Nieuw beginnen

I posted this story on my facebook but I think I will repeat it here again. After a huge dark storm has passed, I had a dream. A dream of having a fully tattooed body from head to toes. Some of them was Korean letters. But somehow I regretted having tattoos and desperately wanted to erase everything. But I woke up without doing so. This meant something I thought. This is something extraordinary and it tries to tell me something. I searched for dream interpretations.

Yes indeed. My dream was reflecting my psychological and emotional status. It meant that I suffer from not being able to express myself and my emotions. And I just endure these sufferings. How great. This was so accurate I was little bit scared.

Anyways like I said the huge dark storm has already passed. It is calm and I hope this continues till I die. It is such a waste of time and emotions. I hate playing emotions. It is not productive and not healthy.

To compensate my shredded emotions, I hurried myself to buy tickets. Tickets that will send me to some other places. I initially wanted to go to Paris with Shan in the fourth week of February but since I have a vacation in the third week, why not go somewhere then? Getting some fresh air as early as possible is a better idea.

So I bought return tickets to Madrid! Only if I had more time, I would've gone to Barcelona as well but I can't skip my classes. I am a very strongly-study-committed student :-) In Madrid we can also practice some slecht Spanish as well! Haha.

Another friend of mine who is studying in Finland also suggested to travel Helsinki together with her. Yes waarom niet? Just thought of travelling already made me so up-beat and happy. And I believe this is also a very good idea for a nieuw beginnen. There will be some financial crisis over the next few months, but what the hell! I just go for it.

It is only good for me. Getting some fresh air and travelling with old friends of mine :-)

New Year's Reception at the Castle

Op dinsdag 22 januari 2013, gingen Bart en ik naar het Kasteel Hertoginnedal (Château de Val-Dutchesse) voor de Nieuwjaar receptie.

Everybody I met at the reception told me how historically important the castle has been in the Belgian and European politics. It is the place where the Treaties of Rome and the European Economic Community were prepared and founded. There was a plaque explaining about the intergovernmental conference in 4 different languages - French, Dutch, Italian and German.

Surprisingly there was no speech, we just had to enjoy wine and limited vegetarian finger food. They were serving soup - supposedly witloof soup... So I finished it but it had shrimps on the bottom. YUK! Anyways it was such fun talking to people and just enjoying the atmosphere.


***
신년맞이 리셉션
유럽정치에서 굉장히 중요한 장소에 초대받아, supposedly 중요한 사람들 틈에 끼어서,
신나게 마시고 신나게 떠들고 왔다 :-)

Home-made scones

It's been such a long long long time since I wanted to bake this scone! It's made with love of course ;-) and with olives and potatoes. It was my first time to make scones and by judging from its taste, I can say it was a successful attempt :-)

With some raspberry jam, the scone was melting in my mouth and filled up my hungry stomach. I should bake some more vegan breads with wholemeal flour as I made once in Brisbane... :-) Ah good memories.


***
스콘을 구웠다. 태어나서 처음 만들어본 올리브+감자 스콘은 완전 성공적 >_<
다음번엔 비건 브레드를 구워야지.

 

Mijn verslaving; my addiction

I fell in love with Milosh few years back and I am still. I am so addicted to his voice and style. I simply love all his music. I wish he could come to Belgium and perform. That will be my day!

My Pandora bracelet.... this is indeed an expensive addiction. Somehow the shop assistant recommended me a big bracelet (19cm) regardless of my wrist (14cm) size. But if I make it a full-charm bracelet...... it will look prettier and more fitting. I've never worn such an expensive jewelery but I think it as a treatment to myself :-)

My favourite comic book! I simply love Urasawa Naoki! I prefer Monster but 20th century boys is also a very good comic book :-) I am re-reading it in Dutch and it has been good so far. 

Mijn Ukulele met inlay stickers! Awww I am not yet very addicted to playing ukulele but will be soon - once I become better at it :-)


***
그래 벨기에에서의 삶을 긍정적으로 생각하고 싶다면, 지금 내가 누리는 문화적 혜택을 생각하는게 가장 좋을 것 같아. 그 중의 하나인 만화책과, 음악 그리고 영화.

우간다나 다른 개발국에 있었더라면 이런걸 누리기는 힘들었겠지.
물론 자연과 화창한 날씨를 compromise 해야하긴 하지만 :-)
여하튼 오늘도 밀로쉬의 음악을 들으며 자야겠다

Het sneeuwt! (een keer meer!)

Het sneeuwt! Het was heel koud maar het was moooooooooooi :-)
Somebody drew three hearts (for me) on strangers' cars. I was being very careful not to fall down when I walked to the Dutch lesson.

In the lesson, we had a very interesting conversation on 'alternatieve geneeskunde'. I wanted to explain about 'cupping (부황)' and had difficulties due to my lack of Dutch! I somehow managed to mention small cups that apply on body to take out negative energy. I just wanted to finish my explanation there. But! there was another person who knew about cupping! It was Mo from Iran and he also tried cupping and he even explained the part of taking out blood. He added that people do cupping in order to take out 'slecht bloed' as well. zwarte bloed = slecht bloed = ongezond! And everybody was like 'eeeeeuw', but we smiled. Yes it works!


***
난 눈이 정말 정말 싫지만, 하얀 눈으로 뒤 덮인 암비오릭스 스퀘어는 정말 아름다웠어.
출근하면서 그려준 하트도 마음에 들었어.

부황얘기 하다보니.. 나 침도 맞고 싶고, 부황도 뜨고 싶다!

de goede voornemens voor het nieuwe jaar

Ik heb sommige voornemens voor het nieuwe jaar.

I didn't really make big new year's resolutions, but I will try to make them happen :-) Obviously the most important thing for me now is to learn languages - both Dutch and French. My Dutch is okay I think, but mijn Frans is heel slecht dus moet ik Frans meer leren!

After waiting so long for the new French course to open, I could finally register (thanks to mijn nootjes). Dus, mijn eerste voornemen is om Frans en Nederlands te leren. Mijn tweede voornemen is om exercise en yoga te doen. I also want to keep positive mind and not be pessimistic.

Like I always jokingly say to Bart, I will master French and beat his French! umhwahwahwa



***
프렌치 코스에 등록을 했다. 네덜란드어보다 많이 비싸지만 -_-+
브뤼셀에서 생존하려면 조금 더 인텐시브하게 배울 필요가 있기때문에.

Kerst cadeautjes

First posting of 2013 is about my cadeautjes! My sis Bona sent me a hand-made card from Korea. I could feel lots of love from her! Miss her so much.. and all the times we spent together.

Bart gave me an iPod classic. Now I can listen to various kinds of music (even including 80s). Haha

For my family in Korea, I bought some clothes and chocolates. I don't think I will send stuff to Korea anymore because the post tariff is too expensive...... I prepared around 4.9kg of gift to Korea but when the guy at de winkel measured it was 5.040kg which meant I had to pay 129.60 euros instead of 64.80 euros. But the guy was being sweet and he made my package 4.999kg :-)

It is quite unfair that the tariff of packages is not based on each weight but according to weight group like 0~5kg, 5~10kg etc.

I am now so happy that I sent some gifts for my family. I miss them a lot :( (sniff sniff)


***
벨기에에서 한국으로 소포를 보냈다.
1월 세일기간에 쇼핑을 대단하게 하고, 아빠와 동생을 위한 옷, 엄마를 위한 신발
그리고 모든 가족들을 위한 초콜릿과 와플정도.
아 그리고 가장 중요한 달력 :-)

0~5kg까지는 64.80유로이고 5~10kg까지는 129.60 유로라서 처음 계획은 많은 물건들을 준비해서 10킬로 가량 보내야지. 했는데, 경제적 사정이 급변해서 딱 4.9킬로를 준비했더랬다.

그런데 막상 포스트를 보내려니 5.040kg가 나왔다. 아저씨는 나에게 129.60유로를 내라고 하고 나는 '아~ 일부러 집에서 무게 재고 5킬로 이내로 맞춰왔는데요~~' 이랬더니, '그래 너가 젠틀하니깐 내가 이렇게 해준다' 하시며 저울에서 내 패키지를 내리더니 임의로 4.999kg로 만들어 주셨다. 홍홍홍 호주에서 물건 보낼때는 열흘이내 도착했던 것 같던데.. 이번엔 얼마나 걸릴까. 유럽은 더 머니깐 더 오래 걸리겠지?

그나저나 가족들이 좋아했으면 좋겠다.

shopping/winkelen

Shopping!
Oh well, there is no such thing like 'boxing day' in Belgium, instead there is a mega sale period in January. So I had to wait for January to come for good deals. But since I was going to Antwerp, a great shopping city, I couldn't resist myself but to go shopping :-)

My main purpose of 'winkelen' was to buy Christmas gifts for my family and Bart, however a thought of mega sale couldn't go away from my head.... so I couldn't buy much.

I found something that Bart needed for a long time, yes.
I also found a pair of black flat shoes that I needed for a long time, yes.
I wasn't really searching for Pandora store but.... on the way to Hugo Boss I 'accidentally' passed the shop and couldn't resist going in. There I got myself a charm!

A tigress charm. This is supposedly new year collection of Chinese Zodiac signs. It isn't even on the website. I feel like I am a '신상녀'.

After spending enormous amount of money :( I just wanted to chill by browsing books in a bookshop. There I found a book about sex toys. Interesting. This country is so liberated and publishes all sorts of books! Oh well I checked the publisher and it was from the Netherlands. Nice.

I immediately bought it because it was fun to see such book. This is unthinkable in Korea - finding a sex toy book in a normal bookshop in the daylight. Wonder about the content? It is really detailed and informative (with many sexy pictures), apparently. :-)


***
두번째로 다녀온 앤트웝. 갈 때마다 쇼핑을 하지만 이번에는 1월의 세일을 기다려야 하기 때문에, 많은 물건들을 구입하지는 않았다.

그렇지만 나의 지름신은 결국 나의 소비욕구를 멈추지 못했고, 몇 가지 물건을 샀는데 그 중 가장 재미있는 아이템은 성인용품에 관한 책. 굉장히 디테일하고 많은 정보가 담겨져 있다. 물론 너무나도 섹시한 사진들과 함께. 이거 너무 재미있는 아이템이다 싶어서 바로 계산대로 들고가 구입 :-)  대낮에 그것도 일반 서점에서 이런 책을 살 수 있다니 참 이 나라 많이 오픈되어있다.

그리고 나를 위해 구입한 판도라 참. 우연치 않게 발견한 샾을 그냥 지나칠 수가 없어서 ㅠ_ㅠ 예상에도 없던 지출이... 그렇지만 점원언니가 신상품이라면서 십이간지 참들을 보여주는데, 나의 사인 호랑이는 안 살 수가 없었더랬다. 홈페이지에는 아직 업데이트가 안되어있다. 호호 이런 기분이 바로 신상녀의 기분?

그렇지만 나 너무 소비주의에 물들고 있는 것 같아. 나를 위해 무언가를 사면 기분은 좋지만 한 편으로는 이런거에 기쁨 느끼는 내가 조금은 슬프다. 

pleasant (double) surprise!

When I came back from the party on Thursday night, there was a package for me, from China.
He must've sent this this Monday or after but it was already here. So fast. I was really impressed with the service DHL provided....

Thanks again to JJ for nice vegetarian curry paste and the puzzle!
I am going to make laksa soon! My laksa >o<!!!

So the package from China was the first surprise for me. 

It was so fast and I loved the things in there :-)

Plants vs. Zombies... I used to play this game a lot while I was still in university. I don't play it anymore but I actually attempted to play a bit yesterday. But soon I gave up and just focused on making this puzzle. haha It is really cute!

In the evening, Bart and I played Agricola. This is not my favourite game because I suck and Bart is so good at it. Anyways I won the game last night! Hahaha this was my second surprise :-)
I finally beat him and now I can happily resign to play this game. I think I am unnecessarily too competitive in these little games.

vegetarian night!

he was so happy to cook vegetarian dishes.
from bread to dessert - it was a success!

ummmmmmmmmmmm 't was super lekker!
brood was heel lekker!
hoofdmenu was een beetje zwaar maar lekker!
chocolademousse was super super lekker!

alles was huisgemaakt


***
베지테리안 나잇.
맛있는 홈메이드 음식과 와인은 언제나 행복을 가져다 준다네~~

My very first *home-made* Asian moment in Belgium

 

I have a Thai classmate in my Dutch class and one day she invited me for lunch at her friend's place.

Her friend is Taiwanese who's been living in Europe for many years. 

She is apparently an excellent cook.  She is also very considerate as she made a separate soup for me (vegetarian!)

I simply loved her food. She also made rice balls and when I said I love red beans she took out some red bean soup to serve with rice balls. This is not typical dessert in Korea but I've had it many times in Canberra. Rice balls with ginger soup is also super! JJ used to make this for me.

I became a bit sentimental while eating these Asiatic dishes........ 

This was the first time somebody cooked 'Asian' food for me in Belgium.... maybe that's why. 

Or it brought me some old memories back.... maybe that's why. 

***

마음이 따뜻한 사람들이 만들어 준 음식을 먹으며 수다를 떠는 것이 

참 단순하고 별 볼일 없는 일 같지만,

나에게는 정말로 꼭 필요했던 따뜻하고 중요한 순간이었다.

이 살기 힘든 타지에서 꼭 한국인, 한국음식과 함께 할 필요는 없다는거. 

그저 서로의 상황을 이해해주고 소박하지만 함께 음식을 나누어 먹고 수다를 떠는 것이 참 좋았다. 그리고 좀 재미있는건, 역시 아시아 사람들끼리는 통하는게 있는거 같아.  

Het sneeuwt

it's been snowing these days but not like today.
I don't really like snow but it's always nice to sit home and just look out the window...
it is BIUTIFUL :)

temporary job in the european parliament

 Boryeong City from Korea and Buñol City from Spain had a joint exhibition on Mud Festival Boryeong, Korea and Tomatina Buñol. It was very accidental to find a temporary job there as a presenter.

Visitor's pass to the European Parliament...... Every time I enter the building, I had to be accompanied by a person who has an official permit to enter (or who works there).

12월 4일부터 6일까지 유럽의회에서 열린 전시회.
이번 전시회에서 프레젠터 및 통역으로 일을 하고 있는데 (내일까지)....
정말 놀랄 일들이 너무 많다.

sunday out

 

a day trip to Knokke and het zwim (somewhere near the coast and the Netherlands)

it looks really beautiful in the pictures but I was almost freezing to death.....

my body reacts so vigorously to cold.

This is a nice picture taken by Nina.

I want to say this is a sign of truce. 

 

 

this reminds me of bush-walking in Australia......... one way to get closer to nature

this picture is taken by Bart - i love the frame and the colour

 

my first time in the coast 

 

I was wandering alone... cold icy wind made me walk fast leaving everybody behind

* 우간다와 인연이 있는 사람들(커플들이라고 하는 것이 나을 듯)끼리 바다근처로 하루 여행을 다녀왔다.  Knokke 시내는 추운날의 선샤인 코스트를 연상시켰다. 

아 mooloolaba바로 그 곳. 

 여름에는 이 곳에서 서핑을 배워도 좋을 것 같았다. 파도가 드센걸 보니.

Nederlands en Frans

 I could finally registered in a French course near my place (still 25 min walk). Unlike my Dutch course, the median age seems a bit higher - maybe around 35-40 I guess.

Judging from my first lesson... it's not very interactive nor fun. I think the reason would be that there are too many people and people don't seem to listen to the teacher. On top of that, some people even speak French already.............. and some don't write Alphabet. Hah

I should look for another French course which starts around November. Until then, I really need to focus on Dutch.. things are getting more difficult and there are a lot to absorb... this weekend I think I will have to study..... no more fun for me. 

Practice Dutch?

I've downloaded the application called 'NoisyTyper' which makes sounds of a typing machine whenever I write. It is interesting and I am more tempted to write :-)

From Monday, I've attended 3 classes and it turned out to be very fun. Maybe because it's just easy beginning. I like the teacher and classmates which is a very important fact in making lessons more fun.

Anyways, I decided to write something today just to try two things: 1) NoisyTyper; and 2) my Dutch writing skills.

Hallo

Ik heet Gayoung en ik woon in Schaarbeek. Ik ben niet getrouwd en ik heb geen kinderen. Ik woon nog maar 3 weken in Belgi˜µ˚∆˙©ƒ∂ßå∆≥…æ‘“¨¨ë  - België. (I am not used to use 'ë' I have to admit). Ik spreek Engels, Koreeans en enn beetje Nederlands (en enn beetje Spans). Ik studeer Nederlands en Elsene. Ik ben zesentwintig jaar. Ik verjaar op 26 maart. Mij favorite seizoen is zomer.


It's a bit stupid but I think it is important to practice this way. REPEAT and try to create more sentences..... maybe with this NoisyTyper app I will be more tempted to write, even everyday :-)

Learning Dutch

After a very boring, long and painful pause, I had something to do regularly (finally!!). I've enrolled in a Dutch course on 18th of July which was 11 days after I arrived in Brussels.

Today was the first day of lesson. The class starts from 9am to 12:30pm Monday to Thursday, however since it is my first day today I decided to leave a bit early which got me to the place around 8:30am.

It was quiet. Nobody was there, even administration people. Only a cleaner guy was working. After waiting for 20 minutes, people started to come one by one.

Apparently there were two classes mixed (hopefully only for today) so we had about 20 or more people. All from different countries. None of them from Korea. One mind-relieving thing for me was that I was not the only one who doesn't speak French! Yay! 

The class was fun except for one thing...... the teacher didn't seem to remember my name.... (her pronounce was good though) how embarrassing it was.... only my name was not called many times. She would ask people questions but me... skip my name first and come back to me after looking at the attendance list.

It was definitely more fun than fighting and sulking by myself.


*
프랑스어 코스에 비해서 네덜란드어 코스는 가격도 싸고, 종류도 다양한 것 같다.
한달에 25유로만 내고 80시간을 배운다.
네덜란드어를 못하는 벨기에 사람들이 많을거라고 생각했는데, 의외로 다른 유럽 나라들의 사람들이 많았다. 다들 왜 배우려고 하는지는 물어보지 못했지만, 차차 알게되겠지.
프랑스어도 공부해야하는데.... 의지가 필요해. 열정과 의지.

언어를 배우면서 예전의 나로 돌아가고 싶어. 긍정적이고 활발한 나.
더이상 우울하고 비관적인 나는 싫어.

hello brussels

seventh july two thousands twelve
I landed in brussels, belgium.
first impression of this place
..cold
..........cold
......................shit this is bloody cold

this is supposed to be summer...

I was soon hit by a series of rainy days and had to buy a jacket and a pair of boots.
this is summer
summer
summer and i am wearing boots.

I am destined to have this kind of summer for the next seven years.. great.... now I can't wait to see Belgian winter. JUST GREAT!