brand name history

on saturday i went to the seoul drum festival. it was at the “national forest,” which was once royal hunting grounds but is now a huge park with rollerblade rentals, outdoor performance spaces, and fountains. it was gorgeous and it felt so good to finally see some greenery in seoul. where my school is, people usually hang out in cafes or bars, and parks are kind of scarce.

i think our big impression of the drum festival was: wow, how can this be free? the stage had fire / smoke effects and laser lights. i think the government is trying extremely hard to expose people to korean culture, whether they are foreign tourists or korean citizens. i find this so interesting because america doesnt exactly have a cultural heritage that can be advertised like a brand, the way that korea markets its own history. when american people think of “cultural heritage” they think of wherever their ancestors came from, which is usually not america.

as usual, with every spoonful of traditional korea,  im also taking in a flood of modern seoul… which basically includes scouting out the trendy bars and clubs, browsing magazines, and hanging out with the friends that im (finally) making from class. 

tomorrow im going to pusan, which is the second largest city in korea and is at the southern tip. im excited to see a new place outside of seoul, and possibly go to the beach and enjoy some sun!

random april memories

Maybe you were all faster than me
We gave each other up so easily

I lied, wrote my injuries all in the dust
In my heart is the five of us
In white houses

What I gave is yours to keep
In white houses

“how long on average do you chew a piece of gum?”

i feel a big migraine coming on, and it makes me miss home. ive been missing home a lot over the past few days—particularly, the simplicity of home. my resolved mind, the way i wandered down endless roads of what this year would be like.. these are the things i miss because i feel like i lost them somewhere. actually i feel like the summer didn’t happen at all, and im back where i started, facing an empty wall. 

i think being at home with my family made me stronger. i spent the summer so upset i wanted to pull my hair out, but simultaneously enjoying the fortifying feeling of pasta dinners and tuesday night television. i just have to remember what that was like, and ill feel strong again.

today in korean class we took a personality test. im surprised i could follow half the crap my professor was spewing out at lightning speed, but to my understanding, these were some of the questions and my results:

• how high do you usually fill a cup of water? 70%—this is my confidence level
• you are on a journey through the desert, how many pairs of shoes do you need? 2—this is the number of true friends i have (“to-the-death” friends in korean)
• how did you feel during the takeoff of your first plane ride? like puking—this is how i felt before my first kiss (hahaha)
• you die and are given one extra day on earth. how do you spend it? with my family—this is what i want to do right now

this was really entertaining. we all shared our answers and the class was pretty amused by my puking comment haha…