Time Travel

I recently had a strange urge to download some music of The Doors, one of the best known rock bands from the 60s and 70s. I love music. Music is life: timeless and memorable, yet always changing. Music and I go way back. I remember talking to my first girlfriend in high school about why I liked listening to a bunch of different bands instead of finding just one or two that I liked. I told her that music is easily associated in my mind with different memories, and that while some songs already hold meaning, I look forward to new experiences with new music in the background. I have recently expanded upon that thought and I've come to the realization that music has the magic ability to instantly transport your mind across time and space to wherever you were when you heard a song in your life. In that way, songs themselves are like different stops throughout the universe that you can return to if you just listen to the right song. First date, check. high school prom, check. Locker room before football games, check. Brother's 12th birthday party, yep. It's all there. All as accessible today as as downloading an mp3. Back to The Doors. I remember driving with my papa (mom's dad) when I was young and listening to Jim Morrison and the eclectic tunes of The Doors and being very weirded out. But recently I think back on that time, and now and I wonder where The Doors' music takes him. Then again, maybe I don't want to know. So tell me, where does your music take you?

Itaewon

I had an awesome weekend. I finally went out for a little clothes shopping for the first time in six months. I found out I can get cheap, medium-quailty New Era style caps doe like 12-15,000 won a piece, and that they have clothes that actually fit me over there. I wasn't aware at how expensive dress shirts are and can become over here, though. I literally spent $15 a shirt before I came over here and now they're marked around 40-60,000 in the only places they have my sizes. I'm really happy the weather is wamring up, too, because I just found out my only remaining pair of jeans has a small hole in the crotch. Levi's knows what it's doing, though. I've had those pants for almost three years. I just wish there was a place I could get some more pants like that. Apparently you can get whole custom stuis tailored to your body for 250-600,000 won each, depending on where you look. I'm definitely going to look into that in the coming months.
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I just got my power bill yesterday and it was a whopping 230,000 won. That is almost 100,000 more than my building mate's who used her heater almost the whole time. Truth be told, I think it was because YJ would always jack up the heat when she came over. I'm not too surprised, however, since it was the dead of winter, and even in the States energy bills get higher during that time. It sucks I have to pay more than everyone else, though :P
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On a better note, we went to this amazing Japanese ramen shop in Itaewon. To be honest, Itaewon is not a good place for me to be. The first time I went there a couple weekends ago was for Valentine's Day and we went to this bar (Wolfhead Pub, I think) to have what was listed as one of the best burgers in Seoul.
As soon as we waded through the small, crowded room to get a table I was overwhelmed with the high volume of English being spoken all around me. It was like I had walked into a portal taking me to one of the bars by the college in my hometown. Cigarette smoke, guys dressed like tools, and girls with whiny voices and droopy asses filled the senses. I was overwhelmed, and it wasn't until YJ asked me if I was ok that I was pulled out of the chaos into a safe place again. It was really weird. The reverse culture shock was a surprising experience for me but I guess it makes sense given I've been here for 6 months now, and not surrounded by foreigners.
The food in Itaewon makes it worth the terrible experience of dealing with most of the people there, people who dedicate most of their free time to meetingescaping the realities of life in a foreign country. The proper-sized bacon cheeseburger at the pub and the authenticly prepared ramen were both amazing dishes that I wouldn't mind making the trip just to experience again. It takes over an hour for me to get to Itaewon, but if I keep finding delicious food and want to buy some cheap hats, I'll make the trip.

Mmm, mmm, good~