#i got them done in korea in like july i got 2 on my left ear and 1 on my right

[luvxiem]

the struggle of wanting to be hot and sexy but ur piercings are not healing well

[mnovenia]

D-1 going to Korea again

What a ride it’s been.. I may say this July is full of surprises. Truly God works in mysterious way and I still look forward to seeing more.

Other than God renew my strength and spiritual life, He added 75 new family members into my life, that I know for sure will be my support in this journey.. we might have so much barrier in terms of culture, language, many others but God showed when we’re walking towards the same vision that He gave, He enables all the impossible..

Few days after they left, another miracle that I have to testify is I closed a 3,2Billion deal that I never expected, so smoothly that I can only say it’s only by God’s grace. And He just graciously put me in the middle to witness all these.

Afterwards I met Ivan and we testify again how God works in his life and for sure God add him so I can collaborate as an answer to my prayer instead of looking for another fulltime job. Andddd, we witnessed how God protected miraculously as my car suddenly got hit by a white expander, very hard, my phone, glasses, card fell off, both me and Ivan were in shocked 😳 but we’re even more shocked to see that there’s not even a scratch in my car 😭🙏😇 and what can we say? Only Jesus name saves and the solver of all my problems, He cares for a big and small things, He provides more than I could think of. So for many other things that I worry about, for unanswered prayer, I can rest assured that if God think it’s good for me He will give, but if He think is not, He will withhold as a way of protection and how much He loves me. Thank You Father, 사랑해요 🤍

How do I put into words, the message and how God spoke throughout PI Bali. Therefore even it might take a while, I know it will be worth it and God will remind me one day what He has done in the past so I will not be complecent and it's all about Him not myself, nor my own benefit.

Tbh I was not having much to expect in the beginning, however God alone prepared my heart and energy. Though so much I don't understand, holy spirit was leading me to follow through. Just to think of it, I want to cry upon God's goodness and mysterious way.

Let's start from the sermon few weeks prior PI started/

25 June 2023: The Time When Barnabas is Needed

Barnabas was trustworthy, kind & focus on the gospel, completely used by God. Barnabas lifted up the people's spirit. He has a good reputation so that it help the jews to trust Paul & his ministry he always provides and give ways for God's work. When Mark gave up, Barnabas help him to continue. CHRIST, KINGDOM & HOLY SPIRIT-> they were just his only focus. God bless us not only to comfort us, but for us to also comfort others and encourage God's ministry where He send us. PS: I want to be like Barnabas :)

9 July 2023: Cast Away the Prejudice

3 main things in the book of Acts: 1) Holy Spirit went down 2) Saul met God and repented 3) Cornelius family received Christ

The pentacost happened again at Cornelius' house who was not a jew, it leads to many miracle: God reminded me to share the gospel without prejudice towards others. What is prejudice: we only see our own understanding without looking the other way based on own our experiences. With this our spiritual eyes are blocked and cannot be used to grow.

Cornelius is an elite of Romans, but he fear God and always praise Him, different from the rest who enslave the people there, but did religiously not spiritually. But he bow to Peter who is lower than him, he wasn't blinded by evil who pursue us to assume with prejudice so we can't see what's next.

Cornelious didn't stop the gospel on him but to share with others, He asked Peter to stay longer to baptize them and testify to his people about who Jesus is. Our nature can be replaced when we keep praying and focus on Christ, despite of difficulties, we can remove the prejudice toward ur self and others.

1st day of morning message by Pdt Cheon:

-a changed of personality is needed, not only a one time mission thing, pray wholeheartedly so the answer from God will be revealed. The main character of PI is God himself, not you, not the awesomeness of the team or one may show. Put off your past because you've been healed by the gospel.

Then we headed to lunch, coffee and started our ministry with Orkas. At night it was so moving to hear testimony from Han jibsanim at the Timur community at legian. I still remember vividly that night how God revealed the message about his longing about having family and how God worked through his business, etc.

2nd day, we started with a message again before I switch team, I got to know Jong su & Yeneung because it's fun to go to Ace Hardware together. We then had lunch at sam2 and head to rumah Pak Made to hear his testimony and how he was persecuted by his hindu family just because he chose Christ, along with his wife. On the way was fun to share with the driver about Haram's name and talk many heartfelt convo that I hope oneday will lead him to Jesus. It felt so much fun with new team, I got to know new people like Jongsu, Yeneung, Hyemi, Zion, Gwanghui, Seungmin, Kiwan, Sieun, Donghyun, Haram, Dede, Elle, Cindy, Benny, also the jangro/jibsa/sangmonim. We were going around the ricefield, so adventurous, bought ice cream, then the youth watched sunset together at the rooftop and sing songs, praying together before we seperated to the next ministry with Timor people with Ibu Anita team.

3rd day, we're heading to Blimbing Sari. It was a long journey but also fun with 1 team, we ate tempe, and kwonsanim bagi2 granola (eommaaaa). Oiya I forgot to intro my fav team members: Han jibsanim, Eungu Eomma, Hairstylist Kwonsa, Byeonghu, Yoora, Erica Eonni, Sara, Jael, Jihoo, Lydia, Yeseung, Pak Yoon.

Twas fun to meet the kids again, I was crying a river hearing Pdt Cheon's childhood story, but the kid said: Kak jangan nangis Kak. We played games Yaya Yeye prep by Gukyoong & friends. Was fun but confusing lol. Afterwards we had a service that's moving about Pak Johannes said he was reminded again to bring the gospel outside, not just busy sheperding the existing ones. Not long then we took pics and heading a long journey to go home

4th day was a bit crazy because of many sudden tasks. I get to know new friends like Amanda, Hyeonhee, and getting to know more about Yuni. She shared a very moving story that surprised me. I had time to went out with Zion to buy pen and get to know her. I wasn't focus very much because given a task to speak during the big gathering -_________- na jinjja shirooooo. I was taking alone time to buy coffee and met Yoora in the mall. I practiced so much and worried more than ever, I got corrected by Bella aswell so I tried harder LOL. Let me write my testimony that let me made it to Yewon's forum HAHAHAH. Mom I made it into magazine.

"I'm Marshella who is a member of Bali Yewon Church who recently joined after God moved me to Bali. Apart from that I'm also a small business owner. I was so nervous to stand here in front of the Pastors therefore I brought my contekan hehe. However I just want to share how God spoke to me through PI. I thought being a christian, serving in the church, working and be a good kid, my life has been alright. However these past days, God reminded me again 1) Do I really believe that the name of Jesus that I've known can solve all problems? 2) Do I really glad in the gospel alone without depending on the worldly things, comfort and success in what I'm doing?

God also reminded me what is my role in the church that He placed me in and my priority in life? And isn't sharing the gospel shouldn't only be the job of Pastors & Missionaries? Shouldn't we all God's child should take part to bring out the gospel to others around us?

For that reason, I am praying that it's not only me that is being reminded how precious the gospel is, but also the rest of all you here. And last, I hope that we as the indonesians are not being less proactive to save our nation and be the witness that Jesus is Christ whenever and wherever God placed us." JULY 14, 2023

Pastor Chung Eun Chu also spoke that night about Isaiah 60:5

God would not love our greedy thoughts, He knows everything, so do not hesitate to share what God has given to you, it's not yours in the first place. Build God's tower inside of you: this is what Jesus did for 40 days, everything that you give attention to apart from God is an idol. And if the gospel is not be planted, other Gods will fill in. So we have to keep destroyign satan's will in our life. STAY AWAKE SPIRITUALLY! Darakbang: holy spirit's power and stay in prayer so God falls down when we pray.

Build God's kingdom on the field: platform for overseas peole, healing, restoration for everyone who comes to our church. Everything with the gospel in our DNA can change, neg to positive, pessimist to optimist, shy to brave, sad to cheerful. Be aware of 'all about me' attitude, don't pretend but as you born again, get rid of the old perception that 'i am the way i am, weak and ugly and shy and can't get married, etc. Remember you're changed by Christ. 24 hours with the gospel, preacher, fill your spiritual life till you have no other gap to be filled in by satan. Immanuel and oneness, beileve in Jesus with spirit, church = restaurant where people get renewed, strengthen, where all can enjoy party of restoration and get off with new positive energy.

Prayer Platform: renewal movement (393 prayer), covenant life what 100% guaranteed, there should be discipleship of 3. Remember the critical hours is only 7 hour, afterwards the. soul will be caught by satan, so don't postponed and think about it as emergency.

Remnant for children: save the next generation, focus on them and give the 'food' as many as possible so they can growing up rejoice in the Lord. Pray so they can be supported by many business owners and supporters. Don't believe only in what your eyes can see, its an iceberg, God has prepared the other 90%. So build the light because the time is coming, don't think that we can't.

[croissantbae]

March 30,2023

1. We ate every meal at home today which feels very rare for us on the weekends. Breakfast was bread cheese avocado egg. Scrumptious. Lunch was bibim gooksoo (and the kids always eat the opposite things in the meal. For the kids we did a soy bibim gooksoo and naya ate noodles only and Dani ate the cucumbers and egg only). Then for dinner we had steak, Brussels sprouts, carrots, bap and man the steak was so so good.

Jason grated some moo and we ate the steak w moo and wasabi. We went on and on about how this meal at a restaurant would have been $300 and thus 6x what we actually paid for the ingredients lol.

2. Latelt it feels like there are so many extra expenses to pay for.

- we got our air ducts cleaned and Jason said the guy who cleaned them said we have rats or squirrels in our attic and thst they’ve chewed up a bunch of stuff. So we’re getting an exterminator to come on Tuesday. And then we have to fix some of the vent issues. It’s $1800 just for the air duct cleaning. So there will be added costs for some of this other stuff.

Then the girls have a two week break last week of July and first week of august so I’m signing them up for imaginology bc we just can’t watch them during the work week. That’s going to be like $1300.

Then we still need to buy Korea tickets and for four people that’ll be …$5-6k? Plus the airbnbs and hotels themselves.

Every time we go to Costco it’s $500. Every time we go to the market (even if it’s like just to get soup or random odd stuff during the week) it comes out to $100-150 plus.

3. We got a kids book from the library and it’s about these 4 animals that need to share 3 cookies and the girls are OBSESSED with it. It’s quite a good book. It talks about math concepts while being super entertaining for them. I wann find more books like that.

4. I feel bad bc I think my patience meter keeps hitting the max really fast. The other day I was showering the girls and after someone said or did something I just left and told Jason can you do it. I just can’t. And the next morning even Jason was like omg. They’re so a-n-n-o-y-I-n-g. And they truly can be. Naya talks so much about nothing or repeats what when we’re not talking to her but makes us repeat what we’re saying anyway. And then Dani is just a menace hitting or scratching naya or trying to sit on my lap while I’m trying to do the dishes or like get something done.

I know they’re also so cute and I’ll miss them at this age but I can’t wait until Dani’s 4 and we hit the promise land people talk abt. I will want to freeze them at 4 forever once they get there but I’m looking forward to actually getting there.

[cthomashoodstory]

Best Years but Not in the Same Way (29)

Calum Hood x Reader

Previous Part

welcome back to another part of this story. so sorry i’ve been busy with my life bcs i did knitting lol. Pls enjoy this suck story :( I’m sooo sorry guys

Masterlist

-

Since Justin called you and you picked it up, everything had changed. You were basically ‘friends’ again with Justin. You didn’t know what got into you but you went soft over him. Like you wanted to end the war with him since you already have your own happy story with Calum.

It was awkward at first. Like, you were the one who hated him for 2 years straight. But he really happy and welcomed you.

It was mid July and you came to the studio where Justin did his upcoming album. You met himself, Poo Bear, Josh Gudwin and Ryan Good. You did it because of Poo Bear of course. He wanted you to listen to the demo of the song he made earlier. You’ve been known him long time ago before you even met Justin in 2015.

You and all the people at the studio listen to the demo and you looked at Justin. He was so excited when the music starts playing. So Poo bear told you earlier that after he got the lyric from you, he contact his producer friend called Tainy. Tainy made the beat and Poo Bear called Justin and Josh and here’s now the demo.

The demo was so beautiful. And it was using Poo Bear’s voice. And you were sitting a way far from them because it was your first time again working with them after years passed. And like you said, it was awkward.

“What do you think, Bar?” Justin asked you right after the demo finished. “Sar. I mean Saraa.” He corrected what he said before.

You slightly smiles at him. “It was so beautiful.” You didn’t say much because it.was.awkward.

Then Poo Bear interrupted. “Of course it was beautiful. You were the one who wrote it.”

When Justin listened what Poo Bear said, Justin seemed shock and he looked at you. “You wrote that? Damn Bar, you are jenius.” He hugged you. And you hugged him back for a brief. Before he apology, you smiled at him and told him its okay.

Hours later, after he finished recorded his own voice, you decided to go home because you were tired spending time at the studio.

When you arrived at home, you immediately called Calum through video call.

“Hey babe, we just arrived at the hotel. Where are you?” He waved at you while showed you the room.

You waved him back. “I’m at home. I just got back from the studio where i helped Justin with his upcoming album.” When you mention Justin’s name, suddenly his face changed. “It was just one song. Nothing more.” You reassure him so that his happy mood would back. Indeed he smiled, but you know deep down he was still jealous. “You’re at Korea right? Why is it so bright?”

He laughed. “Time Zone!” You and him yelled it together. “It’s 1 P.M. here. We’re about to get lunch. Catch up later?” you nodded and the call is done.

You sighed and started to open your notebook. Ever since you came back to your old house in Boise, it felt like your dad was haunting you. Not in negative way, what you meant that you couldn’t stop thinking about him. How you missed him, and the memories burden all of your thoughts. He was all the things you need in this world. Until you decided to left him alone and break his heart.

Then you wrote something on the book.

“There's a time that I remember, when I did not know no pain. When I believed in forever, and everything would stay the same.

My heart feel like December when somebody say your name because I can't reach out to call you, but I know I will one day.”

You smiled and close the book.

-

It was July 16 and you knew it was Luke’s birthday. You looked at your watch and it shown 9 a.m.. But you felt something odd. They were all still in Korea and… time zone. You forgot time zone existed and South Korea is 16 hours ahead of LA time. You immediately called him.

“Hello?” He answered your call. His face was all over your screen and you laughed.

“Luke!” You shouted. “Oh my God are you sleeping?”

He shook his head. “No, but I’m about to. What’s up miss B?” He asked you calmly.

Then you laughed. “It’s your birthday Luke! Yeah i know I’m so late but happy birthday to you! And nobody at your time zone woke me up, not even Calum.”

Then Luke was the one who laughed. “Calum said he didn’t want to interrupt your sleep, so we decided not to called you. But I’m waiting for your wish and now i got it.”

“Awwh,” you blushed. “Happy birthday to you Luke. I wish nothing but the best for you.” You smiled at him. “Thank you for being a great friend for me. I’m really glad you’re existed in this world.” You giggled. “You’re the most kind person, friendly, caring. You were really welcomed me when we first met. I was so scared that you would treated me the way Calum did. But you didn’t. You kept talking to me, and I’m so glad you did it.”

And now Luke was the one who blushed. “B, that was so sweet of you. You literally the one of the coolest person i’ve ever met. You’re a really best songwriter, I’m so admired you until this day. So glad I met you that day. My life wouldn’t be the same if you’re not around, B.”

You nodded. “Alright. You should sleep. Happy birthday Luke, i love you.”

“I love you too, miss Hood.” He smiled and the video call ended.

-

To be continued.

next part

[odanurr87]

Flash Review: Witch’s Love

Hyun Woo as Ma Sung-Tae, and Yoon So-Hee as Kang Cho-Hong.

Release Date: July 25 - August 30, 2018

Episodes: 12

Available on: Viki

Summary: Kang Cho-Hong is a young witch living with her grandmas, running a restaurant by day and performing magic rituals by night, who soon finds herself losing her powers. Ma Sung-Tae is a wealthy businessman trying to solve a traumatic puzzle from his childhood who buys the building where the trio of witches live and operate, effectively becoming their landlord overnight. Initially keen on getting rid of this rude individual who intruded on their lives, the witches soon change their tune when they learn he might be the key to restoring Cho-Hong’s powers. But there is more to Sung-Tae’s story than meets the eye...

WARNING! I’m gonna spoil the living shit out of this show. Proceed at your own risk.

What works:

Yoon So-Hee as Kang Cho-Hong. She was really the only reason I decided to watch this kdrama in the first place as I really liked her in One More Time and felt she had the acting chops for another main role. I feel she was the standout here again, delivering the more interesting performance, or at the very least trying to show more emotional range than her co-stars. She was feisty, happy, confused, sad, angry, in love, pretty much what you’d expect from a woman who finds herself falling in love for a guy who starts off (and some would argue largely remains) as a jerk. You can’t help but fall in love with her, what’s kinda the point and the reason why I watched all 12 episodes of this show.

The concept... kinda. I’ll admit the idea of witches living in 21st century Korea as restaurant owners intrigued me, and the thought of seeing a reenactment of a mortal falling for Bewitched’s Samantha had its charm, although the show never makes the most of this premise. The grandmas that care for Cho-Hong can be pretty funny when they choose to be and their meddling works more often than not, certainly when they’re trying to play cupid, but it is less welcome when you realize they have prevented Cho-Hong from having any real, meaningful, lasting relationship with anyone throughout her entire life and remain intent on doing so. Why? Because one of them got burnt for it, though not literally like Joan of Arc. Incidentally, I feel the show never fully embraced the idea of making the grannies appear to be serial murderers hiding their business behind a restaurant facade, though admittedly that would have perhaps required a radical transformation of the character of Sung-Tae to make it work. It’s a shame because that one scene where they’re shown “getting rid of the body” was hilarious.

What doesn’t work:

The male leads. I’m sorry but they really don’t. On the one hand we have Hwang Jae-Wook (played by Lee Hong-Bin), a webtoon artist and apparently Cho-Hong’s childhood friend. I say “apparently” because as far as I could tell she doesn’t remember him. He’s the kind friend (and should’ve remained so) who, naturally, is nursing a crush for Cho-Hong that she clearly doesn’t reciprocate, what is all the better given they have zero chemistry, but the show still tries to showcase him as a potential love interest. Then we have Sung-Tae, a character who didn’t have a bad start but soon showed himself to be a jerk (it fluctuates throughout the series) and rather too possessive for my tastes. He’s also fairly consistent in his stiff and one-note performance, only loosening up when allowed to act cute with Cho-Hong a couple of times. Was the script to blame, the direction, or maybe he just wasn’t into it? He has some good scenes, but I feel like they were few and far between, and usually more of a credit to So-Hee’s character. I was left with the sensation that, if there was any more chemistry between Cho-Hong and Sung-Tae than between Cho-Hong and Jae-Wook, it was probably because the former had more screen time than the latter and that can’t be good. For all I know, the male actors are good actors, as this is the first time I’ve seen them, but they just don’t make it work here.

Missing plot threads. This is probably the only show I’ve watched in recent memory that completely forgets about a plot thread and character. Early on we’re introduced to Sung-Tae’s friend, an actress who’s struggling in her career and may have romantic feelings for the male lead. The show was definitely setting them up as a media couple, and also incidentally ensured she cross path with Cho-Hong. In a later episode, there is a scene where Cho-Hong sees a magazine featuring Sung-Tae that was clearly devised for her to find out about this fake relationship, become jealous, demand explanations, that sort of thing. It’s possible this actress friend would’ve become the love interest for the second male lead, but she just disappears. Why this much build up for a character who just vanishes? If I were to give the writers the benefit of the doubt and assume they didn’t just forget about her, then I can only surmise this show was supposed to (or hoped to) have more than 12 episodes, but when that wasn’t the case the writers started making some deep cuts. Another possibly missing plot thread is related to the purpose of the CCTV camera installed in Sung-Tae’s bedroom... and promptly forgotten. It is never used meaningfully in the show when there is at least one event for which it seems tailored-fit.

The inconsistent de-powering rule. At the start of the show, Cho-Hong has her heart broken by her then boyfriend cheating on her. It was a good riddance, since the guy was only after her because he thought she had money, but this betrayal leaves her depressed and saddened, causing her to lose her witch powers. Thus, the show has established that the source of a witch’s powers is apparently tied to her emotional state, and experiencing a shock of this magnitude will result in a witch losing her powers, leading to her losing her youth, beauty, and mind, living a tragic, homeless life in the streets. Not particularly keen on this future, Cho-Hong takes it into her hands to consult a recluse witch who practices black magic for a solution. The witch hands her an “artifact” and tells her she needs to use it to find her fated man, saying she need only “capture his heart” in order to avoid her fate. In order words, if she finds her “one true love,” she will be able to reverse the loss, what seems to be consistent with the earlier rule of a witch’s power being tied to her emotional state. Fast forward a fair bit. Cho-Hong having regained her powers, her grandmas now decide to wipe Sung-Tae’s memories. I’ll explain the why later. Cho-Hong is dead set against this, as she loves him, but the grandmas carry out the procedure anyway, leaving a broken and despondent Cho-Hong in the process. How is it then that Cho-Hong doesn’t lose her powers? We established that the source of a witch’s powers is tied to her emotional state, and Cho-Hong gave the impression of being even more distraught by this act than by his former boyfriend’s cheating, so how come there are no consequences this time around? Did the writers miss this? As if the show hadn’t forgotten enough things, it is stated at one point that one of the grandmas had once lost her powers in a similar situation but managed to avoid her tragic fate. Um, hello, mind sharing how you did that so you can save your adopted granddaughter? Nope, it never occurs to her to share this crucial information, pushing Cho-Hong to continue to seek the dark witch’s counsel, something both grandmas clearly disapprove. Sigh.

The confusing “fated man” plot and the dark witch’s agenda. I’ve never been more confused by a villain’s agenda in a kdrama before, for twice in this show the villain actually helps the protagonists. Surely this must be part of some dastardly plot of hers, right? Sure. Probably. Maybe. I guess? The show is as confused as I am. Apparently, the dark witch wants to ruin Cho-Hong because of some beef she had with her mother or something. I suppose she could’ve just let her meet her fate but she wants to harvest her magical power first (the show is never clear on how this is done). Going by facts alone, we know that: 1) the dark witch helped seal Sung-Tae’s death when he was young, but she didn’t stop it so he’s bound to die sooner or later; 2) she gave an artifact to Cho-Hong so she could find her “one true love” and regain her powers, both of which she did; 3) the dark witch appears confused, saying the man Cho-Hong is in love with is not her fated man; 4) the dark witch is convinced Cho-Hong will come to her to prevent the death of her loved one (what she does), something she intends to capitalize on, probably by harvesting her magical power. If the dark witch had somehow foreseen this situation 25 years ago, deciding to help save Sung-Tae then in order to use him to get Cho-Hong’s power later, that would make more sense. However, the dark witch didn’t know Cho-Hong existed at the time, and, for all we know, Cho-Hong was never supposed to fall for Sung-Tae. Was she supposed to fall for Jae-Wook instead? The show certainly does its best to muddle the issue but, if so, there are no traces left in the plot as to how the dark witch was going to use Jae-Wook to harvest Cho-Hong’s power, as the former certainly isn’t dying. And why would the dark witch be concerned about Cho-Hong falling in love with someone else so long as she gets her powers back? It’s not like she’s supposed to be looking out for her, right? In fact, Cho-Hong falling in love with Sung-Tae is surprisingly convenient for the dark witch’s “agenda.” Nothing about this plot makes sense.

A witch’s fate and the harvesting of magic. Talk about things that don’t make sense. The dark witch has apparently been harvesting witches’ magic for a while, yet the fact no one seems to be aware of it until the end, when one of the grandmas and Cho-Hong had been to her shop multiple times previously, strikes me as oddly convenient. Cho-Hong actually says at one point in the show, “I can’t believe no one ever thought of doing this” before proceeding to smash the flasks containing the harvested magical power, almost as if the writers were letting us know the plot had got the better of them. Even the dark witch appears confused, as if thinking, “This is not what’s supposed to happen.” And what happens when the flasks are destroyed? Well, all those homeless witches we had seen previously suddenly regain their powers and minds (but not their youth and good looks) in perhaps the most laughably bad scene in the show. What irks me is that this came entirely out of the left field, there was absolutely no setup whatsoever that there was a relationship between these women and the dark witch’s flasks. It just happened. Would it have killed the writers to show us some witch, or a police officer, or a journalist, investigating this sudden increase in homeless people and slowly tie it back to the dark witch to find their life promptly terminated at worst, or their memories erased at best? In fact, you could’ve made that person one of the secondary leads (the second male lead probably, given his interest in witches) so that the main leads are invested in finding out what happened to him/her. I guess not.

OTP: With Sung-Tae acting like a jerk most of the time, very rarely showing any vulnerability or tenderness around Cho-Hong, it was quite difficult to find any chemistry between the main leads. I suppose this gets a little better when they start dating, but barely, and it’s ironic that some of the better scenes between the two occur when they are pretending their relationship never took place. It’s really a shame they didn’t drop the hardass Sung-Tae act sooner and gave some time to exploring what their relationship would look like once Sung-Tae learned Cho-Hong’s a witch (it was a poor decision to take away his memories after the revelation). Imagine seeing Cho-Hong using her powers to help out her boyfriend in some capacity, like Do Bong-Soon in Strong Woman Do Bong-Soon, or abusing her powers in a fit of jealousy upon learning of his (fake) relationship with his actress friend. Sigh, so many untapped comedic possibilities.

One of the few cute scenes in the show. Easier to find water in Arrakis. You’re welcome.

Verdict: There is very little that works for me in this kdrama, but I suppose one could argue there is something at least. Where other, better, shows like Goblin and Hotel del Luna fully capitalize on the mythology they set up, Witch’s Love never fully exploits the fact that there are witches living among humans in 21st century Korea, opting to tell a smaller story centered around a family of three witches, what could’ve worked if the execution of the plot hadn’t been so haphazard and the male leads had delivered more interesting performances. Ultimately, that’s what this show amounts to: a source of untapped potential and missed opportunities wrapped up in uneven storytelling. However, a second season would not be outside the realm of possibility, were the show to embrace its similarities with Bewitched and explore what Cho-Hong and Sung-Tae’s relationship now looks like. Doubt that will ever happen though.

Rewatch meter: Low to Medium

PS: Oh, yeah, I forgot to mention the show suffers from audio issues in some episodes, as the characters’ words are sometimes drown by the music or the volume is simply lowered to oblivion. Shrugs.

[lindsaydoeslanguages]

Language Learning Goals: #ClearTheList – July 2019

July will be the second month of the Add1Challenge. So how are my language learning goals for Korean coming on so far?

Your Free Language Planner

Remember, every month if you’re inspired by these Clear The List posts, you can download your free simple planner to help you set your own goals for the coming month. Click the image below to get July’s version now.

And if you’re after more thorough planning, The Solo Language Learner Planner recently got a major update and more than doubled in size! It’s digital and print-ready and 100% re-usable because you can download it as many times as you need. Ready for that? Get The Solo Language Learner Planner now, or click through to read 7 Ways to Track Your Language Learning below for a little more explanation of what’s inside.

What happened in June?

7 Ways to Track Your Language Learning – On the blog, I shared 7 ways shared in The Solo Language Learner Planner that you can use to track your language learning goals.

What I Use to Plan My Language Learning – The video you’ve just seen above. A walk-through of The Solo Language Learner Planner.

9 Reasons to Learn Cornish – Funnily enough, completely unintentionally, this video was released the day before the start of Speak Cornish Week! Pretty proud of that accidental scheduling there. You can also get a free Cornish Starter Page on the blog article for this.

5 Tips to Relearn a Language You Used to Know – this question was requested by Zoe Land and this idea of ‘fossilisation’ of a language is definitely something I’ve experienced so I wanted to tackle it head on in a 5 Tips video.

Teach Languages Online Podcast – There’s been three episodes of the Teach Languages Online Podcast this month as I get back into a groove with it! First we looked at social media, then content creation, and finally email marketing. As if that wasn’t enough, Kerstin Cable came on the podcast to chat about her own marketing and share more on Teach & Thrive.

Online Teaching Marketing Masterclass – I went live on the last weekend of June for an updated 3 day masterclass collection of the Online Teaching Marketing Masterclass. You can still get access to the recordings of the presentations and Q+As here.

Teach & Thrive – Rolling from one project for teachers right into another with Teach & Thrive! The difference? Teach & Thrive is a new workshop series for ambitious online teachers and creators that will give you a monthly burst of inspiration and knowledge to improve everything about how you market, create, and run your business. It’s hosted by myself and Kerstin Cable and happening with live trainings between now and the end of 2019. The date I’m posting this is the last weekend to join. Want in? Click here to sign up while you still can.

Language Learning Review for June

I’m happy with how things have gone in June with my language learning goals.

Being part of the Add1Challenge with others learning Korean has helped me to find the support and community for the language that I didn’t really have before, which is great.

I’ve completed my goal of 60 minutes x 5 days per week, which is what I do typically anyway but right now, as I’m preparing for a big running event mid-July (my first ultra-marathon!) I don’t have the extra weekend time to dedicate to it as I’m running for hours on end!

So, of course, perhaps the obvious next question here is “Why don’t you listen to Korean lessons/podcasts/music when you run?”

The answer is “I do a little bit!”

I have a running playlist that does include some Korean music, but mostly it’s a mix of reggaeton, Rosalía, Billie Eilish, Soldi by Mahmood, and other songs I can clap to when I running alone on the canal path because that’s what motivates me most.

Language Learning Goals for July

Korean

I’m coming into month 2 of the Add1Challenge that I’m doing for Korean before visiting the country with Shannon (who I co-host Clear The List and Language Study Club with and who also hosts the Add1Challenge!)

I’ve found what is working and fits into my life most so here’s my plan going forward for July…

italki lessons weekly – My italki tutor for Korean is great! (her profile is here if you’d like lessons) I feel like she really understands how I learn and, perhaps most importantly, how I like to learn. I’ve got my weekly lessons books for July.

Drops – I’ve been using Drops to increase my Korean vocabulary for 5 minutes each day, typically in the morning when I’m having my tea at the end of breakfast. They recently very kindly upgraded me to a Premium Account as a thank you for sharing about their XXX (thank you, Drops!) so I’ll be aiming to finish a topic each day now I have more time available on the app each day.

KoreanClass101 – I normally listen to at least one of the KoreanClass101 lessons on the app each day. I’ll continue this for July.

LingQ – LingQ is a handy way to quickly spend a little time doing something useful on my phone and I normally get to use it around once a day for one ‘part’ of their ‘courses’.

Eggbun – I’ve still got a few free lessons left than I haven’t done yet on Eggbun so I’ll be finishing that up in July.

Duolingo – I tested out of the first 5 sections of Duolingo for Korean, which I was pleased about! I don’t use this much because I know I’m unlikely to finish it before actually going to South Korea but I’m keeping it there as an option.

Expanding on Notes – over all the time I’ve studied Korean, I’ve gathered lots of notes from various sources. I also have this Kimchi Korean workbook I picked up in France when I first started the language in 2016. I finished working through that in June.

One thing I’m working on doing right now is ‘distilling’ (to borrow a Goldlist Method term) all of the Kimchi vocab and phrases I don’t yet know that will be useful into my notebook and then expanding on that by writing my own phrases using what I’ve got from that.

Then I tend to share some of these with my tutor, which we use as a basis for the start of our lessons.

Add1Challenge Day 30 Video

My Clear The List post this month is a little later than usual because I wanted to share my Day 30 Add1Challenge video with it to track my progress! Here it is…

Your Free Language Planner

If you missed it up top, be sure to grab your free planner by clicking the button below to make the most of July for your own language learning goals. Want something more than that? The Solo Language Learner Planner is for you.

Join Clear The List + Share Your Goals!

1. Share your goal post whether it includes your aspirations for the month or year. Submissions unrelated to the theme or links to your homepage will be deleted.

2. Link back to this post. You can use our button code below if you wish.

3. Follow the hosts: Lindsay from Lindsay Does Languages and Shannon from Eurolinguiste.

4. THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT RULE: Please visit the site of the person who linked up immediately before you and leave them an encouraging comment! By hosting this linkup, we’re hoping to create a positive community where we can all share our goals. If you do not do this, you will be removed from the linkup.

5. Share on social media using #ClearTheList.

Inlinkz Link Party

How did your language learning go this month? What are your language goals for next month? Share in the comments below!

The post Language Learning Goals: #ClearTheList – July 2019 appeared first on Lindsay Does Languages.

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[drtanstravels]

We recently stayed in Tel Aviv, Israel for four days so Anna could attend a teaching seminar for the International Retinal Panel. During our stay we would take a tour of Jerusalem, travel along the West Bank while venturing into Palestine, visit the ancient village of Masada, and then float and get all muddy in the Dead Sea. All of the main events happened in the final two days of the trip so this will just be a relatively short post in comparison, covering the initial two days of our journey, both spent in Tel Aviv.

Friday, November 1, 2019 We had left Singapore at 11:30pm the previous night, took an 11.5-hour flight to Turkey, had a 90-minute layover in Istanbul Airport, and then took another two-hour flight to Tel Aviv. When we were in Seoul, South Korea recently we got chatting to some friends of mine who had traveled to Israel in the past and the nightmares they had faced going through immigration once they had reached Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. One of them even told us about how he got cavity-searched, so we were both prepared for the worst. Once we were off the plane and inside the airport I cringed a bit when the first security guard snapped on a pair of disposable gloves, but it turned out to be just for him to search through our hand luggage. After that the line at the passport counter was taking forever, but it turned out that the reason the queue was taking so long to move was because we just had a really talkative guy checking our passports and when he first saw my Australian document, he looked up, gave me a curious look, and asked, “Do you watch Home and Away?” I smiled and mentioned that my sister used to have it on every night back in the day and that was it. We had to ask for entry border crossing cards, a separate slip of paper to be put into our passports instead of a stamp, because having an Israeli passport stamp can cause quite a bit of trouble when traveling overseas. There are currently eight countries that won’t accept passports containing Israeli visas, the most notable one being Saudi Arabia, a country to which we may need to travel one day. There are also quite a few countries whose passport holders are forbidden entrance to Israel without official confirmation from the Israeli government, Malaysia being on that list, so one of Anna’s colleagues was unable to attend. In fact, if Anna hadn’t taken Singaporean citizenship after we got married, this journey would never have happened.

As has been a pattern over recent trips, we arrived in Tel Aviv early in the morning, well before our hotel room was available so we dumped our bags with the concierge and decided to have a look around town. We were staying at the Crowne Plaza, which had an attached shopping mall so that was our first stop, mainly for a much-needed coffee and a couple of pastries, and then we discovered that there was a park and shopping district nearby called Sarona, a place with an interesting history:

Sarona was a German Templer colony established in Ottoman Palestine in 1871. Sarona is now a neighbourhood of Tel Aviv, Israel. It was one of the earliest modern villages established by Europeans in Ottoman Palestine. In July 1941, the British Mandate authorities deported 188 residents of Sarona, who were considered hard-core Nazi sympathisers. By the 2000s, the area had fallen into disrepair and was a haven for drug addicts. However, since 2003, the area has undergone massive renovation, which involved moving and relocating historical buildings before their restoration. The area is now a popular shopping district, as well as housing museums, cultural artefacts centring on its history, and IDF complexes.

Walking around Sarona was really cool with its mix of shops, bars, and cafes, as well as the Sarona Market. When Anna was purchasing a ring in one of the stores she asked for some recommendations in the area and the first one immediately given was Anita, a boutique ice-cream store. We initially thought this was a one-off, but we ended up finding incredible ice-cream shops all over the city. Anyway, we ordered a cup with two flavours, Pavlova & Mix Berries and Salted Pretzel, before we continued walking around, visiting among other shops a handmade dreidel store called Draydel House, a place with some unique takes on the spinning tops, and then it was on to Sarona Market. The market had some great looking food and there were plenty of free samples, but as you will find out over the course of this post and the next, it wasn’t an accurate representation of kosher food. We walked around sampling different cheeses, pickles, and halva, possibly the driest substance on earth. Seriously, dust is more mouth-watering than halva. Another thing that Israel is known for is pomegranate juice, generally used for detoxing, so we ordered a large one each, a decision we would later deeply regret and one that would also put the pair of us off pomegranates for the foreseeable future, despite how nice it tasted. Once we were done with the market and walking around the gardens in Sarona, we were able to check into our room at the Crowne Plaza at around 2:00pm and take a nap for a bit. Our day up until that point (besides the awesome pickle store in the market that wouldn’t let me take photos):

Anna near the entrance of Sarona

The way Sarona is set up is really cool

Looking down a row of stores

A map of Sarona in Hebrew

Anna’s dreidel

The dreidel Anna would probably get for me

Some of the ice-cream flavours available at Anita

A few more

They also had a custom soft-serve yoghurt bar

Anna about to buy ours

Our sweet and salty combination was definitely a good mix

Halva inside the market

One of the food stall rows

There is a huge variety available in this market

Unfortunately, not all Israeli food is as good as this looks

Anna in the garden

Now in our room

After sleeping for a bit we caught a cab to the waterfront, which is split into two parts; Alma Beach, a modern seaside area, and the Old City area of Jaffa. Most modern beach areas are similar, whereas ancient cities are always fascinating so Jaffa was the obvious choice to spend some time exploring first. It would be nigh on impossible to summarise the history of a 3,800-year-old port city in the Middle East, but here’s the general background:

Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv–Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is famous for its association with the biblical stories of Jonah, Solomon and Saint Peter as well as the mythological story of Andromeda and Perseus, and later for its oranges. The city as such was established at the latest around 1800 BCE.

Modern Jaffa has a heterogeneous population of Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Jaffa currently has 46,000 residents, of whom 30,000 are Jews and 16,000 are Arabs. The 2010 film Port of Memory explores these themes. Tabeetha School in Jaffa was founded in 1863. It is owned by the Church of Scotland. The school provides education in English to children from Christian, Jewish and Muslim backgrounds.

Our taxi driver was an elderly man who kept explaining to us along the way that Tel Aviv was a party city, that around 69% of people there were aged between 30-40, and that we’d be among the older people out that night. I wasn’t expecting that, but another thing we weren’t expecting was the fact that the sun sets in Tel Aviv before 5:00pm, it’s almost as if the city is in the entirely wrong timezone and is something that would throw our body clocks off for the duration of this trip. When it had been dark there for a few hours, you’d be led to think it was getting kind of late when in reality it was only about eight o’clock in the evening. So, despite the fact that we arrived at Jaffa at 4:30pm, the sun was already setting, but this just made the place that much more beautiful. We spent the evening wandering through the narrow streets and laneways of Jaffa, taking in all of the ancient buildings, towers, and structures, plus the major landmarks in the area such as Jaffa Lighthouse, Clock Square, and the coastal canons, all while the sun set over the ocean.

After all of that walking we were beginning to get hungry and the waterside restaurants at Alma Beach were supposed to be pretty decent so we chose one called Manta Ray for dinner where we sat outdoors with some drinks and feasted on some selections from their great meze platter, as well as a grilled fish. We were to meet the organisers and other attendees of Anna’s course at 9:30pm after everyone had arrived in town, but it was barely 7:30pm by the time we finished dinner so we found a nearby shisha bar for a few more drinks and a pipe. After a while we both began to bloat up, neither of us could stop farting, and I was burping constantly, feeling the need to vomit. It was too soon after dinner to be from the fish or the meze dishes we chose, I had already checked that the water was safe to drink so that wasn’t it, coffee, pastries, and ice-cream don’t have this effect on me, and nothing else we had tried had been a large enough sample to make us sick. Except for the pomegranate juice, that is. We had drunk about a litre (33.8 fl. oz.) each several hours ago and it now seemed like we were paying for it, however, we couldn’t be 100% certain. Whatever it was, we both wanted to go back to the hotel and let it all out, resulting in me violently throwing up for a few minutes once inside, but then we felt reasonably fine as soon as we were both empty.

We met up with Anna’s course-mates in the lobby of our hotel and we walked down to a pub in another nearby part of town where everyone chatted over some beers, while those who hadn’t eaten had dinner. It was a really fun night and Anna decided to ask one of the local organisers, Tamir, if it could’ve been the pomegranate juice that bloated us. He said it’s good for you, most people just take a small glass and share it. When she told him that we’d had a litre each he was gobsmacked. “That’s not detox, that’s just tox!” was the response. Here are a whole bunch of photos from around Jaffa that evening, plus a couple of our dinner and the shisha bar before we bloated up like a couple of non-embalmed corpses:

Hashan Square

Anna and and I on the peninsula

Part of Jaffa from a distance

Looking over the ocean

People washing their hands

One of the coastal canons, imported by the Ottoman government in the 18th century to protect Jaffa from Bedouin raids

Overlooking a mosque

You can even find cool bars in towns dating back to the bronze age

Walking down a wide thoroughfare

The sun setting over the ocean

A museum surrounded by shops

Walking down an avenue

Anna posing in an alley

One of many interesting sculptures in Jaffa

The view of Clock Square from a very narrow stairway

We were both wondering if this was the Jewish equivalent of leaving your tie on the door handle so your roommate knows you have a girl inside

Etzel House

Dinner is served

We chose a few dishes from this platter

Baked blue bream with Jerusalem artichokes

Smoking a shisha while we both rapidly expand

Saturday, November 2, 2019 Anna was going to her course so I was free to do my own thing for the bulk of the day, but there was one small problem — Saturday is the sabbath, also known as Shabbat in Judaism, and this would severely limit what I was able to do due to many actions being classed as melakhah and thus being prohibited on this day of rest or historically punishable by death! Here’s a better description of melakhah:

Jewish law (halakha) prohibits doing any form of melakhah (מְלָאכָה, plural melakhoth) on Shabbat, unless an urgent human or medical need is life-threatening. Though melakhah is commonly translated as “work” in English, a better definition is “deliberate activity” or “skill and craftmanship”. There are 39 categories of prohibited activities (melakhoth) listed in Mishnah Tractate Shabbat 7:2.

Some acts forbidden on Shabbat include:

Threshing/Extraction Definition: Removal of an undesirable outer from a desirable inner.

Dissection Definition: Reducing an earth-borne thing’s size for a productive purpose.

Kneading/Amalgamation Definition: Combining particles into a semi-solid or solid mass via liquid.

Cooking/Baking Definition for solids: Changing the properties of something via heat. Definition for liquids: Bringing a liquid’s temperature to the heat threshold. This threshold is known as yad soledet (lit. “A hand reflexively recoils [due to such heat]”). According to Igrot Moshe this temperature is 43 °C (110 °F).

Extinguishing a Fire Definition: Extinguishing a fire/flame, or diminishing its intensity.

Ignition: Definition: Igniting, fuelling or spreading a fire/flame.

Transferring Between Domains Definition: Transferring something from one domain type to another domain type, or transferring within a public thoroughfare.

Now, some of you reading this are probably thinking, “Why would you care, you’re not Jewish.” This is true, however, despite me seeing fewer Orthodox Jews in Israel than I did on any given day in New York City, prohibition of melakhah on Shabbat is enforced by law, although not to an extreme. Although no shops would be open, these restrictions would severely limit my food purchasing options. Because it had been powered down for Shabbat, I pushed my way through the revolving door to exit the hotel and hit the street. I was quite hungry due to the fact that I had vomited everything I had eaten the previous evening so I figured I might get lucky finding somewhere open to eat at Sarona. I saw a cafe with people all around it so that’s where I went and I ordered the egg white omelette on the menu, which came with some bread and a side salad. I guess the hotplate must’ve been kept burning from the previous day and eggs aren’t really a solid or liquid so changing their properties via heat would be fine. Salad was also okay because the form of the lettuce doesn’t change, only the size, and it was cut quite large so it wasn’t done to make it into a more usable, productive state. The bread had obviously been made the previous day and when it came to dissection of the food in order to eat, that was all on me, not the cafe. Juice wasn’t an option due to threshing/extraction, but it was when I ordered a latte that things got weird. The waiter told me that he could only offer me a “very weak coffee” which was the result of the water and milk only being heated to about 40°C in keeping with the law, a temperature that also isn’t really hot enough for the coffee to properly infuse the water, thus making it not very strong. It actually turned out to be infinitely easier to get a beer anywhere in town that morning than coffee. My order at the cafe was able to be brought from the kitchen to my table, and also to diners who were seated outside, without transferring between domains due to the installation of an eruv, described as:

An urban area enclosed by a wire boundary which symbolically extends the private domain of Jewish households into public areas, permitting activities within it that are normally forbidden in public on the Sabbath.

Although the Jewish community must strictly adhere to laws of prohibition on Shabbat, going to the effort of building eruvs and heating liquids to a slightly cooler temperature than normal seem like ways of pranking an almighty deity who is easily fooled by the loopholes in the rules he wrote. Then I remembered this scene from the documentary Religulous:

After eating I decided to have a look around the beach area, making my way there via the main shopping district en route, but obviously everything was closed except for bars, restaurants, and cafes and wouldn’t be opening again until late in the evening or within the next few days. I was also having trouble getting cash out of an ATM again and this time I wasn’t sure whether the machines weren’t accepting my card or were just unable to function in general. I arrived at the beach and it was quite nice with a bunch more seaside bars and restaurants, as well as plenty of entertainment, some of which was unintentionally funny. There was Israeli folk dancing that happens at Gordon Beach every Saturday, as well as a big outdoor gym area where meatheads could work out like in Venice Beach, California, all just grunting, flexing, and slapping butts. Instead, I walked out along the pier to a lighthouse, just taking in the sights. It was a nice walk, but I could feel myself getting sunburnt so I went back to a shaded area along the shore to sit down with a bunch of senior citizens for a bit and that’s where I got the biggest laugh of the day. There were three guys working out there, one was absolutely ripped and doing chin-ups and some other impressive feats on horizontal bars directly in front of us, another was doing push ups, all the while giving the third guy tips on capoeira moves. If you are unaware of what capoeira is, it’s a Brazilian martial art that combines acrobatics, dancing, and complex moves involving hand plants, kicks, and flips (that link is a video that will give you a decent idea). The only problem was that the guy trying to do it wasn’t particularly good at capoeira so I found myself sitting there with a bunch of confused older people who were innocently trying to figure out why a muscly dude was doing cartwheels in the sand in front of several other muscly guys. It was a hot day, a dry heat compared to the insane humidity of Singapore, but I had no cash for a drink so I had a sip out of the drinking fountain where people also washed the sand off their feet, and walked for forty minutes back to the hotel, passing a cheese shop that you could smell before you could see, despite it being closed, along the way. Once back I killed two birds with one stone, grabbing a bottle of sparkling water from the minibar and making an instant coffee in the room, which turned into mud when I added water, but it still gave me the caffeine fix I had been lacking. I also managed to get cash out of an ATM next our hotel and Anna was still going to be a while so I planted myself in a bar back in Sarona for a few hours until she was done.

My kosher Shabbat breakfast with very weak coffee

Walking into town

At the beach

Looking down the boardwalk and across the road

Some huts near the ocean

Now walking down the promenade

Was Banksy in town?

More art, this time honouring the older community

Israeli folk-dancing

Beanbags on the beach

One of many cafes along the promenade

Coming over a little cloudy

That’s better

Waves crashing along the pier

A lighthouse at the end

I’m still trying to figure out if this building had caught fire or was just art-deco

The cheese shop on the way home. I wish it was open

The bottom of my instant mud coffee

Anna was soon back from her teaching and we had a dinner that night with everyone else involved in the course. This meant taking a minibus with the International Retinal Panel crew back to a restaurant at the beach, Anna’s first venture into that area of Tel Aviv, so we had a look around the boardwalk and took a few photos first. It was nice to hang out with everyone while we were feeling 100%, they were really cool people and an interesting mix of nationalities, some local, others coming from Columbia, Italy, India, France, Argentina, China, and a multitude of other other countries. The restaurant we went to looked good, but the entire group, myself included, consisted of about 30 people, taking up two massive tables, and the platters we received, two per table, were to be shared. The problem with this system was that Anna, myself, and a few others were tucked away in a corner on the back table and our food and drinks kept failing to appear. Everyone else received a meze platter except us, we waited about 20 minutes and then had to ask for it, as well as remind the staff that we had also ordered drinks. When it finally arrived, the other areas of both tables were receiving a grilled fish that looked delicious, but when we finished our platter the fish never arrived, nor did the second drink I ordered. We asked about the fish and when it finally came ours was just what seemed like fish offcuts including several heads, all of which was deep-fried to the point that it was so crunchy it was pretty much inedible. We didn’t bother eating much of it, that second beer never came, and everyone that was there for the course had homework to do so we got back in the bus, the interior blue light making my Rick and Morty “Pickle Rick” shirt appear as if it were covered in turds, and we went back to the hotel, them to do group work and me to have a couple of drinks at the hotel bar until it closed.

Anna’s first stroll along this area of the beach

The boardwalk at night

All of the people involved in Anna’s course

A merry-go-round

Some of the food has arrived, but it also looks like others are asking for stuff that hasn’t

If our fish were pork, it would’ve been the parts that go into a sausage roll

Definitely looks like faeces

Tel Aviv is such a cool city and nothing like we expected, yet a completely hidden gem when it comes to traveling, but this was just the beginning! Stay tuned for the next instalment when we do all the cool stuff you would expect one to do while in Israel that in no way would fit into this post, like visiting Jerusalem and floating in the Dead Sea.

The first two days of our four-night trip to Israel We recently stayed in Tel Aviv, Israel for four days so Anna could attend a teaching seminar for the International Retinal Panel.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #219

“make a move and you pay for it; pick a lord and you pray to it.”

Do you actually love your grandpa? I don't really remember either of mine. I do from what I remember and have learned of them, though. Do you actually love your grandma? I don't remember my dad's mom at all, but I mean, I love her simply for being my dad's mother, who loved her. My mom's mom, yeah, even though she's. Hard to like a lot of the time. Do you have Facebook? Yes. What was the last thing you posted on someone’s wall? A birthday post. Do you have MySpace? My old one still exists, but I sure haven't been on it since it was current. What is your favorite kind of music? Heavy metal. Favorite soft drink? Mountain Dew Voltage is actually cocaine to me rip. Favorite food? Probably like... pepperoni pizza or cheeseburgers. I'm a full-blooded 'Merican. Have you ever felt replaced? OH, HAVE I! Have you ever worn false eyelashes? No. Do you ever regret making a friend? I don't think so. Can you cure mental illness? I don't know about cure, but you can certainly learn how to handle it better and alleviate symptoms. Is God good? Define "God." Cats or dogs? Kitties. Do you play video games? Yeah, but I don't play nearly the variety that I used to. Do you take medication for mental health? Yes. Can you really be racist to a white person? No shit? Do you have a favorite hair accessory? What does it look like? No. What’s your favorite type of insect? Butterflies. What’s your LEAST favorite type of insect? Larvae, like maggots. Disgusting. Who was the last person you Facebook messaged? What did you say? What’s his/her favorite food? Idk and I don't feel like checking. I rarely use it. What was the last song you listened to? Does it mean anything to you? "Thoughts & Prayers" by Motionless In White is a mood with my mad-at-God-24/7 ass. It needs to stop honestly. I've become so hateful about religion. Not towards followers, mind you, just the concept itself. I could write a novel on this, but I don't feel like it. Just me and organized religion don't get along anymore. Have you ever slept in a water bed? On a water mattress, yeah. How do you feel about having sex during your menstrual period? Never tried, not for me. Sounds messy. Does your ex have a job? My most recent, I guess you mean? Yeah. Have you ever slept in a car? Yeah, on long drives to like New York and stuff. What was the last term of endearment you used (babe, hun, dear, etc)? *checks phone* "Sweetie." How often do you use Flickr? Never. I can't log into my account anymore since Yahoo said "fuck u Britt," so there's no point. Have you ever been on a blind date? No. Do you have a crush on the last person you texted? She's my girlfriend so y'know like- Have you ever got into an argument with the last person you kissed? We very much disliked each other at first, so... guess, lmao. Have you ever liked somebody who was nice to you, but horrible to everyone else? Eh, that's a mystery... Juan was very sweet to me, but I know he had a bad rep. I didn't really see how he interacted with others. How’s your appetite atm? It's normal. I'm not currently hungry. Out of all the conversations you’ve had recently, which one has made you smile or laugh the most? Sara randomly and excitedly texted me to tell me "Welcome to the Jungle" was on at work, which was on the radio both when I was there and she was here, so she thought of how much she missed me lakdjsfkalwe I smiled my face in half. Do you look decent in your most recent photograph? Eh, it wasn't awful. It was for my school ID. What is one vacation destination that many people think is just fabulous but which you personally have no desire to visit (or revisit)? New York City. My sis went and said it was 1.) insane and 2.) disgusting. If you were five years younger but knew everything at that age that you’ve actually learned over the last five years, what is one thing you would definitely do differently? Go to the partial hospitalization program way sooner. What serves as the greatest motivation for you in your daily life? To earn a happy, content future. What activity that you have to do every once in a while that you dread the most? "Every once in a while," I'd say clean Mitsu's cage. She is such a strange rat. Enjoys pets, but being picked up is a no sir. When people hear what you do for a living, what is the most typical question or comment they give you regarding your job? N/A If you were left alone for one hour with nothing more than a pen and a notepad, what would you be inclined to draw or write during those 60 minutes? I'd probably write a poem. I know I wouldn't draw 'cuz fuck no am I doing so with a pen. If you could witness anything at all in super-slow motion, what would you want to see? Uhhh. Idk. Anything I can think of, like lightning, I've seen because of the Internet. If someone were looking for you in a bookstore, in what section would they be most likely to find you? Probably like, young adult fiction/fantasy, something like that. What do you forget to do more often than anything else? Lately, take one of my mood stabilizers. I need to get the box out... aaaand forget every day. I haven't felt any different without it tho so like... If you could teach everyone in the world one skill, what would it be? Compassion, maybe. You’ve been offered the chance to paint a billboard along a highway with any message you choose, as long as it’s only 10 words long. What is your message? I'm not spending time musing over something that serious lakaljdsfawe. Would you ever travel to Africa? Hell yes. I desperately want to go to South Africa on the Tswalu Kalahari tour. Whose house were you last at? Besides my own, my older sister's. Have you ever had a near-death experience? I guess this depends on how near death you mean. I've been in one car accident that my mom managed to make minor only by being a good driver; realistically, we should've flipped, according to the cop. My mom just acted quickly enough. Then I heavily ODed, but I was given more than enough fluids in time to keep me surprisingly okay. I don't know what would've happened if I hadn't told Mom so quickly, and I don't care to think about it. I'm fucking lucky and don't want to think about what could've happened. Have you ever met anyone who was overly addicted to a computer game? Tbh I myself could've been in this position when my depression was so bad, but then there's factors to that that lean towards it just having been a preference versus addiction. Idk. It's not a problem anymore so not worth debating over. Have you ever been fingered? That was the first cheat when you chose abstinence lmao. What do you do the most when you are online? Watch or listen to something on YouTube. What video game have you played the most? So in WoW you can actually type in /played to see how long you've played JUST that one character up to the years (or maybe days?) down to seconds and. I will never type it in lmao. Ongoing games are v depressing. Do you have scars you don’t like to talk about? No, those are thankfully gone. What is something you and your significant other do that may seem weird to others? Be helplessly and openly in love with imaginary demons while dating each other lmao (she's a Freeza fanatic). When and why did you last cry? The second day of school because of math class. When was the last time you drank? I think like... back on the 4th of July. Or some days after 'cuz I know Mom and I didn't finish the container in one night. Do you wear jewelry a lot? Just my piercings, really. Save for on my ear lobes because the holes on the left are fucked up, yay. I'm going to wind up just slightly stretching the first holes when I can afford a small kit; actual studs or hoops look stupid. Never wanted gauges until the holes got too stretched by the weight of hoops; now something needs to be there. Who in your household do you not have a good relationship with? My sister's (who doesn't even live here...) dog Bentley. I hate him and he doesn't like me. No, that doesn't mean I mistreat a pet. He's just a pain in the goddamn ass. Who in your life are you scared to lose more than anything? My mom. I don't know what would happen to me or how I'd cope at this time. Honestly, would you rather be single or in a relationship? I'm happier in a healthy relationship. Do any of your friends not get along at all? No. I mean, not that I know of. What are your 3 favorite internet sites? I'd be LOST without YouTube, then KM follows up close. #3, uh... Facebook or Tumblr, I suppose. Have you ever gotten anything autographed, if so by who & what was it? No. Well, I do have a little book of Disney World character autographs, but I don't think that really counts. Do you prefer Walmart or Target? We use Wal-mart. Who is your favorite model? Sara is a gd model don't even @ me about it. What have you done that is out of character for you? The Joel thing is the most anti-Brittany thing I've ever done for sure. I can't think of anything more current that stands out, unless it's- NO WAIT, this was quite a few months ago, but I firmly stood against an opinion my psychiatrist made known. He's very talkative and open as hell about his beliefs in current events, and he said something about pit bulls where I was just like... um no sir. I wasn't going to be rude though to HIM of all people so just said I don't base dogs by their breed and shut up. Awkward silence and we moved on. What do you feel strong enough to protest about? LGBT acceptance and rights. I already protest by having given up Chic-fil-a okay I care y'all. What’s the biggest blooper you’ve never lived down? Who knows... What is the best thing you have done just because you were told you can’t? Idk. I'm lucky to not have really been told that... What are you most thankful for? Thinking it all over, probably being born where I am. Boy is America FUCKED UP in some places, but boy would I be in a MUCH worse place if I was born in, say, North Korea, between my mental issues, sexuality, and opinions that can go to either end of the spectrum. How do you feel about thrift shops or flea markets? I love them! You can find the coolest, wackiest shit. What do you like to put gravy on? I hate gravy with a passion. Have you ever gone canoeing/kayaking? No. What one thing in particular makes you feel good about yourself? I genuinely think I'm a nice person that has other's well-being in mind. What is priceless to you? Love, in any form. What is one thing you know about your family history you’re proud of? Uhhh. I guess more than anything, I'm proud of my distant cousin for her unwavering love for and loyalty to her daughter when it came to escaping the Middle East and her dictatorial husband. Read Not Without My Daughter, it's great. Do you keep a budget? I don't have an income. What makes you feel rested and refreshed? Rested, a good night's sleep following being truly exhausted. Refreshed, oh man, gimme a hot, long shower. Who depends on you the most? Nobody. Could you ever be someone’s bodyguard? Hell no. Has one of your biggest fears come true? Yes. I was entirely convinced the world would literally end if Jason left. That night still doesn't feel real. Have you ever let your mom or significant other fight a battle for you? Colleen and Mom once fought after I'd ignored her, so I guess? It wasn't my wish or anything though for her to do it; Mom had shit to say by her own volition, and I wasn't going to tell my mother "no you can't do that." Did you create a checklist for your ideal spouse? No? Have you ever ridden on a subway or train and what did you like about it? Nope. Do you have to experience something to fully understand it? Yes. What embarrasses you instantly? A LOT A LOT A LOT!!!!! It is SO easy to embarrass me, including second-handedly. Do you think you could be a firefighter, why/why not? Hell no, I'm most certainly not in the necessary shape, and quite honestly I'm not that willing to risk my life for random people that could be assholes. What do you think should be censored? Idk. I have mixed feelings on censorship, no matter how stupid it seems. Eh... yeah, idk. Are you related to anyone famous or historical, if so who? Queen Victoria and William Clark. Would you ever donate a kidney to anyone, and who? Depends on who and obviously if we're even compatible. Have you ever fired a gun? No. What is the main quality you think makes a great parent? Sincerely caring for them, probably. Who is a female role model in your life? My mom, in some ways. What childhood dreams have you neglected? Jfc a lot, I don't want to think about it. What do you have trouble seeing clearly in your mind? My future, honestly. It's hard picturing my elderly days. Like I'm not suicidal anymore, I just don't really... realize I'll get there, I guess. I can't picture myself being old and alive. Would you travel to space if possible? No, too long of a trip. Are you an optimistic person? I'm a realist. Do you consider yourself more realistic OR idealistic? ^ Have you ever felt bi-curious? I started out accepting myself as bisexual through thinking myself as bicurious. I quickly realized "bisexual" was more accurate than "bicurious," but it was an easier thing to shift acceptance towards in regards to yourself when you thought you were straight for 21 years. Are you a fan of U.S. President Donald Trump? No sir. I agree with some of his ideas, but I hate him as an asshole person without a trace of manners. Do you know anyone with autism, mood disorders or learning disabilities? Multiple. I'd assume most people know someone who fits at least one criterion there. Are you green-eyed? Not exactly, but they definitely have a green hue to them. They're a gray/green blue. Would you consider UFC fighting and WWE real sports events? I think it's beyond debate that a lot of it is staged, but I mean, I guess to a degree? You still have to fight. It's physical exertion. Have you ever had an immediate relative pass away of cancer? No. Wait. I can't remember if my grandmother had cancer or not... but I don't think so. She was just old. Would you rather work in an office, warehouse or on a retail shop floor? An office, definitely. In my work-hunting as well as actual work experience, office work is probably the only job I could actually do that doesn't require a degree... Do you have a favorite wild animal? Why? You can't know me and not be fully aware meerkats are my favorite animal. Why? Ho boy. I love social species, and meerkats have such strong personalities, and holy shit are those little things brave as fuck. They're so GOSH DARN CUTE!!!! too, and their loyalty to each other is astounding. I love how playful and curious the little guys are, and... just wow okay, I could write an actual essay on how I adore meerkats so goddamn much. Do you have any unusual, uncommon phobias? I'm sure there are other people afraid of whale sharks, but I don't think it's common? And is an actual phobia of pregnancy uncommon? Idk. Do you prefer Android or iPhone? I hate my Android. I've had an iPhone in the past, and it was great. Are you a fan of sweet, sour, salty, or savory snacks? All, depending on my mood. Most often I'd say I like sweet. Do you believe climate change is real? We can't be friends if you don't. Do you believe in evolution OR creationism? Evolution. Do you think people can really predict the future? Nah. Have you been to a lot of shrinks? I hate that word. Just call them therapists. But yeah. How often do you clean your room? Not often enough. I need to dust... Any movies coming out soon that you want to see? I DESPERATELY wanna see the "Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" one. Those books were my CHILDHOOD. What was the last fear you overcame? I don't know about totally overcame, but vocational rehab helped me quite a bit with answering the phone to numbers I didn't recognize. Have you ever hurt yourself trying to crack a body part? No, nothing on me really cracks. Well no, both my big toes do, but no, I haven't hurt myself trying to crack them. What’s the worst part about winter? The days where it's cold BUT ALSO WINDY asdkljfaklwej;awe Summer? It's too fucking hot and probably humid, too. Spring? POLLEN. Fall? Literally nothing. :') Are you allergic to anything? Pollen and silver. How many times have you changed a diaper in your life? Like, once. Which country has the most fascinating culture? Oh boy, idk. Who does your favorite song? Idrk what my current favorite song is. I say my all-time fave is "False Flags" by Massive Attack, but it's not something I constantly wanna listen to. I guess you could maybe say it's "Headache" by Motionless In White; I play and repeat that a lot. I've really been digging them lately. When was the last time you wore makeup? Shit dude, idk. Months ago. Do you prefer males or females or both? I'm generally afraid of men, but I mean, I don't "prefer" one over the other if he's a good guy. Where in your town do you go when you wanna chill with a few friends? I don't have any friends I go out with. But there's nowhere to go here anyway. Where’s the best place to get coffee? N/A Have you ever seen someone struggle with an addiction? My dad was an alcoholic, but he's recovered. He loved (idk if he still does it) fantasy football, too. Pretty sure I got my addictive personality from him, lol. When was the last time someone gave you flowers? Early 2017. Do you like cranberry juice? omfg NO. Do you play any zombie-killing video games? The Last of Us is fucking dope, but I didn't finish it before my PS3 broke. :'( I like the Resident Evil series too, and some of those games have zombies or similar creatures. And The Walking Dead game tears my heart out every fucking season. What is the dominating genre on your mp3 player/iPod? Varying forms of metal. Do you have a book shelf? No. What website do you spend way too much time on? YouTube is ALWAYS open. I constantly either watch let's players and a few other kinds of YTers, moving windows around so I can see it and do other things, or listen to music. Do you like wind chimes? I LOVE!!!!!!!!!! WINDCHIMES!!!!!!!!!! Do you have a fetish? No. Do you have a pet fish? No. Don't get me wrong, they're beautiful and calming, but not worth it for me personally. They don't have much of a personality at all, and cleaning a tank so much for just a fish isn't for me. Do you like kettle corn? (That sweet and salty popcorn) Yessss! Do you enjoy classic rock? Hell yeah, man. When was the last time you went for a walk, just cause? Not since I was at Sara's last. Do you listen to Type O Negative? No. Do you have any fillings or cavities? Yeah. Have you gotten your wisdom teeth taken out yet? No, and thankfully I don't need to. One was very close to needing to be, but it has just enough room. Do you actually read privacy policies when signing up for new things? "Depending on what I’m signing up for, I’m likely to at least skim it." <<< This. Did you have a lot of birthday parties when you were younger? If so, did you invite everyone in the class? I had a party every year up to... idk what age. And no, I only invited friends. Do you like when things are color coordinated? Yes. Have you ever participated in one of those “guess how many jelly beans, mints, etc. are in this jar!” contest? if so, have you ever won? Yeah, and no. Can you juggle? Nope. Have you ever mistaken a ringing phone on TV or in a movie for your own? Who hasn't? How often do you use bobby pins? Never. My hair's really too short for them. Well, I'd probably pin the right side up if I was doing something like cleaning. Do you live on an avenue, road, drive or something else? Road. What are your school colors? Blue and white. Have you ever taken a picture with Santa when you were little? Yeah. Have you ever rolled down a steep, grassy hill for fun? Actually yeah. Do you like Nerds candy? Yes I do.

[prettywordsyouleft]

50 Questions Tag

Tagged by @g-exo Thank you sweetie! <3

1. What takes too much of your time?

Working and writing. 

2. What makes your day better?

Writing, k-dramas, crafting, bullet journalling, chocolate lol.

3. What’s the best thing that happened to you today?

This is going to sound odd, but we have 3 little kittens (and their mama) who we rescued from our horses’ hay shed a few weeks ago. The kittens started on solids like two days ago and one of them hadn’t pooped and was pretty full. After some assistance from me, she went and pooped. I could have cried with pure happiness. Poor thing was so uncomfortable.

4. What fictional place would you like to go to?

The world of Howl’s Moving Castle. To be able to use the door in Howl’s Castle to go to different realms and places would be truly magical.

5. Are you good at giving advice?

I believe so. Not so good at taking the same said advice though >_<

6. Do you have any mental illness?

Generalised Anxiety.

7. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?

Nope and I’m grateful that I haven’t :/ << same.

8. What musician inspired you the most?

SHINee as a group. I was in a hard place when I got into kpop with being unable to walk. I was entirely depressed from my accident and thought I would never get anywhere again. Their music gave me an escapism that I needed at first, and then I found the confidence in myself to get back up and try again. 

9. Have you ever fallen in love?

I don’t think I truly know what love is aside from familial love. I’ve not had the opportunity to fall in love. 

10. What’s your dream date?

I don’t think I have one. Something simple yet fulfilling with a person who is actually engaged in the date happenings and wanting to be in my company would be enough for me!

11. What do others notice about you?

I like to give. Everyone who has come across me - whether in passing or actually get to know me, all say that I have this ability to share with others and make their lives brighter by doing so. 

The ones who know me well complain that I don’t know when to stop and rest because I’m so focused on completing my tasks/ giving to others lol. 

12. What is an annoying habit you have?

I guess the above - being too stubborn to know when I need to rest. I’m pretty bad about it. I overload myself and then get too stressed out. It’s something I’m working on!

13. Do you still talk to your first love?

Not applicable to me.

14. How many ex’s do you have?

Zero.

15. How many songs are in your playlist?

6456 is the amount I have on itunes. I have various playlists that I listen to despite my mood though.

16. What instruments can you play?

None.

17. Who do you have the most pictures of?

Uhhhh on my phone it’s Mark Tuan. Followed by Kyungsoo and both Jung/Park Jinyoung’s.

18. Where would you like to go before you die?

Italian Peninsula is my top pick. Other places would be Greece, Japan, Korea and England.

19. What is your zodiac?

Gemini technically.

20. Do you relate to it?

I fall on the Gemini-Cancer cusp and relate to articles I’ve read of Gemini-Cancer cusp people than pure Gemini traits. I’m definitely not an outgoing, carefree person as Gem’s are describe to be lol.

21. What is happiness to you?

My family, friends and even our pets succeeding in life. Seeing their happiness makes me feel good.

22. Are you going through anything right now?

This whole year has been a “going through” kind of year. Every time I think things are settling, another thing is thrown my way. But I’m optimistic it means I’m getting stronger with this testing period. 

23. What’s the worst decision you’ve ever made?

Not buying VIP tickets when B.A.P came here for their L.O.E tour. I chose Gold tickets because they had seats and as a partially disabled person through my right leg, I didn’t think I could stand for the duration of the concert. It’s something I’ve regretted for years - they were so amazing to everyone, but those in VIP were so darn lucky with all the interactions they had!  

24. What’s your favourite store?

I guess Gordon Harris, the local art store, because I am always there picking up new stationery supplies for bullet journalling. 

25. What’s your opinion on abortion?

It’s a very personal choice. As a person who wants to be a mother one day, it’s an option I could never ever bring myself to do. However, it’s not my place to judge, condemn or preach at those who feel it’s their only choice at the time. 

26. Do you keep a bucket list?

Kind of? In my bullet journal for the past 2 years I’ve done the whole “19/20 things to do before 2019/2020″ but I don’t have an official bucket list or anything.

27. Do you have a favourite album?

Probably Verse 2 - JJ Project because I listen to it all the time. Otherwise, Good Timing - B1A4 is probably another long time favourite.

28. What do you want for your birthday?

Not really sure... my birthday is hard because it’s ten days before my Dad’s death anniversary. So I just try to do something to smile each year. Maybe go out for dinner to celebrate mine and Mum’s birthday (she’s a week exactly after my birthday)

29. What are most people’s first impression of you?

I’ve been told most people think I’m shy and awkward but once I talk, they are surprised with how engaging I can be in conversation. Which makes me laugh because generally on the inside I’m panicking as I have social anxiety issues. 

30. What age do you seem according to most people?

I’m 32 but people never seem to think it. When I was at university, I was older than everyone else as an adult student but they all thought I was around 20-21 when I was 24+ hahah. 

31. Where do you keep your phone while you’re sleeping?

On top of Octavia’s crate which is next to my bed. Or if I need to charge it, I leave it on my desk. I’m a very light sleeper so when my alarm goes off, it doesn’t need to be next to me to wake me up.

32. what word do you say the most?

When I’m talking - “like” (which really annoys me). When I’m writing - “but”.

33. What’s the oldest age you would date?

I try to believe I would date anyone regardless of age. But I’ve been known to have put an age limit of no more than 8 years older when I was feebly using dating websites. I don’t actively search for someone anymore, so if they came into my world and matched me well in a natural way, then I don’t think age would deter me. 

34. What’s the youngest age you would date?

I’m a bit more carefree on this one... I think it comes from being an older kpop fan and liking on younger idols because there’s hardly any idols left that are my age/older lol. Again as above, I wouldn’t let a younger age deter me in the right setting.

35. What job/career do most people say would suit you?

Author. I’ve even done those career quizzes on multiple occasions and the first choice is always Author/Writer. 

The second choice people say is teacher. Which I was training to be until my injury. 

36. What’s your favourite music genre?

K-Pop. 

37. If you could live in any country in the world, where would it be?

I’m happy where I live. I’ve never thought of being able to live elsewhere.

38. What is your current favourite song?

White or Feeling - both by Jeong Sewoon. 

39. How long have you had this blog for?

I started it on July 2nd, 2018.

40. What are you excited for?

Uh, I’m not really excited for anything? 

41. Are you a better talker or listener?

A bit of both.

42. What is the last productive thing you did?

Yesterday I made a new paddock up for our horses, cleaned out my guinea pig’s house, cleaned out the entire bathroom where Byul and her kittens are staying. And then last night I did Chelle Chats which was pretty busy! 

Today I’ve been pretty chill compared so far. 

43. What do you want for Christmas?

I’m not sure. I’m never good at knowing what I want. Better at knowing what to buy others.

44. What class do you get the best grades in?

In high school, it was English and Biology. In university, it was Classics/Ancient History.

45. On a scale of 1-10, how are you feeling right now?

6

46. What can you see yourself doing in 10 years?  

Not sure. I had an image of how I hoped to be a mother, and continuing on with my art business, but with puberty rocking our house with my sister and my finances taking a nose dive, fertility treatment is long gone sadly. I’ll just think I’ll focus on the now and improve/appreciate what I have! 

47. When did you first get your heartbreak?

I’m sure this question is related to dating but for me, when I was 14 my heart broke when my Nana died. And in 2012, when my Dad was killed was when I gained another ball in my box of grief. Last year was tough losing my dog of 15.5 years too. Got three balls in that box now :( 

As for dating, sure, I’ve hurt from limited attempts to confess and being rejected... but I’ve never had real opportunity for heartbreak like that.

48. At what age do you want to get married?

Lmfao. I’ll probably be single for my whole life. Marriage is so far from the cards for me, I can’t imagine it. 

49. What career did you want to have as a child?

I wanted to be a Veterinarian or Teacher.

50. What do you crave right now?

Food cos it’s 1.34pm and I’ve not eaten yet oops.

Tagging: @this-song-thats-only-for-you @mark-tuan-and-namjoon-lover @katdefbeom @listlessmaenads @tuanyiems @peachyparkjinyoung @jinyoungmoans @ahgase55g7 @itsallabigmess and anyone else who wants to do this! 

[ftsabrinas-blog]

          phew !  for  ONCE  i  finally  put  my  page  together  &  was  actually  prepared  this  time  around ! usually ,  i’m  rushing  to  get  it  done  along  with  my  intro  before  the  limit  runs  out ,  but  look  at  me ,  being  productive !  anyways ,  my  name’s  𝒓𝒖𝒎𝒊 ,  22+ ,  i  prefer  THEY/THEM  pronouns  &  this  would  be  my  very  first  time  playing  miss  roseanne  park so  i  hope  i  can  do  her  some  justice  with  my  volatile  baby  girl  𝑠𝑎𝑏𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑎  𝑘𝑖𝑚  !  she’s  the  beautiful  blend  of  part  wild  child ,  part  head  bitch  in  charge  with  a  glorious  splash  of  GLEAMING  highlight ,  oversized  balenciaga  sweatshirts ,  &  a  tongue  coated  with  venom .  i  hope  you  guys  can  grow  to  love  her  as  much  as  i  have !  

          ˗ˏˋ  PARK CHAEYOUNG  ／ SHE  &  HER  ／  TWENTY-THREE  .  welcome to  los  angeles ,  sabrina  kim ! the  glitterati  has  been  watching  you  .  rumour has  it  you  made  your  first  mark  in  the  industry  SIX  YEARS ago  & that  your net  worth  currently  stands  at $6.8M  .  it  seems  as  though  you’re  enjoying  being  a  gymnast  since  relocating  from  sydney  , australia  .  some  might  say  you’d  be  a  good  fit  for  the  glitterati  due  to  your  hollywood  ranking  being  a  solid  #2   ,  &  it  helps  that  fans  speak  so  highly  of  your SCINTILLATING  & METICULOUS  ways  .  unfortunately  ,  our  sources  cite  that  those  closest  to  you  aren’t  particularly  impressed with  your  MEPHISTOPHELIAN  & SENTENTIOUS  tendencies  .  ／  PENNED  BY  RUMI ,  22 , THEY/THEM  , EASTERN  ,  CANCER ,  GORE  &  GRAPHIC VIOLENCE  .

NAME: sabrina jane kim.

NICKNAME(S): sj, rina & kimmie.

BIRTHDAY: july 9th, 1996.

ZODIAC: cancer.

MORAL ALIGNMENT: chaotic neutral.

GENDER: cisfemale.

PRONOUNS: she/her.

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: bisexual.

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: biromantic.

HEIGHT: 5′6″.

HOMETOWN: sydney, new south wales, australia.

NATIONALITY: australian.

ETHNICITY: korean.

OCCUPATION: former collegiate gymnast & olympic hopeful.

LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: english, korean & learning japanese.

CHARACTER INSPO: heather chandler, jennifer check, cheryl blossom ( season one ), cher horowitz & chanel oberlin ( i hate that they’re all white, but they’re the best examples i could find; please don’t hate me ! )

born in sydney, sabrina’s parents are grace and jin-young kim. grace is a former pageant queen who won miss korea in the late 80s and miss universe in the early 90s. her mom never really wanted to pursue a career in modeling, but she graciously accepted her prizes and managed to become more well-known for her acting. her mom was in a lot of early k-dramas and was a natural in front of the camera, so she immediately shot to stardom in korea. her father, jin-young, had been a graduate of the prestigious seoul national university with a degree in preliminary medicine; he went on to medical school with an interest in becoming a cardio-thoracic surgeon.

grace and jin-young dated for about three years before they married in 1994, and became parents midway through 1996. the couple moved to australia in 1995 as they wanted to build a beautiful home near the beach and thought that sydney was the best place to do it. sabrina was brought into the world after seventeen hours of labor, and much like kourtney kardashian, grace immediately reached down and pulled her out as soon as she could. it’s suffice to say that their relationship has been close ever since.

sabrina was a child who had everything she could have wanted while growing up. she always had the latest toys, the latest accessories, and the best gadgets – she never had to want for anything. this wasn’t entirely a good thing as she grew into being someone who believed that she deserved any and everything when she wanted it. ever since she was a little girl, grace and jin-young would put her in all sorts of clubs, hoping to find one that piqued their daughter’s interest and that just so happened to gymnastics.

she started a little bit later with it, joining her community gym when she was eight. sabrina was brand new while some of the girls around her had started when they were as young as two, but that didn’t deter her. she made sure to work hard and practice, and eventually, she was so good no one could tell she started late in life. gymnastics was her life and she was always going above and beyond – she started competing in competitions held around australia, never allowing herself to do less than silver. when it came to attending college, while sabrina could have stayed in australia, she decided that going to the states would bring more opportunities, so she decided to attend ucla where she majored in communications, but continued her deep love for gymnastics.

coming in as a freshman, sabrina sat back and listened to her coach as well as her captain. she didn’t really step out of the box much, but once her sophomore year rolled around, she did. eventually, sabrina became the captain of the team during her junior year and she did so with an iron fist. sabrina was EXTREMELY no nonsense when it came to practices and didn’t hesitate to rat someone out for not putting in the 110% she expected out of all of the girls, even those who were older than her. suffice to say, sabrina’s teammates did not like her.

now, sabrina’s main event was floor, but she does vault, and balance-beam. during her collegiate career, she had gotten six perfect scores for floor, so of course her head was a little inflated. she supported her team no matter what, but sabrina could be a tyrant in practice but a sweetheart during interviews, and for whatever reason her teammates had a problem with that. so, they decided to secretly record one of their rides home from a competition ( thank GOD their coach wasn’t on the bus at the time because … they got chewed out )and sabrina didn’t hold her tongue. at the time, she felt as though she was carrying the weight of the team and that the girls had given up, so she was upset especially since the team scored lower as a whole which was very rare.

next thing you know, the recording is posted ‘anonymously’ on twitter and people have a field day. not only amongst students but even a few news shows picked up on it once it became much bigger than what it should have ever been. it was a situation of “come one, come all” in a sense, where no one really had an issue with sabrina until the video was posted, and then suddenly people were replying to the tweet saying how much of a bitch, a bully, and overall terrible person she was. sabrina, however, wasn’t going to run and hide when everything hit the fan.

her coach made her write an apology letter to her team ( which she did NOT care about in any way ) and also to the ncaa, you know, to save face since she still had about six months left before graduating. sabrina was extra petty after everything happened because her team didn’t account for the mob mentality and attacking she faced, so they tried being nice to her and saying it was a prank, but she wouldn’t talk to them at all. once, they were in practice and she had to say something to group so she said it in korean and wouldn’t translate for them any of what she said.

so now, sabrina has graduated and joined a gym in california, competing and hoping to someday become a member of team usa. she probably has an entire room in her apartment that’s filled with all of her accolades since joing the team at ucla, but her ‘bitch’ reputation still follows her from ucla, but she embraced the hell out of it. even though she had to write that apology letter to her team, she didn’t mean a word of it and if they thought she’d suddenly stop being a bitch then they were dead wrong. if anything, it made her more of one and she’s not playing games, especially when it comes to her career.

lastly, when it comes to her personality, sabrina didn’t let that whole “scandal” affect her like they thought it would. honestly, she laughs about it now even though people like to think she’ll bite of their heads during competitions ( which she will, no hesitation ). she kind of likes that people have something of a fear of her, which is why her main negative trait is mephistophelian, a fancier word for demonic and derived from the demon named mephistopheles, but she’s just as charming as ever. still a bitch, manipultive, and really spiteful. she loves dropping in insult but covering it up with a false nicety, so she’s like a tiny ball of fire at all times.

[chrysaliseuro2019]

Shaken And A Little Bit Stirred

Our three weeks in Greece has gone by in the wink of an eye. We have loved all of it. While Milos has been our least favourite (but still very enjoyable), Folegandros was scenically stunning and the town intimate and magical. Little streets and alleys lead into squares and while tourists have definitely found it, it’s lovely to see the locals having hung on to their little houses, out on their porches in the evenings chatting away. The tourist crowd are mainly couples or families so no pumping dance music to detract from the gentle vibe.

The Peloponnese is a must-see and I hope this has come through in the blog. As a tourist in July wanting to go where the crowds aren’t this is the place. And there is something for everyone; history buffs, museum enthusiasts, hardy hikers or beach sloths. So much to see, so much to do and a month there would not feel too long.

But today we leave and it’s a mega travel day so up and about doing chores. First off was shuffling the odd piece of still damp washing on our balcony washing line (one of the small and welcome creature comforts of an extended holiday) to take full advantage of sun and breeze. Then packing of cases which is becoming increasingly strategic commensurate with additional purchases, followed by getting the hotel to print out our flight boarding passes. Breakfast, then the final odds ‘n sods into the cases in readiness for our lift from Hotel Riga’s to the port.

Hotel Rigas was delightful. While only 2 stars, the room and balcony were enormous. But the bathroom this time was the size of 2 telephone booths and only room for one person due to an oversized awkwardly placed door which to close you practically had to stand on the toilet. Fortunately after 36 years of marriage, modesty is a concern long forgotten. The staff were the real standout with brother Panos and Christos the front office charmers. But the real star of the show was the housekeeper, who when we returned to the room after our first day out, had hung up our clothes, put things away in cupboards and done a through tidy up. It felt like mum had been in doing a Spring clean . I wanted to pay her one way fare to Fergie Street.

Ferry due to leave at 11.25am and arrived only 10 minutes late which was a relief. Systematic disembarkment for the Milos foot passenger and car arrivals followed by and orderly boarding by those leaving. This was in stark contrast to the Athens leaving fiasco necessitating dashing hither and thither avoiding a reversing oil tanker, taxis, buses, boxes on the wharf, cases, the passenger carrying a canary in a cage and a lot of agitated passengers. Piraeus Port Authority could do worse than do a study trip to a few islands for a few tips on traffic management.

Ferry went via nearby islands Sifnos & Serifos gradually filling on its way to Piraeus. Happily the sea was calm and the boat steady with the 4 hours passing quickly and uneventfully. Food onboard was also worthy of mention for the wrong reason. We shared a smoked turkey, cheese and mayo sandwich. The less said about that the better.

The TVs were showing some FINA Watersport competitions including the Greeks versus the Sth Koreans at water polo. It was Goliaths vs The Punes. The score of 13-2 representative of the physical strength imbalance. Chris was surprised the Punes didn’t turn tail and head straight back to Sth Korea when they caught sight of their opposition. Next on were the prissy-glittery-glammed-up teams of synchronised swimmers. We were half watching it (Chinese coming first followed by the Japanese, who we thought only average, then Ukraine) when the TVs changed to another station. Because all Greek discussion is loud and intense (and our Greek has not progressed beyond yassas and efcharistó) we had no idea whether it was the Midday Show, a regular news bulletin or some current affairs show. With no more synchronised swimming our books got 100% attention until we docked at 3.30pm.

Things were going too well for them to last. So they didn’t. With our ferry due at Piraeus at 3.30pm and our flight to Rome via Trieste due to depart at 7.10pm it was going to be a bit tight to take a train so we’d contacted a car transfer company which sends quotes. First quote arrived on Tuesday for £65 then decreased incrementally over the 3 days to £30. There seemed to be no time limit as to when you could accept the offer so we made sure the ferry was (a) going at all and (b) not delayed before we committed. As soon as we sailed we booked the transfer and emailed the driver to confirm the booking advising what ferry we were on expecting someone to be there when we arrived

Needless to say they weren’t. Port of Piraeus is not our happy place. Meanwhile my phone reconnected to the internet and I received a message from our niece asking if we were ok after hearing about the earthquake. I didn’t think anything more of it.

Meanwhile I put in a phone call to our organised driver who knew nothing of the booking and said he would call me back. Five minutes and no call back so I called him back only for it to ring out. Chris called him but the +44 English prefix probably gave it away cos he didn’t pick up that call either. So several calls to the company who didn’t seem be able to sort a driver resulting in my ire being raised about taking bookings that can’t be filled etc. We await a refund. But the bigger problem was time was on the wing and it was now 4.30pm so we went in search of a taxi.

Taxis in the port area were all pre booked so we found a taxi rank and asked the price. €80/$120!! Tell them they’re dreaming! Already pissed off about pre-booked driver no-show I got into a debate with the driver saying “We would take the taxi and trust the metre”. His bluff was ”It would be more expensive”. I countered “That would work better for you and we’ll take our chances”. His final response was “Take the bus lady” so we walked off in principle. (Think Chris reading my mood thought silence was his safest option.) I asked his mate also in the taxi queue but it was clearly a cartel cos he looked sheepish as he quoted the same which saved him losing face in front of his thieving mate. At this stage I thought my principles might cost us dearly with a missed flight (and I’d have a lot of apologising to do and a lot of extra Holmesglen shifts to cover the cost of lost flights) when we tried to flag down a taxi joining the rank who waved us off. But sometimes sticking to your guns pays off because a little modern Mercedes came around the corner driven by a taxi angel called Lorenzo who stopped as we waved him down. Quote €50. Deal! As he was loading the bags Lorenzo excitedly asked us if we’d felt the earthquake. So this explained the change of TV programming and the text message checking in on us. At around 2pm central Athens had experienced a 5.6 earthquake followed by aftershocks. We googled it and sure enough it was Athens’ first earthquake since the one in 1990 which resulted in 146 deaths and many more injured. Lorenzo who was driving through the city at the time said you don’t feel the movement of an earthquake when driving so he wasn’t aware what was happening. He said people were running out of buildings and dropping to the ground causing him to wonder if it was a terrorist attack. Fortunately there seemed to be no damage and deaths this time.

We were finally on our way to the airport with Lorenzo who determined the usually fast freeway route was jammed (we assumed as a response to the earthquake) taking 1.45 hours so the slower coastal route was a better option. The traffic around Piraeus was appalling but this bloke had the same traffic mindset as Chris....never, ever, ever sit in a traffic jam. We belted down bumpy narrow backroads made even narrower with cars parked on either side as we avoided the bottleneck around the port. The traffic was still heavily congested but our driver took every advantage of space by cutting in at the front of queues, forming extra turning lanes etc. It was quite the performance.

Not only was he determined to deliver us to the airport on time, he loved a chat. He was an Albanian in his mid 30’s married to a Greek with with two primary school aged children. He had been a semi professional soccer goalkeeper and along with taxi driving worked as a goal keeper coach. He proudly told us that only goal keepers can coach the skills of goal keeping. Lorenzo kept us entertained with stories saying when he was young he was popular because he wanted to play keeper whereas it was usually the fat kids who were lumped into that role because all the aspiring Ronaldos wanted to be the goal kicking stars. Another one we enjoyed was that his father used to regularly dink him 24 kilometres on the back of his pushbike in Albania to see a soccer match. The distance wasn’t the only issue as the roads built by the Italians post WW2 hadn’t received any attention from the communist government leaving them rutted, potholed and crumbling. Lorenzo and his dad’s bums must have been black and blue after those 48 kilometre round trips. He was also very interested in our lives so by the time we arrived at the airport at 5.50pm we were thoroughly relaxed with our faith in taxi drivers restored. We happily handed him €60 which he thought generous. We felt certain we were on the better end of that deal.

Flight to Trieste had a Rome stopover. The first leg to Rome left on time and was fine. After landing when the seat belt lights were switched the bloke beside me on the window side stood impatient to get off and leaned all over the top of me breathing heavily - he was not a small man. Usually I would get up too but with leg room being tight and row 24 being towards the back of the plane I stayed seated waiting for the 23 rows ahead to get themselves organised. This did not please bully boy next to me. After putting up with him literally right over the top of me panting I eventually stood at my middle seat. He took this as an opportunity to lean over me attempting to reach up into the luggage hold to drag his oversized case down. With the two irksome experiences at Piraeus still rankling I was not in the mood to be hassled. I refused to move and pushed back against him thwarting his attempts. When I finally moved out toward the aisle he reached over and dragged the case down telling me to move off before the people from the row in front. I told him in no uncertain terms I wasn’t moving until they were out of their seats in to aisle. Could excuse him if he was a peasant or had another flight to catch, but indeed he was well dressed and did not go to transit when we got off. That made 3 strikes with the no-show and thieving taxi driver so my patience was sorely tested.

Fortunately for everyone, probably most of all Chris who’s cage doesn’t generally get as rattled as mine, we had a spare seat for the next flight.

Landed at Trieste just before 11pm so had been on the go for 12 hours. Luggage arrived quickly making a dash to catch the 11.15pm train possible. We arrived at the station with the train pulling in. However we hadn’t had a chance to purchase tickets and with the machine caught in a loop, the train stopping for less than a minute and the guard less than helpful with advice we had to let it go. The only tip he gave us was not to buy the tickets on train as they were €50 more expensive that way (sounds to me like a euphemism for fine). Gave up on the train, taxis €60 (A$100) so not prepared to pay that. Instead we waited and caught the bus whose ticket machine also wasn’t working. No machine =no pay. Suited us. Took 45 minutes to get to TriesTe central station but enjoyed talking to a young helpful Slovenian man who had lived in Sydney for 3 months and a young Romanian woman who works as a purser on one of the small cruise boats that was hit by the big liner in Venice recently. Fortunately for her she was on leave at the time.

Grateful that Chris had booked our hotel not 5 minutes walk from Central Station. To top it all off our room stunk off cigarette smoke and the window shutters refused to open. Night manager couldn’t open them either so a quick move into neighbouring room which proved to be far nicer. Needless to say both knackered. Hope the travel Gods go gently on us tomorrow.

[dc-translator]

[ENG TL]190501 Joynews24 Article

Notice: This translation was completed without any permission or endorsement from the copyright holder. I do not hold the copyright to the original article or the photos used here. As such, a license cannot be specified. This translation will be taken down if the copyright holder wishes so.

Dreamcatcher's 2 years of 'nightmare' end... 7 dream-like moments

Original article: http://m.joynews24.com/view.php?g_serial=1175470#imadnews

2019.05.01 10:00 AM

[Joynews24 reporter Jeong Byeong-geun]A nightmare that has spanned over two years has come to a close. It was a huge undertaking, writing a story unique to Dreamcatcher. The team solidified its color with its signature metal sound and performances overflowing with energy, while gaining accomplishments, including its two world tours which began with the tour of 5 Latin American countries. For Dreamcatcher, the nightmare was a lucky dream which allowed them to take a stride forward.

Dreamcatcher debuted with 'Chase Me' on January 2017. The powerful choreography and intense metal sounds stood out, but the unique fantasy storyline about 'nightmares' was also different. After that, they completed the grand epic of the nightmare through 'GOOD NIGHT', 'Fly High', 'YOU AND I', 'What', and their latest track, 'PIRI'.

Dreamcatcher had an interview with Joynews24[photography=reporter Jeong So-hee] The seven members of Dreamcatcher each portrayed a different common nightmare('Chase Me'), and struggled in a chase against the nightmare hunter('GOOD NIGHT'). Why, then, had the girls become nightmares? After answering that question in 'Prequel'(Fly High), they told an alluring story about the murky divide between reality and dream, as well as how inside and outside seemed to be two and one at the same time(YOU AND I). Then they expanded the story by pointing to the stress of modern life, caused by the uncertain reality the youths of today face and the things that torment them, as the cause of the nightmare. They concluded the story, expressing the emotions of modern life, the need to escape the solitude and anxiety of being left behind, through the sound of the flute which was their SOS call(PIRI). The journey was long, making all the members feel "like it isn't over yet". They also grew fond of the story, saying "it would be good if we could base a different story on the 'nightmare'". Through that journey, they now have 7 lead tracks, and well over 20 tracks if you count their b-side numbers. This means they can fill their concerts purely with their own songs. The fact that they were able to hold around 30 concerts throughout their tours, which includes the Latin American tour, two world tours, as well as their current Asian tour, was made possible not only by their popularity but also by the number of their songs.

Response to Dreamcatcher first came from overseas. They held concerts overseas even before they held concerts domestically. It was because their metal sound, so distinct from other girl groups, and their unique concept felt somewhat unfamiliar to domestic audiences. Still, they are capturing the eyes and ears of an increasingly large audience. The members also said that "people are becoming more accustomed and more accepting". Their domestic concerts, held March last year and April this year, clearly demonstrates this change. The second concert was held in a larger venue for two days, and all seats were sold out. They also feel the love of fans as they travel in and out of the country. The members thanked fans as "a 100 or so fans wait for us in the airport and greet us every time we return to the country". Dreamcatcher members also numbered off the most memorable moments since their debut. We put 7 of them in chronological order.

Dreamcatcher Gahyeon #1 The day we first wrote and read a letter to fans (July 2017 debut 200 days fanmeet) "We were always receiving letters from fans, and then we wrote letters to fans for the first time. For our 200 days fanmeet, we wrote letters to our fans and read them out loud on stage. All seven of us wrote letters but because of the time, only three of us read them on stage. So we later scanned the handwritten letters and uploaded them to the fan cafe. While reading the letters on stage, the touching emotions that we felt as we wrote them came back to us and we all cried." (JiU) "I told myself that I wasn't going to cry and then burst into tears on the first sentence." (Gahyeon) "Our maknae Gahyeon became a crybaby after that. Her crying as soon as she opened her letter after saying she won't cry was funny and helped other members to cry a bit less."(Yoohyeon)

Dreamcatcher Handong #2 Arriving at the airport for the 4 city tour in far away Brazil (December 2017) "Brazil is so far away from Korea. The transit, the wait, we flew over 30 hours to get there. I was worried if there really would be anyone who would come to see us in such a far away place. But then, dozens of fans greeted at us right at the airport. I forgot how tired I was and smiled." (Sua) "Also, the fans dancing in front of the concert venue, us being able to hear their voices in the waiting room as they sang our songs, I don't have the words to express how I felt. There weren't any official goods back then, but there was a couple wearing couple t-shirts with our name on them. Someone also made t-shirts with our name on them and gave them to us through our agency. Their passion was so hot." (Siyeon) "Even before we got on stage, when the music began to play, they began shouting for us. Their throats probably hurt but they cheered for us like that all throughout the show. I was so moved that tears rolled down my face." (Handong)

Dreamcatcher Sua #3 Our first concert in Korea (March 2018) "We began holding shows overseas before we did so domestically. Having held our first show in Korea, the best part was that we didn't need a translator. (Laugh) It was so nice. Overseas, we would say one sentence and wait for it to be translated. In Korea, it was great that we could tell jokes freely and communicate easily with the fans." (Dami) "Our family can't come to our overseas shows because it's far. It was nice that our parents could come to our domestic show. Parents of every member came, and we got to make eye contact with them. It was touching." (Sua)

Dreamcatcher Dami #4 when the members sang the track that Dami had written the lyrics of(May 2018 'YOU AND I' B-side track 'Scar') "I'd done rap making and had written parts of our lyrics before but 'Scar' was a song that I wrote the whole lyrics on my own. It was a special feeling, having a song with lyrics that I'd written make it into an album and then hearing the members sing the song with the words I had written. It was also touching to see 'lyrics by Dami' on the album." (Dami) "It was special for us to sing, too. We actually all tried to write the lyrics but Dami unnie's got chosen." (Members)

Dreamcatcher JiU #5 The surprise fan song stage at 'Music Bank' (June 2018 'YOU AND I' and the fan song 'Full Moon') "It was during our 'YOU AND I' promotions. It had been over half a year since the surprise release of our fan song, 'Full Moon'. Then we got a chance to perform two songs, 'YOU AND I' and 'Full Moon', on the last week of the promotion. Being able to perform a fan song on stage was a special moment for both us and the fans. That was the first time we sang two songs on a music show." (JiU)

Dreamcatcher Yoohyeon #6 When a foreigner recognized us and said hello to us in LA (August 2018) "It was when we were in LA for KCON. We were doing a photoshoot for our photobook, and a foreigner approached us and talked to us. They had been across the street staring at us. I wondered why they were doing that until they finally crossed the street and told us that they were a fan, and that they were going to KCON too. It was surprising and pleasing."(Yoohyeon)

Dreamcatcher Siyeon #7 When we first got to use the underground waiting room in M Countdown, and when we got to use a waiting room by ourselves ('M Countdown’ has a large studio group waiting room on the first floor. A group waiting room and a few solitary waiting rooms are on B1.) We first went to the underground waiting room during the 'Fly High' promotion. We went back to using the first floor and began consistently using the underground waiting room from 'YOU AND I' and onwards. In the underground waiting room, it's easier to use the bathroom, the lights are different, there's a big mirror, and it's directly connected to the stage via elevator, so it was great. I was so thankful." (Siyeon) It felt strange to be in the place(underground waiting room) that we'd only heard about. When we first used the underground waiting room, our manager let us off on B1. We went to the first floor wondering why and was surprised when our name wasn't on the waiting room there. We went back down after being told what was happening."(Gahyeon) "We got to use the underground solitary waiting room for the first time during the 'PIRI' promotion. Again, of course, we went to the group waiting room and was flustered that our name wasn't there.(Laugh) Turns out, they'd given us a waiting room with a bathroom attached."(Handong)

Dreamcatcher recently wrapped up their domestic 'PIRI' promotion and promoted in Japan. From May, they plan to continue their Asian tour. After the Asian tour, Dreamcatcher hopes to release a new album domestically in the second half of the year. Now that they've concluded the 'nightmare' story, anticipation is high as to what kind of story and stages Dreamcatcher will show us. Dreamcatcher members said "we are confident that we have a uniquely defined energy and color. Even as members, when we see each other, we are so cool. It's as though all seven of us are centers. We'll put a lot of effort into the next album to come back with a story, music, and stage that are interesting, so please look forward to the new Dreamcatcher”. /Reporter Jeong Byeong-geun

kafka@joynews24.com

Photography: Jeong So-hee

ss082@joynews24.com

[1358456]

Review Response, Destiny #041

... Huh. ... Just ONE day after updating... 10. ... For the first time since May 2016...

Well then, I guess it’s time to make a review response. Even though the system has changed... 10. I’ll just cover whatever’s left on the 24th.

... Let’s see if this chapter also does what hasn’t been done since May 2016, which is NOT drag the average down (current story average: 12.34).

1) That end to the chapter though was not what I was expecting but it was very interesting, that deltarune hint thought

I will admit, this confused me greatly. I was like “WHAT Deltarune hint?!” So I read over the entire chapter like 3 times, scanning to see if my sleep-deprived, delirious self put in Deltarune references without me knowing. I put in quite a few game quotes this chapter, but not Deltarune. And upon not spotting any, I looked through all the Deltarune posts that I made, because I wondered if I forgot the events of that game so I couldn’t recognize the references.

And THEN I saw...

... Ah. THAT hint. ... Yeah. Hehehe... I decided to have Crystal shredded by the 10% Zygarde formes like... a year ago? And I just had to play Deltarune before that chapter occurred. Heh. I was also expecting people to ask about that but I guess either no one cared or thought I was joking.

2) WoW this was really cool So Crystal died and did gold die too? Thats an... interesting way to break up A pairing you didn’t care for anymore. Looking forward to the next one

Eh, I didn’t kill Gold and Crystal to break up a pairing I didn’t care for anymore. I had Crystal killed because she has never died in any of my stories yet... as far as I know. Thus Crystal was killed. The brutality of it... ehn. Why not. I was originally going to have her actually torn apart but... that felt like a little much. For now.

And as for Gold, it seemed like the logical result, upon seeing Crystal getting pretty much eviscerated like that. Given his personality, upon seeing someone he really cared about getting killed like that, chances are, he would snap and charge towards the enemy. But hey, because of that, Emerald doesn’t die. Gold saved his life, in a sense, by beating him to the reckless charge that killed himself.

3) R.I.P. Johto. I mean people could just evacuate Kalos and have Groudon Hiroshima the place. Or even without the evacuating part. But I guess that wouldn't be interesting. Also, couldn't Latias/Latios just fly to Dex Holders to warn them, like without Ruby and Sapphire? Eh I guess there's some ulterior motives going on here. A pleasure to read as usual, keep up the good work.

Hehe. Evacuate Kalos and then have all three Primals obliterate the whole region. “Zygarde cells are hiding all around this region? Let it burn.” Primal Groudon glasses a third of the region, Primal Kyogre floods another third, and Primal Rayquaza bombards the remaining third with raining meteors.

Yes, Latias or Latios could’ve flown over to Emerald and warn him while the other looks over Ruby and Sapphire. But they wouldn’t have really had the reason to do that. Like, they wouldn’t know whether the Dex Holders were struggling or not against Zygarde. And given their (offscreen) conversation with Emerald, they would’ve heard the plan of action and figured the Dex Holders would’ve been fine.

4) C'THUN! C'THUUUN! C'THUUUUUUUUUUN!

Heh. That minion only ever says ONE thing. ... And then it dies. I miss C’thun decks. Even if I have to draw 25 cards first on average to draw that f*cking thing. Part of the reason why I put in so many C’thun quotes into Zygarde. Flee... screaming.

5) 1st: YAY AN UPDATE! 2nd: DAMN IT DID YOU REALLY HAVE TO KILL GOLD?! HE WAS ONE OF MY FAVORITES (ASIDES FROM GREEN WHO IS ALREADY DEAD!)

Yep! Update! For the first time since July! ... And... heh. I’ve heard THAT before back in SA when I killed Gold there.

6) You had to kill them...

Crystal, yes. Gold, ... cause and effect. I’m kind of trying to kill the Dex Holders who have yet to die in my stories, who are NOT protected by plot-immortality.

7) Oof rip all the Johto dexholders, I have a feeling I know what the solution Latios and Latias were talking about is and now that's zygarde is 100% is there really any chance for a happy ending?

Happy ending? Sure. ... For some of the Dex Holders, anyways. Heh. This is like a branching path. Like those games that have multiple endings depending on what you did. The good ending: everyone lives from this point on. The neutral ending: ... probably what’s going to happen. The bad ending: ... f*cking everyone dies.

8) Lots of action this chapter! I loved it, bit i was still sad. Dang that super zygarde is bad news, and what happened to the mega hunter? The cliffhanger is going to kill me!

The johto trio is now completely wiped out . I get the feeling that ruby and sapphire are going to die because of what was said between latios and latios.

No mention of soneone from the sinnoh trio dying but i doubt you’ll let them remain untouched. Finally im almost certain that either black or white (or both) will die since thats your favorite duo to torture.

While I said that I probably wouldn’t update Destiny again this year... given, well... 10, I probably will. IF the average gets raised by this chapter... then I might even update before December. So you won’t have to wait too long! ... Maybe!

The fates of Ruby and Sapphire have been set long before Destiny itself has existed. In fact, their fates were an idea that had been lingering since the days of SA.

Ah, do I want to kill the Sinnoh Dex Holders? Or Black and White again? In Destiny, there are 3 types of Dex Holders: those who are guaranteed to survive due to plot, those who are guaranteed to die due to plot, or neither. Obviously, the first two are set, but those that fall in the third category, like Gold, I can just... toss away in the final battle. Now, where do the Sinnoh and Unova cast fit in? ... That is the question, isn’t it?

9) Oh there's the Complete Zygarde! I was wondering when it would show up and RIP Gold and Crys. Though I guess it wouldn't be surprising if it ended in a way where Red and Blue were the only survivors (and maybe Dia and Platinum). Loved it as always and can't wait to see the next chapter and what the Mega Hunter will do now that he's slowly breaking free~!

The 100% Zygarde that had been planned since the game’s reveal WAY back has finally appeared! Hell, it’s about time. Heh. Spare only Red and Blue? What is this, that show that I used to watch back in Korea when I was like 6? Everyone died in the finale except for the first three characters. ... But I already killed one of the first three, didn’t I? ... Whoops.

10) Gah, my heart. My poor babies TT

Poor Crystal. Just like Sapphire in our collaboration chapter, she was jumped by a pack of wolf-like things. But Sapphire had the plot-immortality and brute strength to survive. Crystal... did not. Thus Crystal gets her neck broken, arms and one leg broken and almost torn off, and even got her heart physically shredded... ouch.

[milkybonya]

Hi Milky! It's been a little while :) I've been a bit overwhelmed with life and mentally somewhere else for the past few weeks. Not in a bad place but just.. A lot I guess. It's finals week here and so far things are going well! I've taken 2 of my 5 finals and I got high A's on both so I'm happy :) but I also started my second job yesterday so the whole finals and 2 jobs thing has just been WHOOSH if you feel me?? But I've been staying positive and happy throughout it don't worry :) I still write to Kingdom everyday which is definitely therapeutic and it makes me smile! I found out Jahan's favorite color is purple today bc he answered me in a menpa and I'm so 🥺🥺 over it!! Sweetest boy truly 💙

Sometimes at one of my jobs I get the opportunity to listen to music during part of my shift so I usually put on my soft/slow kpop Playlist so my ear buds aren't too obnoxious with my Jikjin or I love you LOL! The Playlist has a lot of cute songs that make me happy! But whenever I hear My Treasure or Beautiful I always think of you and that makes me smile :) and yes I think of YOU! Not even Treasure themselves 😂😭 I just watched the Darari remix exclusive performance video! It was so great omggg the song is still really cute even tho it is a more rockish remix so I was still a little caught off guard with their all black edgy (but hot) outfits jdjsjs they all looked so fine 👀 Haruto in the long blonde hair I'm losing it 😭😭😭 I'm really into the ripped black jeans look so basically... It was a good video for me lol. I'm sad Darari promotions got canceled tho :( Hyunsuk (I believe it was him, I saw it a week or so ago) had to tell a fan promotions got canceled on a fan call like YG didn't even make an official statement about it :( the same thing happened to Kingdom too... Mujin had to tell us on vlive that Promise promotions got canceled. So upsetting 😔

Also oh my GOSH THE SKZ CONCERT?!!! All your pictures looked amazing oh how I wish I could have gone!! I bet it was amazing... You mentioned seeing red lights live like omg how did you survive??? What an awesome experience!! I can't believe it lasted 3 hours. What a time 🤩 any other concerts lined up??? How much more time do you have in Korea?? I hope you've done everything you wanted to do and more! But there's still time I hope 🥰 I'm not sure if I mentioned this or not but the Russian department at my school is trying to line up a summer study abroad to Latvia as a language intensive program! I'm sooooo excited even though it would be summer of 2023 and that's so far away but it's fine I'm getting hype anyways jfjdjsjs

Also you left me some questions in your response to my ask a while ago and I don't want to forget them!! I haven't seen the web dramas!! But haruto as a cold character ahhh that sounds so good 🤩 I'm going to be so busy over the summer bc I'm still going to be working 2 jobs and I'm taking 3 summer classes with one being condensed into 5 weeks ndndnsn I may or may not cease to exist until mid July starting in like a week or two so if I can't get to it I'll have to add it to my watch later list for the second half of summer (which I desperately hope won't be as busy as the first half)! Also hello??? I didn't realize Asahi wrote/composed orange!! He is so amazing I am falling in love brb don't mind me- jdjsjs and I kind of answered your question about my summer plans earlier! I hope I can go back home sometimes to see my mom. This is going to be my first summer away from my family and I'm kinda sad :( but my roommate is staying at school as well and she is basically a sister to me at this point so it won't be too bad (except when she's gone with her boyfriend which is like all the time but that's another story-). I love hockey!! My favorite team is in the playoffs rn and I am really hoping they pull through the first round 🙏 everyone was expecting us to do terribly (including myself ngl) but we're actually only one win away from getting to the next round! I'm so proud 🥺 I don't play personally but if I had the free time I'd love to pick it up. Whenever I'd play it in gym class it was so much fun 🤩 I can roller blade and ice skate decently but not well enough to do anything more than skate. Definitely not Play a whole sport jdjsjs I'd love to try field hockey tho. Since it's basically floor hockey. Maybe someday!

Anyways I'm going to wrap up here since my message is terribly long now and I'm worried Tumblr will eat it 😫 pls Tumblr nim I beg 🙏🙏 hope you had a good day/have a good day!! 💙

hello my love!! i'm sorry to hear you feel overwhelmed :(( i hope you're taking it a day at a time and that things can calm down after finals! and i hope you get a high A on your other 3 finals!!

omg working 2 jobs and studying,, i worked just 1 before and it was already bad :(( but also i want to tell you, even if you're not in a positive mindset, it's okay ♡ don't feel pressure to force yourself to think any certain way ♡♡ but honestly regardless, i'm so proud of you for staying positive ♡

YAYY I'M SO HAPPY YOU GOT NOTICED IN A MENPA 🥺 and purpoe is such a cute colour ;")

listening to music while working is the best~~ i wasn't allowed to, but my friend who wore a hijab would hide her earbuds under there and i was always a bit jealous hehe but i'm so glad you get to listen to music!! especially since working can be so tiring T-T

i'm so honoured you think of me when listening to treasure AHH honestly i'm always thinking of you too 🥺 and darari remix was insane,, seeing it live too they popped off !!! and now the video is so good !! Asahi being so silly in the background of all the cuts is hilarious hh but i'm also so sad promos are cancelled :(

omg stray kids live,, i'm still not over it ☆_☆ Seungmin is my bias and that day really just confirmed that fact,, the way he was being so cute and running around the stage waving at all of us ! also red lights live aha i aLMOST PASSED OUT IT WAS INSANE T-T

i'm seeing astro on the 28th and i'm super excited >_< Jinjin and another member will have solo stages that dayyy hehe

i only have a month left here,, so sad but i think it really is time for me to go back aHh but i really want to come back here sometime

hey even if your exchange program is summer next year, you can still be excited!! i was excited for my exchange even when it was a year away and still unsure because of covid.. so it's okay to get excited !!!

omg your summer sounds so busy :(( definitely take your time with the web drama and just watch it when you're free! also i hope you can find time to rest :(( but yes, Asahi, Haruto and Hyunsuk all worked on orange!! the kings they are!!!!!!!

i understand you wanting to go back to your mom :(( i really hope time will pass quickly so you can see her soon >_< but wow your hockey team is doing so well!! i hope they stay winning!!

i went rollerblading the other day and it was so fun but scary since i haven't done it in a while >_<

field hockey and floor hockey are both so fun!!!

luckiky tumblr didn't eat this >_< have a good day/night love!!

[unvillges]

Fools | Chapter 2

Pairing: min yoongi x ofc

Summary: min yoongi is a world famous producer and needs an assistant to help him out, but what he got was much more

Word Count: 2,560

Authors Note: hi everyone, this is the second chapter for my story, i hope you guys enjoy! comments and feedback would be great!

fools masterlist

I’m going to quit. I’m going to quit. I’m going to quit.

That’s all I could think of as I walked from the bus station to the studio on Monday morning. I was more casual today, apparently my work attire from Friday was just not cutting it for some people, but it wasn’t a big deal, I’d prefer to be comfortable anyway. I was thinking about it over the weekend – well actually from the moment I got home on Friday it had occupied my mind. I laid down in my bed, collapsing from the exhaustion of the work week, and nearly just screamed my head off. It wasn’t what was being said that was bothering me, it was the attitude, the way that he was saying it. But, I kept what Hoseok said in the back of my mind, don’t let it get under my skin.

I’m going to quit. I’m going to quit. I’m going to quit.

“Morning, Lili.” Julie said with a smile after she buzzed me into the building, my eyes adjusting to the indoor lighting.

“Morning, Julie.” I give her a soft smile back before heading up the stairs to my office. My door was open already, which confused me considering I closed and locked it when I left. I peeked my head in to see none other than Mr. Yoongi himself sitting at my desk, looking at some documents that were in front of him. “Hello.” I say in a monotonous voice, walking around the desk to start putting down my stuff.

“Hm, hi.” He says, not bothering to look up at me or move out of my chair. It was a bit of awkward silence for a few more moments before his head popped up, staring up at me as I was now standing next to him. “You signed these documents but did you read them?” He asked, with a raise of an eyebrow. “Surely no one with a sane mind would actually sign these.” I strained my eyes to read what he was and I realized it was just about how taking this job I agree to the late nights and that I agreed to the compensation that followed with it.

“I did read them, and I signed them. Why?”

“You just signed pretty much your life away, you know this includes weekends right? You’d practically be living here.” He says as his eyes move back to the papers.

“Are you trying to convince me to quit?”

“No, just trying to get a feel for what kind of person would actually agree to this.” He smirks to himself, which I catch just for a moment before his face falters and he stands back up, towering over me. “I left you a list of things to do, it’s going to be our first late night, I’d drink a lot of coffee.” Is all he says before walking past me and out of the room.

It was annoying how easily I backed out from my feelings of wanting to quit, something about the list of things to do just too tempting to walk away from, not to mention I hadn’t even gotten my first pay check yet. I took a deep breath and pushed whatever feelings I had aside, grabbing the piece of paper and starting on the tasks that I had waiting for me. My eyes move down to the pad of paper and I can’t stop myself from letting out a small laugh.

Don’t go into Yoongi’s office

Call Dan and set up a meeting for the 15th

Make coffee

Make sure you don’t go into the office

Send over thank you flowers to Paper Magazine for the photoshoot

Don’t go into the office

The list went on and on but one task just stayed the same, I wasn’t allowed in the office, maybe it’d disturb any kind of creative process that is going on, maybe I would just fuck everything up and he had to have things done a certain way ­– either way I wasn’t allowed in. I wasn’t sure if I never was or if it was because of the fact that I was new, but it was obvious that Yoongi was adamant about me not seeing what was inside of his office, at least for now.

-

It’s 8pm when I find myself dozing off at my desk, my head looking down at the same document I’ve been reading over and over and over again, my brain not registering any of the words on it. My eyes graze over them again hoping this would be the time I could actually register them and understand what was going on.

It was a rough day, the list of things he left me to do just kept piling up one after another as I was also constantly getting phone calls from Yoongi asking me to get him coffee or pick up his lunch or to run some type of errand. I was sure I wasn’t even halfway done with my list of things but in the words of Min Yoongi every time I saw him. Don’t worry, we have all day. Which was just a shitty reminder of how late I would actually be here, it would be better if he was making me do assistant-ish things instead of just filing papers that I’m sure are just the same papers but he’s taking them out of the folder and making them do it over again and again.

I was tired. I was beyond tired. I was exhausted. I wanted to sleep. Mmm sleep, that sounded so nice at the moment. So nice that I could feel my tired eyes close, the heaviness of my lids blanketing over my eyes as shut softly. It was nice, I could just fall asleep … just fall …

“Knock, knock.” A voice causes me to snap my head up, my once tired eyes now wide and looking ahead. It was Yoongi, a smirk on his face as he leans against my open door, as he looked at me – his eyes didn’t look tired that night, they looked alive and warm. “Sorry to wake you but I’m going to order some dinner, wanted to know if you’d like anything. I was just going to order a pizza, sound good?”

“Yeah, yeah, thank you.” He nods his head to answer me but makes no attempts to move.

“Take a break.” He pursed his lips after his words, looking down at the stack of papers in front of me. “I’m not doing anything and they don’t need to be done right now.”

“It’s okay.” I say as I pick my head up completely now and let out a yawn. “I might as well just try to get it over with.”

“Don’t push yourself.” He responds, his eyes moving from the papers to my face, looking into my tired eyes for a few moments before averting to something else. “All I’m saying is that it’s going to be a tough night, especially if it’s your first one. But, it’s up to you.”  

“I’ll be okay.” I say as I grab a pen from the cup next to me. “But thank you.” My attention turns back down to the paper in front of me and it takes a few seconds before I hear him, moving out of the doorway and back into his office once again.

It takes me another hour or so to get through the majority of my paperwork before I see Yoongi pass my office, I can hear his voice but I know he’s not talking to me as his phone was pressed to his ear. It takes another minute before I hear him calling out my name, his usually soft voice a bit louder which causes me to stand up and find where he was. My eyes found his back as he stood facing away from me, looking down at what I was assuming was his phone in the loft-ish area of the office, he absentmindedly sits down on one of the couches, not ceasing his movements as he tapped away on his phone.

“You called?” I teased as I walked up, circling around the couches so I can sit on one right next to him.

“Pizza, obviously.” He laughs as his eyes shift from the screen that was in his hand and to me for a quick moment, he nods over to the box that was open and on the coffee table in front of us. “Help yourself.”

“Thank you.” I say as I lean over, grabbing a paper plate and a slice before leaning back and eating. Yoongi spends a few more moments on his phone, typing away before he locks it putting it face down on the table. He follows my actions, grabbing a slice and a plate before leaning back against the couch. It’s quiet for a few moments, the sound of us chewing was really the only thing bouncing off the walls of the room. I wasn’t sure if I should say something or if he even wanted to talk to me, but I guess him not just up and leaving was a good sign though.

“Where are you from?” He finally breaks the silence with his question as he leans forward from the couch just a bit which causes me to do the same.

“I live just about 20 minutes outside the city, probably around 40 if you include traffic.” I respond which causes him to nod his head slowly.

“You know I’ve lived here for like 3 years already and I don’t think I know any of the surrounding areas, if we’re being fair I’m usually always locked away in this building I barely even get to make it to my own apartment.” He says, offering me a bit more insight into his life without me having to actually ask.

“How do you like living here?”

“It’s okay, it’s tough when I miss my family and friends, it’s not that I can just drive or take a train, you know? It’s like a 15 hour plane ride with nothing but hassles built into it. Having to go to the airport, drop my bags off, make sure I don’t forget anything in Korea because then it’s just gone forever – there’s a lot of stress that comes when travelling back home. Overall though I love the city, I love being able to do what I want to do and of course that always comes with sacrifices.”

I nod my head along with his words, I never took into consideration his family or the people in his life that he doesn’t get to see on a daily basis, it reminds me that I should be more grateful that I still get to see mine.

“But I have Hoseok,” he continues on although I don’t press him for more. “Which is really nice because not only is because I have someone from home there with me but because we’re both going through similar situations and because he’s my closest friend.”

“Yeah, I couldn’t imagine doing that.” I respond, looking up at him now. He was already looking at my direction but I hadn’t caught his eye until that moment. “It must have been scary.”

“It was exciting at first.” He smiles at the thought, I can see his gums sticking out slightly which causes me to smile slightly, but his quickly falters probably not trying to seem too sentimental. “We were running around the city doing everything and anything we could, we were just tourist in this big city trying to do the most. It was so tiring, there were days we would stay up all night just squeezing into our small apartment talking about the things we wanted to accomplish.” He smiles a bit smaller this time before shaking his head. “But then we woke up one day with this company knock on our door and the next thing we know we were being pulled left and right to start producing and making music. Our dream came true but then it started getting like into reality that this was a job, we were here for a job.” He stops for a second and purses his lips, thinking about what he’s going to say or what he’s not going to. “And now you’re being thrown into the cycle with us.”

I let out a small chuckle which causes his lips to curl up slightly, he was right, now I was being thrown into this with them. Just a few hours ago I was thinking about every excuse in the book to quit, but now that we talked, that he told me about his experience it made me feel like I was connected a bit more with him.

“Wow, lucky me.” I joked and rolled my eyes with a bit of laugh.

“Hey, you applied for this, no one forced you.”

“You’re not wrong.”

“I’m usually not.” Cue eye roll immediately, which he then laughs at.

“So, James asked me to ask you about Agust D. Actually, he asked me to wait until you decided to bring it up but since we’re already here I figured I should ask.”

“I don’t know why he wouldn’t tell you. It’s like my … rap persona, I guess.” He explains as he leans forward to grab another piece of pizza and drops it on his plate. “I released a mixtape in Korea under the name and it’s what non-professional, non-family, non-friends call me because that’s what they know me as. When we start going to events that what I’ll probably be introduced as and such, I’m surprised he didn’t tell you – that’s just weird.”

“I’m not sure either but I’m glad I asked because I would have looked like an idiot.”

“Maybe not an idiot, but it would have been funny trying to see you decipher what it was.” He laughs again before he starts eating.

We talk for a little while longer, another hour or so just exchanging stories but it was mostly Yoongi telling me about his experience and what he does, nothing about what he’s been working on but just that he’s excited to finally put it all together. He talks more about his home life, doesn’t mention his family directly but explains that he misses the comfort of living there. We talk about why I took the job, I might have spilled that I didn’t even know I applied which he then just laughed at.

The buzz of his phone on the coffee table halts our conversation, my words dying from my lips as I watch him reach for the device.

“Hello?” He says but it takes him a second before he’s whispering, mumbling words that I can’t make out. Yoongi abruptly stood up, tossing his paper plate on top of the pizza box before rushing away. I can hear him speaking but I can’t make out what he’s saying as I hear the slamming of his office door. He passes by me quickly, putting on his coat as he ran down the steps. I stood up and jog over to the top of the stairs, watching as the front door closes and he disappears into the night. I stand there for a second, my mind replaying him walking out with no explanation at all.

[seoulfulcity]

July 12, 2018: We’re Halfway There

안녕하세요,

I am finally halfway through the summer program, and the words my friend Valentino once said during the first week is starting to become reality: "Once we reach halfway through, it's going to go by fast". Now, I'm dreading the last half of the program knowing that I will be on a plane ride back to Los Angeles in a blink of an eye.

Happy three weeks here in Seoul! It's been an eventful week so this is how it went down. This blog recaps the events from Monday to Thursday only. A lot happened on Friday which necessitated a post on its own. Happy reading!

Even though I'm already halfway through, I still have not taken the time to explore the city and visit UNESCO World Heritage Sites or even done any touristy things like visit Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁) or even the Namsan Tower (N서울타워). I hope that it doesn't become one of my biggest regrets during this trip, but my mindset is that the bond I have with my friends right now is not something I could experience ever again but I can always go back to Seoul as a tourist in the future.

Monday, July 9, 2018: Florence messaged me on Kakao back in July 3 if I wanted to go to Super Junior's Ryeowook's fan meet since he was being discharged from the military on July 10. Being broke as we both were, we decided to just visit the cafés that were supported by Ryeowook fans: Café Ego, Café 333, and Andy's Coffee.

We decided to visit Café 333 and Andy's Coffee since they were both located in Hongdae.

Café 333 was our first stop and the place was decked out in Ryeowook's pictures. The counter had a welcome sign for his discharge, and tables were decorated with pictures of the idol. We ordered mocha and chocolate lattes and received a Ryeowook banner and two photo cards on top of the Ryeowook sleeve that came with our lattes.

Then we headed to Andy's Coffee just down the street from Café 333 where we ordered coffee and strawberryade. The coffee place gave us Ryeowook transparent fans and another cup sleeve with our orders.

After our trip, we walked around Hongdae and found the place where they filmed a scene in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo (Yeokdo-yojeong Kim Bokjoo/역도요정 김복주) where Joohyung (Nam Joohyuk) was feeding Kim Bok Joo (Lee Sungkyung) with barbeque from the money he "found" on the floor.

We returned to Anam-dong a few hours after we started our day and I realized I have not eaten either breakfast or lunch yet, so I treated myself to one of my favorite places, once again. Remember that bossam (보쌈) place called Ssago (싸고)? I came back there for the third time since I arrived in Seoul, and even then, I was still learning new things such as Koreans actually referring Sprite here as cider (사이다). Odd.

It rained again that day, but it was not as humid as it usually is - the rain was freezing and I was out in Hongdae in a t-shirt and shorts. So, Florence and I went to Spao and bought myself a nice breathable summer sweater that's appropariate for Seoul's humid weather.

I also found out that Singaporeans call umbrella "brolly" thanks to Joyce. I am learning so many new things from Singaporeans, especially coming from being clueless about the culture just three weeks ago - I did not even know what a Singaporean accent was!

In Korean class, I told my professor that I was going to an event hosted by ISC to watch SBS's "The Show" rehearse and perform, so I will be missing class together with two other students, Andrea and Aubrey. The South Korean series is hosted by CLC's Yeeun, NCT's Jeno, and JBJ's Longguo. I got the line up on Monday which consisted of Apink, fromis_9, UNB, Golden Child, ONF, Kim Dong Han, MYTEEN, Jessi, Yoon Mirae, among others. KCON LA recently announced the lineup for this year's event which includes both fromis_9 and Golden Child, so I'm basically saving myself from spending an extra $100 to go both concert days to see the same groups I'm seeing here in Seoul for free.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018: SBS's "The Show" begins at 6:30 PM KST, so I had the whole day for myself - as expected, I did nothing. We were supposed to meet at the SBS Prism Tower lobby at 5 PM, and it takes about 40 minutes to get from Anam Station (안압역) to Digital Media City (디지털 비디아 시티); so I left at 3:30 to gave myself some extra time just in case I get lost.

There was a long queue outside SBS Prism Tower for ONF and MYTEEN fans. I was told that these fans don't have tickets and are hoping to go in to see their favorite groups perform, while I was in the lobby researching about the groups performing because the only thing I know about everybody was that they were Korean.

Heck, I thought fromis_9 was a boy group.

I was honestly only looking forward to see Jeno and Longguo with my own eyes.

My friends start slowly arriving and one of them went to a coffeeshop nearby that had Longguo on the cup sleeve, which made me more excited for the show to start. Salli and Carolina arrived and I didn't know they were even accepted to go to the show, so I spent the rest of the time until 6:30 with Andrea (Guatemalan), Aubrey (Chinese), Salli (Puerto Rican) and Carolina (Brazilian) teaching each other different Spanish dialects, Brazilian Portuguese, and Chinese words.

We were seated at 6:17 PM and the show started on time until 8 PM. BABA performed first, then TARGET, fromis_9, elris, Kyungri, Golden Child, MYTEEN, Kim Dong Han, Migyu, Jessi, ONF, The East Light, UNB, Gugudan SEMINA, Yoon Mirae, and Apink. Apink ended up winning that night - no surprises there.

Salli, Carolina and I took the subway back to Anam-dong together where Carolina told me about the Hanyang University Cruise Party - a booze cruise with unlimited drinks for an hour and ending the night at one of Gangnam's most revered clubs - Octagon - famous for being very selective with its guests. Octagon rejects most foreigners and men who are not up to standards with its rich beautiful image. Koreans usually get in for free and foreigners pay ₩30,000. The booze cruise was only ₩30,000 if we buy it before July 11 at 10 PM as a group of more than six people. One individual ticket is ₩45,000, and the tickets get cheaper the more people in the group.

Well, we managed to get more than six people within ten minutes and we bought the tickets together thanks to Wendelyn's credit card.

The three of us were starving when we reached Anam-dong, so I introduced both Salli and Carolina to, you've guessed it, bossam (보쌈) in the same place called Ssago (싸고). As you might have known by now, I am becoming obsessed with it.

After dinner, we went ahead to the Baskin Robbins place where I told both of them about the cute worker I saw last week. We checked the place out and no luck - though we ended up getting Pus in Boots cups and milkshakes to end our night.

I could not sleep later that night and I was still awake until 3 AM just in time for Thai, Davy, and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) to get ready and meet up at Chicken Bus to watch the World Cup semi-finals with France competing against Belgium. I was awake already anyway so why not, right? I met with them downstairs. Matt and Sophie joined with us in front of Frontier House before going down the stairs to Chicken Bus. Later in the night, Wendelyn and Florence met with us at the restaurant itself while the game was playing.

Thai, Davy, and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) were betting for Belgium to go into the finals, while Matt and I placed our money on France. Matt and Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠) made a bet to pay for the winner's entire alcohol consumption for that night. We watched the game Korean-style with chicken and maekju (백주), or chimaek (치백), until the game ended at 5 AM, just in time for daylight to break.

If you've watched the 2018 World Cup finals, then you know that Matt and I won the bet.

Wednesday, July 11, 2018: I slept in until 2 PM that day and had no other plans besides updating my Blackpink blog. I went to the nearby PC bang (PC방) to play around and edit my Tumblr page and my past blogs in the late afternoon. I type my blogs on my phone and the Tumblr app has very limited options on setting up my page and my posts. I did not know the culture around PC방 prior to arriving, so I had to do some research.

1. PC방 are ubiquitous in Seoul - meaning that there is a PC방 in every corner of the street, almost as many as noraebang (노래방) places. Some PC방 are membership only, so you need to sign up and make an account to use the computers. Some, such as the one I go to, would hand you a card with a number on it and you log in using that card number.

2. They're insanely cheap! The PC방 I've seen can go from ₩500-₩1,500 per hour, so sometimes whenever I have nothing to do during the day and all of my friends are in class, I hang out in a PC방 and scroll down Tumblr or watch Are You Human Too? (Neodo Inganini?/너도 인간이니?) in DramaCool since both Viki and DramaFever are not working here in South Korea.

I logged out and caught up with Matt, Florence, Sophie, and Minki-hyung (민기형) at Sulbing Korean Dessert Cafe (설빙) just next to Chicken Bus and Seorae Korean Barbeque. They ordered Green Tea Snowflakes and Mango Snowflakes, while I got the Chocolate Brownie snowflakes.

Sophie asked me what I ordered and after telling them, everybody started laughing.  Minki-hyung (민기형) made a guess earlier what I would be getting and he guessed right - I was becoming too predictable.

And when I got my order, I did not realize how humongous the portion was.

I keep forgetting that I am in South Korea and not America - the portion sizes here are way bigger since most of the cafés and restaurants are catered for couples (again - couple culture dominates Seoul).

Going back to our dorms, we bumped into Valentino and Cara where we stood in front of the cheap street food restaurant everybody constantly buzzes about (Goreun Aetsal/고른 앳살) for a good hour.

Thursday, July 12, 2018: It was exam day for me, and it was my first one too. So as the good student that I am, I decided to dedicate my whole morning studying - in Donghae's Haru & One Day Café.

I planned to spend a few hours studying for my Korean exam on basic conversational sentences while sipping on Donghae's drink then head to the nearby Kondae (건대) shopping and food district to eat out.

I ordered a glass of lemon juice, took advantage of Donghae's Wi-Fi, and studied.

For ten minutes.

Then I sat there for the next hour looking at fans come and take pictures with the giant Audrey Hepburn portrait hanging on the wall. I was very distracted that day and decided to just walk around Kondae (건대) and look for something to eat.

I scoured through the whole place under the 96-degree weather and found nothing - I was craving pork or beef that I did not have to cook and was within my ₩10,000 budget, but to no avail. Most of the restaurants I've found served pretty much all chicken or meat you have to cook yourself and other menu items I was not craving.

Kondae (건대), the area surrounding Konkuk University, has plenty of Japanese restaurants, which is very lacking around Anam-dong, the area surrounding Korea University. Sometimes, I just want to take a break from Korean food and stuff myself with something different - Japanese, Mexican, Vietnamese, you name it.

I went back to Anam-dong to try out the cheap street food restaurant by the campus to see what was the hype about. The menu was all in Korean, but luckily I know enough for me to differentiate ramen (라면) from tteokbokki (떡볶이).

The prices were very cheap - regular kimbap (원조김밥) was ₩1,500, tteok-ramyeon (떡라면) was ₩3,000, and Busan fish cakes (Busan eomuk/부산어묵) was ₩2,000. Having spent some time around Myeongdong and Hongdae, I knew these prices were within range. One stick of fish cake in Myeongdong was about the same price, so I expected to be eating a plate of kimbap, a bowl of tteok-ramyeon, and a stick of eomuk.

Bad idea - I really keep forgetting that I'm not in America anymore.

The portion sizes were humongous and the three plates took up the entire space of my whole table.

It looked like I was about to film a mukbang video.

I messaged my friends who were nearby to crash at the place and help me finish my food - Florence, Matt, Lina, and Wendelyn came to rescue.

Florence and I ran out of the restaurant to catch our 4:50 Korean language classes right after the rest arrived.

We took a different route and entered the Media Hall where they had a TV situated at the hallway leading to Woodang Hall - and they were playing the K-Pop flash mob dance we filmed a week prior.

The class was starting in a few seconds and my professor wanted us to be on time for the exam since she was not extending the exam time for us if we come late.

Well, the exam was easy - it was actually a quiz. I was mentally preparing for a midterm-type exam since everybody else was studying for midterms.

I finished it in six minutes and lecture continued per usual.

After class, I invited my friends to go to Dongdaemun with me to walk around and maybe buy some clothes and souvenirs - Joyce, Valentino, Matt, Sophie, Wendelyn, and Cara joined with us and took the subway together to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (동대문 역사문화공원). We walked up and past the LED Rose Garden and met up with Thai and Davy, who just came from eating live octopus at Gwangjang Market, then we headed to eat street foods by the Migliori Mall.

We took the bus from Dongdaemun back to Anam and met up with Minki-hyung (민기형) for some makgeolli, rice alcohol famous for its hangover headache, at Tosokjumak Makgeolli House (토속주막 막걸리) just under Monaco Bar. I have never had makgeolli before, but I had an understanding that makgeolli is sipped from a bowl with both hands, but I did not know that it was actually served in kettle pots! The ahjumma (아줌마) serving us placed two kettles next to me and I did not know what it was for - I asked the group if they ordered tea and Minki-hyung (민기형) laughed and told me that it was the makgeolli.

We played drinking games for the rest of the night - such as taking a sip if we say the word "you", rotating our names and responding to the name of the second person to our left, placing everything on the table with two taps, and removing the little man from everything we picked up and called him Hyunjic-oppa (현직오빠).

We left the makgeolli place at almost 2 AM and I bumped into my drunk friends from my Korean class - Darren, Peter, Angela, Cindy, and Sharon. Peter, Cindy, and Angela had too much soju for the night and we walked them back to Frontier House and Anam Global House. We spent a whole hour outside the CU Convenience Store just under the hill from CJ International and Frontier House trying to get Peter off of the streets and back to his dorm.

Darren and I managed to get him to his room and back to our dorms by 4 AM and Darren messaged me that he was treating me with a drink sometime for my help - earlier in the night, he was lightheadedly telling me how high his alcohol tolerance was and I wanted to challenge him since my tolerance is also in the higher side.

So, I'm looking forward to the night when we actually find out whose tolerance is actually higher - hopefully we find out this week.

My week 3 blog ends here, and I will be starting on my Friday blog hopefully today.

It's Monday of week 4 and I am looking forward for this weekend since this Friday is the booze cruise - I invited other people for the event, those I haven't had the time to hang out with or the people I met for a few minutes but want to get to know better.

I am dreading the end of this summer program. I have noticed that I've been taking my time absorbing every moment, looking at the faces of the friends I've made here and the buildings that have been part of my daily walks to school and realizing that I only have two more weeks to go to make the best out of this amazing chapter of my life. I really hope that one day, I will find the time to reunite with each and every one of them and relive these moments together.

It would be very easy to reunite with the Singaporeans since their country is so small and more than half of my friends are Singaporean.

This gives me the biggest incentive to visit Singapore very soon since I expect it to be one big reunion. Until then!

고마워요,

Chris 「크리스」

P.S. I will not miss the 112 steps going up the Frontier stairs and the neverending hills around this campus. Oh, my God! I will not miss it at all.

P.P.S. The couple and PDA culture here is still insane.