have I mentioned how much I HATE ANTS!!!?

The ants are back...
This morning I woke up when a friend called. We talked for a short time and then I was going to go back to sleep, only I noticed something moving... ON MY BED. There was a little ant wandering. I squished it and then decided to see if there were any more. There were. There was an ant highway going around on my bed. I couldn't figure out where they were coming from or where they were going; they were just there. ACK!!!!! I have no more spray. I'll have to get some tomorrow. Today was shot as I was sick. I've been throwing up almost every hour. I felt fine when I got up, but then I just kept feeling worse and worse.
The owner lady was here earlier to collect some money for my water/electric bill. I mentioned the ants in my bedroom. There is now a dish of her special concoction under my bed. I think I might be sleeping on my living room floor tonight!!!

Richie

Richard/Ricky/Richie (he's liking Richie right now) is one of my students at both the kindy (Jin-da-lei class) and at LCC. He is 6 years old (Korean 7 year old). At the kindy, every couple of months there is a big birthday party for those students whose birthdays are in the two month period. The birthday students usually get dressed up for the party day: sometimes in traditional Hanboks, sometimes in party dresses or suits. Richie was part of this past week's party. He is one of my favorite students because he is ALWAYS smiling, and he is such a sweet kid (and smart, too).

Frankie

Frankie, or Frank-sausagE, as he sometimes calls himself, isn't the brightest of the bunch, but he is cute.

(He is one of my students at LCC.)

Gyeongbokgung (Gyeongbok Palace)

Last Saturday I went to Gyeongbok Palace.

It had been a few years since the last time I went.

The Main Hall.

A Throne Room.

pants

These past few weeks have been a bit strange for me. I have felt strange. I have felt like my life is not the way it should be. I know what (or who) started it, but I won't say right now, as I'm still not sure WHY.
I am trying to mix things up a bit.. change things... in order to make myself happier. I have not had a great year... and I'm not just saying that:

While I would normally hesitate to say anything like this, it begs to be said - This hasn't been your year! [thanks Anthony!!]

...and bad things are still happening. I could make a big long list of things that have gone wrong this year, but I won't.
I suppose I have been stuck in a rut.
Anyway... I started going to the gym a couple of weeks ago. I had been talking about going for a while now, but just hadn't had the will to start. I also started giving lessons to the two little girls of one of the office women at work. The girls are 9 and 7. It is only one hour a week.
I REALLY need to find some new jeans/pants. ALL of the ones that I have now fall off. Since coming to Korea in March, I think I've lost about 3 kilograms. All in the hips/legs. I lost about 2kg in Shanghai and then another in the past few weeks. I'm not quite sure WHY I lost it. In Shanghai it could have been all of the walking that I did (after not walking for a month due to health problems).
Anyway... I've had to tighten my belt 3 holes! All of my pants give me that saggy bum look. They are all too big. Korea is definitely NOT the place for me to find new pants. They don't make them very long. They'd be like 3/4 length on me... like the shirts that I buy here are. Now, don't get me wrong. The shrinking that I've been doing isn't something that I'm complaining about. What bothers me is the fact that my clothes no longer fit; and that I cannot find replacements for them.

my "American accent"

What American accent do you have? Your Result: North Central "North Central" is what professional linguists call the Minnesota accent. If you saw "Fargo" you probably didn't think the characters sounded very out of the ordinary. Outsiders probably mistake you for a Canadian a lot.
The West
The Midland
Boston
The Inland North
The South
Philadelphia
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Take More Quizzes

I might be mistaken for a Canadian, eh?

[idea from Cairogal]

random Korean restaurant

(the Korean on the sign says "So - Ya-mi")

persimmons III

This is one of the yellowish-orange (crunchy) persimmons. There are (I think) 8 sections in it. There were 4 seeds in this one. Some have more, some less.

This is one of the super-soft reddish-orange persimmons.
NO seeds. Just sweet goodness. :D

what an invention!!

Is this to help them improve their aim???
Wee Goals for male soccer/football fans.
What'll they think of next???

a little story

Love and Insanity