A Tale of Two Cities

I'm moving again.  Moving countries, changing visas, swapping out cultures, food, friends, climates, and generally shaking everything up.

The good news is, I've done this before.  I could say I know what I'm doing, but it's more like I know what not to do, how to be graceful, grateful.  

I don't want to hold on
I want to love
everything
everyone
everywhere
and I do

They'll just never be in the same place.
And that's OK.

Leaving Christchurch is bittersweet.   It's not goodbye but see you later, come visit, stay in touch, who knows! I've made friends here, started building a community, and a life. A life that I'm consciously giving up to follow my heart, feel the wind on my face as I ride my scooter through a throng of traffic, eat spicy street food, leaving the security and pure beauty that is New Zealand behind for a freedom the west wasn't built for.

I'm going back to a place that I've lived, where I have friends, community, and generally know my way around.  That's not to say it will be the same.  That's not to say time won't have passed and my friends, community, and very town that I know in Bali won't be different, but I'm different.  Nothing is ever the same.  And that's OK.

Love,

Norma Jean

You can view all of my doodles, with everything I love on my website, Norma Jean Loves

a world of doodles is born

It all started with a boy.  A boy and a book.  A book and a tender heart.

Let me elaborate... about a year and a half ago, I dated a boy.  We had a lot in common; he's smart and funny, comes from a good family, and makes music.  It was only for about 6 weeks, and it ended because he just didn't like me that much.

Objectively, it wasn't a good fit, and our lives were in different places.  As a logical person, this totally makes sense.  As a life-long romantic, who was currently a traveling, musical, bliss-sprinkler in the midst of the counter-culture shock of the west, and the first winter I'd had in years (and a pretty rough start in Australia,) it was slightly devastating.


Feeling pretty isolated, and not having internet (part of said rough start) I joined my local library to check my emails, and keep in touch with the wider world.

Libraries are magical universes unto themselves; time stops, things are still, there are limitless stories.  All is quiet thanks to the watchful eyes of dowager librarians in lumpy grandpa cardigans.

It is here, in a library, in suburban Melbourne, that I found an American friend who's heart had also been been tender, and open, and bruised, and resilient.  All at the same time.   His name is Leonard Cohen and his 'Book of Longing' brought me so much.

I had started writing poetry about feeling sad, that longing for community, the isolation of winter - both in Melbourne and being coldly alone in a new place,  expectations set upon women, and mostly girly, romantic notions of things that didn't work out.


Reading a book of how someone else felt the same way was inspiring, and inspired me to start creating out of it.  It started with a couple little doodles.. they weren't for anyone else but myself.

I think I started drawing them as a roadmap to get back to myself, to gain perspective of  my life, what I value, and how to genuinely love myself in the face of isolation, a consumerist society, and the illusion of loneliness.  


I'd take pictures of them and read them on the tram or waiting at bus stops, reminding myself that everything is okay and the feeling that it's not, is temporary.  I started sharing them with friends who felt similarly, who'd internalized the idea that in any way they just weren't enough.  Enough for a boy, enough for a job, enough for themselves.

Sometimes the road we pave for ourselves helps others get to the same destination.

Friends encouraged me to share them, and I decided to launch the ambitious project of posting a new doodle, everyday for the entire year of 2015 on my Instagram.

It's been a pretty great ride so far, and the road that I've started down I now walk with heaps of supporters, friends, and an entire online illustration community.


Today is day 280 out of 365.  I've gone through more relationships, friends, jobs, and moments of self-doubt since those first little cartoons.  I've come out stronger, my heart confident that I know who I am, and that I'm not only okay, I'm great (hopefully with a sense of irony, humor and a bit of grace!)

Love,

Norma Jean

Check out my Instagram  or website, Norma Jean Loves where you can see my doodles, music, and everything I love.

Missing The Important Parts

My sister Rebeqa is getting married
and I'm not there.

As can be expected, 

I'm a little devastated.

As sad as I am,

I can also look back on our lives 

and I know I was there 

when she needed me most.

And I know that our relationship

is wider and deeper 

than this ocean that separates us.

I Know You, You Know Me...

 I hear people complain all the time that

"In Korea it's all about who you know"

as if it's a bad thing.

What, you would rather live in a place 

where the people you know don't help you?

Is that really the better, fairer option?

Honestly, is it such a bad thing 

that they trust the person they have met 

over a piece of white paper out of nowhere?

It just makes more sense,

to choose what you know.

And honestly, 

if you don't have the skills 

to get the connections,

are you really the right person for the job?

And what makes you more qualified?

Why should you be picked 

over a person who has put in some time 

and to build the relationships?

It doesn't bother me that this country

helps people they know. 

The truth is, 

it's like this the world over. 

You think it isn't?  

Well then kiddo, 

you don't know the right people.

Holy Tahini Batman

Ready for the oven.

 Tahini, if you can find it,

is terribly expensive in Korea.

So, it seemed the right time to make my own.

As I have mentioned,

I'm interested in sustainable recipes.

So I adjust everything 

for affordable local ingredients.

There is nothing more affordable 

 - and available in Korea -

than sesame seeds. 

Thankfully, 

I know just where to turn for help

www.dedemed.com/.

You might make a little bit of a mess.

You can count on Dede for 

excellent videos recipes and advice.

It's good, old Mediterranean home cooking.

Which is what I am always looking for,

food that tastes like my family.

I used a small bullet mixer that you can find for 30,000w.  It took longer but it worked just fine.

Note, it's going to be dark when you mix it unless you add enough water and oil. Don't panic.

 Of course, you don't really know if it's good

until you put it in something.

So I made baba ganoush.

This is Korea 

so we have to make adjustments.

1) You roast it at 200 Celsius

2) You will have to use Japanese eggplant. 

3) You will want to use at least 4 small eggplants. 

4) You might have to use lemon from a bottle.

I buy mine at the market.  They are super affordable.

My little babies looking good.  I roasted them a bit too long.

The magic.

The result was easy to make perfection.

You don't have to live without in Korea,

and you don't have to have it shipped in.

Everything I used 

was from the local market.

You can make healthy, delicious, authentic

Mediterranean food with local ingredients.

So stop bitch'n and get in the kitch'n. 

Here is the fantastic Dede 

showing you how it's done.

www.dedemed.com

Ketchup On Your Chores

Tonight I went out with some girlfriends

to see a late showing of Les Mis.

Rolling Into the house around midnight,

I was hungry so I threw together some

artichoke bolognese pasta

to cure the rumbling tum-tum.

Delicious

Of course, that gave me a little

time to kill, so I pulled out the ketchup

and started polishing the silver...

This is why you don't leave your silver unattended.

No this is not a weird dream sequence,

it's just Thursday night.

I turned the every few minutes to get a full soak.

I know what you're thinking,

"Why are you using ketchup?"

Ok, let's be honest,

you're also thinking,

"Why are you making bolognese at midnight?"

"Why are you carry silver around the world?"

etc.

Since these questions are trickier to explain,

I'm going to stick to the ketchup 

as the weirdest part so... 

Tomatoes plus oxygen eat metal.

Which why you should never leave them in a can

or metal pot in the fridge, and why they say cook 

tomato sauce with non-metallic spoons.

Ketchup is a smooth tomato paste.

It rubs on easy and I use it to also

create a polishing bath

which takes some of the work out of the process.   

My poor babies need a lot of love.

I still need to do the last bit for work 

to really make them shine,

but they are well on their way to recovery.

So remember,

next time the silver in our backpack 

is looking a little drab

just ask the natives for some ketchup.

  (keep in mind, ketchup cleans all metals.

So if you have antique things 

or old crusty metal fixtures, 

this is a safe cleaning agent to try.) 

As for me,    

this summer I'll be enjoying

my morning espresso on the roof

with jam and crumpets.

    

Just because I live abroad,

is no reason to live like a savage. 

Only Linda Ronstadt Really Gets Me

Oh, look at poor old pitiful me.

 There is no doubt 

my drama had gone stale.

The plot lines had dwindled 

and no cast had matriculated.

Sure, I could blame it on Korean's being cold,

or ex-pats being a bunch of twats,

but that's the easy way out -

blaming others for my isolation.

The truth is that I stopped trying.

I stopped reaching out.

I stopped going out.

I stopped planning things.

I stopped doing things. 

I had other priorities and it got out of hand.

However, for a moment I felt the blame trickling in.

For a minute I felt, "Poor me" settling into my constitutions.

"Poor me" I don't have any friends.

"Poor me" everyone left me.

"Poor me" it's so hard to meet people with the same interests.

"Poor me" I have to do everything myself.

So I called "Bullshit".

There is no poor me.

There is just me being stupid.

There is just me being selfish.

There is just me expecting other people 

to solve my problems.

 

I took responsibility.  I reached out.

Within minutes my life was booked out for months

because my friends are many and they are wonderful.

There was never any, "Poor me" 

there was just me being a dip shit.

 

 

CHEESE GROMIT!!!!!

First of all, you won't give a crap about this blog 

if you don't live in Korea.

However, if you do live in Korea,
Want to see something awesome? 

CHEESE!!!!!

This is what I look like when I browse the website.

That's right!

A brother and sister team 

have been working hard 

to make all kinds of awesome 

cheeses easily available in Korea.  

Here is the website:
www.wellbeingcheese.com 

Although it is a pretty penny,
it's also cheese lovers dream come true.

Cheat Sheet For Types of Cheese

우유 : Cow
양유 : Sheep

염소유 : Goat

물소유 : Water Buffalo

우유+양유+염소유 : Mixed

Once again, visit

for AMAZING CHEESE!!!

Sadly, there was no cheese eaten in the making of this blog.

UPDATE: Cheese is now everywhere in Korea,
however the blog remains in remembrance of the old days.

Weight, Weight Don't Tell Me

This is UFC fighter Rashad Evans Height: 5'11 Weight: 205 lbs

This is UFC fighter Phil Davis Height: 6'2" Weight: 205 lbs

This is average Lanae

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 220 lbs

Yes, that's right. 

I seriously outweigh 

Light Heavyweight UFC fighters

who are 2" to 5" taller than I am.

You know what else?

That's ok.

Want to know something else?

Folks around me are fine with it as well.

Yah, even here in Korea.

In fact, many take me aside to let me know that -

even though I don't fit into the normal "stereotype"-

there's nothing wrong with it, 

I am still pretty,

and I don't need to go on a diet.

(To be honest this does make me giggle.)

Sure, many of my students call me Hulk Teacher 

and express surprise that a woman can be strong,

but they get used to it and they accept it.

Even better, we get to talk about it.

I'm thankful I don't fit into the norm.

I'm thankful I'm strong.

I'm thankful my kids bring it up.

Most of all, I'm thankful we get to talk

about all the ways women can be beautiful.

So, the next time someone comments on your looks.

Accept the challenge and talk about it.

Be confident in who you are and open to discussion.

What they think doesn't decide your choices,

but talking about it does give you a chance

to share a new perspective 

 that they might not have considered.

Feeling Super Phat

How To Justify An Addiction

A few ways your 

Gringos Korea Burritos 

can make your life better beyond the plate.

Here are three ways 

I recycle 

my shipping supplies

and add storage to my apartment.

End Table With Storage

Always looking for new ways to hoard delicious food stuffs.

Toss a scarf over it and it's a beautiful, hand little table.

Coffee Nook

The perfect home for my coconut sugar and Alaskan roasted beans.

The cubes allow me to add and take away from my kitchen storage as needed.

 Never Enough Tubs

There are never enough tubs in the house.

There is always something I need to store.

Since Kit just hand delivered 

new dry ingredients from the states 

I'm going to need more kitchen storage.  

Looks like I'll just have to order some burritos.  

Darn, my luck.

Noshing On Love

 

The key to my happiness:

a family that goes above and beyond.

They don't just send a few emails,

they make me a part of daily life.

For example,

this morning I awoke to a grand feast 

and a seat at the Thanksgiving table.

 

They scooped me a big plate,

we told family stories,

played practical jokes

- in short -

we were a family.

It didn't matter that all I actually consumed was my morning coffee.

The time with my family was the nourishment I need.