73 Questions

I love watching the videos uploaded by Vogue on their YouTube channel, especially the 73 questions interview. The first one I watched was the interview of Sarah Jessica Parker and, while the interview can have its awkward moments, I loved how the interview was done without any editing. One of my favorite interviews was of Victoria Beckham, who I happen to love and admire. 

So, here is my version of the 73 questions interview:

1. How long have you been in the area?

In Seoul? About four and a half years?

2. What’s your favorite season in Seoul?

Spring, when the cherry blossoms bloom.

3. What’s your favorite activity in Seoul?

Going on a late night stroll along the Han River.

4. Would you ever leave Seoul?

I love my hometown, but I would leave for an adventure anywhere.

5. What are three words to describe living in Seoul?

Loud, crowded, convenient.

6. What’s your favorite movie?

An Education.

7. Favorite movie in past five years?

Testament of Youth.

8. Favorite Hitchcock film?

The Birds.

9. Favorite TV show that’s currently on? 

New girl.

10. What’s a book you plan on reading?

“All the Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr.

11. A book you read in school that positively shaped you?

“Lord of the Flies” by William Golding.

12. A book you read in school that you never think of?

“Heart of Darkness” by Joseph Conrad.

13. On a scale of one to ten how excited are you about life right now?

Hmmm maybe about 7.5?

14. iPhone or Android?

iPhone of course! Once an Apple user, always an Apple user.

15. Twitter or Instagram?

Instagram for sure!

16. Vine or Snapchat?

Totally into snapchat these days!

17. Who should EVERYONE be following right now?

My favorite fashionista, Alexa Chung (@chungalex)!

18. What’s the coolest thing in this room?

My bookshelf, full of book and random memorabilia.

19. What’s your favorite downtown restaurant?

My new favorite noodle place — Myeongdong Gyoja.

20. What’s your favorite food?

Sushi! I could literally eat sushi for every meal. 

21. Least favorite food?

Gorgonzola pizza with honey.

22. What do you love on your pizza?

Veggies! All sorts of veggies!

23. Favorite drink?

Apple martini.

24. Favorite dessert?

Caramel sundaes.

25. Dark chocolate or milk chocolate?

Milk chocolate, no question.

26. Weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten?

Live octopus. I could feel it moving around in my mouth. Gross, but actually pretty good.

27. What was the first film you saw at the cinema?

Ants? 

28. What’s your favorite band?

My favorite band, at the moment, would have to be One Direction!

29. Favorite solo artist?

Adele.

30. Favorite lyrics?

What goes around comes around? What goes up must come down? (“Karma” by Alicia Keys)

31. If your life were a song, what would the title be?

“Dream” by Priscilla Ahn.

32. If you could sing a duet with anyone, who would it be?

I’m gonna go with…Ariana Grande!

33. If you could master one instrument, what would it be?

The piano.

34. If you had a tattoo, where would it be?

Somewhere I could easily hide it, so maybe on the back of my neck?

35. To be or not to be?

Always…to be.

36. Bath or shower?

Bath, with bubbles and bath salts.

37. Scary film or happy endings?

Happy endings (never scary films)!

38. Dogs or cats?

Dogs!

39. Kittens or puppies?

Puppies!

40. Dolphins or koalas?

Koalas!

41. Bird-watching or whale-watching?

Whale-watching.

42. What’s your spirit animal?

According to Spiritanimal.com, the owl.

43. Best gift you’ve ever received?

My first iPhone.

44. Last gift you gave a friend?

A hoodie from H&M.

45. A person you want to have coffee with?

Donald Trump, just to hear the ridiculous things he has to say.

46. A historical figure you’d love to have coffee with?

Rosa Parks.

47. How do you like your coffee?

Hot, with milk.

48. Can I play a note on this piano?

I don’t have a piano but, if I did, sure!

49. What’s your favorite curse word?

Sh*t.

50. What’s your favorite board game?

Boggle.

51. What’s your favorite country to visit?

England.

52. What’s the last country you visited?

The Netherlands.

53. What country do you wish to visit?

Greece.

54. Favorite sport to watch?

Tennis.

55. Can you write down your favorite word that starts and ends with the same vowel?

Aroma.

56. What’s your favorite color?

Blue.

57. Least favorite color?

Pink.

58. What color dress did you wear to your prom?

A black BCBG dress.

59. Diamonds or pearls?

Diamonds.

60. Cheap shampoo or expensive?

They all seem the same to me, so I’m going to go with cheap.

61. Blow-dry or air-dry?

Blow-dry.

62. Heels or flats?

Flats.

63. What film made you cry the most?

“Hachi: A dog’s tale”. 

64. What was the last thing you ate?

Apples and potato chips (a good combination).

65. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?

Yellow.

66. What would be the title of your autobiography?

“Lived, Loved, and Saw”

67. Pilates or yoga?

Yoga.

68. Jogging or swimming?

Jogging.

69. Best way to decompress?

Go to a cafe all by myself and read a book.

70. If you had one superpower, what would it be?

Being able to read anyone’s mind.

71. Can you describe an experience you felt most nervous?

Anytime I have to give a presentation in front of a lot of people. 

72. What’s the weirdest word in the English language?

Syzygy — (n) an alignment of celestial bodies.

73. Last question: Is this the strangest interview you’ve ever had?

Yep. Everyone that had to the 73 questions interview on Vogue had to have practiced a lot.

Magritte

When I went to Brussels during spring break last April, we (me along with three others in our 4-member crew) made it our priority to go to the Royal Museum of Fine Arts of Brussels. And, so, why was this a priority of ours? It was actually pretty ironic that the four of us that were traveling together all have a strong interest in art. Usually, there are a few that can't stand art and hate art museums. We weren't of that kind. 

And when we got there, the classic art was beautiful, of course, but I fell back in love with René Magritte! To be completely honest, I would be the last person in my high school honors fine arts class to say "I love surrealism" because I didn't and it made my fine arts final a bitch to study for.

But, I think that's when I realized how different it is to learn about a piece of art in a classroom setting and when you actually see an entire collection of them, divided into different viewing halls correlating to the artist's life in chronological order. It makes it less about analyzing and more about the excitement of viewing, of witnessing, or just of being captivated by the beauty of the art itself. 

Plus, what I loved most about Magritte were the unique and very out-of-the-blue titles he tied to each of his artwork. He always emphasized that his titles don't mean anything in particular and that people shouldn't put all their effort into analyzing these titles. Or any titles in life, in fact. He was actually a pretty deep person. Very philosophical. 

"Empire of Lights"

"An object is not so attached to its name that we cannot find another one that would suit it better."

"The lovers"

"The Portrait"

"Hegel's Holiday"

"Everything we see hides another thing, we always want to see what is hidden by what we see, but it is impossible. Humans hide their secrets too well...."

"The Happy Doner"

I'll take a Grande Chai Tea Latte, Hot.

I find it extremely difficult to study in the privacy of my own room. Weird, but I find the quiet a bit unnerving and, 8 times out of 10, I end up spending an hour or two playing my guitar.

This is why I always find myself at the closest Starbucks near my house, which is where I am right now. It's 3:52 PM and the entire cafe has almost reached it maximum seating capacity, bustling with a wide variety of people. 

The majority of the coffee-drinkers will be the young 20-somethings, with their typical white Apple earphones plugged in, tapping away at their laptops and holding printouts of powerpoint slides in their hands. Even by just looking at the lack of effort they put to their appearance (no makeup and glasses for the girls, trainers for the guys), I'm pretty sure I can assume they are studying for their finals. December can mean winter and Christmas for some, but "Finals Week" has the most leverage for sure. 

There are a few ladies in their 30s, being extremely loud and obnoxious, with one complaining about her stuck-up sister-in-law that didn't come to help with the arduous labor of making kimchi and another trying to modestly brag to the other mothers about how her son aced his English exam (emphasising that he owes his impeccable smart-genes to her). 

Then, there is the rare one or two who are actually just sitting down with their grande-sized disposable paper cup, with just a book in their hands. No laptop. No constant checking up on their SNS. Nope, just a book.

It's pretty difficult (may I dare say rare?) to see people just reading, and not totally engrossed in their smartphones. I mean, personally, I live for Instagram. I would feel like I woke up the wrong side of bed if I didn't check SnapChat for updates from my favorite bloggers and celebs. It may be an addiction, or it can be a sign that the modern times are changing. 

And, I don't want to be a total conservative Republican by rejecting change. No, I'm all for change. As Obama would say, "change for America." For me, I guess it should just be "Change for Humanity". So, I can't say I want to really pull myself out of this smart-phone phase. I mean, it's efficient, it can easily be used, and its my 7 lbs. Nikon D90 packed into my 4.7"-sized phone. 

But, it wouldn't hurt to be a bit un-plugged in from now one. I mean, just on this desk alone, I have the new 2015 MacBook Pro Retrina Screen and my new iPhone 6s. But, let's be realistic. My day without the comfort of these apple products could probably parallel with that of a heroine addict on the first day of withdrawal. In short, it'll just be painful and sad.

Cinnamon Season

Summer, as intangible as it is, flew by like the high-speed cars on the highway. We entered a season of cardigans and blazers, cinnamon-flavored coffee drinks, and the constant raking of the bright red and yellow autumn leaves. In other words, it was the best time of the year. 

A concept very hard to explain in words, the arrival of fall always has the magical effect of bringing a wave of nostalgia over me. I could spend hours sitting by the window at a small cafe with a warm mug of coffee (while using mugs reduces the amount of plastic waste in the world, my reasons for refusing the plain white paper cups is to be able to wrap my hands around a mug….you know, for dramatic purposes). 

If I could go back in time and be able to change something, it would probably want to go on exchange in the fall semester, rather than in the spring. To have lived in the countryside of England in the months of September and October would have been so surreal and would probably have resulted in my illegal overstay in the UK. Why did my visa only last for six months? 

To my dismay, the city I currently reside in has only about three weeks of fall. The hot, humid summer takes its time to change the colors of the leaves and make it possible to walk about a incline without breaking a sweat. Too bad it gets mad cold, quicker than it takes to freeze a 2L bottle of water in the freezer. 

I wish there was a place where it was fall all year long. Not too cold, not too hot. Not humid. Just perfect. You know, like the perfect weather when you go apple picking. And just the perfect time during fall Field Hockey season, when you don't need to pull out the UnderArmour yet. 

Tile Rooftops

Rooftops.

Tile rooftops.

I wish this was the view from my window as I get out of my bed every morning, as I sit down for my third or fourth reading of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, as I hold a warm cup of earl grey during tea time, or as I sit at my desk to write down my thoughts and dreams in a journal.

I found this photograph on vogue.com for their Ethnic Travel series. This particular photo was taken in Vietnam. I wouldn't say that Vietnam would be on my top 10 travel destination list but, after seeing this picture, I'm pretty sure that my list will undergo some minor alterations.

This picture is the complete opposite of the image I've held of Vietnam for practically all of my life. Media tends to focus on the crowded marketplaces of South-east Asia, an image of which is probably so focused on because it's a image that is hard to come across in the Western part of the world. But, this photo just spills out calmness, a sense of peacefulness. A place where you can hear your own thoughts. A place where you can actually do some form of thinking.

I don't what it is about these rooftops that seems more appealing than the more famous rooftops of France, but I smile at the thought of me ever going here.

We'll see if that day ever comes. Hopefully, soon.

Dreams

What would happen if everything I experienced, everything I saw and did, was part of a long and unending dream? If a dream goes on forever, does that make it reality?

How would you know if it was dream or not?

Sometimes, I get the feeling that everything around me is moving so fast, while I'm stuck in my own little bubble. There's nothing scary about it. I'm comfortable in my own skin and I feel relaxed at the fact that I'm aware of my surrounding.

But, there's always that lingering question: is it real?

I wake up in the middle of the night, from time to time, when I have trouble deciphering if I have actually woke up, or if it's a fragment of my imagination. I catch myself feeling embarrassed because I think a group of people are in my room and they are looking at me as I sleep. But, these people are never in my room. They exist only in my mind. 

This is the weird me.

This is me.

I can’t stand being in a room with a ticking clock hanging on the wall.

“Choose.

The clock or me.

There’s no room for the both of us.”

My empty bottles pile up in an empty laundry basket in the corner, waiting its future role as a recycled flower vase or piggy bank.

I’m a café person. Who can even study in their room anymore (and why would they want to)? My room is a place for playing my guitar, the occasional midnight reading, sleep and that only. To spend a whole day, with a great cup of coffee and a tote bag full of things to draw on and things to study and memorize, at a neighborhood café is pretty much my only refuge in the hustle bustle of Seoul.

I’m one of those introverts that can spend a wonderful day all by myself. Sometimes, everyone just needs to be alone. For me, I need it more than others.

For me, watching movie trailers is just as good and thrilling as watching the full movie.

Cameron Diaz’s job in The Holiday is literally my dream job.

I love watching the classics, like Roman Holiday and Gone With the Wind.

But, I’m proud to say that I can’t live without my chick flicks.

How can anyone not enjoy the pure comedy of Mean Girls?

If I could go back in time, I would make a list of all the books I have ever read. It’s so sad that I have the memory timespan similar to that of Drew Barrymore in 50 First Dates. I can’t even remember all the required reading from junior year English class. Maybe the lost list of books will make me feel smarter than I actually am. Which isn’t a terrible thing.

One of my favorite moments is finishing a book that a friend recommended and actually liking the book. It’s a rare moment, and so precious. That a friend actually thought of my taste and preference of books and picked the perfect book…such a precious moment.

Sometimes, I say that I hate when it rains. But, I love it. I love wearing my rain boots. I love the sound of raindrops on my umbrella. I actually love the smell of a rainy day. I love looking out of the window when it rains. I don’t think I can ever live in California. I’m always going to be an England-type of person.

A Day for Tennis

Things I saw today:

• Pink and yellow flowers that have started to bloom in the naked trees and bushes
• Two Korean women (professors?) who called each other "dear" and other loving names that made me recall why I do not want to be an old woman (which I unfortunately cannot avoid)
• Amazing skills at the tennis club, skills that made me realize I'm in England, a country where they take sports like tennis and football very seriously
• Inside the mind of both physiology and Korean Literature major students
• My ketchup has been eaten/used my flatmates (which I am not happy about)
• Students making their usual Wednesday night trip to Corp at midnight, which is only the start of the night
• My family that is perfectly busy without me there (and only need to see my face for a second)
• My flatmate's too-blond, near-gone eyebrows

Thursdays.

My favorite color is blue.

My favorite season is spring.

My favorite vegetables are mushrooms.

And, my favorite day of the week is Thursday.

No matter how much a person can try, its hard to not choose favorites. To come out and plainly state the simple, people have preferences. And these preferences are what differentiate people from one another. Some like this, and others like that. We can say that it is a way for the Earth to maintain order and equilibrium. 

Many have asked me why I love Thursdays so much. Every since I was in middle school, I have always loved the idea of Thursdays. But, its very hard to explain. Actually, its always hard to explain why a person likes anything. I can’t explain why I like blue better than purple, or why I love spring so much. It’s just a feeling I get on Thursdays (or Wednesday nights, a few minutes before Thursdays). 

Maybe it has something to do with me and my super nerdy-ness. I was such a bookworm when I was younger, always wanting to beat my smart sister when it came to school work. So, I guess I studied a lot. That meant staying up all night to memorize latin declensions, solving proofs for calculus or studying flashcards before the AP exams. But, during a hard week in school, whenever I was always stressed out, I would always feel better on Thursdays. Because, I knew that, no matter how long I studied or did my homework on Thursday, I would only have one day of school left. So, I could study however long I wanted, because I knew I could sleep after school on Friday.

When I tried explaining this to someone, they said, “Then doesn’t this mean that you like Fridays?” But, they just didn’t get my point. Or, rather, I couldn’t really explain it that well, I guess. There is a clear difference between Thursdays and Fridays and I know that I do not get that happy on Fridays because, by then, I am already totally tired and my brain couldn’t function to its best capacity. Nor was I the type to do much Fridays nights. 

Even to this day, I love the idea of Thursdays. And I think I’ll continue to love Thursdays.