Mississippi Life

Cleaning

Two unread posts! Last week that would have been 200-300

Not my apartment, but my Google Reader, I deleted about 200 blogs that I was following.  I found that I was wasting more and more time reading various blog posts.  Most of the blogs that I deleted were concerned with photography skills and portfolios.  This is not to say that I don’t want to get better at photography or that I don’t want to continue with the hobby, but I got sick of reading the same thing everyday and felt that I was wasting a huge amount of time scanning through the blogs.  I have continued to add Korean blogs but mostly add those who are studying the language.

I was going to go through and delete a bunch of Facebook friends as well but eventually decided that I would just hide the majority of people on my friends list.

I also have plans to update this blog with a couple of new posts in the next week or so.  I usually get a couple emails a week either asking about Dongtan, Korea or from Koreans asking about Hattiesburg,MS.  I can hopefully cut down on the number of emails I receive by providing a little bit better information.

Celebrating

Daniel wasn't too excited about picking an item from the table*

The Birthday Crew. Do I stand out?

In the last couple of weeks we have celebrated a few special occasions. The first was Father’s Day. Then JJ and I celebrating our two year wedding anniversary and finally we got to celebrate the first birthday of our good friend’s child.

The birthday party was a great chance to meet some of Wanyoung and Cindy’s friends and to enjoy some fabulous Korean food.

We have become very good friends with Wanyoung and Cindy.  Wanyoung is a doctoral student at USM and he actually convinced me to get back on the tennis court.  JJ and Cindy have been spending a lot of shopping time together and this has been great for me!!!

*At the first birthday of Korean child, most parents prepare a table filled with various items.  The child is given a chance to pick an item and this is used to predict the child’s future.  For example, if the child picks money, he will be blessed with wealth or if the child picks a pencil, he will study well.

Cheering

JJ and I have been following the World Cup religiously. We have pretty much watched every match or at least the recap.  We watched Korea make it to the knock-out round and then later we watched the USA do the same.  We are both hoping that Korean and the USA advance so that they have to face each other in the next round.  I have joked that I may be sleeping on the couch after that match.  I can’t accurately describe the feeling of watching Donavan score his goal but it was similar to when I knew the Saints were going to win the Super Bowl.  Check out the video below for other fan’s reactions.

Soccer Snack

JJ and I are both excited about Saturday’s matches.  It looks like the whole day will be spent cheering on the Korean and American teams.

Cats

Just a little fun with Photoshop and layers

Corean

I have really gotten back into studying Korean and have spent time trying to develop a hardcore study-plan.  Click here to check out my Korean language page(It is still a work in progress though).  I have gotten inspired recently and have tried to at least devote an hour a day to studying.  I have been using Lang-8 to get help on some journal entries as well.  I plan to create a few Korean videos as well.  I will probably post most of these to Lang-8 or just on my You-Tube account.  I really need to work on my speaking and accent and feel that putting myself on video and getting some feedback would be a good way to get some help.  Also, if you are a frequent reader of this blog, you should expect more Korean content coming soon.