New Song

This isn't exactly a new song, but I just rediscovered it from rewatching Sex and the City: The Movie. This song and I just connect. Download it and enjoy.


Lyrics Labels Or Love lyrics

My new phone

My new phone. This is a model by the way, I don't know her.
I finally got a new phone and I am so excited about it. Its a Samsung Haptic 2. It won't be available in North America for another 2 years (I have read a couple of articles saying that it will never be available there, but I am unsure).

I left with my co-teacher yesterday after school so she could help me buy a phone. In Taiwan you just point at the one you want, buy a pre-paid card, and go. Here though its not like that. We shopped around for a bit and finally landed in this place call Phone & Fun. It was bright (and I mean bright) green inside and outside. Basically a store that glows in the dark. We looked around and phone a nice black phone and I was already to buy it when they came out and said that they ran out. They did have silver and baby pink (I think I just threw up in my mouth a bit). I looked at the silver, I refused to look at the pink, but it wasn't very nice looking. We told them we could wait twenty minutes for the phone to be delivered from another store, that we would just go to the bookstore to buy my Korean class book (I did mention that I am taken classes now, right?).

On our way we saw another phone place and decided to stop in. Yes, the people at Phone and Fun could probably see us and I did feel guilt, so much so that I refuse to walk down that street for at least two months. We went in and all they had were samsung phones. I had been looking at them online for some time now and knew right then that I wanted a touchscreen. I did look around (mom raised me to shop), but I headed straight back to the Haptic 2. I basically did what Steph calls Julia Mode when Shopping: "I'll take it." No questions (I did ask if it had English and GPS), just give it to me right now. I signed the contract and I got a 200,000 won discount for signing up for two years. So in USD, I paid close to $450 and before you fall out of your chair Dad, its my birthday present to myself.

My co-teacher, who has never experienced the Julia Mode when Shopping, was quite surprised by my choice and my quick decision. I explained that I had been looking online and liked it. She told me that men usually buy this phone because they are so much more into electronics, haha. I told her to think of electronics as accessories and they become a lot more fun. I got a weird look from her.

The side
The screen and the camera button
The screen from a different view
The back and the camera

I did have some issues already with the phone. The people forgot to tell me that if I turn off my phone and then turn it back on, I need to enter a password. I had no idea what the password was. I tried to go back, but my phone went dead before I got there. So I had to go during lunch today to get them to fix it. It took 15 minutes and 3 people looking at it to fix it, lol. Only I can screw up technology in a short amount of time. Oh and another feature that I love is the SOS feature. If I am in trouble I can call the police, fire department, secret agent (no idea who that is), drug agent, coast guard, and nic (no idea either). Isn't that nice?

Here are some of the specs:

3.2-Inch LCD touch screen
e-dictionary
users will be able to create their own vibration mode
various screen designs with 50 icons.
improved the drag and drop
Bluetooth version 2
Customizable vibration mode
5 megapixel camera with flash: The camera features flash, enabling quality pictures in the dark, and handshake correction, close up shot, a timer and 12 scene modes.
Image stabilization
4GB/16GB internal memory
integrated mobile banking
updated TouchWiz UI, User Interface, sporting 50 widget applications (up from 15)
integrated media player
external memory card slot.
drag and drop
picture dragging
handwriting recognition
Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), which will allow users rapid access to all the TV shows they like, at any given moment.
Music Therapy feature that provides meditation music and videos
full internet browsing capabilities
geomagnetic sensor

You can also text and call people, haha. I am sure I will learn of more after I use it for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

Cringe Video

I don't know if any of you have seen this, but check it out. It makes my cringe every time.

Fire Alarm

Today at lunch the fire alarm at school went off. At first I thought it was the dishwasher beeping to signal the dishes being done, but the sound continued for 10 minutes or so. It was the softest alarm I have ever heard. It wasn't until I was walking by it that I heard the automatied women speaking in Korean. The best part about the whole thing: no one even moved or blinked an eye.

Weekend with Steph in Seoul

Steph: If I forgot anything, just let me know.

This past weekend I headed to Seoul to visit Stephanie. I hadn’t seen her since my last night in Taipei at the end of June so I was quite excited to talk to her in person (we talk online everyday).

I decided to go for the weekend on Wednesday, but didn’t get the reservation for my flight until Thursday. I couldn’t pay online since I have an American credit card (they only take Korean credit cards) so I was a little worried that something would happen at the airport and they wouldn’t give me my ticket. I called the bank and warned them that I was going to use the card all weekend long in Seoul and probably purchase crazy things. They said ok (in reality I was quite forceful about the issue with them. They were quite smart to reply ok.)

Anyway, I left school a little early and got to the airport just in time. The flight was quick, 50-55 minutes, but I still finished my book half way through so I sat for a good 25 minutes twiddling my thumbs. Steph met me at the airport and we got on the MRT (or subway) to head to her house. She lives on the opposite side of the city so it took 1 1/2 hours to get there, but we had seats the whole time.

We were starving by the time we got to her house so we put my stuff down and went right back to the MRT to go 2 stops away to an Outback. Neither of us has had Western food since arriving in South Korea so we decided to make it a western food filled weekend. After Outback, we walked around the shopping area and headed toward her house. There seemed to be one shady spot while we were walking. I told Steph that if we were in a Western city we would see drug dealers and prostitutes, but since we were in Asia, it was just a quiet area. I got to see the outside of her school right before I twisted my ankle walking. I should have taken a picture of the sidewalks here. They are uneven to the points of having holes in random parts of the walk. I was lucky I didn’t fall to the ground, just a wobble and a twist.

As we were walking, we saw many noraebangs (KTV) places along the road.

Steph actually has one in her building so even after walking all that way back to her house and twisting my ankle, I just had to sing (badly). The place was wild. We paid 10 USD each for a tiny room with three TV screens on top of each other. There were no funny videos, just Korean boyband concerts with your song choice over top of it. We actually couldn't figure out how to work the remote and just pressed random buttons to play the songs. We spent an hour or so in there and then went back to her apartment to pass out.

My ankle was better by the next afternoon. Saturday was spent lounging around Steph’s apartment talking and getting ready for the day. We were both up early, but took our time so we didn’t leave the house until the afternoon. We lunched at TGI Fridays because I suddenly got a hankering for their chicken sandwich. When we got there we were put in the back in a corner which was nice since we could act silly and no one would stare back. The problem was that the servers forgot about us at one point. Just to let everyone know, the chicken sandwich is not the same. It was good, but it looks like TGI Fridays is going to be added to the food list when Steph and I vacation in Taiwan. They really had a good chicken sandwich. We didn’t get out of there until after 4pm so we quickly headed to the MRT so we could see some palaces before they closed.



No such luck though. Both were closed right before we got to them. We were able to take pictures of the outside and look around the area, but we couldn’t get in. Next time I go to Seoul, Steph and I are making it a Palace Weekend. After the palaces we headed to a huge shopping area. When I say huge, I mean bigger than huge like skyscrapers being the mall. There were several building full of shopping goodies. I bought an oversized beanie hat (so on trend here) and a butter knife for only 4 USD this time. Steph bought a hat and two scarves.



We only entered one because outside one of them we spotted a stage with the banner “Rock, Rock”. We had watched a portion of a drummer competition in the MRT earlier that day so we thought this could be interesting. We ended up staying for all three bands and yes, we were the only Western people there. It was funny when each band would point at us and say “Hello, nice to meet you.” The first band was mediocre, but the second and third ones were great. Both Steph and I liked the second one best since they were quite good and quite good looking. The third one was good, but a bit geeky (and not in the good way).
When the concert finished we started walking back to the MRT. Right before we crossed the street, Steph spotted the guitarist from the second band. She asked if we should go back to take a picture and I said “why not.” As I was trying to stealthy trying to take the picture he turned. I starting shifting with him so I could get a picture with his face in it when their manager/bodyguard? told on me (Steph told me that tidbit, I was too focused on trying to get the picture). I then was made to get in the picture (not what I wanted since I had no idea what I looked like after a long day of trekking about). Steph spotted the drummer and the lead singer behind him so I made her get in the picture with the lead singer and I took a picture of the drummer signing autographs. I wanted to get a picture with the bass guitarist, but he was no where to be seen. After our random picture taking session we headed to the river so I could take more pictures (Hello, My name is Julia Sterling and I am addicted to taking pictures, but not posting them.) We ended up walking along the river which had random art and light shows.

When we decided to walk back, we were no where near a MRT. I thought that my feet were going to fall off they hurt so badly. We finally got back to her apartment after midnight when we both realized that we didn’t eat any dinner. I changed my shoes and we went down to the convenience store to get a snack before bed. I was so tired that I collapsed in my bed with the potato chips still in my hand. They made for a nice breakfast though.

Steph and I decided to go to the palaces again on Sunday, but when we woke up we knew we were just too tired.

Sidenote: My curling iron exploded in her apartment scarring her table and floor. My pants also caught a little on fire.




After the explosion we went shopping. Surprise, surprise. I need to buy some books because I finished the ones I bought before I left, so Steph and I headed to the Western shopping area. This is the place to go if you need anything from home. I bought 6 books (all used and I will send them home as soon as I finish them) and a Korean travel book that doesn’t have Ulsan in it. What’s with that?! After that Steph and I concluded our Western food weekend binge at Burger King and Coldstone Creamery. We then went back to the apartment to put my purchases in my already packed suitcase and go to the airport.

Our ride to the airport was quite comical. We watched videos and listened to music on Steph’s Ipod while sitting on the floor of the MRT car. We received many strange and amused looks from the other passengers; we were sitting on the floor and banging our heads to the music. I went seamlessly through the airport and landed on time. The taxi driver was a little confused at first where I was going, but he figured it out eventually. I love that I live 15 minutes from the airport. I actually got home before Steph, haha.

To check out all the pictures from that weekend go here.

Music

I know that I should post about my weekend in Seoul with Stephanie (I will, I am just getting the pictures ready), but I must blog about the music here.

Everyone knows that I enjoy music, especially live shows (Shannon and Susie: Do you remember all those awesome shows we saw in Ireland?). My first weekend here in Ulsan was spent trying to get over jetlag so all I did was lay in bed and watch T.V. At one point on Saturday there were no English shows on so I starting flipping and found a concert to watch. It was actually a competition, which group could get the most votes, but it had other groups to keep the audience interested. During that time I was introduced to SHINee and FT Island, popular Korean boyband groups.This video is from the show so you can check out what exactly I was watching. You can even see the voting bar at the bottom of the show. SHINee was the winner.


Sidenote: They love, really love their boybands here.

Here is the low down on these groups (the facts are quite funny). SHINee (pronounced shiny like sparkles): This band can be compared to the Jonas Brothers where they are so young. The oldest is 18 and they are all still students in high school. Another fun fact is that each band has a color and SHINee's color is sky blue.
These are not their real names, they either use their last names or just made new ones: Onew aka The Leader, Jonghyun aka Bling Bling, Key aka The Almighty Key, Minho aka Flaming Charisma, Taemin aka The Youngest. Here is their video for Love Like Oxygen. If you can stick it out until the end you will be introduced to Korean rap.


FT Island is a rock ballad band which is a nice way of saying boy band. Their band color is yellow. They don't have nicknames, but one of them is still in middle school. The others have all graduated high school. They also rap, haha. This video is called After Love and has English subtitles.


While I was watching this show another band came on and sang what I call Under My Skin since I don't know the Korean name. I thought they were FT Island (all these boy bands have the same number of people and wear similar clothes), but they are really called DBSK (the students told me today after I sang along to the music video they were watching during breaktime). Their band name means Rising Gods from the East. I think their band color is red and they are all in their early 20s. DBSK are extremely popular, even in Taiwan. I have never heard of them since I was already focused on Jay Chou, Wang Lee hom, and Speshow and didn't have room for others, haha (Steph knows what I am talking about). These guys do have nicknames although they aren't as funny as SHINee's.
Xiah Junsu aka Xiah
Park Yoochun aka Micky (he lived in Fairfax, Virginia for four years, he chose Micky as his English name)
Youngwoog Jaejoong aka Hero
Shim Changmin aka Choikang Changmin aka Max
Jung Yunho aka U-know

This is their video for Under My Skin, my new favorite song.

This is the English translation for the song. I found it randomly in a youtube information bullet. I so thought it was about something else, haha.
At the start, you were sweetly, naturally attracted to me
You stepped up to me and told me it would forever be like that
All the possibilities, opened up Oh~

What is love? What! It's now meant by the Red Ocean
I'm breakin' my rules again, you know it's getting boring
Even if you're hurt a bit, it's okay Oh~

You want me, You've fallen for me, You're crazy over me
You can't escape I got you- Under my skin
You want me, You've fallen for me, You're crazy over me
You're my slave, I got you under my skin

The piercing stare that burrows into your head
It's not me, my still chrome heart
It's the road you chose Oh~

Running through your veins, flowing through you are millions of my crystal
Finally it has started, the end of my metamorphosis
Isn't this also love? Oh~

You want me, You've fallen for me, You're crazy over me
You can't escape I got you- Under my skin
You want me, You've fallen for me, You're crazy over me
You're my slave, I got you under my skin

Together with one time's kiss~ The day is fresh- a strong pull
The second kiss, your heart felt hot and about to explode
Yeah~ I got you! You know you got it!
Yeah~ Come on! Come on! I got you- Under my skin

In your dreams I control you with my magic spells
You're once again yearning .. I got you- Under my skin
My devils ride, there's no more room for breathing, if that happens
How will it be to enjoy it now I got you- Under my skin
You want me, You've fallen for me, You're crazy over me
You can't escape I got you- Under my skin


You want me, You've fallen for me, You're crazy over me
You're my slave, I got you under my skin

So this is what I am listening to and watching right now. When I was in Seoul with Stephanie we went on Youtube to look at something (I don't remember what) and found my favorite Taiwanese song, Julia. We clicked on the live version and Wang Lee hom was fiddling. As Steph put it "He countrified it for you, haha."

Map of Ulsan

If you are wondering what Ulsan looks like check out this site. It will show a cartoon map of Ulsan City. I live between the Hyundai Department Store and the Ulsan Culture Arts Center. I am in the block that has two skyscrapers (Samsungo and an investment bank).

If you want to check out other information about Ulsan or see pictures check out this site.

Finally, a Knife!

Ok, so at night I go for walks around Ulsan to check it out. I have seen many interesting things although I haven't taken any pictures. I already look different, I don't need another reason to stand out. Here are some things that I have seen: a towel store aptly named The Terry Store, several Hof & Coffee (I have no idea what hof means), a million beer joints, and enough golf stores to outfit everyone in Maryland, Delaware and Virigina.

But last night was my most eventful night out and about. I not only found TGI Fridays, two Pizza Huts, a Lotteria (a Korean version of McDonalds said to be really good), and Domino's, but Lotte Mart (like Walmart without the food) and an Outlet Center where I finally found, drum roll please....a butter knife. Yes, I have been searching for a butter knife since I arrived and even asked Blondes' cousin Jill who also lives in Ulsan. She recommended a couple of places and the Outlet Center was one of them. I had no idea that I lived so close, a 5 minute walk!

Details of the elusive knife (pictures to come): It butters like a pro and cost me 6 usd for just one.

Also last night I witnessed my first drunken incident. Living so close to a million beer joints does have its advantages. Let me give you the low-down. I was walking back towards my house and I saw ahead what looked like two men fighting and two other men holding them back. I slowed down, looking for another way around them (I learned from my experience with knife fights in Ireland that you should always go around them) when this old couple just walked through the middle of the fight! Well I figured if they could do it, I could do it. As I got closer I realized that the main fighter was a 50-something business man trying to get in his car to drive home drunk and the other three were trying to stop him. You would think that most of the people surrounding them would stop and stare, but no. Just another day in Korea.

Sidenote: I almost got hit by 2 cars last night. Not a record, they drive better here then in Taiwan, but it was my first time that I watched a car speed up when I was in the middle of the road. Good times.

Long Weekend

After being in Korea for over a week now, I have good and bad things to report.
Good:
1. We had a long weekend so I only had to work two days last week and this week is midterms so I only have to teach two days and chill for the rest.
2. I have a great little apartment in the center of downtown Ulsan (shopping here I come).
3. My students are loud, but have so much personality they could be on T.V. Plus they make me laugh, a lot.

Bad:
1. There seems to be a gnat problem in my area. I have bites all over my face and body. It was so bad at 2:30am that I got up and started killing them. I can’t figure out how they are getting in or what they like about me, but I got bug spray.
2. I can’t find the light switch for my kitchen. Cooking in the dark is not that easy. The other light that is in there is a motion light and I can’t figure out how to keep it on. haha.
3. I still don’t have internet in my house. (Fingers crossed for soon though)


I spent this long weekend keeping the swelling of my gnat bites down (maybe they are vampire gnats), organizing my apartment, grocery shopping, and watching Korean T.V.

As I was organizing everything I realized that most of my things are in boxes at home. I have the address for the school, but it’s in Korean. I will try to get it translated into English so people can mail me letters, etc.

Friday was my out and about day. I went to the Hyundai Department Store (like Sogo) to check out what they have. I lucked out and found an Aveda store (for my hair products) and an Apple store. I found a nice purse, but it was too small. I did a lot of window shopping. There is another big shopping store, Lotte, but I didn’t venture there. I then headed to Starbucks for an ice tea and chill time before grocery shopping. I now remember why I never grocery shopped in Taiwan. I have no idea what things are. I was able to get jam, bread, butter, cheese, pasta, carrots, tomatoes, and bananas. That’s it. I am going to keep trying though. I will just buy everything in a small size so if it turns out to be horrible, I can throw it away.

I know this is bad, but Saturday and Sunday I didn’t leave my apartment. I read, watched T.V., cleaned, etc. Now that I am going on the grand adventure of cooking, I can just eat at home. I don’t have to wander about. Plus Korean T.V. is fab. I watched a concert (no, I don’t know what they were singing), a show where a man thinks his brother committed a crime so he decides to save him and say that he did it, but the twist is that his brother didn’t do it (I think this is what is going on), and lots of House and Lost in Austen (Caroline you should download this). Why leave?

Well that is about all I did this weekend. Oh, I also did laundry and it was wild. The washer is big (good), but when it releases the water the water goes everywhere in the laundry room (not so good). At first I panicked, but then I realized that is the way it works, plus the water stays in the laundry room and never makes it into the house (very good).

Glasses

The trends for glasses are vast. In Taiwan, the smaller the better. But here in Korea, the bigger the better. Like Grandpa big. It is interesting to see young girls with glasses the size of apples on their face.

The Numerology of Names

This was on Yahoo.com today. I copied and pasted it for you. Check it out.

I am a #2.
Destiny Number 2
People with a Destiny number of 2 are meant for positions of diplomacy and peacemaking. To move toward your destiny you can use your tact, power of persuasion and diplomatic skills to help others resolve differences. You may find great satisfaction and fulfillment in helping to resolve problems, even though it may not always be something that you are eager to do.

How Numerology Works
When working with a name, numbers have corresponding letters. The numbers are added up and broken down into single digits in order to give you your final Destiny Number.

The Number Assignments

1= A, J, S

2= B, K, T

3= C, L, U

4= D, M, V

5= E, N, W

6= F, O, X

7= G, P, Y

8= H, Q, Z

9= I, R

How to Find Your Destiny Number

1.Write down your full name (first, middle, and last). This is the name you were given at birth—not your married name, etc.

2.Using the table above, write down the number matched to each letter in each name (i.e. AMANDA = 1, 4, 1, 5, 4, 1).

3.Add the numbers together for each name (i.e. 1+4+1+5+4+1= 16).

4.You will most likely get a double digit for each name; break down each double digit number you get by adding the first and second digit to get one number (i.e. from the 16 above, add together 1+6 to get 7, which is the number for my first name).

5.Add up the final numbers you get from each name (i.e. my middle name number is 8 and my last name number is 10, so 7+8+10 = 25).

6.Once again, break down any double-digit numbers into one digit to get your final Destiny Number (i.e. from the 25 above, add together 2+5 to get 7, which is my final Destiny Number).

In numerology, the basic vibrations are numbers 1 through 9, but the numbers 11 and 22 are master numbers and should not be reduced to a single digit since these are master vibrations.

If you are a:

1 is determined, autonomous, and self-reliant

2 is loyal, tactful, and analytical

3 is passionate, positive, and fun-loving

4 is sensible, traditional, and serious

5 is bold, temperamental, and sensual

6 is responsible, cautious, and domestic

7 is spiritual, unconventional, and somewhat reclusive

8 is money-oriented, assured, and authoritative

9 is versatile, compassionate, and worldly

11 is enlightened, deep, and high-strung

22 is ambitious, a global planner, and motivated

Go here for more information about your number.

Map of Ulsan

Still Alive and Kicking

Sorry to all the people who were worrying. I had no connection to the outside world. No internet and my international phone had no service (still doesn’t).

My plane got in early to INC airport, but I ended up getting confused about where I was meeting the EPIK people. I finally got a hold of them by asking the information person to dial the phone (the payphone and I did not get along). The drive in was uneventful (not a crazy driver in sight) and our driver (there were other teachers in the car) started to rap. DMX, Enimem, Jay-Z, etc. Even Korean rap, lol. It was great.

The hotel was nice, but as I said before, no internet which is weird since South Korea is one of the most wired countries in the world. My room had no bed and rowing machines so I had to switch to another room for the night. The next day the rowing machines were moved and in its place, my bed. The rooms were nice and clean (a little worried about that). The orientation went smoothly. Everything they talked about, I’d already learned and applied in Taiwan. Almost everyone was first year teachers.

The big highlight was in the addition of the Ulsan teachers that had been teaching for one month. The story was that their schools wanted them to learn more so they sent them to the orientation. The groups broke down like this: old Ulsan teachers and new Ulsan teachers. The old teachers sat on the left while the new ones sat on the right, never mingling. The reason for this was because the old teachers were crazy. Their descriptions of their schools were out of this world, to the point that people walked around the orientation stating, “I am so glad I am not going to Ulsan” which I replied, “Thanks.”

The last night we were at the orientation, we went to see Nanta. It’s a live cooking and dancing show. It was awesome. I am so going to see it again, that’s how good it was. I headed there on a bus with old Ulsan teachers (what a ride) and when I got back to the hotel I exclaimed to my roommates that I had another 5 hour bus ride ahead of me with them. Those guys are truly wild, beyond Julia wild.

That bus ride wasn’t so bad. There were movies playing, people sleeping, and me with a box and an Ipod. It worked out well.

I met my co-teachers at the bus station and they drove me to my new apartment. It is so cute. It’s one room with a kitchen, bathroom, and laundry room. It is very open, twice the size of my old room in Taiwan. There is plenty of room to walk around and soon I will have internet, yay. After they took me to the apartment to put my bags down, we headed to dinner at McDonalds. Not my pick, I just wanted to say that. I had the spicy chicken tenders, not smart. When something says spicy, it means spicy. I went through two bottles of water for four chicken tenders. Then I headed back to the apartment which is a 5 minute walk from my co=ed middle school. Daihyun Middle School (pictures coming soon).

Today was my first day. My co-teacher met me outside my apartment to walk me there in case I forgot the route, lol. The school is quite big and I have almost gotten lost twice. The teacher’s office is the size of half a football field length’s way (that maybe a slight exaggeration). Every teacher in the building is in this room so it is quite busy. I had to introduce myself (so embarrassed) to everyone. I turned bright red and I am wearing a pick shirt, not good. I have a desk, computer with internet, and a key that locks the desk. Good times.

I met my classes and the problem I am running into is that they have a low English level and bad behavior. They are like G8 boys from FuHsing, every class. I am of course taking notes on how they react to the situations I put them in and trying hard to find ways to keep them quiet and in their seats. Wild I tell you, wild.

I work from 8:30am to 4:30pm. The most classes I have falls on a Thursday again. I seemed doomed to do my most teaching on a Thursday, no matter what school I teach at. Most days I have four classes and they start at 8:50am and end at 3:10pm so I have a little more than an hour to wrap things up at the end of the day.

I have downloaded Skype to my work computer so I can receive messages during work time. I check almost every time I come back from class so use that until I get a phone here.

Side note: Everyone drinks coffee here, like big time. It’s like everyone smoking in Taiwan. I get weird looks from people when I tell them that I don’t drink coffee. So I decided I would say that coffee makes me ill. You would think that would derail their coffee attempts, but no. The answer: “Oh S.K. coffee, better.” Haha, Good Times.