Gangnam Style - Noah's Way

I showed Noah, our grandson, the Gangnam Style video and he was immediately hooked.  I grabbed the camera and shot this video.  You see his little brother, Ezra, getting into the action too!

Free IPhone 4S Cover!!

Rocketman picked me up several IPhone 4S covers for me when he was in Korea during this past year and I know I will not be using all of them.  So why not a give away!  Leave a message in this post and you will be entered to win this never been used IPhone 4S cover.  I will draw the winner Saturday morning.  Good luck!!

On my daily walk, I noticed these in one of the trees.  I have no idea what they are but they sure look kinda spooky for Halloween.  I love Fall!

I also noticed that a neighbor put up this neighborhood lending library in their front lawn.  It's such a cool idea and I'm such a book lover.

I also have a question for y'all.  We have these holes all over out lawn.  They are everywhere and we have no idea what they are or who did them.  If you have any answers, we'd sure appreciate them.

Good luck on the IPhone cover!!

New Flooring in the Kitchen!

Sean, our contractor, knowing how anxious we are about finishing the kitchen worked the weekend to start on the flooring.  We went with Alloc because of his recommendation and also the durability of it.  I have a habit of dropping things like cans.

                                                       This was the old 20+ year old flooring.

Louie was hiding upstairs most of Saturday and Sunday while Sean was here.  This is a shot of the new flooring.  I think even Louie likes it!  Sean got a lot done but still has a lot more to do and we are number two on his list.  He worked the weekend only because he knows how we just want this kitchen to be done.  He's one busy guy.

Saturday morning I was on the computer in the dining room with Louie on my lap when we both heard Sean's car door slam.  I lifted Louie up to put him down and he panicked.  Being a declawed and three-legged cat, he only has claws on one paw and wouldn't you know as I tried to put him down so that he wouldn't hurt himself, that claw came up and took a nasty swipe at my face.

He got me twice in the lip and once on the cheek.  I ran to the bathroom for Kleenex and answered the door a bloody mess. I explained quickly to Sean what had happend and went upstairs to get a damp cool towel.  It would not stop bleeding so I went back downstairs and put some ice in the towel and went back upstairs to lay down for a bit.  The bleeding finally subsided and I was glad.  I did not want to have to go to the hospital for stitches.

I haven't taken a picture of my face and won't because I really don't want to gross everyone out but let's just say that I'm laying low for awhile.  It's not a pretty sight.

Asian Brush Painting - Class #3

This is what we learned this week in my Asian brush painting class.  My teacher makes it look sooo easy.

Then we got out the colors for the first time and my teacher was showing us how to make some beautiful leaves.

She also demoed sumac leaves and how they look in the Fall.  When she was demoing this, I accidentally forgot I wasn't in Korea and out of my mouth came an "ooooo" My teacher stopped painting and looked at me along with everyone else and smiled while there were chuckles from my fellow students.

I was mortified and quickly explained that it was very common to hear "oooo's" and "ahhh's" when taking classes in South Korea.  I had forgot that you don't do that here.  I wish we did and I'm sure I will do it again. I wasn't even thinking and out came out.  There is still so much Korean in me and I have my doubts that it will ever leave and to be honest with you, I rather like it.

                                                        These are my humble paintings. 

And now about Louie.  I try to make sure that he has food before I go to bed and he did last night.  Starting at 12 am and every 2-3 hours, Louie jumped, rubbed and purred into my face.  I knew he had food and would just pet him a little and fall back to sleep.  I woke up tired having slept very little and made my way to the kitchen to find his food bowl totally empty so he was hungry.  He looks so innocent in this picture from this morning.  He's sleeping right now.

Korean Bojagi Class!!!!

 

KCA is sponsoring a Bojagi Pouch class

Saturday  October 27th at the Korean Heritage House

10:00 am to 1:00 pm. 

We are happy to announce that Becky Meverden, Maedeup Knotting artist, is back from Korea and will return to the KHH to share her expertise with a NEW craft class.  Bojagi is a traditional Korean fabric craftform. Its purpose was used for various functions such as food cloth, gift wraps, or simple decorations in everyday life by royalty and common folk and it is still in use today. Class cost free to KCA members and $5 to nonmembers.  There is also a $30 Fee for class project supplies which will be paid to the teacher at the class.  Everyone welcome!  Please email your wish to register for the class to: koreanculturalassociation@gmail.com.  Register soon!  The Korean Heritage house is located at 681 N. Snelling, St. Paul, MN 55104.

Name(s)___________________________________________________________

Address:___________________________________________________________

Phone & email contact info:____________________________________________

___ number taking class  ___$5 class fee per person to KCA (if KCA member no fee)

$30 project materials fee paid at class to Becky Meverden. Your bojagi kit will include presewn bojagi pieces and materials to complete the project.  Additional unsewn project kits available at class for $20.

____In addition to registering for the class, I want to join/renew my Korean Cultural Association Membership at a  $5 individual, $10 family or  $25 sponsorship level. KCA membership is tax deductable. This membership will cover the remainder of 2012 and the 2013 membership year! Please send Korean Cultual Association membership checks to:    Marge Newmaster 2723 Crown Hill Ct, White Bear Lake, MN 55110 (651-429-0357)

I am soooo excited and hope to see you there!!!  We are going to have so much fun!!!

   

 

Korean Jeong

Korean Jeong is one of those words that is not easily translated into English.  It means so many things: love, affection, attachment, empathy...  It's my favorite word in Korean.  I have "Jeong" necklaces available in my Etsy Shop.  I also have earrings but I need to photograph them.

I have what I feel is a good example of Korean jeong.  Hellena, my Korean girlfriend, was telling me that her boyfriend was off of work for four months.  I asked if there was a layoff and she told me that he had volunteered to be off.  I thought he was crazy until she explained why.

At his company, senior co-workers made a terrible mistake which caused the company to lose a great deal of money.  In order to weather the blow, the owners said that everyone would have to take a temporary pay cut and would also have to take time off without pay.  He had talked to Hellena about what was going on and how this was going to be really tough on his co-workers, all of whom were married and with families.

Hellena suggested that he volunteer to take the four months off (without pay) because he wasn't married and he lived with his mother so it wouldn't be a huge financial burden to him.  He didn't immediately agree to doing this but with prodding from Hellena, he finally relented and let the company know he was willing do this even though the mistake was made by others.

During the four months off, he exercised a lot and lost a lot of weight.  He also spent quality time doing what he liked to do which if you know the Korean work ethic, this is nearly impossible.  When Hellena visited Korea during a layoff, I went up to Seoul and got to spend the day with him and Hellena.  Even though he wasn't making a salary, he wouldn't allow me to pay for a thing.  I was able to pay him back when Hellena visited us in the States and she picked out a North Face jacket.  North Face is very expensive in Korea and very desirable.

He is back at work now and I wonder what his co-workers think of what he did.  I'm sure they are very grateful.  I also wondered if that same scenario here in the States would have the same outcome.  But to me, this is a perfect example of Korean jeong and one of the millions of reasons I love Korea so.

Asian Brush Painting - Class #2

This week in class, we learned how to paint bamboo.  I was soooo excited because I had always wanted to learn how to do that.  The paint stroke is quite easy but it's the loading of the brush that is tricky.  I'm still working on that as you can see by my picture above.

I'm having a blast and the two hours just fly by.  Our teacher wants us to practice at home and I did not do that but I plan on making time before the next class.  I really can see using this in my hanji (Korean papercraft) projects and chilbo (Korean enameling) projects.

                         This is a photo of my teacher's demo.  Oooo, I want to be like her someday!

We have also been invaded by box elder bugs.  They are everywhere! 

On the kitchen front, we got the quote for the new flooring and I almost fainted......$8500.  It includes ripping up the old and a bunch of other problems that go with installing new flooring.  We are going with an Alloc slate-looking floor.  Our floor is really what needs the makeover the most.  Oh well.  Now we just have to wait and see when he can start.