholic_churches/index.html

2004 October: Historical Sites in Korea. Most are palaces. http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200410_historic_korean_si/index.html

2004 October: Korea was ruled by the Japanese government from (officially) 1910-1945. Korea struggled greatly to gain independence. http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200410_independence_of_ko/index.html

2004 October: My Auntie took me and her friends on a trip to Fisherman's Wharf. http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200410_trip_to_fishermans/index.

September: First visit to China http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/china/index.html

2004 September: First visit to Korea to see relatives http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200409_korea_welcome_part/index.html

2004 September: Images of Korea http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200409_korea_pictures/index.html

2004 September: Family Life in Korea http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/korea_2/index.html

2004 September: Food in Korea http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200410_food_in_korea/index.html

2003

2003 June: Flo & I went to Maui
http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/hawaii_2003/

2003 February: My mom, dad & I took a trip to Vegas.
http://joonheehee.typepad.com/photos/200302_las_vegas/index.html