Feeling French

I went to the museum with one of my very best friends the other day.  In milwaukee, it is the "Summer of China" and all the local museums have brought in big shows about China.  We went to the Milwaukee Art Museum and man, that place is entertaining.

We drove there from her place and didn't realize how far away we had parked until about halfway through the thirty minute walk through 90 degree weather.  After we got to the museum, we discovered that it was packed!  I have never seen that many people there.  Turns out, there was some kind of live performance by some Chinese musicians and dancers, as well as a dinner afterwards.  So we fled to the upper level to look at the smaller galleries of non-chinese artwork.  I still can not stand minimalism, but they had a few good shows set up besides the minimalist paintings of a black dot on a white canvas.

After we had traveled through the upper level (and suffered several immature moments), we decided to brave the main level and go through the galleries that remain the same, for the most part, at all times.  I saw a few paintings I hadn't seen there before, but overall I was familiar with the work displayed there.  Dana hadn't been there in awhile, so we did spend some time talking about the artists and I got to dig into the knowledge I gathered over years of living with my art teacher mother and share knowledge and fun facts.

Then we moved into the area of the museum that always has my favorite exhibits.  It holds the Infinity Room, what I call the "milwaukee black bean," and many other modern sculpture and other art.  It always has some very interesting and entertaining pieces. One of my favorites this times was the collection of sculptures standing around all in the same laughing pose.  Dana and I took the opportunity to  do some creative poses next to them.

After the museum, we headed back to her car and came upon a couple that we had noticed on the way in, laying on a park bench, most likely drugged up on a serious dose of heroine.  It was super depressing to see.  We felt like we should do something to help out but what could we have done, short of calling the police.  If one of us had had the non-emergency number for the milwaukee police we would have called it in, instead we kept our eyes out for a park ranger or police car.  Sadly we didn't see anyone who could help us out.

After that sobering moment, we felt dinner was in order.  We went to Nessun Dorma, a great little place with a wonderful wine selection, and delicious food.  Our waitress was amazing, and answered all our questions about the olive appetizer with honesty and a great sense of humor.  Dana's boyfriend showed up half way through the meal and spoiled our talk of the trip we are taking to europe on my way home from South Korea.  He also left earlier than we did, which allowed us to have some great one on one girl time.

Overall, it was one of the best days I have had in a long time.  And I can not wait for the Day of Epic Wonder that is coming up.

Oh, I almost forgot.  This morning I woke up at 6 and decided to spend my morning baking.  I made some rye bread, blueberry scones, corn bread, blueberry cornbread, and some Irish soda bread.  After spending the next few hours finishing up packing and writing a list of things I need or don't need, I am going to spend my afternoon cooking.  I think Tofu Pad Thai, Enchiladas, Zucchini rolls with goat cheese, and some coconut-lime Curry are in my future.

Now to my lunch of cornbread and homemade chilled Gazpacho.  Yum.

Future Missed

I started up my packing today.  I went through all my clothes and made three piles: take, maybe, and leave. Once I get the "takes" into my new suitcases, as well as all the other stuff I have to squeeze in there, I will go through the maybes and make final decisions on those.  The "leave-behinds" will be donated, throw out, or given to friends and family.

As I was going through all my stuff, I started to think about all the stuff I may miss once I get over there and I decided to make a list of predictions.

1. My cats
2. My dogs
3. My family
4. My friends
5. The folks I work with
6. sadly, working at Target
7. Not paying rent
8. Living in Milwaukee
9. Having a car
10. Having a bike
11. Speaking English
12. Being understood when I talk
13. Going to movies
14. Knowing my way around
15. Living in more than one room
16. A real shower
17. Lack of pollution
18. Food I am used to
19. Many other things I haven't thought of yet....

Writing out this list also made me start to think of things I most certainly will not miss.

1. Owning a car
2. Living with four other people
3. Working at Target
4. Milwaukee
5. The political terminal
6. Light Beer
7. All the fast food here
8. The lack of taste in our food
9. Again, other stuff I can't think of at the moment.

That is all I got as of now.  We will see what I miss when I actually there, I bet it will surprise us all.  I am still just waiting on an interview opportunity.  I have narrowed down the area that I am hoping to get a position in.  I have been reading up on the area around Daejeon, Ulsan, and Busan and I really love the climate and geography of that area.  It looks like a beautiful place to be and it is a little warmer than the rest of the country.  Hopefully I get to be in that area and hopefully I will have enough time to be really prepared before I get the job.

A Change, A Review

Obviously, I got bored with my blog look again.  If you haven't figured it out yet, I love to change things up and rearrange my life.  I move the furniture around in my house at least once a month if I can, and I get haircuts faster than my hair can grow (which is pretty dang fast).  So, why should the look of my blog be any different? Do you like the new look?  I was going for a little more themed and coordinated.  The picture at the top is a picture of a Korean meal.  It is actually only half of the picture, there was twice as much food in the original.  In a few months it will probably change up again, so don't get to comfortable with it.

Now for my review:

Yesterday, my mom and I went to test out a new restaurant in Mequon, the Hibachi Buffet.  It is an asian buffet restaurant with some big differences.  They offer over 100 dishes on the buffet each day including a design-it-yourself Hibachi bar and a fresh sushi bar.  The also have the buffet staples of fried rice, General Tso's Chicken, doughnuts, and crab rangoon, plus TONS of other choices.  They have some surprises mixed in such as the cheese covered mussels still in their shells, and frog legs with onions and peppers.

Everything was great.  The mussels were so tender they almost dissolved in your mouth.  The sushi was fresh and delicious (and I love sushi).  They were continually adding fresh food to the buffet, and cleared plates and filled water glasses almost before you were ready.  The atmosphere was also very nice, with carved cork semi wall dividers and large asian themed paintings.

Best of all, it was super affordable, especially considering the cost of hibachi or sushi on their own.  For one all you can eat dinner, the cost was $9.75, with a 10% discount for seniors. The lunch buffet is an even better deal at only $6.75.

Overall I give this place two big thumbs up and I can't wait to have an excuse to go there again and try all the things I couldn't fit in my tummy the first time around.

Loving It Hot

Last night was the last night of remodel.  I am really going to miss working with those people every night.  It's nice I will see them every day still but the night time vibe we had going will never be the same.  Starting tomorrow, I start between 4 and 5 in the morning and work till around noon.  Less cash and less hours equals no bueno.  But I have a good start on my savings and I am glad I at least HAVE a job.

This weather has been amazing! I love it when it is ball sweat hot outside and all you want to do is lay in a tub of ice with some cold tea.  I don't mind the heat all that much, and I love being outside in the sun.  I have been gardening, hanging out at the beach, and spending as much time out there as I can.  One of the bigger pluses to this weather, in my humble opinion, is that I get to wear all my new dresses and skirts and show off how much weight I have lost in the past few months.  I hit another plateau again and I am starting to see that every five to ten pounds, I stop losing for awhile then have a big jump again for some reason.  I started up my runs again and I can finally start doing pushups again cause my hand is healing up nicely.

The only part of this hot weather I haven't been enjoying is attempting to sleep in a house with no airconditioning.  It is about 95 degrees in my bedroom at night, so I have been sleeping on the sofa downstairs where it is at least moderately cooler.  The sofa is one of the least comfortable place to sleep on earth by the way.  But, I have set up a fan and I am trucking through.

My garden is looking great, my job is easy and relatively enjoyable, I spend lots of time getting things accomplished and doing things I love, the weather is beautiful, and korea is approaching steadily over the horizon.  I just want to say that I really love how my life is, and I am excited for the things to come.

Yup, Yup, Yup

Went to the beach today with my mom and the pups and had a great time in the sun.  I kinda fell asleep and burned my back a little but it isn't to bad.  Heading back there on wednesday, this time most likely without the dogs, or maybe just one of them.  Lucy isn't great about other dogs coming near her and Fargo, but I solved her behavior issues but putting her in the water whenever she went after another dog.  Twi times and she had learned her lesson.

I have yet another crazy work week coming up, and it will be very bittersweet.  This is my last week working with my remodel family and I already miss them.  The people on flow team in the mornings don't really seem to talk, at all, while there.  But that will change now that remodel is done and a bunch of us will be working in the mornings with them.  We are also planning a Karaoke night again, and I can not wait!  Watching Steve and Josh sing to each other is hours of entertainment for all.

It is also going to be my last week at the summerfest grounds most likely unless I get asked to work Irish Fest or German Fest.  I am really going to miss that place.  I am bringing my ID to korea so I can look at it next year when summerfest rolls around again and I am not there.  This train of thought brings us to the  Top Five of Summerfest This Year!  It is a list of the top five things that happened there this year, good or bad, that I will always remember.

1. I guess the biggest thing, and the worst, was the stabbing that happened there.  I am not aloud to share details, but a man was stabbed several times about 15 to 20 feet from my partner and I during one of the shows.  We were the first grounds team on scene and had to deal with witness statements, ambulances, and police tape.  One of the things I never wanted to have happen while I worked there was this, and it sucked as much, if not more then I thought it would.

2. Crazy rap artists should not be invited to summerfest.  Wiz whatever his name is was one of the worst nights I have had there.  We had people climbing on everything, falling off of stuff, and fights every ten feet.  If I ever work there again and someone like this comes in, I am walking out.  And that is all I am saying about that.

3. Being a team lead for the Ops team was one of the nicer things about this year.  I was able to pick my own team and wear the radio.  My team turned out to be pretty much the most awesome one ever.  They kept borrowing Tony for other places, but I still claim Pimpy McDigits as mine.  My other partner and I gave nicknames to everyone and everything all summerfest.  Tony got his nickname because his number this year was H069.

4. Working with the Refugee stage boys.  When we switched to the south end halfway through summerfest, the guys from the Refugee Stage asked my partners and I if we would make a point of coming around their stage and checking the rocks for people smoking pot.  They are working hard to clean up their image and get a little more support from the summerfest funds next year.  We gladly obliged, especially after taking the time to talk to them for a bit.  They were quite entertaining. 

5. Having this be the last year I will work there is probably the saddest part about this year.  Even with the crazy stuff that went on there, and the scary situations that happened, I really love my days there and the people I work with are amazing.  I trust each and everyone of them with my life, which isn't something that is easy to do after only eleven days with some of these folks.  

If I remember more than that, I'll bring them up, but these were the things that stood out the most to me this year.

Now, The Wait Begins

I have finished everything I need to for my application to Korea.  I have all of the paperwork, notarized and apostilled seal, and I have completed al the classes I needed to.  I have started up lists of supplies and clothes and I have started to check items off of my "to purchase" list and I am digging out all the stuff I already own.  It is not as easy as it seems to make a list of everything you will need for a e\year of your life, especially when what you really want to bring with you, you can't.

The lists are coming along slowly and I find myself adding things and taking things off over and over again.  So, I have stepped back from the lists and start up reading up on Korea.  I bought a few books on Korean life and on teaching in Korea and I'm working my way through them.  I also started poking around the internet for other info and current events.  Starting tomorrow, I will start up my Rosetta Stone program and try to pound through it each day.

Since the stress of paperwork is gone, I can start to focus on cooking and losing weight again.  I have stayed at my current weight for the last two weeks, but I have been working twelve hour days so time for working out has been kinda non existent.  Tomorrow starts a new week and a rework of priorities and schedule   Now that I work at 4:30 in the morning, running will have to happen after work or before bed.  I am thinking about changing my availability at work but I need hours and money in a bad way so I am holding off on that.

I know that this is dry and just informative, but I am kinda worn out and haven't really done anything fun for awhile.  I am going to the beach tomorrow with my mom and the pups, so I can write about that and post pictures.  I will also give a highlight reel of Summerfest in the next few days.  After I take some pictures of the new clothes I bought, I will post some pictures of that stuff too.  I think I will also make a list of some other topics I can talk about on here later this week, but I feel that self imposed topics are a little silly for a personal blog.  Not very personal.

And.... Cut.

Finally, some time to breathe.  I have been working straight since my last post, and I finished my online course and all the extras.  I am done with remodel at Target and I am working on adjusting to getting up at 3 am so I can be at work by 4:30.  I am only scheduled three and a half hours each day, but so far I have worked at least six hours each day.  Today I actually worked nine and a half hours.

I also just completed my Summerfest days.  It was a good time. Mornings at north gate with Pat and Chris. Nights working Ops with Richard and sometimes Anthony (Pimpy McDigits).  That provided hours of entertainment and they were also quality backup, even if they did act like the older brothers I never wanted.  I will talk more about Summerfest in a later post but I don't really feel like talking about it right now.

In truth, I don't really know what I want to talk about.  I feel like typing and talking but I have no clue what I really want to talk about.  I bought a Kindle yesterday and I spent the day downloding the free books from amazon.  I also bought a bunch of new clothes and things from Modcloth.  But again, I want to talk about each of these things on their own later. I think I am just feeling a bit of a transition pain from being around thousands of people everyday at Summerfest to being around no one all day but myself and my pets.  I think I am lonely and that being by myself and working on getting things ready for South Korea is making me nervous and sad.  I am starting to get the flighty panic feeling that you get before jumping out of a plane the first time.  I know that I will be okay and that the parachute will go off, but I am still terrified that I will be in the small percentage who have there parachutes fail and that I will take a headlong fall to earth.  It is as if I am experiencing a low key anxiety attack, or just the beginning of one, all the time.

I am going to spend this weekend getting things organized and trying to feel a bit better about where I am at with Korea and other bits in my life.  Saturday I am going to try to make it to the beach for awhile  and then I am heading to Dead Man's Carnival, even if I have to go all by myself, I am going.  I need to start learning to do things without my friends around, and here is a great time for me to begin.