I got this text message from my friend Alex tonight at midnight. I did not get it and had to call him to ask what it says... He told me that it says, "Happy Birthday!"
I get it now.
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From:
Date: Sep 26, 2007 12:13 AM
Subject: ¢½ iiii ¢½
To: Nam Tasa
♡ iiii ♡ 생일
┏━━┓너무
┏♥+*+*♡┓너무
┃~☆∼★~┃추카
┻━━━━┻
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
SMS Dating
It all happened so fast. A chance meeting on a confusing bus ride resulted in a girl asking for my mobile phone number. Since then we have been sending text messages to each other everyday then yesterday this string of text messages ensues:
Her: where r u? seoul or home?
Me: lost. seoul i think. near singil station.
Her: singal or singil. u in yongin now?
Her: any tall buildings near u?
Me: yes. singil stn off line 5 in seoul
Her: u come kimpo? me bored. wanting meeting.
Me: u no come singil stn 4 meeting?
Me: kimpo 2 far 2 late no bus no train
Her: please i will drive you home
Me: ok. I will sent text when on train.
Her: thanks u come
Me: OK on line 5 be there in 15 to 20 minutes
Her: ok meet me at emart at kimpo stn
Woah, what just happened here? I know you are all thinking that I must be nuts, but some of my friends here are not because this is how things work here. In the US I'd never do this because well, first of all it would never happen, and second it is and was an innocent and wonderful evening. There are no false expectations here.
So I met her at Kimpo Station. We had dinner at a restaurant an hour north of Seoul. I confess, When I noticed that the sun was setting in the western horizon and that the tall buildings of Seoul were being replaced by empty space I knew we were going north so I asked, and she responded by stating that we were heading towards North Korea. I freak out inside thinking the worst of course, just like my mother is as she reads this....I ask again, "In North Korea?" She says, "No in Heyuri (pronounced Hey-Yu-dee)." It is an art village complete with restaurants, a school, and drive in theater. It is very much like Clairmont, California without the drive in.
restaurant in La Verne, California on the patio and Upon arrival in Heyuri we check movie times at the drive in and proceed to dinner at a very nice Galbi restaurant sitting outside. It reminds me of a mixture of eating at a Mediterraneanbbqing on my balcony in San Dimas. From here we head back to Seoul to a drive in theater there because she thought it had English movies playing there. I had been telling her here that I want to learn Korean so I'd be happy to see a Korean movie. So she asks if I wanted to see a comedy or love story. I ask her if I knew Korean and it was her choice which one would she choose? We saw the movie "A Love." It is a typical love story with a very small and easy to understand plot in any language. You know boy meets girl. Boy saves girl. The fall in love and commit suicide due to the every impending forces of evil that seek to destroy their relationship... Yeah right?
After the movie she drives me 1.5 hours back to my home, we shake hands and depart ways. The interesting part is she not only drove me home, but paid for the entire date and it wasn't cheap. We still talk every day either by text or phone. Will most likely see here this weekend in between some other dates I have arranged over the weekend. Korean women, when respected have a high need to treat their men like kings and I did that a lot! I will be playing things cool here until that happens. It probably will happen, I just don't know when. 8-)
That is it for me.
Her: where r u? seoul or home?
Me: lost. seoul i think. near singil station.
Her: singal or singil. u in yongin now?
Her: any tall buildings near u?
Me: yes. singil stn off line 5 in seoul
Her: u come kimpo? me bored. wanting meeting.
Me: u no come singil stn 4 meeting?
Me: kimpo 2 far 2 late no bus no train
Her: please i will drive you home
Me: ok. I will sent text when on train.
Her: thanks u come
Me: OK on line 5 be there in 15 to 20 minutes
Her: ok meet me at emart at kimpo stn
Woah, what just happened here? I know you are all thinking that I must be nuts, but some of my friends here are not because this is how things work here. In the US I'd never do this because well, first of all it would never happen, and second it is and was an innocent and wonderful evening. There are no false expectations here.
So I met her at Kimpo Station. We had dinner at a restaurant an hour north of Seoul. I confess, When I noticed that the sun was setting in the western horizon and that the tall buildings of Seoul were being replaced by empty space I knew we were going north so I asked, and she responded by stating that we were heading towards North Korea. I freak out inside thinking the worst of course, just like my mother is as she reads this....I ask again, "In North Korea?" She says, "No in Heyuri (pronounced Hey-Yu-dee)." It is an art village complete with restaurants, a school, and drive in theater. It is very much like Clairmont, California without the drive in.
restaurant in La Verne, California on the patio and Upon arrival in Heyuri we check movie times at the drive in and proceed to dinner at a very nice Galbi restaurant sitting outside. It reminds me of a mixture of eating at a Mediterraneanbbqing on my balcony in San Dimas. From here we head back to Seoul to a drive in theater there because she thought it had English movies playing there. I had been telling her here that I want to learn Korean so I'd be happy to see a Korean movie. So she asks if I wanted to see a comedy or love story. I ask her if I knew Korean and it was her choice which one would she choose? We saw the movie "A Love." It is a typical love story with a very small and easy to understand plot in any language. You know boy meets girl. Boy saves girl. The fall in love and commit suicide due to the every impending forces of evil that seek to destroy their relationship... Yeah right?
After the movie she drives me 1.5 hours back to my home, we shake hands and depart ways. The interesting part is she not only drove me home, but paid for the entire date and it wasn't cheap. We still talk every day either by text or phone. Will most likely see here this weekend in between some other dates I have arranged over the weekend. Korean women, when respected have a high need to treat their men like kings and I did that a lot! I will be playing things cool here until that happens. It probably will happen, I just don't know when. 8-)
That is it for me.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Saturday Night In Suwon
I went to see a movie in Suwon on Saturday night and this was the scene on the street at the beginning of Soju row. We found a Karaoke Bar that was decorated like a cave. Nice place and it was very entertaining to boot. We had three hours between the movie and dinner so we went there for a few drinks and to watch Koreans do what they do best... Sing and drink. I know that statement sounds harsh coming from someone that is not Korean, but when I was at the airport to drop a friend off I found an immigrations brochure on "living and working in Korea" and it said that "Koreans are happy people that like to sing and drink." The "cave" bar was a great example of the enjoyment Koreans get from singing.
Gyeongbokgung Palace (#1 Seoul's Best 100)
This is #1 on the Seoul's best 100 things to see and do list. It is also my second stop with my friend and former boss from the US that visited me within 3 weeks of my arrival in Korea.This palace was established in 1395 as the residence for the founder of the dynasty at the time. It has the best representative example of the architecture during the Joseon Dynasty, and is a culmination of the finest techniques of the age. Inside the grounds one can find the National Museum of Korea, the nations largest, and the National Folk Village.
The funny part of this photo is the thought of just standing in front of these guards taking the picture. I think that my friend and I were diligently playing the part of tourist. If I recall correctly, I did a happy dance to see if I could make them flinch...But then quickly decided that I did not want to get "Taekwandoed." They looked fierce and magnificent standing at attention and were truly mesmerizing no matter how funny the moment was for us making fools of ourselves in front of them much in the same way that tourists do at Disneyland when looking and taking photos of Mickey Mouse. :-)
Next Saturday, September 29, 2007 I will be visiting Changdeokgung Palace (#2 Seoul's Best 100) on a date with a very attractive Korean gal I met... I am so thankful that I have a cell phone and Koreans have taken to 3G technology...It truly is the best way to get a date in Korea. ;-) Please keep your eyes peeled for that update!
Samsung SPH-W2500 WCDMA World Phone
OK, Here it is... A picture of my new Samsung SPH-W2500 WCDMA mobile phone. This baby comes with a 2.0 megapixel camera, video, 42MB internal storage, 1GB external Scandisk storage, MP3 Player, Movie Player, MS Word, MS Excel, Adobe Acrobat Reader, Operates on CDMA/HSDPA Broadband Service, and is compatible with GSM 900/1800/1900/850 SIM chips so it really is meant to be the last phone one will own. It is a slider too!
Korea Wired!
Korea is the world's most wired nation and to celebrate I am sending this update from my new Samsung SPH-W2500 WCDMA Global roaming mobile phone. It has everything and I like it! Pictures coming soon!
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Literary Irony
Several comments have made my email box to inform me that I misspelled "newsreal" in the title of this blog, and the proper spelling should be n-e-w-s-r-e-e-l. My first thought is.... Hmmmm.... I am an English Teacher so I need to be able to convey the understanding of words and paronomasia, or puns. If you know me then you know that I love puns because I think they are "punny." 8-) In all seriousness though, 'The Namtasa Newsreal' is a blog where you can get the "real" news about what is going on in my life so the name fits, "punny" or not.
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Nam Tasa's Chief
The custom dance Chief Caspar and his clan performed prior to Nam Tasa's departure from Vanuatu. This is where and when Nam Tasa recieved his custom name from the Banks Islands in Vanuatu.
