Although this blog is over, until I make it back to Korea, you can continue to follow the all of the lewballism over at my new blog Ka-Blewey! The new blog really has no cohesion or purpose like this one did. Its really just random thoughts and pics and reblogs. As with anything, I will try to explain why its relevant to you as a follower/if you know me you will understand or at least be interested in why I care.
ciao.
“If you wanna live your life, live it all the way and don’t you waste it.”
j.lo and I share the same view on life. (as referenced in the quote above). but more specifically speaking, I always tell people to make sure they are doing what they want because today could be your last. I KNOW I always say this and I KNOW for a fact I have inspired some people to overcome whatever stresses may have been holding them down. even if for a little bit.
unfortunately today, I learned of the death of someone I would consider to have been a good friend. he’s one of those people that you can talk to, and no matter how much time has gone by between conversations, everything is still the same. he was so young and reminded me of a lot of people i prefer to surround myself with: easygoing, carefree, always upbeat and happy. but I can’t (and don’t want to) imagine what could bring someone like that to the point of evaluating the worth of their life.
fortunately, the not-knowingness of it all is left up to God or whoever/whatever you believe in, for if we knew all of the answers, we’d be perfect. and we are not.
the reason i have placed this on my Korea blog is because my attitude abroad mirrored the quote i started off with. everyday i challenged myself to do whatever i wanted to, no matter what because it could all be over soon. (also because i sang this particular song everyday to my friend Sarit via voice or text message). joseph, I will always keep you in my memory. and in doing so, I will try not to be reminded of the length of your life, but the purpose with which you lived.
rip.
so this is probably one of my last posts EVER on this blog as it was exclusively made for Korea:( BUT- lifewithlewball continues!
Quick update.
I came home and immediately wanted to move to Seoul. Then I went to Vegas.
Now that I am back in my country Georgian home with my cow neighbors (not people, but literally cows) I am faced with the What are you going to do now???????xAbillion. Not to worry, I think I’ve ironed out a solid plan.
The last few days in Korea were tough because I realized I was leaving some VERY important biz unfinished. But emotionally, I grew up! Mainly because I realized I have emotions the ability to emote. :)
ciao.
(Source: nevver, via michellejoohwang)
you know how you miss things a lot more when you know they are within arm’s reach? here we go…
Waffle House
Trader Yo’s (mexican accent clearly)
In-N-Out (will get it in Vegas in a week!!!!)
Zaxby’s
Shopping (American sizes/variety)
My Bed (Z Gallerie)
Showers that are separate from toilets/sinks
Good Ass Mexican and Thai food
Not sweating everytime I stand up
My Car (although I really like the non-driving urban lifestyle)
My mom’s food
My sister’s company
My dad’s ability to come up with elaborate answers despite me asking him the same questions everyday:
Dad, if you won the lottery, what would you do?
Dad, how does Jay Z buy his Wendy’s/items from Target/gas for his car?
My amigos
Ovens and life-sized refrigerators
DRYERS! (Air drying in Korea has ROONed so many of my clothes)
The bar in my house
That list doesn’t round out everything BUT its a good ass start. Meh Meh Meh. Sorry there is a lack of photos recently.
As you should know by now, Jay Z (Jay Zed if you’re a gross Canadian) is my idol. Forbes just ranked him No.1 on their list of Cash Kings for the 4th year in a row. He made $38 million this year. Anywho, he is on top of the world. On top of the business world, on top of the music world, the indisputable King of NYC. So it was only fitting that as I rose to the top of the mountain whose spine is laced with The Great Wall, I turned on my favorite Jay album, and imagined what it was like to have the Kingdom actually Come to life.
Friends are hard to come by. You will meet people all the time and have tons of aquaintances but most of them will never really know what you’re all about. I’m glad that from this year, I have gained one best bud. Who the heck am I going to call to vent to when he’s not around? Damn. His presence and friendship means more to me than the people who I have known for years.
Lewey. Curse you for your abrupt but inevitable betrayal (you leaving). I love you, homie.
i decided to go on a youtube binge today during school since 4 of 5 of my classes got cancelled in lieu of a speaking test. so I was trying to figure out who’s vids to watch. i settled on Janet, Ms. Jackson if you’re Nasty.
I started with Control moved to What Have You Done for Me Lately and just paused on Nasty to try to explain what clicked in my head. The choreography for these music videos is not really timeless, but its classic and a perfect representation for the bigness of the 80s. Analyzing the movement after living as a part of the schizophrenic Gen Y’ers, they seem simple and slow. They give you that ‘Oh I can do that’ feeling.
But what non-dancers won’t pick up on is the amount of technique involved to make it look that way. The choreography is only for the well-trained dancers of that day who stepped away from american ballet companies in search of rebellion and color.
Today’s American pop music choreography has become so intricate. I really feel it represents the indiviualism that American culture is infamous for the world over. It has become more of a ‘Look at this super intense, fast, complicated AndYou’llNeverBeAbleToDoThisLikeMe’ thing that I have noticed is the feeling that people get when they look at our country. Americans are competitive, but not that supportive of one another. We look at things that we feel we will never be able to do, with the desire to work hard enough in the hopes that one day we will do it. We assume we are on our own in the journey toward whatever it is we want to do.
How does this relate to my blog and Korea? Well imagine Korea is the Janet Jackson choreography of the late 80s. The mentality of the country isn’t complicated. Extremes exist here, but nothing inbetween. There’s no time to decipher the inbetween. We are either best friends or nothing at all. I either like hamburgers or I hate them. I am perfect at speaking English, or I’m not speaking at all. The choreography of the 80s was much like this. The purpose of the choreography wasn’t to get the viewer lost in 5 and 6 and 7 and 8. It was used to highlight the key points of the music. There’s no time to decipher the inbetween.
In modern Korean society, the citizens are bombarded with non-stop exposure to Pop Idol groups with perfect faces, bodies, and clothes. But the choreography is simple. This is because Korea, unlike America, is a collective society. No decisions are really made until someone considers what everyone around them will think. So when choreographers are creating for artists, they are told to make it simple enough for fans to be able to do in the club, but hard enough that its still interesting.
As always, I’m not trying to write an A+ essay, i guess i just wanted to emphasize further the differences in our cultures. I also want to say that the gray area, the place where we try to make connections between the two societies, is the sweet spot for growth. When you struggle to make sense of what the heck is going on around you, you learn so much.
So next time you feel like getting deep, think of life as choreography. What is the point of your actions? Are you spending enough time in the gray area? Growing and trying to learn new things? Are you too extreme? Hate it vs. love it. What purpose does your intricate lifestyle serve to the people inevitably effected by your actions?
meh.
…stay aflame until the pain goes away.
this entry is inspired by a late night conversation I had with a friend about Korean suicides. It’s such an interesting topic to discuss because the suicide rate for ages 15-34 (or something like that) just jumped to No.1 worldwide i believe. Luckily I have never had to deal with this firsthand but I abhore the day that it ever possibly happens.
i am so perplexed by this issue because, for the most part, it isn’t discussed in everyday conversation amongst koreans. but a problem so obvious seems like it would be at the tip of everyone’s tongue.
being that Korea is a collective society versus american-styled individualist society, the most obvious problems instantly change from having to do with the majority-to being a problem of a minority, thus dismissing any collective responsibility for any actions that would be deemed taboo. or even risque.
i am hardly impressed with most Korean actors because of their overly dramatic style of acting thats as offputting as a pamela anderson boob. but after researching famous korean suicides, it does seem that they actually do have talent. but its only evident when the pressure of life is too great>causing them to stage and execute their own deaths with dramtic blood-stained tubs and scarlett death notes.
im not a writer-and my thoughts are never linear. but in attempting to share my thoughts on this I guess what im trying to say is that Korea is stuck in a lot of ways. people feel like once they make a mistake everything is over. once they fail a test, they are stuck on stupid. once they make an English mistake, they resign to Korean language only. once someone labels them ugly, they stay in that role and marry someone they think is equally as ugly. and in the case for famous people…once your boss forces you to perform sexual services for business men and you come public, you end your life because of your fears of what the public will think. the world knows people can’t be perfect. and luckily we don’t literally have to walk in everyone’s shoes. but korea needs better examples of people who have been able to persevere through their hardships. korea needs to work through its pain.
korea, you can stand the heat…just learn to turn it down.
…but I am lucky enough to be around people that do. As a person, I often push the envelope of self. What I mean is, sometimes I am so comfortable with my own persective and my own actions, that I end up in an endless cycle of reacting to reactions of other reactions, etc.
I forget the importance of introspect sometimes because being alone makes me uncomfortable. The silence doesn’t scare me so much as missing out on some new adventure WITH people. But if you are in any way like me, you should follow the link in the title above. Yes, its muy deep, BUT there are going to be many things that you can take away with you to balance yourself.
enjoy.
i'm almost pre-certain that my hairline will be a disaster this year.
