Update!

I am here in Vancouver, meaning that I have been lucky enough to experience this amazing once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (unless I move to Sochi by 2014) that is also known as: Hello, The winter Olympics is coming to your city! It’s incredible to be here, and I am a HUGE fan of the Olympics, especially the Winter ones—I really do like the fact that it brings people together. And it’s just oodles of fun to watch most of the time.

Growing up in Korea, where the rest of the world believes that it is a small country somewhere in Asia between China and Japan, that is (probably) tropical with its people never having the chance to experience things like “snow” or “ski” or “mountain sports,” (all of the rumors are wrong by the way) the winter Olympics has always kept my patriotism in its most basic form as Korean athletes skaters bring home gold medals. When you are a kid, any excuse to stay up late is a winner, so naturally I have very fond memories of building a fort of blankets with my brother in front of the TV in our living room as we watch Korean skaters (favourite being the short track relays) at obscure hours. Since then I suppose I’ve moved to Canada, and have sort of stuck between which country I should choose, should there be any matches that concern both Korea and Canada (ie: short track), but then there’s a fond memory of watching the 2002 final with a bunch of friends in McDonald’s and how appropriate was that location for an Olympic hockey final!

If you are a Vancouverite who was born in Calgary or moved there before ‘88, you probably were lucky enough to be the person to experience two winter Olympics in your lifetime, though you may or may not recall anything. I, also, was lucky enough to be in Seoul in 1988, where the summer Olympics took place. I clearly have no recollection of it, and it will be quite strange if I did because I would’ve been only 1.5 years old. So this year I have given the chance to be capable of remembering being in Vancouver during the 2010 winter Olympics and I feel pretty darn lucky. I had no idea it was so much more than just providing the facilities for the athletes to compete. And I am glad to have learned that it is more than that!

On the other sports related news, I just registered for tennis lessons starting in 2 weeks, and the inner athlete in me is quite excited.

FYI, I am awake because I have to work on a project with a super quick turnaround, and I slacked big time last night due to the hockey! Anyhow, a funny (well, at the moment, but we will see if it still is tomorrow) conversation with Tim in Germany, whose lunchtime is coming soon. Obviously our brainwaves are not the same with all this time difference!

Tim Höfer / 3:43
if you read it swiss german is pretty much the same, apart from weird wordings
but spoken it’s really like something entirely else
i can barely understand it
really, it could be dutch
Jane / 3:43
so weird.
shijt!
hahahahaha
(so pleased with that joke i just made)
Tim Höfer / 3:45
oh i thought that was a typo
Jane / 3:45
what!
Tim Höfer / 3:45
haha
Jane / 3:45
it’s my dutch joke!!!!!
Tim Höfer / 3:45
haha ok
Jane / 3:45
I can’t believe you didn’t get it
Tim Höfer / 3:46
no it was just too sublime for the humor center in my german brain
haha

Last week I was greeted by an unexpected email in my inbox one morning (I hadn’t even gotten up yet at this point, checking my mailbox from my phone). It was from one of my uncles living in Seoul, and it started something like this: “Didn’t I tell you I would write to you when I learn how to use a computer? So here it is, my very first email.”
A sense of proud with a hint of cheekiness.

Two summers ago, while visiting my family in Seoul, I dropped by his place one day to say hello. He informed me that he had just started learning how to use a computer, What’s your email address? I am going to send you an email, he said. I wrote him my address neatly on a tiny piece of paper, and didn’t really think much of it after.

If you got to this very page on your own, you probably write and receive a number of emails everyday, and it’s definitely a huge part of our lives. But when anyone first learns to write an e-mail (how sensational was that word), I think it is a big deal. But here is why this might a bigger deal to him, and to me—my uncle was born with poor eyesight, and  now no glasses will able him to see. But when he could at least wear a very thick pair of glasses and get his way around, he managed to move to Paris and study music, which is a very admirable thing to do.

Now that he’s the master of the voice recognition program, I believe I’ve became his pen pal. I don’t mind, in fact I’m thrilled. I’d already promised him to describe Yuna Kim’s performance in the upcoming winter Olympics (3 days, oooooh!) in a great detail!

In a peasantish style: leftover soup from yesterday and cauliflower and potato gratin both from this blog. The gratin has everything I love, including leeks and Gruyère!

Today I’ve sent a bunch of gifts for my brother and his two flatmates who were kind enough to let me stay with them for super long.

It’s Sunday and I had a really nice lazy, but not lazy enough to be sloppy kind of a Sunday. I missed being in London, because this kind of Sunday probably would be best spent in London. It’d be like this: A chilly but nonetheless refreshing run at Hyde Park to begin the morning, then to a Sunday market (where I will probably get a bunch of tulips and a homemade scone) followed by a modest but delicious brunch at a small cafe with a patio. Then when back at home, I’d be spending my late afternoon baking a batch of blueberry muffins and/or cooking a not exactly extravagant but not a whipped up dinner either kind of a meal with the plenty of leftovers for the next day. That is a nice day.

St. Valentine’s day is coming up! Why don’t you send your loved one a secret note.

I’ve never been a huge Valentine’s day person but it gives me a perfect reason to make cards so I’ve always made little notes to give to friends and families every year. One year I gave friends a sweet comic strip from The Peanuts, another year the card from The Simpsons, “I choo-choo-choose you!.”

I’ve initially made these for friends then I decided to stock a few on my Etsy shop! I will be actually sending this card to your lover/friend/family for you, completed with your oh-so-secretive message! I like the idea of being the messenger, sending the love note on behalf of someone. It’s always nice to spread the goodness around.

Greetings!

So I’ve gotten back from my short trip to Berlin yesterday. I think it was one of the coldest places I’ve ever been in my entire life actually. But everyone just dresses extra warm, go out and do their things unlike some of us who just drop everything the moment there is a hint of snow, haha. So despite the weather, I’ve flown in and out with no complications and had a great time.

I didn’t end up going to the Berlin wall nor the Jewish memorial, partly due to the weather. The only museum I went was the German History Museum, which was great!! I highly recommend it as a place to go on your first day in Berlin, because one will get so much sense of Germany right from the beginning up to fairly current. I really had no idea how little I knew about Germany! Besides, it’s only 5 Euros, which is a lot cheaper than a lot of other galleries and museums. An ancient pocket calendar, Prussian uniforms, A Napoleon portrait… Things were superb and overwhelmingly inspirational.

Another thing made my trip to Berlin great was Berliner Weisse mit Schuss. Translate: Berliner White with shot! Berliner Weisse is a kind of wheat beer that is light and sour-tasting, and is apparently mixed with a shot of raspberry syrup or woodruff (I still have no idea what the heck that is). The end result is this delicious (dessert-like) beer, that Berliners love to drink on a hot summer’s day! When I first ordered it, This pink “beer” with a lot of foamy head was handed to me in a round beer glass, and with a straw. For a moment, I thought it was my server’s way of saying I am an utter amateur, who doesn’t know how to drink German beer properly. It does looks like a total girl beer or something like that (if there is such a thing), but because I have such a low tolerance, having a deliciously refreshing beer that is so drinkable, with its low alcohol content (3%) was amazing! Besides, the taste is great, as well. I know so many people who would like it back home! I wanted to bring a keg home so we can all drink this in July on a patio (of someone else’s since I don’t have one). Besides, it is an astonishing 65 Euro cents a bottle from a supermarket!!! I was so happy to find it in a duty free shop (I know, only Germans would do this), so I brought two bottles with me. I think I will not drink it until the hottest day of the year 2010.

Woo, the first entry in London with pictures!

My parents have came and went and my family had a fantastic Christmas! I’ve managed to successfully roast my very first turkey on Christmas, well, a turkey crown to be exact, during their stay. I honestly had no idea how to roast a perfect turkey so I’d decided to rely on the random recipe I found on the British turkey farmers association website (haha) and smothered it with garlic butter and parsley and it was delicious! This tiny 3lb turkey crown (turkey breasts really) cost me nearly ten pounds, (which is around 17 bucks Canadian) and it was honestly the smallest darn thing I could find in the store. But boy, it was worth it, I don’t think I’ve ever had such moist white turkey meat!

Because this was the very first Christmas meal I had to make on my own, I decided to stick with classic dishes, like roasted carrots and parsnips, roasted turnips with brown sugar, sage and onion stuffing, sweet peas and mashed potatoes with garlic. I think that next year, if I was given an opportunity to cook a Christmas meal again, I would include more interesting dishes. The family had to serve the turkey with Kimchi, which is something I never eat usually but also something I’ve been seeing and eating every day since I’ve came here. It’s strange.

Portobello Road Market–not exactly what I had imagined but still a fun experience! I’ve got a really nice first day of issue envolope from the 70’s I can’t wait to bring home to.

Luckily we’ve had a few good days while my parents are visiting so we went on a London Eye flight which was still as high and scary but exciting as ever!