Not like me

  I just did something interesting that I feel bad about. I judged someone on Facebook. Now, I know that some things that people write belong on Failbook and other such sites, but I don't like to make a habit of judging what people write. I mean, I judge them secretly of course, but I would never actually comment or write something negative. What happened was this -

  I saw a pic on a friends page that I immediately found offensive. So I wrote some passive-aggressive status update about whether or not I should delete people who offend me. Then people were asking what happened, what was the pic/link... And I feel now that it was the wrong thing to do. I mean that I shouldn't have posted the status in the first place. It's not my place to comment on other people's opinions.

Social Media

  This is the thing with social media... My opinion is that it is a way for people to be able to express themselves openly and without being openly ridiculed. Obviously people will form their own opinions about what you have written/posted etc, but I don't agree that they should be trashed online... I mean, providing a counter argument is totally fine, or giving back something constructive is also ok (to me). But not bashing someones opinion.

  The obvious example is this:
Some people are homophobic. They don't support gay marriage and gay rights etc. They think it is unnatural and gross and they do not believe that homosexual couples should be allowed to have kids.
I absolutely disagree with this 100%. But that does not give me the right to go bagging the shit out of someone's opinion. Just because it doesn't match with mine doesn't make it right or wrong, because it is an OPINION people, not facts or lies.

  There was a post I "liked" and "shared" on Tumblr this morning, it was about spreading love around the Tumblr community. There has been a heap of negativity floating around, and I actually think this is true of many social media sites. Actually, sites in general. I know internet memes are becoming super popular and more mainstream (which is cool, I find them hilarious) but it seems that many of them are now being used at the expense of people. This isn't cool. I am not a big fan of people trolling others, I see it as kinda a form of bullying which I am usually very vocal about. This is another reason I feel so bad being all mean and stuff on FB. I like to think of myself as a fairly friendly, open person, and now I have come across and whiney and judgmental  Not that this blog should really be about me, I am actually trying to make a point about the bigger issue.

Online bullying

  I have never been a victim of this, and I would hate to think that I have caused someone else to be bullied. I feel like this issue is more of a middle school/high school issue, but you do see it on an adult's status/page sometimes. I hate it. The internet is a strange, strange place full of plenty or awful things. I like to think that social media sites are used for good not evil. 

  Anyway I am going to try and make it my new personal project to try and spread happiness and goodwill across all my media forms - and in real life. 

My fame grows!

  Also, just to blow my own bugle so to speak, I am now a featured blogger for Say Kimchi Recruiting and will be writing for them and their online blog about why Korea is cool and you should work here. My stuff will be featured on Thursdays, so if you would like a PG version of my stories, or just general opinionated advice on Korea then check it out. I believe they are also a pretty successful recruiting company so if you are looking for work have a look. I personally went through Korvia (as you all know) and prob will again, but there are plenty of legit recruiters out there and I believe Say Kimchi are one of them. 

The link to the blog section is here, so have a look if you have a minute and are interested in the life of a teacher in Korea. 

Laters, and Happy Thursday

xoxoxoxox

Fame

My star is on the rise!

For the second time in as many weeks my ego has been inflated by attention form the online community - keep it coming I say.

YouTube

  As some of you are aware, I have a YouTube channel (if you didn't know, feel free to check it out here) which is slowly getting more hits. I don't post videos as often as I should, but I intend on changing this in the next few weeks. I have some ideas coming up that I think people may like.

  

  Anyway the other week I received an email from some committee about how there is a big cosmetics convention happening in South Korea, and that they came across the vlog I did regarding Cosmetics in Korea and how much I love freebies (I was actually at Innisfree last night buying make-up wipes and got a heap of free samples from them too... So much love). They emailed me and asked if it was ok if they showed my video at their conference. I was like YES OF COURSE YOU CAN. I mean, it was nice that they asked, but the video is public so they could have taken it without me even knowing. Who knows if they are legit or not but whatever. The info for the upcoming event is here, and its called the Cosmetics & Beauty Expo Osong Korea 2013. So have a look and tell me if you think its legit or not. Either way, it's another step closer to fame.

  Now, at this point I only have 7 subscribers (I wish there were more but this is my fault), but my videos have been viewed 830 times and have no dislikes. Always a good sign... And some of my videos have been added to people's favorites lists (also a good sign). Interestingly enough my most watched videos are my self introduction, which I prepared for job interviews in Korea, and my room tour. So from that I am deducing that Korvia is sharing my video (which I totally don't mind, they actually asked last year if that was ok) and that there are a fair few people out there who are curious as to what their accommodation will be like once they get to Korea. I did the same thing before I came out here - I went YouTube trolling to try and find out what the area was like and how i'd be living. So it makes me happy that perhaps I have helped people out. I am becoming an unofficial expert on all things ESL Korea. And on that note...

Cover Girl

  That's right folks, yours truly is on the cover of the 2013 GEPIK Orientation book. If you recall, back in September I blogged about my time at the GEPIK conference (see it here if you have forgotten) which I attended as an introduction to teaching in South Korea. At the time, there were organizers who wandered around taking photos and videos for future promo events of whatever. I was snapped in a few of them, and I remember being distinctly disappointed that I was not in many of the pics they showed on the final day. Being as photogenic and amazing as I am, I thought I would have featured more... Little did I know that my true rise to stardom had not yet materialized. Citizens, may I present to you the 2013 GEPIK Orientation booklet:

  That's me, on the cover, with my equally beautiful friend Shanda. New (and some old) teachers from all over Korea who are part of the GEPIK program are looking at me thinking "wow, not only is she beautiful but she must know heaps about Korea because she is on the cover". And they would be right. Kinda... 

  Because lets be honest, do any of us really know what is going on in Korea? Even my Korean friends don't know what is going on... The country has this air of not knowing about it, which I love. But that's for another day. Today we are focusing on me. Wuahahahahahaha

  Now all I need is to get my Drama going and I will totally be famous. And hopefully have a bit more motivation to stop chowing down on carbs.

In other news...

  Yes, Jess got married. It was beautiful and cheesy at the same time. I could go on and on about it but I won't, it really needs an entire thread about it. There were highs and lows, the main low being that she is now on her honeymoon in Bali having an amazing time and I am freezing at school with no boyfriend, let alone a husband. Meh. 

  There were also minor dramas in the sense that all us foreign guests wanted to go drinking for a bit after the wedding, so we bundled ourselves into a few taxi's and headed to the bar area. Now, here is a classic reason why we all need to speak a bit more Korea. People got lost. It was no ones fault, but what we have to all keep in mind is that out Korean friends are our FRIENDS, not our translator service. And while I am sure they love to help us out and are happy to do so, lets all be appreciative and thankful when they do, not crapped off if WE, the foreigners, get something wrong. And lets all go to Korean class and try and learn a bit more so we don't need to burden our friends. And anyway, I would love to be able to have an awesome conversation in Korean with my friends, rather than relying on their awesome English abilities. The communication thing should work both ways. And, we are all capable of looking up bus timetables and train schedules so lets do it. Minor rant over.

  Regarding rants, I had some feedback from my last blog, where I got up on my high horse about pictures of animal cruelty. Please, keep protesting against the abuse of animals. I encourage all people to be aware of these issues, as I am an activist myself. I can and do get preachy at times about certain issues and the treatment of animals at the slaughter point is one that really needs to be promoted. I am simply frustrated and at times offended at the way that people go about the education of these facts. If you want to include the pics then do so - in the form of a link. Then people can choose to click or not click. And yes, this does negate the shock factor a bit, but at least we can choose. How many times have we left our browsers open? Millions? What about if you had a kid who was looking on your fb and they saw pics of puppies being thrown into boiling water? Not nice. But I agree that people need to be made aware, I am in no way discouraging people from protesting or campaigning. But please do it tactfully. 

  School is going well this week, I actually feel like I am making more of a contribution to the class. In fact today I took the gr 5 classes myself - Co was not feeling well and left the class to me. I don't think they learnt much but luckily yesterday I met the photocopier and now I think I can make photocopies of worksheets and such for some time wasting. Yay for me. 

  Thats about all I have for now, but stay tuned for other fun things I am planning in the future. The weather is getting better and I am going to put a bit more time and attention into my YouTube. And as always, feel free to email me or comment anything you are thinking or feeling, I love the feedback. 

I can be Tweeted, Tumblred, Facebooked, gmailed, YouTubed or blogged. I am all over this social media shit so hit me up I love to chat.

Bye :)