Memory is Fading...

I can't believe it's almost been 2 years since we were in Korea. I have forgotten so much! I am really thankful that I kept a blog through that experience otherwise I probably wouldn't be able to remember anything. I forget that I am forgetting sometimes- like today when I was trying to talk to a coworker about patbingsu and couldn't remember it's name. I was just like uhhhh you know, uhhhh red bean ice cream?? Everyone will be relieved to hear that I am maintaining my curse words and insults.

I am such a Korea nerd now. I wish I had some Korean friends here. Whenever I hear Korean or am in a Korean restaurant or grocery store I perk up. It's sort of the opposite of how I was in Korea where I would almost give myself whiplash trying to find the English speaking source.

Unfortunately here Korean folks seem to stick together and don't really seem to care about my interest in their language, culture, food, etc. Another instance of me being just regular in Canada.

Matt and I have figured out to make some Korean food at home- there's some chamchi kimbap that Matt made. I make a really spicy gimchi jjigae and we have figured out galbi and bibimbap as well. I wish we had some hot stone bowls so that we could make dolsot bibimbap. We've even managed to grow some perilla from seeds I bought off of Ebay! I should take some pictures of that since I've always been terrible with plants but in this new adorable apartment I have found my green thumb. Maybe it's my landlady rubbing off on me? (She has an amazing garden.)

Missing Korea...

It's my only day off this week so I decided to use it to the fullest and try my hand at making gimchi jjigae at home. I trucked off to the Asian supermarket in order to find some of the ingredients and managed to come home with all sorts of goodies. In this picture: lots of gimchi, gochujang, ssamjang, red pepper flakes, Pocari Sweat, 2% peach drink, Lotte choco pies, sticky rice buns, galbi marinade, green onions and tofu.

Korea has been on my mind a lot. I feel like a torn person. I love being in Canada and that my family and friends are here. However, I loved being in Korea too. There was adventure, friends and a pretty sweet job. I had lunch with Diane this week and she asked me about jobs and I said that I wished I could have my job in Korea here. No, I don't want to be a teacher- I want to be an EFL teacher to adorable Korean children. I couldn't handle the lack of respect and all of the extra work that actual teachers have to do (much respect to them!). I liked the fact that the parents and I didn't share a common language and I loved how industrious, curious and dedicated my students were.

Lately I've been talking a lot about Korea to a particular client at work. He seems honestly fascinated about Korea and can't wrap his mind around the differences between there and here. He was shocked to hear what the population is and how most people live in apartments. Almost every night he asks me questions and so I talk and talk and talk and miss and miss and miss. I haven't been keeping in touch with my Korean friends as well as I should. I think I am avoiding it because it makes me sad that I can't be there with them. I look back at my Little Brown Blog and I get really sentimental. Sure, things weren't perfect there but nothing is perfect and it was really awesome. The jjigae tasted really authentic and was even better with some chamchi (tuna) mixed in. Another culinary success!!

Sustainable Shopping

I came across the Uniform Project recently and thought it was a pretty interesting idea. I'm not really that fashionable but I try to look nice. I definitely admire people who have a strong sense of style and are willing to take risks (and not look like a total idiot in the process). In the Uniform Project the creator is wearing the same dress (she has 7 identical dresses) everyday but styling it completely differently using accessories and other clothing pieces. If you click on the monthly viewing of the blog you can see how successful she is. It's astonishing how different she looks each day!

This reminded me of the Little Brown dress (that I once featured on my Little Brown Blog) although that woman actually wore only one dress for the entire year (and did add a few things to it but just for warmth purposes). Both these women are doing/did similar projects with different purposes. The former is trying to raise money for children in India and the latter is trying to raise environmental/anti-materialism awareness. I think both are worthy causes.

It makes me think of a post made by my lovely friend Simone, at her fabulous blog Skinny Dip, on how she is striving to makeunder her life and wardrobe. I have to admit that I am a serial shopper- I especially love things on sale and often buy them without thinking about if they are worth any money at all or if I really like or need them. This bad habit has meant that my drawers and closet are bursting. Living in Korea was a nice exercise in sustainable shopping since I literally couldn't wear 95% of the garments they sold there (I talk about their "free size" over here). This really cut down on what I bought and it made me learn to be creative and to choose wisely when I was purchasing a new piece.

Needless to say, once I returned to Canada my bad habits have reared their ugly heads and I find myself shopping just because I can. I am doing a bit better I suppose because I do think twice before buying something and I am much better at purging my closet. I should probably purge again soon but maybe I will do that once the cold weather sets in and I can gauge what I am wearing a little better. Does anyone else have trouble letting go of clothes? Is your closet minimalistic or out of control? What's your biggest shopping weakness?

Now and Then: 10 Years of Us

I could make this really mushy but that's not really my style. It was our ten year anniversary this weekend and we had a nice day. Nothing really monumental happened but I suppose you should be recognizing the important relationships in your life every day, right?

We went out and saw the Time Traveler's Wife (you can read Matt's review of it over here) and then bought ourselves a present.

I've always wanted to have nice things. That may sound really materialistic but let's face it, we need stuff to run a household and I am sick of owning a bunch of crap that is falling apart. We spent a ridiculous amount of money on new pots and pans and they are just gorgeous! Now that I'm staying in one place I want to make my living space as comfortable as I can. My parents have already helped me in the right direction with the fabulous living room furniture and TV and so now my goal is to keep that up and invest in quality things that I will love for a long time. You can see what we were cooking with before and our beautiful new cookware in the second picture. What do you think?

I think the next thing we need to save for and invest in will be a new table and chairs. What are you saving for? Have you made any big purchases lately?

Anyway, to get back on topic- Happy Anniversary Matt! And thank you to everyone that recognized our special day!

Otherwise...

Life has been busy. I don't know where August went, actually. You can see from the picture that Matt has started to study again for his LSAT rewrite. He's started his new job and really enjoys it too. My job is going well but is pretty crazy these days. I'll be relieved once the other two new full time workers start because right now all the casual workers are going back to school so there are a lot of shifts that need covering. I work a lot this weekend and really cherish my days off so I'm not too keen on picking up extra shifts (especially since they would be paid out at a lower wage). I guess I am a bit selfish but I need my down time. Tonight I am hoping to do something fun but I'm waiting for Matt to get home from work before we plan anything.

I love paychecks!

I know I owe better blogs but I am working over 50 hours this week. I am working on it. Anyway, I got paid (my 2nd check) last Friday and here is the first thing I bought. Isn't it pretty? And the best part is all the compartments it has for cards. I have so many cards (Safeway, First Aid card, health cards, etc, etc) in Canada; way more than when I lived overseas. What do you think?

New Couch and Chair!

We got our new couch and chair this week. Sharron and Dad bought it for us as a present. I'm so excited because it's lovely, perfect and new. I don't think I've ever had a piece of quality furniture that wasn't a) left behind by a previous tenant, b) found next to a dumpster, or c) given to me as a hand-me-down. Matt struggled a bit with the unwrapping but now things are all set up and look amazing! Thanks guys! Now I just have to work on getting new stuff for my kitchen and bedroom. Baby steps though!

Korea is haunting me!

This past week Korea has been poking it's way into my life every time I turn around. Maybe I am just missing stuff there and noticing these things is making me miss it more. For example, during my first aid course we had the door open and there was someone speaking Korean outside the door! Then later on I saw someone (possibly the same person) carrying an envelope covered in Korean writing. When I was at the theatre to see Year One I went to the bathroom and found this graffiti on the door. I would like to note that the Korean characters are garbage, mean nothing and make no sense. So apparently that Korean shouldn't be too proud of themselves. I wanted to go out for Korean food last night but no one else was very enthused about the idea. I am sure I would kick this cold immediately if I had some gimchi!!! I wish I could find some 한국 친구 (Hangook chingu: Korean friends) and hit up a norae bang or something. Oh Min Jung Ah- why aren't you here?