"Home" --Michael Buble
Dedicated to my friends and family. :)
Italic Bold alterations commentary by ME. :)
Another summer day (fall season) has come and gone away
In Paris and Rome
But I wanna go home
Mmmmm
Maybe surrounded by a million people (So many people! So many tourists!!!!)
I Still feel all alone, I just wanna go home
Oh, I miss you (friends!), you know
And I've been keeping all the letters that I wrote to you (Postcards, I haven't sent them yet.)
Each one a line or two, "I'm fine baby, how are you?" ("Hey, how are you doing?!?")
Well I would send them but I know that it's just not enough (So I should buy some souvenirs)
My words were cold and flat (Because I suck at writing)
And you deserve more than that (Because you guys are so special :))
Another aeroplane (Ryanair, yuck!),
another sunny place
I'm lucky I know (Because I'm in Europe, and you're not >:]),
But I wanna go home
Mmm, I've got to go home (Because I want to see you guys!)
Let me go home
I'm just too far from where you are (Other side of the world!!!)
I wanna come home
And I feel just like I'm living someone else's life (I can't believe I'm in Rome)
It's like I just stepped outside
When everything was going right (Why are there so many events and cool stuff going on when I'm gone?!?!?!)
And I know just why you could no come along with me (Because you all are busy yourselves)
'Cause this was not your dream
But you always believed in me (Grazie!)
Another winter day has come and gone away (WILL come and go away)
In even Paris and Rome (Winter in Rome!)
And I wanna go home, let me go home (I want to go home!!!)
And I'm surrounded by a million people (Those tourists will never go away!!)
I Still feel all alone
Oh, let me go home
Oh, I miss you (Friends!), you know
Let me go home, I've had my run
Baby, I'm done (I'll be done in two months!), I gotta go home
Let me go home
It will all be all right
I'll be home tonight (In two months!)
I'm coming back home (IN TWO MONTHS!!!!!)
home.
Hope you all enjoyed reading!
I miss you everyone!!!!
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Where in the world is Carm-- Boram Lee??
Ciao!
Salve miei amici! Come stai? Molto bene? Benissimo?
Ah, va bene.
Buonanotte from the eternal city of Roma! It is currently 9:51 pm here, 12:51 pm in California. What a crazy day today was. Rain was pouring like no other today. Good thing I got home before all the storm started. I think it's official that Rome is getting colder. Time for the boots and the coats to be worn!! How exciting. :) How is the weather in LA? Hopefully a lot more bearable than a couple of weeks ago.
Anyways, hopefully my post won't exceed that of Jennifer's; like she said....let's try to keep it short and frequent so we won't overwhelm you faithful readers. :) But seriously, it's so hard to keep entries short, because there is so much that happens!!! But anyway, thanks for reading, to whoever you are. Thank you for the comments on the previous post, I'm glad you are enjoying them. :)
So a recent update on what has been going on with me: I finally finished my three-week intensive Italian course two weeks ago (that doesn't mean that I'm fluent in the language, no, not at all). We had our first week long break last week, where me and friends went to France and Spain for vacation! It seemed so weird that we were already vacationing off to other parts of Europe, when I felt like it had just been days when I arrived in Rome. Nevertheless, the trip was so awesome. Seriously. I'd show you pictures, but I took so many, that I don't think I can put everything up here! I took over 500 pictures over the last week, and that was seriously the cut down amount, because my memory card had no space! I'll just post up a couple of pictures here, and the rest you can see it on your own! I uploaded most of them onto a site.
I decided that instead of a picture overload this entry, that I bombard you with mostly videos. Vidoes are always fun, right?
This is me and Ashley, ready to leave to Paris!!!
So the next day after arriving in France, we found out that there was a HUGE techno parade happening on the streets. This was day time. Already thousands of young teenagers were out, following the moving vehicles, dancing techno style, and climbing any elevated object on the streets--cars, trucks, windowsills, telephone stands, everything. It was quite a site to see. It was so hard to get around trying to walk through the crowd. Oh jeebus.
We had a mini picnic by the Eiffel Tower.
This next video was of when me and Ashley went to the Garnier Opera House (The place where they filmed "Phantom of the Opera") and watched an opera, "Capriccio." It was the last opera written by Strauss, asking the question: What is most important? Words or music? So basically the woman who loves music and poetry, is torn between two men: a poet and a musician, and she cannot make up her mind in who to choose. That's basically the main jist.
It was raining that night. And we got to dress up. :)
So check this out.
Sunday night, we went to the Eiffel Tower, to see it during the night...and we heard some music that sounded familiar. Wondering what they were singing, we came closer to them...and realized that the song they were singing was, "Above All." That was so awesome! Seriously, it was amazing that night. They were a from a church nearby who came to sing praises under the Eiffel Tower. We joined them, and sang "Awesome God" with them. Seriously, I felt God's presence that night. God present in France as well as everywhere else. It was amazinggggg. Praising One God despite where we were from.
Hello from Versailles!
Let's fly over to Spain.
So now in Spain, when we arrived there, it turned out that there was a Music Festival going on in Barcelona. Europeans and festivals. They always have these things. They are insane in the membrane. This performer, you'll love him, was flamin' to the maximum. It was soooo funny watching. Very, umm, flexible man. Enthusiastic too!
As we were walking down the streets of Barcelona, there were different street performers. This guy was tap dancing. He's sooo good. The part I caught was not incomparable to some of the moves he did afterwards. His feet were moving as if it was on FIRE!
There was this huge parade that happened one night around our hostel. They had different types of dragons and pigs and rodent things that was passing by, and these different drumming groups. It was amazing. AMAZING.
We got confetti-ed on.
After the parade passed by, we, as well as thousands of others joined in on the parade, parading behind them...dancing, walking, clapping, shouting, having a good time. Here, everyone is cheering after a set of drumming had finished.
Amazing. Now I'm back at home, as in Rome. I started my core classes this week. I have class from Monday - Thursday, and I must say, it's quite intense! I have so much reading to do, I was already behind on the first day of class. Seriously, wayyy too much reading. But I can get through this. No problem. It was only the first week, and the first week is the most tough, right? Hopefully the second week will go a lot smoother. :)
Anyways, if you want to see more pictures, and I sure have so much more!! You can see them here!
http://www.whoblinked.com/albums.php?id=10188
That's my Paris and Madrid and Alcala and Madrid album.
I think this is a good time to end the post.
I hope you enjoyed this one. I'm missing you all! I hope you are doing very well!!!
Until next time,
Ciao.
Salve miei amici! Come stai? Molto bene? Benissimo?
Ah, va bene.
Buonanotte from the eternal city of Roma! It is currently 9:51 pm here, 12:51 pm in California. What a crazy day today was. Rain was pouring like no other today. Good thing I got home before all the storm started. I think it's official that Rome is getting colder. Time for the boots and the coats to be worn!! How exciting. :) How is the weather in LA? Hopefully a lot more bearable than a couple of weeks ago.
Anyways, hopefully my post won't exceed that of Jennifer's; like she said....let's try to keep it short and frequent so we won't overwhelm you faithful readers. :) But seriously, it's so hard to keep entries short, because there is so much that happens!!! But anyway, thanks for reading, to whoever you are. Thank you for the comments on the previous post, I'm glad you are enjoying them. :)
So a recent update on what has been going on with me: I finally finished my three-week intensive Italian course two weeks ago (that doesn't mean that I'm fluent in the language, no, not at all). We had our first week long break last week, where me and friends went to France and Spain for vacation! It seemed so weird that we were already vacationing off to other parts of Europe, when I felt like it had just been days when I arrived in Rome. Nevertheless, the trip was so awesome. Seriously. I'd show you pictures, but I took so many, that I don't think I can put everything up here! I took over 500 pictures over the last week, and that was seriously the cut down amount, because my memory card had no space! I'll just post up a couple of pictures here, and the rest you can see it on your own! I uploaded most of them onto a site.
I decided that instead of a picture overload this entry, that I bombard you with mostly videos. Vidoes are always fun, right?
This is me and Ashley, ready to leave to Paris!!!
So the next day after arriving in France, we found out that there was a HUGE techno parade happening on the streets. This was day time. Already thousands of young teenagers were out, following the moving vehicles, dancing techno style, and climbing any elevated object on the streets--cars, trucks, windowsills, telephone stands, everything. It was quite a site to see. It was so hard to get around trying to walk through the crowd. Oh jeebus.
We had a mini picnic by the Eiffel Tower.
This next video was of when me and Ashley went to the Garnier Opera House (The place where they filmed "Phantom of the Opera") and watched an opera, "Capriccio." It was the last opera written by Strauss, asking the question: What is most important? Words or music? So basically the woman who loves music and poetry, is torn between two men: a poet and a musician, and she cannot make up her mind in who to choose. That's basically the main jist.
It was raining that night. And we got to dress up. :)
So check this out.
Sunday night, we went to the Eiffel Tower, to see it during the night...and we heard some music that sounded familiar. Wondering what they were singing, we came closer to them...and realized that the song they were singing was, "Above All." That was so awesome! Seriously, it was amazing that night. They were a from a church nearby who came to sing praises under the Eiffel Tower. We joined them, and sang "Awesome God" with them. Seriously, I felt God's presence that night. God present in France as well as everywhere else. It was amazinggggg. Praising One God despite where we were from.
Hello from Versailles!
Let's fly over to Spain.
So now in Spain, when we arrived there, it turned out that there was a Music Festival going on in Barcelona. Europeans and festivals. They always have these things. They are insane in the membrane. This performer, you'll love him, was flamin' to the maximum. It was soooo funny watching. Very, umm, flexible man. Enthusiastic too!
As we were walking down the streets of Barcelona, there were different street performers. This guy was tap dancing. He's sooo good. The part I caught was not incomparable to some of the moves he did afterwards. His feet were moving as if it was on FIRE!
There was this huge parade that happened one night around our hostel. They had different types of dragons and pigs and rodent things that was passing by, and these different drumming groups. It was amazing. AMAZING.
We got confetti-ed on.
After the parade passed by, we, as well as thousands of others joined in on the parade, parading behind them...dancing, walking, clapping, shouting, having a good time. Here, everyone is cheering after a set of drumming had finished.
Amazing. Now I'm back at home, as in Rome. I started my core classes this week. I have class from Monday - Thursday, and I must say, it's quite intense! I have so much reading to do, I was already behind on the first day of class. Seriously, wayyy too much reading. But I can get through this. No problem. It was only the first week, and the first week is the most tough, right? Hopefully the second week will go a lot smoother. :)
Anyways, if you want to see more pictures, and I sure have so much more!! You can see them here!
http://www.whoblinked.com/albums.php?id=10188
That's my Paris and Madrid and Alcala and Madrid album.
I think this is a good time to end the post.
I hope you enjoyed this one. I'm missing you all! I hope you are doing very well!!!
Until next time,
Ciao.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
J-Han: alcohol+freshers=ANNOYING, but besides that, LOTS OF FUN!
WARNING.
LONGEST ENTRY EVER.
I PROMISE I'LL MAKE SURE TO KEEP IT SHORTER THAN THIS NEXT TIME.
I GOT SUPER LAZY.
I ADVICE THAT YOU TAKE THIS ENTRY IN SMALL DOSAGES. COME BACK TO IT.
(:
Hello Hello!
Sorry for the huge gap in-between posts. I promise this will be the last long post.... er.... I'll try to promise that this is the last long post. LoL. Emily Tamanaha didn't like the long posts. She requested shorter, more frequent ones. I'll try Em, but I can't guarantee anything. I mean honestly, isn't 1 post every 2 weeks SO much better than 1 post every week? ..........................
anywayzzzz. Yes! So! What has happened so far? Well, freshers week ended last week and this week was my first week of school. Now.... let me tell you all. Freshmen orientation week in the UK is SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT compared to the freshmen orientation in ANY American College. OMGOSH almost all the events during fresher's week here revolved around flippin alcohol. Now, for some that may be jolly nice and spectacular, but not all that great for me who doesn't really like drunkards and wasted children vomitting all over the freakin place. ugh. But yeah... I miss Pomona's freshmen orientation where we totally bond with our sponsor group and have awesome discussions and learn how to be pc. lol. But I must say, I'm glad I got to experience fresher's week nonetheless. Them crazy brits. lol. Basically during the 8 days of fresher's week, the different societies and unions of the university threw parties, had pub crawls, contests, competitions of wit and stamina, and celebrated alcohol. There were parties happening every single night, 9pm-3am, and during the day, there were an uncountable number of events happening like sports fairs, societies fairs, music nights, hikes, etc. etc. etc. You name it, they pretty much had it. I guess this makes sense cuz the University of Edinburgh has 50 billion more students than Pomona College. But yes...
some stuff I did during Fresher's week.....
_went on some pub crawls.
_went to a couple of parties.
_signed up for some societies: fencing (yeayuuuh), christian union (wooot), christian gospel choir (mwahahaha), shukokai karate (lol), hip hop dance (i'm lovin it).
_went church visiting... still looking, still visiting
_went to some cu (christian union) events
_signed up for classes: Economics of Developing Countries, Economics of Technical Change, Foundations of Criminology (sounds TIGHT doesn't it)
I started classes last week. My econ classes are pretty cool. The Professor seems good but I've heard bad stuff about the prof. we'll see what happens later. It's super easy to fall behind here because 2 papers make up your whole flippin grade. dang... Talk about time management. I better get on that. (: Haven't gone to criminology yet cuz I'm the worst student ever. But I will go tomorrow. Heard that class is awesome. Yay! (: I really love how the university is embedded into the city. Doesn't become a bubble. Although, I bet when it starts getting really cold.... I won't appreciate the walking as much. mwahahah! I wonder how the weather is back at home.... it's getting pretty cold here. I busted out my ugg boots... yes... I bought uggs. sigh... but they're awesome! They're like... the hardcore ones, not the ones that all the white girls from my high school wore...lol... not that they're bad or anything. ok... I'll stop now. I just wish there was a bit more sun. I'm gonna be very sad when the sun starts coming up at 8:30 and then setting at 4 pm... sadness.... Oh and I have yet to meet another Korean... oh man I miss Korean food............
Alrite! On with some fotas!!!!
I unfortunately have NO pictures from Fresher's week. lol. but I do have some from other events. The Pomona people and I went to Glasglow and I took some photos. Not all that magnificent but still interesting. The main cathedral in Glasglow was very nice. Here are some random pictures. (:
I wish I lived close to a badass cathedral back
at home... umm... maybe...
ruminating on the meaning of life.
k.fuk and j-han! (:
for all you pomona peepz!
Glasglow museum. A lot of the ceilings of buildings in Scotland look tiled like that. Fusion of Roman/Grecian architecture I think it was.
The museum has this hanging head exhibition which I did NOT like at all. AT ALL. Heads with different expressions. ::shiver::: creepy.
Okay... the thing about Scottish museums I've learned... is that there is no sense or order to them. Even the one in Edinburgh, I just totally did not understand. Well, the Edinburgh one is better than the Glasglow one. At least the edinburgh museum is somewhat in order chronologically. But the Glasglow one... Ben put it perfectly... It is like... a museum for those with ADD. It made no sense. There was one room that had all these swords and had captions like "Swords were deadly weapons that promoted violence! They were beautiful pieces of metal, but were used to kill and rampage!" ... and then right across from the swords was an exhibition on racism.... it was kinda weird. it made absolutely no... OOOHH! SHINY METAL! ! ....................
So I finally climbed up Arthur's Seat, the volcanic hill/rock protrusion in the middle of Edinburgh. Absolutely beautiful. Looks like a crouching lion. I am forcing anyone who visits
me to go hike up Arthur's Seat. Including you BORAM. (: It's absolutely amazing. Gorgeous view of the city. God is truly amazing beyond all understanding. Kiki, Ben, Kristin, and I hiked up Arthur's Seat. And we didn't take the nice, leisurely route. We took the hard-core, straight up the steep rock way. It's actually a pretty decent climb, the volcanic rock makes it very easy to climb even if it's steep because there are crevices everywhere for you to hold and step into.
my fellow climb-mates!
us being merry and frolicking...
ben caught us on camera.
lol
beautiful...
awesome picture of kristin wouldn't you say? (:
pride rock!
lionesssessssss
hear our mighty
ROOOOAAARRR
picturesque! (:
view of west end of edinburgh
buildings in the front with
the white roofs is where i
live! (:
random...
women of power!
Oh and for the record. J-Han went to her first rugby game ever... and found it absolutely AMAZING and utterly ENTERTAINING. Buff Buff men in tight black pants running around
trying to beat each other up, throwing each other in the air.... wat MORE could I ask for? lol. No but fo shizzle... American football gotz NOTHING on Rugby. dang.... Makes American football look ridiculously pansy-ish. But yeah... we went to the Scotland v. Romania game and Scotland basically slaughtered Romania. I didn't even stay for the whole game. It was like... 38 to 0 when I had left. But it was still very very entertaining.
SCRUM!
positions?!
READY!
...........
GO!!!!!
Basically, this is called a scrum for those that don't know rugby, like myself. They get into this huddle and attack each other aka try to get the ball with only their feet.
and then they do this thing where they throw the ball from the sidelines and the throw one of their teammates into the air, trying to catch the ball. pretty amazing. Scotland's tight. Hands down.
and then they had a lot of these.... where they just tackle each other to the floor and make this huge dogpile. AWESOME.
rugby's tight.
AAANNNNDDD! DID SOMETHING EXCITING LAST WEEK!!!!
I WENT TO NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND TO VISIT GERALDINE WOOD!!! Pomona people are you JEALOUS?! lol. It was amazing to see a familiar face in a different country, excluding the 11 other Pomona people that are here in Edinburgh with me, duuuuh. And I did something in Newcastle with Geraldine that my mum would be so proud of: I COOKED/HELPED COOK A 3 COURSE MEAL! Pasta-bake and Orange cheesecake. (: All thanks to Geraldine OF COURSE. :D Oh and just to add, not only is Geraldine one of the most amazing and hospitable people I've ever met, her family is just as awesome! 4 younger siblings and 2 loving parents! Just needs a few dogs and it would be perfecto! lol. I highly encourage all Pomona people to meet Geraldine's family. Dude... I'm facebook friends with Geraldine's mom! yeayuh! lol. Amazing family. I will be visiting Geraldine in Cambridge and then going back to Newcastle for another visit before I leave for home. ^^ But yes... I stayed @ Geraldine's for a 2 nights and three days. And I would put you all to shame if I told you what I did there. And I will say anyways. So when I got there, Geraldine and her sister Jess came to pick me up. We watched Atonement, which you should all watch. Has a lot of Christian themes in it. Very interesting. Tragic romance. And then we just chilled. And on 
the second day, I basically slept until 12 pm and then we cooked all afternoon, and then had that three course meal with a couple of Geraldine and Jessica's friends. It was absolutely delightful! Although I didn't get to tour Newcastle too much because I slept my butt off. Geraldine was so sweet and didn't wake me up. I love her. God 
bless her. But yes. We cooked AWESOME food. I only have pictures of her cooking but I promise I cooked too. I stirred vegetables, fried them, made mixes, etc. I helped! (: We cooked enough for the whole family of 7 and her friends and me! a lot of cooking we did! And the cheesecake was DELICIOUS, even if it was a tadbit runny. ^^
mmmmmm. yummy pasta-bake! It was DELICIOUS! I know ya'll jealous. dang... mum would be so proud!!!! 어머니~~~~~ ;)
and here are some pictures of me and their friends. (:
They were so nice... and it was funny cuz one of them seemed so amazed that I was from America, and it blew her mind away that I was from Los Angeles too. The "fabulous" place... lol.... yeah... she's was cute though. I LURVE IT when british people try to talk with an AMERICAN ACCENT. And they love to hear us trying to talk British English. It's funny. here... it's not a British accent of course. It's we americans who have the accent. Cool beans. Coming here has definitely made me notice how stuck up, wasteful, and stupid America can be sometimes.... although America has its awesome points too. (: ANYWAYS. yeah...
amazing sisters. FO SHIZZZZLE! (There are 2 more younger sisters and a younger brother!) ^^
I feel like I've been doing a lot more "cultured" and "exciting" stuff here. Went to go watch an avant garde play, watched a rugby game, am fencing, am part of a gospel choir, etc. Maybe because it's just in a different country. Probably. Sometimes, when I'm walking down the streets alone, listening to music, jamming to my dance mix playlist, I just wanna but out dancing, but as of yet, my dance moves are no good and thus I would make a complete fool of myself. If I was a good dancer, then that would at least legitimize my bust-a-move-down-nicolson/clerk st.... oh and by the way... did I mention that the street names here change EVERY block? yeah.... ridiculous.
But I miss home very much. I got homesick for the first time yesterday talking on the phone with a couple of my church girls, and I must say, I was on the verge of crying when I was talking to my mum. Sigh. I really hope God gives me good friendships here. I've noticed I've become a lot more bold and courageous here too when trying to meet people.... I miss Pomona!!!! I miss you all!! And I can't wait to get back and terrorize all the freshmen!!! >:D Oh and I need to make a Skype date with MANY of you. (: I hope you are all doing well, and do tell me how you are! I am very curious and want to know~ Haven't really givin myself to sit and be still and think about what I've been doing so far. And I've decided I'm gonna start taking Sabbath's here. Very easy to get carried away. I gotta build up my spiritual discipline... hardest... EVER. but yeah...
It's pretty insane how much money I've spent. I need to find a job. Ugh. Everything here is so bloody expensive!!! ugh. And I need to figure out travel plans. So... here's a list of places I wanted to go: Paris, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, Spain, all of the UK... sigh... more money. Anybody interested in going to those places? (:
some prayer requests! (:
+need the Spirit's guidance and wisdom in picking a good, solid church! There are way too much churches here and they're all wonderful. I just need to find one and get plugged in. FAST!
+meet good people and make good relationships. I don't wanna leave Scotland without at least a handful of good friends. :(
+maybe a job?? (:
+my maturity and growth here. I don't want to be lazy and not actively seek building my relationship with God.
I think that's it. I hope that didn't bore you guys too much. And I'm sorry that was so long. I promise to make it shorter next time.... or... I'll try. >:D
Me hopes you are all well. Mes misses yous much. Mes Lurves yous!!!
Until next time!
LONGEST ENTRY EVER.
I PROMISE I'LL MAKE SURE TO KEEP IT SHORTER THAN THIS NEXT TIME.
I GOT SUPER LAZY.
I ADVICE THAT YOU TAKE THIS ENTRY IN SMALL DOSAGES. COME BACK TO IT.
(:
Hello Hello!
Sorry for the huge gap in-between posts. I promise this will be the last long post.... er.... I'll try to promise that this is the last long post. LoL. Emily Tamanaha didn't like the long posts. She requested shorter, more frequent ones. I'll try Em, but I can't guarantee anything. I mean honestly, isn't 1 post every 2 weeks SO much better than 1 post every week? ..........................
anywayzzzz. Yes! So! What has happened so far? Well, freshers week ended last week and this week was my first week of school. Now.... let me tell you all. Freshmen orientation week in the UK is SO COMPLETELY DIFFERENT compared to the freshmen orientation in ANY American College. OMGOSH almost all the events during fresher's week here revolved around flippin alcohol. Now, for some that may be jolly nice and spectacular, but not all that great for me who doesn't really like drunkards and wasted children vomitting all over the freakin place. ugh. But yeah... I miss Pomona's freshmen orientation where we totally bond with our sponsor group and have awesome discussions and learn how to be pc. lol. But I must say, I'm glad I got to experience fresher's week nonetheless. Them crazy brits. lol. Basically during the 8 days of fresher's week, the different societies and unions of the university threw parties, had pub crawls, contests, competitions of wit and stamina, and celebrated alcohol. There were parties happening every single night, 9pm-3am, and during the day, there were an uncountable number of events happening like sports fairs, societies fairs, music nights, hikes, etc. etc. etc. You name it, they pretty much had it. I guess this makes sense cuz the University of Edinburgh has 50 billion more students than Pomona College. But yes...
some stuff I did during Fresher's week.....
_went on some pub crawls.
_went to a couple of parties.
_signed up for some societies: fencing (yeayuuuh), christian union (wooot), christian gospel choir (mwahahaha), shukokai karate (lol), hip hop dance (i'm lovin it).
_went church visiting... still looking, still visiting
_went to some cu (christian union) events
_signed up for classes: Economics of Developing Countries, Economics of Technical Change, Foundations of Criminology (sounds TIGHT doesn't it)
I started classes last week. My econ classes are pretty cool. The Professor seems good but I've heard bad stuff about the prof. we'll see what happens later. It's super easy to fall behind here because 2 papers make up your whole flippin grade. dang... Talk about time management. I better get on that. (: Haven't gone to criminology yet cuz I'm the worst student ever. But I will go tomorrow. Heard that class is awesome. Yay! (: I really love how the university is embedded into the city. Doesn't become a bubble. Although, I bet when it starts getting really cold.... I won't appreciate the walking as much. mwahahah! I wonder how the weather is back at home.... it's getting pretty cold here. I busted out my ugg boots... yes... I bought uggs. sigh... but they're awesome! They're like... the hardcore ones, not the ones that all the white girls from my high school wore...lol... not that they're bad or anything. ok... I'll stop now. I just wish there was a bit more sun. I'm gonna be very sad when the sun starts coming up at 8:30 and then setting at 4 pm... sadness.... Oh and I have yet to meet another Korean... oh man I miss Korean food............
Alrite! On with some fotas!!!!
I unfortunately have NO pictures from Fresher's week. lol. but I do have some from other events. The Pomona people and I went to Glasglow and I took some photos. Not all that magnificent but still interesting. The main cathedral in Glasglow was very nice. Here are some random pictures. (:
I wish I lived close to a badass cathedral back
at home... umm... maybe...
ruminating on the meaning of life.
k.fuk and j-han! (:
for all you pomona peepz!
Glasglow museum. A lot of the ceilings of buildings in Scotland look tiled like that. Fusion of Roman/Grecian architecture I think it was.
The museum has this hanging head exhibition which I did NOT like at all. AT ALL. Heads with different expressions. ::shiver::: creepy.
Okay... the thing about Scottish museums I've learned... is that there is no sense or order to them. Even the one in Edinburgh, I just totally did not understand. Well, the Edinburgh one is better than the Glasglow one. At least the edinburgh museum is somewhat in order chronologically. But the Glasglow one... Ben put it perfectly... It is like... a museum for those with ADD. It made no sense. There was one room that had all these swords and had captions like "Swords were deadly weapons that promoted violence! They were beautiful pieces of metal, but were used to kill and rampage!" ... and then right across from the swords was an exhibition on racism.... it was kinda weird. it made absolutely no... OOOHH! SHINY METAL! ! ....................
So I finally climbed up Arthur's Seat, the volcanic hill/rock protrusion in the middle of Edinburgh. Absolutely beautiful. Looks like a crouching lion. I am forcing anyone who visits
me to go hike up Arthur's Seat. Including you BORAM. (: It's absolutely amazing. Gorgeous view of the city. God is truly amazing beyond all understanding. Kiki, Ben, Kristin, and I hiked up Arthur's Seat. And we didn't take the nice, leisurely route. We took the hard-core, straight up the steep rock way. It's actually a pretty decent climb, the volcanic rock makes it very easy to climb even if it's steep because there are crevices everywhere for you to hold and step into.
my fellow climb-mates!
us being merry and frolicking...
ben caught us on camera.
lol
beautiful...
awesome picture of kristin wouldn't you say? (:
pride rock!
lionesssessssss
hear our mighty
ROOOOAAARRR
picturesque! (:
view of west end of edinburgh
buildings in the front with
the white roofs is where i
live! (:
random...
women of power!
Oh and for the record. J-Han went to her first rugby game ever... and found it absolutely AMAZING and utterly ENTERTAINING. Buff Buff men in tight black pants running around
trying to beat each other up, throwing each other in the air.... wat MORE could I ask for? lol. No but fo shizzle... American football gotz NOTHING on Rugby. dang.... Makes American football look ridiculously pansy-ish. But yeah... we went to the Scotland v. Romania game and Scotland basically slaughtered Romania. I didn't even stay for the whole game. It was like... 38 to 0 when I had left. But it was still very very entertaining.
SCRUM!
positions?!
READY!
...........
GO!!!!!
Basically, this is called a scrum for those that don't know rugby, like myself. They get into this huddle and attack each other aka try to get the ball with only their feet.
and then they do this thing where they throw the ball from the sidelines and the throw one of their teammates into the air, trying to catch the ball. pretty amazing. Scotland's tight. Hands down.
and then they had a lot of these.... where they just tackle each other to the floor and make this huge dogpile. AWESOME.
rugby's tight.
AAANNNNDDD! DID SOMETHING EXCITING LAST WEEK!!!!
I WENT TO NEWCASTLE, ENGLAND TO VISIT GERALDINE WOOD!!! Pomona people are you JEALOUS?! lol. It was amazing to see a familiar face in a different country, excluding the 11 other Pomona people that are here in Edinburgh with me, duuuuh. And I did something in Newcastle with Geraldine that my mum would be so proud of: I COOKED/HELPED COOK A 3 COURSE MEAL! Pasta-bake and Orange cheesecake. (: All thanks to Geraldine OF COURSE. :D Oh and just to add, not only is Geraldine one of the most amazing and hospitable people I've ever met, her family is just as awesome! 4 younger siblings and 2 loving parents! Just needs a few dogs and it would be perfecto! lol. I highly encourage all Pomona people to meet Geraldine's family. Dude... I'm facebook friends with Geraldine's mom! yeayuh! lol. Amazing family. I will be visiting Geraldine in Cambridge and then going back to Newcastle for another visit before I leave for home. ^^ But yes... I stayed @ Geraldine's for a 2 nights and three days. And I would put you all to shame if I told you what I did there. And I will say anyways. So when I got there, Geraldine and her sister Jess came to pick me up. We watched Atonement, which you should all watch. Has a lot of Christian themes in it. Very interesting. Tragic romance. And then we just chilled. And on 
the second day, I basically slept until 12 pm and then we cooked all afternoon, and then had that three course meal with a couple of Geraldine and Jessica's friends. It was absolutely delightful! Although I didn't get to tour Newcastle too much because I slept my butt off. Geraldine was so sweet and didn't wake me up. I love her. God 
bless her. But yes. We cooked AWESOME food. I only have pictures of her cooking but I promise I cooked too. I stirred vegetables, fried them, made mixes, etc. I helped! (: We cooked enough for the whole family of 7 and her friends and me! a lot of cooking we did! And the cheesecake was DELICIOUS, even if it was a tadbit runny. ^^
mmmmmm. yummy pasta-bake! It was DELICIOUS! I know ya'll jealous. dang... mum would be so proud!!!! 어머니~~~~~ ;)and here are some pictures of me and their friends. (:
They were so nice... and it was funny cuz one of them seemed so amazed that I was from America, and it blew her mind away that I was from Los Angeles too. The "fabulous" place... lol.... yeah... she's was cute though. I LURVE IT when british people try to talk with an AMERICAN ACCENT. And they love to hear us trying to talk British English. It's funny. here... it's not a British accent of course. It's we americans who have the accent. Cool beans. Coming here has definitely made me notice how stuck up, wasteful, and stupid America can be sometimes.... although America has its awesome points too. (: ANYWAYS. yeah...
amazing sisters. FO SHIZZZZLE! (There are 2 more younger sisters and a younger brother!) ^^
I feel like I've been doing a lot more "cultured" and "exciting" stuff here. Went to go watch an avant garde play, watched a rugby game, am fencing, am part of a gospel choir, etc. Maybe because it's just in a different country. Probably. Sometimes, when I'm walking down the streets alone, listening to music, jamming to my dance mix playlist, I just wanna but out dancing, but as of yet, my dance moves are no good and thus I would make a complete fool of myself. If I was a good dancer, then that would at least legitimize my bust-a-move-down-nicolson/clerk st.... oh and by the way... did I mention that the street names here change EVERY block? yeah.... ridiculous.
But I miss home very much. I got homesick for the first time yesterday talking on the phone with a couple of my church girls, and I must say, I was on the verge of crying when I was talking to my mum. Sigh. I really hope God gives me good friendships here. I've noticed I've become a lot more bold and courageous here too when trying to meet people.... I miss Pomona!!!! I miss you all!! And I can't wait to get back and terrorize all the freshmen!!! >:D Oh and I need to make a Skype date with MANY of you. (: I hope you are all doing well, and do tell me how you are! I am very curious and want to know~ Haven't really givin myself to sit and be still and think about what I've been doing so far. And I've decided I'm gonna start taking Sabbath's here. Very easy to get carried away. I gotta build up my spiritual discipline... hardest... EVER. but yeah...
It's pretty insane how much money I've spent. I need to find a job. Ugh. Everything here is so bloody expensive!!! ugh. And I need to figure out travel plans. So... here's a list of places I wanted to go: Paris, Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Greece, Spain, all of the UK... sigh... more money. Anybody interested in going to those places? (:
some prayer requests! (:
+need the Spirit's guidance and wisdom in picking a good, solid church! There are way too much churches here and they're all wonderful. I just need to find one and get plugged in. FAST!
+meet good people and make good relationships. I don't wanna leave Scotland without at least a handful of good friends. :(
+maybe a job?? (:
+my maturity and growth here. I don't want to be lazy and not actively seek building my relationship with God.
I think that's it. I hope that didn't bore you guys too much. And I'm sorry that was so long. I promise to make it shorter next time.... or... I'll try. >:D
Me hopes you are all well. Mes misses yous much. Mes Lurves yous!!!
Until next time!
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Monuments and cobblestones and pastas, oh my!
Buongiorno from Rome, Italy!
How is everyone? I have been doing mighty fine here in Roma. The weather has cooled down considerably, compared to last week. I have to take my jacket when I go out now! It seems absurd for you people in the states to hear us wearing jackets right now, huh? I've been hearing that back in the states it has gone over 100 degrees in some places. That is when I say, "I'm glad I'm here in Roma at the moment!" :) As much as I'm glad to be here, I miss all you friends terribly. I talked to my parents on skype yesterday (God bless skype, that thing is glorious! You all should get it, and we could talk! boram.lee87 add me!), and I hadn't realized how much I missed them. I think yesterday I officially felt "homesick." So yea, like a baby, I cried last night....but it was a good cry. :') I can handle this, no problem.
Rome, again I say, is such a beautiful city. Every day I pass by these ancient buildings, that is older than the United States, and I'm just in awe. Every. Single. Time. I love how these ancient monuments are intertwined with modern buildings, that still look ancient; you don't know where one ends and another starts, they just fuse together. There is so much history here. Everywhere I walk, I'm walking on freaking history! Walking on roads where famous bible characters have walked and roamed through. I am still unable to grasp the fact that, well--I'm in Rome! All these places I pass by everyday, not knowing their significance, and when I read about it later on, I'm just like...Whoa. I was there. Every day I pass by an area where Julius Caesar was murdered, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum (amazing!), San Giovanni Cathedral, and all these other places which I don't even know the names to! The Romans have come back from their vacations, so the city is much more crowded than compared to last week--well if you counted the tourists, then I guess there'd be more. It's funny, I like to relate myself to the Romans rather than the tourists, because I hold on to the fact that I came here to study and live here, rather than coming merely to tour. So everytime I look at a tourist, I'm just like, "Ha, another darn tourist..I, am a Roman." :)
Adjusting to this city has been alright. Overall, I think I adjust to things pretty quickly. Food was not a problem for me to adjust because, really, all they have here are pizza and pasta. Want variety? There are varieties of pizza and pasta. Not much else. But I'm not complaining, except for the fact that I didn't bring with me a tub of red pepper paste and seaweed. Sigh. It's all good, we were told of a Korean market here, I have yet to go to. Sleeping-wise, it has been very hard to adjust to. I don't know, but I get so tired over here. All I want to do is sleep sometimes. :) Language is still very hard to adjust to; I'm always getting my Spanish mixed up with my Italian, not that I was good in Spanish anyway. But my Italian class is all in Italian, so I think the majority of my time there, I'm just staring at the teacher, not knowing what is going on. Hopefully that will get better. I haven't started my core courses yet--that will be in the end of September. Pretty excited for that. I feel that as I'm living here, as an Asian, we are slightly looked down upon--all the old ladies glare at me when I'm on the bus, as if I am an odd specimen in their midst. We get a lot of, "nee-hau-ma" and and occasional, "CHINATOWN!" but I just laugh it off. Oh, those Romans, can't tell the difference between a Chinese and a Korean. :) But I guess I will have to get used to it. It's so hard to communicate with people when I don't even understand what they are trying to say. I think the language and communication barrier will be the biggest problem that I will face throughout my time here in Italy.
I had a lot more in mind, but I forgot as of this moment. So perhaps I'll write it in a later post. I also have some prayer requests, so save some prayer time for me also. :)
-For my health and safety here in Rome
-Time management, balancing study time and traveling time :)
-For me to seek God continually here in this eternal city
-My trust in God and dependence on Him
-To have a great experience while here
-For God to give me a vision*
Grazie!
Now, I know you all want pictures. What's a post without pictures. Jennifer, I loved your pictures of Scotland. But, I think that Rome is still better. I'm biased, of course. ;) Enjoy the pictures!
Let's start with my apartment. I live in a cozy little apartment, with 3 other girls, in Via Sannio, just minutes away from the Colosseum, and couple minutes from the San Giovanni Cathedral. This is my living room.
This is the San Giovanni Cathedral that you could see from our living room window. Isn't it beautiful?? This Cathedral is the official seat of the Pope. It was the first of the basilicas that were built. Constantine built this in 313. And it ranks above all other Catholic Churches. St. Peters got nothing on San Giovanni. ;)
Check out our elevator. How old school is this? I'm always scared that this elevator will break. It's sometimes sad to go on this elevator, because it can't lift us up to our destination. Although the sign said "Max 4 people," I guess they should've said, "Max 4 Italian people," because apparently 4 American people are just too fat for this elevator, and it won't go up. Sigh.
This is inside the San Giovanni Cathedral.
This is where Julius Caesar was killed.
The temple of Saturn. I think that is what is called.
And I forgot what this was called. Eep, but it was magnificent!
The Roman Forum. The columns look transparent!
The Pantheon. Not to get confused with the Parthenon--that is in Greece. :)
Castel Sant' Angelo. One in the day, one in the night.
And of course, you cannot forget the Colosseum. I pass by this awesome monument every single day. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
Now, what's a Rome picture post without pictures of food?? So here comes the food. Hope you ate before reading this. :)
80 cent Cappuccino and 65 cent croissant filled with creme or marmalade. This is what I eat just about every day in between breaks between my class. It's so good. Doesn't that look appetizing?
Simple ingredients, yet tastes so good! I actually ate the tomatoes in this one. Are you proud of me, or what?
I always buy peaches at the supermarket. It's so fresh and so clean clean!
Spaghetti. Might I add, good spaghetti. Italians like their food a little salty though. I guess it's better than bland! Everything is so colorful too. I love it.
A watermelon Colosseum! Omg, so niiice!
Gelatos are amazing here. I love it. This one place called "Old Bridge" gives you so much. This is a strawberry, pineapple, and nutella gelato, topped off with whipped cream. OMG, amazing!
Okay, I confess, as much as I love italian food, we caved into our Korean roots and had to eat some Korean food. I miss Korean food like crazy. I think Korean food will forever be the best.
Weekends are fun because we have no homework. :) Yay. This past weekend, I spent my friday night with a friend named Ashley at Trestevere, eating and watching a free live jazz band. It was very chillaxing. :)
You can take a sneak peek on what we heard that night.
Saturday, we went to Sperlonga beach, outside of Rome. My, the water was beautiful!!! But might I add, that Italian men love their speedos. Yuck.
Met some Irish man, and a Scottish man on the train ride back to Rome. I think they were slightly drunk.
They were so funny though. They told us some good places to go and eat. We got a picture with them!
This is for you Jennifer. I had to record their accents. I love the Irish guy. Don't you think he's cute??? :) :) :)
And I have so many more pictures, but I think I should stop before it becomes picture overload. Until next time, everyone,
Ciao!
How is everyone? I have been doing mighty fine here in Roma. The weather has cooled down considerably, compared to last week. I have to take my jacket when I go out now! It seems absurd for you people in the states to hear us wearing jackets right now, huh? I've been hearing that back in the states it has gone over 100 degrees in some places. That is when I say, "I'm glad I'm here in Roma at the moment!" :) As much as I'm glad to be here, I miss all you friends terribly. I talked to my parents on skype yesterday (God bless skype, that thing is glorious! You all should get it, and we could talk! boram.lee87 add me!), and I hadn't realized how much I missed them. I think yesterday I officially felt "homesick." So yea, like a baby, I cried last night....but it was a good cry. :') I can handle this, no problem.
Rome, again I say, is such a beautiful city. Every day I pass by these ancient buildings, that is older than the United States, and I'm just in awe. Every. Single. Time. I love how these ancient monuments are intertwined with modern buildings, that still look ancient; you don't know where one ends and another starts, they just fuse together. There is so much history here. Everywhere I walk, I'm walking on freaking history! Walking on roads where famous bible characters have walked and roamed through. I am still unable to grasp the fact that, well--I'm in Rome! All these places I pass by everyday, not knowing their significance, and when I read about it later on, I'm just like...Whoa. I was there. Every day I pass by an area where Julius Caesar was murdered, the Roman Forum, the Colosseum (amazing!), San Giovanni Cathedral, and all these other places which I don't even know the names to! The Romans have come back from their vacations, so the city is much more crowded than compared to last week--well if you counted the tourists, then I guess there'd be more. It's funny, I like to relate myself to the Romans rather than the tourists, because I hold on to the fact that I came here to study and live here, rather than coming merely to tour. So everytime I look at a tourist, I'm just like, "Ha, another darn tourist..I, am a Roman." :)
Adjusting to this city has been alright. Overall, I think I adjust to things pretty quickly. Food was not a problem for me to adjust because, really, all they have here are pizza and pasta. Want variety? There are varieties of pizza and pasta. Not much else. But I'm not complaining, except for the fact that I didn't bring with me a tub of red pepper paste and seaweed. Sigh. It's all good, we were told of a Korean market here, I have yet to go to. Sleeping-wise, it has been very hard to adjust to. I don't know, but I get so tired over here. All I want to do is sleep sometimes. :) Language is still very hard to adjust to; I'm always getting my Spanish mixed up with my Italian, not that I was good in Spanish anyway. But my Italian class is all in Italian, so I think the majority of my time there, I'm just staring at the teacher, not knowing what is going on. Hopefully that will get better. I haven't started my core courses yet--that will be in the end of September. Pretty excited for that. I feel that as I'm living here, as an Asian, we are slightly looked down upon--all the old ladies glare at me when I'm on the bus, as if I am an odd specimen in their midst. We get a lot of, "nee-hau-ma" and and occasional, "CHINATOWN!" but I just laugh it off. Oh, those Romans, can't tell the difference between a Chinese and a Korean. :) But I guess I will have to get used to it. It's so hard to communicate with people when I don't even understand what they are trying to say. I think the language and communication barrier will be the biggest problem that I will face throughout my time here in Italy.
I had a lot more in mind, but I forgot as of this moment. So perhaps I'll write it in a later post. I also have some prayer requests, so save some prayer time for me also. :)
-For my health and safety here in Rome
-Time management, balancing study time and traveling time :)
-For me to seek God continually here in this eternal city
-My trust in God and dependence on Him
-To have a great experience while here
-For God to give me a vision*
Grazie!
Now, I know you all want pictures. What's a post without pictures. Jennifer, I loved your pictures of Scotland. But, I think that Rome is still better. I'm biased, of course. ;) Enjoy the pictures!
Let's start with my apartment. I live in a cozy little apartment, with 3 other girls, in Via Sannio, just minutes away from the Colosseum, and couple minutes from the San Giovanni Cathedral. This is my living room.
This is the San Giovanni Cathedral that you could see from our living room window. Isn't it beautiful?? This Cathedral is the official seat of the Pope. It was the first of the basilicas that were built. Constantine built this in 313. And it ranks above all other Catholic Churches. St. Peters got nothing on San Giovanni. ;)
Check out our elevator. How old school is this? I'm always scared that this elevator will break. It's sometimes sad to go on this elevator, because it can't lift us up to our destination. Although the sign said "Max 4 people," I guess they should've said, "Max 4 Italian people," because apparently 4 American people are just too fat for this elevator, and it won't go up. Sigh.
This is inside the San Giovanni Cathedral.
This is where Julius Caesar was killed.
The temple of Saturn. I think that is what is called.
And I forgot what this was called. Eep, but it was magnificent!
The Roman Forum. The columns look transparent!
The Pantheon. Not to get confused with the Parthenon--that is in Greece. :)
Castel Sant' Angelo. One in the day, one in the night.
And of course, you cannot forget the Colosseum. I pass by this awesome monument every single day. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.
Now, what's a Rome picture post without pictures of food?? So here comes the food. Hope you ate before reading this. :)
80 cent Cappuccino and 65 cent croissant filled with creme or marmalade. This is what I eat just about every day in between breaks between my class. It's so good. Doesn't that look appetizing?
Simple ingredients, yet tastes so good! I actually ate the tomatoes in this one. Are you proud of me, or what?
I always buy peaches at the supermarket. It's so fresh and so clean clean!
Spaghetti. Might I add, good spaghetti. Italians like their food a little salty though. I guess it's better than bland! Everything is so colorful too. I love it.
A watermelon Colosseum! Omg, so niiice!
Gelatos are amazing here. I love it. This one place called "Old Bridge" gives you so much. This is a strawberry, pineapple, and nutella gelato, topped off with whipped cream. OMG, amazing!
Okay, I confess, as much as I love italian food, we caved into our Korean roots and had to eat some Korean food. I miss Korean food like crazy. I think Korean food will forever be the best.
Weekends are fun because we have no homework. :) Yay. This past weekend, I spent my friday night with a friend named Ashley at Trestevere, eating and watching a free live jazz band. It was very chillaxing. :)
You can take a sneak peek on what we heard that night.
Saturday, we went to Sperlonga beach, outside of Rome. My, the water was beautiful!!! But might I add, that Italian men love their speedos. Yuck.
Met some Irish man, and a Scottish man on the train ride back to Rome. I think they were slightly drunk.
They were so funny though. They told us some good places to go and eat. We got a picture with them!
This is for you Jennifer. I had to record their accents. I love the Irish guy. Don't you think he's cute??? :) :) :)
And I have so many more pictures, but I think I should stop before it becomes picture overload. Until next time, everyone,
Ciao!
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