Miss VP!

Congratulations to little Miss Dahin on being elected Vice President of her 3rd Grade Class! Woo-hoo! (see, she's already preparing for her "I am not a crook" speech; always be prepared).

Oliver dons a tie, Ronan discovers buffet, and Dahin is a lady

Our niece had her first birthday party at a buffet here in Seoul and it was a momentous occasion for all.  Oliver actually agreed to wear a tie for the first time EVER, although he wore a jacket over his shirt and tie the entire time and refused to show his dandy duds to those gathered.  Ronan ate, and ate, and ate.  I was afraid the poor boy would explode.  Now, his eyes sparkle when he hears the word 'buffet,' or any word that rhymes with it.  We were so very proud of Dahin, who behaved like a young lady in every way.  Not only did she brave a hair bow for the occasion (a rarity, indeed), but she helped her brothers out at the buffet and 'yes ma'amed' and 'yes sir'd' to those gathered. She did such a great job, proving, once again, what a great kid she is.  And, I must add, little Miss M's b-day bash gave Jack and I a chance to semi-dress-up.  I actually wore a dress and Jack wore a button-down shirt, with jeans.  Despite the latter, I think we looked good!

Oliver gets new hat, for 'spring'

I knitted Oliver a new hat out of Scottish wool just after the spring snowfall.  Good timing!  I think he liked the stripes--he's into stripes.  In retrospect, I wished I had used merino, despite it's price tag. I find merino wool to be so soft compared to other forms of wool and more comfortable for the wearer (because it's so soft and also stretches better than other forms of wool), especially for those with sensitive skin, like my little Oliver.   But, I got this wool on sale at the end of the winter season, so wanted to use it for some hats for the kids.  It's actually pretty good and comparatively soft.  I used a larger gauge circular needle to get a more chunky look.  Oliver picked the colors, designed the pattern on the hat, and insisted on a multi-colored pom-pom--good choice!

Spring Highlights, take 1

So, now that Japan has been posted, I am now playing a crazy game of catch-up.  I wanted to just say, 'forget it, who cares?' but the obsessive-compulsive wanna-be in me just couldn't let go.  So, before I move on to semi-real time, here are some highlights from spring.  Yes, I said 'spring.'  On March 22, 2010, we received almost a foot of snow in the capital.  Yee-haw!  I went to lecture--no snow.  Emerged from lecture--a massive, never-ending curtain of snow falling on the already-deep precipitation.  So, naturally, this incident is post-worthy, even out of time.  I snapped some photos outside of the College of Music and from my office window.

 

Japan! part 1

Here are some images from our time in Tokyo.  My first night there was a birthday night, so we went out to dinner and the students surprised me with a donut cake and gifts.  The students and faculty performed at the Tokyo University of the Arts, so it was a great chance to see Tokyo, learn about Japanese music as well as share Korean music, and meet up with and old friend (Hiroko from my Korean class days at Indiana U.)  We stayed in Shinjuku, and did brave the subway/train system once.  Tokyo is an incredibly crowded and busy city. Some highlights include eating at a sushi boat restaurant that was literally in the shape of a boat--you could fish for your own dinner, but still had to pay for it (at least give a discount, people).  Still, quite an unfair fight for the fish as I don't think it was that challenging to catch one, despite the fact that several people stood there for  what seemed like hours waiting for a catch. I also enjoyed visiting Tokyo University of the Arts.  The faculty was very nice and took us on a tour of the school.  We got to sit in on a koto and shamisen lesson and got to hear some great music.  I am very jealous of their gamelan --they have two--one from Bali and one from Java. What we'd give too have just one!  I shared a room with Yi Ji-Young and took some photos of her playing her kayagum.  It was such a great opportunity to see how these traveling performances work behind the scenes and to also strengthen connections with a university overseas.

Yi Ji Young and I actually shared the same birthday this year.  She follows the lunar calendar and I follow the solar.  This year, our birthday dates collided.  It was fun to share a birthday!

 Blogger has updated its blog applications I suppose to make things easier.  I find it more difficult to post, so not sure if it has actually made anything easier.  I've tried resizing some images, but it usually disrupts the order of the photos and takes me a long, long time to get the photos back in their proper place.  Also, inserting text above and below certain photos also seems to result in moving the photo to a different, unintended location.  Since I tend to post diary-style, this is really, really annoying.   So, I won't add any more text to the post below.  If you want to see a larger image of any of the photos, just left-click on the photo and it will appear in a new window. Be sure to hit the back button to take you back to the main page of the blog. Enjoy the photos!

Wilma Mankiller, great leader, passes

Cherokee Nation

[ChanMi's star news] Choi Jin-young's funeral brings much mourning

Interruption in the Japan posts for this:

I am really concerned about living in a society that glamorizes suicide. This actor's sister committed suicide not even two years ago and now he commits suicide, leaving his mother alone to raise grandchildren. The lack of sufficient support and care for depression here, as well, is shameful. This is just ridiculous, and not sure I can be confident about raising my kids in a society that continues to glorify the act of ending one's life and not looking at causes or adequate treatments for depression. Many people here worship celebrities (especially young people) and I worry about the impact these frequent celebrity suicides will have on children if their parents are stupid enough to let them watch the news.

[ChanMi's star news] Choi Jin-young's funeral brings much mourning