The PGC concert was enjoyable. Under ground dark club. The lights in every color, and the volume turned on to the maximum. No AC. It was hot and everyone was sweating from jumping around and singing along. Let’s say it’s a time that the student were surprised by the teachers’ talents in music and visaversa. It was a bonding time in the darkness, but coming together with music. Yet, not everything as so sweet.

Going home was a nightmare. Hongdae was terribly crowded by the time we left the concert, 8:30 P.M. It was an army of ants marching and searching for food. I saw no space, but an influx of people. Pushing through to get out, I bumped into many people. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Everyone was too busy trying to get to their destination without caring about other people they were running into or bumping into. It was a time of selfishness, and I wished I had some independent space. I felt like my space was invaded and conquered. I was literally dying to fly out of the place. It took me and my friends 30 minutes to just get to the nearby subway station. It was a tiring night. The subway station wasn’t in a better condition than the streets. The stairs was filled with people and I couldn’t even watch the steps. People wouldn’t stop coming out. Again, I just had to push through to get on the subway. From there, it took and hour to get to a bus stop. From the bus stop, it took another hour to get home. Terrifying, I know. By the time I got home, I felt like an 80-year old granny with back problems. My body was aching and I felt gruesome covered in everyone’s germs. PGC concert was great, but the location wasn’t too great. It was far far away from home- a long journey.

Picture taken by Lynn Hong

What’s over? AP exams are over! Now, there’s no need to try and cram that one more information into my head here and there. I feel alleviated, maybe too much.

©yj

For the past three days, I’ve been hanging out with my friends and just catching up on the social life I had paused for a while. It was enjoyable to be able to not think about the AP exam while talking and laughing with my friends, no need to whine about the exam. Yet, I’m too tired when I get home to do my homework or study for anything. It’s time for me to get back on track, but my hopes and my body isn’t cooperating. I have to start being diligent, but I wish I can just rest, moreover, that it was summer already. I felt like I accomplished everything when I wrote the last letter on my AP essay. However, it’s only the first AP exam. Now, on my schedule there’s still an SAT2 in June and finals around the corner. Time for me to wake up and break the habits of relaxing and just hanging around.

We all know the famous Nicole Richie. She is frequently on the front page of a gossip magazines with news ranging from anorexia to her life of party. As I was looking through People, I came across an article about Nicole as a Mom and not a trouble maker. Personally, not a big fan of Nicole Richie, but like her fashion style. It’s an inevitable fact that Nicole lives a life of luxury. However, the new article was contrasting to the stereotypes of Nicole.

“I use Seventh Generation diapers and we don’t use baby wipes – we use cloth with water,”

It made me wonder if it’s her 4-month old daughter that shifted her into a environmentalist. It seemed like Nicole was going over and beyond as a mom. Whether, Nicole’s daughter made changed her from a party girl to a good mom, it did give Nicole the title as a Mom. I wonder how much I changed my parents’ lives or how they were before they got the responsibility of parents. Moreover, how will my life change when I have children? Well, Nicole’s daughter evidently had the power to change her mom and making the gossipers create a rather positive article about Nicole than the previous criticisms.

Picture from People

©yj

What’s more pleasing than having a bite of a frosted cupcake? In Korea, it’s hard to find heavily frosted cupcakes because Koreans prefer less sweetened pastries. Although I’m a Korean as well, I sometimes have a strong crave for something extremely sweet,but something small in size so I don’t get a stomach ache. What’s more perfect than a small cupcake adorned with ample frosting?

Craving for a “American” style cupcake, my friends an I, started a journey in the search of a cupcake store. We went through the busy streets of Apgujung-Dong and the crazy cars on the streets. Turning right and left here and there, going into this street and that street, we finally arrived. Destination found. We didn’t know the bakery’s name, but we just knew how to get there. It wasn’t hard to recognize the store because of its appealing display of cupcakes. After the “oh my gosh” moment, we hopped inside the bakery. It smelled like Magnolia Cafe in the States. It had been a while since I’ve smelt this sweet bakery smell. It felt like home or heaven maybe. As if the smell of sweet cupcakes made us hyped up, we were laughing and dying of ecstasy. There were four different kinds of frosting- chocolate, red velvet, lemon, and raspberry. It was an indecisive moment, but since we were three we found a way out. Each one of us chose a different flavor so that we could try three out of the four different cupcakes. The cupcakes weren’t cheap, but worth it. It was $5 every small cupcake, but every single bite was joy. Pure pleasure. Trust me, at the end of our pleasing eating time, there wasn’t even a crumb left of the small cupcake. Not to mention how we stayed after finishing the cupcake for about 20 minutes just staring at the cupcakes making promises to come back and try other flavors. We were still amazed or glad that we found a “American” style cupcake bakery. Leaving the place was hard, so we all took our phones out capturing the cupcakes- not wanting to say good-bye.

article from Korea Herald

Too many people care about weight, but has anyone paid attention to their brain? It’s not time to care about the outer looks, but rather the condition of the inner organs. As people grow older, their memory gets worse and worse. It’s scary how people can forget the simplest things. Not only old people, but also teenagers are now pretty forgetful as well. We define is as “clumsy,” but nobody really takes it seriously. However, it should be taken into consideration. Many people are actually consulting about their brain’s fitness. It sound funny, but it might save your memory. There are simple ways to fitness your brain such as playing nintendo games that require thinking and the ability to remember objects. It may sound pathetic, but it’s just like spending time on a treadmill. As the awareness of the loss of memory increase, there are now edible products that are supposed to prevent or slow down the process of the brain’s decaying. Believe it or not, the decaying of your brain isn’t just a story about other people, but it probably applies to you as well, although it’s more common for the boomers. It is a common issue and now there are many companies, who help out the people in need of brain exercise. Find something you enjoy doing and constantly be active in any activities from knitting to playing a piano. It is preventable and fixable, but it’s all depending on the individual’s effort to take the time. Wouldn’t it be scary when one day you wake up and all your friends vanished from your memory? Without memories, there’s no record of your living. As the New York Times mentioned, it’s time to care about the fitness for brain.

“Our memories are who we are. And if we lose our memories we lose that groundedness of who we are.”

Picture from Flickr

Starbucks is the hot spot for gossip. Pushing the glass door, the coffee aroma rushes into my nose. I told myself that I’m not going to drink coffee today, but it’s impossible to bare the smell of Starbucks coffee.

As usual, we order a vanilla latte, caramel frappucino, and a caramel macchiato. Waiting for our drinks, we smell the coffee beans. Yet, as soon as our drinks are ready we rush up stairs to find a comfortable seat. Mina as usual wants to sit on the couch and she does. We start taking sips of our incredibly tasting coffee. Soon, the coffee brings us together in our own little world. Looking foolish, we sit there laughing for the oddest things. Talking loudly, we gossip like no other girl. It’s a coffee break, the time we update each other on the “latest news.” Moreover, the time we laugh at everything. Thinking about it now, there’s so much told at Starbucks, the current events. It’s surprising because life seemed just same old life without anything new. Sitting with a cup of coffee and two best pals just made life interesting. Explaining about our day or days makes time fly away. There seems to have been many new things that happened for the past few days. In a way, boring happenings in life become the funniest things in life. Yeah…not sure how it happens, but it sure does happen every hangout. Just a little amazing how a cup of coffee can spice up life immensely..or is it the sugar in the coffee that just hypes us up? Oh well, as long as we’re happy the cup of coffee is worthy. I’d say……

starbucks=ecstasy

This movie made me wonder if I was dreaming or watching a movie. Not because it was boring, but the color of the movie was as if watching a black and white film. Yet, the movie brought out a unique type of movie breaking out of the ordinary categories. I didn’t see much of a intriguing story line in this film. However, from the beginning until the end, it pacified my mind, which is probably why I felt like it was a dream. Even the trailer is calming. It shows no excitement or a secret to be discovered. Nonetheless, the background music and the few scenes shown just comforts me. Through the whole movie, I wasn’t interested, but I wasn’t bored either. The lightning of all the scenes were deem whether it was night or day, which made me feel like I was watching a old movie. It was as if watching a color movie, but in black and white. It’s hard to explain, but basically the lightning and the color made differences blend together and make it as if it was mono color. The color of was constant throughout the whole movie, so it was comforting to the eyes. The director captured many beautiful scenes that made me think that I was watching a photography slide shows. I don’t know how to describe this movie because it was nothing like the other movies I’ve watched in my life. It was like a frame that contained moving pictures- the pictures, which showed the strengthening up of the main character, Elizabeth. The story didn’t have a definite happy ending or a tragic ending, but it had an ambiguous conclusion like paintings. The movie was rather an art work than an entertainment.

“I’m not sure whether that night really happened or if it was just another dream.”

- Jude Law

It is the last phrase of the trailer and maybe the director’s purpose was to make the movie as a dream. Just like in dreams, things are in color, but dark whether it’s day and night. Just like Jude Law didn’t know if it was a dream, I don’t know if the movie was a dream or not. It feels like I slept through it because of the comfort if brought to my eyes and ears, yet I remember watching the movie. Just like dreams, it stopped at a random point without notice, with a kiss.

Watching the trailer again, I feel like I’m dreaming again….. it’s like a lullaby that puts me to sleep, but tells me a story.

Video from YouTube

Okay so I am totally aware that I am blog frequently, but you know there’s just a lot going through my head and a lot going on right now. AP test in 16 days and SAT2 following it, plus the final exams. Yes, they are written on my agenda one after the other. It’s just frustrating to think about all the things that has to get done before summer. Why is it that there has to be all these obstacles before happiness? I try and study, but I lose my focus so easily then I come to my blog and write and write. I guess through irritations and too many events going on, I’m finding my hobby. I really think blogging helps me feel better because I’m typing everything out. I know I’ll get through it, but the whole process of getting through it is plain hard. Yes, I know life is tough.. I mean we all learned that when our parents fed us disgusting veggies when we were toddlers. Well, now we learned that there’s good part of that bitter taste in veggies since it’s healthy and now that we’re used to it actually tastes pretty good. I need to get used to having things going on all at once because next year is going to get even busier. I wish I was a freshman again, but then I’d have to repeat the same process. Well I feel better now, so I should probably go start studying if I want to do well on my AP exam in only SIXTEEN DAYS.

After mentioning so many people on my blog.. it’s time to introduce my partner in crime. She’s new to KIS this year just like me. She takes the ugliest pictures of me ALL the time. She makes fun of me all the time. She is violent. She is crazy. Her name is Annie.

We are just like Ms. P and Ms. H. We worked on yearbook together, which drew us closer and made us meaner to each other. We’re not best friends, but we certainly are partner in crime. Often, I make her read my essays asking for her criticism. She’s the only person that I trust with my writing. I think the main reason is because she gives me the negative feedbacks as well as the positives. Usually, people only mention the good parts and rarely the negatives, unless it’s a teacher reading your paper. It’s weird how somehow we got really close. English and yearbook buddies, I guess is the appropriate term here. She told me that she might move and I thought that I’d feel empty without her during yearbook and English next year. Fortunately, she’s not moving.. at least I hope so. We’re just two weird girls that enjoy making fun of each other, but we do get down to business after all the fun we have playing Wii and eating at the diner. She’s quite hilarious. Her facial expressions are a killer, I’m telling you she is the partner in CRIME ! Oh and she got major OCD infection from me. Now, she can’t stand it when pictures aren’t aligned correctly with the margins after all the insanity I made her go through due to my OCD driven self. At least this way, we manage to get things done perfectly aligned. I still wish she wouldn’t take paparazzi NASTY pictures of me. Her camera is too frank and I hope one day it disappears. Anyways, it’s always good to have somebody to rely on whether it’s in English class or yearbook nothing is better than this partnership we have created.

catch us around… making no sense. laughing at javajava. talking about hilarious times in spanish class. eating at the diner. playing wii until we feel sore.

How can you not adore Jack Johnson? His songs will cheer you up when you’re down and it’s always good to hear some Jack Johnson. I love acoustic music and Jack Johnson is one of my favorites. His sweet voice makes the sorrow disappear and his acoustic guitar makes my finger start tapping along. Songs such as “Better Together,” “Banana Pancakes,” “Breakdown,” and “Good People” are the daily tunes I listen to. I wish he’d come to Korea and have a concert; I’d do anything to hear him sing and play his guitar live. He is absolutely fantastic.

Video from YouTube