[13.07.25] Flight Booked, Luggage Bought!

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Finally after several weeks of not hearing from the program, I got an e-mail with all of my flight information for the scholarship! There's only 32 days left and I'm getting veryyy excited. Not much has changed since the last time I updated, but the reality of Korea is starting to hit me as the days count down. I can't give out too many specifics like times, airports, and locations because of safety precautions, but my flight from home will leave on August 26th and I'll be staying in New York until our departure to Korea on the 28th of August. I won't be finding out host family, school, or anything until later.


I've been working like crazy and picking up shifts so that I can save up money, but unfortunately some unforeseen expenses have popped up and the reality is that I might not have more than $100 saved up for Korea. At the moment, I have about $500 in my bank, $100 in cash, and $100 in uncollected tip share. I'm not sure how much of my savings I'll have to fork over, but hopefully it won't be more than $700. I might end up selling my camera so I have some money although it would mean I won't have any nice pictures to share. I'm trying to talk to my dad more to see if he'll help me out and send me money once in a while during my stay in Korea. Even an extra $150 a month or something would help me out a ton.

My family went luggage shopping yesterday and my mom bought me and my sister a suitcase. My sister is leaving for Arkansas on August 1st to do a store opening which will provide some much needed income. Her birthday was yesterday so the luggage was her gift from my mom. I'm planning to check the luggage my mom bought me and a large duffel bag and having a smaller duffel bag for carry on then a backpack as my personal item. I'm really excited about the flight and managed to book a window seat for all 3 airplanes! Not sure about what to bring for entertainment or anything, but I'm sure just looking out the window for 19 hours will be fun for me heh heh. Simple things.


This is the one that I chose for $80. My favorite colors, brown and green.

I've been kind of stressed out and a tad depressed lately so out of habit I clean and try to be productive to make myself feel better. I decided I should start cleaning one area of the house at a time on my days off so that the house is clean when I leave. My mom got really happy one day just because I cleaned one room so I think it'd be nice to keep it going. I've been going on walks to clear my head also and it feels really good to be active. I should try to eat healthier, but I'm not home enough to do that anyways and I'm definitely not going to eat healthy once I get to Korea. Just need to stay productive and keep the positive energy going.

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[13.07.15] Work, New URL, and New Photos!

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So my countdown for Korea is now at 42 days! I still can't stop thinking about it even though it's still pretty far away... I went shopping for those vacuum packing bags that suck the air out so you can pack more clothes haha. Since I won't be wearing any sweaters, jackets, or scarves in this 100 degree weather, I started packing them up already. I'm still on the hunt for some luggage though. I'm planning to check a big duffel bag and need to buy a big roller luggage to check. My carry on is just going to be a smaller sized duffel while my personal is going to be my backpack with my MacBook and DSLR packed inside. If I could just pack everything up and leave tomorrow, I seriously would find a way!



Took a few pictures before I leave to remember this place by.

Work has been okay. The managers told me that they're not moving me up to serving anymore since I only have a few days left. I don't mind too much although it's unfortunate that I'll be missing out on a lot of extra money. I was upset last week because I only had 3 shifts, but I managed to pick up 4 this week so now I have 7 shifts. I know I'm going to wear myself out, but at the same time I really need the money. Right now I have $1000 in my savings, but I still have to pay rent for July. It's picked up a little bit even though summer has been suuuuuper slow. After doing the math, I estimated that I should be making about $1000 - $1500 more before I quit and get ready to leave. I just need to keep picking up shifts and making some cashhhhh. I keep counting down the days to motivate myself to work harder! Only 42 more days! I can do it!

Me and my closest friends, the real motivation. 

I finally got around to buying my own domain name! All the URLs I wanted were taken, so I decided to just buy my own domain and avoid a lame URL. I changed my Instagram username to kekekenny also, but it's kind of ironic that it was kennyinkorea before I leave for Korea, but once I'm in Korea it'll be kekekenny. Heh heh.



My photography has been lackluster recently. I don't really have time to take pictures or anything and I've been neglecting my new DSLR... I feel bad right now, but I'll definitely use it a lot more once I get to NYC/Korea! Here's a few photos I've taken since around July 4th.


















I think you can tell which one was taken on July 4th... But yeah I've been getting some pretty nice pictures out of this camera so I'm excited to see where it takes me once I get to NYC and Seoul. I'm still learning to use Photoshop, Light Room, After Effects, and Premier, so these pictures aren't touched up or anything yet, but soon they will be! And they'll look even better! 

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[13.07.01] My DSLR Arrived!

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Every night I stay up just thinking about leaving for Korea and it's starting to drive me crazy. All I can do is daydream about my flight, my 3 days in NYC, and then finally Korea. My mind is always cranking and thinking about what to pack, where to pack it, how to pack it, pack, pack, pack. All I do is think about packing! I've lost my mind already and there's still 54 days until I finally leave. When I get nagged or yelled at to go to sleep, I just get really excited to leave rather than getting annoyed or irritated. If I'm not staying up watching videos about packing, I'm playing games all night.


Been playing a lot of League of Legends ARAM games with Calvin recently.

I've been getting that feeling of apathy and anxiety towards work increasingly as the days drag on. The managers aren't moving me up to a server anymore since I'm leaving in August and as a result, my work ethic has fallen off quite a bit. I was really counting on the money from serving so I could spend it in Korea, but at this rate I shouldn't have more than $1200 saved, while the money from serving should have been about $1800 or so. Since I only have about 31 days of work left, and assuming I make at least $35 a night, it should come out to $1200. I would pick up shifts and try to save more money, but I already don't want to work my own shifts as is (unless I was serving then that'd be a different story).

 I don't really regret dropping $300 on my new DSLR though because it arrived today and I love it! Very crisp, clean pictures. It took me a while to learn how to work Manual Mode (since I hate using preset modes), but it wasn't too bad since I used to do film photography with a regular SLR camera. I already know about aperture/f-stop, ISO, and shutter speed. I've mostly been keeping the ISO at 400/800 with a shutter speed of 1/40 to 1/100 and f-stop at 3.6 to 5. I must say that a digital SLR is soooo much more convenient and fun than film SLRs!

Results:

Hanging with my sister in her room. (1/40s, ISO 3200, f/3.6, 18mm)

The depth of field is amazing. (1/6s, ISO 800, f/3.6, 18mm)

I'll miss this bed while I'm gone! (1/10s, ISO 400, f/3.6, 18mm)

The back screen protector on my iPhone and a finger smudge. (1/15s, ISO 3200, f/4.8, 32mm)

I definitely need to invest in a tripod when I get to Korea so that I can take some amazing night time shots without the blur from leaving my shutter open for 2 seconds. Of course I want the typical skyline shot, a few street shots, etc. so I'll need to plan nights where I can go out just to take photos with my DSLR and tripod. I also heard that boys will be placed in Seoul because that's the only city with co-ed schools. The only other location is Incheon, but there's only all-girl schools. I feel really bad for the girls who wanted to be in Seoul, but I must say that I am VERY excited to hear this news. I was worried about commuting just to get to Seoul every now and then.

I can finally get some quality photos on my blog instead of just using my iPhone 5 camera! As much as I love it, the 8MP grainy photos just aren't cutting it. Even the videos are weirdly shaped because of the long screen, but my DSLR has a video mode too! It's a little shaky because I was just testing it, but I still love the depth of field.

I'm in love with this camera so far and I'm really glad I bought it. Hope you guys look forward to seeing some amazing pictures over the summer and then while I'm in New York / Korea! I can't believe I still have to wait 54 days, but I'll do my best to stay sane and finish out my last days of work so I can blow some cash in Myeongdong / Hongdae (while taking photos). I won't be able to fall asleep after thinking about all of this, but I'll just go watch some videos about packing or something haha.

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