Visits

I mentioned last post that my friend from Texas, who lives in Hawaii, who I met in Korea, came to visit. I'm afraid that I didn't really elaborate on that visit as much as I had originally intended. My bad.

She mostly came for the comic con that I wrote about last week. I mean, besides to see me, since I am awesome. This was her first trip to Canada, so i wanted to show her a good time.

I hope that she got to see everything she wanted to, but, I doubt it. Vancouver is a big, cool, expensive city, and being able to cram everything in, into 6 days-3 of which were spent at the comic con-is super hard.

We did manage to hit up some of the mandatory things though! Let do this point form, photo style!

-poutine, Canada's greatest food invention, since, well, it's about the only one.

-Awesome comic con

-Birthday party, Canada style

-Grouse mountain (which I climbed, and she took the gondola)

-bears!!!!

-her first time seeing a bald eagle

-Pacific Ocean

-pretty awesome weather, I must say

-Vancouver aquarium

-Stanley Park

-awesome time with me!

Sounds like a pretty legit vacation, if you ask me. I'm hoping that she can make it back here for Fan Expo in April. I think she would have a great time there.

And lets face it-awesome things are even more awesome when they are shared with good friends.

xox

Anime Revolution-and a visit from a friend

This past week has seen a visit from a friend in Texas, the return of my husband from Ontario, and Anime Revolution. It has been super busy, with more than a few trips to the airport, among other, more awesome, destinations.

Anime Revolution is the new anime convention in town-and not to be confused with Anime Evolution, which is having a small(ish) event in November (which I will also be attending. Perhaps with an artist table) before it's full re-kick off next year. It was held at the Vancouver Convention centre, which sort of explains the excessive price tag for the event.

Now, I'm not going to complain about the line up-which I'm not used to since the other anime conventions generally don't have lines, and, when they do, are plowed through insanely fast. Unlike this one.

But, I digress.

The big events were all Sailor Moon related, since it is the 20th anniversary of Sailor moon. At least the English version of the show. As such, almost every single English voice actor was in attendance. Which was totally rad. I got to see one panel, but, since I only stayed at the convention for one day, I missed the big 20th anniversary panel.

Sailor Mercury, Tuxedo Mask and Mini Moon, in that order.

One of the big disappointments was the artist/dealers hall hours. The entire convention was going on until almost 1:00am, with the last big event being the bikini contest-which I did attend. The dealers/artist area was only open until 6:00. Like, what the fuck? I had several last minute purchases I wanted to make, but, by the time I had gotten through half of the hall, everyone else was closing. Not cool, man. Not cool at all.

One the plus side, I DID get to try on a fantastic corset and overcoat combo. I want the overcoat more than words can express. It was sexy, it fit like a dream, AND was an ego boost, coming in at an XXS. We all tried something on, and it was great fun!

There was a lot of awesome cosplay, and group cosplays. The art that I did get to see was great, and the other panels were a lot of fun.

I really hope that next years guest line up is more relevant to my interests, and that the wonky hours get changed. Otherwise, i will totally go to next years event!

This upcoming weekend, I am going to Cos and Effect, the cosplay and anime convention over at UBC. This convention I am really looking forward to since the artists of some of the comics that I read are going to be there, and I want some prints.

Pics of: Bikini Contest, cosplays. Also? My husband is amazing, and cosplayed as Axis from Teahouse. 

Nostalgic-music edition

"..I threw you to the obvious....just to see if there was more behind 
the eyes of a fallen angel
The eyes of a tragedy."

-A perfect Circle, Mer De Noms

I've been listening to a lot of music lately. That implies that this isn't normal, but I can assure you, it is. I listen to music like it's lifesblood. I can listen to music, and forget the world; forget my life; forget everything. Or I can listen and feel more in touch with humanity than I ever have before.

That's the funny thing about music. And you don't even need to understand the lyrics to have a connection to the mood, the feelings, the emotional undertones.

I think that's one of the great things about travelling, and hearing music from all over the world. I have more languages on my MP3 player than is really necessary-but that's the part that makes it necessary.

However, this is not a post about all the really awesome music I listen to now.
It's about the music that I listened to when I was younger, and am now listening to again.

Like, A perfect Circle. Like the first albums of Tool, or Marilyn Manson. Or Nine Inch nails. Or Staind.

I was part of that generation that was all about N'sync, and Backstreet boys, and Spice girls, but I didn't do that. Some of the best music came of of the mid and late 90's. And I loved it when I was a teenager. I still love it now.
In all reality, it isn't an exaggeration to say that it saved my life.

And even though these bands would never know that they saved me-it didn't matter. They took my pain, and awkwardness, and social anxiety, and depression, and created a world in which I fit in. Not just with the music, but with the fans, and its society. I don't know what I would have done as a teen without music.

"Is this a test? It has to be
Otherwise, I can't go on."
-The Patient, Tool

In all likelihood, I would have likely gone down that downward spiral, and never come out. I would have ended up as a teen suicide statistic.

But I didn't. But don't think I don't have the scars-both seen and not-to show what I went through.

And now, listening to these bands, these songs, these lyrics again....I am now at the age where I can fully appreciate them. I understand them. I can remember with vivid clarity everything in my past. But, I can let it wash over me, remind me of what I was, and pass over me and remember who I am.

All thanks to the music.

Closing Ceremony

I think I've mentioned this before, but part of the program at Soonchunhyang (yup-back to Korea for this post, sorry it's all out of order!) is to attend the closing ceremony. This is where the staff thank everyone, announce some awards, and wish everyone well during the coming two month holiday.

Mostly, we got because A. we have to, since its mandatory, and B. for the free food.

I went for those reasons, but because I also won an award! Go me! Apparently, my exchange Andy and I had never missed a meeting! As such, we won the Best Exchange Pair award. In truth, he was one of my favourite exchanges-we talked about more than just cultural differences. We talked about books, weird phrases in English, and all the kinds of fruit he has never tried. I also taught him about sarcasm. He caught on really quick!

Andy and I are to the right of the pic. The middle pair were also in my list of favourite people at SCH. Bernice, from Vancouver, and Beatrice (chae Hee), who was in my suite. The other international, Garrett, was another of those favourite people!

The ceremony is also an excuse to hang out with friends, before everyone gets too busy with exams, packing, and moving out. 

I mentioned that there's a lot of people I;m going to miss? This is one of them. She was my international suitemate, this second semester, and was also at SCH for my first semester. She's still there right now, and she better miss me! We had a lot of fun together, and I miss her more than I thought I would. She was pretty chronic sick during the semester, so we didn't get to go out as much as I'd have liked, but, there's always over here in North America!

And this is the man and his roommate. I didn't get any pics with my roommate. I didn't see her that often.

I didn't get many pictures with a lot of people, since I was usually the one who was taking the pictures. But there are many people that I miss. Some more than others-especially for the crew in second semester. Later this week, one of my faves is coming up from Texas to visit, so we can go to the Anime Revolution. Otaku fun ftw!

여수 셋

I don't have anything else to say. Consider this the photo post .
Oh, wait, no! I did have something to add! It was disappointing to see that Canada was not in attendance at the international pavilion. Apparently, Korea tried really hard to get my country there, but it just wasn't in Canada's budget. But new fighter jets are.
Also, I have discovered that Sweden is like the awesome parts of Canada, without all the bullshit! So, Viva Sweden!

여수 World Expo 둘

That last post ended on an angry note-just as my first day at the World expo did. That entire day was one disappointment after another. We couldn't get into any of the specialty buildings-like the one on robotics, or the aquarium.
This is what made us decide to go for a second day. Blasphemy, right? Well, we wanted to see the aquarium, and the robots, and the rest of the international pavilions that we missed.

Oh, and the good thing about the first day, the one shining beacon during the otherwise shittastic day was that we found the India pavilion had vegetarian curry. Thank science for India! 인도 FTW!

The second day started off just as beautiful as the first. That is the nice thing about early summer in Korea, before the monsoon season starts. The weather is fantastic-sunny and hot, with long days, and cool nights.
It was also a better start to the day because I A. got a coffee right away B. got to eat some food and C. there seemed to be less ajimmas in attendance. So far, so good.

We tried going to the aquarium right away, but the lineup was slated at 3 hours. The aquarium was on our list of things to do...but 3 hours? 진짜? We bailed on that, and went to the robot pavilion instead. There was still a line up, but it was much more manageable, at 30 minutes.

It was pretty cool, and had some awesome shows and innovations for the future of ocean protection. But, again, it was all in Korean. The good thing about that is that the staff pretty much let Kristan and I wander wherever we wanted, to read the English signs about all the robots and technology. 

After we left, we went to another pavilion....the Marine civilization and city Pavilion, I think. This was where they showed concept 'underwater houses'  so that, once we've destroyed the earth, we can move into the water. Or that's the impression I got. Once again, it was all in Korean. Shocking, I know.

The concept was pretty interesting though, and once the population declines significantly, it isn't an entirely bad idea, once you change a few things.

When we left that building, we discovered it was raining. Being from Vancouver, the rain doesn't bother me much. It did, however, bother the ajimmas. This was when my husband and I looked at each other, smiled, and went to see the line at the aquarium.

Which was a fantastic idea. Many people left, and the line was now at 1 hour, 30. Yes, that is still along time, but, we both wanted to go, so we bit the bullet and waited. And it was awesome! I love aquariums. Hell, I love the ocean, and everything in it. It is such an amazing force of nature...and so beautiful, and balanced. Until humans fuck it all up, of course.

We finished off with the rest of the international pavilions that we had missed the day before. It was all still in Korean, and still angry, and ignorant, but, by this time, I was just too tired to give a fuck.

There was so much potential for the expo...and I was let down, for the most part. It wasn't all bad. I did learn a lot about other countries, and their response to the world's oceans crisis. I got to see an awesome aquarium, which is apparently eco friendly-even though I doubt that Korea knows what eco friendly even means. I got to see Yeosu, which is very pretty.

But I also got to see the full force of the ignorance of Korea, Koreans, and some other parts of the world. As good as the good bits were-i will remember the anger over the indifference of the state of the oceans, and the living coast.