Late night thoughts, and cover letters...

So I am sitting here, late at night scouring the internet for my ever elusive dream job, typing out cover letters, and ever so slightly tweaking my resume for what my friend Alex so lovingly refers to as "buzz words" when I realized that what I had written in my cover letter was less applicationy, and more bloggy...so I decided to share it with you. Now, before you begin reading please allow me to give you a little bit of background. The job I was applying for was for an Administrative Assistant for the World Health Organization in Syria. I am not sure how well you guys keep up with the news, but things in the Middle Eastern, and North African region of the world have been a bit hairy in the past couple of years. I really think it takes a special kind of crazy to want to do this job as much as I do, and I really don't think the WHO's antiquated job application survey really allows one to express ones, shall we say, drive and tenacity, as I am certain is required to willingly and eagerly travel to a country whose leader may or may not have knowingly poisoned his own citizens with noxious and deadly gases. I just happen to be one of those perfectly insane individuals, and I would hope that those who know me would fully attest to said characteristics.


Without further ado, my "cover letter":

One of the first memories I have as a child is of being in Kindergarten and learning about a butterfly on the verge of extinction in the Amazon rain forest.  I was mortified that the world could stand idly by as such a beautiful creature was destroyed in the name of development.  I knew at that moment that my sole purpose in life was to save the rain forest, and all the creatures in it from certain annihilation.  As I have grown older I have come to realize that there is more to life than pretty blue butterflies in a magical forest far far away, though I still feel that same passion and fierce tenacity today, only now that feeling stems from something greater than a fairy tale.  My passion for human rights and international development stems from an unwavering belief that all people deserve to live in an environment with reasonable access to healthcare and medicine, clean drinking water, and the ability to provide the essentials for themselves and their children without fear

Having traveled all over the world in the pursuit of helping others, and learning as much as I can from them as I go, I have come to appreciate the fact that I am young, and still have a lot to learn about life, and the world around me.  It is my solemn belief that in order to maximize my ability to help and learn from the world around me I cannot learn everything on my own.  Yes, there are many things I learned in University about computers, money, and businesses, but while this knowledge is useful to some degree on its own my true capabilities cannot be fully realized without experience.  Experience I hope to gain working with an incredible organization like the WHO.  

I may be young and I may have a lot to learn, but please allow me to take a moment to tell you what I do know, things for which there is no place on a resume or simple job application survey. First, I have traveled to 12 other countries, on 3 continents, and 35 of the American states.  Next, I am a big sister to three, mother of none, but teacher and caregiver to almost 100.  Lastly, I have dined in the halls of kings, but I have also relied on the kindness of friends and strangers for a meal, or a warm place to sleep when I had no where else to turn.  And, many things in between.  

While I have yet to publish great works, earn world renowned accolades, or ever work for a large aid organization like the WHO, I have done great things, and learned hard lessons, none of which can I put on my resume, but all of which made me the person I am today.  The person who believes she deserves a chance to prove what she can do.

Blog redesign...

I created this blog with the hopes that I would keep everyone back in America posted on my daily happenings here in Korea...I guess that was an utter fail because I haven't managed to post anything in months...literally.  In fact I have found that I barely share what is happening here with anyone at home...not sure why, but I can never remember anything worth sharing.

I guess I am better at sharing my thoughts about a situation rather than details of the situation itself.

I have been meaning to try harder at posting things on this blog so that people at home will have a better idea of what is going on, but I was trying to go about the situation with a style which is unnatural for me.  Soooo....I thought and thought about how to change my blogging style so that I could be better motivated to share my experience with the world.  I have recently come to the conclusion that I will just post about the things that are most prevalent in my mind at the time.

So from this point forward this blog will be a public diary of my thoughts and feelings of life here in Korea.  I guess I have come to the conclusion that I as extroverted as I am, my need for a seriously active social life is not only balanced by, but glued together with the fact that without it I would probably be lost in my own head overwhelmed with thoughts and emotions. On top of all that I can't tell if that's a truly deep self discovery, or if I am just whining!  haha

Homemade Cheese!

I went to a "dinner party" Sunday night at my friends apartment, it was a pretty interesting afair. 

A couple from England hosted the dinner - we ate fajitas, quacamole, couscous, and cookies (I brought them) - in Korea.

It was a very global affair, though all this is beside the point.  The point is my friends Ric and Sydney have begun making their own cheese, because if you have ever been to Korea the cheese here is pretty much garbage unless you are in love with Kraft Singles type, or can afford to spend an arm, and a leg to get the real deal.  And, if you have ever been to any western country we are pretty much addicted to the stuff.

I didn't realize how much cheese Americans really consume until I started looking on Pinterest for recipes one night...EVERYTHING HAD CHEESE!  It was very frustrating to say the least.

While I was trying to decide what to bring to share with everyone I wondered if Steph and Ric had spent a small fortune to buy cheese for the evening because I had been informed they had some already.  Upon arrival I found that Ric had actually made the cheese himself with a recipe our mutual friend Sydney gave him.  It was pretty deliscious so I decided to make some myself.

After a little research I found a simple recipe myself and decided to make a small batch for my first attempt with things I had around my apartment - Milk and Rice Wine Vinegar. That's all you need!  There are a lot of recipes that say you need a thermometer, rennet, blah, blah, and blah...and yeah I am sure you do if you want to get fancy, but lets not get crazy here, alright?  I mean I am trying to make this stuff in an apartment that is actually smaller than my closet was in my apartment back in Michigan!

It took about an hour in total, mostly because I realized I didn't have anything to drain the cheese with, and had to do a load of laundry in order to have a clean non-terrycloth towel to drain the curds from the way.

After it was all finished cooking, and seperating I put it in a old butter container, and stuck it in the fridge over night.  This morning I tried it...it turned out pretty well.  Much better than I had anticipated. 

Next...I'm going to make yogurt!

Oh Politics

I have to admit sometimes I miss hearing about all the political nonsense that happens during an election year...

Just had to share this with all of you :)

Cooking in Korea

This weekend I decided I was going to cook some real food from scratch, and it's been a real adventure.

I decided I really wanted some good old fashioned Chicken N' Dumplings, not Korean dumpling, but American ones...the noodle type.  The way I learned to make dumplings was to use Bisquick batter, but this time I had to make them from scratch...I thought if I am going to do that I might as well make everything from scratch.

Here in Korea you have to buy special trash bags for different parts of your garbage so anytime I have food waste I just keep a bag in the freezer and throw it in there until its full, and I can take it out.  (Don't tell anyone, but I never buy the correct kind of bag...my korean is terrible so I don't even know how to ask for the right colored bag...people are just going to sort through it anyway)  Any who...I have started buying whole chickens and dismembering them at home then throwing the parts in the freezer because 1. its cheaper, and 2. its not that hard. 

So...I already had all the bones and skin needed to make my own stock or broth, I had chicken in the freezer, all I needed was some flour for the dumplings.

It took about 8 hours to make the whole thing, but considering I made it all from scratch I had to say I think it turned out amazingly well.  It's not as good as my Grandma's, but hey she has been making it for 50 years.  I took some small bowls to Roy, and Sugar at Kokomo and asked them to take it home, try it, and tell me what they think.  I don't think they have ever had anything quite the same before so my fingers are crossed that it was good.  I liked it when I ate it, but for me it's good home comfort food. 

The jury is still out on whether Sugar and Roy liked it because I haven't been there since I took them the food on Saturday, but I will let you know as soon as I do.

I also made some snickers chip cookies this weekend, and took them to a dinner party Sunday evening.  I used my friends convection oven/microwave (yes, its one machine) to make them.  The first batch turned out pretty crisp, and funky looking because we had never used it before, and weren't sure what we were doing.  The 2nd batch turned out a little better, at least we could get the cookies off the bottom of the pan.  The 3rd batch was the best, we figured out the machine, and I was able to keep the cookies from sticking by buttering the pan then covering it with flour.  The cookies tasted amazing, but could have used more of the rising agent because they turned out pretty flat, and gooey.

I guess now I know what to do for next time, and this experimentation process isn't too bad when you get lots of good cookies out of the deal!

Kokomo - Fire, Flair, and Fantastic People

Oh Kokomo...my home away from home.

It's a local bar here in Doojeong-dong, Cheonan, South Korea.  The majority of my friends here in Korea are here at least once a week, and many of them are more than willing to meet me there anytime...I am friends with the bartenders, and a good number of the Korean regulars.

First, small introductions:

Maro - He is a spectacular bar tender, one of less than 20 professional flair bar tenders in the entire country. He sets things on fire, is always welcoming to new people, and speaks English well.  He is actually one of the people I went to Lotte World with.

Sugar - She is pretty awesome as well.  She is really tiny, super cute, and has tons of attitude (always the good kind).  She also does flair bar tending, but not to the same obsessive capacity as Maro. Her English isn't the greatest, but it's not bad by any means.

Roy - He is the youngest bar tender at Kokomo, and probably the one I talk to most although I can't say we have every hung out away from the bar.  He is also studying engineering at a local university.  When he isn't in school he works, or practices flair with his mentor, Maro.

Max and Kris - The two white cats that live at the bar.  They look pretty much identical, but you can tell which is which because Max usually hides from people, and Kris is a little more social.

There's nothing really special about the way Kokomo looks.  It's pretty much just a local hole in the wall with a lot of old movie posters on the walls, but the people are what make it great.  The atmosphere is relaxed and casual, they have pretty decent prices compared to other bars in the area, and new people are always welcome.  If you ever come to Cheonan it's worth a visit.

Jared chillin at the Kokomo after Lotte World

^^^Jared and Maro^^^

(I have a video I made of Maro's flair and fire show, but I can't get it to post on the site.  As soon as it is working I will have it up here.)

Lotte World

What can I say about Lotte World...

It's like a small indoor/outdoor Korean version of Disney Land.  It's a cute.  If you are like me and grew up an hour away from Cedar Point it won't have much to offer you in they way of exciting rides, but it has some other cute things.

My favorite part was the wall of 3D effect paintings.  They aren't 3D of course, but you can stand next to them and take some funny pictures with your friends. 

Here I am saving Jared from a man eating King!

My experience in the Lotte World Jail :(



Its a pretty cute way to spend the day, and it's alway fun to do some people watching.