TT#6 Letting go

Thirteen Things about letting go Being able to let go is not my strong suit. 1. I have a really really good memory, so just forgetting is not an option. My earlies memories are from age 3, so there are a zillion of them by now. 2. If you believe in star signs, I can blame the fact that I'm a Cancer. According to the books they can never let anything just go, be it old theater tickets or old friends. I must say that sounds like me. I used to collect everything, bar my nail clippings, just to hold on. Explanation for that would be the fact that lots of things changed in my youth that I did not want to change, but over which I had no control what so ever (you know: moving all the time, parents divorcing, schools you attend, etc), so I sort of got attached to things instead of people. Before emigrating to Oz though, I had to get rid of loads of things, so I guess that worked rather therapeutic. ;-) 3. Although I do hold on to memories, friendships, etc, I definitely do not bear grudges. I'm not vindictive and can rather easily let go of misunderstandings and fights, as long as the other party says 'sorry' too. 4. As a kid and teenager I often felt like Remi, because I didn't fit in well. My parents were weirdish hippies and I was way to smart. That's probably why I wanted to keep all the friends I had for ever and went way too far in order to keep them. 5. I'm quite protective of the people I love and rather keep them safe, so I don't want to let them go out and face the scary world. 6. If I really want something, I'll keep on going until I get the result I planned. Letting go of the dream is just not an option. That is how I managed to finally get work here in Oz: kept on 'harrassing' people until they hired me. :-) 7. As you might imagine, I'm a really good money saver. I'm not very stingy though, I just decide carefully on what to spend the money. Good causes are travelling, doing something with family or friends, studying and good dance classes. 8. After a semester, I want to keep in touch with all the students, because I got really interested in them and what they want from life and how they are going to get it. I know that is impossible, so I have to let go. Whenever I come across one accidentally, e.g. when I stumble on an ex students blog or meet them in a pub somewhere, I really like to find out how they are doing. 9. Books that I read and liked used to be kept. So I ended up with thousands of them, cause I'm an avid reader. The migration, as mentioned, forced me to get rid of lots of stuff. Also books, because it wasn't quite fair to stuff up other peoples houses with my things. About 20 moving boxes had to go. I gave away all my children's books to friends with kids and sold the rest. Heartbreaking! Now I mostly borrow books in the library, saves the trouble. 10. I love the internet, because it enables me to keep in touch with lots of friends, old colleagues, old teachers, family, new friends, etc. Love it! Won't let go of my laptop as of yet. 11. As to other things, I get attached to certain brands for certain things and I really hate it when, once again, I seem to be the only one that likes it, so it goes of the market. Favourite deodorant: gone! Favourite shampoo: gone! Favourite bra: not for sale in Oz, only in Europe. And so on. Very irritating to be made to let go of preferred niceties. I would be one of those 'loyal till death' customers, if only marketeers would give me the chance! 12. I still cannot really let go of weight. Weirdly enough I loose weight as long as I don't pay attention to it at all. As soon as I realise that I lost weight, something miswires in my brain, I start paying attention to what I eat, exercising, etc and bingo: I gain the weight back. I wish I could let go of my last bit of my eating disorder for ever. 13. Since I embraced the TT meme, I have to stick with it. Damn! Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Skittles 2. Di 3. Bubba 4. Geggie 5. Sunflower 6. Gabrielle 7. Tink (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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TT#5 Korea

Thirteen Things about Korea Back from the holidays and all ready to tell you why you really should go and visit South Korea: 1. It is a beautiful country. Lots of fantastic nature parks, in which you can stumble upon rock carved budha's, little monasteries or 'just' a big grey squirl or black and white woodpecker. 2. The Korean people are really proud of their country and go out of their way to help you and give you a great impression of Korea. Total strangers helped us found a place to stay (which took up to 1,5 hours at one point), took us to nice restaurants (and wanted to pay) and gave us guided tours of the city. Out of niceness, not for money or anything else. Can you believe that? It is true! 3. Seoul is like New York, only lots cheaper: vibrant, exciting and with lots of good shops, hip bars and good food. Even I, a notorious non-shopper, found an interesting store: a mega mega mega bookstore, which also had quite an English collection. 4. Public transport is great, maybe not as excellent as in Singapore, but still very good. In Seoul the trainstations are also mentioned in English, which is nice, because learning the Hangeul script properly takes a little longer than a week. There is a train station close to almost every place of interest, ranging from the Olympic stadium to the grand royal palace. If you take a wrong exit though, as we did a few times, it might still take you half an hour to get to the actual sight. :-) 5. There are, thanks to the Olympics, clean public toilets everywhere, for free. In the Netherlands you have to pay for every toilet, if there is any at all, and then they are mostly dirty. And don't ask if you can use the toilet from a shop or pub, because they will assertively say 'no'. 6. Did I mention the food? We really loved the food. Some people can't get charmed by the kimchi (peppered cabbage), but that is only a side dish and one of many at that. Mostly you end up with at least 4 different dishes on your table, to accompany your sticky rice or noodles and you can spice up the food to your liking with peppers, garlic and other interesting stuff. Lots of veggies and the right type of fat too. You won't get fat in Korea, as long as you don't go to Maccas. 7. Koreans are internet crazy: almost every hotelroom gives you free internet. In your room. 8. They are also mad about tv, judging on the size of the flat tv screens in the hotelrooms: mostly they are about the same size as the double bed. Compared to our 15 inch screen at home, that was shocking! 9. All hotels, restaurants, etc, serve clean drinking water, so no worries about getting travelers diarrhoea. Drink to your hearts content. 10. Korea boasts amazing teashops, with serve totally different teas from anywhere else. If there is no-one on the streets around 4 p.m., have a look in a teashop. That is where everybody relaxes with a big cup of spicy or relaxing tea, accompanied by little rice cakes. The cinnamon and jujube tea were especially tasty, but also the pear tea was yum. 11. The traditional Korean building style is still used in new buildings and it is very charming. The big skyscraper apartment building are not my cup of tea, but considering there are over 10 million people living in Seoul, they need them. If you go out into the country though, you'll see the traditional style everywhere. 12. Koreas has a lot of World Heritage sites to visit and enjoy. Bulguksa temple in Gyong-ju is recommended (4 hours by train south of Seoul). 13. If you would like, you can get the most peculiar things on markets to spice up your lovelife, get your brains to work properly or cure/prevent about any disease. We did not personally try the grounded snakes, but they looked impressive. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others comments. It’s easy, and fun! Be sure to update your Thirteen with links that are left for you, as well! I will link to everyone who participates and leaves a link to their 13 things. Trackbacks, pings, comment links accepted!

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Guus was here

Guus Hidding, football coach, is a national hero in South Korea. If you have the same nationality as Guus, they like you on the spot. And it is easy to find the good restaurants in Seoul: those are, of course, the ones that Guus has frequented during his time in Korea. Easy peasy.