cookimon's cookie jar

...

2008-02-06T08:13:00.000-08:00

The tears we shed in our sleep are the only genuine tears we shed in our lives. The waking tears are self-pity.

lapse of memory

2008-02-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

My last Stammtish in Jyvaskyla~!!! The theme was 'carnival'. Well, to tell the truth, I have only heard about it through some fancy pictures in travel books and a famous(one of my favorites) Korean band. So... what is a carnival? According to my handy-dictionary I see infront of me, right now, it is a public festival, usually one that happens at a regular time each year, that involves music and dancing in the streets, for which people wear colorful clothes... and for Catholic meaning, it is a crazy 3-day festival comes before the Lent. Since during the Lent, people were banned to eat meat and so that's why people wanted to enjoy themselves with meat and have fun. Rio de Janeiro is famous for it. Ok... but sorry for the description, I wore black clothe...kkkk.... and Stefy wore her curtain-sari(Indian traditional costume)~ and for her earing, she wore Korean ornament, No-ri-gae.

On the way to the campus... I loved the colors of the houses... with snowy scenery.

People could be classified by the times they live in. In my mother's case, she lives in the past. For my brother, I beilieve he lives in the future... and for me, I thought I live just now, in the present... But thesedays, I feel like I am stuck in the middle of past and present. I keep on seeing the illusions of my past days... and it's hurting me alot. It's hurting me by itself, but also, it makes my heart ache with the fact that it is fading and loosing it's color. The vividness of those days are fading... The fact it's fading.... makes me crazy... and acute pain occur that 'past is past and never can be brought as it was now anymore'.

There was a poet who sang that the spring is ruthless, cruel season. And I beilieve so. Why everhthing seems so new and full of energy while I am not so? Spring let the miserable one excluded from the changing world. Sometimes... when I feel so hopeless, I start to see myself hating newly sprouting cute baby-greens. Yes, I am jealous of them. They have enough reason to be watched amiably, but I stare at them with hate.

It's stupid to flow away precious 'present' by wasting podering about pasts of futures... I know.. I know... but why can't help it? Oh... my...

About Taking Pictures

2008-01-26T08:45:00.001-08:00

Once, I thought taking pictures by cameras would copy what I see in the exact same way...
But it wasn't true. Whether it can be quite similar to what I watch, the picture could not contain or tell anything about what I felt at that moment vividly. It can only provoke the past memories which are changed alot in my faded memory. Since, we are mortal and cannot resist keep on changing, we might hang desperately to photos... to snap the 'moment' we like to keep.

Well... well... Sometimes ago, someguy told me that it is worth to pay attention to what we see and spend moretime with our eyes.... and try to catch what we see but waht we feel and think with the scenery. I beileve that's quite true in some sense. Of course, due to my poor, poor picture skills, just watching would far better to do than taking photographs... hehe. However, these days, I want to learn to take photos which contain what I feel... I want to take photos which do not just copy, but tell some stories... like paintings...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Little Prince... When I was 6th grade, I was mad about the world we leave. Why can't everyone just leave like a little prince? Why? We could be nice and pure to one another and simply the world would be a nice place to stay. Haha... I was naive, too much naive. Now, I've changed alot. I don't admire the little prince anymore. Actually, I do hate hime now. I envy his purity. How could...?! I hate him. I hate his innocence. Want to assert that he is just being a hypocrat who wants to be loved by everyone. We cannot beloved by all... why don't you know? I hate the little prince since I am jealous...

Conslation

2008-01-24T11:17:00.000-08:00

It's so hard or never possible to put oneself up after a serious heart break...

Spring봄
(lyric from one of Korean singers I like...)

하루종일 그대 생각 뿐입니다
All day long, I think of you
그래도 그리운 날은 꿈에서 보입니다
Still I can see you in my dreams

요즘의 사람들은 기다림을 모르는지
People in theses days seems not to know 'how to wait'
미련도 없이 너무 쉽게 쉽게 헤어집니다
They say good-bye too... easily without lingerings

여름이 가고 가을오면 원망도 깊어져 가요
When summer goes and autumn comes, bitterness grows
겨울이 지나 봄이 오면 또 기다릴 수 있겠죠
When winter goes and spring comes, I can wait for you once more

그대와 나 사이 눈물로 흐르는 강
Flowing tear river between you and me
그대는 아득하게 멀게만 보입니다
You seems to be so far away

올 해가 지나면 한 살이 또 느네요
I become one more years-old when this year passes
그래도 다행인 것은 그대도 그렇네요
Nevertheless, a happy feature in a misfortune, you are so, too...

.
.
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그리 쉽게 잊지 않을 겁니다
I cannot forget you that easily...

p.s. really want to put the song in this blog, but don't know how.

fleeting days...

2008-01-13T09:13:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the friends who probably expected my pictures from my winter break. BUT do not worry. I will sure to put them up one by one afterwards~ Just I need some time to restore my thoughts and make my emotion stable..

I have one more month in Jyvaskyla and it's 31days which can be transfer into 744hours!!!
That's quite a lot! Isn't it? However... that there is an definite 'end' cannot be changed. Of course, there should be an end if there is a start. Well, it's a pity about the limited time of my staying here, though it isn't the topic I wanted to talk about now. Hm... well, it can be in some sense related. Well... Well...

What should I do before I perish to be able to say "I am satised with my life" at the end?

Stay healthy...
Hang around with my real good friends...
Prepare my thesis for the master's degree...
Meet someone I truely love and have a happy family...
Be successful in the worklife...
Earn lot of money and spend them for my joy~ (this is nice, indeed)
Watch great things, eat delicious food, put on luxiourious stuff...
Travel around the world and experience various, interesting things...

and after that?

I thought about 'death' quite a lot, still I don't have an answer to it.
Should I flip it away like Confucius did, "If you have time to think about death, do something better to live better when you are alive"... To tell the truth, the quotation is not the exact one he said. It's my version... haha. Still, human are mortal, I am sure this would be neverending questioned topic.

After all, I believe that people can only remain forever in other people's hearts...

So let us LOVE one another.

p.s. Though I say good things like above, in reality, I am just a shabby one who struggle with really trivial, minor, childish things... shame on me!!! haha T T

A dog's barking philosophy....

2007-12-06T13:30:00.000-08:00

LOVE... hm. Well, thesedays, quite a lot of people around me(including me, of course) are thinking about the same thing.

There are many kinds of love, but now, I want to talk about the "eros" between two lovers. The theme 'love' is too prevalent that it sounds stale and makes us sneer at it. But things turn different when it comes to right to you. Yes... it's kind of self-contradictory, but it's true. In Korea, we say that when it comes to oneself, it is 'beautiful romance' and to other one, it is 'dirty cheating'. haha...well, it's not the point I want to talk about. I just wanted to emphsize how much one could be blind when the one falls in love with someone.

It's too hard to meet someone just fit to one. How could one know? Well...it's tricky to answer. Even everyone says that the guy you are going out is totally a freak, if he is OK for you, and seems cute, it means 'fits you'. But better hope not so, since the relationship without any approval from people around is too hard to maintain.

Love relationships are like betting for me. Well...we should bet our belief without firm conviction. And usually, when things turn to amiss, the winner in the love game is the one who doesn't love the other more... funny... but the one who holds the power and upper status is the one who love less. But please not try to be winner in the love games... it's not romantic at all if you do so. Sometimes... loosing is better, isn't it??

Well...well, however, actually, I envy those who are still enthusiastic seeking for one's lover. I envy those who love without considering the reality... Once, I believed I also had such passion and zeal...but I feel they are all gone... I am worned out. It feels all one to me. I am empty and need to be filled... haha. Well, maybe better just staying empty. Not sure...

People say that one should be careful in choosing lovers and be picky to choose the 'right' one. But...sometimes, I dream about just falling in love with someone just too madly to calculate things, like in common romantic movies. I am tired of our world's snobbish love relationships... hate it, still cannot get rid of it... shame on me. Could there be someone who love me un-conditionally? (execpt my mother and brother... hehe.) To tell the truth... I don't think so. I cannot beileve in love, till now. Could someone change me? Could I be changed?

Focaccia & Frittele

2007-12-06T06:08:00.000-08:00

12/5~!!! This day was full of Italian cuisine~!!! Stefania, once more started cooking and this time, she made three kinds of Italina food!!! (I am just so lucky to have her as my roomate!) In this blog, I happen to load only two kinds, however, there was one more cuisine before focaccia and frittele! I forgot the name of it, but it looked like this(It's not my own picture...). It was beef meatballs and tasted perfect! Beef, garlic, cheese, egg... all the good stuff were in there~ I think I don't need to worry about my nutritions living with Stef!

Although I scraped this picture from google, it really resembles Stef's one!

It was a dough... kneaded almost an hour!!! Stefania really did some work on it! After kneading about an hour, she told me that she understands why her mother was reluctant to bake something needs kneading works. I was quite glad to hear what she is preparing, since I knew what 'focaccia' was! It was one of my favorite selection in the backery in front of my uni. in Korea. I love focaccia's tasty, a little bit salty, plain, ingenious flavor! Well, well, this dough is destined to be a fabulous focaccia afterwards!

moving in to the oven after shaped up.. :)

Don't be worried. It's not parted focaccia! haha~ It's another kind of Italian food named Frittele. We use the same dough which is used to bake focaccia, and it's a variation version. Instead of baking, it is fried in oil. Stefania explained me that Frittele is a typical food which is made in her region on 12/8 for the saint Immaculata(It is also my cousin's Catholic name!)

It's our little version of focaccia~(forgot how to say focaccia in 'female' version!) We were sooo full, but kept on eating as usual...kkkkk (Really, now, I've got to worry about fitting in my clothes!) They were so good to resist! I'm sure that if Stefania helped the witch from Hanzel and Gretel, the witch probably succeed to make Hanzel chubby enough to eat up! Stefania has a gift in cooking!

Stef's upside-down focaccia!!! As it looks perfect, it tasted just perfect!

Trying to photo three of us but I covered our baby focaccia~

Happy with food... (EJ, you look too happy...;;;;)

My flat chef!!! STEFANIA!!! I am so happy to have the chance to taste 'live', 'real' Italian dishes! Thank for my roomy! I feel sorry for the guys who missed this opportunity~ haha! Well, want them? You need to visit our flat just in the right time! :)

Carpe diem!!!

2007-12-02T14:36:00.000-08:00

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now
Is hung with bloom along the bough,
And stands about the woodland ride
Wearing white for Eastertide.

Now, of my three score years and ten,
Twenty will not come again,
And take from seventy springs a score,
It only leaves me fifty more.

And since to look at things in bloom
Fifty springs are little room,
About the woodlands I will go
To see the cherry hung with snow.

A. E. Housman

24th or 25th??

2007-11-30T14:06:00.000-08:00

OH MY~! I WAS REALLY SO MOVED~! Can hardly believe that my one year being older was celebrated and congratulated by so much people!!! And the most important thing is that they are all my beloved friends in Jyvaskla! My days in Jyvaskyla are painted with joy, laughter, and love thanks to my beloved dear friends. They surprised me in the midnight(the point turning to 11/29, at sharp) knocking(belling;;;) on my door!!! And when I opened, there they were! God~ I was truly tooooooo ready in my pajamas with perfect hair, and all the loundary hanging across my room! Really... as I get older, as time passes by, my zeal goes down and my butterflies has been flying away by one by one and it makes me harder to be excited as I used to be in my younger years. Others might say that I looked depressed in some extent for that, however, the very night, when everybody crashed into my place with overflowing love, I felt like I am a 7 or 8 years old girl!!! Thank you!!!

Lost my words with joy...(LOOK! I WAS JUST TOO READY...haha!!!!)

My singing dear roomate~ Being with her, nobody can be depressed!

Moonju & Me in the 2007's last Stammitsch...

ME & Deiana

Doing some martial activities. (Don't beileve!!! You know!!!) Well, I was dancing, but it's so funny that this picture was taken at the moment when I seem to do such YONG KUAN(a typical Chinese fictional, perhaps non-fictional, martial. You can see a picture follwing to check how does it looks like. HAHA).

Birthdays~!!!

2007-11-26T05:37:00.000-08:00

Jenny & I & Aure! Yeah~ we are the big girls!

Me & Jenny before starting our shared birthday party in my place~ Yes, we are getting one more year, going up one more step to be mature~ (hope...kk). When I was teen, I always admired being 24... I thought I would be real 'grown-up' at the age, which turned up to be far from true. Now, I dream of being 30. Will then I be a 'grown-up'? Well... nobody knows. People usually become a bit blue when they are talking about getting aged. It's a matter of fact that our physical status will be different from past days, however, I don't think that's a thing to morn. I love being aged. Of course, getting aged with 'grace' is important. Accepting our age and behaving according to the given age with generosity seems to be 'a sensible grown-up' to me. If life is enternal and youth is as well, our life wouldn't be anymore beautiful as ours now. Flowers are beautiful and object to admire since it is mortal... The time at this moment is precious for it will be not there anymore if it passes... so... Carpe diem!!!!

Korean & German food at the same time. Couldn't believe Moonju cut the vegetable for "JJOL noodle" that thin! Wow~ JJOL means in some sense 'shrinking & not cutting off easily'. Some people described it as Korean pasta(spaghetti, perhaps), but it is a lot different frome that~ You've known it after eating that, kkk. Needs quite a effort to chew that~

Thank you, Lisa~!!! Thanks to you, I could get rid of at least 6 worries of my life! That's quite a lot!!! Wow~ I am going to be a real happy, worriless EJ!

Thak you, Selin! I will remember you everytime whenever I wear this~ I am longing summer time to wear this with my white tops!!! It will be great alongside blue beach!!! It's a pity that Turkey is quite far from Korea! Still, be sure! I will visit Turkey and see you in near future! (I really should try hard now to become a teacher soon, so that I could afford my trip to you!)

Yup~ I am sure this will be my number1 precious when I go back Korea and fill it with our sparkling, beautiful memories... thanks.

Thanks for everything!!! I am a lucky girl with you guys here!!! :)

Selin's~!!!

2007-11-21T15:43:00.001-08:00

Yesterday(11/21), I went over to one of my cute & kind friend's. She is living in Myllyjarvi(not sure about spelling, again...) in Jyvaskyla and it was, for me, a quite journey to get there on icy road. Actually, I have been Selin's once before in September(or October..) but the air of going there totally changed since then and I could'nt help thinking that time flies.... why are you in so hurry, TIME? Nobody will catch you... can't, I mean.

At last! I've arrived!!! (the poster is on Lisa's door: she's Selin's lovely roomate from France.) It was really interesting that she was fond of Japanese comics(Manga) which I am also fond of. I am in the circle(club in the university) of manga...kk We talked over some characters' name. God! I feel like it has been thousand years from when I drew manga in zeal... My memories are scattering...

Selin.. preparing our Turkish dinner! I helped and learnt how to cook Pilav & typical Turkish cusine made with chicken, pea, onion, tomato :)

Again, Selin... She's a real good cook! She's so tender and sweet~ I think I am a lucky girl since I could meet her and get to know her in the second class of my survival Finnish course! The course was painted with joy thanks to her, really! Truly happy to have her as a friend! (I am worried that it might sound superficial and fake... but it's real, believe.)

Funny cave man on yogurt bucket. From real Turish girl saying that, he isn't a bit looking like a Turkish. From where do you think he come? Mistery...kkk. The yoghurt was indeed nice. It was thicker than any other yoghurt I tried and it tasted almost like cream cheese, but really went well with pilav! Although the product itself is quite good, we worried that the picture may give wrong stereotype to the people buying it that all Turkish men look like the cave man! I hope the company would change the model soon.

Pilav & chicke, pea, tomato, onion dish! Lovely. Lovely. And truly healthy! Well, it was also interesting that there is totally different way to cook rice! We poured hot, boiling water into raw rice and left it about 15 minutes. After removing the water, we sauted the rice with butter(if you prefer to eat healthy, you could use olive oil instead). Then, we pour hot water into it more and put on the small fire about 20minutes or so until there appear holes through the rice. The procecure is different from Korean way and it was really nice, too! I am sure to prepare the same dishes to my family when I get back.

Selin, pumping air bed for me. We thought it would take a thousand year to build it up, but it took about 2hours...(still a long way~ kkk) Well, still, we succeeded and I could sleep in pieace comfortably! Thanks for your favor! And also thanks to Lisa for helping us building up the bed and encouraging use when we almost gave up! haha~ :D

I slept with all the happiness in the world~!!!

sent a parcel to mom & brother

2007-11-14T11:23:00.000-08:00

Since I know that it would take a long, long, long time for some parcels to arrive at Seoul, the capital of South Korea, I decided to send some presents for Christmas for my brother & mom. I was having some tough time determining what to send them, becuase it was quite uneasy for me to think about something stand for Finland which it not for eating. Both of my mom and brother prefer practical things than food.

Well.... I already bought some eye glass cases for both of them, but really wanted to present them something special and typical in Finland... So... I ended up buying two cute cups, afterall. I know it's very boring choice, and not funny... still, well, it would be special when those get to Korea safely! (Hope my family would recieve each of them in one piece!!!! Although I wrapped it with air pumped wrappers I am dreadly worried about them...)
This one is for my dear brother, Jung Whan (If you want to call him as the way you guys call me, by the initials, he would be JW...kkk). Actually there is a famous comedian entertainer(He was also once in a popular pop music group...believe or not...) in Korea whose name is identical with him, though he isn't that person for sure!!! In thesedays, my brother is having hard time... searching a right occupation for his aptitude, taste. Cheers! JW! You can make it!

And this is for sure... for my lovely, tender, and soooo nice mom. I miss her too much that I can't even try to say her that I miss her since it could not carry my heart. I would live a perfect life if I can be a mother like mine. Love, Love, Love... That's all I can come up to when I think of her.

I know that you are wondering why there's a book of Japanese writer here. Yeah... well, I didn't send this one for my family. I even don't have the book! However, it is the book what I read quite recently in Korea and which I thought was nice... Actually I like the writer and he's way of writing. Plots of his novels are really unique and makes our world seem to be strange. He has the power the make the reader feel to be a stranger in the world we are living... I felt like breathing some other world when I was reading his novel, and can totally concnetrate on the novel and forget about complicated and somewhat annoying stuff that bugs me. Haruki also have the ability to make real sensational sentences, and I couln't resist enjoying them. OK. Untill now, it was all flattering my one of favorite writer.

Why? Why? Why did I put this book here?

I will answer in a second. Wait.

Well...

Yeah... It is related to Mummin cup I put up there.

I didn't believed it first, but...

Mummin cup appears in the book.

Yes, the character named SAKURA owns one Mummin cup... and here, once again, I can feel that all entities, things are related to one another in this small, small, small, perhaps crapy... world. It's crapy, but I love crapy world.

Our first snow man~!!!

2007-11-07T12:23:00.000-08:00

Who is this charming guy??? Yeah.... it's our first snow man! Though the snow was not quite enough to make a big, bluffy, pure white snow man, we worked to make him up! For me, it was almost been 18 years.... (here comes some hint for my age T ^ T ) making a sow man. The snow of today's was easy to stick together and we happen to role a ball to build it's body. Snow is not that light! It's truly heavy when it come to stick together into a bulk! Even rolling on the ground is tough thing to do, for sure! Well, well, Vivi, Jennifer, and I were the ones who made him. Jennifer suggested to make a snowman to me, and without any hesitation, I was happy to join her~ It's rather funny that Jennifer and I were the first people, not others, who wanted to build a snowman because she and I are elders among our group of friends who gather frequently. Some sense, we could be seen childish, BUT it's not true. We are just being pure as children and being energetic! Don't keep stale prejudice on us!

Our snowman smokes.... and if you see him closely, he has red nose! He is drunken as well... wow, what a real mannish snowman he is!

Jennifer and Vivi working on...

I and Vivi and our cute man! Though he is small, he is so charming~!!!

Jennifer and Jukko Passanen... (not sure about spellings, again.) Jenny gave our man Finnish name~ Jukko... kkkk.

After finishing our job, we acknowledged that Jukko's eyes are looking somewhat sad. He's eyes are filled with some melancholiness... so Vivi tried to cheer him up with her warm hug~! With Vivi, our Jukko really looks alive with his emotion!

Snow, snow, snow

2007-11-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

사랑 <--- It's "love" in Korean. We read it 'SA RANG'. It's a noun. If you want to say "I love you", just add 'HE' at the end. SA RANG HE... We should try to say this phrase a lot to people around us. Some shy lovers or family members say that saying this too much fades the feeling it must carry, though I believe the opposite way. "SA RANG HE" , "SA RANG HE", "SA RANG HE"~ Let's not spare this good heart-warming phrase.

... a bike trail & foot prints on fair snow.

Snow. Seeing snow in the middle of November is quite striking experience for me. Usually, I didn't like snow when I was living in the huge city, Seoul, for it gets dirty too easily and the color of snow is always turns to filthy grey soon. But, here, in Finland, there is another story!!! Pure, white, crispy snow exist! Yeah... good to see it.

Crepe from Bretagne~!!!

2007-11-06T10:23:00.000-08:00

Are you familiar with the region on the map and the flag which stands for it? Well~! It's Vivi's home region named Bretagne! The region famous for it's Crepe(pencake)!!! Vivi's boyfriend brought some buckwheat flour for Vivi, and everyone could enjoy Vivi's incredible, delicious, truly tempting pencake! I think I am real forunate girl~ It was of course great pleasure to taste real good pencakes of Vivi's~ I am moved... haha~

I heard that dark colored flour made from buckwheat have quite various darkness in terms of its extent. I was puzzled to see dark wheat, but now, after looking up what is 'buckwheat' in the net, I was surprised that it's rather familiar ingredient for Koreans, too. Actually, Koreans usually make noodles out of buckwheat. It's color is dark brownish grey and we usually prepare cold noodles with it which goes along with soy-sauce-based soup. Yeah... it sounds it cannot provoke appetite that much, still, it's nice when we try it in the summer. I think the dish is also familiar to Japanese(not sure where the dish originated from..kkk). HOWEVER! The pencake or crepe from Bretagne was honestly soooooooooooooooooo GREAT! I think I will miss it too much and try to make it by my own self some other times. I love how it is chewed in the mouth and gives some crispy sensation with it's thin layers as well as chewy cheese in it! The picture over this is my first pencake filled with egg & cheese. Simply I LOVED it!

This one is light colored pencake which said to go along with sweet filling. I just put some honey on it! I was impressed how thin the pencake was! In Korea, when I think about pencakes, I can only come up to some American pencakes which is real thick to compare to French's and only to be sweet with some grizzy sense... I definitely prefer French pencake! It's tastes more healthy for me(though it may not be that much true...kkk) and gives cozy sense. The thiness of the pencake was the point which I was impressed with! Vivi! You've really worked for it! I know how it is hard to bake thin wheat sheets because there is also some Korean food which uses very very very thin wheat sheets~ (Koreans put 8kinds of fillings for it. It is one kind of cuisine that was only prepared in royal family long time ago. Usually the fillings were beef, carrot, cucumber, eggs in strips: devided to white & yellow, mushrooms... some other vegetables...) We also can use very very thin layers of white radish seasond with sweet veniar instead of thin layers of wheat sheets. Following is the dish I mentioned. It nees much effort to prepare this one... So, I can easily imagine how Vivi struggled in the kitchen standing in front of fire! Thank you Vivi!

HAPPY...!

LUCKY~

2007-10-31T08:01:00.001-07:00

GUESS.... What do you think I am doing....???

Playing some musical instruments like melodian??

Think again,

Probably not...

my two hands are free, don't you see?

Yes, that's right(or wrong...kk).

You got it(or not...kk).

A water pipe~!!! I water piped(making up crazy words...kk)!!! It was my first water piping! To begin with, I don't smoke. I haven't smoked ever, never until... yeah, this water pipe poppped into my life~ hehe. I knew about the water pipe, and wished to try it before I die, and searched for it from about one year ago. There were couple of places where I can try it, in Korea, and wanted to find the place but failed. But, who could even imagine I could meet it in FINLAND? Haha, in your face, my unkind luck~ I won, this time! One of close friends, Virko had it, and he kindly let me try it!

The way it works was also very new for me~ we put some sticky tobacco into the small bowl which is wrapped in silver foil it the picture and place it on the pipe body. After making some holes to the foil(it is to give heat when we lit the coal on the foil.), we light a small and round coal which burns quite a long time~ It burns the tobacco through the foil and makes smoke come out. When we inhale through the tube, the smoke passes the cold water in the body of pipe and gives cool sense~ Cool smoke... I wouldn't believed it ever if I didn't experienced it myself~! Moreover, there were flavors to taste!!! The tobacco use to have flavor in it and we can choose what to smoke. For me, mixture of apple & mint~ I prefer mint... hehe.

Am I look happy?? Haha~ sure to be so! It was real unique, impressing experience for me! Now, I think I am coming to get some senses that why people smoke~(But I will not! I know myself. I am too venerable to bad lure. I am sure that I will kill myself for unhealthy temptation...k)

Yeah... I think I am going to understand why boys always smoke when they are having some heavy or moody conversations... hm... He looks really used to it, of course.

Stefania's potato cake!!!

2007-10-31T07:26:00.001-07:00

My cute, cute, cute roomate decided one day to cook a potato cake. Stefania, from Italy, where all the good, delicious dishes are overflowing such as pizza, all the kinds of fabulous pasta, was somehow determined to show she could also do good in the kitchen!!! This great, pleasant incident was laid fuze by Claudio & Fabrizzio(not sure about there spelling... please correct me if I am wrong!) who nagged her that they were cooking for her all the time~ Stefania, for sure, proved she can really be great this day~ (the picture is Stefania washing the potatoes which ended up happily in our stomach~ (<--- how do we write plural stomach? Do you think it should be written 'stomaches'???)

boiling, simmering~ boiling, simmering~ boiling, simmering~

I should have taken photo every processes she made, but I couldn't do that becuase Stefania kept me away from the kitchen to make me do my studies~! I felt guilty for just sitting and eating what she has worked~ still, it was sooooooo nice that I couldn't be upset... haha! So, the processes that the raw potatoes to be that appetite provoking cake is ever in secret for now! Sorry... hehehe~ I only know that the ingredients were, cheeze, ham, potato, and some bread crumbles which were set on the top... it was truly delicious!!! 맛있어!!! (<--- It can be pronounced MAT-IT-sAW!!! It is Korean for 'it is delicious, good'...)

Just see everyone's face! Happy with the cake~ Thanks to Stefania, we had real nice dinner that day! You should tell me the way, so that I could also prepare by myself!

3rd Stammtish

2007-10-26T04:30:00.000-07:00

How do we look?!?! We were supposed to dress awkwardly fot the night~!!! We just look crazy, don't we? HAHAHA!!! Everyone had to show there bad taste, but it seems that everybody happened to be soooooooo cute~!!! Yellow, Red, Blue, Pink~ it was indeed a colorful night.

Among as, the one who showed most impressive change was my dear roommate, STEFANIA!!! Cannot believe her hair changed so dramatically! What did you do on your hair?? Though, still beautiful & sweet~! Her blush was done by me. kkkk~!!!

Look at this sweet, cute, cute couple! Aren't they marvelous?! Dan(correct me, if I am wrong) and Vivi! Dan came to meet Vivi, and arrived in Jyvaskyla just yesterday~ As you can see in the picture I took, he has really gorgeous smile!!! Wow! Vivi, you are a lucky girl! Of course, same as you, Dan! You are a lucky boy!

Ziva & I~!!! We really have got to hang around sometime! She is studying social work~ She has so heart-warming atmostphere and has ability to make people feel comfortable~

The man wearing pink shirt with two beers in hand(!) is one German guy, named Daniel(correct me if I am wrong). We took same survival Finnish course, and got to know each other there. Senlin, he, and I were all in the course and all of us passed it! Horray~!!! Cheers for us!!! Since he lives in German, and it is quite easy to get back and come here(compared to my home country!!!), he often(for me) goes back to his home~ I envy YOU!

Just guess whose feet are whose!!! HAHAHA~

ME & SELIN. Selin is truly sweet, sweet, sweet girl! I thank for the suvivail Finnish course for I could meet her there! I look like a clown standing beside sober Selin! Hehe... Selin is from Turkey, the country which connects East(Asia) and West(Europe)!!! Well, it's quite intersting for me that, the way she thinks('schema' would fit for the word technically, though.)is rather similar to what typical Asians do than people do from totally western parts. Well, well, it's great to share same thoughts, feelings~ Does location where we live really makes people behave similarly? We'll see~ hehe...

Kirsty & Shanon & Moonju & me. Everyone was sure to have great fun at the night!

The Day of Paris~!

2007-10-24T11:34:00.001-07:00

I saw my first movie in the teater in Finland! Yes, as you could imagine withe the picture above, I saw "2days in Paris"!!! I was really pleased that it was my first film in Finland since, the film of Julie Delpy's. "Before Sunrise" is my favorite, favorite, favorite movie~ and I crashed into the way she carried conversation in the film. The way the film pictured the real but really romantic love affairs was truly incredible for me to watch! There are some people who say the film is a sleeping pill, though, for me, it was a realistic LOVE~!!! Of course, afterwards, I also watched "Before Sunset", too. If "Before Sunrise" was a lemon, which gave me fresh and sweet as well as a little bit bitter for its momentariness, "Before Sunset" gives me a sense of tenderness but some sense of lackness which is destined to everyone as time flows... The memory is beautiful thing until we start to deal with it.. Well, However, I saw Julie Delpy's movie today with Vivi~ and it was great! The conversations were all colored with inspirating contents!

The story flows by mainly by two lovers who always tends to be crossing each other and ends up misunderstood. Of course the guy in the movie was TOO American and the girl was also exaggerated in their characters.. They show how those two(American & French...) cultures can be compared. But I am sure that they only show overly stated streotypes to give the audience to laught. The main point is that really different two lovers can still love each other!

Yeah... it was happy ending... It's good for ourselves to watch movies which ends happily, though the reality is a bit different from the film. To tell the truth, if those events happen to be in the real world we live, it cannot end that happy way, usually. But again, I prefer to watch happy films... or elso I might get influenced too much to the depressing mood.

Nevertheless, it was real fun to watch in both French & English with Finnish subtitle for I could totally fit myself into the American boy in the film! I was in the man's shoe during the film and it really helped me out through the running time to be interesting~ hehe.

P.S. It was rather surprising that the parents in the movie, were the real parents of Julie Dalpy's!!! Wow, for that!

P.S. I almost forgot to tell why the title of my diary is the day of Paris... haha~!!! I AM GOING TO PARIS NEXT FEBRUARY!!! I booked my plane tickets, today! From 13/2 to 20/2, 2008, I am in Paris with one of my friends leaving there! I am looking forward visiting Paris, badly!!!

Calming down a bit...

2007-10-22T11:02:00.000-07:00

Yes, my IDs are from this blue funny looking creature.

I have started to use 'cookimon', the abbriviated form of cookie moster since I made my first e-mail. I don't know why I chose it, but may be the warm looking creature came into my mind that time. Actually, I haven't seen the Sessame(am I right?) Street, though, I loved the cookie monster's feature because it seems to have humor as well as some sense of being humanity. He was shown to me to be clumsy and full of mistakes to me, and that's the point where I found it to be familiar with me. Nobody is spotless or perfect in this world. I think we have to know to love or at least accept people(of course including oneself) with flaws or mistakes. It's real hard thing to do. We usually have prejudiced viewpionts when others seem to differ from ourselves and think it is 'weird' or perhaps 'strange'. However, it is natural to be different, and even we cannot understand them, it is OK since they could not understand us, vice versa.

Well, until here, it was my junk philosopic chat.

I feel great in these days. and really enjoying my days when I open my eyes...
Can't believe that I am living totally different life from what I used to have in Korea. The life in Seoul(the capital of South Korea) was like a real exciting hell! Alwasy in rush, under heavy pressure to do something(especially if it concerns my studies or preparing my future job), everybody is too busy to meet, full of traffic jam, full of mass transportations, much noise... I always dreamt in those days about a real countryside life like here! It's calm, pieceful, have lots of time for myself and so on.

I know it's just a streotype, but when I come to think of my blood type, which is Rh+ B~, I think I am dull in changes around me. I had no thoughts when I moved to Jyvaskyla, and my mind was simply occupied with simple, tangible things and many events which were held in few weeks. But as time has flown, and passes, the hectic air calmed down, and I started to feel something different... Well, I have to acknowledge myself, sometimes, I feel lonely here. It's natural to feel in that way. Yes, I know. People are born to be lonely in some sense and nobody can help it. I am afraid it might make you(any possible reader of my blog)worry, but it's not that miserable thing, it's just a matter of fact... I think.

I often heard from my mom and brother, that I am quite ruthless person... for making people around me stand a bit far and not let them come into my CLOSE area. Well... what do you think?

Sammy's BD PARTY

2007-10-20T00:14:00.000-07:00

Yeah~ 10/18, it was dear Sammy's birthday and all of us prepared her surprise party that evening. Sammy was going to hold her own party on 10/19, and I bet she couldn't imagine there would be another surprise for her before that! We were in a rush when Moonju took her to by some food... We only had an hour or so to set the place!

Matching the time of Sammy's opening the door was quite tricky than we thought(look at the melted candles all over the cake~! haha...). The candles were almost gone when she came in, still she made up to turn of her birthday candles and make a wish! I'm sure that the wish would come true!!!

Sammy with her 21th birthday light!

Openning time~ She got a new dog! Now, she is going to take a walk with her(him?) everyday after taping her(or hime).

Moonju smothering Susana with a balloon. It's always pleasure to play with them~ (I am quite curious why pople get happy when they see balloons... It could also be other things to do the same role~ hehe.)

Everyone picked one puppy which resembles oneself and wrote down heart warming messages to Sammy.

Everyone... with apple crumble(Gaidig's), chocolate cake(Vivi & Mooju & Aure's). Fantastic!!!

Sammy & her puppy & Vivi & Sammy's boy friend(Can you regocnize hime? haha... He's definitely in the picture!!!)~ He's name is Mikko(am I right??) and works in Antila...hahahahahaha. He has brown hair and black eyes~

I & Sammy's boy friend & Sammy and her puppy.

TALLIINN, ESTONIA~!!!

2007-10-13T11:50:00.001-07:00

On 10/11, total 17 people headed to Tallinn, the capital city of Estonia. Since I'd never though I could visit there, I was blank about the place and had to look up some general info. about the country and others. Well, I am not sure whether it will be called in other countries as well, however, Estonia was one of the 3 Baltic countries(It was written in the net, as 'states', but unsure whether it is better to call them states or countries, or nations....) with Latvia, and Lithuania. I would never have believed that I could visit the country, in my whole life...! Full of excitement~ Rar Rar Rar~ For me(from far east, indeed), the name 'Balt' itself sounds totally dreamy!!!

We moved by the coach for about 4hours to Helsinki, and changed into ferry. The trip in the ferry took about 3hours, but we stayed one night there and started our expedition in Tallinn from the morning! It was great to experience crossing the country bound on water! Of course, the night was incredibly great, and everybody seemed to ball it up!

Stefania smiliing brightly! (The sun beside her was the only sun we saw during the trip... Haha~ Still, the weather made us weary and sometimes upset, the atmosphere was totally European to me and it was quite good... I believe so.)

Everybody in the ferry, having chats all together with the drink~! (YES, now I know that why people drink that much on the trip to Tallinn! Alcohol is really much cheaper than Finland... Well, is it good to be so? Well... well... If there is one good facet, there is of course counter aspect of it.) // The picture beside it is taken in the center part of the Old Town in Tallinn! YEAH~

Our luch was pan cake filled with various ingredients. I chose the one filled with minced meat and cheese. Well, actually when I hear 'pan cake', someting sweet and yellowish brown soft bread comes to my mind, usually with honey. It might be my stereotype which is built by Anglo-American culture... However, the pan cakes I saw and ate in Tallinn was totally different from what I expected and it really worked! I was almost stuffed when I finished it~ Taste? Of course, GOOOD~! ^-^*

In the pan-cake house. We were huge group, and I had to write down our orders...kk

Cute dragon which I found in the city museum's toilet... cute, cute, too cute to miss~
I heard that the dragon is symbol of evil in the Western(well...out of Asia, perhaps) while, Asians worship it as a symbol of sacred one. I am not sure whether it is true or not, though they look different in many ways. Asian dragons tend to be longer like snakes with claws and don't have wings usually. They grab or bite a holy marble and covered with scales... and have long, long mustaches... You can see it when you watch Sim Hyung Rae's movie, "The War" which dealt the typical legend or old tales of Korea. It is believed in Korea, that when a snake live a long life and fill a thousand years, it can turn into a dragon and fly up to the sky and be a holy creature.

The spire which is over the building infront, is the most famous landmark of Tallinn. It was shown in every picture when I entered Tallinn tour. We went up to the roof and walked around it!!! (in that stormy weather~!!!! We are adventurous people, indeed.)

Aure & Angela going down.

The stairs remind me of the story, Rapungel. Spirl stairs... It is also the subject of my one of favorite poems...

The Winding Stair

-W. B. Yeats. (1933)
My Soul.
I summon to the winding ancient stair;
Set all your mind upon the steep ascent,
Upon the broken, crumbling battlement,
Upon the breathless starlit air,
'Upon the star that marks the hidden pole;
Fix every wandering thought upon
That quarter where all thought is done:
Who can distinguish darkness from the soul
. . . . . .

Susana giving a lovely smile on the roof!

Simple common doors of acient(?) buildings gives me sensations of different as well interesting culture. Would others from else where but Korean will feel the same when they visit Korea? Wonder, wonder... ^^

Three sisters... something was famous for these buildings...(should look up)

100% European...

Can't believe it is the real scenery I looked!!!

Cute toys of Estonia. I truly love the features of them!!!

In returning ferry, we did some Spanish card game named something "Buro". (Not sure about the spelling.) I meant 'donkey' and Susana taught the rules... We made up some penalty with 'Truth or Dare Question". During the game, I took the role to make up cruel questions since the people who have to answer have to feel reluctant to answer the question... Well, well, sorry guys. I didn't meant to put you in trouble, but only tried not to make the air dull~

Again... alcohol...

I with (traditional??) origianl blend of Estonia beer. (How happy I look like~! Haha~)

The name was Saku(lager). It was smooth and tasty. I am sure that if my mother was hear with me, she and I would have drunken dozen of those seating there...

Everyone... having chats with chips...

Roninmaeki

2007-09-30T02:04:00.000-07:00

Some of friends and I were invited to the Italian boys' place, Roninmaeki to have dinner together~ They are friends of my roommate, Stephania's and they were so sweet to cook for us! And even more, they didn't allowed us to do the dishes after the meal~! They were totally cute and gentle~ (can't imagine Korean boys do so.)Yes... We had real great time there, laughing and eating originally Italian-made pasta~!!!

YES~ We were big for one table to fit in, still I love the bokjac-bojac ness~ <-- this is the word in Korean discribing the sence of crowdness in cute way~! It gives such sence of warmth~ After the lovely treat, I was thinking about treating them back but don't have any idea what to cook! (Well, to tell the truth, what can I cook!!!<-- IN PANIC)

Dinners~

2007-09-24T11:50:00.001-07:00

9/23: Went over to Jennifer's place to have dinner together. There were 9 people altogether in a room! Wow... (I am the one leaning on the table, back there.)

We had Sauerkraut with some seasoned meat loaf(Jennier has talent in cooking!), mashed potatoe~ I heard that Sauerkraut is almost the same as Kimchi of Korea since it is made of specially marinated vegetable, and it is never missed to be on the meal tables. Although many Korean people say that they cannot live without Kimchi, I find myself OK~ Yes... It's funny that I cannot eat hot foods that much well, even I have lived in Korea 20 and more years. However, it was lovely dinner with happy faces!!! It was a pity that I had to come back home early to work on my assingment, though.

It's really great to be among friends from many countries in this sense(FOOD sense... haha!).
Well, our turn is coming around the corner, and I'm quite worried what to cook! First of all, I'm worried whether my friends could eat Korean food, and second, I'm not a kind of person who do cook properly. T T (Ingredients available here are quite restricted to cook Korean food...)

But, after all, if we are together and having fun, it is OK for that!!!

This picture is just to show the representative Finnish candy. It's name is salmijaki(I might be wrong with the spellings! be aware!). It is usually black like a coal... and may seem a bit curious whether we could eat or not, still it is quite nice when you start to like it.

My Family~!

2007-09-23T03:22:00.000-07:00

YES~ I've got my family in Finland! Don't panic, I'm not married here... haha!

Well, I applied some program held by the Uni. and I was introduced to one lovely family you see above this! Pirkko and Yukka(I'm not sure about the spellings yet.) and there 4 children were my Finland family! Yesterday, I went over to Pirkko's place and had real great time with her and her two younger boys. (I'll write there names after asking Pirkko the right spellings. I think there are some common atmosphere between Korean boys and Finnish boys for their being somewhat reserved as well gentle. May be~ or may be not. HAHA ^ㅂ^* But I think it would change a lot, after ice breaking, and I'm looking forward to it!) It was so heartwarming to have small talks with Pirkko and it was so splendid to get to know Finland more. She is a REAL outdoor person! And it was great listening to her ways of life, since it was totally new to me! Nordic walk, cross country, hunting... I even couldn't imagine how it would be. Yeah~ I'm sure that we will have extremely great time together and make unforgettable memories! You bet my stay in Finland is getting more and more exciting and happy!

Well, I'm just uploading some of my old pictures...
http://www.cyworld.com/common/main.asp/cookimon

is my Korean blog where my whole web-photos are. BUT unfortunately it seems that it won't working in the computers which can't acknowledge Korean letters. So I'm just putting a bit to show how my family look like. ^^*

The photo was taken last new year's day in Korea. I was wearing HANBOK, the Korean traditional costume(It's a pity that I earased the picture with the whole costume.. There's a long pink skirt underneath starting from my chest and ends on the ground.) The pink letter in the corner of the picture means happy new year. "Good Luck for the new year" in the literal sense.

I'm in my university(Korea Uni. <--I got my bachelor's degree here.) with mom. I was about 21 or so... Most all the campus buildings were built with rock and it resembles old castle in the mids(not inside, of course!). There were subway stations at the ends of the campus and I got off either of them up to where I get my lectures everyday.

The pictures below are my brother riding a giraffe and my riding a lion.

My only elder brother(Jung Whan is his first name.) and me, and mom. We were at the celebration shower(or party) of my cousin's daughter's 1st bithday. Koreans put great meanings for the 1st birthday and 100days after the birth. We wish health and good luck for the new born baby in both parties and especially for the 1st birthday, each families present 100% gold rings to the baby. Usually the mother of the baby keeps the presentend rings until the baby grows up and give it to he/she.

These pictures are taken in my graduation of Uni. The symbol of the Korea Uni. is a tiger and it is on the gown and university's flag. Also the sybolic color is red and you can easily see that in the picture~ Yeah... I was among those people throwing there hats(I even don't know where I am!) My brother, grandmother, me and mom.

..with my cousins and brother.

(I'm not yet used to the blog system.. It may not be fancy, but I will progress! Wait! )

I've been to HELSINKI~

2007-09-17T22:57:00.001-07:00

YEAH~ I visited Helsinki for two days during the weekend. It took about 3hours and a half to get there from Jyvaskyla by VR(Finland Railroad). I think it's similar with from Seoul to Busan.
The day I've left started to rain a bit and it mademe worried, still, as if the sky blesses our(Moon Ju and me) trip, it turned out to be real sunny right after finishing our luch dishes. The first meal I had in Helsinki stays right beside! THE HERRINGS! It was literally fantastic!!!It's one of the most famous traditional cuisine in Finland and I'm sure you'll feel sorry if you don't try it before you pass away! It isn't grizzy as well as plain. Quite salty but it gives you great pleasure with mashed potatoe. I heard that Finns eat them in a whole after seasoning them with lemon juice and pasting them with the potatoe(you can see that there is mashed something under the fish.). LOVE IT!

doggy.... and KIASMA art museum.

The Baltic(am I getting it correctly?) was great.

Sky was high and blue... AH. Right. It was funny that the wind was so crispy and NOT salty since the saltiness(?) of the Baltic water is so low that even sea fish cannot survive in it. Also, I heard that it is OK for Finns to construct buildings right beside the ocean and lake because there aren't almost any big waves for the its unique landscape. (It sounds to me like crazy, but it is possible here.)

I found very ancient Mickey in Sumomenlai Island(not sure about the spellings!) which is going to be 70 next year~ It looks somewaht scary... kk...

My second week in Finland

2007-09-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

I just thought it's better to have blog for me to share 'photos & thoughts' with many other friends here... So, I made up a blog!!! (I'm kind of person who is so lazy that don't much do things volutarily and especially on-lines. I know it will going to be a little some challenge for me to look after this one ^^* May be it would shoothe me a lot... or not. kk )

The girl beside me(I'm the one with the cap) is my roomate named Stephania and she's from Italy. She got really beautiful eyes and smile. I really love her olive green eyes! Wonder how could eyes can have such color! I didn't got to acknowlege that I've got dark eyes and hair until I came here since I've been among only Koreans usually... It's weird that getting to my appearance in a new point of view~

It's refreshing as well as making me startled that I didn't knew me that much. It's giving me a shock that I didn't look up to myself that much until now.

9/3 : arrived in Finland(Jyvaskyla) in the afternoon by small airplane which had two big noisy but cute propellers on each side of the wings. It was almost one whole day to get to here and also it was the exact time when I started to get the feelings that I'm being parted (in physical ways)with my family, friends in Korea, and other precious people I left behind. I was worried about my tutor not sending any message to pick up me, but it ended to my just my worried and everything including my baggage problem went just as smoothly as it can be.

9/4: this was the date of beginning of the orientation for newly come students. Every exchange students about 400 were introduce by names(it took quite long) and said 'Moi(it's 'HI' in Finnish.)'. We sat down and heard lots of informations to get through. It was boring but as well it was really worthful so I had to attend wether I like it or not. After being oriented, I followed my tutor on a campus tour(I think.. I can't rightly remeber what I did in what day.)

9/5: also attend the orientation for newly come students in Music building and got info. about the English or Finnish lg. courses I could join. It was impressing since Finns who are good at Eglish are REAL REAL REAL good at it. I'm sure that many of Koreans can't tell who's Finn to native speaker. I've got introduced to the system of library briefly. I don't remeber what I did in 5th evening and night... probably I was knocked out and slept.

9/6: On this day I visited my department to arrange my studies and got some shocks T ^ T
The coordinator of mine said to me that I should change my already decided course because I seem I can't follow Finnish students who majored English. All my studies in Korea was no worth?! I got real depressed but I got to know why she adviced me so when I went to my first class. There was a big gap between what Koreans call 'advanced level' and Finn's advanced level in lg. . I am now real curious how Finns learn and get to use English so good. It's gonna be my number one mission to uncover here! What's the magical spells for them to be such good English users? I've also heard that many DO speak Swedish as well as Russian since those lg.s were taught and learned in secondary schools obligatorily. The atmosphere emphasizing lg.s is making me envy this country. Also in this night, I went to the crawl party(the party to welcome) and had fun. Dancing, Drinking upciders(I prefer dry apple cider than sweet one), Talking, Laughing... ^^* Parties really get people bring together, I think. It make you feel the same 'zone' among different people and it melts ice~ Doing something same real works as ice breaking~

9/7: On this day I opened my bank account and did some shoppings. (Don't rember.. )

9/8: I went to the real Finnish sauna and enjoyed alot! REALLY! I had to wore bathing suit but hadn't got one here so I just were my sport top with short pants to dive into the lake after eating myself in sauna. The sauna itself wasn't that much different from the one in Korea, but the difference was within the LAkE which was right beside the sauna. It was my first my in my life to jump into the lake! I was a little bit scary but also it made my heart pound!

9/9: With flat mates, we held potluck party at Sammy's place. We weren't ready to cook literary but still we came up with spaghetti, some over bluffed pasta(that I did;;), pizza, canape(don't now how to spell), raymen, and snacks... There were 7 of us at one place and it was funny that we used un-matted bed as our table. It was the experience I always admired to have and now 'm happy that I could have this one as my cute little memory before I be a serious grown up.

9/10: I had my first class on Monday. It was quite OK. I'm going to write two essays in processing mode. It's not that new to me since I've learned it as in teachers point of view, but practice and just knowing what it is is a lot different, so I'm looking forward to it. By the way, in the class, I was the only exchange student and the only Asian girl... kk. At night, I tried to go out for a disco but failed. (I didn't know we have to have our passport to have a sip of drink in Finland!) I found I am a real bad driver and made my friend wait for me whenever I try to start my bike roll~ as well as when going up hills... What's wrong with me? T^T

9/11: I think I statyed home all day and just took a walk in the afternoon. I bought some dishes and cups...

9/12: I've been to my first Finnish class and got to know that people around me really look matured. Where's my age?;;; They all look gorgeous~ Nevertheless, I learned Finnish greetings today, and I'm gonna try it on to the people. By the way, I thought I lived quite hard enough... but things just come out differently. Am I really trying my best? the word BEST is really a big one. I should think about it throughly before I just say it out. I sould, gotta hang on to my life and be desperate....

YES, I MEAN IT.