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.