saranghae, kim jong kook

first of all, it's a little after seven on new year's day, so obviously i didn't have a big night out. i have to work today (thankfully the store doesn't open till eleven, which means i don't have to be there till ten... whoo!)

the original plan, a month or two ago, was to get a hotel room in saratoga on new year's eve with some friends, but we procrastinated too long on that and they were all booked. then we were just going to go out, but that too never came to fruition. jude and i decided we'd maybe do a potluck at my house and then head out to saratoga, but a few factors were working against us: jeni was sick, which means joe was out, too; amy couldn't do dinner; and the weather was possibly going to become icy and crappy. and secretly, i was kind of tired and not feeling like going out. amy went to some parties in saratoga which we opted out of. instead, jude and matt, who were on the same wavelength as me, came over and we had a mini feast and called it an early night. it was a nice quiet new year, which is what i was craving. by the way, thanks everyone for your happy birthday/new year messages. and boy do i have questions for some of you...

i now have a minneapolis date, which is making me even more excited. i'm planning on heading out there the last full weekend of january, maybe friday the twenty-sixth. that way i can get my bearings before starting work and moving into our new place, which we're hoping to have by february first. also fun, my mom is considering taking the road trip with me. i'm sure she's not too keen on the idea of me doing the drive all by myself. that made alisun excited because she thinks our mothers would really get along. i talked to the store manager at the downtown minneapolis store yesterday, she sounds really nice, and it sounds like i'll be working a schedule of tuesday-saturday, or maybe if it opens up monday-friday. and just like the store here they need daytime workers, so it sounds like i'll have a cushy set schedule. she told me to call her when i get out there and they'll just add me on.

as for the apartment, alisun is doing most of the dirty work. turns out it's just me and her, because salsa is applying to a million teaching programs and doesn't want to screw us over by making us find a new roommate later in the year. but it will be nice to just have two people sharing the space. al is looking at places uptown, and we're hoping to find a decently priced home or duplex instead of an apartment.

ANYWAY. that wasn't even why i really wanted to write this morning. i was surfing around and found this video.

this was my ring tone in korea... it's really called sarang surowon, but the song was translated for youtube. how can you not bop around to this? i love it plainly for its cheese factor. the video is like a korean wake me up before you go go. many a times have i busted out into a spontaneous dance party at the local 7-11 because this song was playing. i even had a class of kids, who knew i loved this song, print out the lyrics so they could play the song and sing along to it for me.

apparently this song was such a big hit because (at least according to a student) kim jong kook usually sings "slow sad songs" and this is a very "happy song."

so sit back, relax, and let your toes tap away to a classic piece of korean pop culture.