Happy New (dragon) Year

 Ok, so I'm a day late.  I wanted to share this cool NorKor photo:

These are paper Kimjongilia, the famed specialty Begonia named after the late leader (how I want these flowers).  It's been almost about a month already and people are still laying flowers on his statue.  Kim Jong Un must be feeling a little unloved right now.  Especially since his big brother has been talking so much smack on the regime. teehee.  I do hope the regime falls. 

About this year:  my Daily Chinese Horoscope says:

Here is your Daily Chinese Horoscope for Monday, January 23

The start of Dragon year is good news for you! In what's predicted to be one of your best years yet, today is a cause for celebration. Sit down tonight and write out some goals for the next few months. With a little planning and preparation, you can make it happen.

HOWEVER,

I am turning 31 in 2 days, hence officially entering the time of YAKUDOSHI!   (click the link for an explanation for those of you not versed in your East Asian religions. 

Really my "danger year" is 32, but according to Kyohei, the year before is like an appetizer to the coming calamity.  So.... for the next three years, without some exorcism by a Shinto priest, I can expect hardship, illness and misfortune.  Crap!  Just when I want to stay out of the hospital and buy a house. 

I suppose I've already survived 2 previous yakudoshi years: 12 and 18, albeit I was pretty miserable in grades 6-7 (I did have one particularly harrowing sledding accident) and my Sr year- 1st semester of college was pretty unhappy as well, but not THAT bad.  Though come to think of it, I was admitted to the hospital and my mom told my whole family at Thanksgiving that I was an alcoholic (NOT true, despite all the beer references on the blog) and I was in an emotionally abusive relationship and I opened my first credit card and I felt like I didn't have any friends.... hhmmm OK, so maybe it was a terrible time. fuck.

Which will it be?  A great year or AWFUL?  Stay tuned.....

house hunting

 Kyohei and I went to look at a house that is in foreclosure on Sunday.  It is there for a good reason; cracked foundation and an overall architectural disaster.  Let's just say, if we bought this house we could never invite a guest taller than 5'10. 

Our 'real estate agent' (in quotes because I'm not 100% sure I will continue to contact him and use his services, and I don't care how sorry I feel that his mother is sick) took us around to see 3 more houses which were all either awful, out of our price range or too far away. 

I completely hate this.  I think looking online at real estate is creating some sort of OCD- depression in me too.  

groan.

I am the 1%

 According to The Week Magazine (another magazine my mom subscribed me to-- do you see why I never get around to reading books!?!):

The world’s richest 1 percent, and more

The world’s richest 1 percent
To be counted among the world’s richest 1 percent, a single individual has to earn just $34,000 a year. Members of the planet’s true middle class, meanwhile, live on just $1,225 a year.
CNN.com

Now that I feel exceedingly rich, perhaps I will buy a house- ha ha ha ha!

His father was Dear Leader, his younger half-brother brother is now the Great Successor, and he, apparently, is the Great Nuthin. Kim Jong Nam, the eldest son of Kim Jong Il, North Korea’s longtime dictator who died in December, is believed to spend much of his time in the casinos of Macau, a Chinese territory.

Kim Jong Nam also apparently has been talking at length to a Japanese journalist for a book due out in Japan on January 20, according to the Japan Times.

The newspaper quotes an editor at the publisher Bungei Shunju as saying that Kim Jong Nam will offer his own frank account of Kim Jong Il. Among the highlights, the publisher says, is the revelation that Kim Jong Il wasn’t happy about handing over power to any of his sons.

Kim Jong Il and his eldest son, it is believed, had a falling out some years ago and Kim Jong Nam has lived outside of North Korea for much of that time. Time magazine reports that Kim Jong Nam “was once thought to be favored to succeed his father,” before Kim Jong Un took over that role.

Britain’s Daily Mail reports that Kim Jong Un was rumored to have tried to assassinate his older brother in Macau in 2009.

In the book, Kim Jong Nam will discuss his opposition to hereditary succession and his belief that the current elite will continue to maintain power but use the young new leader as a government symbol.

But a quick check of the files shows that Kim Jong Nam has already publicly voiced his opposition to hereditary rule back in 2010 and early last year said that his father wasn’t keen about passing leadership onto his sons.

With so little information flowing out of North Korean sources, Kim Jong Nam’s book could be a gold mine. But based on the previews, the betting is that precious little will emerge even from those who truly have something to dish.

update

 We were able to renew the lease.  Boring, right?  It looks like I will be complaining about our too-small apartment until Aug. 2013 now.  I'm feeling relieved (and hungover)

nest

 When I came home from my walk last night there was a notice on my door saying that our rental company would be showing our apartment to someone tomorrow(today).  I thought, WTH!  We still have time to decide about our renewal.  So I looked at the notice they gave us.  It lists different deadlines for renewal with how much you can save on next month's rent, like by Dec. 31 save $100, by Jan 31 save $75, etc etc etc.  Then in small print at the bottom it says, if you have specialty floor plan the deadline is Jan 2.  Ooooooops. 

 I immediately freaked out, drank a very ill-advised amount of liquor and started to "find" our future house using all 3 realty websites that I know.  Then Kyohei got home and we tried to decide if we should fight them and renew or take it as a sign that God is pushing us out of the nest and it is time to buy a house. 

I think our current plan of attack is to go to the office at 10am when they open, pretend that we never got any notice and act outraged.  To by fare, in previous years I got multiple signs on our door, emails and phone calls.  They totally buried the lead here. 

Maybe that will buy us some time. Stay tuned.

NorKor and handicapped people

 Saferia, who is my #1 adviser for all things NorKor related in the media recommended the film, Red Chapel and then this article, North Korean government murdering disabled children in Pyongyang, today.  You are awesome, thank you! 

Red Chapel

 This film is a must-see.  I worried that I would somehow be less interested now that Kim Jong Il has died, but this was not the case.  Like Saferia told me, this movie is in a class all by it's own.  One Danish director takes 2 Danish-Koreans to NorKor on the premise of doing a comedy show for cultural exchange.  He pretends to agree with North Korean policy to gain access to more freedom.  He is able to pull off some pretty uncomfortable stunts (like reading a hippie poem to the KJI statue and marching in a war demonstration).  Amazingly, they sing Wonderwall to a bunch of North Korean students and another audience (even though foreign music is banned). 

The kicker is, that one of the Danish-Korean comedians is handicapped.  Knowing that if he had been born in NorKor, he would have been killed, he has the most insightful and poignant things to say about the country. 

You'all should really try and see this.  If you've ever wondered, how do people live knowing that there are others being tortured and killed nearby?  This film sheds light on the gross travesty of the two-faced NorKor general public as they carry out the political drama of the regime (but, you know, in a funny way).

The Suitcase Case

 Sometimes haggling with companies is like a sport (I get it from my Momma).  Since I don't play real sports, these little battles will have to do.

When I arrived in blustery Erie, PA on Dec. 24, my suitcase was minus two wheels.  Actually it is Kyohei's suitcase.  I refuse to use mine because 1) his is cooler, we put stickers all over it  2) my suitcases are pretty much on their last leg 3) it is a hassle to get them out of my closet.  I have to move things around.  Wow, I am a pain in the ass to live with.

Anyway, I wrote to carrier of choice USAirways and alerted them to the problem.  I basically got a reply that was like we do not repair external items; wheels, zippers, handles...  [well, what the hell else is there, really?] AND that since I arrived on the 24th and did not email them until the 26th, they had to assume that my bag arrived in good working order. 

Ah, whaaaaaaaaaat!?  Did USAirways just call me a liar?  Oh HELL NO!  I can understand that they won't fix my stuff, but don't call me a liar.  I wrote them right back explaining that I did go to the counter, but it was closed and then added all this about how I was being charitable in the "spirit of Christmas" and choose not to haggle with their employees on the holiday.  All of that is true, plus I didn't feel like opening my laptop.  I suggested that the person who wrote the email attend cultural sensitivity classes to understand the Christian holiday.   

Yesterday, a rep. from Rimowa, the suitcase company called me on the phone and told me they would send me new wheels and wheel housing FOR FREE.  Rimowa is pretty awesome.  That will get them a like on Facebook.

God willing, I will be able to repair this myself. 

If not, I just got another email from USAirways:

Dear Ms.[justgotspaid]:

I have reviewed your recent email concerning our disposition of this matter.

It is never our intention, Ms.[justgotspaid], to return property in a lesser condition than when it was checked-in. While every effort is made to keep our passengers’ property secure and unharmed, at times there are accidents beyond our control such as being caught in the conveyor system or damaged by other luggage. I’m sorry for the inconvenience and frustration this has caused.

Due to the circumstances, we would like to resolve this matter amicably. Please submit the repair receipt to baggage.resolution@usairways.com or to the address below.

That's what I thought! 

Rimowa 1 
justgotspaid 1
USAirways 0 (+ $50 for checking my luggage, duh!)

a look back

 A few people I read did 2011 in review.  I really wasn't feeling like it, so I decided not to force it.  Until I forced it.  I'm usually nostalgic to a fault (to a major fault), but I started to the day in one of my annoying whimsical-daydream moods.  Unable to force myself to do anything productive, I decided to look at photos of old hooks ups from the past.  Wouldn't you know it, but all the pics from my wildcat days of blogging in Japan in 2005 are not on my blog anymore!  What's up with that, xanga!?  It was still pretty good reading.  I forgot most of the things I was up to then--those days when I was more of a Samantha than a Charlotte.  I also had terrible punctuation (even worse than now), more readers and I was funny.  When did I stop being funny?

There is also a post about how intimidated I was by the other people in my grad program before I moved to Florida.  One of them turned out to be El_Nor, one of my best friends.  ha ha.  She was on my blog before I event met her.

So now that look back at 2011

Things were lost & I cried a lot
My uncle died and so did my friend, Diane.
That triple earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disaster happened in Japan
friends moved away or had to suffer through terrible things
My sis-in-law had a miscarriage
my time-- I was sick a lot

Work sucks
I applied and got two interviews, but no job offers.  Maybe for the best though
My friends all quit the flowershop and now it isn't as fun
My new co-worker makes me want to fight

Things were not-so-bad to great
I had some great trips: Japan for one was excellent again, a couple to S. Carolina to see El_nor, her wedding in Boston was super, as well as another wedding in Ohio.  My brother came to visit.  There were some great fun times. 
Kim Jong Il died-- oh yeah, Kim Jong Un's bday is Jan 8, so what out for celebrations
I still love learning Turkish
My circle of friends grows- I almost never feel lonely

I think the only thing that will knock me out of this strange funk is a good, strong hangover.  I can get started on that soon.

New Year's Goals 2012!!

I did pretty well in 2011, so let's keep it going

1) See something amazing  (very ambiguous, no?)

2) Visit 2 distant friends (because friends are important and travel is fun)

3) Read another 10 books (I just finished #10 Dec. 27 this last time.  This is a goal worth repeating for me)

4) Go to the beach at least 8 times (since there are 8 months of good weather in Florida, I should make this happen.  Pathetically, I only went to the beach once last year.  WTH!?  I need to make a change)

5) Appear in a play or do some public performance (time to get out there)

 
Here's to a great 2012--Cheers! I wish all my blog readers a wonderful new year filled with happiness and satisfaction in life.  Let's make it happen