The Princess of Mirror and Her Ears

Last Sunday was my grandma's eighty's anniversary celebration.
The guests and relatives were all gathered in a banquet room and they sat in the round tables that were topped with flower vases and transparent drinking glasses.


The host placed my grandma in the cetre part of the room, so that everyone can view her.
[While the guests were sitting at the tables with comfortable pose, they(the banquet hosts) made her sit crossed legged on the wood floor, which my family later thought that this kind of a posture could have made her really uncomfortable. (Later, my grandma accepted that it was indeed, inconvenient position.)]


In the biography part, standing few steps away from my grandma with his non-properly working mic, the host briefly told about my grandma's life history, which she has led into, from her birth, childhood to marriage and life after marriage .
Very eloquently speaking, the host said,
"Having artsy gifts in dancing, Ms. Park (my grandma)'s nick name has said to be the princess of mirror ever since she was young, because she never gives up looking at the mirror. That much, she and mirror are inseparable. No doubt! I'm sure that's why she still maintains her fine look and her beauty."


The crowd burst into laughter.
Course, I was one of them.
What can I say other than the host's words were the verdicts!
Her pocket-fit-size mirror and comb always belong to her pocket she carries around.
She possesses them like a talisman and takes them out often. How often? It's probably enough to compare how frequent Kim Kardashian'd put a mirror in front of her before she goes into some swimsuit photo-shoots.  That's how frequent my grandma sees herself and enjoys looking at herself and spends time on her look.


At the age of 23, I should be the one who be doing that, but all I'm telling about now is my eighty-years old grandma.


Many times, she recommends me to use her precious belongings.
"Want some mirror?"
It's like an addictive smoker saying "Want some cigarettes?" as she lits the cigarette and crams that into her mouth.
Isn't she 'something' for eighty years old grandma? haha


Wearing the pink, formal 'han-bok' custom dress, she looked weak, tired and even paler. Probably because of her particular attire and the amount of time she had to sit on that same spot with a same uncomfortable position.
And me.. watching her from the round table.. it felt weird.. that my grandma is already eighty years old.. and I'm already a grown-up person, who was raised by her for my entire life. 'She approached... eighty....? Really...?' I thought.
Yes, I couldn't and still can't believe she's in that age.. the age people usually think it's so~~ immensely~~ old.
Watching her from the distance, it became more clear that how precious she is to me.


Yes she did look tired, because of the circumstances at that moment, but at the same time, like the host said, she exactly looked like a prim princess of mirror in my eyes.


Anyhow.. when the host's mirror joke was ended, the guests were reacting hard by laughing hard, except.... one person...
What happened to my grandma? She was the only one, who wasn't reacting to her own story.
By that point, having a fanciful notion, she should have laughed out together or at least, given the guests either of a warm or shy smile with her right hand to her mouth, knowing that she was being looked at.
Instead, she gave people a boring look.


I tilted my head with a slightest wonder.


....


After a party, my family came back home with exhausted conditions.
I asked my grandma.
"Why didn't you laugh when the host was talking about you?"


With a high curiosity and her sparkling eyes, she asked me back.
"He was talking about me? What did he say about me??"


Aha.


"What did you hear, grandma~~?" I said to her in a police detective kind-of-a tone that is about interrogate the suspect (for incapacity of hearing..? haha lol)
"Nothing....?" she replied like an innocent girl.


By the way, it's been several years that her ears have been like that.
It's a common scene for my family and relatives to say same things over and over again.
Sometimes.. she even needs us to shout at her.
The average minimum number of the talk my family has to do in order to pass on words to her is three or four times. After we conveyed the words we tried to convey, we were often fatigued and our energies were literally depleted.


There were many times she took an advantage over her auditory problems. When she thinks something's unfavorable to her situations, she blames her hearing problems or she says she committed such such kinds of mistakes, 'because of' her ears. Not a good habit, grandma!


Nowadays.. instead of doing all that, I tend to press my mouth to her sideburns and deliver her a message. lol


At the moment. All I wanted to do was... shouting in her ears, so she can hear.
"You are always my lovely princess!"

Delicious food I ate at the celebration.

He didn't know

Feeling the brisk early autumn on my face and bare arms under short sleeves, I headed out to the USCIS with my mom and grandma, following uncle. My uncle gave me an opportunity to help him out with the English translation for his immigration card renewal.

The place we got off however, was the post office, the place nobody seemed to be looking for an immigration card but me, my eyes already scanning the inside in search of a person who we could ask.

A first "random" person we bumped into said that this is the place, for that purpose.

My uncle and I immediately got on the line and made sure to ask one more person. I tabbed the shoulder of the person who was standing in front of me. The old guy turned around. His pinky lips, full of life and volume, against his tropical tan skin was very hard to be unnoticed. It reminded me of Angelina Jolie's lips, therefore held my attention.

I started to pepper him with questions about the process.

Where his index finger pointing at across the line of people, "immigration passport accepted between 10am and 3pm" was written on the sign standing on the front desk.

He also advised us that we needed to wait for an hour, since at that moment, the watch was announcing 9am. My uncle and I were convinced by him that the post office was the right place that we were looking for.

Around 9:30am, my uncle's turn came and he marched up to the counter and asked me to ask the office person if this was the right place to do the process.

As soon as we heard no from him, as if being betrayed, we turned our head and snapped our eyes back towards him, who was standing few steps behind us, already shrugging and saying "Oh, I didn't know."
Then why did he act or pretend like he knew? That... I don't know, either.

Better or not, we soon found the right USCIS place, only a block away from the post office, very pure white building, like a bashful bride. 

While our house ladies were waiting for my uncle to take care of his business, my mom and I saw the little girl with a blond hair and cherry lips sitting and doing exactly same things as my family. She turned her head to look at us. Suddenly, one idea pleased me. 

So when she turned around, my mom and I made a finger heart in the air, shoot her a cupid arrow with a ridiculous, no-age-appropriate pose!

Have A Little Family Time

Last Sunday was the special time for my relatives and families when we congratulate the youngest family member's upcoming college life and his future.

I was happily dining on roasted pork/steak/fleshy prawn with mashed potato, broccoli and salad, kim-chi, roasted corn, green beans from second aunt's place whose son is heading off to the college in New York.

Everyone was saying that the highlight of the meal was the steak, except me.

I was cutting the steak into smaller pieces and was repeating on the same spot of the meat.

After I put a piece into my mouth, I realized that my arm exercise through cutting wasn't that rewarding. It was like chewing old gum that you need to chew endlessly.

Should've ordered it as medium rare, instead of well-done.

Published: Come Sail Away

You can check out the actual publication at http://issuu.com/gono/docs/prh_summer2011

pg. 52~3

If the thought of spending another winter cooped up in the house sends worse chills down your spine than the frigid weather, why not start planning to sail away the winter blues this upcoming season?

“In the winter months, all we can think about is to go to an island where the weather is warm and beautiful,”

says Elizabeth Emory, owner of Seasational Cruises under the Cruise Planners franchise. “That is why we focus on winter cruises and the Caribbean in those months.”

Maybe it is just the daunting task of navigating the Internet for the best deals that is holding you back from taking the trip of your dreams. When relying on Seasational Cruises, Emory researches the best cruises and works within your budget. She ensures that every aspect of your trip goes off without a hitch - from transportation to and from the Ports to scheduling your itinerary to make sure you get everything your heart desires from your trip.

Here are a few examples of the vacation magic Seasat ional Cruises has in store for you!

ROYAL CARIBBEAN

ALLURE OF THE SEAS

7 Nights, Eastern Caribbean Cruise 10/16/2011 TO 10/23/2011

Port of Call: Departs from

Fort Lauderdale, FL, visiting Bahamas, Nassau, Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas, Phillipsburg, St.

Maarten and returns to Fort Lauderdale, FL.

Come sail away on the newest ship of Royal Caribbean! Allure of the Seas has 4 pools and 10 whirlpools, sports courts, mini golf, entertainment, opal theatre, nightclubs, youth zones,

26 restaurants and casinos, big band and disco entertainment. You can also plan

on exciting shore excursions.

ROYAL CARIBBEAN

EXPLORER OF THE SEAS

11 Nights, Southern Caribbean Cruise 01/16/2012 TO 01/27/2012

Port of Call: Departs from

Cape Liberty Cruise Port, Bayonne, N.J., visiting Ladabee

Haiti, San Juan Puerto Rico,

Phillipsburg, St. Maarten and

St. Jon’s Antigua, Basseterre

St. Kitts, returns to Cape Liberty

Cruise Port, Bayonne, N.J.

Explorer of the Seas has several pools and many whirlpools,sports court, ice skating rink,

rock climbing, day spa, themed bars and lounges as well as many different restaurants, entertainment options, casinos and shore excursions.

CARNIVAL MAGIC CRUISE

8 Nights, Western Caribbean Cruise 02/06/2012 TO 02/14/2012

Port of Call: Departs from

Fort Lauderdale, FL, visiting

Phillipsburg, St. Maarten, St.

Lucia, St. Kitts and returns to

Fort Lauderdale, FL.

The Carnival Magic has pools on deck, mini golf course, youth programs, dining, 24-hour room

service, casinos, entertainment, a spa and fitness center. Don’t forget the exciting shore excursions!

The Power of Speaking

When I was sitting in my journalism and the law class last semester, the discussion about certain topics was heating up, students' hands rose everywhere.

"I think this is this.... that is that.. because of such and such consequences, it resulted like this.."

Blah blah....

As I was hearing to them, some of them.. convincing rate 5, from scale 0 to 10.

And some of them.. 9 or 10.. of course, from my own judgment.

When I thought it was a really great explanation, it pierced my consciousness, like a dart.

Knowing that this'd give them a bit of embarrassment, I turned my head to these people anyway, to check who they are.

A very logical, convincing statement made my head to nod at them with full of agreements.

From word point A to word point B, they were saying the words very clearly. Each sentence, worded nicely and fluently, as if they have a typed script in front of them. And as a whole, each sentence stick to each other like a glue very coherently and produce a thoughtful, fruitful theme which I eventually appreciate.. to whomever deliver that thought.. or an idea.

It's like a whole packet. A star shape, heart shape, whichever shapes you get in that packet, different shapes covered with bitter dark chocolate flavor, specifically designed just for dark chocolate lovers.

"Wow, I never could think of that. That's an interesting perspective. That's an another view," I thought to myself.

And then...

"Why haven't I thought of that....?

I could almost feel the weight of their confidences in their voices, as if they were solidly believing in what they were saying through their lips moving.

"How could he/she speak that well? Where are all those words coming from?" I kept thinking.

As I was waiting for my turn to speak, I could feel myself sweating and becoming anxious.

"What am I to say??"

If we examine our lives more closely, we can see most of them are consisting of talking.

Interesting thing is.. no matter what you do for living, talking is necessary.

Whether you do the sales, teaching.. Even if you'd like to run for a political office, you have to go through talking. And talking has to be moving in order to win the vote.

I get to see people who talk like a river streaming.

And I often noticed them.

Not only noticed them, I found them VERY interesting, thus.. I get to see the part of me envying them and possibly attracted to them....?

Seriously, the opposite sex of good utterance can move my heart.

I never realized the importance of speaking until now.

Like everyone else, talking is just talking. What that can be important? I used to think.

But no, talking is crucial.

Someone can be a millionaire, can inspire people traveling around the world, simply by talking.

Someone can be kicked out of their jobs by the words they put out into the world.

Talking can be a simplest way to do communications, but at the same time, you can make it

HUGE. So huge.

It may look simple, but it's not.

You can make other people drawn into you.

Or other people may think you're a boring person.

Talking can bring you a job, persons, money, popularity and even the whole world.

Talking is accessible to everybody, but depends on how you can use this tool, it can be a mundane conversation or it can be a powerful speech that can save millions of people's lives.

It's like a simple ingredient like chickens or potatoes.. depends on who the cook is, those can turn out simple menu or luxurious food.

Review: The 2011 Philadelphia Auto Show

http://vimeo.com/19489382


The 2011 Philadelphia International Auto Show went on at the Pennsylvania Convention Center for nine days, ended on Feb. 6th. The show was owned and produced by the Automobile Dealers Association of Greater Philadelphia. There were approximately 700 vehicles, including pre-production, vintage, classic, exotic, and green model cars, displayed throughout 550,000 square-feet on three different floors.


America’s passion for cars has brought more than 200,000 visitors annually.
The show provided an opportunity for auto dealers to introduce and showcase new vehicle models, without having to approach every single customer from their own stores. This show was also very helpful to attendees, who can be the future car buyers, because the program educates visitors about up and coming vehicles and allows them to compare different models.


Technology was definitely a dominant theme in this auto show. The technological, yet economical car characteristics like fuel efficient engines drew potential buyers’ attention. The looks of these cars were quite unique, too.
“I really loved the newer technologies at this event,” George Swales, one of attendees, said. “The fact that we are looking at the greener cars, like the electric vehicles and the hybrids… Twenty years from now, we’ll be all driving a very, very different vehicles than the ones that are brought today,” Swales added.


Although any form of selling, purchasing or even signing car buying contracts was banned during the show, the auto dealers agreed on exit surveys that the increase in the area’s new car sales is always influenced by this auto show.
The auto sales are expected to increase more this year, since the show had the test ride event that Toyota and Kia were offering to visitors on certain products for the first time. This year, the test ride event took place outside, but it will take place inside of the building next year.

The Christmas Tree

My coworker Koshik and I first encountered each other as an associate and customer back in little after when last Christmas season was ended.

One big Indian guy with gray, white hair came to the register with a cute little Christmas tree to buy. I was wondering why he was trying to buy it after everything was done, but soon, I realized it was super cheap price and he said it was for the next year.

After a long six months...

In the middle of June, I saw Koshik wearing Macy's all black dress code, standing by the register at Macy's for the first time since then.

I guess I didn't know he was working in here. 

I asked him about that Christmas tree, whether if he still carries it in his house or something and my guess was right.

The tree is safely saved (-I guess) at the backside of his house.

I told him, "Well, you only have three? four? months to go. Good for you!" (Well, I guess by the time I said that, maybe I thought there were 10 months in one year, instead of 12, duh!)

The guy, who plans and prepares for Christmas.. Not just for several weeks, but A YEAR HEAD OF THE TIME. lol

When I think of that little (and maybe poor..?) Christmas tree stuck SOMEWHERE in the DARK at Koshik's house..., standing by itself, waiting for Christmas to come, his owner (inevitably) Koshik (...!!), I get to laugh so hard. But at the same time, I sympathize for that tree.