I've seen these lists in blogs before, but never really paid much attention to them.
(short version found below)
Life's been going on, classes keep happening, strings keep snapping, bridges keep falling (stringed instrument bridges, not major road ways over water), and Ms. Johnson keeps cracking bad jokes.
But what I've been paying attention to is what makes me happy. So, here's a list of things that are very much responsible for my quality of life right now:
1) Cooking nights. Once a week, Sophie and I pick out a recipe or two and cook up a storm. In the past we've made ravioli and marinara from scratch, chicken and dumplings, a Mediterranean feast (including pita bread from scratch), and other delicious things. This week was chicken pot pie and Chocolate Brownie Cookies. Let me post that again, because these Chocolate Brownie Cookies were THAT good. Do it. Make those. Eat them. We enjoyed our first cookie with a glass of milk, and then Sophie upped our game for round two, serving them with fresh whipped cream and sliced strawberries.
2) The OK Factor. These lovely ladies recently released their first album, Water Street. It feels like a good talk with your parents on the couch or a run after a stressful day at work - comforting and inspiring. Pushing and pulling the right amount, like a much needed massage. Go listen. Seriously. Click on it NOW.
3) I'm currently reading "Three Cups of Tea" by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. I read this on the bus or subway almost every day, and it is so interesting. It's about a corner of the world I'm not very familiar with, and additionally it takes place when I was a child - focusing on Pakistan before 9/11. It's written beautifully, describing mountainous and foreign terrain alongside the challenges and successes of visiting and aiding people of many different cultures. Read more about it here?
4) This video. My friend Sydnie teaches band in Tokyo and posted this video. Ira Glass is the (beautiful and amazing) host of This American Life and is featured in this video speaking about creativity and perseverance. I know it's more about writing, but I found it to be very applicable to me as a first year teacher and musician. I love it. Watch it.
5) Fiddle Lessons. St Patrick's Day is coming up, so I'm getting ready! Could be performing at the Canadian Bar... so I decided to find some resources and a teacher. I had my first lesson last Saturday and it went really well. Learned some tunes, straight and normal... and then how to ornament and change it to make it more Irish. I'm glad to be a musician in more than one sense, as a teacher, as a singer (in the Camarata Chamber Singers!), and now as a beginning fiddler.
So! Here's the short version:
Make these cookies.
Listen to The OK Factor.
Read a good book (I'm diggin' this book)
Watch this video.
Go learn something new.
love,
emm
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Lists. I bet you're tired of these.
Reasons I Was Meant To Move To Asia:
1) Soup. Soup is one of my favorite foods, in general. Chicken soup, potato soup, chicken and dumplings, navy bean soup, tomato basil soup, black bean vegetable soup, corn chowder, and don't even get me started on chili. Since moving to Korea, I've had approximately 80 million bowls of soup. Korea (and other Asian countries) seem to be big on side dishes (banchan or 반찬 in Korean), and many meals start with a bowl of broth or soup. Every day in the school cafeteria there is soup - sometimes two options. Yummers.
2) Cartoons. I've liked Hello Kitty for a long time, but for that same amount of time my mom has loved that I like Hello Kitty. Thusly, I have entirely too many thing that are inappropriately covered or adorned with that beloved cat. Well, the trend continues in Asia out of necessity. Sophie (band teacher at my school) told me she went to buy a new toilet seat after she moved and couldn't find one without a cartoon on it. I love it… why not get a note pad, spatula, or baskets to organize your cupboard WITH CARTOONS ON THEM!?
3) FOOD Okay, I probably should've started with cartoons and then made #3 food, because I was about to make it chicken, but then I realized that donuts also needs to be on this list…. Anyway. I really like eating. There's always a ton of food around, and usually lots and lots of options (including donuts or spicy grilled skewers of chicken….. OR silkworm larva (번데기)). So yep, as much as it sucks paying a ton for string cheese or having to go to one certain grocery store that's out of your way because they're rumored to consistently have cilantro (mislabeled as hot pepper, but WHATEVER)…. the food situation over here is pretty awesome :)
4) Sparkles This sort of goes with cartoons, but not really. It's a little bit of a challenge to find things without sparkles on them. I love sparkles, so its like heaven here. However, I recently wanted a clip for my hair. A plain black barrette. No can do, baba-loo. The plainest one I could find was bright green. There were hundreds of barrettes with feathers, crystals, bows, cartoons (see reason #2), and other random things on them… and then three plain ones. I've seriously had to restrain myself on the streets of myeong-dong because there are so many excessively ornate cell phone cases for ridiculously cheap (like these. holy moly.). I like sparkles, and so does Asia. We were meant to be, apparently.
5) The violin Seriously, it's like everyone listens to classical music here. I think if you quizzed a random Korean person on the subway they'd know more orchestral rep than me. Partly because I didn't really pay attention in Music History, but also because they go nuts for classical music here. I mean, about half of my stand partners in my 7 years of youth symphony (NERD ALERT!) were asian. I've been to two Seoul Philharmonic concerts and a couple other classical concerts here in Seoul, and the average age of the attendees is SO much lower than in the states. Way to go, Korea!
Also, one of my violin teachers had a typed list of famous violinists that she took out during one of our lessons, pointing to each name and telling me if they were asian or jewish. No famous violinists were ever or will ever be anything BUT asian or jewish… according to her. That seems reasonable and not racist, right?
1) Soup. Soup is one of my favorite foods, in general. Chicken soup, potato soup, chicken and dumplings, navy bean soup, tomato basil soup, black bean vegetable soup, corn chowder, and don't even get me started on chili. Since moving to Korea, I've had approximately 80 million bowls of soup. Korea (and other Asian countries) seem to be big on side dishes (banchan or 반찬 in Korean), and many meals start with a bowl of broth or soup. Every day in the school cafeteria there is soup - sometimes two options. Yummers.
2) Cartoons. I've liked Hello Kitty for a long time, but for that same amount of time my mom has loved that I like Hello Kitty. Thusly, I have entirely too many thing that are inappropriately covered or adorned with that beloved cat. Well, the trend continues in Asia out of necessity. Sophie (band teacher at my school) told me she went to buy a new toilet seat after she moved and couldn't find one without a cartoon on it. I love it… why not get a note pad, spatula, or baskets to organize your cupboard WITH CARTOONS ON THEM!?
3) FOOD Okay, I probably should've started with cartoons and then made #3 food, because I was about to make it chicken, but then I realized that donuts also needs to be on this list…. Anyway. I really like eating. There's always a ton of food around, and usually lots and lots of options (including donuts or spicy grilled skewers of chicken….. OR silkworm larva (번데기)). So yep, as much as it sucks paying a ton for string cheese or having to go to one certain grocery store that's out of your way because they're rumored to consistently have cilantro (mislabeled as hot pepper, but WHATEVER)…. the food situation over here is pretty awesome :)
4) Sparkles This sort of goes with cartoons, but not really. It's a little bit of a challenge to find things without sparkles on them. I love sparkles, so its like heaven here. However, I recently wanted a clip for my hair. A plain black barrette. No can do, baba-loo. The plainest one I could find was bright green. There were hundreds of barrettes with feathers, crystals, bows, cartoons (see reason #2), and other random things on them… and then three plain ones. I've seriously had to restrain myself on the streets of myeong-dong because there are so many excessively ornate cell phone cases for ridiculously cheap (like these. holy moly.). I like sparkles, and so does Asia. We were meant to be, apparently.
5) The violin Seriously, it's like everyone listens to classical music here. I think if you quizzed a random Korean person on the subway they'd know more orchestral rep than me. Partly because I didn't really pay attention in Music History, but also because they go nuts for classical music here. I mean, about half of my stand partners in my 7 years of youth symphony (NERD ALERT!) were asian. I've been to two Seoul Philharmonic concerts and a couple other classical concerts here in Seoul, and the average age of the attendees is SO much lower than in the states. Way to go, Korea!
Also, one of my violin teachers had a typed list of famous violinists that she took out during one of our lessons, pointing to each name and telling me if they were asian or jewish. No famous violinists were ever or will ever be anything BUT asian or jewish… according to her. That seems reasonable and not racist, right?
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