I'm shocked this didn't happen ages ago...but still a little weepy...LOL

I read this on a forum I frequent, and mourned a little for my childhood. I owned one of these up until my sophomore year in college, when I switched over to a CD portable player. It wasn't until I was out of college and working could I even begin to think about affording an MP3 player, and not even an iPod.

"The Walkman is officially dead.

After more than 30 years on the market, Sony has decided to end production and sales of their Walkman portable cassette players.

The final batch was produced in Japan back in April of this year and as soon as they're sold, there will officially be no more.

Since 1979, over 200 million Walkman cassette players have been sold.

Sony does say however, that they will continue to make and sell their CD and MiniDisc-based Walkmans.

Sure, we all love our tiny pocket-sized iPods, but the end of the Walkman is an end of an era!!"

I love this! Stress management in a nutshell.

Stolen from another great blog I read frequently.

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

* Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some days you're the statue.

* Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

* Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be "Recalled" by their maker.

* If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

* If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it.

* It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to be kind to others.

* Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

* Nobody cares if you can't dance well, just get up and dance.

* When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.

* Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live.

* You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

* Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.

* We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names,
and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.


*A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Even if you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there. ---Will Rogers

Temple Stay

My Awesome Weekend in Korea

Once upon a time this shy girl wanted adventure. She's been working too hard. She needed a mini-vacation. And this weekend in Korea, she got it. She got it in the form of an Adventure Korea trip to the Gochang province and the surrounding area. It was seriously the best thing I did for myself in a while. This is such a beautiful country there are no words beyond that. I have posted pictures on my numerous internet outlets, and that should satisfy most of you, but this weekend was one that left me in awe of nature and pumped for the week ahead. I haven't felt that in a while.

Saturday we got an early start at 7am. We left Seoul and headed south for three hours. We visited a military fortress and hiked around it once for good fortune. We watched a military festival in progress there. We reloaded the bus and checked into our hotel and met new friends at dinner. Everyone that did this trip was super friendly and seeking the same experience, I think. Many different ages and backgrounds. It's so neat how a thirst for adventure brings us all together in that way.

Sunday we got an early start as well. After a quick peanut butter toast breakfast, we headed up the mountain on a three-hour hike! Gorgeous scenery and invigorating climbing were the main attractions. Fall here is beautiful. The weather was gorgeous. I am so thankful for all that has been given to me. All of the opportunities that have blessed me over the years. The fact that I am here, able to do these things, still amazes and amuses me.

We finished the hike and after a traditional Korean bibimbop lunch, we reloaded the bus and went digging for clams! In the mud! I've never done that before! It was an amazing experience, there are no other words, like I said before. I will have more on this later, but for now, I just wanted to say what an incredible experience this was, and I hope that you are blessed in whatever you are doing at the moment as well. Take time to enjoy the little, finer points in life.

What other time do we have but the present?

Pictures to come!

Love,

Me :)

I'm going to share one more thing tonight

Because this was so eloquently put.

http://zenhabits.net/perfect/#more-6764

‘Be Content with what you have; rejoice in the way things are. When you realize there is nothing lacking, the whole world belongs to you.’ ~Lao Tzu

Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on twitter .

A lot of people come to Zen Habits (and read other personal development blogs and books) because they want to improve something about themselves. They’re not satisfied with their lives, they’re unhappy with their bodies, they want to be better people.

I know, because I was one of those people.

This desire to improve myself and my life was one of the things that led to Zen Habits. I’ve been there, and I can say that it leads to a lot of striving, and a lot of dissatisfaction with who you are and what your life is.

A powerful realization that has helped me is simply this: You’re already good enough, you already have more than enough, and you’re already perfect.

Try saying that to yourself, as corny as that might sound, just to see if it sounds true. Does it resonate as something you already believe (in which case, you can probably stop reading now), or does it not feel right? Do you feel like there are things you still need to improve?

The thing I’ve learned, and it’s not some new truth but an old one that took me much too long to learn, is that if you learn to be content with who you are and where you are in life, it changes everything.

Consider what changes:

• You no longer feel dissatisfied with yourself or your life.
• You no longer spend so much time and energy wanting to change and trying to change.
• You no longer compare yourself to other people, and wish you were better.
• You can be happy, all the time, no matter what happens in the world around you.
• Instead of trying to improve yourself, you can spend your time helping others.
• You stop spending so much money on things that will supposedly improve your life.
• You can be smug about it, like me.

OK, the last bit was a joke, but the rest is true, in my experience.

And here’s another realization that I’ve written about before: You already have everything you need to be happy, right here and right now.

Do you have eyes that see? You have the ability to appreciate the beauty of the sky, of greenery, of people’s faces, of water. Do you have ears that hear? You have the ability to appreciate music, the sound of rainfall, the laughter of friends. You have the ability to feel rough denim, cool breezes, grass on bare feet … to smell fresh-cut grass, flowers, coffee … to taste a plum, a chili pepper, chocolate.

This is a miracle, and we take it for granted. Instead, we strive for more, when we already have everything. We want nicer clothes, cooler gadgets, bigger muscles, bigger boobies, flatter stomachs, bigger houses, cars with leather seats that talk to you and massage your butt. We’ve kinda gone insane that way.

The sane thing is to realize we don’t need any of that. We don’t need to improve our lives. We don’t need to improve ourselves, because we’re already perfect.

Once you accept this, it frees you.

You’re now free to do things, not because you want to be better, but because you love it. Because you’re passionate about it, and it gives you joy. Because it’s a miracle that you even can do it.

You’re already perfect. Being content with yourself means realizing that striving for perfection is based on someone else’s idea of what “perfect” is … and that that’s all bullshit. Perfect is who you are, not who someone else says you should be.

Also, as corny as it may sound, I love you, completely and unconditionally, and if everyone else in your world betrays and abandons you, you always have me. :)

Now stop reading this blog, and go be happy.

Dear Friends

I have been really bad about updating this thing with my adventures. I'm in this wonderful country, far far away from my home and yet I have nothing to say most days. Mostly because this has been a work experience. Most of my time has been spent in the throws of teaching at Jesus Miracle English School. Wondering what I've done with my life. Not really teaching anything either. Or maybe teaching SOMETHING, but not really having my heart in it. Mostly because I have no ownership of what I'm teaching. I teach something and my boss lady comes in and tells me to say it a different way or do it differently. She had my Kindergarten kids copying a whole story map and paragraph on Friday, without (I can only guess) really knowing what they were writing. And so it is in Korea. Then she comes up to me at lunch and says "They're getting better. I bet they could hold their own in an American first grade classroom." That, I have no doubt. Having taught first grade for a whole four months, I have no doubt. But at what cost are we getting results? Are these kids going to grow up to hate writing and reading English? I won't spend any more time speculating than I already have, but I just wonder about the futility of our efforts. What does it all stand for?

In the throws of my existential crisis, I have signed up for a few travel experiences with Adventure Korea, a local travel website for expats in Korea. I hope that these experiences will bring me the clarity I need to continue this experience for a year. I know that this experience isn't entirely about work, at least I don't want it to be. I am going on a trip next weekend with them, to see some fall foliage and then another one the following weekend to a temple to explore Buddhism a little more. I've been wanting to leave the city since arriving here and this is a perfect opportunity. I'm almost dreading starting work tomorrow, but I will continue to keep a positive attitude for the week ahead. I can do anything for seven more months! :)

For months, we joked...

We joked about what the initials of the school I work for stand for.

For those that don't know, I work for a school called "JM English."

For months we've called it Jesus Magic English in a mocking tone. Never once did I take this seriously. I knew the owners are uber-Christians. It never bothered me and still really doesn't. I just think it's ironic, even funny.

Today I had discussion before a movie with one of my Korean co-workers and learned, that yes, in ALL SERIOUSNESS, the J.M. in JM English stands for "Jesus Miracle." No joke. I didn't know what to say. OK then.

Here I am, the Jew girl turned Unitarian hippie turned confused, working for Jesus Miracle English Hogwon in Seoul, South Korea.

My life HAS taken a turn, has it not? We all go on this bumpy ride we call life, and this is not a turn I thought my life would take, but I am here. For better or for worse. Let me enjoy some of it.