Week 67: 24th Birthday Bash!!

1 Bday card BOOK from my Kinders, 4 cakes, 5 parties, 7 “Happy Birthday’s,” lots of Facebook Birthday wishes, and 50 people later , would have to say my 24th Bday was fabulous! It wasn’t just this record number of cakes that made this Bday memorable, it was all the people! 5 parties…wow. It’s a special thing to be and feel so loved ❤ THANK YOU EVERYONE for all your Love ❤

(BTW:: lots of flix but mostly on friend’s cameras and have yet to compile a bunch…so for now, giving you the basics. Check my webshots page in a bit for more party flix 🙂

The cakes:  banana bread cake, Cheesecake, Blueberry yogurt cake, and ice cream cake.

Sadly, no flix of the decadent ice cream cake (got a video, though). 4cakes + 1, though. At SDA in Busan, they had July-August Bdays. So guess all in all had 5 cakes!

The Parties:  Adult classes set up a party, My Kinderest celebrated with some treats I provided, SDALI Seoul Main teachers made a surprise party for me, and during my mini-vacation weekend getaway my friend hooked it up wtih a heart shaped 1/2 very berry/1/2 choco bonbon and party with friends at his house. ASA!

(Some of) My 8AM level 2 English Class students:  Steven, Twinkle, Ms. Keever, Michelle, Candy, Class Captian Noh

(some of my) 9AM students: Lindsey, Betty (I named her :), Abbey, Jennis, Co-captain Judy, Class captian Hanna, Ms. Keever, Carrick, sister Shani.

5yr (3yr int’l age) Kinder class L->R: Brain, Ms. Lee, Justin, Casey giving me a Bday po-po, Ms. Keever, David and Benjamin fighting to sit on my lap, Hannah, Rachel, Lia (Mimi went to Jeju-do but wished me well 🙂

Seoul Main teachers, staff, church members, and English language students surprised me at Ti-Amo cafe.

This wasn’t the party, but these are the party ppl the next day (minus Jeff who had to take off early). Note the sunburn on my arms~~you’ll know why in next week’s blog 🙂 SO FUN!

Week 63: Special Guest Interview!!

First Impressions on Korea INTERVIEW

Interviewee: Shani Plunkett, Phoebe*s younger sister

Interviewer: Phoebe Keever, Shani’s big sister

• Shani, what was your first impression upon arrival to Korea?

when i went to church this week i went to a Korean one and i couldn’t understand  a word. a lady who sat next to me asked me i could understand, if i was catholic, and if the had lots of catholics and church is USA. i told her no the 1st and yes to the last 2. she was surprised. did you know that 35% of Korean population is christian?? they have the coolest thing 2. every church has a steeple. and the cross on the steeple glows neon red at night. so if you were in a tall building at night and looked out you could see all these red crosses.. it is soo cool!

the weather.. uh it reminds me of Portland rainy a lot and somedays not. no i didn’t sing the pray but we do say a pray at EVERY meal.. the mud festival was sooo cool.. we woke up at 7 that morning got ready and went to the max to meet David then we took the max to the bus terminal and rode the bus to a city where his mom lived. his mom picked us up from the terminal and drove us to her house. then we went from there to the festival. there were soo many Americans there is was crazy. yeah i got muddy.. i got a free bar of mud soap to.. we did mud wrestling which was really fun… everybody was tackling everybody… then we swam in the  ocean and took a shower from the fallen coins we found in the girls locker room.. the we went to go eat something before the fireworks started. we ate bi bim bop which is rich with lots of vegetables and fish. i was really good.. the fireworks were amazing!!!

• You are now in the Eastern world. What are the similarities and differences between the Eastern and Western worlds?

Um… skinny  jeans… cell phones.. not a lot.. the question is right… they are 2 different worlds!!

• How about the food?

very very spicy!! but if you can get past the spice to food is very good.

• What has been your experience in Korea thus far?

i have been sick with an ear infection…  wet from the constant rain… stared at from my afro!! but fun things to… went to the mud festival!! the people are nice here!

• July 16th you had your 13th Bday in Seoul, Korea. What happened?

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=4028&id=1830387645&l=072283728b

ABOVE: PICS FROM MY BDAY!!!

my birthday was so much fun. i went to school with phoebe and one of her adult students bought me a cheesecake which is expensive. then i went to Kinderest with her and this little girl named Casey told me she loved me.. when it was time to go she didn’t want me to then started to come with us.. it was so cute!! then we exchanged 2 travelers checks. the we to toke the subway to children’s grand park.. we walk around for 4 hours!! we saw lots of animals.. the monkeys were really cool.. they had there hands sticking out from the cage and clapped there hands for food.. then someone there them something and they caught it!! then we threw them some sunflower sed and they caught those also!! after the children’s grand park we came home and i took a shower after a 30 min. of rubbing my sore feet.. then david came over and we had baked potatoes and chili for dinner and ice cream cake that david bought for dessert. then we watched a movie called Accepted.

• What will you take away with you from this experience?

maybe some Korean! =D

• The above answer is a complete understatement. You didn’t mention you read the Korean book for one hour and afterwards could read Korean completely. You are so clever! Good jobs, Shanz. It took me (shamefully) 8 months to fully read Korean. How about the neighborhood? and the house?

phoebes house is super super super small. she was mad a me once and we were in the kitchen. after i was done doing what i was doing i said i was going to the room and then we bust out laughing cause it was only 3 steps away. today somebody killed a cat then put in front of the apartment door outside. it was soo sad and gross. um… there are some crazy people!!

• You’ve only been here 2 weeks, but how have you changed thus far?

i lost some weight!! yea!! my first night of tae-kwon-do was a lot of fun. the teacher said i was really good. phoebe said i would be sore in the morning but i’m not.. i think she is a little jealous because she was sore after her first couple of days. i will probably be sore tomorrow though.

• boys, boys, boys. Girls gotta love the boys. What do you think of the Korean boys?

some are kinda cute!

• What has been your favorite memory thus far? What is there still left to do?

my fav memory is my bday… we still have to go to some more amusement parks!!

OK…then hop to it, girl. Hope your time is filled with the best memories ever and you have an experience of a lifetime.

peace out ppl!! i’m out! =D

Week 15: My 23rd B-day!!! and Japan part 1 of 3: Gastronomy

Format

My Birthday just keeps getting better and better; it’s great to be old enough to know but still young enough to freely live it up! This year’s 23rd was spent in Tokyo, Japan in great company. I met with 6 ppl from my alma matter, Willamette University. One person was even a surprise guest! and her and Katie were responsible for setting up an AMAZING Birthday dinner in a themed restaurant! YAY for Friends! =D

Note the butchering of my name. It’s great! =P

1 out of 5 was hella spicy. So we all ate one.

The SPICY surprise went to Yoshiki lolz!

Interesting how meat can resemble a stove top. (shiverz). Im a vegetarian going on 12 years now.

Food comes in small portions in Japan. Cheesy potato balls–hopefully an appetizer cuz I was hungry.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, or should I say “Pheove” lol! “deuce-tres” baby

BTW just wanna point out to the many who don’t know how to spell my name it is corrected: PHOEBE*

Eye-EYE captain! ;p yeah, I’m a cheese ball hehe

Lock up is a themed rest. that we are (obviously) locked up in a jail cell. It was fabulousness. Guess the goblin and monster theme was mixed in, ‘cuz we were hungry for some cannibalistic body parts.

Afterwards we were gonna hit up Karaoke for a half hour before the subway closed, but it’s virtually impossible to Karaoke for only 30mins so we just took some sticker flix and the boys played in the arcade. That’s Kevin on the Left. We were in Crew (rowing) WU team together sophomore year.

WU reunion on my Bday. From L-R: Sean, Phoebe*, Katie (I lived with Katie for a minute in Honolulu), Yoshiki TIUA ’04, Hiroko TIUA turned WU alum, Eric. Kevin had to run to catch his train but he’s not forgotten. My WU in Japan friends really made my birthday a great night!

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Japan’s Gastronomy

It’s quite clever, really. You order from this vending machine and then give your ticket to the waitress and it saves much time. Though, if only there were pictures it’d make it so much easier for foreigners.

And this was the result of the vending machine ticket order. Ramen but you dip it into the sauce with chop sticks then eat. I forgot the name of this meal.

In Yoyogi park. I just watched others to figure out what this water well was used for…

…and drinking this chlorinated tasting water is how it’s done. Hmmm questionable. Now to think about it I’ve been getting sick since the day I drank that water. ugh.

Fish and rice= my favorite meal! yummmmmy. See!? the stomach is the way to not just a man’s heart lolz.

4:??am mad tired and the boys tryna figure out what to eat from the vending machines before the subway opens. they were more into the chairs than the food though so they fell asleep on those chairs while i finished Seans food. ;p

Some kind of fried breaded odang (processed fish)

Soba noodle. scrumptious 😉 On the top is a seafood patty.

Each region/city is famous for a certain food. On the day long train ride I took a 30minute stop over to try some of Osaka’s famous octopus balls, Takoyaki.

Again, it needs to be reiterate how nice, friendly, caring, and a whole lot of other great things many Japanese strangers have shown themselves to be. On the train, I was to stop after Osaka but a) wanted to stop in for that takoyaki and b)I got on the wrong train (which in the end worked out well since I got on a fast[er] moving train). Anywho, this lady couldn’t speak fluent English, but gestures help immensely. When she understood I just wanted to try Osaka’s famous takoyaki she got off in Osaka and treated me to Takoyaki at the famous Takoyaki shop. We had half an hour to run around and eat and exchange information. Such a sweet lady! She even walked me all the way to the train when I boarded again and waved goodbye as if she was a long lost friend. Everyone was staring at our departure b/c it was so dramatic, but I didn’t care. Just grateful to have met so many great Japanese people during my trip.

Kam-pai (cheers in Japanese)

One of the many rice fields throughout Japan.

Rice balls from the train station just don’t cut it but work when your starved and running from train to train.

Fukuoka is famous for its ramen so I couldn’t wait to grub on that Ramen. I was directed to the 5th floor of a mall for ramen shops. It was crazy, though! There was a whole Ramen LAND with lines out the door and Ramen shops all over. By this time I was tired and probably a bit delusional so I just stood in the shortest line, only to get pulled out for not buying my ticket from the vending machine. Anyways, that Ramen was nothing like the ramen from the package you can make in 5 minutes. This was da bomb dig!

Even though it looks simple, once that egg is mixed in it’s delicious! Thank you Fukuoka. Full tummy and hot outside…was ready for a nap afterwards!

Just for kicks had to try the takoyaki in Tokyo. Yeah, it didnt have nuthin! on Osaka’s takoyaki. This is why it’s best to try foods from their origin city, otherwise it’s just a knockoff (and Tokyo doesn’t carry cheap knockoffs!)

All in all, if I had to chose one kind of food for the rest of my life, I’d perhaps chose Japanese. Sushi – Sashimi – Udon – Ramen – Miso – Fish and Rice – Yummm – Mochi ICECREAM – are you salivating yet?

Next week part 2 of 3: The itenerary (the meat of the matter but it takes so long to write it wont be ready til next week).