Living the High Life

I moved into my apartment on Saturday. After about 6 hours, some rain and a lot of sweat, all my furniture made it into the apartment. Amazingly, I only spent $650 on stuff for the apartment. And that was all bed stuff (the rails, the headboard, the mattress, the linens). Everything else I either already had or it was donated to me. Among the donations were a dresser, a bookcase, dishes, silverware, pots, pans, a knife set, a cutting board, a rolling chair, a rice cooker, and a ladle. And that's how apartment living should be; an amalgamation of old and new, with a special emphasis on the old (read: free).

After spending a night in the apartment, I drove down to my grandmother's house, where I am currently writing from. My auntie (not really my aunt, just my grandma's good friend) was visiting here which was a pleasant surprise. I love seeing her. When I lived in Washington, she lived right behind my grandmother, so we would always go over to her house for food and to play cards. I learned to play 500 and Up and Down the River from her and my grandmother. She's always full of interesting advice, and she gave me a recipe for potatoes this time. My grandma, for her part, taught me how to make kimchee and bulgogi; two excellent Korean dishes. Apparently I now also know how to make kalbi, since it's the exact same as making bulgogi, just with different meat.

So, now I'm pretty self-sufficient. I can make those three dishes, rice, grilled ham and cheese, burgers, and macaroni. That's enough for a whole week! I'm going to start collecting recipes so I can make more and more things. My goal is to be able to have friends over and be able to cook something nice for them. Right now I'm a one-trick pony, but soon I'll be a multiple-trick horse. Oh yeah.

My grandma apparently never learned to cook in Korea. When she got to America, and when she got married, she was only able to cook burgers and Chef Boyardee. Her recipe for kimchee is apparently the concoction of her own imagination. I think that's pretty awesome. She started learning how to cook because of her taste buds. She would eat something, like it, then ask how it was made. That seems to be what I'm doing now with her. It's interesting how people are similar without even realizing it.

In other news, my life (read: college) plans seem to be in flux once again. My auntie wondered if I was going to study abroad at all. When I thought about it, I realized that since I was going to graduate a semester early, I could easily just stay in school and use my last semester to do just that. So now I must decide if I want to do that, or get an internship somewhere in the states. Guess which one I'm leaning towards.

Animal Planet's Planet Earth has been playing in the background for hours. I muted the TV for some reason about 5 hours ago, and so every once in a while I'll realize that it's still on. It's odd realizing the same thing over and over. It used to happen to me in my poli sci class this past semester. The clock in there had a broken second hand. So every time I looked at the clock, I would repeatedly be weirded out that the second hand wasn't moving. I'm so observant.

I'm going back to Waco a little after I wake up. I want to go back soon, but then again I want to put it off. I just don't like driving two freaking hours. Even if the end of that trip is my apartment. My roommate put up two pictures of ducks and there's a whole bunch of fake plants lying around. Him and his family have no decorating style. Honestly. Maybe I've been around my mother too long (trust me, I have) but all this crap just makes our place look cheap and redneck. I think I'll casually mention to anyone who comes into the apartment that the decorations are not mine and that I had no say in the aesthetics of the living room. I like to absolve myself of catastrophes, lest anyone implicate me in their happenings.

Oh well, I'll try and talk some sense into the maniac who allowed his parents to put that horrendous mess in our shared space. Until then, I'm asleep. Goodnight!