Visiting My Homie Kim Jong Il at the DMZ

Back in May, Carly and I went to visit my good friend (jk) Kim Jong Il at the DMZ. 

We risked our lives by going underground N.Kr and climbing hills to spy on our Northern friends. We went with a big 외국인 (foreigner) group with which we toured, home-stayed, and planted rice. 

A bunker

Under N.Kr. They never even suspected.

The million stairs we climbed back up to safety.

The border.

What used to be a train is now only a skeleton.

This is where South Koreans were kept prisoners and tortured and killed.

We were unsuccessful at searching for mines, so we gave up.

Then we went to go plant rice. Some sexy boots ey?

Some friend I made. We were excited to plant rice and do some manual slave labor for North Korea. jay kay

After standing in the hot sun and mud for a few minutes, I decided planting rice was not as fun as I had originally thought.

Working hard.

Then, the man in the blue decided to release some fish into the mud water for us to catch. Can you tell I'm really excited and concentrated? It's my Amazonian heritage coming out.

This girl was a fan of sashimi and another Amazonian sista.

I was absolutely ecstatic. 

Then I realized I had just caught a disgusting, slimy fish with my bare hands. Not so ladylike. 

Time to wash up.

We had some yummy watermelon and matgurli (rice alcohol that's sour and kind of really gross). 

We hitched a ride on the back of a truck while others decided to walk a mile. I felt like I was in Mexico. 

We've become so Korea, shielding ourselves from the sun.

All my hard work in edible form. 

Our tour guide said this is the Niagara Falls of Korea. ermmmm...

Carly and I had planned to go bungee jumping with the rest of our group, but then we were attacked by stomach issues.

Instead, we decided to watch this speedle in complete fascination. It could fly too!

We climbed a lot of stairs that weekend. These lead us to a waterfall.

Not much of a waterfall... Carly doesn't look to0 happy about that. 

KJI brought me some North Korean alcohol. 

The main man himself!

What a fine looking gentleman. :)

Although it was fun to play spy for a couple days, I'm happy to be back in the South away from danger and nuclear bombs. 

A Whirrr of Color and Fabulosity in Seoul

I went to Seoul a few weeks ago to visit my wonderful friend Cindy who I had not seen in years. I had a fab time with her -  walking around and shopping in Hongdae and Myungdong. We sipped on wine and tea and even had Indian food prepared and served by Indians. 

Here are some things I saw.

Hongdae is an artist's scene. Art students from Hongik University have a flea market on Saturdays where they sell their own work. It was so much fun to be surrounded by everyone's creative flair. 

I really liked these  cute recycling baskets that look like laundry hampers.

Korean rockband with female vocalist - Hongdae has a playground where bands have open shows sometimes. There's also a dj there on some nights (usually weekends). It's a fun place to chill with some drinks or street food. 

The flea market is also in the playground. It gets really busy and crowded, but it's definitely worth a browse. There are many cool treasures to find - mostly handmade too!

All the people you see are pins that were hand sewn and painted.

So cool, right? All the people look so lonely. I wanted to take them all and give them a home.

Hongdae has a lot of nice cafes. They can be quite overpriced though.

Look! A shiny asteroid decided to park itself in someone's window. 

Cute cookies I found in a cool menswear store.

This store that I don't remember the name of had such amazing menswear items. I love everything about this summer chic ensemble from the hat to the funky cardigan to Karl's privates covered with Chanel's rose to the oxfords. So awesome.

This reminded me of Michael Jackson. He passed away while I was in Seoul. RIP.

These silver oxfords are so bomb. Helmet and shoes - modern space fashion.

This orange linen blazer was what made me walk into the store. I want a man who can pull something like this off. 

Well-done street art/graffiti is so cool and fun to look at. Cindy and I happened upon these.

This is my friend Cindy 지하 Kim. 

We first met the summer before 9th grade. It was our mutual friend Chris' birthday and being a resident of Valencia, he decided we should go to Six Flags. 

In 8th grade I was kind of a full-on tomboy. Cindy wore a white blouse and skirt with pretty girly sandals and her hair pinned in a girly fashion, while I wore tattered sneakers and overalls with my uncombed hair tied back. We were opposites, but as they say: opposites attract!

Anyway, we went to high school together and we shared many intimate conversations together. We used to always sit in the back of our art teacher Ms. Licht's class and chatter away about the most random things - mostly gross, embarrassing, or racy things. Ah... I miss those days. My boyfriend in high school and Cindy hated each other and they probably still do, but I guess we all know who I decided to side with, because he's something of the past and Cindy and I are well... I still love her. 

Introducing CINDY!

She's such a cutie. She's lived in Japan for the past year and before that in Korea and before that she was an Illustration major at Pasadena Art Center. She's a talented beauty.

I stayed at her place for two nights. This is the garden on her veranda.

I couldn't not buy something. I don't go to Seoul very often. 

I was in dire need of underwear so I bought these. Pretty?

One of my favorite things in my closet right now. 

Cindy made this for me. 

Some stuff I like to wear.

Spending time with Cindy was like eating cake and sipping tea. Delicious.

I'm outie! 

궁류초 아이들 The End of TaLK

Almost a year ago, I came to Korea through a program called TaLK: Teach and Learn in Korea.

After a month-long orientation, I finally began teaching English in an extremely rural area in Gyung Sang Namdo called Uiryeong at Gungryu Elementary School.

Today was my last day there. I went to a lot while teaching there. However, I learned a lot about children, teaching, endurance, and mostly importantly, myself. I organized goodbye parties for all my classes and showed them this video:

사진앨범 :: Goodbye!

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I'm Miss Right

Oh yeah, Judy sent this to me and I think I've watched it five times. It is so hilarious on so many levels. 

Blonde

No. No. No. I have not gone completely insane and dyed my hair blonde, although I almost did last year and actually started the process but never finished. 

However, Daul Kim tempts me to bleach my hair. Daul is a Korean model who was born May 15th, 1989. Because of her deadpan tone, cynical/humorous take on the world, and obvious model beauty, she has gained recognition from the fashion world and media. 

I was first introduced to her a couple years ago by my friend Jennifer who was watching an online Korean television program called I Am a Model. The first few seasons followed around Korean models who were building a modeling career in New York and Daul was one of them.

Anyway, I think she's pretty funny. Watch this video that New York Magazine had her take of her daily life during fashion week. 

I think she looks weird with blonde hair, but I like her because she's so weird. 

The next few photos were taken from her blog.

I wish I could be her friend. Haha. I'm super creepy.

She's cute.

It probably would not be the best idea for me to dye my hair that color though - for obvious reasons.