A Lioness

I wanted to share a funny story. Since I work at a company that makes educational apps for kids I'm confronted with a lot of mommy bloggers, toys and other such cute things. Today it reminded me of my time teaching English in South Korea.

After finishing my degree and being in a strange place in my life I thought it best to leave the country, my then-boyfriend (now husband), family and all things familiar to head to a place where pretty much everything was new to me. I arrived in Jochiwon (the little rural - not like South Africa rural at all) town in the land-locked province of Chungnam-do in South Korea on a Friday in early April 2011.

After a weekend of major regret and despair at not knowing anyone, having very little money or idea where I was, what to eat, how to interact with people (rural areas don't have very many English speaking natives), I started school.

My first period was spent with a kindergarten class (reception), aged between 5 and 6. They spoke no English and for many if not all of them this was their first time seeing and interacting with someone who was not Korean (looking, acting, sounding, smelling, being) like them.

To put the rest of my story into context, I have very curly below-the-shoulder length hair and its pretty humid that time of year. I'm a wash and go kinda girl (like most people with curly hair and a little time). I walked into class with a big smile on my face and once little girl locked eyes with me and burst into hysterical tears.

I was mortified. Had I done something to offend the delicate culture and habits of the Korean people? Of course she spoke no English and I couldn't figure out what was wrong. A Korean teacher from the classroom next door popped her head in to see what the hysteria was about. She spoke very gently and calmly to the little girl about what had upset her so much. There was a lot of pointing at me. I was sure I would be deported soon.

The Korean teacher, who spoke some broken English (Engrish - as she put it) giggled and said so as not to offend me, "She scared. You have yellow eyes and big hair. You look like lion."

The class giggled, so did I. Relieved. I invited her to touch my hair to calm her nerves and that was that. Needless to say I had my hair straightened for the rest of my stay in Korea.

Before (Not my own hair but close enough)

(Half way through my year long stay)

My desktop today...

Reminder: I work for a children's app development company. Xander the dinosaur is our mascot.



http://xander.co.za/

My Day

• 5:45am - Woke up, looked for the cat, snoozed
• 5:55am - Woke up, attempted to open Facebook, snoozed
• 6:05am - Woke up, opened Facebook, kissed my husband good morning, snoozed
• 6:15am - Woke up, rushed to the shower
• 6:16am - Showered
• 6:25am - Brushed teeth, combed knots out of hair
• 6:30am - Got dressed (Leggings, white shirt and blue pumps)
• 6:40am - Scrummaged with the fridge for leftover food to take for lunch (Found salad and some pasta)
• 6:45am - Fed the cats, opened windows, kissed husband goodbye
• 6:46am - Left for work
• 6:56am - Arrived at work
• 7:02am - Checked emails (ignored many)
• 7:05am - Took daily vitamins, checked Facebook and Twitter
• 7:15am - Replied to some emails
• 7:30am - Worked... (bleh)
• 12:18pm - Considered lunch
• 12:30pm - Had lunch and caught up with colleagues about the weekend.
• 13:30 - Pretended to work.
• 14:00 - Worked.
• 17:00 - Left the office.
• 17:15 - Sat in traffic.
• 17: 30 - Got home.
• 17:32 - Hugged cats.
• 17:33 - Kissed husband.
• 17:50 - Smoked a hubbly (lemon flavour)
• 18:30 - Watched MasterChef Australia
• 19:15 - Made Steak and salad for dinner.
• 20:00 - Watched Greys Anatomy (cried in between - the episode was very emotional)
• 21:00 - Had some chocolate I found at the back of the cupboard.
• 22:30 - Went to bed.

5 Places I'd like to visit

One of the things I would love to do for the rest of my life is to be a traveller. I have a strong need to see the world, meet new people, eat good food and try new things.

As far as my current travel history I've visited South Korea (taught there for a year as a Native English teacher), Boracay - Philippines, Amsterdam & Rotterdam - The Netherlands and Paris - France.

Here are a few places I'd love to visit and why:

1. Italy (Food, food, food)

2. India (Culture & food)

3. Mozambique (Culture, the beach, food)

4. Bali (The sea)

5. Singapore (Everything...)

Some day soon.

Like vs Dislike

Likes (in no particular order)

1. Pickles
2. Cats
3. Dogs
4. Bright Colours
5. MasterChef Australia
6. Campfires
7. Fresh fruit
8. Sleep
9. My husband
10. The smell after it rains

Dislikes (In no particular order)

1. Nightclubs
2. Clutter
3. Sweet potato
4. Mosquitos
5. Ignorant people
6. Slow drivers in the fast lane
7. Very full beaches
8. Panna cotta (weird texture)
9. Rude children

10 Things

I've decided to elicit the help of a 30 Day Blogger challenge and Day 1 is "List 10 things about you"... Here goes.

1. I am the eldest of 5 siblings. 
2. I LOVE pickles.

1. I work for an app development company.
2. I distrust people who don't like animals.

1. I got a tattoo while drunk on the beach in the Philippines.
2. I wanted to be a Neurosurgeon when I was a child.
3. I've recently started to love wearing black, white, grey and navy clothes.
4. I have dreams in languages I don't understand.
5. Kourtney is my favourite Kardashian.

1. I used to be a competitive first aider.

That's all.

Follow @boringcatlady

The hobby dilemma

I'm 26 years old and thought for a good 10 minutes the other day when someone asked me what my hobbies are. While it seems like a very primary school type question to ask someone it made ma feel rather insecure about what I like doing for fun if anything at all.

In my free time I clean my house, do grocery shopping, playing with my cats and watch TV (occasionally I take the time to prune my balcony herb garden). How absolutely boring!?

I'm on a quest to find a stimulating and productive pastime. I started colouring. I've always loved it and there is some sense of accomplishment when you finish that super intricate pattern; but I cant say I'm particularly stimulated. 

I've now considered photography. Im a bit skeptical (as I am about everything that is new. I should name this blog Cynical Cat Lady). Im a "Happy Snapper" now and then I get a good angel and light but I'm not a technical person and am happy to capture memories rather than great light. But, I am going to try. Really try. 

Wish me luck.

Follow @boringcatlady

Ending a dry spell

I never hoped or planned to be one of those pathetic chops who start a blog in hopes that their lives would be so ridiculously interesting that they would have tons to blog about and the world be waiting with bated breath to read their next post; but I was. And to my utter dismay and delight more times than not, my life was and is in fact, the exact opposite. Plain, boring and rather un-blog-worthy.

While I've grown a bit (both in physical size and maturity, I think) and now realise and have accepted how perfectly average my life it; a lot has happened since my last blog post. The world has changed, I've moved to the beautiful, sleepy town of Stellenbosch in the Cape Winelands, got two new cats (Mya and Maddy), started 2 new jobs and I am now someone's wife.

My new hope for sharing my life in all its average glory is less about my hopes of blogging fame and more about putting my often absurd and boring thoughts into some kind of context. Looking back on other entries on this page I see how I've grown up, things that mattered 3 years ago are but a pin drop in the larger scheme of my life.

I'm now in my mid-20s with a husband and 2 fury babies, a job I love and live in a wine lovers dream town. Im more comfortable with my lack of fashion sense, tight thighs and tiny flat. I appreciate having my own space, a space I can proudly say I worked for and got. My husband is both source of all things good in life and my biggest challenge. There is NEVER a dull moment (even the dull one's are pretty exciting). All my siblings are officially grown (which makes me feel a bit old). I'm still pretty lazy about working out but see the long term value in it more than I did before. I work with a group of the most driven, intelligent people I've ever met and they often challenge me to keep up (which I love).

I've made new friends and lost some (a blog topic on its own if you ask me). I often find myself bobbing and weaving through feeling like I lack major life purpose and goals to feeling like I've conquered smaller goals daily to take me to the next big thing. While I feel a little more in control of my life (I'm a self-professed control freak) I must admit to still being a typical 20-something feeling all kinds of insignificant at times and other times like I've got it all figured out.

Meh, enough random thoughts. The dry spell is broken and I'm looking forward to sharing more in the coming weeks and months.

Something fun to read http://thehautemess.com/the-daily-dilemmas-of-an-indecisive-20-something/

Follow @boringcatlady