Celebrations and Deprivations

Happy Lunar New Year/Mardi Gras/Birthday Fei (and Kim Jong-Il?)! I'm a little late posting in my (laziness and ) rush to pack for vacation. I've quit America for the present and am on my way to Vietnam for the rest of vacation.

Mardi Gras has passed which means we are now in the season of Lent (do Catholics say that?). Although I'm not a Catholic myself, I attended a Jesuit university for two years so I like to think of myself as an honorary member, a cultural catholic, let's say. (Or are all Catholics just cultural Catholics?) I enjoy many Catholic type things, like feeling guilty and seasonal self-deprivation, so I am participating in Lent. Will you be giving anything up?

In Transit

As I write this, I'm looking out the window at some palm trees gently waving in the wind, backed by some rugged, green mountains. This layover in Honolulu is lasting an age. At least it's a nice change from the somewhat bleak Seoul winter I'd gotten used to, though.

The woman working check-in and I bonded over our enjoyment of Korean Dramas. I felt like a good person because I told her about www.mysoju.com. Have you been to mysoju? No? You should go! It has East Asian dramas and movies with English subtitles. Then we, too, can discuss crying all night over Jan Di and Gu Joon Pyo.

Potato Fever

Since I've been single, I seem to get approached my Korean guys a lot more. Girls joke that most of the white guys here have 'yellow fever,' but apparently there is a corollary to this in Korean culture. When Koreans have a preference for white people, they call it having 'potato fever.'

Like this?

I admit, I'm less than thrilled at the association. But, considering the term 'yellow fever' is also pretty inaccurate, I guess I can't really complain.