How To Make a Korean Flower Arrangement

Before getting started, gather your supplies. You will need:

• 1-2 yards of pink and gold netting
• 16 pieces of pink and purple tissue paper
• A giant pink bow
• 18 silver twist ties

Now let's get started. Oh wait, I almost forgot you need flowers, too. Although that's not really the point of a Korean flower arrangement. If you have a couple flowers, you might as well throw them in. Now let's really get started.

Step One: Heap your pink and purple stuff into a huge pile to admire the sheer mass of it.

Step Two: Get some flowers. If you don't have any, it doesn't matter. A Korean flower arrangement has very little, if anything, to do with actual flowers.

Step Three: Contemplate if you really want to even include flowers in your arrangement. They're just so... understated.

Step Four: Decide to include your flowers, but cover each one individually with pink and purple tissue paper to mask the fact that they are actual flowers.

Step Five: Group tissue bunches (*sigh* and flowers) into a bouquet and cover with several more pieces of tissue paper. Oops! I still see green!! More tissue!!

Step Six: Assess your bouquet. I can still see too many flowers. More tissue!!

Step Seven: While there is no visible green anymore (thank goodness!) it still doesn't look enough like a bad 80's prom dress. More tissue! And netting! And a bow!

Step 8: Admire your breathtaking creation. Who knew that a flower arrangement could be so elegant and classy? It's like the alluring flicker of a neon sign advertising a 24 hour pawn shop. Simply breathtaking.

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Note: While I wish I could take credit for making this *ahem* thing... I actually received the fully assembled bouquet from one of my students and it took me about 10 minutes to get all the tissue, ribbons, netting and twist ties off of it to find the actual flowers inside! The crazy part is, this is actually one of the more tasteful bouquets I've seen!

The Strangest Letter I've Ever Received

Your guess is as good as mine...

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Copied Verbatim

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TO Miss Becky....

Miss Becky... It teaches me during that time and it gives and from it thanks.

The teacher where I am different will do and there will not be a teacher to the bedspread.

[u] [ang] The difficulty teacher and crab inside the the place where it wants studying together.....

Oh.....

The (heart) teacher, during that time, truth it thanked.

Miss Becky, True trut it thanks, it loves.

After word the may sun it plays come certainly to school ~ I love you ~

from Alice it raises

Konglish and Beyond

Poor advertising strategy.

When cutesy gets creepy.

I sort of feel like we should've chosen another brand of gym clothes to give to our students.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I'm not sure.

Oh, Outkast, you have changed the way we speak forever (ever).

I want to relive that stress!! Sign me up!!

I can't even come up with a good caption for this one. What the heck kind of shirt is this??

Obscure writing on the back of a calendar I bought. I had no idea that was how the temperature was controlled...

Is this what I think it is??

It sure is. Nothing says class like a toothbrush holder shaped like feces.

V Day

Valentine's Day envelopes for my students, stuffed with cards from their classmates.

I have never liked Valentine's Day. This year, I really began to ask myself why. Was it the abundance of gaudy pink and red merchandise? Was it the sheer consumerism of it all? I liked to think that these were some of the reasons behind my feelings, but today I dug a little deeper and realized it's none of those things. It's just plain disappointing.

Just like the fairy tales I heard as a little girl, I feel like Valentine's Day generates a lot of hype for what's bound to be more like a soul-crushing dose of reality than a happily ever after. Whether I've been in a relationship or not on this amorous day, it never fails to disappoint. If I'm not in a relationship, sure there's the in-your-faceness of all the couples around who seem to be living the Valentine's Day dream, but even when I've been in a relationship, the cliche box of chocolates and red roses just leave something to be desired.

Where's the spontaneity, the individuality, the real heart-feltness in it? Where are the flowers just because, not because it's Valentine's Day? Where are the words of affection that are written from the heart, not from the Hallmark factory?

I would love real, honest-to-goodness, personalized romance any day, but especially when it's absent on a day when I'm told I'm supposed to get it (even in mass-market, impersonalized ways) it just really drives the point home.

Trying to spare some of my students the agony of feeling unloved or not as loved as their classmates, I stuffed some extra Valentines into their envelopes. Maybe it wasn't the most honest thing to do, but I didn't want to watch Sophia opening her two Valentines while Poly opened her twelve. As I checked the envelopes, I realized I didn't need to stuff David's because he took care of it for himself!

Preach it, David!

Whether you're in a relationship or not this Valentine's Day, please remember to love yourself!

MIA

Hello friends! I'm sorry I've been so MIA for the past couple months... life in Korea has gotten busier and busier. There are still plenty of things to tell you about, but I can't seem to find the time or motivation to do so.

To be honest, I feel sort of overwhelmed right now by the effort it takes to try to live a life in a foreign country while still maintaining relationships back home. It's a lot of work and it leaves me feeling strapped for time.

Please accept this lame little post as my way of saying, "I'm alive, I'm doing well, I just don't have time to chronicle it right now."

I'm A-OK

View of Seoul from the Seoul Tower

I'm sure most of you have heard about the bombings here in South Korea on Tuesday, and I want to try to put your mind at ease as much I can.

First, although this was the first time North Korea killed civilians in an attack, most sources I've read or spoken to agree that this is "just another stunt" by the North. I'll admit, it's a bit unnerving to live in a country where you see plumes of smoke on TV one day, and it's business as usual the next. My South Korean friends told me they're just used to it. I think that's incredibly sad to have to be "used to" bombings and threats on a regular basis.

The good news is that China isn't supporting their latest scare tactic, although they're not really taking a stand against them, and the North seems to be worried that their only source of outside support right now is coming from China, which is why they're demanding money from Seoul and Washington.

Seoul and Washington's take on the matter is called "strategic patience" which I take to mean that they'll let the North throw little fits, without doing much in retaliation. By continuing to wait it out and not give aid, they're hoping to starve out and further isolate the North Koreans, which I don't totally agree with. Many North Koreans are already starving to death and are trapped under a bloody regime of terror. Also, I feel that letting them get to a point of sheer desperation isn't the best idea. Then again, I don't want Seoul and Washington to retaliate on a full-blown war level, so I guess it's a good thing I'm not making the decisions in this matter. The cost for Seoul would be devastating, while the North seems to view civilian and military casualties as cheap and utterly expendable.

To put your mind at ease, I want to assure you that I'm not in any danger here and the US embassy (which I am registered with, rest assured) hasn't issued any warnings or evacuations.

I think if it did come to evacuations, I would be absolutely devastated to leave my children behind. But it hasn't come to that, and I'm confident that it won't, so for now I'll continue to teach and explore and grow.

Thank you for all your emails of concern and your prayers - they mean a lot!

Seoul Lantern Festival

Last weekend I went to the Seoul Lantern Festival with some of my friends and it was both breathtaking and ridiculously crowded. It's definitely a plus to be a 5'10" American woman in such situations, though, because I had a pretty good view of the lanterns, and my friends could find me easily if we got separated.

Some hanging lanterns and some lotus lanterns in the stream. Lovely!

This one was my favorite - a woman in a hanbok sitting in a lotus bloom.

The hanging lanterns up and down the stream really made the whole night sparkle.

Some of the lanterns were two stories high!

There was a special lantern in honor of the G 20 Summit... President Obama sure looks happy about it!

Not sure what this lantern is... looks like an angry red genie bursting out of a flaming box.

Hey! I know that lady!

If you ask me, the Seoul mascot is a bit... cheesy. It's hard to believe this is what they want representing them to the world.

Yay! It's almost Christmas!!

I had a great time taking in the glowing sights and spending time with my good friends. I highly recommend seeing a lantern festival if you come to Korea - they're spectacular! Luckily you don't have to plan your travel itinerary around one because they happen quite frequently in different areas all over SoKo. In fact, festivals of any nature always seem to be going on! I like that they find ways to celebrate even the little things in life, like kimchi. Yes, there is a kimchi festival and I want to go!