Some of the things on my Portland list might seem ridicuolous to Americans, but to me they were quite fun. I was lucky to have an American who thought they were fun, too. These things included going to Costco and IKEA just because I had never been before. Being from a small island country, things on a big scale just generally overwhelm me and make me feel funny. Mostly, it's the good kind of funny.
IKEA
People had told me that the food at IKEA is amaaaaaazing. I should have known better, because when Americans say things are 'amazing' or 'awesome', you gotta take it with a handfull of salt. The food there was decidely average, but cheap as chips. That's why people think it's so good. When you can get meat balls AND fro-yo AND cinnamon buns for $5 and some change, then how can it be bad? Guys, it can be. Bad food is bad food, regardless of what you pay for it. I had the fro-yo, which was average to bad, and half a cinnamon bun, which was average, and some of those Sweedish meatballs which everyone RAVES about. I think if you add a nationality so a food (e.g. 'Spanish Moroccan Fish') people will automatically believe it tastes better because it sounds exotic. OMG IT'S SPANISH AND MOROCCAN AND IT'S FISH! Same rule applies with adding 'Mum's' or 'Grandma's' to recipes. Would you trust a recipe for 'Older Brother's Minstrone Soup'? Probably not. Well, not in ma fam, anyway. Sorry Michael and Ben.
Back to the SWEDISH meatballs.
So I stole one from my flatmate. I am a vegetarian, but sometimes I'm not very good at it. I like to try new things, and I like meat, so I find myself in sticky situations. I had a meatball. It was okay.
IKEA was actually quite weird. I got a weird feeling in there, I hadn't really processed it until now. Probably because I'm not very intouch with my feelings. I reckon so I have a 3 month feeling delay. It's a thing. I wonder if psychologists have coined it yet.
Let's talk about feeelings now.
I don't think I've ever felt so empty in a furniture store. I think it was the size, the colours, and all the fake rooms that they have set up. It's like you're in a living room or a bedroom, so you should feel homely and warm, but you're in the middle of a massive store. The shop attendants seemed soulless, and there were heaps of generic shoppers who were overweight and pissed off because they had to spend money. They probably weren't there by choice. I forget this is a thing, because I try to make most activities in life either fun, or into some kind of adventure. Most people don't do this. We were there for fun AND adventure! When I proudly announced this to a staff member (middle-aged woman; she seemed boring), she looked at me like I was insane.
I thoroughly enjoy jumping on all the beds at furniture shops, so this had to happen. I found the most comfortable one and lied on it for ages and contemplated what it would be like to be a real person.
Sometimes I would go into one of the fake rooms and pick up a book. I just wanted to go through the book shelves and close the door and be alone or in at a friend's house. It's a very confusing place for me. I had fun though. Some of my matezzz and I decided it would be a great place to play hide-and-seek in, and we really wanted to organise an play day so this could happen.
Something to go back for.
Maybe, when we finished hide-and-seek, we can build a fort in one of the rooms.
Costco
Costco also happened. I recruited more people this time! For me, everything was just really big and cheap. I ended up buying four GIANT grapefruit. The sample tables are pretty gross. Don't get me wrong, I'll eat free samples with the best of 'em, but I hate the way that people crowd around and look angry as they wait and don't even make conversation with the sample ladies/men, who in my experience, were all lovely. Sometimes I'm not a big fan of small talk, but there's a think called courtesy, yes? Yah know? Like saying 'hello'?Apparently the food at Costo (the fast food stuff) is actaully yummers, in a way that the food at IKEA isn't. But I don't know because I didn't try any. Spent a good amount of time there and I was constantly talking about how big everything was. Maybe even to the point of it being annoying. There was some people watching involved. It was a Saturday. There were a lot of families with children and pickup trucks. I was tempted to buy bulk amounts of string cheese and some Fun Cereal for Fun Cereal Friday, but I didn't let myself because I knew I wouldn't have the time to eat it all.
There's Costco in Korea, too. I might just have to go on a field trip there some day.
Other thoughts from me this week:
- I miss Portland quite a bit. It's definitely my favourite city that I've lived in and it's filled with great people.
- I was wanting to try all the new foods again, so I brought this thing called acorn jelly from the supermarket here in Korea. It sounds like it was gross, and guess what‽ It WAS gross!
- For the first time in my life I am working Monday to Friday. It's weird. The weeks go fast and the weekends even faster. I have learnt that Tuesdays are way worse than Mondays. Think about it. NOTHING GOOD HAPPENS TO ANYONE EVER. ANYWHERE.
- Today I had an argument with a child about wether iguanas have two legs or four legs. Naturally, I was right. The only thing that's worse than being wrong is being right but not really being allowed to brag about it.
This guy. Still love him.
BRB GTG
Liz Tritops
xoxo
