First Snowfall

First snowfall in Ansan 5th Dec 2012
 

I’ve been watching the weather forecasts one week ago waiting for the sky to snow. I woke up early on the claimed day but found outside as dry as any winter day here.

I went back to sleep in disappointment and was planning to uninstall that weather application on my phone. However, few hours later the fuzzy window glass was glowing, that hope was still there !

I rushed toward the window and slide the glass and there it was .. the most beautiful scenery!

if autumn was amazing then winter is breath taking. Everything was wearing a white gown !

I don’t remember how I changed my clothes so fast and went down stairs but I do remember my stupid question .. "when it rains we take an umbrella but do we need one when it snows?" hehe~

Even if we had to use umbrella I wanna feel the snow without it NOW !

some people were with umbrellas others just with coat hoodies so since it was my first snow I didn't care much.

 

 The feeling I got when walking on snow was new ! I can hear & feel the snow cracking down my feet it made me ask myself is it my converse rubber that is being crashed ? *NERD* haha ~

the snow was soft that once it gets on ur hands it melts so fast to have a good stare at it

on the way to that lab and in the middle of this happiness I bumped into one my good brothers, Rafin! actually the best to put the beauty of nature in words. :p we sneaked out from the lab to witness this beauty and we were blabbing on about how freaking awesome it was ! 

we decide to skip the lab for an hour more and go check Hanyang Campus lake :D It was covered with SNOW and there were ducks -strong ducks-!

 

Snowball fight followed that *most awkward childish act lol* we called that break over and came back to our labs.

View from Aimori Bakery at Lunch time

later that day I remember having pasta at dinner at Ivy’s with my oppas. I left a note on the guestbook to mark this wonderful day <3 span="span">

 Caution when walking on snow: snow looks very nice but its very hard to walk on it with your normal sneakers and almost impossible for high heels. I've seen many people fall including my lab partner :p as funny it is you really don't want to be the next one to fall ! the situation got worse when the snow started to melt and streets were covered with ice layer. I was so frustrated cuz walking daily to the lab needed so much balance and concentration exactlllllllly like skating lol 

and yes so far I fell twice :p 

who said its too late to experience new things such as snowfalls? sometimes having those experiences late in your life will make you more grateful and absorbent to their beauty :)

today 21st Dec it started snowing again only this time students are all gone on winter vacation and the campus is all ours to play and act crazy :D

few days left for me in Korea, its becoming hard to post new stuff as I don't have much time to sit on a computer but I'm collecting good stuff to write about and its all coming soon here :3

xoxo,

Amna

Art Work: The Cherry Blossom

Finally I was able to collect enough inspiration to finish my piece after a long sleep

I'm so ashamed of myself for ditching art and always delaying only an hour of concentration per day

so I got myself a sketch book and here I am done with my first sketch

Nature inspires me here in Korea that I decided to try shifting my drawing subject from exhausting human portraits to Nature and Still life

I guess the trip to Seoul Museum of Art was of a help to push me forward, The museum is a small with couple of exhibition and study halls and there is no admission fee to encourage people to come and get artistically educated, love it !!

Anyways one of the permanent exhibitions was "The Spirit of Chun Kyung Ja" and below few of her inspiring paintings

Chun Kyung Ja famous Korean female artist who wondered the world for the sake of art

This lady traveled to many countries back in the 70s & 80s ( before the development of Korea), she was brave enough to go to far islands and dangerous African countries and came back with rich art collection

later in Korea she donated about 90 paintings to the Museum !

The circus: seems like a dull sketch but the sense of life is absent with a deep look at all members..

Page 22 of My Sad Legend

Back to my sketch I was wondering what to call it since it comes as a package of emotions

so lets keep it simple, allow the artists to analyze the emotions behind it and say 

"The Cherry Blossom"

25th of September remarks a very dear experience that blossomed in my heart like beautiful korean cherry blossom

It was breath taking, soft and sweet that I didn't want time to ruin it..

I'm happy with the result I want to build a collection and open my own art exhibition back in my country one day. It may be hard as I don't study art and don't practice it as a full time job but that goal is not impossible right now that I saw other artists work. The cook will need a bit more practice, patience and ambition. Lets see :)

Peace,

Amna

The joy of making mistakes

“Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.”
― Albert Einstein

Albert's quote is nothing new to us, in fact some of us memorized similar quotes and other used it to console their dearest people

but what does it really mean? and are you able to say that you worked by that quote in the past?

or lets put it this way..

how many mistakes you have made today? how many extraordinary methods you used to solve a problem and ended up with failure?

Feeling guilty?

Ever since I left my home country I've been drawn in arguments with myself quite often; what is wrong and what is right. I got to experience new things out of my usual landscape and I had to decide as an adult which way to go.

 I started feeling guilty more and more each day. 
I had this talk with a good friend and he mentioned that guilt comes from our religion ( or in my case it was ) There is a huge truth in that for the following reasons:

1- we seek perfection, which is also mentioned in different religions as an impossible state for human beings to reach; and thus repentance exist

2- we want to build an environment similar to the one we used to live in ignoring the fact that the new one can never be replaced!

 Feeling guilty is a good virtue when dealing with others, you hurt someone then you should feel guilty in order to apologize sincerely. However, when feeling guilty is all about blaming yourself and stands as an obstacle of hesitation or stops you from enjoying your time. it is the time you need to set yourself free.

guilt is that little devil whispering behind our ears all the scary things and possible ( if not imaginary) consequences of doing what you did in your own unique new way!

Brand new point of view?

I've read some interesting techniques to relief the stress of guilt and overcoming your fears in the book " achieve you goals" by Andy Smith. One of these techniques was about placing yourself in others shoes and reconsidering the situation again.

okay lets imagine, you in that same embarrassing spot! only now your eyes are free to move around to occupy any corner any place except your position !

look at that person ( you ) from afar, does it seem so wrong now ? Not really right?

that's how we magnify the mistakes. and how wouldn't we?! It is people reaction we fear the most. They are the ones capable of dragging us out of our comfort zone! but do they really remember clearly what we remember of the same situation?

The answer is NO !
 
No one will remember what happened to you more than you do 

Not even those with sharp memories are willing to reserve a permanent space in their valueable limited memory for your mistakes. 

so don't worry too much

With enjoyment comes learning 

 

When I first visited Korea I didn't know how to dispose my own food tray and got scolded really bad by an angry old lady.

  I felt bad for not being able to understand the language and for not been given the chance to learn and instead screamed at in front of all the foreigners and Korean people.

 I remember that I wanted to cry and leave back to my country and got emotionally down that night.

 (Well, partially I was having jet lag too I'm not that emo usually) 

Few Months later, my Korean friend was impressed that not just I was reading but actually fast disposing my cups and plate and food leftovers ! I just grind back and said "well ya I learned it that hard way I should be good at it now I suppose!"

Does anyone remember that girl who got scolded in the cafeteria? most probably not. but do I remember how to clean up my tray Koreans way? SURE I DO! hehe~

Don't cross the line

It's really tearing me apart to see people pushing each other toward insecurity.
 One of the reasons why the learning process is much easier being a child is because we were not aware of others words yet

we fell down or break things and we would probably do it again and again till we understand how the world works 
 
 so let adopt this philosophy again! you can make as much mistakes as you want and totally enjoy them as long as you don't hurt the people around you ( unless you wanna end up alone or in worst case scenario in jail lol )

On the other hand, when people do make mistake don't be part of the drama crowd ! 

a person slipped on a rainy day; give him a ahand and laugh later!
a disturbing crying kid on the bus don't look at the mother; kids mostly cry for no reason!
a friend got a bad mark in an easy exam; hide your mark and never ask about it!

bottom line, we deserve the equal amount of space to make our own mistakes!

if you think about your mistakes while reading this, it shows how a caring person with a deep thinking mentality you are! first be proud. second improve the wonderful being you. and third learn to enjoy life. 

YES

Enjoying is a skill to be learned.

Peace,
Amna

P.S: The completely adorable comics were taken from http://www.snotm.com the rest of his comics are really cute and inspiring check his work!

Pepero Day 빼빼로데이 ~♥

Happy Pepero Day~ !

One of the exciting events around Korea is Pepero Day on 11th of November xD

Pepero is the most famous chocolate covered biscuit sticks snack in Korea since 1983 made by Lotte

The day became an annual celebration for lovers and friends to exchange Pepero snacks (Just like valentines day)

I'm not sure who invented that day but the day 11/11 looks like Pepero sticks and thus that day from every year was allocated to celebrate Pepero

The joy is not only shared among love birds but definitely extends to the marketing team of Pepero company

YOU CAN'T IMAGINE 

the huge amounts prepared a week ago and the giant sizes that are specially made for this event !

Huge Stand At Lotte Mart~

Another Small Stand ~

I've never seen Pepero sticks this huge~

HUGE PEPERO ~

Some bakeries too serve their own homemade huge Peperos  which are more delicious than market ones and got me all excited to prepare them when I get back home

My Korean friend's friend made this at home ! so perfect so yummy ~

I got myself ready for that day but not buying Pepero from 7eleven convenient store for a week! < - - too confident that someone will give her pepero

and yesssss I got pepero~ 

hehe~ *blush*

ok so I got a lot of Pepero to eat and a laundry to catch

again 

Happy Pepero day everyone !

>‿‿◕

Amna

Fun and Dogs Cafe - Ansan, Korea !

So it was Friday !

or as my Korean friend calls it "FIRE Friday"

we skipped work for today and thought its time to take a break from all the stress

I'm really in love with dogs ever since my childhood and in Korea dogs are more seen than cats in the streets

I don't know why but you can notice that unlike western people; korean people rather get a small cute dog instead of big sized ones

 and I was like "awwwwww you cute sweet lil huggy puppy ..*ciphered text* "

so my lab partner introduced me to a new sort of cafes in Korea called dog cafes ( there also exist cat cafes however dogs are more active and much interesting than cats he says )

so I asked him to take me there and although I thought it must be only in Seoul; Ansan had few around too !

it was raining that day and we had to hold the map and walk around few blocks till we found the place. You know how in Korea one building has multiple shops so you have to search carefully and look up for a sign or so


anyways when we went through the door I totally got a fright as I've never seen such number of dogs in one place and they started barking at once !! xD I literally almost jumped on my friend hehe ~!

but then the owner calmed them down by a plastic hammer lol and they were sniffing us from everywhere and I let them do it cuz it the dogs way to get to know a new person 

Pic of the place

when we got to the table I said to my friend "you know I don't feel like having anything .." *dogs were jumping on our laps and sofa from all directions xD*

they dogs were so friendly and happy to see people !

my bad luck got me to play with a small naughty puppy, he was uncontrollable and bit my hand lightly then got to tease his mother xD

Trust me taking this picture was so hard and he's not as innocent as he seems xD !

The menu was quiet interesting you get a page with the family tree of the dogs in the cafe. it also included their name, gender, age, favorite games and the words they understand !

앉아 ~! ( sit down ) xD

another page for services you can give to dog like giving bath, haircut or coloring but it was a bit expensive ! around 50,000\ = 45 USD = 165 AED

Family tree

The place also allow dog owners to bring their own dogs and let them enjoy the company of other dogs while enjoying a cup of coffee 

One Korean girl's cute puppy ~! ♥

My Bodyguard, 4 years male doggy who barks when other dogs get close hehe~

and here a video of how the lady owner communicate with them, they were so excited cuz she had snacks hehe~

I never had so much fun like this before in a long time, it was the childish kind of fun and the too much excitement got us dead tired later in the movies lol

I, now really believe that Pets bring joy to their owners

but it is really difficult for me to get a pet as it needs too much care and responsibility all the day :(

wish we can have such cafes in my country. maybe cat cafes will get most approval as our culture is not that welcoming to raising dogs indoors

Peace,
Amna

Lab Fun !

"You are still in the lab !!"

"what are you doing there ?"

yes the same questions being asked each and everytime I spend a long day in the lab, I feel sorry for those who never sees the lab as any further than a studying room !

so what do I like about the lab life ?

well lets start by this, I Started going to labs in my home university and I found myself comfortable to the whole idea of gathering in one room and building up memories as well as gaining a lot of experience from others

I tried to write down why do I like being a member in a lab not to encourage workaholic-ism but to spread awareness about our need to change our minds and start collaborating in order to grow !

so I'll leave you with my list:
 

1- The encouraging all-working atmosphere

Seriously and honestly, how much can you achieve at your house lying on your bed ? probably a high new score of sleeping hours ! when you see people are devoted to their work you start acting the same !

 

2- You get to have a warm family

Spending so much time together will bond any hating people together and you will start missing those people while you're away and have the best time when your together. we simply build families, sister & brothers :)

Miss you all !

 

3- shared meals 

No more eating alone, always with those warm people around trying different food ( if you have options to go out of campus) and enjoy a nice talk and funny situations exchanging around the table !

Maybe not this fancy but from time to time :p

 

4- free time activities

YES ! one of the best parts. at your free time you can simply socialize with other lab partners, play some video games, watch movies or listen to music together ! 

Rock festival attended with the lab members yesterday :D

 

5- Cultural Experience

I found this the most interesting, understanding mentalities from different countries (if you have non local lab partners). how they act and how they talk and dress, you get to develop a better understanding being to those outsiders. hey hey locals only doesn't mean you don't get this benefit, everyone is unique and there's alot more to learn from the person next to you!

Seriously ! learn english please it would be easier for both parties ! :P

 

NOW now, I'm not done yet ! to be fair overdoing some stuff always have a bad side that we shouldn't forget to mention !

Some people spend time in the lab more than they do in their own houses which can make them socially isolated ! Also, some health issues might arise in a result of the long sits and unhealthy snacks. okay you figure out the other stuff I don't wanna ruin the mood lol 

Today in Hanyang university; I'm part of the Software Engineering lab. The first day was a bit awkward as we have people who don't share the same language ! ( korean, chinese, urdu & arabic -me-) and english is the universal & easiest language but most of us don't speak it !  so did that stop those things I love in lab life from happening ? NO we are enjoying it ! each and every min whether its an afternoon cup of coffee or funny hand signs or simple broken English questions about each others whereabouts :)

At the end of this, if you get the chance to be part of a lab just be part of it without any hesitation ! there's always a good part out of it and a huge experience you don't wanna miss.

SMILE !

Peace,
Amna

Make it home !

Hello all !

first thing first, this post is my flag that indicates a start of my new life in Korea and an honor to the efforts I paid so far to settle down as an exchange student 

three days ago I arrived to the Hanyang University dormitory all exhausted and had one hour to spend till my orientation 

the dorm was a bit of a shock as I was used to different environment n standards and well.. I never were a dorm student since my university is in my hometown 

and the rain was really heavy from the airport to the end of the day I felt like I wanted to take a taxi back n book a ticket back to UAE even if it meant to spend a night in the airport 

being the only Arab is this university's history made it a lot worse

 (while the korean supervisors were rlly happy to have me - how sweet - ) cuz everyone else came with a friend or a group he/she belongs to and so I couldn't left myself up

I kept praying that things would get right for me and made a huge mistake by calling my mother at that miserable state !

if there's a lesson I learned from this harsh start is to always be patient, stop crying and see where it goes !

and few more minutes is what I needed in order to meet some awesome guys from Singapore & Japan who helped me feel so much better on my first day :)

Around campus looking for dinner and translating menus in streets !

and just when I thought life can't get any better, second day I met the Pakistani society in the university !

they were so nice to cook me dinner and tell me not to worry about halal food as it is available everywhere

Pakistani dinner: Chicken curry and roti  :D

I was surrounded by good people but there was another issue, once I'm separated from them I feel lonely and sad again in my room I thought it was time that I needed but ..

 

 One of my closest people said .."Make it home!" and that's what I had to do I gave up on crying, unpacked my bag, cleaned the room and asked for internet connection, organized the books I brought along and suddenly it felt like my own private heaven = ) 

Yes my lil place feels like home now :)

so right now I'm really blessed and I keep praying and thanking allah for all the little things I never appreciated back home ..

I'm thankful to have a good health, good feet to carry me everywhere, good budget, good people, good technologies and of course good friends and family who didn't forget about me = )

its already 2am and I think I should go to sleep now, tomorrow I'm hitting ansan city market and I need my energy to walk ! ^^

Peace,

Amna

I missed my flight to Korea !

for the past 2 months I came back from a 10 days cultural exchange program in South Korea that left me inspired to see more of the world and a little too attached to my home and family in UAE that I couldn't post any meaningful posts here !

However, the summer vacation is over and now I had to start packing for the real adventure !

I'm writing this post to remind myself of my real goals and why I deserve to be stronger and go for it cuz I was so down yesterday for missing my flight ..

for the half year passed I was planning to do my internship course abroad, of course I didn't thought about east Asia as an option because I lack language .. but when a thing is destined it will pop up in your life without any former notice !

and thats how I planned for KOREA and took a language course and made awesome korean friends all in half a year !!

with a little research I was able to review the top 10 universities in my field of study and I came up with Hanyang University which was more than welcoming to have me !

it is such a proud to be the first student from UAE and the first to let the two universities sign an MOU :)

Due to our conservative society that doesn't approve a girl going abroad alone without any protection from family members reminds me that this is an once in alife time chance and how wonderful my parents are to trust me and support me through this from the beginning :)

of course nothing as awesome as this chance comes on a silver platter! here are some of the toughest jobs that I had to do in a week :

- I had to apply for student visa in another city and drive all way from my hometown twice in a row

- apply for visa card 

- ask for budget from my university

- make phonecalls to korea to get my acceptance letter 

- book my ticket online

Now the tragic thing that happened yesterday is that I missed my flight at 8:45 am !!

usually Etihad airlines would process your transactions faster than usual but it was my luck that made the counters so busy and the lady checking not to hear me well when I said my flight is to incheon airport in Korea !

After the drama and the tears that came after the stressful nights and bad nutrition I thought that maybe its for the good for reasons : 1- The typhoon that was hitting Korea at that hour 2- the fact that I'll arrive night time in Korea which is not as easy as arriving morning time 3- I was feeling sick

so my next flight is today Wednesday at 10 pm I'm more relaxed and I will be there like hours earlier and hope the best to happen, if this trip was cancelled again .. will it be a god's will ?

for now 

Korea here I come :)

 will write more updates once I get there so pray for me :)

xoxo,

Strong Woman

Hello Korea Event - 한국 안녕

 한국 안녕 ~!


Sunday 13th of May 2012, UAE University Korean club "Arrirang" celebrated a day for korean culture named " Hello Korea"

As being a student of the basic korean class our task was to attend and do the following assignments :
1- Test your language and talk to Korean people
2- Try Korean food and write a paragraph about it
3- Take pictures !

Cultural customs and accessories:

 loved the light red shoes !

cute dolls

Korean calligraphy section by my Korean teacher



hehehe~!

YES I tried wearing the Hanbok!! - traditional Korean dress -
 so elegant although it wasn't on my size ( so short n tight lol ) 
the prices for one Hanbok differs according to the material used and the number of layers folded in the skirt, it can be a light Hanbok like the one we tried or more formal and expensive one to be worn in weddings and important events

As for the price it is approximately between 500-1000 DHS for the light Hanbok  :)

 = = = = = =

The food was the most exciting experience! we finally got to try what we saw in Dramas n learned about in books and I'm glad to know that I found most of the food edible and filling which is a good sign for losing weight and surviving for going to Korea :p

The beautifully arranged Korean dishes

the sushi-like rolls in the back is "Kimbap", it was kinda tasteless but the weed is much better than the japanese sushi !!! the stuffing was okay as well ( cucumber, egg, carrot, radish ..etc)

in worst case scenario, I can live on the delicious egg rolls in Korea :P
I want to learn how to make neat rolls like theirs !

The red pickled vegetables is the most famous side dish of Korea, " Kimchi " ! it has a strong garlic smell with vinegar. The kimchi we tried is much lighter than the real one but my advice, don't eat it as a main dish ! its better to have it with rice or meat x__x

can't wait to try the real thing in Korea ! 

Japchae is like Chinese noodles in sesame oil, didn't like its oily taste but it was fine

Yubuchobap is bread stuffed with rice, sweet almost like desert.

  

Dukbokki is rice cake cooked red hot pepper sauce, it is supposed to be so hot but the cook reduced the spices for students to handle it. I love spicy food so it wasn't spicy for me at all xD

The day was 대박 (awesome) !!
Although I couldn't express my true feelings about it in Korean I'm sure our teacher felt the joy in our faces :)

I still find it unbelievable that I'll be traveling to Korea alone in less than two months and for 10 days, I'll have to study harder to make this opportunity unforgettable :)

but as for now Amna needs to sleep people

안녕히 주무십시요 Have a Good Night

 :3