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Molla’s Valentine’s Day

Happy Valentine’s Day! I never thought I’d be one to say that kind of thing but it’s for the better anyway. My dad came home last night, and he brought me a netbook.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A belated birthday present for me! Now my college life should be much better, I’d be able to take more notes, I’d have a laptop to use during my long waits for class and the train! Thank you daddy. :love:

I saw a lot of guys on campus carrying bouquets today. Bahahaha I can’t ever imagine myself receiving a bunch of flowers or chocolates. Especially since I can’t even spend Valentine’s Day with Mingyun. BUT I finally got Skype! My name is “kriselator” in case you have it and want to add me. I couldn’t think of anything original. 8)

Since Valentine’s Day can be about any kind of love, My main pitch in is the love I’m showing my blog. First I installed a bunch of cute smilies by Georgina, finally :D , been wanting for do that ever since I got WordPress almost a year ago, haha. The second is that I’m finally going to write about the highlights of my Korea trip. Yes I know, 6 months too late, but Molla deserves to know. All this time I wanted to create many pages for my manual journal but I gave up on having time to clean up my writing and organize it. As Dipika had done with her LA trip, I’ll list the highlights in details.

IF YOU’RE NOT UP FOR IT DON’T READ, IT’S QUITE LONG!

Meeting Taejin. For those who don’t know my mom introduced me to my cousin Taejin a few years ago online so I can help him improve his English just by conversing. He and his mom – my mom’s sister – were the ones who picked us up from the airport. His first impression of me was me calling him Taemin. I had been listening to SHINee on the airplane so it’s not too bad of a mistake is it? :/ He also called me noona, intensely awkward for me! I’ve never been called noona in my life before. That’s just a term a guy calls an older girl, kind of like jie jie in Chinese – haha learned that from Mei. He doesn’t call me noona now though because I couldn’t get used to it.

Living With My Brother. My brother left for Korea in 2004. It makes nearly a decade I haven’t lived under the same roof as him unless you count his visits home once a year or less. Though my stay with him was so short, I really got to see what his life in Korea is like. I even got to meet a few of his friends though it was quiet awkward since not all of them speak English very well. Sooo, Arron lives in this really nice apartment, it’s not big, but it’s very new and modern compared to the house I’m stuck in. Though he had to work every day, weekends included, he was on break from school so he had time to hang out with me at night.  My mom was staying at my grandparents’ so I was ABSOLUTELY FREE. With my brother there’s no schedule for things, there was no bothering about dinner – don’t think his kitchen has ever been used O.O . We seriously went out to eateries at 9PM on some days. It’s amazing because places in Korea don’t close that early.

Harabeoji’s 80th. This was a humongous lunch probably the most humongous and extravagant I’ve ever seen. My mom has 3 siblings and they all have children, some of my grandpa’s nieces and nephews even showed up. I must’ve met at least 50 people that day. Okay exaggeration lol. :P More like 15 extended family members and some of my mom’s cousins who didn’t even know her let alone me. The celebration was at a restaurant with so many tables. I felt terribly out of place because I didn’t understand what people were saying, and I didn’t have a good meal. Well I talked to some of my girl cousins, in my broken Korean while they tried to talk to me in just as broken English. We made it work though, haha. They were really nice and really wanted to know me despite the language barrier.

SHOPPING!!! Shopping in Korea is THE BEST thing. There’s so much stuff to choose from, and they’re not overpriced like the Korean stuff here. I bought far too much clothing to talk, but my absolute favorite is a pair of freaking gorgeous ankle boots. Dipika said she wanted to see so I found a picture of something similar.

Mine is almost the same except it doesn’t have such a high heel and it’s brown, not as reddish as the brown pair in the picture though. I’m usually so strict about shoe color to only being black and white but these shoes were able to get an exception granted!

Exploring Seoul. I love Seoul’s summer weather compared to here. It’s much less hot, and everywhere there’s A/C unlike some of the broken down old buildings around here. The Seoul subway system is beautiful compared to the one in NYC that’s probably 3000 years old. I really wish I had time to check out the tourist sights for Korean culture. And unfortunately I didn’t get to spy any celebrities even if people have told me that it’s really common to see them randomly since Korea is so small.

Miscellaneous. I wanted to go to Busan and almost did! Busan is about 2 hours from Seoul, my aunt lives there, she was going back too so I totally could’ve gone with her. But my flight back to USA was only a few days away then and my mom said no. HMMPH D: Also, it felt so weird to be so close to Mingyun – he lives in Jeju – during the 3 months we prepared to be thousands of miles away from each other. Too bad he couldn’t come up to see me.

Well, you get a double virtual present if you read all that! Happy Valentine’s Day again! :love:



15 Responses to “Molla’s Valentine’s Day”

  1. Posted by Misaki on February 14th, 2012

    Happy Valentine’s Day! *hands virtual rose*

    Wow! That’s great :) Your Dad is so nice! What brand is it?

    I brought flowers for a friend and had to carry them around for a bit, much to my embarrassment. People just kept staring at me. I love the smilies :D

    Hahaha noona! :D I guess most people don’t really call you that, right? So does he just call you by your name now?

    That’s also great that you got to visit your brother :) I know when my sister gets older and moves out, I’m going to miss her terribly :(

    Oh gosh! I would have loved the shopping :D I like the shoes!

  2. Posted by Michelle on February 14th, 2012

    Happy Valentine’s Day ;D

    Oh, I would love to know about your Korea trip. I had a friend of mine go there for about a month for school. It rained the entire time she was down there.

    I’m glad you showed your blog some love ;D Love the new smilies!

  3. Posted by Stephanie on February 15th, 2012

    Yay laptop! Now you can take advantage of Internet at school at blog from there! Maybe you’ll even be able to talk to Mingyun in those random half-hour periods in between classes – the periods that are too short to get any significant work done and too long to just wander around.

    Calling a cousin not-by-their-name is weird! I can’t do it. My brother never called me jie jie, and I can never imagine him doing it. I call my aunts and uncles by their formal titles in Chinese, but can’t possibly do it with people about my age. But your cousins sound so sweet! It’s awesome that they tried to communicate. Someday, you will speak better Korean and they will speak better English.

    I have never seen boots that looked anything like that pair before! Glad that you like them!

  4. Posted by Becca on February 15th, 2012

    Happy Valentine’s day! Woooo netbook! :D That’s awesome! I think your dad should teach my dad some tips. :P

    If my boyfriend were to surprise me with a bouquet of flowers in a public area, my face would have to be as red as a tomato. It’d be a nice gesture, but I would be so embarrassed.

    I like the new smilies! :) Mann, that reminds me that I never did write about my trip last summer to France and Italy except the one post I did. I should get on that…

    Aw, that’s awesome that you got to be with your brother again and that you could be away from your mother so that you could truly enjoy it! It sucks when you can’t enjoy something because of someone else. And those boots are really cute! I think that the best thing about most places is the shopping, haha. :P

  5. Posted by Dipika on February 15th, 2012

    Happy Belated Valentines Day! Woot for your dad…he is awesome XD.

    I will add you to my skype although I am not on there often and whenever I am, I am mostly talking to my family lol but it might be good to switch to there instead of AIM if you ended up liking skype. Kriselator seems original enough to me lol.

    Yay for blog love…I need to show my blog some love ^_^; Love these cute smilies! Well Molla deserves to know…and we all deserve to know ;) Lol we are partners in laziness whee <3.

    When I saw your warning I scrolled to the bottom to see how long then saw that it was shorter that I expected lol.

    I remember you telling me about this lol…I don't think it is that bad considering Taemin and Taejin sound kind of close and you were listening to SHINee and that Taemin is a guy XD. I love the sound of jie jie in dramas hehe. I guess being called noona or unni would feel a little odd for a 20 year old ;)

    Does your brother speak good English? I am guessing she he was born in the US? he probably does? Your brother sounds like a hard working soul XD. That's awesome…sometimes I miss that aspect of back home where places don't close early. Here almost every place closes soon after sun down :(

    Wow 50 people? You have a large family back in Korea I guess. LOL 15 is still a big number…cool. Aww too bad you didn't like the meal. I always wonder…if you were to live in Korea do you like enough Korean food to survive everyday? Aww that sounds nice…language barriers are no fun but being human I think we can always find other ways of communicating hehe.

    Damn I would go there just for shopping hehe. I feel loved…now I can see what you were talking about lol. Those boots look gorgeous!!! ME WANT <3. Ahh I don't do very well with high heels either XD. I am mostly strict with my shoe colors too but I make exceptions for those lovely unique ones :3

    Hoho…yeah I hate how some places here don't even have fans…forget A/Cs XD. Then again it is very cold most of the year at least in VT but I would like an A/C in summers. Too bad about the celebrities but I hope you can make more trips to Seoul!

    Man…you went all the way to Korea and couldn't go T_T your mom can be pretty evil I guess. How far is Jeju? I always see these "romantic getaways" to Jeju in dramas lol.

    I am digging that virtual present ;) Those boots made my day XD.

    ———-

    REPLY: I see…I haven't particularly heard a lot of Clazziquai songs either but I like whatever I have heard :D . LOL I see…nope that is definitely not among my favorites either but I like the MV quite a bit. You should give Miryo a try! At least watch the MV…pretty much everyone who I showed it to liked it…even my non KPop friends XD. Hmm I guess Miryo is indeed old but I have always liked B.E.G lol.

    Over KPop? What kind lol…might be a good thing to talk about over our next chat. I guess real fights can be healthy but then again…depends on the seriousness of the fight hehe.

    I still have insomnia at times O.o ok that was random but yeah I can understand your point of view very well. Also if I were in your shoes and met a potential nice boyfriend I would totally go for it irrespective of my schedule! Unfortunately I haven't found a good match yet lol.

  6. Posted by Jamie on February 15th, 2012

    Wow sounds like you had a wonderful trip!!! Seriously!!! :) .

    I’m glad you were able to meet your family members in Korea! That sounds exciting!! So you and your boyfriend are in different countries? I’m not fully understanding this concept.

    Yeah my little sister got over her fever. It was a food allergy if we’re not mistaken. She said she had ketchup on something, not really sure what but it gave her a fever. Which is weird. But eh.

    Life size isn’t that hard to draw really. If you’re going to be an animator you’re gonna have to get over that fear and just try. I’ve tried for many years and thought I’d never be able to draw people. I started off with the first one with a GOTH girl crying/dying. And than from there, I decided I’m gonna try something a bit harder. And it was but I pushed myself in order to do so. And I did it! I was even given a request to draw her mom in life size, and I have the right image in mind, I just need a right picture of her mom. But it’s very easy to do if you can draw.

    That would be cool if you got that apartment! And it’d be even cooler, if I lived near you than we could definitely get an apartment for ‘school’. However, since I don’t and live in California, it’s gonna be a little hard. lol. But eh, it’s good that you and your friend are getting an apartment together! Will you be closer to your boyfriend or does he live in Korea? I do agree with you that most men on the internet are only interested in sex. Its really disgusting!! I haven’t met any males in my area that I’ve been interested in, except one guy who was/is a cook at a Thai restaurant, but I don’t know him very well; and not really sure if he still works there or not or would date outside his race. That’s what bugs me is that a lot of male Asians, don’t really date outside their race. Well; the old school ones don’t anyway the newer generations do. Which is weird lol. But yeah so far no one appealing to me yet, plus this is a small town. There’s one guy that appeals to me, but he’s my friend’s nephew and just turned 18, and I don’t wanna go down that alley lol.

  7. Posted by Liv on February 16th, 2012

    I have a netbook too, it’s my second one, and I must say netbooks not the best computer to use for “computer activities”. But definitely handy for taking notes!

    It sounds like you had a great time in Korea! I do in Beijing too, at least for the first two weeks. I kind of feel bad for your cousin for getting called Taemin. I’d hate that if I were him because Taemin is so … ew. I’ve been called jie jie by random people so I don’t find it too weird. I’m more often called xiao mei by my cousin, that’s dongsaeng in Korean. But, if Taejin calls you by your English name then there’s no point in adding the noona.

    My aunt lives in a really nice modern apartment so I can imagine what your brother lives in. I’m jealous! My house is way old, renovated to new last year, but my room is still the only modern room. You and your brother didn’t beat my friend … she went out to eat at midnight in Beijing. I’m serious.

    My mom showed me a video of her celebrating my grandpa’s birthday and I tried to imagine myself there. I’d be so out of place too because they were reciting some traditional poetry and singing traditional karaoke. Scary sounding stuff.

    Dude, if I go to Korea SHOPPING is the only thing I want to do. Korea has the best fashion ever, I mean just look at those boots! I have a similar pair from an American store believe it or not. I thought they were the most gorgeous things until now. No way can they match up to yours.

    NYC Has the most disgusting subway in the universe. The ones in Beijing and Shanghai are so clean. Americans just have no sense of renovation, aha. I want to go to Seoul! I just always picture it the same as Beijing and Shanghai but I won’t know unless I go. The only thing that might keep me from going to there is that it’s cold. Yes, by that I mean summer. Well, I guess can’t have everything unless it’s Singapore. :P

  8. Posted by Krystal on February 17th, 2012

    Reading this entry makes me miss Hong Kong even more, especially eating at 9pm or sometimes even 11pm! Some places are opened till 3am in Hong Kong. I remember heading out for a random noodle at mid night just because we could!

    Glad you stayed with your brother instead of family. I always find staying with Asian family is awkward. We can such different views that it’s hard to get along. I always have to just let them have it their way…making me not enjoy my time there.

    Next time to go to Hong Kong, I’ll visit Korea as well. Could do with some Korean shopping!! Korean things are also expensive in Hong Kong just not as expensive as here.

  9. Posted by Lissa on February 17th, 2012

    Happy (late) valentines day! :3 It’s a good thing you got a new laptop and skype 8D I have skype too but I hardly use it xD Since I don’t often call people these days :P

    And I just love your boots… I wish I could have them xD

  10. Posted by Erin Nicole on February 17th, 2012

    Wow. It seems like you had such a nice time overseas. :) Sounds like when we go up to Ohio to visit my extended family.

    Happy VDay. :) I’m finally opening my sites and it feels so good! :D

    I’m not a fan of those boots but everyone likes their own kind of fashion. :P I guess I’m just not a heel person.
    ————————————-
    I wish I could take one of my online friends soon! :P

    Lol. Just ignore her. If you have to read out loud, you have to read out loud.

    My courses are 8-,12-, & 16-week classes. I just finish them all early. Lol. I’m about to finish Biology but English and Music and Humanities are all done now. :)

  11. Posted by Krystal on February 18th, 2012

    Ah, noona. One of the few Korean words I picked up from listening to too many Kpop and watching too many Korean variety shows. Hahaha.

    Wow, I can’t imagine living away from any of my three brothers for so long (well, excluding one…). I’m so used to seeing them on a daily basis. :P It’s nice that you finally got to see your brother again though!

    It would have been cool to spot a Korean celebrity! ;) If it were me though, I’d probably not recognize one if he/she walked by since I only know how some certain Korean celebrities look like.

  12. Posted by Della on February 19th, 2012

    Haha I also have a list of books I need to read, although I rarely get around to ticking most of them off!

  13. Posted by Nancy on February 19th, 2012

    Ooooh! You’re lucky for getting a new netbook! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it as much as possible :P . I don’t like valentines day, I guess because I’m single or something. Haha. But still, you got every other day to celebrate with Mingyun. With my weird conspiracies, Valentines day is made to boost the economy of flower shops! :P

    A guy calling you older girl does sound awkward. But then again, people in my family always tell the kids to call me jie jie. I guess I’m used to it myself. But still, no one ever calls you that o___o.

    It’s typical for a guy to like never use the kitchen. I believe anywhere that’s nice has its shops open til like midnight or something! That’s the case for a lot of eateries in LA.. Cheesecake Factory.. XD

    It must’ve been a nice lunch celebration with some extended family members :O! Though I wonder how I’d work with that for me. Espcecially since I add a lot of slang to what I say. Except I still have manners to what I say only around adults. Haha.

    You still got the experience of Korea :D !

    There’s so many people in USC that I don’t.. Well.. I can’t tell them apart. The only people from USC I know of are the band people XD. Except I can only tell their faces apart. Like for the past 3 years, I always saw that trombone player performing in USC events I went to. I refer to him as kofi kingston (some guy from wwe wrestling- I watch it with my friends, LOL) because of the hair. Haha, I’m lame XD.

    I had a choice on making a website in the class. Everyone else did powerpoints and I took it up a step XD. I don’t even know how to code blogger. I saw too much complicated things D: .

    Well, I failed the art classes which counts for visual/performing arts credit. But then again, I didn’t even need the credits because band gave me the credits needed! D: And also, there’s no other art classes because the teachers for laid off too. :/ .

    I guess I just don’t find the better parts of China :X. Like I remember reading an article: http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/11/21/hong-kong-citizens-living-cages-literally/

    I guess I just need to travel out more or something XD.

    Take care :)

  14. Posted by Pauline on February 20th, 2012

    Happy Valentines Day Kris! :love:

    Okay, I’m not gonna lie. Totally jealous of you right now, lol. Your so lucky going to South korea! I envy you so badly. cry cry. lol. Sounds like you had a blast, though so alls good :P

    You called him Taemin?! LOL. Too much SHINee there, girl lol take it easy. O.O I;ve been called noona before by this little Korean kid who I was taking care of during work experience at a school. He called me “grandma” before noona though. Jerk. lol.

    SHOES!!! Omg, I love them! Korea definitely has the best things. TAKE ME THERE NEXT TIME!!

  15. Posted by Georgina on February 25th, 2012

    Sounds like you had a wonderful time, Kris. :) I’ll admit I got through this post soon after you posted it but I hadn’t replied to your comment so I decided to come back later. I’m glad you got a netbook – it’ll be your best friend from now on! :P It’ll hopefully help keep you organised, free from boredom and happier. ;D

    Glad you like my smilies! I demand you make the rest of your layout pink to match. I’m just joking – but at least you got rid of those WordPress default smilies. They’re ugly as hell. Hahaha.

    I have met a lot of my mum’s cousins who are much older than her, and they already have grandchildren. We have a huge extended family as well. It makes gatherings so busy and I’m surprised I remember everyone’s names, or if someone mentions them I do remember them.

    I don’t think there’s much to shop for in Indonesia anymore – they are actually ahead in fashion trends but I don’t care for trends, not to mention I don’t think the clothes there are of great quality, haha. How I’d love to go to Korea for something like clothes and good shoes. Those boots are really cute. :)

    I’m glad I wasn’t hurt by the hairdryer; was just not expecting that at allllll. We got a new one, which I haven’t tried, but which shouldn’t be exploding any time soon. :P

    Yeah, I definitely am not worried about card issues when it comes to buying online. PayPal has some kind of insurance cover, and of course technology is more secure than it was some time ago – so it’s generally quite safe. I just don’t like buying clothes and things that I can’t really test or try on. Hahaha.

    Actually I did change the font on the grey layout before I put up my new one. Nice spotting. ;) I will also admit grey gets dull though I love using it for layouts!

    I can’t believe there’s a day to mourn being single. That’s rather sad…

    I GET IT NOW. XD Your favourite colour IS PINK. XDDDD Sorry for the confusion. :P


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