2 months in Suwon, South Korea

Why, hello, blog. It's been a while since I've seen you... I'm not sure if I ever mentioned it... but are you following me on twitter? http://twitter.com/kiwimomo

After spending six months in Phoenix and life in Tucson, Arizona, I needed out and decided to teach English as a second language in Korea. I needed the change of scenery, and I figured it's a good time to travel and turn things around. As I teach every day in Korea, I am learning something new and it feels fulfilling as I help the kids and make sure they're happy and enjoying life as much as possible... Secondly, there is CUTE all over! Even the illustrations in the text books are aesthetically pleasing. So there is more than plenty to supplement my love for art. Perhaps, I'll look into furthering my education in Korea... First, I need to learn Korean...

I miss everybody, I love my family, I love my friends, I love Sam, and I wish I can share my experiences with all of you. So far, I've walked through the Hwaseong Fortress; wore slippers all the time during work; picked up Korean words here and there; ate amazing food; went to a festival celebrating tall grass; experienced saunas and public baths; got scrubbed by older ladies; received puhang (fire-cupping suction treatment); experienced the Korean metro system; made friends with amazing kids and amazing people... and I met my family that I haven't seen in over 12 years! I'm still not used to having so much family... and twin cousins! I'll soon be going to a cousin's wedding! Ahh!

Artwise: I don't have a scanner, the scanner at the school isn't working, and I'm not really planning on purchasing... so I'll be honing on my tablet skills ^^; I'm really not used to it... You can see a bit of evidence here:

Halloween: Throwing the Halloween party for the kids was a treat, and I wish the party lasted longer (it only lasted for an hour and a half)... It made me feel a bit homesick... Here are the Halloween posters I did for my school... I used pastels, and they were handled without fixative... so they're a bit smeary.

Ha... my director wanted me to write, "Come On."

Oheyyyohhh

Hi there folks~! Long time no see! Ugh... I'm now living in Phoenix- not much of a change in scenery but it's still different than Tucson... and away from a secure home, adorable puppies, yummy food, TV, constant internet connection, and everything else annoying and nice. Although my family is not too crazy about my starving artist lifestyle, they still gave me the support to get me started and keep me going... so I'm grateful for them... anywayyyyy... Ah, I'm running out of time. Currently, I lack internet at my place, so I'm taking advantage of Border's free wifi.

Sam Laggren and I are Chu Chu Chums and we will be doing a table at the Phoenix Comic Con. You can check it out some more, here. I'm sooooo excited!! I have mini comics and surprising things to sell... Now, I'd like some feedback... I did this sort of cover thing for a nonexistent comic... I'm wondering if I could sell it as a print, maybe? Yes? No?

I appreciate everyone for looking! Thank you! Thank you! Much Love!

01210- it was yesterday.

Yes, it's been a while... and it's kind of late right now... it is 1:31 AM. My sleeping schedule has been weird- but so has every thing else... Yay, it's 2010! 2009 was a great year... but a terrible year too! I can't decide... @_@ 2009 = the very best and the worst of times... I made some good friends, graduated, studied abroad in Italy, had a bunch of gelato... then went to San Diego Comic Con, lost confidence, acquired ultra sadness, and had difficulty finding a worthwhile job- Unfortunately, however, I'm still in the same position. u_u BUT it's OK, guys, I'm persevering, still drawing, living and eating... but not sure if my parents want to keep me around anymore. It's been hard, but I'm pretty sure it is hard for some others too. Yay, starving artist, FIGHT OHH!! I chose this lifestyle, so I must keep working harder. Although there are so many things that put you and I down, it still doesn't really do any good to be mopey about things... so keep going! YEAH!

So en route to starving (surviving) artist awesomeness, I designed postcards to send out to multiple art directors, editors, and maybe publishers of magazines. I should've done this before I graduated... oops... So I am doing it now!

FRONT

BACK

And I'll be among the independent art exhibitors at the Phoenix Comic Con in May with Sam Laggren! Eek! I'm excited... but I have so much work to do. It's quite difficult when I'm mostly focused on other things, argh! I hope things will calm down so that I can get to work! I've started writing a story for a comic I'll be doing- it is going to be a sort of shoujo mangaesque comic, haha. And we've also started an "exquisite corpse" comic. Sooo stoked!

Oh, and I drew this on Photoshop... She's doing the cat's cradle with her hair... *v* Happy New Year!!

... I don't know what I feel right now...

I should be angry... I've only had my macbook for one year, and now it is dying.... I have no backup for any of my pictures, projects, whatsoever... Now I'm on my old laptop which I have given to my mom so that she could play GoStop (Korean poker card game. I think Japanese ppl play it too... I'm not sure which country it is originally played in) and watch Korean dramas online. Agh... I'll have to take my macbook in... good thing it is covered under the Apple Care Protection program... but all of my files will be lost, I think, because I googled to diagnose my macbook's clicking noises and grey screen with a flashing folder & a question mark in the center... Its future doesn't look good...

I'm fine though, surprisingly... I'm not kicking things around or punching pillows. I'm rather calm. Instead, I am blogging about this, because I figured that I needed to post something... So this picture here is a project I've started doing on Adobe Photoshop a couple of weeks ago... in which I will probably never finish... and, thankfully, I have its last stage uploaded on my Photobucket account... (I think I was trying to show a friend evidence of my productivity last week or so...) and I am promising myself to be productive tonight~ YESSss!! Recently I've just been working like crazy at Sky Fusion Wasabi... I'm stressed out already that I don't have enough stress to stress about anything else, for instance my dying macbook... haha, I hope that made a little bit of sense...

AH! Only one more week of summer vacation. I must use it well~! I actually can't wait until school starts. I'm excited~ I will be less bored, more busy, more productive, more artful, and have more friends to talk to. Yayayayaayyyy~!! Okay, time to um... eventually knock your socks off~!