Call me Awesome, I work with your exchange student.

Within the past couple of weeks, my life went from Family Dollar, to no job, to awesome. What caused this upward spiral of success? The most awesome job opportunity in the world, with the most awesome international exchange organization in the world:

Youth for Understanding - the same group of people who were nice enough to send me to Japan four years ago.

I had been wanting to volunteer with them for ages, but finally decided I needed a step in the right direction for once. So, I filled out my application, and waited.

And waited.

And waited..

And then....SUCCESS.

Now, I have a list of jobs that's potentially getting larger and larger. Everything from advertising students coming to this country, sniffing out which host family will be the best ones, to setting up orientations - and potentially be an ESL tutor.

Basically, I'm this International Coordinator of Awesomeness.

That's it, that should be my title.

And when the going get's rough, I always remember: "I'm learning Korean, I can do anything!"

This statement does ring true for Chemistry, Math, or finding a social life here, but generally does it's job at getting me through the icky moments.

International Coordinator of Awesomeness.....look out UN, here I come.

*note: If your interested in hosting an exchange student or being an exchange student, check out our organization @ www.yfu-usa.org

Index Card Hell

Ah, flash/index cards. Every studious person's best friend, right?

Wrong.

Not when you are learning four languages at once. Then, it can become a nightmare really quickly, especially when you have A.D.D. Then it's all out war-fare.

For days now, I've been pondering how to best manage my index cards, because like everyone else, I want the most out of my cards, the best possible study experience. However, being a broke college student puts a strain on as to how many of those little beloved pieces of paper I can get. Meaning, I recycle my cards (Way to be green, me!) Having attempted the language self-study process at least a quarter of a million times, I'm drowning in a sea of multi-lingual, stained, ripped, and partially missing flash cards. At this point, you're average person (note: sane person) would get some more. But me?

Never.

I'm determined to use these cards until they are paper dust. And I won't switch to electronic - I hate computers (despite having this blog, I can type, just not much else).

So, with four languages - all published by Living Languages* - that have completely different materials in each course, just what the hell am I supposed to do? So..I sit there, in my natural confused state, surrounded by an eternity of handed-myself-down index cards, staring into the abyss. When it hits me....

"Once you kill a cow, you gotta make a burger." (- Lady Gaga).

In other words, I decided to go all out, and learn ALL the words, from ALL the courses, in ALL four languages - AT THE SAME TIME.... And really, there's a much more logical process to it all than just simply that - but I'm too lazy to explain everything.

The biggest problem with that, however, isn't my hell-bent ambition. It's the fact that phrases that exist in one language, don't exist as phrases for the other: aka, cross-referencing two Latin languages with two Asian languages is a bitch. 'Nuff said.

So generally, I end up sitting there at my desk - still surrounded in a sea of index cards - wondering what to do.

And that's when the ADD kicks,

And the index cards sit there, while I am on facebook....

Eventually I go back to productive mode for like 20 minutes or so, but the inevitable cycle repeats itself...

Thus leaving me in the bottomless seventh level of index card hell....

*Living Languages is awesome, and better than Rosetta Stone (in my non-professional expert opinion) you should get it, you will love it. And it will love you. And you'll learn a new language.

Linguistic Hate

As an aspiring linguist and perfectionist, I love getting feedback on how my skills at speaking a foreign language are -hence my masochistic love of Livemocha. Because while I love feedback, I only love positive feedback, even when I know my submissions are total shit. But it kills me when I press the "submit exercise" button - feeling like I spoke like a total local would speak, and my submission gets a lot of ratings quickly, with an average of 2-3 out of 5 stars. Leaving me filled with rage and spite,and landing the people kind enough to review my submissions as "unhelpful" (the scourge of the Livemocha community *evil laughter*) I'm sorry if it took me months to figure out how to say the "ão" in "não" correctly, I'm sorry if the fact that the r's aren't r's but more compressed air being forcefully shoved out of the mouth.

Please don't rape my exercises with hate? I'll love you forever.

Sincerely,

Nathan.

Jobs, Hookah, and Marriage..(A crap post to get this blog alive again)

So, I'm now unemployed again, for a bit. And this new found employment status led me to promise myself a few things, the most blog worthy being: no more retail. If retail is your cup of tea, then more power to you. For me? Here's hoping to find something closer to what I like to do (hint, if you know someone in need of an ESL tutor and willing to pay for such, contact me.)

This means that my blog, which so quickly died, is coming back to life. Hoping to stay living for a good, long run.

But employment isn't the subject of this blog..no, this topic is far, far better.

Hookah.

The tradition of hookah started in India, though I've heard things about it being from Egypt or even the middle east. Contrary to any of these, I personally believe that hookah was started in heaven, when Buddha, Vishnu, Ra, Jesus, Zeus, Allah, and a whole host of other spiritual leaders decided they needed a good way to relax from their hard work as all-powerful gods. Thus resulting in what we know as hookah, or hubble bubble, depending on what part of the world you happen to be reading this from.

The beauty of hookah is that it isn't just for people who smoke, it's practically good for all occasions, it's simple, and it's a good way to break the ice for those of us who aren't as social.

Really, it's perfect.

And the flavor selection is diverse. From your basics like fruity flavors, mint flavors, "earthy" flavors like Jasmine and Rose to mixes and even alcoholic-inspired flavors like tequila sunrise and sex on the beach.

And think about that for a second..don't want to drink your cosmo? Smoke it.

The shisha (tobacco used for hookah) contains way little nicotine and isn't habit forming, or anything that could wreck a drug test. However, you do kind of a buzz. You don't get high, you just get relaxed.

So that's all wonderful, but what makes hookah so snazzy? The bonding.

Grab a few friends, a hookah, and the rest makes out to be a cool, enjoyable evening, that won't break your budget.

As one of my hookah acquaintances said, "Hookah is a way of life, hookah is love. It can brings people together, and it's just fucking awesome, man." - Exactly why I'm blogging about it..besides the fact that I love it too damn much not to devote something on my blog to it.

It's hookah culture. Simple, yet divine.

And in other news,

DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act *read: homophobic legislation*) was ruled by a federal judge as unconstitutional. The case is expected to be taken as far as the Supreme Court, the macdaddy of all US courts, for a final judgement. Meaning maybe, just maybe, we'll all have the right to get married in this land some day.

Now there's something worth celebrating over some hookah, don't you think?

Kitchen Culture: Thai-ish Gingered Green Curry Chicken

So, having a love for Thai cooking and a lack of coconut milk (a basis for most anything curry in Thai cooking) I made this kinda Thai, kinda Indian dish today, that ended up being basically phenomenal.

Disclaimer, for anyone who knows more about Thai cooking than me, don't attack me if this dish is in no way Thai. It's why I'm calling it Thai-ish. :)

Anyways, when it comes to measuring the ingredients...I don't...So, you use your kitchen instincts and your tastebuds to go about preparing this:

Peanut Oil

Garlic, sliced

Crystallized and/or fresh ginger

Water Chestnuts

Green Onion

Red Pepper

Carrots

some unidentified leafy greens (try bok choy)

Coconut Milk or regular milk (or even soy)

Fennel Seeds

For the sauce:

Green Curry Paste

Ground Lemon Grass

Fish Sauce (for taste)

In a bowl, mix the green curry paste, lemon grass, and fish sauce (be sparing with the fish, it's for that little extra flavor).

Cut up the chicken and veggies and put them off to the side.

Fun Time..

Put some oil into the wok, say 1-2 tbsp. And once it warms add in the ginger and garlic until lightly browned.

Then, add your curry sauce, and stir it around till it bubbles.

Add chicken and stir in well,

Add veggies and stir in well,

Now add some milk, yes..wait till this point to add the milk. Why? Not sure, but it worked well.

Sprinkle some fennel into the mix as you go.

Now, as the chicken will be green by this point, I can't say to cook until it's all golden brown. So again, you'll have to use your own judgement..but once the milk is in, I'd give about another 2-4 minutes...and...VIOLA!

Place your dishes with the bok choy/mystery greens and serve the chicken and veggies on top.

Okay, so it's not really Thai at all. But it's delicious, so give it a go, and get creative!

Because of LiveMocha...

Dear LiveMocha,

Because of you, and your existence on the internet, which allows people from all over the world to learn foreign languages and connect with others from the opposite regions of the world, I met the most extraordinary and wonderful man ever - now my fiancée.

I could go on and on about how perfect he is, or talk about the ever-growing unique story that is our relationship - an international love story. But, that's for another post...

So for now, this is my shout out to you.

You're website changed my life for ever, and I couldn't be more thankful.

Sincerely,

me.

For the rest of you,

If your looking to learn a new language and/or meet people from all over the world, www.livemocha.com is the place to do it.

They offer lessons, from beginner to expert, in many different languages. And while the lessons are somewhat small, the real power is in the international connection. You can review and teach others your language, as well as seek their help with whatever you might be learning.

And it's all worth it, for the small price of: FREE. (Unless you pay for the deluxe courses, obv.)

You might learn Italian or maybe even Russian or Hindi..(or if your like me you'll take on multiple at once), you might make new friends..you could start a new adventure.

I challenge you to open up and give it a shot: who know's what new love you'll make.

For the love of blogging...

I always have something to share, something to show.

Whether it's news, pictures, recipes, music, or just quirky random little things. There's always something going on. But radio wasn't quite the avenue for this little heart. There were lot's of things to talk about, but for radio they had to be organized enough to make it a decent-ish show to keep people attention locked in. Impossible.

Introducing the most random blog..straight from my little cultured heart.

See I love culture, more than just foreign cultures of nationality. Everything in life is a type of culture to me, yes ~ everything.

So besides little bits from my personal life, there'll be posts on whatever interesting passes my way. But like your first impression of the title was, their will be lots of culture.

Consider it the new Culture Club. Boy George has got nothing on me. :)