Taekwondo Day 2

It seems that kicking is not the only thing my brother will learn.

He has a taekwondo student handbook. It has instructions for the different techniques, how to wear his uniform, a list of commands in Korean and English and a bunch of FAQs. The list of Korean words intrigued me and I started reading with him. 

Now I'm counting from one to ten in Korean. I'm not even sure if I'm pronouncing the words correctly. I am not a big fan of Korea, but I just learned something new. Good job, me.

Speaking of languages, part of my summer activity is to learn Japanese words online, and probably later, reading and writing in Japanese. There's something about Japan and its culture that makes me interested and curious.

Taekwondo Day 1

Brother arrived home, still enthusiastic from today's taekwondo lessons. Even after three hours in the gym, he still is a ball of energy, even ready to demonstrate everything he learned from the class.

He put down his bag on the floor and stood a ready stance. He said his instructor said he had big kicks and he should practice at home. He bowed, because "that's how they begin," he said. He started kicking and punching and twirling-- I mean, spinning-- and more kicking and punching the air. He started coming near me, kicks and punches going my direction.

As much as I would like to move away from the attack, I only stood there and waited for my brother. I took aikido as a freshman PE class so I have a little know-how on self-defense.

He was an arm's length away and punched, and I held his wrist and did a move (that I unfortunately cannot recall its name). But I did have him locked on the spot. He looked at me, hurt and defeated. I smiled at him and let his hand go. He swore he will never try his moves on me again.

I guess I do not have to worry about him bullying me anymore.

Taekwondo

My mother enrolled my brother to taekwondo class to help him "instill discipline and lose some weight." He will start tomorrow. We picked up his uniform earlier today. At home, we tried it on. Yes, we.

Game face: ON 

Garden Show

We swung by the garden area again today. I spent the whole time looking through the viewfinder.

These would be nice at home.

Summer so far

It is that time of the year again when our provincial capitol grounds play host to hundreds of people, locals and tourists alike, for the annual Aklan Piña and Fiber Festival. This includes booths of the different small and medium enterprises, local restaurants, and government units from every town in the province promoting their homegrown produce as part of the "One Town, One Product" advocacy.

Then, as the shops close for the night, food stalls are kept open and entertainment happens-- bands, dancers, singers, comedians. This part of the festival is called Tsibugan sa Kapitolyo, or crudely translated to be "a place to eat at the capitol." 

I have religiously visited the fair since my family brought me there to help out in my aunt's business's booth. Well, I was too small to even help my first time, but when I was mature enough, I have been lending a hand. Thus far, I have not missed a festival week.

How to cook your egg, sunny-side up

Yesterday, I have finished a book. I am proud of this fact because it has been my summer vacation for two weeks yet I have not read a full novel. It has been a long time and I think my brain has dried out of its creative juices. So here I am, writing my time away, hoping to have my thinking machine oiled and tuned up, ready to create and recreate pieces of literature in my head and through my pen (or laptop, in this case).

To start my gears turning, perhaps a little how-to of a common household chore? Simple enough? Interestingly, the most trivial of things is what I find to be the most difficult to write. If you have not seen my previous post on brushing teeth, please check it out to understand my... situation.

Modernizing Classics

Reading classic works such as those of Verne's and Alcott's is a tedious process, especially that I find their style and use of language far from what my tongue is used ti. Yes, I have enjoyed the stories but it takes me a long time to finish reading the book. Searching polysyllabic and mostly archaic words in the dictionary, many of which I have not even heard spoken by any of my friends or acquaintances fluent in English, or rather, has English as her first language, adds to the time I spend on a book. Complicated words makes it more difficult to understand the meaning of paragraphs, let alone a sentence. I keep losing my concentration when I read classics because I keep losing my interest, too.

To prove a point, I was able to finish a young adult novel by James Patterson in one afternoon. Simple language for the single minded me. And a book being about people my age is added interest. On the other hand, I haven't finished Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, which I started last November. And before that, it took me more than a week to finish his Journey to the Center of the Earth. I blame the Icelandic names of places and things and scientific descriptions every or so paragraph.

Resolutions for the new year?

I think I need to re-think my plans for the future and cut off my ties with the Internet. NOT.

It's hard for me to work without it for school, but similarly the Internet decreases the amount of what's left of my time and concentration that's supposedly for school work. I'm not even sure if that statement makes sense. Am I going insane? Is this withdrawal? But from what?

I'm in the phase when every now and then I have this urge to open my browser do a routine check of social networking sites. I think I might have become overly dependent on technology, like many of the people with access to a computer and Internet. Yes, that's it. "Overly dependent." That's a less harmful way to put it, instead of the extreme "addiction" or "obsession". That will do.

KMN.

Welcome, 2013!

Here's some jokes for you. May you have a pun-y year ahead!

Movie Marathon

I'm excited for 2013 because of all the films that are about to premiere. With that in mid, I have decided to compile the trailers of some of the movies that I would love to see with family, with friends, or maybe just by myself if no one else want to come with me. I didn't make an effort to check which of them gets released first.

Les Miserables