I-commerce

I knew it. I should have known that an attractive- but- 40 year old woman is never attracted to an Asian.
She showed me a small pamphlet which showed how the ‘system’ works. It’s selling all the brand name product to other people. She told me that I need to be in a lecture next Monday to get more information.
She told me that she knows thousands of Koreans who became millionaires because of this “I-commerce”. She said Koreans are genius in selling stuff.

“Isn’t that just like the pyramid scheme?”
“no, it’s not” she said, “They go door to door to sell stuff. We don’t do that. We use internet to sell stuff”

Is there any Americans who fall for this type of crap? It’s so sad.

It was a very sad meeting at the Starbuck’s.

(some pictures of Smoky Mountain to refresh today's mood)

Cooking

I cooked today.
Donna called me. We set up a meeting at the Starbuck’s at 4 o’clock tomorrow.

BMWs

I went to Kroger’s for grocery shopping this afternoon.
I don’ cook usually, but to recover from the cold I have to eat something other than BMWs(Burger King, McDonald’s, Wendy’s)

I bought
Small chicken
4 Ramen
1 miso soup
4 onions
2 garlic
10 yogurt
12 coke in fridge pack
2 Ben & Jerry
3 frozen pizza

A nice woman came to me and asked where I was from.
She asked me for my phone number. She said she’s a business woman. She was looking for somebody who knows a lot about the Asian market.
I asked her how she knew I’m in marketing business
“I saw you dancing in the supermarket”

She maybe one of the ‘desperate housewives” who are lonely inside. She didn’t call today. She’ll call me tomorrow. I’m excited.


Do you know what's more fun than riding bicycle? Not -riding bicycle!

-> this is not fun either

bombing Korea

I sat at a bar in an Outback restaurant. I was exhausted from the 70mile trip I did today.

An old man sitting next to me, eating a Sirloin Steak, asked me where I came from.
I said “From Hongkong” to avoid any conversation regarding North Korea. I was tired of the reactions of Americans on the nulcear test.
"Why are the North Koreans like that?" "Why is Kim Jung Il so dumb?" "Your family still lives in Korea? Aren't you afraid about them?"



“So you must suffer a lot from the Communist China.” I said yes.

He started talking about China, using lots of 4 letter words. He was so drunk he didn't care what I said.
Then I got curious about what he thinks of North Korea.
“The damn North Koreans”, he said, “We should bomb that damn place and get rid of Kim Jul Il”
He said he served in the Marines and spent a year in the 50’s in the border between South and North Korea.
“Can you speak Korea?”
“Yes….well, I can think of only ‘Juriga’. ‘Iriwa’ to give orders to Koreas.

'Juriga' and 'Iriwa', which mean ‘get out’ and 'Come here", are not a polite way to speak to other people in Korea. He spent a year in Korea, and they were the only two words he could say?

I got very upset when he started talking about women in Korea. He said it was easy to sleep with Korean women.

"Wow, women were so cheap there?"
"Yeah. Koreans loved dollar. And they still do, I'm sure."
"But I heard US military has been causing lots problems there. Most of the prostitution started because of the US military. I also read an article about the crimes of US soldiers in Korea. They are bad people"
"Well, whereever there are people, there are always problems"
"But you know, a friend of mine told me that USA sends the dumbest soldiers to Korea. I think it was the same way 50 years ago"

I was very sorry after I said it. It's not because I hurt his feelings, but because he showed me what some of Americans think of my country.

And Insulting him didn't make me feel any better.

(This is not the bad guy. This is a good guy, Franky)

A Lost Bag

weather: rainy

It was pouring rain. I couldn’t leave this goddamn place! The elevator was broken, so I had to use the emergency stairways.
Then I found a bag, which was open and the clothes were thrown on the ground. It was obvious that somebody was robbed.
I went to the front desk and told them about this. The receptionist said, looking indifferent,
“We are not reported anything about the bag.”
“Now you’re informed”
“I’ll check that later”

I bought two boxes of Chinese food as take-out. They were my lunch and dinner. I don’t want to spend too much time outside.

I don’t think the rain will stop tomorrow. I’m miserable.

Pretty Safe Motel in Raleigh

distance: 42 miles
weather: slight rain, 49-54F
difficulty: hard


I’m at a Super 8 motel in Raleigh. I’m scared. The receptionist told me that a black man asked about my room. It was the guy who helped me with my bags. He told the receptionist that he was a friend of mine. Now it figures. He used a phone on the front desk and let me talk to his brother. The whole intention was to show the front desk that we were friends.
How naïve I was!
This is a slum. I’ve seen many blacks hanging around this neighborhood but since I told myself that I should politically correct and shouldn’t judge a place by the skin color of the people in this place I didn’t worry about staying here.

I changed my room immediately.

I didn’t go outside. I had popcorn and a can of coke for dinner.


“We are pretty safe motel in this neighborhood”

pretty safe motel is not good enough. Who would want to stay in a pretty motel? It's like having sex with a "pretty safe" condom.

North Korea

My hometown, Seoul, is only 30miles away from the border between South and North Korea.

It'll be very hard to keep Seoul unharmed if they starts attacking Pyongyang.

I hope that North Korea won't be the next target of America.

Becoming a Stand-up Comic

Today’s ride was very comfortable. It wasn’t cold nor hot. The wind was blowing from the back. A few cars passed me by slowly. Some drivers showed their thumbs to cheer me up.
I walked in to this Comfort Inn. The receptionist, Jay, asked me what I was doing in such a small town with my “Lexus”. I told him what I was doing. He was surprised. He called the manager immediately. Then he said with a happy smile “The manager said that you’ll get 50% off”
I was very glad.

When I came back from the Outback Steakhouse, he told the other receptionist who I am.
“That’s the amazing man Mr. Lee who is crossing USA by bicycle.”
I started talking about my last 3months. Then people started gathering around. I was very delighted.
“This whole thing started with one tiny mistake I made” I said, “I underestimated America, I didn’t know this country is so fxxking huge”
When I finished my 30 minute long “stand-up” There were 2 receptionists, 3 janitor men, 2 cleaning ladies and 6 guests listening to me.

I feel great.

life lesson from cycling

One should not cycle across the USA,

because it's just crazy.




That's the wisdom I got from this journey.

Re-cycling

(72miles, partly cloudy, 59-75F, easy)

I rode bicycle to ~. It’s been a week since I rode bike last time. It was too comfortable to sit in the Jiwoong’s car. My body is completely relaxed. My whole body hurt after one hour of pedaling.

Eric Rocks!

Distance: 250 miles

weather: cloudy

I went to Eric Clapton concert in Charlotte.
It was very emotional. I saw the ‘god of guitar’ ‘the slowhand” and the “biggest star of my youth”, Eric Clapton. I started playing the guitar with “Tears in Heaven”. My band used to play “Layla” and “Crossroad”. I played “Wonderful Tonight” on my girlfriend’s birthday.
He now has short hair. He is old. But he was still tough. When he was ‘in the mood’ he played stepping the ground with both feet.

Ji Woong didn’t go to the concert. He sat in a coffee shop and read a book

i'm in UNC

University of North Carolina is well known for their basketball team. Michael 'Air' Jordan played there in the mid 80's.

My friend Jiwoong was crazy about taking pics of me.

Jiwoong is also a victim of the "KATUSA" program. He served as a admin in the orderly room of the Alpha troop, 6th Cav BDE. Funny.

US Army

In the middle of my study in college, I had to serve in the 6th Cavalry Brigade, Camp Humphreys,Korea, starting as a private.- for two years Full Time.
Being paid 20 dollars a month wasn't fun.

But I got to know SFC Miller in the US Army. He was a very tough soldier but he had a great leadership skill.

Me and SFC Miller worked in Equal Opportunity office. He was my supervisor and I was his only soldier.

Once I told SFC Miller that I've traveled Europe by bicycle, he encouraged me to cycle across the USA. He said "there are people who make it within 8days"

I thought I could do it at least within a month.

SFC Miller wasn't kidding, and I was a fool. That's how this trip began, i guess.

He was sent to Iraq, and I've never heard a thing from him since then.

USFK -United States Forces Korea

Here's why there are American Forces in South Korea.

I still don't understand this fully, but, whatever.

-----------------------------------------------------------

United States Forces Korea

The initial contact between Americans and Koreans was hostile - a clash in 1866 over Chosun rejection of U.S. overtures for trade relations that resulted in a dozen Korean casualties and left the U.S. merchant ship General Sherman sunk in the Daedong River, its entire 23-man crew dead. Relations did improve so that the historic links between the two nations have developed into a close and friendly alliance of economic, social and cultural, as well as military interests.

With the capitulation of Japan in World War II, U.S. troops entered Korea to accept the surrender of Japanese forces in the zone south of the 38th parallel, which crosses the peninsula's midsection. The Soviet Union, having belatedly joined the war in the Pacific, had already sent forces into Korea and took the Japanese surrender north of the 38th parallel. Although the allies had agreed at Cairo in 1943 that Korea would be "free and independent," In due course the border at the 38th parallel was soon sealed and contact between the southern and northern zones ended.

Elections supervised by the United Nations led to establishment of the Republic of Korea in the south. The Soviets appointed Kim Il-Sung leader in the north, without bothering to submit their choice to any mandate of the Korean people. Moscow pulled its occupation forces out in 1948, thereby forcing the United States to take similar actions. U.S. forces were withdrawn by mid-1949, leaving only an advisory group called KMAG to help train the fledgling ROK defensive force.

On June 25, 1950, North Korea launched an all out attack intended to unify the peninsula. Only then, when U.S. troops were committed as the bulwark of a United Nations' authorized defense of the ROK, did Korea really come to be impressed upon the consciousness of the American public. For more than three years U.S. forces fought valiantly - in all the dimensions of the battle - the length and breadth of the Korean peninsula. More than five million Americans served in Korea during the conflict. When the guns were silenced by an Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953, U.S. casualties exceeded 140,000, including more than 33,000 killed in action. The armistice that brought a cease fire and defined the terms of the tenuous peace that followed remains in existence to this day. It is the longest truce in modern military history. U.S. forces continue to serve on the forward edge of freedom, sharing the rigors of maintaining the deterrent to another North Korean attack with ROK forces.

The longtime U.S. security commitment to the ROK has both legal and moral sanctions. U.S. legal obligations are those under UN Security Council Resolutions of 1950, by which the United States leads the United Nations Command, and the ROK/US Mutual Security Agreement of 1954, which commits both nations to assist each other in case of outside attack. The United States is also a partner in the operations of the ROK/US Combined Forces Command, an integrated headquarters that was established by the two governments in 1978, and is responsible for planning the defense of the ROK and, if necessary, directing the ROK/US combat forces to defeat the enemy aggression. U.S. Forces Korea is the joint headquarters through which American combat forces would be sent to the CFC's fighting components-the Ground, Air, Naval and Combined Marine Forces Component Commands. Major USFK elements include Eighth US Army, US Air Forces Korea (Seventh Air Force) and US Naval Forces Korea.

For more info -> http://www.goodneighbor.or.kr/content.php?mode=view&c_idx=c0006&c_type=06&str_block=eng

Nuc Test

Somebody told me that North Korea tested nucluear bomb a few days ago.












It's sooooo depressing.