Tonight’s the night! Like the subject says, “Today I’m going to South Korea” !! WAHOOO

I hope that this works out okay. I’m still a bit trepidatious about the clothing situation. I think that’s my only remaining major concern.

YAHOOOOOO~~~

Yeah, I’m excited. Best of all is that I will probably get to see 행복 again, who is one of the best people that I’ve met and I already miss.

See you all in two weeks!

… I hope o.O

Technorati Tags: travel, international, international travel, Korea, South Korea, 한국

This is Manchu, the Shar-Pei. We don’t know what he’s mixed with but he’s quite the darling.

In this video we were playing around with his bottle when he heard the workers and new neighbors outside. Several seconds of him standing and staring at the door were removed, as was the sound in the video (to reduce file size).

This dog loves bottles. The noisier the toy the better, and the crunching of the bottle is loud enough to drive you mad.

This video was taken with a Fujifilm Finepix J10 camera, purchased new today.

The following is a test of Flickr’s new video option. It’s an identical video: Read the rest of this entry »

’sup folks, I forgot to fill everyone in on the results of the Korean language final.

There were three parts to the test.

1.) Conversation
2.) Vocabulary
3.) Translation

Each part had a subcategory. The conversation segment was a combination of a typical “Hello, how are you?” casual conversation, as well as questions about what our major is and what job we want after graduation.

Only the translation was not oral, though we did have to read it aloud (of course).

The translation part required us to write a script in English and then translate the script into Korean.

I got a perfect score on both the conversation and vocabulary. It was apparent that the instructor was proud of the results of the test.

The translation went very bad. As much as I would like to be able to say that I got a perfect score on the entire test, I think that I pretty much tanked the translation. We had to find the Korean words on our own and create the sentences with very little references. It was tough, and it took its toll on my test. Using a plethora of unfamiliar words to write a translation was rough, but as I look back on it I kind of feel like I enjoyed the challenge.

He wrote some corrections as I spoke. He didn’t always correct what I had written, but he generally did make the “No, something wrong” sound as I read off my script. lol ;D

So there you have it. I don’t think that doing poorly on one part of the test is going to seriously affect my over all score, so I should have passed the class with a comfortable grade. I hope so, anyway!

They were considering the idea of a level 3 Korean language course next semester. I’ll definitely be enrolling if it’s offered.

Hopefully this summer I will be able to continue studying other languages. I have a subscription to KoreanClass101.com, and I may pick back up my study of Japanese by using that website or MangoLanguages.com if their prices are realistic. I stopped studying Japanese for awhile, so my grasp of the language is now really poor. I only remembered enough to give the occasional surprise to my Korean instructor - hah! Just enough to get myself into trouble, ya know?

Random closing comment: I positively love Sakamoto Maaya’s voice. So soft and gentle!

Oh, I may not post again until I get back from South Korea. I should have a ton of photos to share when I do.

Later folks.

Technorati Tags: korean, korean language, 한국어, foreign language

I received my travel wallet today that I’ll be taking with me on my trip to South Korea. I’ll also be using it as a general replacement for my previous wallet.

In the picture is the wallet attached to my belt via its chain. I have the chain wrapped around my belt and latched onto itself.

If you pulled the links really hard you could probably break or otherwise ruin the chain, but a preliminary examination suggests that it would take a considerable, almost necessarily deliberate force to do so.

In other words, it’s not especially strong but getting it snagged on your pocket or something isn’t likely to break the chain. Just don’t try to lift yourself with it and it should be fine.

The main dollar area of the wallet has two bill compartments. If you’re the type that collects receipts and other papers then this should be quite handy for you.

The top of the billfold zips closed. This prevents items from falling out of either compartment. This is an appreciated feature for a travel wallet!

Here are the card slots.

The left and center each have 3 slots for cards. The third slot (the one in the back) is larger than the first two slots and can swallow a credit card, length-wise. Less than an inch of the credit card sticks out when you insert it this way. In other words, it’s about the length of both other card slots combined.

The cards slide out kind of easily, except for the card in the back which seems to snag on something. This snagging would be annoying to encounter each time that you wish to remove your credit or debit card, so I recommend that you put the least used card in the back.

The wallet itself fastens closed with a velcro strip. This is another feature that I appreciate in a travel wallet.

Of course, there’s the obligatory driver’s license "window" on the far right. These amuse me because cops always ask you to remove it anyway, but I digress…

The back of the wallet.

At the bottom on the right is where the chain attaches to the wallet. The metal loop is designed like a key chain, and can be removed from the wallet completely after a moment of deliberate work.

On the side opposite of the chain ring is another, empty loop where you can attach something else to the wallet. The packaging advertised this as a spare key ring loop, but you’re free to use it for whatever you wish.

Between the two loops is a somewhat wide band. The band stretches a little, but it does not fit particularly tight against the wallet. You could easily clip something to this, or just use your imagination.

The center square of the wallet is a pouch. It closes with a zipper and could easily be used for change or other items that you want to keep on you, but may not access regularly.

Technorati Tags: Walletsafe, pacsafe, pac-safe, pac-safe.com, wallet, secure wallet, travel wallet

In two days I will have my Korean language final.

It is all spoken; there is no written part of the final. We’re all insane because us students chose this.

This little photo was snapped using my camera phone. Right now I am supposed to be translating some English into Korean for our test, but I’m trying real hard to not think about it so that I don’t freak out.

Oh, on a somewhat related note I now have a confirmed ride to Kansas City. I am hitching a ride with one of the professors.

Well, time to try to focus some more..

(the picture is not part of the above mentioned translation)