Friday, November 14, 2008

Sunday Scribblings--Stranger

Lets face it, the world around us is a mysterious place. When I think about it, there is nothing stranger than the millions of questions that rush through my brain about our world, existence, life, afterlife, etc. If there were answers for all the millions of questions that we all have or have had at one point, I would then have to assume that we lived in a perfect world. Everything and anything is relative, well actually.... I guess everything is a little bit scientific.

Let me just focus on some of the randomness that fills my thoughts on a daily basis.

I live in the future. Yes, as weird as that may sound, I do. My family and friends generally all live in the Central Time Zone in the USA. I am, currently, 15 hours ahead of the Central time zone. Yes, folks, when you're waking up for work at 7 am in Chicago, I'm about to go to sleep as it is already 10 pm here. How about when I'm waking up tomorrow (Saturday, November 15th) did you know that it'll still be Friday for most of you readers? At first, this was a bizarre realization. My friends all thought it was beyond cool to email me and ask, "hey, how's the future?"Unfortunately, I'm not a mind reader, and I can't predict what will happen to you Americans some 15 hours before it really happens. So don't go and get any wild and crazy ideas. We can thank the sun and the earth for this strange phenomenon.

Ah. The world. The universe even. Just recently I read about 3 new planets that were found orbiting around a star that is not even clearly visible to the human eye in the night sky. That makes almost 300 or so planets out there. I couldn't even tell you what these balls of gas have to have in order to be considered "planets" in the first place. Either way, it boggles my mind. It's strange enough to think that there is life somewhere else out there, but who knows.

South Korea, in general, is quite a bizarre place too. Everything from soju to kimchi. Soju is Korea's version of "absolute vodka" --- it comes in a plastic bottle and it costs roughly a dollar. It tastes about as good as drinking bleach, but you'll see many Koreans drinking it at dinner, or just for the hell of it. Kimchi is Korea's "vegetable" of choice. It's fermented cabbage, that is then spiced with some red bean paste and served with almost every meal (including breakfast). What's odd about kimchi is that most of my students will say that kimchi is one of their favorite foods. I mean, it even tops pizza and hamburgers. There is no, "hey mom, can I have a happy meal from McDonalds" --- instead it's "yummmm, more kimchi please!" When you think about Asia, many people probably put it in the same category as some of the developing nations in the Middle East and South America. Believe it or not, it's quite the opposite. Korea is incredibly technologically advanced, even more so than America. We even have Starbucks! Who'd have thought?!

12 comments:

Tanya said...

I enjoyed the different perspective on the word stranger. You're life sounds so interesting! Thanks for the glimpse.

"Sunshine" said...

It's so funny that you mention "living in the future," as Sarah and I were just discussing this the other day. I read these Sunday Scribblings posts from people all over the world, and I'm always curious to know what's going on in their world while I'm reading about them in mine. Not only the time questions, but also cultural questions. This was deep. I enjoyed it!

lilly said...

I like your thoughts...my mind is like that! And I agree with your students...kimchi is yummy (I've only eaten twice in my life but I love it!).

me said...

reading blogs is a little dip in the world of all of us. i liked reading about yours!
kimchi and starbucks make the world go around :)

linda may said...

Thanks for sharing a little bit of your life in Korea with us. Very interesting.I am a day ahead of the U.S. where I am too.

Anonymous said...

I love the idea about living in the future. That makes my mind go a little crazy. But I have to say, I think it's better to live in the future than in the past :)

Roan said...

I really enjoyed your post. I've never thought of other time zones as "living in the future", but that is exactly what you are doing.

Tumblewords: said...

I love the idea of someone living in the future! But it's all so relative, isn't it? An enjoyable post!

totomai said...

oh yes, ive lived in the future and in the past as well. lol.

i stayed in korea for one day only last friday and i liked soju very much, its their version of japanese sake i guess.

and thanks for sharing about the info of new planets :-)

Doe said...

sounds like fun living in the future!!

I'd like to try some Kimchi, is it by any means similar to sauerkraut?!

Alone on the Isle said...

Reading you piece has caused me to move South Korea up a few spots on my "Places to Travel" list. I really enjoyed your take on stranger as well.

atto aryo said...

he he. you're right. soju tastes just a little better than bleach, but we drink it anyway.

you're from chicago? that's one place i'd really want to stay for long. too bad i was there for just a few days last year.