25 Random Things About Me

Reposted from my Facebook page because… well, because it’s easy blog fodder :

1. I am a compulsive note-taker, even when I have no need to take notes for anything.  I find it comforting for some reason — probably because my memory is so bad.
2. I can’t remember the last time I had a full night of restful, uninterrupted sleep.  Maybe sometime in 2007?
3. My lactose intolerance comes and goes as it pleases and provides me with no advance notification as to either arrivals or departures.  I find that very rude.
4. Shortly after I was found, my umbilical cord became severely infected and I had to go to the hospital.  Ever since learning that, I’ve wondered if I was born at home.  Or in an alley.
5. I try very hard not to have a detectable regional accent, and for the most part I think I am successful.  My sister, on the other hand, has a very distinct, very regionally-appropriate accent.  Not sure how I escaped that one, but I sure am glad that I did.
6. My favorite book when I was in kindergarten was Secret Soldier: The Story of Deborah Sampson.  My copy had a much older-looking cover (not to mention a much older copyright date), but the text and illustrations are exactly the same.  I was a precocious reader up until about 5th grade, and then everyone caught up to me.
7. Despite my ailing memory (see #1), I can still remember most of the words to songs I learned at this fundamentalist Christian summer camp I used to attend 20+ years ago.  Yup, the brainwashing there was pretty thorough.
8. I love foods that are mixed together like soups, casseroles, and of course 비빔밥 (bibimbap).  I also love mixing my food together when it is not already mixed… and even when it is.  But I restrain myself in front of other people, so feel free to invite me over or take me out.  I’ll behave.
9. I would really, really, really like to move.
10. The first time I ever tried contact lenses I had a sudden onset of vertigo-like symptoms which caused me to almost pass out in the optometrist’s office.  Apparently I had some kind of allergic reaction to having something in my eye, and thus will probably be trapped behind glasses for the rest of my life.
11. The only time I have ever actually fainted was my sophomore year in college when I donated blood to be tested for the Cammy Lee Leukemia Foundation.  They thought that I might have hit my head on a stone fireplace ledge and so I was taken to the hospital in the college ambulance.  Thankfully AADP only required a cheek swab.
12. I never, ever carry a balance on my credit cards.  As a rule, I try not to borrow money for things that won’t appreciate in value (and yes, that includes cars).
13. I currently live under one of the largest pop-culture-shielding rocks ever to exist.  For example, I’m not really sure who Jessica Simpson is except that she’s someone famous.  Singer? Model? Actress?  Daughter of famous hotel owner?  (Wait, that’s Paris Hilton.  I think.)
14. After February 17th, 2009 we will no longer have a working television in the house (not that we ever watch it now anyway).  This will not help me with #13, if I were in fact looking for help on that item… which I’m not.
15. I was in high school when I found out that I probably wasn’t born in Seoul like a) I was always told and b) it says on my birth certificate.  There aren’t many facts there to begin with; how hard would it have been to get the few that I have straight?
16. I have seen Jinusean perform live.  I had no idea who they were at the time.
17. I absolutely cannot stand the sight or taste of ketchup. Even those squeeze-bottles full of 고추장 (red pepper paste) give me pause and I have to exert a great deal of mental effort to remember that it’s not actually ketchup.
18. I am frequently afflicted with crippling bouts of incurable perfectionism.  This has caused me any number of problems over the course of my lifetime, and yet I can’t let go of it.  It is also the main reason why:
19. I incessantly procrastinate.  I put off doing this silly meme, for crying out loud!  You can’t get much more procrastinatorial — yes, that is a word — than that.
20. I love to buy scented bath products, and have acquired enough to last me for the next five years.  A significant amount of my current stash was purchased at various Face Shops in Seoul while waiting for the subway.
21. One of my first jobs when I was a kid was ringing the steeple bell at weddings held at our church.  I was around eleven years old and got paid $10 per wedding.
22. I think I might be fundamentally incapable of following a recipe.  Even when I’m making something for the very first time, I’m drawn to experimentation.
23. When I went back to Korea the first time, I didn’t get up for the entire 12-hour flight there.  This was one of the many times that having a large bladder has come in handy.  Another time was when I was actually in Korea and didn’t feel brave enough to try the squat toilets.
24. I am more or less average at a lot of things, but would much rather be super-good at just one thing.
25. When I was a senior in high school my friends chipped in and bought me a cheap Hitachi Chime-O-Matic rice cooker for Christmas.  Despite the lack of a nonstick coating (which I now consider to be nonnegotiable), that was one of the best presents I have ever received.