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  • AG 10:32 pm on January 31, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #4: Taking the long way home 

    In the hustle and bustle of life in Seoul, I typically take the shortest route possible to and from the subway station. However, on Saturday afternoon, I decided to practice patience and take an alternative route. I actually got lost in the moment or maybe I was so fully present in the moment, so alert, that it was as if I was rediscovering the neighborhood that I’ve lived in for the past 8 months.

    I actually experienced a quietness in my mind that is foreign to me as I, like many of us, am constantly absorbed in the repetitive thoughts that pollute my brain. I felt content with my surroundings and the new discoveries I had made in this spur of the moment stroll. Some things I stumbled upon were two apartment buildings side by side, one titled Romeo, the other Juliet. How perfect for a culture that is marriage obsessed! I also found a small Mom and Pop grocery store, which made me happy because it’s closer than the chain that I usually visit. Other things I spotted were a few small coffee and sandwich shops and a lingerie store, which was random but classy. Throughout the duration of this trip, there was a meowing cat who followed me almost to my destination, home.

    I have been wanting to practice meditation and yoga for some time now. And while these things are healthy and beneficial, I realized that I can find the stillness that I seek through meditation by simply taking a walk in my own neighborhood.

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    • yearof52adventures 6:14 am on February 1, 2010 Permalink

      I feel a very real need to go explore my neighborhood now. Way to live-it-up lady!

  • Try2StopMe 4:43 pm on January 31, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , derive   

    #1- the dérive: so what if i have nowhere to go 

    i have obsessed over the idea of a dérive for years now. since my performance art class at columbia college, chicago to be exact. it was then that the questions of social appropriateness and responsibility, expectations and conveniences really became an obsession. a dérive would be a perfect, private exploration and exploitation of social normality. what is that exactly? normal?

    normal (he actually used that word in context to mine and my partner’s roaming)- according to the police in michigan on july 7, 2007 was “having a destination”. i have since developed travel panic; obsessive thoughts over where i’m supposed to be going, am going and why.

    from wikipedia: in situationist texts, a dérive is an attempt at analysis of the totality of everyday life, through the passive movement through space. It is translated as drift.

    that’s all we were doing that night.

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  • reneamurray 1:26 pm on January 29, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Wow! An adventure in itself that I made it here! (computer illiterate does not even begin to…)
    Where do I go to see the logo?
    Happy adventure weekend all!

     

  • lisametts 7:37 pm on January 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply
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    Adventure #3 

    As one of my adventures, I decided to give blood. I wanted to help out in a worthy way. I have not given blood since I was 20 years old. The last time I gave blood, I hallucinated because I did not eat or drink properly before giving blood. So, I was nervous going to the Big Red Bus at my school. After getting on the bus and filling out the necessary paperwork, the nurse called me back to ask me some health related questions. I was approved to give blood. I am so happy I gave blood. I am looking forward to next weeks adventure of walking/running a 5K.

     

  • wip78 11:58 am on January 28, 2010 Permalink | Reply  

    Little people are funny 

    Need an adventure?! 

    I posed this question to 24 second graders- What adventures can Mr. Lopez have this year?  I explained what I would be doing for the next 49 weeks and what I have accomplished already (sanz the smoking).

    To give them an example, I said they could have me eat a live worm if everyone in the class recieved 100% on their spelling tests, four weeks straight.  In working out the lagistics, I then obligated myself to eat what one student suggested- a “Worm Dog”.  You see, a worm dog is like a hot dog except you extract the hot dog and insert a disgusting worm.  Maybe I’ll have a chilli and cheese worm dog.  I just got sick thinking of it…

    Listed is just a sample of their ideas.   So, in no particular order:  The 52 Adventures per Room 233:

    1. Eat a Worm Dog.  (Where’s the Pepto……)

    2. Go to a basketball class (She obviously knows I suck at sports).

    3. Jump out of a plane with a parachute

    4. Jump out of a plane without a parachute (She’s getting silent lunch)

    5. Go to Paris

    6. Go to Six Flags or Safari Land

    7. Go to Chinatown and eat popcorn with chopsticks

    8. Go to space

    9. Climb a mountain

    10. Eat your skin (Whaaaaaaaaa?!)

    11. Go to Cheers in Boston

    12. Paint your shoes like a rainbow (She knows something…)

    13. Where girl clothing (She’s in cahoots with #12)

    14. Memorize a poem that is very hard

    15. Ride your bike from home to work

    16. Don’t eat junkfood (this is actually a good one)

    17. Eat a worm patty, worm soup, worm doughnuts, worm ice-cream, worm in apple and then go to Mexico and rest from all the worm eating.

    18. Fight a famous wrestler

    19. Make a funny face every morning

    20. Go to Haiti and help people there

    21. Go to Canada walking

    22. Say hello to people as you pass them by (I wonder what reactions I would get?)

    And lastly….

    23. Have fun

    That indeed, number 23. That indeed:)

     

    • yearof52adventures 12:29 pm on January 28, 2010 Permalink

      I absolutely love this post. And your class.
      I think I’ll go to Canada walking next week 🙂

    • jeindeer 2:44 pm on January 28, 2010 Permalink

      This is such a great list! I might actually memorize a long poem–I think that’s a lost art in a post-google world. Thanks for the list, and well played, little #14!

    • lisametts 7:17 pm on January 28, 2010 Permalink

      I teach second grade also. I wonder what my students would say if I asked them.

    • JScribe 9:48 am on January 29, 2010 Permalink

      Oh my gosh! this is totally hilarious. I like 14 too–some professor in undergrad once told me that his goal as a writer/teacher/scholar of English was to memorize 200 lines of text. thats always stuck with me. Maybe i should add memorize a poem to my list, too. I also think you should paint your shoes rainbow. I could do that, too! Adventure # 4, tonight!!

    • renea murray 10:39 am on January 29, 2010 Permalink

      …you gotta love those little people! Thanks for sharing this gave me a laugh.

    • Anonymous 10:49 am on January 30, 2010 Permalink

      LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE this!

    • gangstaoflove 1:51 am on January 31, 2010 Permalink

      So cute! I’m going to ask my students and see what kind of crazy things they’ll come up with. Korean kids are pretty intense, so this should be interesting. 🙂

    • Try2StopMe 4:55 pm on January 31, 2010 Permalink

      it made me get all misty! lol so beautiful! you have inspired to me ask my preschoolers!

  • jeindeer 12:30 am on January 26, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , italian food, kitchen, pasta, recipe   

    #4: Cooking Spaghetti al Limone 

    When in Rome, when it’s summer, try the spaghetti al limone.

    My younger sister and I were lucky enough to visit our father in Germany last summer. I’d just graduated college, and the chance to think in travel itineraries instead of real-world milestones was almost as enchanting as the landmarks I could see. I’m thankful for that amazing opportunity. Rome was an absolute dream. I wanted to take it all in at a fever pace, but as a redhead with a German-Canadian’s cold weather constitution, no amount of gelato could keep me cool enough for unbroken touring. My heart was in the Coliseum but my body temperature was at Mount Vesuvius.

    Just after Aventine Hill, we stumbled into a cafe for some mineral water and a fortifying dose of carbs. I couldn’t face a hearty Bolognese with my pasta; even marinara was out of the question. So I chose something that seemed tart, summery, and–prophetically?–adventurous: a creamy, lemony pasta.

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    • Kelly Smith 4:18 pm on January 26, 2010 Permalink

      mmmmmm! When i was in Sienna I had the best pasta ever. Spaghetti with Garlic Olive Oil infused with pepperoncini peppers. It was absolutely amazing. It was hot, like I drank a whole bottle of water myself hot. But the olive oil was so amazing. I bought a bottle from a local store in Sienna and tried to make it at home. It never came out right. I’m going to start looking for a recipe online to see if I can find something similar.

    • Anonymous 4:08 pm on January 30, 2010 Permalink

      Delicioso!

  • Kimberly Hula 10:32 pm on January 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , psychic   

    Going for the Ghost 

    I’m a sucker for a seer.  The more heightened the experience, the better.  And I have no shame in admitting that I would align myself with one psychic over another based on the buzz words found in an internet ad.  I want crystal balls, and tarot readings and auric charts.  I guess, at the end of the day, I want desperately to disbelieve in something I do quietly believe in.  The more campy the psychic hideout, the less likely I am to believe a word of foretold fortune.  And, I suppose, I’m really most afraid of hearing bad news.

    Psychics have always held a special charm for me.  They are paid “professionals” who emulate my nervous tick emotions.  And these people are good.  If you are hunched and nervous, they are hunched and nervous.  If you’re bold and unbelieving, so are they.  It’s offsetting to see your very demeanor reflected in another, and I’m chiefly of the belief that people are more willing to confide and believe in a replica of themselves then they are something illusory.  And I think I’m one of some who understands the ruse.  That is the ruse of the flowery robe wearing, crystal ball consulting seers that masquerade under the guise of “Madame Helena” or her equivalent.  That’s just child’s play.  But there is something to be said for people of sound intuition.  People that just get it, get what has, and get what will be. These people scare the crap out of me.

    And, to some extent, I am one.

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    • marika 11:14 pm on January 25, 2010 Permalink

      you are a beautiful writer and so honest. i love it.

    • Berton 12:58 am on January 26, 2010 Permalink

      Spectacularly beautiful prose.

  • AG 10:13 pm on January 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags: , , ,   

    Korean Adventures 

    The first adventure was celebrating New Year’s Eve/Day in Korea. The best thing about New Year’s Day in Korea is that everyone changes age on this day. So it’s everybody’s birthday in Korea on January 1st. The worst part is that I turned 30 (Korean age). Or maybe that is the best part because so far 30 is great!

    Adventure 2 involved going to a Korean person’s home. This was a first. I have been in Korea for 8 months but had never entered anyone’s home here aside from friends’ apartments. My friend, Tommy, invited me over to his house, and I really wasn’t sure what to expect. I was impressed with the luxuries of his residence, including a Kimchi regfrigerator! His mom served us food such as oysters, sushi, octupus, kimchi (of course) and many other Korean side dishes. His brother and mom spoke to me in the little English that they know, asking my name, saying hello, etc.

    Adventure #3: Korean Wedding

    It was short and sweet as weddings here are not so formal. The bride wears a white gown, which is the only similarity between Korean and American weddings. The ceremony was about 30 minutes and following was dinner accommodated by Soju. So you see the show, you eat, you leave.

    I’m not sure what my next adventures will be. I think that since adventures just happen to me here, I’m going to go with it and just report them here. Some things I would like to do this year include playing piano again, taking a yoga class, sewing/knitting class, and probably the most important: love. Love has always been my motivation. But the challenge will be to learn to accept it in whatever form it enters my life rather than changing it into what I think it should be. Because I’ve learned…it really never is what I think it should be. So love…the ultimate adventure. I might have found it, and I’ll post more on that next time.

     

  • Berton 10:58 am on January 25, 2010 Permalink | Reply
    Tags:   

    Week 3 – Sushi 

    I have had a very difficult time finding a quality and cheap Japanese joint in Minneapolis.  There are apparently some great ones, but also expensive (which I can’t swing at the moment).  So I have probably complained about that a bunch and inquired many times for new places to eat.  So then I told myself, screw it, I will just make my own sushi!

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    • jeindeer 11:12 pm on January 25, 2010 Permalink

      I’m not even a huge sushi fan, but this looks delicious! Do you think homemade sushi’s going to make regular appearances in your future meals?

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