Do you know how hard it is to communicate with people in this town!?
There are soooo many different types of people in Old Forge that you'd have to stay your entire life to figure out about each of the characters that wander this place. I wouldn't suggest that either since most of them are all insane! Well hey, some people enjoy that.
I have lived in Old Forge for my entire life and I have yet to find someone who is even close to being like me other than my group of friends and even within that we are all crazy. I sometimes like to think we are the misfits who were thrown out of the other groups or denied the chance in so we came together and formed a giant group of nut-crackers.
Just try that though. Imagine it in your mind. Trying to speak to someone who looks at you like you have four heads. I feel like the only way to communicate with people is by yelling, chewing gum loudly, and flipping my hair every two seconds, or by keeping my moth shut all together. I am not a quiet person either! Ask anyone who is around me. Turn some music on and your house will be trashed and a lamp shade will be missing in a matter of seconds.
Plus being a senior doesn't help.
For years I had waiting for this year to come and our class could come together and be family. I wanted to laugh with everyone and get to know everyone personally but it seems like senior year brought out many different people who had been wearing some sort of I'm-a-nice-person mask and finally the mask came off and SURPRISE! A wild @$$-hat appears.
Here, take this example.
I would never say that I was BULLIED throughout elementary and high school because if someone would pick on me I wouldn't just stand there and let it happen. If I feel like someone is being a jerk you can bet your sweet tush I'll be the first person standing up with my fists clenched. There was never a time where I sat and let someone belittle me and I guess you can say that had made the entire situation worse. They would see me yell back and they would laugh. Funny...
I would sit in my room and day dream about a time when I would walk across the stage and read a book-long poem about the people who locked in a bathroom stall and beat my legs with sticks from recess. Funny.
Even this year. Something happening in class bothered me and went on for ten minutes. I say stop and everyone laughs. Funny. It's funny.
I'm a funny person. I like laughing. Did I miss the joke? Really, tell me why it's funny! You're going to legally be an adult in a few months and you still find throwing stuff at people funny? College is going to lay you out and whip you like a horse if you go in Freshman year with the idea that people will laugh with you then. So go ahead and get together and do your bickering now and I'll get my saddle ready.
---woah, was I holding that in?
I've done my time of trying to fit it.
I've tried the duck faces.... that didn't work.
I've tried the bathroom mirror pics.... not there yet.
And I even tried to fit in with "normal" people but somehow got this and loved it all the same.
So, I guess through all of the years I've had trouble with the miscommunications I found some people to miscommunicate with and I'm okay with that.
In all honesty I don't care if the teachers strike. I don't care if they demand more money or if the school pushes back the contract another three years and the process goes on. Why? Because it's not working! We've been going on strike since I've been in elementary school and it hasn't worked then so why would it work now? C'mon teachers, you're in a town where most of the "bosses" are old cranky Italian people! Do you really think you can budge them?
You can't. I once didn't finish a bowl of my Italian grandma's homemade soup and the only thing I got out of that was a dusty slipper to the face. God I miss her.
But it's messing with me and my plans this year. I was never a person to plan things, I get lost in my own backyard, and I once went through an entire afternoon with my shoes on the opposite foot but I'm not stupid! Okay maybe a little.
This year a group of my friends and I had planned to spend our senior week in a cabin in the mountains instead of blowing our money in Jersey. Everything was finally starting to fall together, we nearly had the number of people going, we knew who was driving, and everything was (in the long run) coming together! Now if this strike pushes the graduation date back who do I have to throw a slipper at?
It might not seem so stupid to all of the seventh graders coming in and the younger students but to me it's no longer a vacation. I have things that need to get done. I want to send out college applications and I'm dying to see my friends again.
If someone can't help these teachers out by signing a contract to ensure they get what they think they deserve at least fix the air conditioning and knock it off with all of the dress code changes. I get what you're trying to do.... you're trying to prevent bullying and make our school look more presentable but it's getting out of hand. I'm glad I'm getting out of OF this year because next year who knows if they'll have a new dress code rule for what panties you could wear.
A little nudge:
In South Korea teachers who work for an organization teaching English have to work all year round. While they might get paid a little more than teachers in the United States they are permitted to live in a closed in apartment (unless gathering enough money to move out) and have to desk warm for weeks upon weeks during the summer.
We live in a world with countless amounts of technology and written-down material for us to use. Why waste* money on classes or language learning CD's when a simple click here and little bit of downloading (legally of course) there can further your knowledge of a language??!
There's no catch to this, I'm serious. Just don't leave me on this page alone! STAY! I'm lonely!!
The first steps I took towards learning Korean was super simple.
1. Learn how to read!
Depending on the language you are learning the writing system could be super simple or super difficult.
I managed to learn how to read Korean in about three days. Every vowel, sound, and accent was self taught.
How I did it - Countless amounts of picture references on Google search would appear when I looked up "How to read and write Korean". I wrote down each and every letter on the Hangul script and looked over them as I would for any vocabulary test in English class. Then I made references as to what each symbol would look like as you can see in the picture below. YouTube videos also helped out in the long run!
Then I quickly learned how to group the sounds together to fit in each syllable.
*NOTE: Some languages will take much longer to learn how to read in. Most notably Chinese. Chinese and Japanese tend to look a lot similar to each other but Japanese is relatively easier to learn the writing system for compared to Chinese where there are stroke upon strokes to create one sound in pitch.
2. If you are on year one, pretend you are one year.
The best thing to do is act your second language's age! If you are starting to form sentences but only small ones like "I'm hungry" and "I love you so much."...let's not lie to ourselves you're not fluent. Even if your accent is incredible you'll sound like a one year old to what ever native you are speaking to if you travel to your chosen Country.
Face the facts! You are not that good yet! It took me three years just to learn how to properly hold a conversation without sound like a robot. Pace yourself. Everyone learns at a different pace. Chances are if you are learning Russian, the language won't be wiped off the records in one night. If you rush yourself too much and it's finally time to talk to a native you're going to sound like someone shoveled a three foot rod up your rear and spun it around.
How I did it -
Listen to Children's bed time songs
Watch child shows
I'll help out with this one a bit. If you are learning Japanese. The ever so classic "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"
If you are learning Russian
Although the Russian song it kind of hard to hear, the lyrics are given and if you followed the first steps then try to read along with the song! You'll begin improving on you're recognition skills because of this!!
If you are learning Korean
The three bears song it the easiest to learn. Don't complain either! The lyrics are in English and in Korean, not to mention the sounds of the Hangul are written out just for you!
And one more. If you are learning Chinese. Another version of "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"!!
I don't know why but I really this version. For some reason I want to hug the kid singing this but also kick him a few times.What!? He sounds like he's yelling!! ke
3. Memrise.com
I've only been using Memrise for a few months now and I've learned up hundreds of vocabulary words. Using Memrise is not only fun and competitive but it's also a great way to subconsciously pick up new words. Although some of the words might sound like they aren't very common learn them anyways! If there is a word for something then it's important! Just because you don't think you need to learn the word for dishwasher in German when you are learning that language doesn't mean you should ignore it !
There is only one problem with this one though....
For languages that don't use the roman alphabet (Asian languages, Russian, etc.") typing in the vocabulary word would be nearly impossible without having a type of writing system downloaded through your computer.
What I do is Copy and Paste the vocabulary word into Note Pad (I use sticky notes but they were downloaded onto my desktop when I first purchased it).
When the question comes up as to what the word for something it, quickly click over into word pad, highlight, copy, and paste the answer into the bar shown.
4. Facebook
Depending on the language you have chosen pages could be spread out all over the web!
I myself am in the Korean Language Learning group along with countless other pages that are purely Korean. One of my favorites translates to "For a friend" and shows videos and pictures that are so touching or funny that you just have to send it to your friends!!
5. Movies
A great Japanese movie I have just bought through Amazon was actually directed by Clint Eastwood and stars a JPOP star as one of the main characters. It was one of the most beautifully written stories with dramatic twistes and heart breaking scenes.
The movie depicts the battle for Iwo Jima during the 1944 Japo-American battle. 10/10 movie. It is almost completely in Japanese other than the few scenes that you could see in the trailer below. It is rated R only because of the gore. There is no boobies and sex men, sorry.
While watching a movie you might not be exactly speaking the language but you will be picking up on how certain words are said and how sentences are emphasized. A great way to practice your speech skills is by pausing the movie and replaying a certain sentence or scene until every word is burned into your mind. Then when you hear a word or phrases that was used in the scene you're brain will punch itself in the memories.... if that makes sense.
So as you can see, there are countless ways to learn. I would suggest not buying travel books unless you are actually traveling overseas and need a quick way out of a language boundary situation. Instead invest in a dictionary.
What ever you can get your hands on that can you help, use it. Music, fashion, news, and movies are all small pieces of knowledge that will connect together when learning to speak, read, and write.
Tips and tricks
*Take a little bit of time each day to learn something new or review a previous lesson.
*Speak a bit of your language to yourself and test out your accent. Say it a few times in different ways until you are comfortable.
*If you learned some thing use it. Ex : If your dog is being loud and you just learning the word for "SHUT UP!" yell it a few times! It helps keep everything nice and fresh in your mind and on your tongue.
Just like American music Korean music has different genres that are based towards a certain group of people or feeling.
It's very interesting to see how the music of Korea has developed and grown from it's original roots in the Joseon era.
Traditional
In the video below the woman is playing a traditional type of instrument called the GAYAGUEM (say that five times fast and I'll give you a shinny nickel.
Because we are uncultured Americans, *sorry but it's a sad truth. we automatically piece together this type of music with Chinese, as we do with almost anything related to Asia.
Chinese have the Guzheng, Koreans have the Gayaguem, Japanese have the Koto. All which are very similar in style but vary in sound.
Trot
The next type of music is called TROT music. Apparently to Korea it is an original form of pop music but..... Idunno. Trot music had become a thing of the past in South Korea but is still practiced and sung throughout North Korea.... only because North Korea is stuck in the early and middle 1900's. Sad. Here is a young high school student by the name of Yoo Min Ji singing trot on Korea's got talent. The Song starts on point mark 2:30
Rock
Now we can move onto rock music! WEEEEE! Here's a fun fact for you - Rock music was introduced to Korea by American soldiers after the Korean War.
Here is a song by the band Guyz (who I sadly haven't heard of until recently)
If you enjoy Japanese rock you'll love this especially because the lead singer looks Japanese. (No kidding- the shape of the nose and eyes really make it seem so but he is Korean)
Now we're talking!
Hip Hop
Now let's move onto Hip hop. GAWD IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS!
By far my favorite type of Korean music is Hip Hop and Rap. I feel like the rhythm flows so freely and it almost feels like the singers are stumbling over their words but in a way to match the beat .
Here is a song made by the group MFBTY which is made up of three popular rappers and Hip Hop artists in Korea.
Tiger JK, T- Yoon Mi Rae ,and Bizzy.
The song is supposed to reflect Tiger JK (AKA Drunken Tiger)'s sleep paralyses disorder and what an amazing job they've done!!!
KPOP!
Finally! I know everyone must have been on the edge of their seats to get to the ever so popular KPOP. So I'll be posting a few different songs. The first being one of my favorite songs of 2012, MAMA.
One of Exo's amazing debut songs MAMA is powerful and sexy. It tells the tale of each member and how they struggle to live among each other because of their fight for best hair---I- I mean fight for ultimate power...yeah.
P.s. there's even a little bit of scream-o in this one! Sweet! It only lasts for six seconds but it was a cool six seconds!
Sexy am I right? Mwhaha.
Now I'll show you another of my favorite bands. They debuted just a few years before I was introduced into the pop cultured world of Korea and sexy boys so it took me a while to catch up on the songs and interviews and blahblahbllllaah but I managed. It was so hard *sob. But I loved it. It was like striking gold in a field of mud.
The ever so strange Fantastic Baby!
P.s. - Top loving the hair but chill out on the green eye brows they scare me.
Okay, so here is a classic in the Kpop world as you can tell by the 105,546,595 views it has reached. Girls' Generation is made up of super spunky, super cute, and super...skinny girls. During their debut they stuck to the "oh look at my I'm so cute and fluffy" appeal but somehow managed to shake it off with a song called Run Devil Run which is shown below their most popular GEE.
RUN DEVIL RUN
wow.... that took a sharp turn fast didn't it?
R&B
Koreans have this one down in stone. Almost every R&B song I've heard or music video I've seen was oozing with sex appeal, fashion, and badassery. One of my favorites is the 2013 hit by CL entitled "The Baddest Female" but translates to "The Baddest Bitch" and I LOOOOOVE IT.
Enjoy
And finally the chilled down and ever so soothing K-Indie.
There are too many KIndie bands for me to show but I'll post a few of my favorites.
I had shown a video of Busker Busker in a class I had taught for my senior project this past year and they loved it! The video I had shown was Cherry Blossom Ending but I'll be showing a different song for now.
The song is called "
" 외로움증폭장치" - Loneliness Amplifier
Wow. If this was the last song I heard before I died my life would close perfectly.
For this next song I unfortunately cannot translate the lyrical meaning but the title meaning of "
"우리 지금 만나" means "Let's meet right now"
Welp.... I'm sure there are many more types of music I'm missing but I'm pouring everything I know into a little glass for you to drink so drink it an enjoy you greedy people! Just kidding don't hurt me.
Even at an early age we are asked the question "What do you want to be when you grow up?" and let's get serious.... has little Emily with the blond pigtails ever looked up at you with a smile and say "Mommy, I want to be a porn star?" I'm not bashing on porn stars just keep reading!
And if Emily has answered that question with that specific answer oh boy you better click that seat belt in because you are on the fail train and reality is a giant wall that your going to painfully eat sh*t on.
At an early age I knew what I wanted to be. I had my mind set to be an artist and if I was asked as to what my future occupation was when I was older I would say a painter, or a sketch artist but honestly I didn't know either of those words so I would probably say something along the lines of "a colorer...er?"
and hey, we all have our dreams.
My brother wanted to be a firetruck. When my mom used to parade him around she would have to explain to all of her coworkers that he was a young boy with a big imagination but the week after he would suddenly change his mind and want to be a lawyer. Good for him! The little truck who could. Please don't hurt me Eric.
But as senior year approaches and college offers start piling up I don't know whether to be happy or sad. It's like drinking a nice cup of warm tea in the morning but after you're finished with the tea you have to go to the bathroom. Oh NO!, to get to the bathroom you have to walk up allll of those stairs. (About 30 years of horrible hardworking stairs). Finally when you get to the bathroom a nicely dressed man kicks you in the jewels and you fall down the stairs only to start slowly walking up again.
This adds pressure. What if I end up going to a college that I don't like. What if I end up wasting my money learning something I don't like. What if I can't pay off my loans? What if I really do have to become a firetruck?*cough.How did that get there?
So this is what I have in mind. Bend the system until it breaks in two. Go for what I want instead of what I think will "benefit me". Meet people who are interested in things that I am interest in. Shake hands and smile....and mean it! Because if you play your cards right and always wake up smiling (ohgawdthisisgettingsappy) then chances are your mind frame will be a lot bright and wider and you'll be able to love your irreversibly short life! YAY!
Don't! NO NO NO NO ! I already know half of the people who clicked this link thought to themselves. "OHMAHGAWD, I'm totally an Old Forge girl and not a gummy ho!"
and I 100% agree with you. You are not a gummy ho....unless you're into some kinky things and if you are we don't have to discuss that because ew huehue.
Okay so the more I read into Korean culture (I know every one is probably so sick of my talking about it!) I become more attached. Maybe it's because of my messed up imagination but when ever I read about something that I've never heard of before it pulls a Jerry Springer on me and punches me in the face but then kind of gently puts a bandage on it. Do you get what I'm saying- NO? Thing's shock me easily and tend to remain in that small peep-hole I call a brain.
Gumihos' are part of an old Korean folk story that dates back to the "AL ONGAZE TYMA GO" era. *cough
Gumiho's are nine tailed foxes who, after a certain amount of years pass, shift into a human form and live in the forest just.... you know, chilling. Biting peoples hearts out and digging up graves to feast on the liver and yummy insides of the dead. Second guessing that Midnight snack now, huh?
The most known Gumihos are the lovely foxes who shift into beautiful women and lure men in with their charm, or powers depending on the type.
But honestly men what's more sexy than a fox lady prancing naked through the forest at night and eating spleen?
Years ago, when Korea pretty much stole the tale from China, Gumiho's were known for being kind and helpful (fox)people but as time went on Gumihos became the horrible creatures they are depicted as today. Start to see the comparison OFers?
So let's stop and put the pieces together shall we?
We're role playing now so prepare yourself. You're on a date with an Old Forge girl.
1. Cute girl asks you on a date. Blondey with bright blue eyes and a nice rear view.
2. You're all like "AWE YEAHHH"
3. You go on the date with the hotty. All is well. You're just watching a movie chilling out and flirting during the slow scenes.
4. "Hey BoyITookOnADate, what's that?" .... You look over. Nothing is there. You look down. You're spleen is gone.
5. Way to go now you're dead.
Watch out for those blonde girls, men. The one's with the high pitched voices and hash tags.
#4realdoe
You can kind of see the comparison right? God, I should join the police force.
WHAT DID WE LEARN TODAY?
1. Old Forge girls are dangerous
2. Always keep an eye on your spleen.
3. naked fox lady
