Our Autmn Bucket List

I enjoyed creating and checking things off our summer bucket list so much, I flipped over the paper and made one for fall, too.

Bucket List VI

I started keeping track in November 2010, I add more ideas to the bucket list when I think of them.  After a long silence on the subject, here are some more things I'd like to do some day.

(The new additions are at the bottom under the line.)

• Spend New Year's Eve in Times Square
• Scuba dive
• Stargaze under the biggest sky on the darkest night
• Attend ComicCon
• Roadtrip to Maine and/or Canada
• Have a restaurant give me food for singing
• Be on the radio, sometime, somehow 
• Be in a choreographed performance of "Beat It"
• Get myself a motorcycle license
• Host a huge blanket fort slumber party a la Troy and Abed in Community (Season 2, Episode 9)
• Audition and be cast in a community theatre show
• Be a camp counselor
• Go skinny dipping

• Observe a flash mob
•  Attend a Harry Potter party/marathon
• Go to Harry Potter World with Millie
• Be in a food fight
• Find a signature perfume
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• Cook and eat fried dandelions - The pictures I've seen look really, really good.  And, I love earth.  With a lower case "e."  I love the rich smell of grass, the tangy smell of dandelion milk, the sharp smell of wild onions.  When a friend tells me a certain food tastes like dirt, there's a high chance that I'll like it.  And, with my mom's recipe for fried green tomato batter, I'm pretty sure I can't go wrong.
• Compete in a dance competition (and become good at dancing) - I'm thinking hip hop or krump in addition to improving at swing and ballroom
• Come into a counseling or mentorship role for girls - I've had ladies come alongside me throughout these later years, and I can see so clearly how they've changed the direction of my life for the better.  It would bring me such joy and satisfaction to help other girls in the same way.

image via Recipes for Your Body and Soul

New Korean Bucket List

I've made a Korean Bucket List before, but even with 3 out of 4 of those things completed, there's still much more to do.

Here's the next round up of things I want to do while I can.

• Try the Three-cheese milkshake at Deli Heinzburg
  Completed! It was delicious.  I have an affinity for all dairy products that are cheese-flavored now.  They are so good.  Think sweet butter or cheesecake.  Yum.
• Get up the guts to ask if I can take a picture of couples wearing couple tees
• Freakin' go to Namsan Tower!
  Also completed!  And highly recommended.  Can you believe it took me a whole year to make it to the most recognizable landmark in Seoul?
  

• Visit the French district in Seoul and get some delicious food
• Sneak into the abandoned Alice in Wonderland English theme park to snap pictures
  I did this last week and had a fun time trespassing and not getting caught.
  (Done!)
• Perform in krump
  I plan on writing about my experience with krump more, but know that I've gotten better since I started.
• Visit my friend Drew in Chuncheon
  This is scheduled for two weekends from now, and I'm really looking forward to it.  It's always a treat to see Drew and also to get out of Seoul.  It's going to be a double whammy of awesome.
  (Also done!)
• Visit China Town in Incheon
  When I went to pick up Caleb at the airport for his visit, I made a stupid mistake and took the subway to Incheon station, not Incheon International Airport station.  I had to take a 30-minute bus to get to where I needed to be (it cost me a lot of stress), but before I got onto the bus, I stood in wonder at the entrance to China town which was coincidentally right in front of the exit I happened to step out of.  I had a fleeting idea of letting Caleb wait a little bit while I explored.  Of course that idea didn't last long, but I do want to go back and check it out.

The Korean Bucket List

Yeah, I like lists.  A lot.

Most of the foreigners here keep track of the things they want to do while in the country on their own Korean bucket list.  Here are some of the most common experiences: eat live octopus, eat dog, go to the sex park in Jejudo, the penis park in Samcheok, and visit the DMZ.

I didn't really come to Korea with much of a list.  I knew that I wanted to learn some of the language and become comfortable here, but I got the live octopus, the DMZ, and then Dr. Fish down without words written about how I wanted to do them. (Actually, they all kind of just happened without me really wanting to do them.  But, you know, I'm glad I did them.)

Well!  I've found something that's so big, so awesome, and SO totally happening that I have to make a list, just so I can write it down!

You ready...

#1

I want to go diving with sharks!

Seriously, guys.  While manta rays are my favorite animals, hammerhead shark are a super close second.  I think these creatures are so beautiful, so elegant, so strong, and just plain amazing.  Reading Alex's blog about her time with the sharks in Busan got me so excited, and it sealed in my mind that I'm totally doing this.

#2

I want to get laser hair removal!

Okay, okay, this one sounds a little weird, but, really, what girl do you know who wouldn't jump at the chance to not have to shave ever again?  And what if the price in Korea for the same procedure was less than half the price of the procedure in America?  That's what I'm talking about.  I totally see it as an investment.  Just think of all the money (and time!) I won't have to spend on razors and shaving!  Not to mention the confidence boost for a girl with dark hair and fair skin... I'm excited.

#3

I will go to the jimjilbang (the communal bath).

My friend Holly has convinced me.  It has to happen.  I'm going to be weirded out of my mind at first, I'm sure, because being naked around people is not something I'm a fan of, but, she says you get used to it.  The baths aren't coed, but, still.  Old ladies, little girls, and me, all hanging out in the showers... It's going to take a lot of go-get-em power to do this one.

#4

I would really like to go to North Korea.

Okay, yeah, this next one might not happen, especially with all the uncertainty surrounding the area and its leadership, but my friend Kara met someone at church who's an official guide, and we got the idea into our heads that this plan could actually work.  I have no idea if we'll ever be able to justify spending over a thousand dollars on one weekend (you have to go through the Chinese border to get into North Korea as a tourist), so this one's just a tentative wish.

Bucket List V

It's been a while since I've visited this topic, but I've found a few more adventures to add to my Bucket List.  (The new additions are at the bottom under the line.)

• Spend New Year's Eve in Times Square
• Scuba dive
• Stargaze under the biggest sky on the darkest night
• Attend ComicCon
• Roadtrip to Maine and/or Canada
• Have a restaurant give me food for singing
• Be on the radio, sometime, somehow 
• Be in a choreographed performance of "Beat It"
• Get myself a motorcycle license
• Host a huge blanket fort slumber party a la Troy and Abed in Community (Season 2, Episode 9)
• Audition and be cast in a community theatre show
• Be a camp counselor
• ------------------------
• Go skinny dipping - Well, yeah.  Haven't done it yet, but I'm pretty sure it needs to happen.
• Observe a flash mob - As with the above activity, it just seems like being near a flash mob would make my personality more rounded.  I don't have to be in it, but, gosh aren't there tons now?  Doesn't it just make sense to see one before I die?
•  Attend a Harry Potter party/marathon - I missed out when I was younger because I didn't start reading the series till college.  This party/marathon must include homemade butterbeer, by the way.

From the movie Yes Man

• Go to Harry Potter World with Millie - Self explanatory BFF excursion
• Be in a food fight - Isn't this on everyone's list?
• Find a signature scent and wear it as a signature scent - This just seems like a very feminine/lady thing to do, and I think it sounds like a thing of sophistication with a dash of sexiness -  as long as it's not Bonne Belle's "Cotton Candy Splash" or something like that.

Bucket List III + Links

Bucket List developments.
(The new additions are at the bottom under the line.)

• Spend New Year's Eve in Times Square
• Scuba dive
• Stargaze under the biggest sky on the darkest night
• Attend ComicCon
• Roadtrip to Maine and/or Canada
• Have a restaurant give me food for singing
• Be on the radio, sometime, somehow 
• ---------------------------------
• Be in a choreographed performance of "Beat It," just for the heck of it, and because my small dance group only did lyrical choreography to contemporary Christian music instead of getting to perform "Thriller" like previous groups
• Get myself a motorcycle license.
  

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Family dinners bring the best quotes.

All four of us got to have dinner together this evening.  This means that we got to laugh our heads off for a while over food.  The most memorable episode began when Dad pretended to be frustrated with whatever we girls were jabbering about.  "I'm going to my happy place now," he says.  He closes his eyes, and tilts his head as he pretends to imagine breezy palm trees and tasty desserts.  My sister and I immediately begin to question him about his happy place.  Where is it?  What's it look like?  Can we come?

"No, you can't come to my happy place.  You can't get in."

"What, do you have a bouncer?"

 "Yes."

"What's he like?"

"He's mean and angry."

"Will he let us in because we're cute?"

This pestering doesn't get us anywhere far, so I pretend to go to my own happy place.  Taylor gets real quiet, too.  Finally, Mom pipes in:  "This is my happy place, when I stay here and all of you go to your own happy place."

Zinger.

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Have you ever wondered how globes are made?
Okay, Harry Potter fans, here are two fun things that should make you smile.  A Wand TV Remote and a Wand Activated Candle.
This is a lady's sweet response when asked what one thing she would save if her house was on fire.

Happy photo by Rich Anderson

Bucket List II

(The new additions are at the bottom under the line.)

• Spend New Year's Eve in Times Square
• Scuba dive
• Stargaze under the biggest sky on the darkest night
• ------------------------
• Attend ComicCon
• Roadtrip to Maine and/or Canada
• Have a restaurant give me food for singing
• Be on the radio, sometime, somehow

Now this sixth one... vocal quality hopefully won't matter.  In my imagination, it will be the moxy and the spunk it takes to sing in front of the ice cream dipper that will hopefully convince them to give me some mint chocolate chip for free, not sounding like Mariah Carey.

P.s.  You'd think after two English courses with Dr. Jones, I'd have learned how to site my sources...  The wisdom from my last post came directly from Millie Jones, accompanied by perfect timing, I might add.

Bucket list

I've been inspired.

Bucket lists aren't necessarily supposed to be completely accomplishable, right?  Why bother dreaming if you don't dream big?  So here are a few things I want to do before I die.

• Spend New Year's Eve in Times Square
• Scuba dive (preferably in the Great Barrier Reef)
• Stargaze under the biggest sky on the darkest night -  I guess that means Montana, but there are other big skies out there, too, so I'm not that picky.