Wordiness

A random round-up of some of the words used in my blog since its inception:

a wide-eyed wanderer

This girl has moved to South Korea!  While I might still be posting things on here, most of my posts will be on my Korea blog.  I just kept this one open to return to when I need a place to write just for the sake of writing.  And I hope that I can return to it once I return from South Korea.

You aren't from around here, are you?

That's a question I am asked a lot. Most recently in the grocery store a few weekends ago. I find that it's a good thing that I can't be pinpointed to an area of the country whenever I open my mouth. There are enough stigmas about having an accent from a particular region of the country, whether it is the South, the North, or the Midwest, that being associated with one or another is enough to cause people to view you differently. So in the interest of "research," Brian sent me links to some accent quizzes to determine where we rate on our English speaking ability.

Exhibit A:

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Northeast Judging by how you talk you are probably from north Jersey, New York City, Connecticut or Rhode Island. Chances are, if you are from New York City (and not those other places) people would probably be able to tell if they actually heard you speak.
Boston
Philadelphia
The Midland
The Inland North
The West
The South
North Central
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

Exhibit B:

What American accent do you have? (Best version so far) Neutral You're not Northern, Southern, or Western, you`re just plain -American-. Your national identity is more important than your local identity, because you don`t really have a local identity. You might be from the region in that map, which is defined by this kind of accent, but you could easily not be. Or maybe you just moved around a lot growing up.

Click Here to Take This Quiz Brought to you by YouThink.com quizzes and personality tests.

Exhibit C:
The Yankee or Rebel Test
49% Dixie. Barely in Yankeedom.

Another year's gone by

So I had a birthday a little while back. I think the older I get, the less I feel like it's a huge deal, other than the fact that I am a year older. I have less of an inclination to "party it up big" for my birthday and "go wild and crazy" like I might have in college. That same view stretches over to celebrating other peoples' birthdays. I'm not so much a downer or a party pooper as much as I'm starting to feel too old for wild crazy nights. Once you're legal enough to drink, it really isn't a big deal anymore, and from 21 on, each year added to your age serves as a reminder to wake up and see what's really going on. And with every year I gain, I see more friends getting married, settling down, and having families of their own. One by one, they move away from the "youthful" part of our lives and more into an "adult" phase. Honestly, it can be a little constricting, to think that I have to be on this "plan" and moving towards finding someone, marrying, and settling down. But in reality, I much enjoy my freedom to make decisions that affect me, without having to run things by a boyfriend/spouse. I still have the ability to travel, to see the world and do new things, without being tied to a place or people. My friends wouldn't keep me from exploring myself, I know. But many of them have confessed that they wish they had the time/ability/opportunity to be able to go to Korea like I will in two weeks. It's not to say that I don't want someone special in my life, 'cause I do, but I've been content for so long by myself I wonder if I know how to be in a relationship again. I've watched many friends go through the pain and troubles of relationships, and offered whatever helpful ear I could. And I still don't understand why some would want to continually subject themselves to another go-round, even with different people.

Is it really hard to separate ourselves from the idea that we need to be with someone to be "complete"?

Technobabble

I think I've gotten much better at this whole HTML/CSS code thing, with editing layouts and all. (Nice to know not all of my Computer Applications knowledge has gone to waste...but I can recall that when I was taking those classes, CSS was still relatively new in the Internet coding world.) Besides that, I managed to put a nice tag cloud on here, instead of the usual "labels" list, and changed the specs to match my blog. Not to mention, also used the great Google search to find hex codes for colors that Blogger won't normally give you. :-) I'd give myself a pat on the back if I didn't feel so dorky. :-p

P.S. Does it bother anyone else that these days it's perfectly acceptable to say things like "Google it" when asked a question you don't know the answer to or use "Facebook" as a verb? Or that increasing numbers of people rely on Wikipedia for factual information for papers and reports? It's almost like people can't take the time to appreciate dictionaries, encyclopedias, or reputable online reference sources anymore. The printed word still exists in our increasingly-reliant-on-technology world, and has been around since man figured out how to make papyrus. Granted, technology and the Internet have made things easier and quicker to access, but at the same time, I feel like it has caused people to lose their grounding with the real world--the world of turning pages, handwritten-script, physical books and papers you can actually lay your hands on. Of course, this might seem a bit of an oxymoron coming from me, writing in an electronic blog, but I still make a point and take the time to write (with pen in hand!) in my bound book journal. I like to be able to experience the way that ink flows across the page in my script, to enjoy the way that books smell when new and old, and to be filled with satisfaction at the physical output of filling pages with my thoughts. This technology age is also why I get frustrated sometimes at the library, missing the good old card catalog like the one we had in elementary school, you know, the one with all the card drawers you could pull out?
Well, the point of all that is I find our over-reliance on technology a little disturbing and frustrating at times. I hate to think what might happen in the future with the development of new technology, pushing us further into the 21st century and beyond--maybe a world not unlike Terminator or I, Robot, or maybe perhaps an environment like Brave New World, Gattaca, or Minority Report. Interesting and scary to think about, no?

The I-Rack

I found this randomly while reading blogs on the internet about Korea--it's pretty funny so check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCPDqdgOg7Q

I took this political quiz today, it was kinda interesting to see the results:

84% Barack Obama
83% John Edwards
83% Hillary Clinton
78% Chris Dodd
76% Bill Richardson
73% Joe Biden
72% Dennis Kucinich
71% Mike Gravel
44% Rudy Giuliani
38% Tom Tancredo
35% Mitt Romney
29% John McCain
25% Fred Thompson
23% Mike Huckabee
18% Ron Paul

2008 Presidential Candidate Matching Quiz

Across the world...for 365 days.

I know I have mentioned this in passing to several people, and talked to some others in-depth about my desire to do this, but I wanted to let everyone know the details of what's going on. I've been offered the opportunity to go to South Korea for a year and teach English as a Second Language to kindergarten students. I will be teaching in Gwangju Metropolitan City (also known as Kwangju Metropolitan City), which is in the southwestern part of Korea. It's about 3 hours from Seoul by bus, 2 by train, and is the 6th largest city in Korea. It's plenty industrialized, but it's very clean and much cheaper compared to Seoul. My estimated departure should be around the end of January, beginning of February, depending on how long it takes for my paperwork for the E-2 visa to be processed by the Korean Government. I am very excited about going and experiencing all that this has to offer, but I'm also very nervous about leaving everyone behind for a year! Yes, I will be overseas for a year; that's how long the contract lasts. Of course, I do get some vacation time that I will want to take for the holidays, or I might get the chance to visit sometime before then.

To let people know about my adventures in Korea, I have created a blog where I will chronicle the time spent there, and post pictures. You can find news of my Asian travels at http://thekimchichronicles.blogspot.com. Also, I will post pictures on Facebook, and email people to let them know I'm doing well. If you would like to be on my email list, please send me a message and let me know this, so I will have that on record. I hope that I will get to see a good majority of you before I leave, but I know that might not happen, so I want to let all of you know I will miss you terribly, and hope that all of you have a wonderful year, no matter what you are doing. I love all of my friends! Feel free to ask any questions you may have, and I will be happy to answer them.

Help Hunger, and Serpentes on a Shippe!

This isn't an entry as much as a note for a few interesting things. One of which is a site that my friend Megan sent me a link to: FreeRice. You can quiz yourself on vocabulary here, and learn a lot of new words, while in the process, donating 20 grains of rice for every word you get right. The rice is paid for by the advertisers on the bottom of the site, and it goes through United Nations to starving countries. So if you ever felt like you wanted to make a difference but never knew how, here is a great way to do so.

Another interesting thing I found was this blog: Geoffrey Chaucer Hath a Blog. For those who might not remember, he's the guy you had to read in Senior English; he wrote the Canterbury Tales. (Which I might say, is some pretty racy stuff at times!) I don't even remember how I found it, but it is definitely worth checking out, cause it is funny. The site even has a store so that you can buy custom t-shirts and things, perfect for the Chaucer or English nerd in your life. :-p

Whenever I'm in the midst of having to make a bunch of potentially life-changing decisions, all I want to do is panic about the possible outcomes, probably just like a lot of other people would. If there's anything that the last few years have taught me, it's that I'm not as strong as I think I am--or as people see me as. But I always want to try and be strong for the people that need me; for my friends. I don't want to let them down in a crisis. It's just at the end of the day, sometimes all I can do is go home and cry to myself over the pain that has been confided in me. And I pray and wonder when things will start getting better for them. If that makes me weak, then I'd hate to think that love and compassion are weaknesses.

On a separate note, if I didn't message or call occasionally to see how you were doing, what would happen then? Perhaps you wouldn't notice, or even care.