although i havent finished blogging about China,

MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS!

im currently in hong kong right now and its grand. hong kong is beautiful, developed, clean, very densly populated, and poppin.  Theres so much food everywhere and just a lot of consumerism.  The buildings on hong kong island light up every night at 8 pm and man, hong kong is just full of life. It's a little odd spending my christmas in hong kong rather than at home. I miss my bed (my back hurts all the time. i'm old!), the trails, warmth, and not looking like a freaking hobo. however, im with clara and its nice just walking the streets, exploring a new city, and spending some time with family. 

We arrived in hong kong on december 23 and had the pac rim christmas eve party the next night at the YMCA. it was the nicest YMCA i've ever been to... anyways we had great food and exchanged gifts.  It was actually like a dance. People were taking pictures, everyone looked nice (finally) and it was just really grand. i cant believe that the semester has gone by so quickly. We watched a video that the media group made and it showed clips from every country and it was just an adventure. so nostalgic. its insane how much we've done over such a short period of time. its also wierd how we have a break for 2 weeks. i've been really excited but as today is christmas day and i have just separated from the people i've been living my life with, i'm feeling a little lost. i bet that'll pass though.

BECAUSEE i'm going back to the motherland for winter break and its gonna be great. Despite the fact that its like 10 degrees farenheit right now and i have no clothing for that, i'm so pumped to eat food that doesnt make my stomach hurt, be with people who wont assume im chinese, be with great friends and family, and i'm going to get a freaking massage. i'mma TREAT MYSELF. winter break 2011-2012= TREAT YOSELF TO __________.  i've been itching to spend the dough and interestingly my prioties have changed drastically. now if i have to spend more than 5 dollars for a meal, thats too pricey. yet im so down to buy clothing that is overpriced. and get massages. but hey you only live once, make it count.

anyways I just wanted to say merry christmas and happy holidays.  i hope you guys have a restful and righteous break! Live it up.

Its the end of a really intense and unforgettable year and the beginning of a hopefully even more memorable year. It just keeps on getting better!

Love

C

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

So Grace Heerman (great girl) and i decided to get dinner one time down at student street. we just kept walking and saw this hot pot restuarant we were guessing was the one that our friends had previously been to and raved on and on about. so we took a chance on it. well both of us not knowing how to speak chinese proved to make this an interesting adventure. the restaurant man was like motioning us inside to pick things out but our curiosity overcame us and we looked at every person's hot pot and what they had ordered. imagine 2 foreigners blatantly staring at your food... awkward. what make it even more absurd was that i looked like a tardo. let me illustrate. it was cold so i had my Hwanan Women's college sweater on with y red puffy jacket over it. I wore leggings and my flowy printed malaysia pants over them. and i wore my wool rei socks with chacos. HAHA I KNOW. connie the effing hobo. yep. well so we decided what we wanted but didnt know how to communicate it to the man. so me using my boisterous voice announced to the whole restaurant "CAN ANYONE SPEAK ENGLISH?!" and of course the only response was blank stares. it was probs becasue grace is 5'11... hah just kidding. but still. hilarious. sounds like we're failing but let me assure you, we won. so we ended up pointing to different people's tables at the side dishes that they had and having those people fill out our order for us. then we found some students whos poke english and they helped us out. done and done. to make it even better, the broth was chicken. so we actually won and had a chicken dinner (kinda).

who needs to be able to speak chinese when you can just look ridic, point to food, and be friendly. i mean, it never hurts to ask strangers if you're lost in translation.

I Know I'm Asian.

Just because there are 1.6 billion (or whatever the number is) Chinese men and women in the world.  And despite that fact that Korean people are probs descendents of Chinese (and mongolians. can't forget the blue butt mark!). Just because you are Asian, it does not mean that you are Chinese. I'm not trying to be offensive here, but come on, just because I am Asian, it does not mean that I am Chinese.  I'm Korean. I even asked my mom to see how she would react. Heres a snippet of the convo (paraphrased of course)

Connie: "umma, am i chinese? everyone here thinks im chinese and thinks i look chinese"
Nancy: "haha. no. you just look Chinese because your grandfather is from north korea and they're from china. also asian people all look similar"
Connie: "oh. so im not adopted?"
Nancy: "-no response-" ( total rejection. she probably didnt hear that part...)

Of course i know im not adopted. I look exactly like her when i smile. atleast the bottom of my face does. i just wanted to see how she'd react. i think she thinks im funny. and a little absurd. Anyways so everyone thinks im chinese here and it kinda gets me down. and makes me more proud to be korean. and now, if someone guesses that im korean, i flip out. so far, only 4 people have thought i am Korean. And let me tell you, i've talked to more than 4 people. Also, why would you ask someone if they speak the language if they dont talk to you or look freaking confused?

my point: i have a tally going for when people guess my ethnicity. i never knew that how Chinese i looked until now...

Never Have I Ever...

devoted myself to No Shave November.  But lo and behold, in Pac Rim, theres always a time to do something you've never done.  These are some things that I done for the first time on this trip:
1. Been attacked my a monkey (Malaysia)
2. Not pooped for 4+ days (Mongolia)
3. Gotten a stomache everyday and eaten less. also actually save a snack for LATER rather than now. incredible (China)
4. Had to mime different animals when trying to communicate if the pho had fish or chicken in it(Vietnam)
There are many more, but if anyone says those things for never have i ever, i'm totally gonna lose a finger.

anyways. not shaving for a month has now officially been done. been there, done that. My legs will be so soft tomorrow when i rid them of those nasty hairs.  And since its been 2 MONTHS, it will be a glorious day. you betcha.

ping ping ping ping

Ping Pong. I havent played since i was a lil girl and have rediscovered it. okay okay i know the peitzmans have a ping pong table but i never play.  So after all this time, i cant say that im a prodigy but i can keep up. ish. i'm actually kind of obsessed with ping pong. did you know that theres an actual ping when you hit the ball. i know that sounds really stupid but it just dawned on me how "ping"ish the ping sounded. thus i can never stop laughing when i play ping pong. sorry, i meant "table tennis"

happy thanksgiving peng you!

Happy Thanksgiving lovely people! Today was a joyous day filled with too much food, friendship, and enough silliness to make me laugh hard enough to help move down the turkey in my estomago!  I ATE SO MUCH FOOD I CANNOT BREATHE AS I WRITE THIS. AND I FINISHED DINNER 4 HOURS AGO! We made thanksgiving dinner for about 80 people starting from last night and i was on the baking crew. we made 21 pies! apple pies, pumpkin pies, and sweet potato pies. the pumpkin turned out the best... so we cooked all night and today it was great. we woke up and wrote what we were thankful for on hand turkeys and a camera crew taped us. We ended up on the China news later that night! my 3 seconds of fame! I played banana grams, WORKED OUT, napped, and just fooled around.... ha. anyways the menu for thanksgiving dinner was cranberry sauce, spicy cranberry sauce, turkey, garlic mashed potatoes, bomb stuffing, green bean casserole, purple sweet potatoes, gravy. the pies. i had 5 slices of pie. omg. it was awesome. i mean, people say they eat a lot but really they don't compared to me. And also its obnoxious when girls get all self conscious when they wanna get seconds. Thats bull shit. WHO GIVES A SHIT?! 1. its thanksgiving.- you're supposed to eat too much 2. its clearly the spotlight effect. and 3. it doesn't matter if someone thinks you're eating too much. the only person who should matter is yourself. and maybe your mom.... but she'll still love you. Back to thanksgiving- we also have chinese buddies so we all ate together and it was great. i get delirious when im tired and when i eat too much so i was just speaking weird chinese. i dont even know chinese. i learned all the essentials though. such as "you are crazy, you are awesome, you are not handsome, hello, friend, awesome, and i'm sorry" YEAH!

Its been a great day but having Thanksgiving out of state was odd. out of the country is even weirder. I really do miss you guys.  However, it was really lovely spending it with people I love and with others who have now become my pac rim fambam. we're all a lil homesick but its nice how we have each other. i'm thankful for my family, friends, and the opportunity to travel the world. I'm thankful for having people in my life who make me smile. I'm also thankful for my stretchy pants. We all had food babies and my face is a little rounder. but whatever. more to love. Love all around! seriously!

its 10:50 p.m.and we decided to get another slice of pie.... out diet starts tomorrow... after we eat all the pie and leftovers for breakfast!

good bye vietnam

we had our end of country meal after our final on thursday and aside from being delicious, it was actually really sad. our whole table group teared up minus greg.  the whole time in nam, we had a group that was assigned to work on the marketing strategies of a specific industry. so of course we chose bia hoi, essentially the beer industry.  you can get a cup of bia (beer) for 25 cents at bia hois. its keg beer but the point of bia hoi is to socialize with your friends. usually a man thing. anyways so we had a program assistant (hip, you already read about her) and she gave us all gifts with little notes and man just reading the first line made me tear up. she told me that "she loves my smiling eyes". thats so sweet. and basically everyone started tearing up/ crying. vietnam was really great because we got to know students who showed us a whole different side of nam that we wouldn't have seen without them.  we made friends and explored hanoi with the kindest, cutest, and most genuine people ever. It was hard to leave vietnam not only because of the people but the food and well, it was great. Nam is dirty, needs to work on its traffic, and is super loud. But its got great food, people, and a really exciting lifestyle. It's also beautiful

We went to Hai Long Bay, one of the 7 wonders of the world (or something cool like that. i bet its on Planet Earth), for the weekend and basically kicked it on a boat and went ashore to a resort for 2 days. it was a vacation. no school. just pampering. there were even pools at the resorts. don't worry i didn't steal anything... actually i took the shower gel... yeah i admit it, nice things are hard to come by and when we get anything nice, we all go crazy. Maybe thats why we dont get nice things on pac reezy.  Anyways, it was a really lovely weekend full of sun, beach, and good food. yes i got tan. and no i did not shave. thats another thing. I HAVENT SHAVED IN LIKE 2 MONTHS. its really sick. i thnk i'll shave after thanksgiving. no shave november. check.

back to nam.  Vietnam: a really great country that i recommend you to go to. especially if you're on a budget. its dear to my heart. also lets be real, after 2/3 months, vietnam was bound to be memorable. lets just say that there were lots of memories made there.... so yeah we peaced out of nam on monday morning and traveled to another country.  I'm excited for this month since everything is going down and its actually cold here (nam was warrrmmmm). holiday weather. we'll make do with what we got. the next time i write will be after christmas/ probably in 2012. so until then, happy holidays and keep it real!

////////

for some reason on this trip i am consistently becoming more influenced by food.  its a little bit ridiculous how much of an effect food has on me.  on the saturday, we went to the night market and had dinner with some of the pa's. i wasn't too hungry, pretty ambivalent, but you know, it was dinner time so it was bound to happen. so after dodging some motor bikes and yelling at honking taxis, we made our way to an outdoor pho place that sold the best pho/salad dish in hanoi.  a little secretive so we got the inside scoop. it wasn't the regular brothy pho that you would imagine. it was cold and had a slightly salty sauce to it with chicken on top. a salad with a sweeter sauce was also served. it was probably one of the best meals i have had in vietnam and let me tell yah, i've had a lot of good food. so literally after that meal, i went from ambivalent to ecstatic. it was insane. kind of like when i jumped off the 50 ft rock this summer and it was so cool that i was constantly thinking about it and remembering how great it was. yeah. it was THAT GOOD.

so you'd expect that to be normal? no that isn't. because it was literally night changing. i felt so happy like i had millions of endorphines pumping through my body. just from a good meal.

the night should have been great since i felt so good, but you know what they say, what comes up must come down. so we're walking around the market and it gets fucking crowded as shit all of a sudden and i was like omg! the crowd passed and as we walked, i looked down at my bad and REALIZED THAT IT WAS SLASHED. SLASHED. AND HALF OPEN. thank god i had my nalgene to block the slash but STILL. my REAL LESPORTSAC got SLASHED. /////////////////ed! i was so angry. almost as angry as that time that everyone cut me off in the trader joe's parking lot 2 summers ago and i got so angry that i pumped the music, cursed everyone so loudly, and drove too fast on the freeway entrance then had to stop because of the damn traffic light for entering the freeway. joyce and i almost died.... anyways YEAH PO-ED CONNIE! NOT SAFE! so after that happened i walked around like a paranoid tourist and held my bag like my new born child.  and jumped at anything tha tmoved around me.  i swear, i blame that on the macaques in malaysia... i'll tell you about that later. so imagine connie suh, all fidgety and paranoid, clutching her bag to her body,with crazy eyes... yeah. BUT WAIT THERES MORE

I SAW AN ALBINO ASIAN TOO! IT WAS INSANE.

so as you can tell, that was quite the night. and just the beginning of an interesting night. well last weekend in hanoi, go big or go home

OH SHIT!

now i have your attention.  Did you know that coffee is a laxative? Well if you didn't, now you know.  Well Vietnam is famous for its coffee, as seen in the hundreds of cafes and the selling of civit cat poop coffee, and for the last 3 days, i have been indulging in this coffee shablooey.  Mainly to get internet access... Well so i've been getting coffee not really because ineed or want it but because i dont wanna be rude.  the coffee here is really concentrated and given in real small amounts. its good/really strong/ often times makes me feel  like ive been drinking alcohol. it also makes me poop. yeah we havent talked about this in a long time but for the last three days, about 1 hour after i drink the coffee, i have to use to WC (toilet). and its not one of those poops that you know is coming. like out of nowhere my bowels panic and then i really have to go. just creeps up on yah! well i just wanted to tell you that. mainly because i just went and thought it was wild how this happened again. the whole pooping after coffee....

North Korean Restaurant

While i've been in asia with a whole crew of white folk, i have realized how much i do love being Korean.  yes you can quote me on that.  This is especially lovely when you understand the korean writing around you and perhaps when you go to restaurants. Restaurants such as the North Korean Pyong yang restaurant in Hanoi.  IT is owned by the North Korean embassy. Totally weird.  Like my friend said: "it was like really eating in North Korea. The food didn't come for a long time and there was propoganda everywhere".  Super shitty service and propoganda on the tv with nationalistic music as background tunes as you nommed (or waited to nom).  The propoganda was in the form of karaoke images on the television with happy children and happy women in hanboks and kimchi and more happiness.  I talked to one of the waitresses and she was half Viet/Korean so im not sure if they were all from North Korea.  These ladies though were quite the talented individuals.  Aside from speaking vietnamese, korean, japanese, and chinese, they also performed for us.  ye yep. after getting our food, they whipped out the key board and mikes and sang songs.  Arirang, that Celine Dione song thats from the titanic, the song that they sing in Sound of Music as they escape (you should know who im referring to when i say "they". if you don't then thats just wrong), and 4-5 songs in korean. weird.  All in all, last night i supported North Korea by eating at their restaurant.

Eating my way through Hanoi

Yeah thats right. Our program assistant (her nickname is Hip) is the cutest Asian girl ever and she wanted to hang with us and take us out to eat.  She also appreciates gastronomy.  What a wonderful thing. So after class we went to the Old Quarter and ate for like 5 hours. She wanted to take us to 10 places but we ended up going ot like 6.  We had bun (noodles) in the Old Quarter and made our way to another part of the area to eat this sweet mango jelly on bottom with yogurt on top pudding dish. OMG SO GOOD. So we walked and walked then got some Che Hanoi.  Che is a sweet dessert that actually looks really nasty because it looks all slimy and stuff with shaved ice on top but its actually really delicious.  Then we made our way to get some Omai, dried fruit. Yummmmmo.  We got tea after that.  Then got papaya salad rolls with an interesting soup that was slightly sweet with cilantro, peanuts, muscles, meat, and liver.... interesting. But man i can just keep eating. You know i dont think i should even blog about Nam. I'm just gonna post pictures of what I've been eating...


Speaking of eating, on monday after the midterm, the girls had a ladies night and went to the Metropol hotel to eat a chocolate buffet.  The Metropol is probably the nicest hotel in Hanoi and this chocolate buffet was insane.  We walked in and was in awe of how nice everything was. lets be real, theres a reason we don't get nice things on this trip and it clearly showed when we walked in in stupor... i even stole a towel from the bathroom... i know, only poor people do that.. or desperate people. anyways this chocolate buffet. picture this. chocolate bon bons, crepes, mouse, icecream, hot chocolate, macaroons, puddings, and everything in chocolate.  fruits, fruit smoothies, tea sandwiches, scones... i got a fucking latte. i havent had a real latte since school. oh my gosh. yeah compared to the man date that the dudes went on (whiskey, billiards, dinner, driving rangge) our date was pretty womanly. almost grossly stereotypical but i guess theres some truth to a woman's love for chocolate.  if you're reading this and don't like chocolate, you should get your priorities straightened out... wow. later on we did our nails, drank wine, and watched a movie. i mean, lets be real, i would hav eloved goin to a driving range, better yet, a shooting range, but it was pretty great treating myself to a womanly activity.

Yesterday (the day after the chocolate buffet) we also had an italian dinner hosted by Jimbo, our prof.  omg. so good. i'm not gonna keep going but heres the bottom line: theres other food than pho in Vietam.

I've explored the old quarter and am now gonna shop my way through too. Nancy, you should expect to see my debit card balance decrease...

I'm writing this in a cafe and about 20 minutes ago they turned off the lights and started up the disco ball. so i wam writing in a an empty cafe with disco ball luminescense with J.Biebs/ girly pop songs playing int he background(currently, Britney Spears pre Skank years). There is also a tv in front of me and there was an add for a massaging band that you can put on your body to "shake off" the fat. Yeah i bet that'll work.  Well i realized that im quite particular about belly buttons. some of them are just unappealing to the eye. YOU KNOW? icky.

Quote of the Night

I met a Nigerian man last night at a bar full of swanky hipsters.  it was quite odd being with old people. i didn't actually care to be there but one of the girls was meeting a dude who she met last night who was coincidentally playing at this venue.  so we arrive and his extremely drunk brother starts to talk to us.  i was with a friend and we were clearly uninterested. anyways after a shpeel on why we're not lesbians and why she is single and why i am definitly in a relationship, he's like "life's bisexual. because she fucks guys and girls". interesting right? i found two things interesting from his drunken observations.
1. that i was in a relationship. haha thats like the farthest thing that i am even in our pac rim. he was like "you didn't make an effort". interesting right? sorry i keep saying interesting- its because during our time in Malaysia, we had to write field journals of observations that we found "interesting". so.over.rated. well his observation is soo right! lately i've been getting tired or hangry when we go out. its really weird. i just crave in n out. or salads! you know, i've never been hangry so many times before in my life.  i dont really remember a time when i was starving but there are so many times when im just a POed person because i havent had food. its incredibly frustrating. Also i've been looking either super butch or super cute in Nam.  its really odd. maybe i have an alterego- connor the bro.
2. the life shpeel. makes you look at life in a different perspective.... or not. its just a funny thing to say.

well thats all folks!

BACK IN NAM

The last night in Malaysia, we had a goodbye party and birthday party for Peter Wimberger.  I've never been so full in my life. buffet. with Western food. Anyways, our flight to Nam was at 6 am. So naturally we decided to stay up until 4 in the morning. Awesome. But also super shitty when you have to fly for hours on the plane.  Anyways we arrived in Nam the next day and it was the beginning of a crazy adventure.  WE'RE BACK IN NAM!\

Okay okay, yeah i didn't fight in the Vietnam war but its sooo much fun to say that! Let me tell you about Nam. there are 86.6 million people in Nam.  There is crazy traffic and pollution in Hanoi.  Everyone drives motorbikes (VESPAS!) and there is no real traffic control here.  Everyone honks. It's a way of tellin you that they're driving.  I guess thats one way to do it... Imagine having a hangover and having to walk on a busy,dusty street with hundreds of bikes and cars just honking for shits and giggles....We are staying at a guest house and taking classes at NEU, the New Economics University. We're taking a business course (marketing) taught by Jim McCullough from UPS. We have program assistants (students at NEU) who take us around and help us with our marketing projects.  Its really different from Malaysia and its also nice to stay in one place set a routine, and be with college students.  I really do miss college. at home. and seeing different people. Anyways, more facts! The exhcnage rate is $1- 21,000 dong.... and one bowl of Pho is 20,000.  Dirt cheap. good food.

Everyone in Nam is tiny. Like imagine 7th grade you. fully developed. yes. insane. what does that mean? Bras are tiny and super padded. Why am i telling you this?  during my time in Malaysia i found that i've been wearing the wrong size for a while. And the girls are growing.... its hard to find a bra that fits you if everyone is like a size or 2 sizes smaller than you...

Fashion, so cute. I'mma spend money in the bank here. I can just feel it.  Theres an Old quarter which is pretty toursisty and theres a lake next to it.  This lake should be renamed Lovers Central.  there are benches everywhere and i swear every bench is occupied by a couple. taking pictures of themselves. Or theres brides taking birdal photos. OOOH and theres a lot of flower people selling flowers on the side of the road. Talk about romantics! I mean, if you're single and have low self esteem, DO NOT come here. you might as well eat your feelings and just cry. Don't worry, i'm not crying or depressed. I'm eating tons though! Thats some info on Nam. Nam is gonna be good. I can feel it in my fingers... and my toes. haha

Malaysia, Truly Asia

So sorry about not blogging for like the last month and a half.  It's been insane!  I can't possibly describe or give justice to my experience in Malaysia via blog so let me fill you in on some of the most memorable parts of it.

We went to Kuching, Matang Wildlife Center, and Kota Kinabalu during our time in Malaysia.  The first two are located in Sarawak( mostly Christian) and the last is in Sabah (Muslim)

Matang Wildlife center is half an hour away from Kuching and it is a rehab center for orangutans, sunbears, macaques, gibbons, and other animals that might come their way.  We stayed for 2 weeks and it was quite the adventure.  breakfast was at 7:30 am every morning and we would work from 8:15- 12:45ish every day.  We were split up into groups and did something different everyday.  the assigned tasks were orangutan husbandry, sun bear husbandry, wood, maintenance, quarantine, and construction.  For wood, we were supposed to haul 2x4 and 4x4 logs through the rainforest to a location where they were going to build a new ranger station.  intense dude. Thats when i hurt my ankle and sprained it while i was on my way to lunch.  IT WAS HORRIBLE! I mean, even as i am writing now, my ankle still bothers me.  it was really tough dealing with that because we hiked a lot in Malaysia and i had to miss out on sweet ventures.  But enough of a pity party... so at 1 pm, we would have lunch and have lectures around 2 or 3 for like 2 hours.  Professor Wimberger (science department) flew from the puge to teach the biodiversity course but we also had lectures from one of the main dudes at Matang, Leo.  He was from the UK and was like a walking encyclopedia.  I kinda felt like i was in APES again because I would learn another thing about conservation, logging, orangs, rehab that would point out to the injustice of humans and you know, depressing things like that.  But i gotta say, it was a really interesting class, just listening to someone talk about topics that i never considered.  okay so then dinner would be at 6 pm. 3 meals a day. the best meals i have ever had. i would go for seconds and thirds. golly geez. sooo good. I feel like i can say more about Matang but it'd take too long.  just know that it was incredible and hot and sweaty and dirty and filthy but also soo sweet. i mean, there was a massive thunderstorm one time with crazy l.ightning and we just played in the rain.  tswift anyone? yeah, it was just like that. except no kissing in the rain, or make ups in the rain, or anything remotely romantic. Just a really sweet dance party and singing party in insane weather.

one of my favorite memories was at Bako national park when we went on a night hike and saw fireflies in the mangrove forests.  i've never seen fireflies and it was really cool to see them twinkle in the mangrove trees.  if you've never seen a mangrove forest before, its a forest that grows along the deltas/ salt water that acts as a buffer.  the trees are low and due to the changing tides, all the trees start growing their branches above the tide.  So its cool to see how low the tide can get when you see how tall the branches are in comparison to the tide level. Anyways, all i can say is: rela fireflies beat the fake twinkle lights in Pirates at Disneyland.

Malaysia was really hot and humid and i literally lived in filth. The not showering/ being dirty complaints in Mongolia don't even compare to Malaysia because we were literally dirty and smelly everyday.  Our clothes didn't dry and we were always tired.  Lets be real, me, Miss Niagra falls, def. had a good time sweating every minute of the day... not reallly. but Malaysia really is worth it.  The people are so nice and all say hello to you.  The food is dericious. and cheap.  It is beautiful and the biodiversity there is incredible.  you know how you take classes at school and don't learn anything from them?  This course and month in Malaysia taught me so much its insane.  Man experiential learning...

I feel like this is a lame blog post. I'll tell you abot Malaysia in person. 

Hop on aboard onto the Hogwarts Express!

Thursday was our last day of class.  For you Loggers out there, you know what that means.  The administration shut down midnight breakfast, but come onnn, that don't mean we can't still carry on the tradition.  So that night we went to our last field trip, to the GOBI DESERT, and how did we get there? VIA FUCKING TRAIN. Hop onto the Hogwarts express everyone!  We took an overnight train ride where they shoved our section of the train off the tracks at 3 in the mo'nin.  So sweet.  What makes it sweeter (orr you could say creepier?) was that we had a special guest kick it with us for the trip, Glenn Mullin.  Hes this irish dude who grew up in an irish village in French Canada who is super into Mongolia (like published lots o books) and its pretty well known.  However, all he talks about is like women and booze.  An interesting fellow I'd say. I couldnt tell if he was shitting me the whole time but it was entertaining...

So the Gobi desert. We were situated in like south east Gobi and it was well, i dont realllllly know how to describe it.  Lots o plains. Awesome skies. Kinda like living in a desktop background.  We stayed at a ger camp and did sight seeing to cool places like a petrified "forest", dinosar bones, Shambala, and another temple under construction. It was pretty neat.  So that night (friday night) there was a huge party (cuz we were joined by another Mongolian group) and naturally there was karaoke.  So who went and dance partied with rando mongolians who dont actually dance? This girllll. Hey and it turns out that our professor, Elisabeth Benard, is quite the dancing machine.  Legit dude.  She was shredding the dance floor like no other. All I can say is, I'm stoked for our next dance party.

I went running in the Gobi desert. I ate too much and felt too fat. so i ran. I havent run in ages and it was awesomeblossom.  However this weekend (it is now monday) I decided that life is impermanent (major Buddhist concept i just took a final on) and my body don't matter (thatt much. this is all relative) Thus don't be surprised if the next time you see me, I'm chubs mcgee. Actually, you should expect it because I cant stop eating sweets and snacky snacks. This is a stupid paragraph now that I realize

Sorry for being all over the place. Its just crazy how we took the overnight train back home from saturday- sunday (yeah really short fieldtrip) and i studied for my final all day sunday and here I am, monday afternoon writing this post final but not post class because I still have to write an essay.  We're having our end of country dinner and its just wild how I'm already done with Mongolia.  How did time fly so fast? Oh wait I know, cus we had class, fieldtrips, and all these mandatory things.  We didn't get much free time and when we did we were real tired.  New lifestyle. Totally worth it.  I just ate my 10th cookie of the day and I'm going to a buffet dinner in T- 2.5 hours. Last night in Mongolia. Lez Do diz

Listen Up

Last day of class, this is what I learned.  I lied.  I was working on something far more exciting.

MADE UP MY DEBUT ALBUM

YEAHH BOIII

This is it. What you all have been waiting for...

LIL CAWN & CHINGY KHAN

"GETTIN STUPUH'D"

Track 1. Cawn Artist

Track 2. Getting Chingy wid it

Track 3. Like a Buuz

Track 4. Can I Take Yo Pictuh? - Buuz Baby Remix

Track 5.  Blue

Track 6.  Down n Durttty in the Gob(h)i Feat. G. Munay

Track 7. Biskrem my Savior Feat.  Lama O-Troll Rin-poh- shwayze

Track 8. Party Like a Ravjaa

Track 9. Reincarnated into the Wrong Realm: a Chod story

Track 10. Buddha Buddha Buddha rockin e'rywhere

Move over Korean DMZ Soldier, you've been replaced

So there's this vegetarian restaurant we go to sometimes called Luna Blanca and we went there for dinner last night with my sunshine committee.  In our Pac Rim group, we've all separated into little committees that take care of different things for the group and I'm in the morale group- we're responsible for birthday parties, end of country parties, and general lifting the mood of the group. Perf, considering that my new Mongolian name is Toya. which was described to us as "glimmer" or "what happens when the sun is out". Stupendous. So sunshine group and i are at Luna Blanca where i ordered a soup and salad to cut back on food (execept we got cake and i ordered more. I seriously have a problem with eating here) and dude our waiter was sooo legit. His name was Soyombo, which happens to be the Mongolian seal as well as "self arising" which is funny because we just had a linguistic scholar come and talk to us about it the other day. What are the chances?!

This would be his profile if he was registered with e-harmony 

Relatively well heighted- lovely voice- great english- knows some spanish- pulls off the buzzed hair cut like a boss- talented voice- was top 5 for Mongolian Idol- loves people (was a tour guide)-

Looking for lovely American traveler, preferrably 5'7 Asian, and on Pac Rim

HA I wish. I think its a toss up between me and Jeremy ( one of the guys on Pac Rim who we've deemed Mr. Congeniality- why? everyone wants to be him, or be married to him on GMASH, and he dresses greatly)

Now what is GMASH? Guys, its not like we have tv's and shit everywhere we go. Not even a game boy. Thus we have reverted back to old school games.  Hearts, UNO, Cribbage, and MASH. Excepttt we're in Mongolia where they have gers (nomadic Mongolian homes). Thus it is now GMASH. 

Oh my gosh Spider man 3 is on right now and James Franco is mighty fine.

I originally meant this blog to be about waiter man but as you can see, im streaming the hell out of consciousness. We're goin to the Gobi today, so i'll tell you about that later. PEACE



1 Thing at a time

Black Market trip= win. Connie Suh is such a ganadora!

So the black market isn't actually illegal anymore but it sounds way sweeter than "market place" right? For those who have been to korea, its kinda like namdemun/ dongdemun, but outdoor, more ghetto, and ore fabulous.  For those who haven't, it just thus huge spot where everyone has stands to sell their shit. There's sections like shoes, rope, jewelery, clothing, food, etc.  Just imagine South LA and replace the Mexicans with Mongolians and the Shops on the side of Alvarado with hundreds of little tents.  Seriously, I'm liking Mongolia and its peeps more and more.  Its an outdoor market place with an entrance fee of 50 tuglug (5  centz) and its got everything.  So what did i buy?

1. Camel fur sweater. color: beige and white. For 24,000 tuglug.  Damn the end of the shopping season, no one was really haggling. 

2. turquoise scarf

3. some fake ray bans ( i call them fay bans) that have the logo, made in italy letters, and the RB imprinted onto the glasses. As real as you can get them... except that their so fake I got them in Mongolia for 4,000 tuglug.  Man Mongolians have a thing for sunglasses, espesh Fay bans.

We got a cab ride (and you know when i say cab ride i really mean we stood at the side of the road and waited for cars to come up and offer rides.) and it was such a win.  The dude played some American tunes then Mongolian pop songs.  He thought I was Mongolian (cuz everyone- the Mongolians, the Russians, EVERYONE- assumes i'm Pac Rim's Mongolian tour guide) but we soon clarified that when all I could say was "hello" and "good" in Cyrillic.  So we're boppin along the road and i was waving to all the cars and at the red light one of the dudes in a car was like "Where are you guys from?!" so I screamed "MMMMuricaaa!" and we chatted and golly geez i felt like I was home. except people thought it was cool to yell at them across the street and we almost got hit like twice. It was awesome.  So we get back to the State Department Store and walk back to our guest house and then I realize "eff, I bought a beige/ camel colored sweater". Do you know what that means?

Now I have either all red, all navy blue, or all beige clothing. Its one up from all navy or all red but really?  Like this weekend we went to a meditation site an hour and half away and at the site there was lots o dried up tall grass. Beautiful location though. Auspicious symbols of turtle rock in the distance, beautiful yellow/ green leaved trees, awesome granite mountains with paintings on them, just sweet. Anyways, I put on my beige Northface pants and camel sweater and i seriously blended in with the grass.  We decided to take pictures and play "Where's Caldo".  Dude, even when i put the sweater over my head and some of my belly showed, I STILL blended into the grass. What can i say, Im a master of disguise.

 On the bright side I think its a sign.  I'm gonna acquire one color from each country so it'll only take my 8 months to have a full rainbow wardrobe. Get excited.

Everyday I'm hustlin

I eat mutton almost everyday. aka I eat geriatric sheep almost everyday. In the soups, in the buuz, in the fried bread, in the noodles, in everything.  To add to this, Mongolians like frying everything.  As well as potatoes. What does this all

Blogs...

I hate how the font is either too big or too small on this blog.  What happened to a normal size font that doesn't look like the font just exploded on your face? Like, seriously blogspot?

To make that negative nancy post into a positive paula post, on the bright side I had the best banana ever, which has made this already excellent day even more fantastic.  My body's been craving fruits other than apples and prunes, and man that banana hit the spot.  I've never just stopped and savored any food so much before...Like I took a bite and had to stop in the middle of my questionable location.  Magical. Then I dropped in a trashcan next to a lady and she started yelling at me so I ran away. 

2 assumptions you may have:

1. I am obsessed with blogging since I just posted something: so clearly wrong. false. at least for now.

2. What the hell is up with "negative nancy" and "positive paula"? I actually just made up the latter- kinda lame, any suggestions? Idk, it's kinda funny. And for icebreaker games, if you need to match your name with an adjective and these happen to be your names, you're good to go (I hope my mom doesn't get offended). I'm a huge fan of this new one though, "dumbass donald". 

Get Duuuurrrtty Girll

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I can't say where I am until I'm outta there so check back in in a couple o weeks and boom you'll get to catch up on my life.  But for the mean time, I'll keep you entertained with a preview of my life in this new LEGIT place.

This morning, I took a warm shower.  Actually the temperature was a little scalding.  And it was great.  So why am i telling you that i took a warm shower? Don't everyone take warm showers?

Answer: Negatory. 

 My first hot shower since this new place was 2 days ago, which makes today my SECOND HOT SHOWER. Which makes a total of 3 cold showers and 2 hot showers. And I flipped shit. I didn't know that a warm shower was a luxury.  I also didn't realize that toilet paper in the stall was a luxury.  Now that i think about it, being able to flush down your toilet paper is also a luxury. I'm tellin ya, we have it realll good back in da U S o A.

You know what else is ritzy? 

 Having clothes and wearing a new set of clothes everyday.  Especially if it isn't all effing navy blue (blue isnt even my favorite color. eff).  For some reason me, the ultimate over packer, underpacked and only brought either red or navy clothing (which makes life difficult when you don't wanna give into pacrim fashion so early in the trip) so I wear the same tshirt or flannel everyday for multiple ocacasions. I'm such a fashionista.

So what about laundry? 

Don't need it.  Maybe after 2-3 weeks after you've worn the same outfit for a whole week and gotten it real dirty?  At the puge,  I usually do my laundry every 3-4 weeks but then again I have like 65 pounds of clothes.  I only have like 25 pounds of clothes here.  Aka 4 shirts, 1 pair o shorts, 1 skirt, 1 flannel, 1 jacket, 5 pairs o socks, running shorts, etc. I have no clothes and don't wash them.  My clothes don't stink but lez be farealz, washing your clothes is overrated.

Gettin Dirtyyyy: Ain't no thang. 

Oh Baby Ohhhh

Don't get me wrong, but i feel like there's a general consensus that asian babies are theee cutest.

BUT did you know that of all the cute ass asian babies, Mongolians are THEEE cutest? Like Korean babies? nuh uhh. don't even. you can't compete with the buuz (pronounced "boze"- Mongolian dumplings filled with mutton) babies o Mongolia.  I feel like i've already talked about how cute the babies and kids are but golly geez they are just tooo cute!

Here's an example: on the first day of school, all the lil kiddos get dressed up in their nicest getups, like lil tuxedos for boys and cute dresses with huge ribbons on their heads for girls, and they buy flowers to take to class. to what? to give to their teachers.  If there are any hopeless romantics who need a dose of cuteness and flowers, go teach in Mongolia. You're not gonna get that from Teach for America...

Well, if you don't agree, just see for yourself weezie

Meet Fritz. She was the cab driver's daughter that dropped trou in the parking lot. She's got gumption.



The boys at the place we stopped at to ride horses, drink some more mares milk and meet the Abbot's teacher.  Black robe/green sash boy= ultimate stud. Gonna be a balla when he grows up. I thought he was 8... turned out he was 13. That makes me feel better...

Nema and the cutest little girl ever. She was singing us a song.

... even the grime of no showers and Mongolian fields can't make him any less adorbs. Not even that fake gun he's shooting me with.

Now tell me, who wants to steal a baby Mongolian?

Off to the Grass lands!

This weekend we took a fieldtrip to the ancient capital of Karakorum and stopped at the Old Man Monastery on our way. Let me tell you, I felt like I was in Microsoft XP desktop backgrounds. or better yet, the Lion King.

We went on our trip with the Abbot of Lamrim monastery and Oko and her husband.  Oko is our translator and dude she rocks. I learned some Mongolian while talking to her and let me tell you, bi Toya (' I'm Toya' in Mongolian. Toya= glitter/ sunshine. I'm not gonna argue with that name)

So on Thursday morning we left for our travel and stopped by the Rimpoche's place to get our blessings. I shook his hand. So bomb. We left for the Old Man Monastery and fast forward 5 hours and the best lunch i've ever had, we arrived at these sweet sand dunes where we rode camels and did Tai-chi on sand dunes. Freaking sweet.  We drove some more, passed some cows on the rode and arrived at the Old Man Monastery.  It was nestled in the nook between some rocky mountains and i can't describe in words how beautiful it was. A picture doesn't even do it justice. Just believe when I tell you, it was magical. The stars that night were the best stars i have ever seen. Forget you yosemite, come to Mongolia 6 hours outside of UB in the middle of the desert to see the Milky way, meteors, and stars at their best.  Our sleeping arrangements were in gerts, movable, nomadic Mongolian huts, and man, it was pretty sweet.

Rise and Shine! 8 am wake up time (like usual now) and I was greeted with a little rainstorm, followed by a rainbow.  Dude this rainbow began and ended in our rocky nook. I saw where the rainbow began and ended- thats fucking wild. so obviously that was gonna be a great day. We took a sweet hike up to the monastery and some ruins and the view from the huge mountains of rocks was phenomenal.  I feel like a broken record saying this but, man, I wish you could have been there. When we were taking a break, I also saw another rainbow thing from the reflection of the light in the sun. I know its not a "real" rainbow, but come on, 2 rainbows in a day? Jealous much? We headed to the capital that day but before arriving, we stopped by a group of Mongolians who owned lots o horses, actually the Abbot's teacher.  After taking too many pictures of ute Mongolian children, drinking fermentated mare's milk (the Mongolian summer drink), and watching people tame horses, I got to ride my own.  I know i'm allergic to horses but there was no way that i'd pass up the opportunity to ride. Mongolians are known for their horse riding and a kid like 12 years old maybe, accompanied by his like 6 year old friend led me and my horse. They rocked, haha actually i think he liked me cuz we were out for a long time.  i know i know i sound like a pedophile and might as well grow my pedastache out right now but I'm not. I swear. Too bad my ass/thighs were too big on the child sized saddle because I got some gnarly bruises in my inner thighs from that. Rough. But worth it.
We hung out at the monastery in Kharokurm that day and because we were on Mongolia time (chillin  n grillin x 5) class was cancelled. Fuck yeah. So we visited theese turtle monuments that marked Chinggis Khan's territory in the 13th century instead. Righteousss. So that night, because we had no class, we ended up having a bonfire and a DISCO NIGHT at the place we were staying/eating at. Haha right?

So experiencial learning - real class time in Mongolian grasslands = riding camels and horses, going on kewllll hikes, making friends with little Mongolian children, learning about temples, working on my handstands, dancing the night away, gerts, seeing rainbows and beautiful stars... taking a shit Can't beat that.

Oh Shit...

Joyce, one of my grandest galpals back at home cannot take shits for her life (sorry if you're reading this girl, sarang heh). I always make fun of her for it because I my bowel movements rock and I usually take a solid dump like everyday. However, we went on a fieldtrip this weekend to the grasslands of Mongolia and I did not shit for not 1 day, or 2 days, or even 3 days, but 4 freaking days! Record for Connie Suh everyone. Constipation was a huge topic of conversation for the whole weekend and i swear everytime i had to go to the bathroom, I (and others) would wonder "hmm, is today my LUCKY day?" So today, when we left to go back to UB on our 8 hour bus ride, when i finally took a poo, at my 4th attempt that morning, I was sooo happy.

Heres some thing wrong with this picture
1. I didn't shit for 4 days
2. We talked about pooping constantly, more than your average dose
3. I also had to pee outside and drop trou in behind bushes several times and I did not indeed take a shit outside like she does in Bridesmaid. However, I would have killed to do that because i thought my bowels would never move. Thats just effed up.

But this trip rocked. let me carry on on this next post. because it was the bees knees

First Day of School! and then some...

While ya'll are studying in buildings with nice carpetting, white walls, and a lovely view of flowers outside your window...

I'm studying in a monastery. Bomb. com. LamRim Monastery. It's sweet. Class schedules change but its roughly 4 hours a day (when we have class) of Tibetan Monastery. EB (elisabeth Benard, our fearless leader) is teaching the course. I don't know how to describe this but basically we walk like like 15 minutes to this monastery and learn shit. Pretty sweet.

So Pac Rim is all about being flexible.  Plans change all the time and our first week of class was a testiment to that.  Apparently Nema's the friend with the Panchen Otrul Rimpoche because they went to school together in India and his friend had to leave soon so we changed gears and got a meeting with him. OMG SOOO SWEET. Let me tell you about our journey to have a private meeting with him.  We met at the State Department Store and got divvied up into lil groups.  I was in a group with Selina and Anna and we were put into a taxi.  Note about taxis in the big M: there are no "taxis".  You stick our your hand and wave it a little and a car will pull up- if you are going his way, he will give you a ride. Anyone can be a taxi driver. Sketch as balls dude. I guess we got into a legit taxi but he had a little girl with him. She was so cute. We we drove around for like 40 minutes because he got lost so we were entertained by this girl. I named her Fritz. So effing cute. Taught her how to pound it and explode it. I'll tell you about Mongolian kids later...

Anyways we finally got to the center and had a meeting with the Rimpoche. So basically this man is a reincarnated being who has attained nirvana but takes the Bodhisattva vow to remain in samsara to help others attain nirvana.  Pretty sweet huh? He told us of his life story and then gave us advice for life. Anyways, i guess I can check that off my bucket list now.





Chinggis Khan and Lil Cawn

Mongolia Mongolia Mongolia.

The crew has arrived in Mongoria and let me tell you, it is FA REALZ.I mean its like crazy here.

For one thing, pedestrian rights do not exist. You have to run across the street and maneuver your way around cars to get to the other side of the road. Crosswalks? Those are for the weak with no agency. Your mom wasn't kidding when she told you to look left and right when crossing the street because if you dont do that here, you're done for. And no one will care. ITS SO MUCH FUN CROSSING THE STREET! haha ACTUALLY THOUGH!Yes, granted it takes out like 50% of my mental energy but its a lot of fun. Like imagine Milly Beebee driving and multiply her crazy driving by 100.  There are literally no rules for the road.  On our way to the guest house from the airport, 6 cars tried (and succeeded in) to make left turns in a traffic jam.  My words do not give Mongolian drivers justice.  They do what they want.

Secondly, theres this place called the State Department Store. It's the shit. It has all your needs and desires. Anyone seen Parks and Recreation? This is Food n Stuffs... just 6 stories tall. Rob Swanson would no nutso for this place. Especially because there's nothing organic. Its got your bookstore, laundry service, gym,grocery store, retail department, music, jewelery, cosmetics, ERYTHANG.  I'm OBSESSED. I try to find reasons to go everyday. Oh and for you alcoholics out there, theres an aisle dedicated to just vodka. Only in Mongolia can you get like a fifth of Chinggis Vodka for 4,000 tougloug (thats what the currency is called), which is roughly 4 dollaz. I'm not advertising that I'm drinking my life away. Just saying how Mongolia has some intersting finds.

Lets talk about food. You know I can't speak languages so imagine my trying to speak a slightly Russian langauge. Epic fail. So when it comes to restaurants haha it is a struggleee. Okay so theres a lot of places to eat but Mongolian food is carbs, mutton, oil, and more carbs.  I haven't eaten anything green in a long time and my body is notttt liking me for it.  So there are these dumpling things called Boaz which are real good. Mutton is huge here and theres always like some sort of meat or potato dish.  Food its a lil rough but whats funny is that when you point to something on the menu, often times the person will motion that they don't have it.  RIGHT?! Seriously, what is the point of having something on the menu if you're not gonna serve it. Its a constant guessing game ad i gotta admit, it makes Mongolia quite the wild card.

Mongolia is wild. Like I'm gonna be straight with you, its ghetto and theres dust everywhere.  Yet its so crazy that its growing on me. Like Ulaanbaatar is the biggest city in Mongolia but theres only 1 million peeps. Its tiny and you look one way and see run down buildings, another way and you see range rovers, and the other way you see the majestic hills.  What the fuck is going on? No one knows.

Back to the Motherland

Aiight so heres the deal, I don't really "blog". It seems little silly since you can totally tell people what you did in person or over the phone. But since I am going abroad, I am going let you in on my Asiatic adventures. Why? Because you, my reader, totally want to live vicariously through me and my 30 lbs backpack's (that is currently filled with 2 pairs o pantalones, 1 dress, and 4 shirts) attempts at taking asia by the balls. So here it goes...

I've been looking forward to this trip since i was a freshman and now as an upperclassman (what the eff?) I am finally departing for what has been described as a "life changing experience". We left for South Korea on monday and hung out for like 2 days. And let me tell you, those 2 days were just too much fun. Heres why.

On the first day we had,i took a group o peeps to downtown Seoul to Insadong (artsy/folksy/antique district), Myundong (shopping anyone?), and Seoul Tower (aka the Tower o Love).  So i came to visit Korea a couple of years ago and as ya'll know, my Korean is less than par. So much so that my Asianness cannot even be compared to old sis and younger broseph. However I figured, coming to Korea with a group of non-speakers would make me more useful than a kindle phrase book. And indeed I rocked that shit (kind of...). We walked and walked around downtown Seoul and it was so great. Why? Aside from looking at people and seeing how beautiful the city was, Myungdong offered a glimpse at love for me. Yes, spotted, at Coffee Bean, Korean boyfriend #1. Sexy, tall coffee shop boy. Can't say i felt sparks flying but oh boy he was a cutie. As we walked around the shopping area we also stumbled upon the CAT CAFE. YES THE CAFE CAFE WITH 20 CATS IN THE SHOP. We had to pay 8,000 wom (roughly 8 dollaz) and let me tell you, one of the best ways to spend your money is to pay 8,000 won to pet cats, get a green tea, and take pictures with more cats. Do I have allergies? Absorutery. Was it grand? Hell yeah. We walked like 2 miles and up a whole lotta stairs to get to the Seoul Tower (used to be known as Namsan Tower) and it was just lovely. Beautiful view of Seoul.  Sweet Korean drummers. Locks o Love fo dayz. Lets be real, sounds like we didn't do much but we travelled all day long and even figured out the subway system (which honestly we rode for too many hours).  I even found a soju juicebox at the convenience store. WIN! Honestly, I was laughing for ages and the lady was like "dude long day?". my response in KOREAN: "girl, you dont even know". Done and Done.

So the second day we went to the DMZ. It was a lil unsettling but super cool to see North Korea, smell it,  and be so close to it. Unsettling because it reminded me of my Korean class in highschool when we learned about Korean relations. Both negatives. Super cool because we had a super cute tour guide (Michelle) as well as a sweet US Solider tour guide (Andrew Wilson. oh what a fellow) and lets be real, got to go to the DMZ. Wilson was funny, crackin jokes here and there as he talked about North Korea. But again, it was still a somber topic of conversation at times.  So outside the giftshop (yes the DMZ has its own giftshop) one of the soldiers started to talk to me and we were chattin it up for a bit. Korean boyfriend #2 anyone? His name was Peter and he was a cutie, tall too. So bottom line, Connie found another potential Korean boyfriend... at the DMZ.  What a day. We went to Hong-dae (the university district) for dinner later that night and it was bumpin. Young people for dayz and so much energy. Overall we had a great time in Korea and I especially had a memorable time in da motherland. I mean lets be real, I found two potential Asian boyfriends. haha... I'm kidding foo.

Anyways, adventures in Korea: bomb. I'm supes looking forward to my next destination. GUYS, I'M IN ASIA! I mean, obviously, but remember that time i had the epiphany about being in the Pacific Northwest? It's like that, just it hits me that I'm studying abroad all year in different countries ALL THE TIME. Wild. I'll keep you posted homie g!