I took a photo of my last centerpiece of the night last night (around 11pm). I'm so tired. I cannot wait to get on the plane tomorrow and sleep. I'm about to leave the office right now, go to the flower shop and then a night of laundry, wrapping presents and packing awaits. I almost feel like I've been way to busy to enjoy the season at all.
WAIT, that's good, because usually I am wallowing knee-deep in Xmas angst by this time. I suppose exhaustion is a welcome relief.
Every year for Kyohei's birthday, I try to surprise him with a great dinner date. This year I heard about the Festival of Lights at the Stephen Foster Folk Culture Center State Park, which displays more than 4 millions lights. Kyohei and I drove an hour into the heart of North Florida to see the spectacle. It was great!
Someone took a not-so-great photo for us.
The Folk Museum.
What I didn't know is that there a museum to Stephen Foster there. As I walked through the display, I thought.. wait a second. Do you mean to tell me this is the guy who wrote, "O Susanna," and "Camptown Races." Indeed he was. A fellow Pennsylvanian, Stephen Foster is known as the father of American music. Though he never lived in the South, he also penned "Swanee River," which became Florida's State Song, hence the cultural center. Thanks for the info, Wikipedia.
Here is a sample of the Appalachian Dulcimer music that I heard. I really liked it-- this instrument is very cool
I'm the black spot in front of the tree
A very Florida Christmas with the Palmetto's in lights
One of the events was a "snow" flurry. Here some kids in the South get to have fun in snow, even though it was warm enough to go around in short sleeves.
Gingerbread village-- for free hot chocolate, popcorn and marshmallow roasting.
Our traditional post-birthday dinner photo together. My leopard print wrap ($2 at a thrift store) makes this my favorite.
I've been following the practice of sending anti-norkor propaganda via balloons for a while. Something about the practice really fascinates me. It is such a grassroots, everyman kind of simple thing for people in South Korea to do who are deprived of any other real means to effect change.
This article is really great. I am humbled by the bravery of defector Park Sang Hak who has sent his own picture over the border. Attempts have already been made on his life.
Other must-read articles today:
Amy in Kim's 'control' : about Un's first act as military leader
North Korea's Jong-Un secretly visited Japan: yes, the wild dictator stories continue.
As the outside world tries to figure out how much control his successor, Kim Jong Un, has over the nuclear-armed state, the defectors are focusing on trying to kickstart a revolution in North Korea.
On Wednesday in Imjinggak, South Korea, near the Demilitarized Zone separating the North and South, a green jeep pulled up in a parking garage amid blaring military music. Women in matching camouflage fatigues, dark glasses and lipstick leaped out. All are North Korean defectors, and they came for a celebration.
"We welcome the miserable death of dictator Kim Jong Il!" the activists shouted. They were led by Park Sang-hak, a prominent defector. Earlier this year, an assassination attempt against him was foiled, when a North Korean spy was caught with poison-tipped needles. On Wednesday, Park criticized the international community's emphasis on a peaceful transition.
"The U.S. and China say North Korea has to stay stable. For 60 years, people have suffered under the world's worst dictatorship. Now is the perfect opportunity for them to win their freedom. How can you keep watching such suffering for the next few decades?" Park said.
Window Of Opportunity?
There are now more than 20,000 defectors in South Korea; 30 groups were represented at Wednesday's event. They believe that Kim Jong Il's sudden death has opened a window of opportunity that should be exploited. Son Jeong-hun, one of the rally organizers, predicts that conflict among North Korea's elite factions could break out by early next year.
"As far as I know, there are a few progressive commanders in the North Korean army who want to change the situation there. In my opinion, Kim Jong Un's lack of experience means he doesn't have the power to control party members in their 50s and 60s," Son says.
That may be wishful thinking. So far the succession appears to be going smoothly, with many analysts believing the army has pledged its loyalty to a collective leadership around Kim Jong Un. But Pyongyang is not taking any chances. On Wednesday as well, it put its troops on alert. Shin Ju-hyun is the chief editor of the Daily NK website, which has contacts inside the North. He says draconian security measures have been put in place inside North Korea.
"Groups of more than five North Koreans are not allowed to gather together. And armed policemen are stationed every one hundred meters in every street. They also limit the number of people in every alley," Shin says.
More Than Symbolic Protest
At the rally in Imjinggak, protesters inflated 30-foot-high balloons printed with slogans such as "Let's end three generations of dictatorship" to be released across the border into North Korea.
After more slogan-shouting, the defectors launched the balloons and leaflets. The leaflets list the Kim family's excesses, for example one son's love of diamonds and bourgeois Eric Clapton concerts. They also juxtapose pictures of Kim Jong Il with Libya's Moammar Gadhaif and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak, and provide descriptions of the Arab Spring.
The act of releasing these balloons seems a largely symbolic gesture. But defector Hahn Il-seong disagrees.
"These are enormously, enormously helpful. The North Koreans are told that South Korea poisons these leaflets, and they're not allowed to touch them. But sometimes we put pictures of defectors on these leaflets, and one of my nephews inside the North told me he actually saw my picture this way, and knew I was living in the South," Hahn says.
These balloon launches have unsettled the South as well. Its National Intelligence Service urged the defectors to cancel Wednesday's launch for fear of antagonizing Pyongyang at a time of mourning. But they refused to back down: antagonizing Pyongyang and causing strains to emerge is exactly what they want.
Copyright 2011 National Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
Unsurprisingly, he named his youngest son, Kim Jong Un as his successor. I'd been reading about it, but you just never know, right? I really feel old now to be older than a dictator. Hasn't it just been the year of these motherf#@*ers dying? Am I right; Bin Laden, Gadafi, KJI.
Right now the news, the internet, facebook (and if I could force myself to log into Twitter, I'm sure it would be too) are blowing up with this story. No need to link you into some articles today.
Top 5 concerns I have about this
1) Kim Jong Un, is young (28), has much to prove and has lived his whole life in this regime. Can we assume that will make him more cold-hearted, reckless, and ruthless than his father. Probably. My heart aches for North Koreans right now.
2) So. Korean stock has already taken a dip since Saturday because of fear instability. This is bad. Will this also negatively affect Japan's economy, which is still recovering from the triple-disaster in March? Probably. Super not good for the world economy.
3) The U.S. just increased our troops stationed in Australia not too long ago. Good timing. I wonder if we will do the same for our bases in So. Korea and Japan. Will this lead to more diplomatic tensions between the U.S.& Japan as far as the troop numbers and the issue of Japan being a non-normal country (cannot form own militia).
4) For all KJI's cruelty and horror, he did bring a certain flare to the regime. Will the absurdity continue? I think I must feel now what most comedians were feeling when Herman Cain dropped out of the presidential race. Will things like the Mass Games still happen?
5) Will they make a Kim Jong Unia begonia for the new leader? If so, when and what will it look like!? Inquiring minds want to know!!!!
See what happens when you try to mess with Christmas, Kim Jong Il. Just saying.
I had this marked as something to post but that was before KJI kicked the bucket. I still think this situation is hilarious, even in light of how stressed I feel for the North Koreans and So. Korea and Japan right now.
And since when has a Christmas Tree ever converted people to Christianity? What, was it topped with the baby Jesus? I would be more likely to convert to night-time ELECTRICITY if I were living in NorKor.
Seoul granted permission to a church group to erect a 100-foot-tall, tree-shaped structure on the top of Aegibong Hill – two miles from the North Korean border. When illuminated by hundreds of tiny light bulbs, the structure is said to be easily visible from the North Korean city of Kaesong.
South Korea said it would consider allowing more groups to build structures along the border.
After hearing of the decision, North Korean news agency Uriminzokkiri called the plan a “mean attempt for psychological warfare.” South Korea claimed the trees represent their country’s freedom of religion and expression.
North Korea has vowed to retaliate.
Uriminzokkiri added that the lighting is an act of propaganda, as residents of the communist, largely atheistic North Korea are given only repackaged and highly regulated information – information the North’s government purports to be true.
The two countries had reached an agreement in 2004 that forbade either side from promoting religious or political ideas within eyesight of the other country.
North Korea accused the South of trying to convert its people and soldiers to Christianity with last year’s display.
North Korea claims it has a large stock of artillery, which is already aimed at South Korea, that is fully capable of taking out the tree.
well one of them anyway, is the annual Poinsettia Sale at the university I where I work. I love how many varieties of the plant there are. I got my usual basic red and a white one, but I got a few shots (poor quality on my phone) of the other kinds.
Pink and red
Awesome leaves
The sale
Bright pink!
Orange
I love flowers and plants. Hopefully this will power me through working at the flowershop tonight after work AND on to an ugly Christmas sweater party. 'Tis the season to be busy.
I saw a house on the internet that I thought I might be interested in buying. That was until Kyohei and I went to see it last night. Total wreck. So scratch that.
However, it did have the effect of lighting a fire-under-my-ass, so to speak. I decided to ask both bosses for a raise this week. Saturday I'm going to hit up the flowershop for another $1/hr (hey its something). I asked my office boss on Tuesday in a well-thought out letter AND a spreadsheet showing that I am the lowest paid person of my position in the college (go research!). She heartily agreed and we are working on a proposal to appeal to the college at large. The timing is terrible, of course. Our governor keeps cutting back the funding for liberal arts and humanities. You know what? It doesn't hurt to ask. Its been over 2 years in this position, so it is time to take a stand.
I definitely have issues though. Today I was the only one in Turkish class, so instead of having a 15-minute oral exam, I had one for 45. This was in the form of the teacher asking me things and me having to have a conversation about it. Usually I LOVE this kind of thing. Too bad he asked me all about Noel (Christmas). I was OK until he started asking questions about Christmases past. Suddenly, I burst into tears and had to leave to collect myself in the restroom.
Seriously!?!?
What the fuck is wrong with me? [face palm] Christmas rears its ugly head and bites me in the ass yet again.
Ghost of Christmas Past: 1 justgotspaid: 0
