Korean Diva

You can’t end hate with more hate

My heart has seriously been breaking this week with everything that has been happening. Hearing about the Boston marathon and the Texas explosion made me realize that the world can be a cruel and ugly place with evil people. But what makes me even more devastated is seeing and hearing my friends and other people say things like they deserve to die or be tortured. How can you say these things?

I get so disgusted when people become ignorant and generalize a group of people based on the mistakes of a few people. Seeing and learning things from our past, we all should know that hatred never solves anything. And let’s be real, no one wants to be a hater.

But I’m happy that for tonight America is safe. God bless America!

Korean diva in America

Coming back has been intensely weird and awkward. First off I forgot that I need a filter because people here actually understand everything I say. Oopsy. I miss Korea soooooo much and I try not to think about it, because if I do too much…. I will probably just hop on a plane.

On another note coming back to living in the least sexiest city in America… Cool Greensboro has triggered me to start working out more. But it’s so difficult because I have missed American food so much. And I admit it I’m a total foodie.

Well on to new adventures of the next part of my life. I know I wanna do HR and live in a fabulous city but I might have to put the latter on hold. Because living in a fabulous city is expensive and everyone knows I suck at being poor. While applying for jobs and going on interviews I promise to update this more because I want everyone to share my experiences(good and bad or just straight up ridiculous)

Love, Korean Diva ;)

reesa9386 asked: Hi! I also bought some perfume from the Tunisia pavilion, and I was wondering if you remember anything about the name of the company? I totally dropped mine, and it shattered ALL over my floor. :'( Googling "Tunisia perfume" doesn't really narrow it down. Even if you just remember the name of the scent you got, that would be amazing!

I’m so sorry I didn’t know we could receive messages on tumblr. I don’t remember what it’s called and I looked at my bottle and there is nothing….. I still have mind and it still has a lot left sorryyyy

atimetraveler asked: Ashley! I just started following you. Your posts are so entertaining hahaha I'm glad everything worked out for you. I'm thinking about teaching english over the summer and maybe through a semester so I'll look to you for some advice later, ok? :) Take care!

Omgggg I didn’t even see this message and I know it’s been like a year I’m sorry!!

I’m the worst blogger ever

I guess technically you’re not supposed to say you suck at blogging but since its literally been almost 6 months since I’ve updated..I’d say its pretty bad.

So let me touch on a few things quickly and since I have some free time tonight I might just blog likes crazy.

Since my last post I went to Thailand and it was amazing! I rode elephants, played with tigers, saw long neck women, and ate like it was my job. I went to Bangkok, Pattaya, and Chiang Mai. I would love to go backkkk even if was soooo hot.

I also extended 3 months on my contract mostly because I wasn’t ready to leave Korea yet. And now I’m done teaching and in Japan…… I leave next Friday for America that will be crazy.

Work Hard Play Hard

OMGGGGGGG so i have less than 3 months left of teaching!!!! And It’s safe to say I am at a good place, I even want to have children again. Mama and Papa Lee should be happy, because I know they want grand-children. I will miss Korea, the land where its socially acceptable to take self-photos in public, take shots(of soju) at lunch time, and do my makeup in public.

I know a lot of people who read my blog also look at my FB and see the pictures I post from my children. They are obsessed with my dating life(or lack thereof). Just the other day, I had this conversation with a student, after I told my class of mostly girls, dont ever cry in front of other people especially boys. One of my students asked me if I ever cry in front of boys, I said of course not. And she told me teacher, that’s why you’re solo, because you can’t be strong in front of guys they won’t like you, cry and you will get a boyfriend. I don’t know where these kids get this information. 

So… I have no idea what I am going to do when I get back to NC. First I will probs eat some CHICKFILA and some PANERA!!!! But, I hope I can find a job, because I really suck at being poor. On another note my parents just opened up a Korean restaurant in Greensboro and it’s doing pretty well, so that’s super exciting. My mom told me if all else fails I can wait tables… OH GREAT working for my parents!! I know December is a weird month for hiring so I think I will just get a puppy to occupy my time. So if anyone knows of someone hiring especially in the field of HR, help a sister out. 

Next month I am going to THAILAND with my friend Teresa and I ammm soooo effing excited that sometimes i randomly just burst into a girlish squeal. BUT I CANT WAIT to ride an elephant, and just relax by the beach, and get a massageeee everyday!! I need this vacay because I swear the stress of teaching is making me age. And I need to be looking my prime in my 20s. Also I am starting a strict diet, this will be better than my previous diets that failed from me cheating by drinking excessively( Stressful days) and eating chocolate (even more stressful days). This time I am motivated by my Thailand trip, so I will workout at the gym even when it’s raining and force my co-worker to go on runs with me. I am going to apologize in advance for being grumpy, I am not the most pleasant to be around when I’m hungry(or sleepy).OKAY YAY and remember Nothing taste as good as skinny feels!!

Korean-American Diva is the best of both worlds

I have always embraced my Korean side.. I love Korean food, all my friends know I was born in Korea. Here in Korea I embrace my American side a lot too, which is what makes me realize that being a Korean-American is kinda cool. I get the best of both worlds. Everyone in Korea assumes I am one of them, yet I am so American that I will walk to the market with my co-worker Ryan to buy alcohol, and steal a shopping cart to bring it back. YES that really happened.

And OKAY I will admit it… I am starting to like KPOP… I can’t help it, it’s so catchy. I used to love a group called Big Bang… but now my heart goes to CN Blue. They actually play instruments so they are a legit band. And I saw them live in concert and they were amazing! So whaattt I have a KPOP playlist on my itunes.. its a nice running mix. 

This is probably the most random post I will ever do… but yall know the way I think… I switch subjects every 5 seconds… even my dear daddy says sometimes talking to me makes him confused. (hehehe)

Korea is making me really emotional, I used to never cry(sober). But here I am crying about the most random things. Well of course I cry because I am homesick sometimes… and I always cry in movies… but Seoul might have made me grow a heart or tear ducts. So random moment number 1, my friend Teresa and I are eating gross fast food at Lotteria before our Spiderman movie. I spot this guy sitting by himself eating a dessert meant for 2… and he just had the saddest look on his face. It really broke my heart. Than I went to the Yeosu World Expo… SOOOO COOOOLLL and we went to the USA pavillion…. and they showed a video about Americans and I started getting emotional. I really do love being American :) I know lameski whatever. I also just cried when I saw a picture of a baby mouse that got killed by a bee…. thanks Mike Loman for posting that on instagram. 

Okay so more on the Yeosu World Expo. I almost bailed on it because I thought it would be nasty raining and I didnt feel like being outside during it. But the weather was pretty decent…. just super hot as usual. And I got to see robots and the aquarium and all these expos from different countries. I ate amazing food from different countries, got perfume from Tunisia and some feather earrings from some country in Africa. Then I got to go to my first KPOP concert with CN Blue and Super Junior! The trip overall was fun and I met some really cool people too! 

Okay so last random thought why aren’t there dryers in Korea?! It really makes it hard to dry clothes when its soooo humid out. Korea is like disgustingly hot and humid right now…. which is very unfortunate for me because I sweat like crazy. How do these Korean girls stay so dry and sweat free? I feel like I have a sweating disease… and it ain’t cute… just saying.

Monsoons, Mudfests, and Hello Kitty Tats

So, Korea experiences monsoon season where it rains for about 2 months. Yay… you can all imagine how great my hair has been looking… hehe.  And tomorrow Typhoon Khanun will be coming through Korea…. how exciting, my first typhoon experience!

Anyways, I’ve been so excited because the past few weeks my friend Hyejin was here with Chris and her brother John. We had so much fun playing and it was so nice seeing her because it made me less homesick. I will be home soon, just 4 and a half months left!

 

We also went to Lotte World and got to be super Asian tourists. 


Then after she left, my friends and I went to Mudfest. Mudfest is a huge event in Korea and it is a pretty well known festival that usually lasts for 2 weekends.. I had an amazing time with my friends there even with it raining like crazy…. so you know everyone got super durrrrtyyy. 

Here’s the gang when we first got to Boryeong, Daecheon Beach!! It was a bit foggy but you can still see the sailboats in the background.

We went with a traveling group called Adventure Korea and they set up a boot camp training session which was soooo much fun. This is Patrick, Michael, Teresa and I in our cute camo gear.

The mud is supposed to be really good for your skin, so we gave each other little mud masks, before we participated in the different events like mudwrestling and soccer.

It was pouring rain all night, but we all still had an amazing time. I am hooked on that song “How we do” and it seemed like the perfect theme for our weekend. I wanna party and bullsh*t! Haha everyone back home, yall should be happy to know, I definitely pulled a classic “Ashley” move, ran off, lost everyone and just danced by myself in the rain. I managed to make some new friends so it was all in good fun ;). 

So I have a feeling that these next few months will fly by, so I am going to do everything I can to enjoy every minute of it. Most of my students have been actually tolerable recently, some even adorable. This is making me rethink the whole “never having kids” phase I was going through haha. I have even grown a soft spot for a few of my students because they are so adorable and smart. Some of my students just provide me with a lot of entertainment during some of my mundane days of teaching. I have a class of three 5th grade girls who love to talk about my love life (or lack thereof). They always ask me what I want in a boyfriend and of course I tell them tall and smart… The girls now tell me NO! teacher, rich and KOREAN! You have to marry KOREAN! haha they are so funny. These girls also told me that I only like three things, coffee, watches, and Hello Kitty. How do they know me so well?!

I even like my middle schoolers more especially because now I teach mostly the higher levels, so they can understand my English and even my sarcasm. They also recognize that I have a different accent from the other foreign teachers. So of course, I told them its because I am from the South… and southern accents are the best. Hahah

I am truly loving life and having the best time even with this rain!(Even thought I want it to stop soon) Oh here’s some eye candy for yall! Look closely ladies, they all have sexy hello kitty tats, and they’re all single! 

 

If we took a holiday, took some time to celebrate…

I’ve always loved the holidays but it’s even better in Korea because I don’t have to work.

So we had a 3 day weekend on the 28th of May for Buddha’s birthday. My girlfriends and I decided to take a trip to the beaches of Busan. The whole week before I was super sick, and with no sick days I had no time to rest and get better. And oddly for some reason, Korean medicine doesn’t work for me, even the stuff I get from the doctor. Even though I wasn’t feeling great I still decided to go on the beach trip. When we got to the KTX train station we found out that we accidently had booked the wrong tickets for our return home. No big deal we’ll find new ones right.. everything ended up being booked…Kelsey and Teresa seemed very calm about it but, being the slight control freak that I am(haha OK OK I know I am a control freak)… I was freaking out. 

We got to our motel after asking around for directions when I realized, OMG people in Busan have different accents. It’s hard enough for me to understand Korean but add a thick weird accent on it and I felt like a lost puppy. The guy at the front desk was incredibly helpful and actually booked us tickets for the way home on an overnight bus. I guess things do have a way of always working out. The rest of our weekend was so much fun. We went to lots of beach bars, ate amazing seafood, and just played at the beach. Even when I lost my voice Sunday, we still managed to have a great night that ended with us meeting some cool people. I hate losing my voice…it’s the worse, I feel like a part of me is stripped away. Is that being dramatic? Haha probs…. I know I talk a lot, but I think that’s what makes me so cool. I can’t wait to go back to Busan!

Today was also a holiday( Korean Memorial Day), and I kinda like that it’s in the middle of the week. Last night I went out with my co-workers in Nowon, and when we all go out together it’s always crazy. I think I danced for 4 hours straight. And when I talk about dancing in Korea, it’s not like the clubs in the U.S. at all. Everyone shuffles, fist pumps, and jumps up and down. It’s great cardio. So today I spent the beautiful day with Teresa at the Dragon Hill Spa, and I loved it. We got to nap next to all these couples who were in love, we got a massage that felt like we got beat up, and Teresa got her skin scrubbed so her skin is soft like a babies butt. It was such a relaxing day. Then we ate at our favorite pizza place in Noksapyeong. It’s seriously the best pizza I have ever had. So if anyone wants to eat some good pizza, I will take you there because it seriously will change your life. 

You be Triflin’

Lately, I’m obsessed with the word triflin’, you know from that Destiny Child’s song Bill Bill BIlls. You triflin’ good fo’ nuthin type of brotha’ The other day one of my kids asked me teacher what’s triflin’? I told her it’s a really bad guy…. whoops My kids are learning so many cool things for me. (Triflin’…Y’all… haha)

My cousin HyeJin came from Cali for a few weeks and it was so fun. We ate and drank at many places.. I had so much fun that when I weighed myself after she left I realized I had gained weight….so I started working out like crazy. 

Here is us in Myeongdong… with a million people haha

The weather has been amazing in Seoul… not too hot yet. But I know what’s to come… rainy season followed by…. super hot weather with no central AC. So I am mentally preparing myself for annoying rainy days and super sweaty ones with smelly people. Not that one can ever prepare themselves for B.O I swear I am allergic to it, but I always seem to find myself sitting next to someone with disgusting BODY ODOR. HAHA

Last weekend was the Lantern Festival and it was soooo pretty. I have a video I will post with my awesome commentary on it soon but here are some pictures from it. 

It was soooo much fun!! So I’m updating my blog right now sick as a dog. I probably caught this from one of my nasty germy kids, and I realized that even though I feel like dog doodoo I am incredibly blessed. When I first came to Korea after leaving my friends and family at home I thought omg I can’t wait to meet cool people in Korea….. I was very lucky to get close to my worker Keila and than her friend Patrick. Situations changed and Keila had to go back to Mooseland (Canada). I love Patrick he is such a great friend, but I was dying for girlfriends. I did get close to one girl for a few months, but she ended up being flaky, deceitful, and overall she just sucked. I don’t have time for negative debbie downers in my life… I only want Positive Sallys.  

Well I really do believe “Blessed are those who wait”. If you know me, you know I am not a very patient person. In Korea I have been learning this virtue whether with my kids or just with life. Initially it was really hard to make friends, or just meet “normal” people in Seoul. (I know most of you reading this are thinking Ashley is not normal. But hey, I’m really fun). But for the past few months I have been hanging out with some amazing people.

Teresa and Kelsey, without you I would have no one to get ready with, or do other girly things like talk about statement necklaces and clothes :) 


Also I feel so lucky to have met these cool guys, even if they like to dress alike and be twinsies. Without Chris and Michael, the world of Facebook wouldn’t know the incredibly girly (but fabulous) things I say all the time. 

And Patwick, I wuv ya, you my best fwend. ( Also I am sorry I don’t match, I was incredibly hungover picking out this outfit) 

Okay this weekend is Buddha’s birthday so we get Monday off… I will be off to the beaches in Busan. YAYAYYYYYYYY I really need this vacay!