Remembering

Ten years ago, I was nineteen. My sister was about to turn eighteen. We were both in college in Los Angeles, both of us very close to Los Angeles International Airport.

Ten years ago, I spent hours at my sister's apartment while we tried to call our parents to check in, to reassure them, to share our horror and shock.

Ten years ago, I discovered that I had a patriotism that I had not previously acknowledged, and I cried for people that I had never met.

I would hope that since ten years have passed, the world is a more peaceful place. But I know that it isn't.

9/11 was an almost unbelievable day. But one that should not be forgotten, and one  that should teach all of us something.  I remember that day. I will always remember it.

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Sparkling Juice

What the heck, Korea? Why is there this delicious sparkling juice here that I've never seen before in the States? Isn't Tropicana an American company?

Harrumph, I say. I quite like this sparkly beverage, and I'm going to miss it when I'm back home. I haven't been drinking a lot of soda while I've been here, something I'm sure my mother will approve of.

Every once in a while, I'll drink something other than water or coffee. At work, I generally have Martinelli's sparkling apple cider or this Tropicana sparkling apple juice. I love Martinelli's because it reminds me of my family (we always substituted Martinelli's sparkling cider for champagne before my sister and I were able to drink real champagne) and because it's delicious, but this Tropicana stuff is a little less sweet, a little less cloying, which makes it easier to drink.

I was at work until about 2:30 last night (erm, this morning) and am pretty useless today. I remember those good ol' days when I could survive on little or no sleep. Now, I need at least seven hours of sleep (six hours minimum) in order to function normally, without zombie-esque symptoms. I must be getting old.

I may have to work tomorrow, which is a bummer, but I'm not going to work the rest of the long weekend. I have a lot to do! Some sort of gift to buy before I visit my grandfather, figuring out how to get to Seoul without dying in an over-crammed subway car ... and sleeping. I miss sleeping.

Since I live right next to Jeongbalsan Station, and "san" means "mountain," I'm hoping to venture over to Jeongbal Mountain this weekend, maybe see if the trees have started changing colors. It definitely feels like fall, with a chill in the air during the mornings and evenings. My wardrobe, sadly, does not really work for fall. I'm going to have to start layering, and it's going to look peculiar. Oh, well.

Drizzling today, with weather that exactly replicates LA's winter. All I want to do is curl up in bed and watch a crappy American movie.

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Old Friend, Random Bits

Not that he's OLD, per se ... but I unexpectedly got the chance to see an old friend today. He used to live in the States a few years ago, stayed for a year or two and went to college. He's the same age as my sister, and knows my parents and my cousins. He came back to Korea three years ago and has been here since, working hard and being a good kid. I took his picture for posterity and as proof, so I could post it (so my parents could see).

엄마, 아빠, 수창이가 생일 축하한대! 안부전해 달래. 잘 만났어, 잘 있는것 같아. 나는 오늘 거소증도 받고, 출장갈 비자 신청도 하고, 바뻐! 추석에는 푹 쉬려고.

I'm a little loopy because I'm still at work, and it's been a confusing kind of day. The good news is, I went to the immigration office this morning and I got my foreigner registration card! I am now officially registered and legally able to reside in this country and whatnot.

(My registration card, by the way, is a little different from the Alien Registration Card (ARC) that the English teachers receive. I wonder if the cards are different depending on what kind of visa one has? Mine's not as colorful and fun as the ARCs are, which is kind of a bummer.)

The bad news is, I got a late start to my day because of my trek to immigrations. It's been a busy day at work, with meetings all over the place, random issues that keep popping up, and irate people to deal with. It's been a little annoying, but I think I'm finally in the groove. I still don't completely mesh with my co-workers, but it's much better now.

The random news is, I think I'm going to China in a couple weeks. One of the movies that the company's working on is a Chinese film, and I think we're going to visit the director. I'm useful for Chinese movies because all the communication is done in English, since there are crews in China, Hong Kong, and Korea, and English is the common denominator. No definite plans yet, but visiting new places is always good.

The fun news is, before China (the weekend before going to China, actually), I'm going to Daegu (대구) to see the sights and visit William, with plans to judge passersby passed on their appearance and eat lots of good food. It's going to be a fun weekend-- I'm finally going to leave Gyeonggi (경기) and explore more of Korea. (For such a small country, I'm having a hard time traversing around.)

It's past 10:30 and I'm still at work (in a conference room, actually). I'm just trying to hang on until the blessedly long weekend (thank you, 추석!), when I'll get to sleep to my heart's content.

Horrible blog posts lately, I know. I'll try to do better!

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