Today I walked around Phuket Town toward Patong with my camera and the 35mm. I'm really happy I was able to get some nice shots out of the walk. Kwon took me and Jinny around all day to show us the town - a nice guy indeed. I learned Thai people also grill meat on a sort of BBQ grill, except their grill incorporates a steam boat as well. It's like shabu shabu meets a bulgogi grill. This restaurant he took us to was all-you-can-eat and boy did we pig out! Photos will be uploaded on flickr soon - and I mean soon as in whenever I get free internet access. This whole 10-hour monthly internet access limit is kinda bumming me out. But, being a resourceful person that I am, I find my ways. We ended our day with a nice massage. I will conquer all massage shops in Kata Beach by the time I leave. Kwon was also telling us about all these awesome spots to go dive. He saw a whale shark the other day near the Similans, which makes me wanna be certified ASAP. So many things I want to do in such a short amount of time - if only there were 52 hours a day!
A Phi Phi Island trip with a big group of 30 tomorrow and 16 of them are Korean! I wonder whom I'll meet this time.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Phuket
finally I got a day off. The past seven days have been intense in every way. Starting a new job in a new field and meeting a lot of new people on a daily basis is something I've been longing for for some time now. The job is physically demanding because of the long hours, but this is turning out to be so much more than I expected. Coworkers are just really amazing people and my boss is pretty cool as well - he dances and parties with us daily! I'm getting settled slowly but surely. got a new cell phone as well (please give me a shout out!)
My job is to provide tour packages to our resort guests and often times I take them out on a trip. The main attract is Koh Phi Phi, which is the island where the movie "The Beach" was filmed - lots of tourists rushing in and out daily but we go there really early in the morning to enjoy the calm. Phi Phi is truly beautiful and, though it's not the best place i've been to for snorkeling, the life around the small islands is quite amazing. When I went out there for the first time, I couldn't really believe I had this job. My coworkers say it gets pretty old after a while, but I don't understand how anyone could take such beauty for granted!
I'm having a bit of trouble finding a photo processing shop that handles slide films tho. Apparently, slide film photographers in Phuket mail out their rolls all the way to Bangkok and that's what i'll have to do. It's gonna be a lot of money and time put in to just getting your films processed and in that respect I miss Korea very much. When I get a chance, I'll sit down and go through some pictures, though not too many, I've taken since I got here. Especially the ones from Phi Phi. So not many photos of mine posted along with my blog posts. I know some of you are dying to see the latest photos from Phuket. But, my dear friends, in time, they will be up and shining. Or you can just come visit me and see it for yourself!! :D
My job is to provide tour packages to our resort guests and often times I take them out on a trip. The main attract is Koh Phi Phi, which is the island where the movie "The Beach" was filmed - lots of tourists rushing in and out daily but we go there really early in the morning to enjoy the calm. Phi Phi is truly beautiful and, though it's not the best place i've been to for snorkeling, the life around the small islands is quite amazing. When I went out there for the first time, I couldn't really believe I had this job. My coworkers say it gets pretty old after a while, but I don't understand how anyone could take such beauty for granted!
I'm having a bit of trouble finding a photo processing shop that handles slide films tho. Apparently, slide film photographers in Phuket mail out their rolls all the way to Bangkok and that's what i'll have to do. It's gonna be a lot of money and time put in to just getting your films processed and in that respect I miss Korea very much. When I get a chance, I'll sit down and go through some pictures, though not too many, I've taken since I got here. Especially the ones from Phi Phi. So not many photos of mine posted along with my blog posts. I know some of you are dying to see the latest photos from Phuket. But, my dear friends, in time, they will be up and shining. Or you can just come visit me and see it for yourself!! :D
Thursday, October 15, 2009
New Beginning
Once again, here I am in ICN waiting for a flight to Thailand. I got a job there! I'll be living in and working at a resort in Phuket. What a journey it's been for the past month. I'm grateful for all the opportunities that have been given me and the people I ran into over the course of three years of my life in Korea. I feel very lucky to have been in a place that I'm in now where I'm given a chance to start anew and, once again, go for the challenges that accompany the unknown. I'm a bit nervous for this is my first time being in another country on a work VISA, but more excited and high than anything for I am able to finally live my life at its fullest. Packing my life into 25kg was definitely a challenge, but also forced me to just zen out and let go of a lot of baggage, which once seemed very necessary. I'm shedding and molting, but my sense of who I am and what I want to do becomes more clear and thicker than ever. This is a new beginning.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Does this make me an evil person?
I broke up with my bf, well ex now obviously, in June. We met at a poker game on a cold night in February. It felt much better to snuggle with him then. Anyway, I know this posting doesn't really go hand in hand with my last posting of 'One Art' and all, but this dude's email I got today got me think about it all over again.
He was very much into me as I was into him the first couple times. He wanted a serious relationship and I felt kinda hesitant about that for various reasons I won't get into now. Anyway, after the brief bubbly stage, it got to the point where we always misunderstood each other and, boy, he was really good at twisting my words - i really hated that. And I yelled at him too much apparently. But what can i say? I have an exceptionally loud voice and I'm totally serious. Eventually, many breaking points where I felt like the relationship needed to end really broke me apart. But, I didn't want to be the one to break up because I didn't want to be "the one who broke up." So I waited around as things were just getting worse day by day. We had lost the meaning of chemistry it was really sad. Not only that, we sort of refused to revive it.
Anyway, the day he broke up, he told me how he had wanted to be the dominant one in the relationship as tears were rolling from his eyes. I gave him a little pet in the back, consoled him that it was ok and thing would get better and told him he could've been anything he wanted.
It was a lot more sudden than I expected and I had my own painful post-breakup period where I was kinda down and low.
I'm not like that anymore. Obviously. I just got a nikon D700, a macbook pro 15" and a new job in Phuket, Thailand. Life is friggin great!
But, I think it was this month of september that I heard that he was getting married. To a girl from the Philippines. Apparently they were dating for over five months, four online and one offline, which, by calculation, overlaps with the time I was with him. By definition, that's cheating. But, that's not important. My question is does dating online really count??Apparently, to him, it does! Anyway, it was just kinda funny remembering what he said after his trip to the Philippines while we were together. He said it was pretty odd how all these Philippino girls were sitting around in internet cafes all day long chatting with white dudes from the west looking for their ticket out. Well, now I know what he meant by "odd" because he's saving one of them now!
Back to what prompted these thoughts... He emailed me on FB today out of nowhere. I mean he was the last person I was expecting an email from. This is what went on...
-----
He wrote:
title: really?
You're leaving to LIVE there? omg... I can't believe it! I know you'll have all the fun I always wished I could have (living there). Where in Thailand are you going to live?
I wrote back:
phuket. i understand that what i'm doing is beyond the scope of your reality, hence "really? I can't believe it!" that's so something you would say about me. man, michael. u really don't know what i'm capable of at all! (i'm not yelling btw) U know what? Actually, I take it back. Had I still been with you, I would've NEVER been able to take up on all these opportunities. So, thank you for breaking up with me! I had wanted to end it for a while, but then i didn't want to be the one to break up so i kinda lingered on, but u did me a huge favor there. A HUGE favor it turned out. So yeah, thanx. Oh maybe I should thank your fiance as well. Had you guys not "dated" online while we were still together, I would have never quit my job or try to change my life. So, I thank her as well. anyway, congrats on your engagement. hope she's not marrying you for citizenship. i know a friend from LA who married his "vietnamese angel" who sucked the life out of him taking a lot of his money and divorced him the moment she got her citizenship. sounds like a prenuptial agreement's calling your name. not that i'm suggesting your baby is going to do that. of course, i'm sure she's a very nice understanding person. anyway, good luck. and please don't contact me again like we're friends. i'm removing u from my list. i thought i had already done that but i guess not! goodbye!
----
So, does this make me evil or just super sarcastic?
I go with the latter.
BTW, to be honest, yes. I kinda wanted him to see how great my life is without him. But, you can't change your mind on the answer now.
Monday, September 28, 2009
One Art
The art of losing isn't hard to master;
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel.
None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
so many things seem filled with the intent
to be lost that their loss is no disaster.
Lose something every day. Accept the fluster
of lost door keys, the hour badly spent.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
Then practice losing farther, losing faster:
places, and names, and where it was you meant to travel.
None of these will bring disaster.
I lost my mother's watch. And look! my last, or
next-to-last, of three loved houses went.
The art of losing isn't hard to master.
I lost two cities, lovely ones. And, vaster,
some realms I owned, two rivers, a continent.
I miss them, but it wasn't a disaster.
--Even losing you (the joking voice, a gesture
I love) I shan't have lied. It's evident
the art of losing's not too hard to master
though it may look like (Write it!) like disaster.
By Elizabeth Bishop
Sunday, September 27, 2009
my 90s
I don't really know the hit Korean songs these days.
I don't really watch TV or listen to FM radio so I'm pretty oblivious to what goes on in the mainstream music scene.
not that i'm missing out much or anything...
My students used to give me a hard time about it, but they don't realize how much music has changed since when I was their age.
I still own CDs of these songs I used to laugh and cry over in my pre-sixteen years.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Forwarded conversation
Subject: Hello Bill------------------------
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 12:18 PM from J to B
Hi Bill,
I'm just emailing you because I haven't heard from you since we last corresponded via facebook. I sent you my bank account information along with some inquiries. Could you please follow up and let me know what is happening?I'm getting really frustrated here.Please let me know soon.
jj
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 4:43 PM from B to J
Dear Joonyoung, Thank you for contacting me via normal email. When we moved the business to Loma Linda in 2007 I lost some of my files. I have a good memory of what the piano sold for, and would be happy to go ahead with the payment, pending your approval. If you have a copy of the consignment agreement I would be pleased if you send me a jpeg or fax. Send the jpeg here, or send the fax to 909 796-xxxx. The piano took a long time to sell, I finally sold it for $1,350. If the agreement follows the standard formula I follow, you would receive 2/3 of that payment, or $900. I can make this payment to your bank as you requested. this is what I received from you: (a U.S. bank info follows)
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 5:40 PM from J to B
Bill,Thanx for the reply.
A few questions for you.
Exactly when did you sell the piano?
I'm asking because I'm surprised you only got $1350 for the yamaha. I do have a copy of the consignment and I'll be more than happy to fax it to you. However, I need you to send me a copy of the sale as well. I believe it's only fair that I ask you for it considering the duration of time this transaction has been put off for whatever reasons. Sincerely,Joon.
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 7:00 PM from B to J
Dear JoonYoung,
The original sale price was not a promise, but an agreement to see what could be gotten. You should remember this, and that you understood that while we would try to get the higher amount, we might have to settle for a lower amount if too much time passed. Remember you were considering selling the piano for $600. I was clear with you when I picked up the piano that the sale price might not be high. We would first try to get a higher amount. But it is an older, grey market Yamaha. you knew that the price would go down after the time was up at the higher price. The piano did not sell for a long time, far beyond the contract period. Of course I would have liked to have gotten more, but it wasn't possible. I will check the records for the exact date of sale, I am not in the office right now. After the sale I had no way to reach you, since I had lost your contact information. I never heard from you at all, until this week. I welcome a jpeg or fax of the contract, for my records, and to be sure we follow the agreement.
Thank you! Bill
Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:51 AM from J to B
Bill,
There seems to be a bit of misunderstanding here. I'm not accusing you of anything. Over three years have passed since we made the exchange and I'm just trying to figure out the details of the transaction. Naturally, these are the questions I would be asking had I stayed in the country and regardless how long it took for the sale to take place. I totally understand that the prize of the piano went down with time as stated in the consignment. The starting floor price you specified in the agreement when you picked up the piano, however, was $2995. I understand that the piano was a grey market, but if you remember our conversation, you were very hopeful about the sale price of the piano for it was a fine instrument. However, although I have no doubt you tried to sell it for higher price, $1350 seems to be way lower than what it's worth, hence the reason I'm curious to know how long it took you to sell the piano.
I don't mean to give you the impression that I don't trust you, and I'm sorry that you couldn't get in touch with me. But, I need you to keep in mind that it wasn't my fault that you lost track of my contact information. In the mean time, I was desperate to reach you - you can ask Monte. After I left, I tried calling you several times thru the differen time zones and obviously that didn't work out. I tried emailing you at the address on your card and didn't hear anything back. I contacted Monte online several times to see if he could get hold of you as well, to which he said he would check to see what's going on - have you ever heard from him at all? After not being able to reach you for a while, I ended up thinking that you just took my piano without following through with the consignment. I want you to know, however, how grateful I am now to realize how wrong I had been, and I'm just delighted to get in touch with you again. I just hope that we could wrap up this long overdue transaction in a transparent manner as you would hope as well.
The attached are scanned copies of the agreement.I appreciate your patience and hope to hear from you again with more detail. Thank you.
j.
Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 6:29 PM from B to J
Dear Joonyoung, Thank you so much for the copy of the agreement. Reading it, I better understand your feeling. Unfortunately I haven't had a copy myself since at least January 2007 when my computer crashed. (At least I think that would be the last I had it.) All I had to go on were my notes in my appointment book, which did not have your contact information. Until I received the contract tonight from you, I searched for several hours yesterday and today, hoping to find a hard copy, without success.
I am leaving for a 10 day conference tomorrow, and really didn't have the time to search, but felt this was very important. I never found anything. So I'm very pleased to receive the image of the consignment agreement. I hope you will bear with me here! Normally after a half-year the contract would call for me to be free to sell the piano at any reasonable price I can, or you would have to pick up the piano. I thought the contract called for this, and since I had no contact information for you, I would try to do my best with the piano. I had no "bites" on the piano at all, until March 2007 when I had a customer who came in only because I was interested in obtaining her antique piano for the Period Piano Center Museum. I was originally going to buy her piano from her for our piano museum, but she needed a piano for her daughter, and she liked your piano. She wanted to trade it for your piano, so I agreed to do this. We agreed that the value of her piano was $1,800, and that what she received was worth $1,800. That was a verbal agreement, not specified in the sales contract. For this I not only traded your piano, but gave her a $450 DamppChaser humidity control system and shipped the piano to Adelanto in the high desert, costs included in the purchase.
Here is a breakdown of the sale:
Total sale price: $1,800
Less Humidity Control System: $450
Less Cartage to High Desert: $240
Less 2 tunings while in store (at discount rate, $100 ea.) $200
Balance of sale price: $9102/3 of sale price,
due you: $607
I felt you should receive more than $607, so I simplified the calculations to give you $900. OK....Now that I have the contract, I could apply the contract terms exactly to a theoretically accurate sale of your piano:
Date of contract: 5/10/06
Sale date: 3/4/07
Original price $2,995,
price at time of sale 15% less, or $2,545.75.
Total sale price: $2,545.75
2/3 of sale price $1,697.16
Less 2 tunings while in store, $200 each, at discount rate $200
Total amount due you: $1,497.16
Because this piano was sold to a dangerously dry climate, and is a gray-market piano (that is, it was built for the Asian market and would not survive the dry desert climate) I installed the $450 humidity control system at my cost. I delivered the piano myself ($240 value, not compensated), and later had to perform a warranty service on the humidity control system (very rare problem, but it figured that it would happen when I had an hour drive each way!). These costs are not included in the consignment agreement, so I cannot require you to bear them, but the amount due you would be $807.16 if they were included. They are real costs which I agreed to incur in order to successfully consummate the agreement.
Also, 2007 was a very bad year for us. The building we were in became untenable, with many serious problems, including flooding and poor security, harming business greatly, and we had to move in August. Our rent tripled to $$2,900/month for over a year . Sales had declined, and we were barely making it, our debt service was very high. We're just now climbing out of that, while we consider whether to stay at our present location in Loma Linda, still a very costly lease. I ask that you consider a compromise, and settle with me on terms which would pay you $1,200 in two $600 installments over two months, on July 30 and August 31, 2009. I will be leaving for 10 days to a conference in a few hours, but I will check email as often as my duties permit. I look forward to your response! Regards, Bill
P.S. I'm sorry you had trouble getting hold of me. I was surprised I received no communication from you since May 2006. While the business moved to Loma Linda in September 2007, the website has always been the same - with the email contact link active and working - my phones have been the same, and I requested a mail forwarding for old business address. I have never heard from Monte about you, nor have I seen or heard from him, or from you until this week. My business and my name have been easy to find just through a google search. Considering that the contract allows me to dispose of the piano after 391 days as I wish, I would think you would have wanted to know the status of the sale before that time. An unscrupulous retailer might have simply said that the piano did not sell, so it was donated to charity - and you wouldn't have been able to know otherwise, because so much time had passed. Taking everything into consideration, I ask that you might settle with me for the proposed amount. Thank you, JoonYoung!
Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 8:52 from J to B
Bill, Thank you so much for your explanation. Although I feel a bit hesitant about the receipt not specifying any pricing, It's making a lot more sense now. All I can say is that I feel lucky to be away from the recession-ridden U.S.... I know a lot of people have been having a tough time and I understand where you are coming from regarding this deal. I'll accept the proposed amount of $1200. Although it would be more ideal if you could make the payments sooner, I'll be expecting the payments on the dates you specified. Can you do me a favor and drop me an email when you wire the money? All in all, I'm just really glad that this deal is about to close finally. Thank you so much for being so cooperative!! j.
Date: Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 7:55 AM from J to B
Hi Bill,
I have not received the payment yet. Please let me know when you can wire the money.
Date: Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 12:03 PM from B to J
Hi Joonyoung, I'm sorry for the delay...but I'm now set to send it Monday! Bill
Date: Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 8:32 AM from B to J
Hi Joonyoung,
The first payment is now authorized and will credit on the 11
Date: Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 9:21 AM from B to J
Joonyoung,
My bank has informed me today that this account is closed, and a payment cannot be made to it. What would you like me to do? Bill
Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 12:06 PM From J to B
it can't be. that's odd. let me call the bank and find out what's up then i'll let you know! :D
Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 1:52 PM From J to B
Bill, I'm sorry about the trouble. I'm not sure why they say the bank account is not available because I can still access my account online. I have yet to be able to call the bank. However, I think it would be a lot less trouble for both of us if you could just wire me the total amount to my Korean bank. The international wire transfer fee is usually a lot more than domestic transfer and they charge about the similar amount per transfer. I'll also be losing a good chunk of money because of the exchange rate and the wire transfer fee on my end. So it will be better for both of us if you just keep the 600 dollars for now and when you are ready with $1200, you can wire me the total here in Korea.
Here is my information you'll need.
(Korean bank info for international wire transfer follows)
The bank said this would be the info you'll need. But, if you need anything else, please let me know. Thank you so much for your patience. I"ll be expecting the payment at the end of the month.
Sat, Aug 15, 2009 at 9:16 AM from B to J
Thanks, Joon Young, I'll plan on that. Bill
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 5:56 PM from J to B
Hi Bill,
I checked my account and the transfer has not been made yet. Will you send me an email when you make the transfer? $1200 should be about 1,494,544 by today's currency rate. Thanks!
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 11:16 PM from B to J
Hi Jounyoung, This month's bills will take me out until late next week, when my daily work might give me enough. I'll try to get it to you then.
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 11:55 PM from J to B
that's fine bill but i really need it soon. hope it doesn't get delayed longer than that. i trust you that you will send me the money next week. thanx!
Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 2:58 AM from J to B
Bill,I'm beginning to think that you do not value the deal you made with me and it's getting harder to trust your words.I understand you have been having hard times economically, but so has the rest of the world. That just has been the tough economic trend of the past couple years and the impact is felt just as hard outside the U.S., if not harsher.I have been trying my best to be patient with you, but it has been almost three months since I finally got hold of you, let alone the three years that had gone by prior to it. I understand that there was a problem with the bank transaction at the end of July. However, I can only assume that you are ready to make the final transaction with the total amount regardless of the previous difficulty if you had intended on keeping your words. The 18th of the month has gone by, which is the date you promised to make the transaction when we last exchanged words on facebook chat, and I still have not heard anything from you. You said I was the first priority and I'm not sure anymore if you really meant it. I am not sure how much further I can wait before I bring in the outside help to resolve this matter. Please wire the money to the Korean account that I gave you and email me within the next couple days.
Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 5:00 AM from B to J
I symphathize with your situation, but I just paid the lease payment at the shop for September, 13 days into the month.. You will receive at least half of the payment, and I will follow through with the rest as soon as possible. Revenues are not coming in as I hoped. Other outstanding accounts are receiving small monthly payments, though they are in similar situations at yours. There is a considerable debt, and I am doing my best to amortize it. The last couple years have tested our solvency, and I am at a crossroads with the store, and will be deciding in December whether to continue, depending on various factors. In the meantime I appreciate your patience while we try to avoid a catastrophic loss of the retail business. Bill
Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:26 AM from J to B
O.K. Since you are making small payments to other similar accounts, would it help if I gave you my friend's U.S. account so that you can wire domestically on monthly basis?
Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 12:06 PM from B to J
Dear Joonyoung, This would be extremely helpful. Bill
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 9:46 AM from J to B
Bill, How do you plan on paying back the money with the U.S. account? I just can't take your word for it when you say it would be helpful because I have no idea how it's going to benefit this deal. How long is it going to take you to pay it off if you were to wire domestically? How much will you send at a time? I can ask my friend who is in the U.S. Army if I could use his account for this purpose, however, I do not want to get him involved in this if you are just going to drag it on and on. Because I'm using someone else's account, the transaction needs to be brief. I do not want to trouble him for an extended period of time with my problem.
Regardless, I do not understand why you don't say anything about how or when you are going to close this deal. It seems like you don't have any concrete plans as to how you are going to deal with this but you are just trying to delay making the payment as long as possible. I'm not saying it is totally true but I'm just explaining my perspective here. I need to see the payment soon, Bill. You said you would wire it by the 18th and that I was your first priority. I was being patient with you but now I feel like it's just not going to happen unless I get some sort of legal help. I'm very concerned to put it mildly.
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 2:13 PM from B to J
Joon Young:
Thank you for your willingness to accept a payment arrangement. I propose $200 monthly payments, I can begin immediately. However, I need to know where to make ANY payment. I have no place to pay, unless you still want me to wire monthly payments. Unless you tell me where to pay, I will go ahead an make $200 monthly payments with the method you've provided me. I will wait until Tuesday for this information, and if I do not hear from you with alternative US payment arrangements, I will use the Korea Exchange Bank information you've provided. If you wish me to make $200 monthly payment elsewhere, please inform me of where to make the payments. Thank you. Bill
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 7:23 PM from J to B
Bill,
Just to be clear, I really do not prefer getting monthly payments. I'm only trying to be done with this whole thing ASAP and somehow make it easy for you as well. Here is the thing. I'll be leaving Korea by early November for my new job. I'll be working in someplace SE asia. I'll still keep my Korean bank account while I'm gone. My friend's US account, however, won't be available after December because he is an American photographer working for the U.S. Army and his service ends at the end of November.
Ideally, it would be most desirable if you could pay it all off withint the next two weeks, but I gather you're having difficulty. So there are some options.
One, you can wire $300 a month for 4 months directly to my Korean bank account, but you must pay all the transfer charges. They will also deduct about $10-20 on my end as well so essentially I'll be getting about $280-290 or less each time, and ultimately I'll be getting only about $1120-1150 in total. And since I'll be accessing most of this money overseas, they'll charge me again for international ATM use. This is the reason why I prefered getting a lump sum so that neither of us has to pay so much on the bank charges. I can see that you only want to pay me $200 a month but that way you will spend so much money on international transfer fees.
Two, you can wire $600 a month for two months to my friend's U.S. account. Although I still have to go through another transaction each time so that I could eventually get the money in KRW but It will save you a litlte money on bank charges and most importantly we'll be done with this deal within the next couple of months. Please remember that this account will not be available after the end of November. This is the best I could do Bill. The situation is not the most ideal because of my departure and the difficulty on your end as well. But, I never expected this to go on for as long as it did. I can only hope we can move forward from here. Choose whatever works better for you and email me as soon as you make the first payment. Thank you.
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 10:10 PM from B to J
Joon Young, Apparently you don't want, or aren't able, to receive payments after all. It is not my responsibility to pay the fees associated with international transfers. I have already paid fees for a transfer that was not successful, since your bank account was closed. These are your costs. I will do what I can as soon as possible to take care of this debt. Most piano retailers in California have gone bankrupt. I don't think this will happen to me. But you don't appreciate the fact that you showed no interest in getting in contact with me for more than three years after you signed the consignment agreement. I lost your contact information, probably during the business move in 2007, which was only an address in the US, as it turns out, anyway....don't you think I might have needed you to get in touch with me? You could have googled for my business name on the consignment agreement at any time to get the business website and contact information. I will make as large a payment as possible this week. I cannot promise when another payment will be made, but I will do my best to get one to you soon again. Bill
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 11:09 PM from J to B
Bill, Giving you an closed account number was an honest mistake and I apologize for that. But, I am deeply deeply disappointed that you are blaming me for not contacting you after I've explained how hard I tried to get in contact with you. I have a lot to say but first I am going to see if you can keep your words this time.
I realize that I didn't add the U.S. account info. Now you have it.
(U.S. bank info of a third-party follows)
If you want to pay it off in one payment, I'll be happy to pay for the transfer charges. I'll be waiting patiently for your notification email for the first payment this week. Thanks.
Subject: Hello Bill------------------------
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 12:18 PM from J to B
Hi Bill,
I'm just emailing you because I haven't heard from you since we last corresponded via facebook. I sent you my bank account information along with some inquiries. Could you please follow up and let me know what is happening?I'm getting really frustrated here.Please let me know soon.
jj
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 4:43 PM from B to J
Dear Joonyoung, Thank you for contacting me via normal email. When we moved the business to Loma Linda in 2007 I lost some of my files. I have a good memory of what the piano sold for, and would be happy to go ahead with the payment, pending your approval. If you have a copy of the consignment agreement I would be pleased if you send me a jpeg or fax. Send the jpeg here, or send the fax to 909 796-xxxx. The piano took a long time to sell, I finally sold it for $1,350. If the agreement follows the standard formula I follow, you would receive 2/3 of that payment, or $900. I can make this payment to your bank as you requested. this is what I received from you: (a U.S. bank info follows)
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 5:40 PM from J to B
Bill,Thanx for the reply.
A few questions for you.
Exactly when did you sell the piano?
I'm asking because I'm surprised you only got $1350 for the yamaha. I do have a copy of the consignment and I'll be more than happy to fax it to you. However, I need you to send me a copy of the sale as well. I believe it's only fair that I ask you for it considering the duration of time this transaction has been put off for whatever reasons. Sincerely,Joon.
Wed, Jul 8, 2009 at 7:00 PM from B to J
Dear JoonYoung,
The original sale price was not a promise, but an agreement to see what could be gotten. You should remember this, and that you understood that while we would try to get the higher amount, we might have to settle for a lower amount if too much time passed. Remember you were considering selling the piano for $600. I was clear with you when I picked up the piano that the sale price might not be high. We would first try to get a higher amount. But it is an older, grey market Yamaha. you knew that the price would go down after the time was up at the higher price. The piano did not sell for a long time, far beyond the contract period. Of course I would have liked to have gotten more, but it wasn't possible. I will check the records for the exact date of sale, I am not in the office right now. After the sale I had no way to reach you, since I had lost your contact information. I never heard from you at all, until this week. I welcome a jpeg or fax of the contract, for my records, and to be sure we follow the agreement.
Thank you! Bill
Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:51 AM from J to B
Bill,
There seems to be a bit of misunderstanding here. I'm not accusing you of anything. Over three years have passed since we made the exchange and I'm just trying to figure out the details of the transaction. Naturally, these are the questions I would be asking had I stayed in the country and regardless how long it took for the sale to take place. I totally understand that the prize of the piano went down with time as stated in the consignment. The starting floor price you specified in the agreement when you picked up the piano, however, was $2995. I understand that the piano was a grey market, but if you remember our conversation, you were very hopeful about the sale price of the piano for it was a fine instrument. However, although I have no doubt you tried to sell it for higher price, $1350 seems to be way lower than what it's worth, hence the reason I'm curious to know how long it took you to sell the piano.
I don't mean to give you the impression that I don't trust you, and I'm sorry that you couldn't get in touch with me. But, I need you to keep in mind that it wasn't my fault that you lost track of my contact information. In the mean time, I was desperate to reach you - you can ask Monte. After I left, I tried calling you several times thru the differen time zones and obviously that didn't work out. I tried emailing you at the address on your card and didn't hear anything back. I contacted Monte online several times to see if he could get hold of you as well, to which he said he would check to see what's going on - have you ever heard from him at all? After not being able to reach you for a while, I ended up thinking that you just took my piano without following through with the consignment. I want you to know, however, how grateful I am now to realize how wrong I had been, and I'm just delighted to get in touch with you again. I just hope that we could wrap up this long overdue transaction in a transparent manner as you would hope as well.
The attached are scanned copies of the agreement.I appreciate your patience and hope to hear from you again with more detail. Thank you.
j.
Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 6:29 PM from B to J
Dear Joonyoung, Thank you so much for the copy of the agreement. Reading it, I better understand your feeling. Unfortunately I haven't had a copy myself since at least January 2007 when my computer crashed. (At least I think that would be the last I had it.) All I had to go on were my notes in my appointment book, which did not have your contact information. Until I received the contract tonight from you, I searched for several hours yesterday and today, hoping to find a hard copy, without success.
I am leaving for a 10 day conference tomorrow, and really didn't have the time to search, but felt this was very important. I never found anything. So I'm very pleased to receive the image of the consignment agreement. I hope you will bear with me here! Normally after a half-year the contract would call for me to be free to sell the piano at any reasonable price I can, or you would have to pick up the piano. I thought the contract called for this, and since I had no contact information for you, I would try to do my best with the piano. I had no "bites" on the piano at all, until March 2007 when I had a customer who came in only because I was interested in obtaining her antique piano for the Period Piano Center Museum. I was originally going to buy her piano from her for our piano museum, but she needed a piano for her daughter, and she liked your piano. She wanted to trade it for your piano, so I agreed to do this. We agreed that the value of her piano was $1,800, and that what she received was worth $1,800. That was a verbal agreement, not specified in the sales contract. For this I not only traded your piano, but gave her a $450 DamppChaser humidity control system and shipped the piano to Adelanto in the high desert, costs included in the purchase.
Here is a breakdown of the sale:
Total sale price: $1,800
Less Humidity Control System: $450
Less Cartage to High Desert: $240
Less 2 tunings while in store (at discount rate, $100 ea.) $200
Balance of sale price: $9102/3 of sale price,
due you: $607
I felt you should receive more than $607, so I simplified the calculations to give you $900. OK....Now that I have the contract, I could apply the contract terms exactly to a theoretically accurate sale of your piano:
Date of contract: 5/10/06
Sale date: 3/4/07
Original price $2,995,
price at time of sale 15% less, or $2,545.75.
Total sale price: $2,545.75
2/3 of sale price $1,697.16
Less 2 tunings while in store, $200 each, at discount rate $200
Total amount due you: $1,497.16
Because this piano was sold to a dangerously dry climate, and is a gray-market piano (that is, it was built for the Asian market and would not survive the dry desert climate) I installed the $450 humidity control system at my cost. I delivered the piano myself ($240 value, not compensated), and later had to perform a warranty service on the humidity control system (very rare problem, but it figured that it would happen when I had an hour drive each way!). These costs are not included in the consignment agreement, so I cannot require you to bear them, but the amount due you would be $807.16 if they were included. They are real costs which I agreed to incur in order to successfully consummate the agreement.
Also, 2007 was a very bad year for us. The building we were in became untenable, with many serious problems, including flooding and poor security, harming business greatly, and we had to move in August. Our rent tripled to $$2,900/month for over a year . Sales had declined, and we were barely making it, our debt service was very high. We're just now climbing out of that, while we consider whether to stay at our present location in Loma Linda, still a very costly lease. I ask that you consider a compromise, and settle with me on terms which would pay you $1,200 in two $600 installments over two months, on July 30 and August 31, 2009. I will be leaving for 10 days to a conference in a few hours, but I will check email as often as my duties permit. I look forward to your response! Regards, Bill
P.S. I'm sorry you had trouble getting hold of me. I was surprised I received no communication from you since May 2006. While the business moved to Loma Linda in September 2007, the website has always been the same - with the email contact link active and working - my phones have been the same, and I requested a mail forwarding for old business address. I have never heard from Monte about you, nor have I seen or heard from him, or from you until this week. My business and my name have been easy to find just through a google search. Considering that the contract allows me to dispose of the piano after 391 days as I wish, I would think you would have wanted to know the status of the sale before that time. An unscrupulous retailer might have simply said that the piano did not sell, so it was donated to charity - and you wouldn't have been able to know otherwise, because so much time had passed. Taking everything into consideration, I ask that you might settle with me for the proposed amount. Thank you, JoonYoung!
Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 8:52 from J to B
Bill, Thank you so much for your explanation. Although I feel a bit hesitant about the receipt not specifying any pricing, It's making a lot more sense now. All I can say is that I feel lucky to be away from the recession-ridden U.S.... I know a lot of people have been having a tough time and I understand where you are coming from regarding this deal. I'll accept the proposed amount of $1200. Although it would be more ideal if you could make the payments sooner, I'll be expecting the payments on the dates you specified. Can you do me a favor and drop me an email when you wire the money? All in all, I'm just really glad that this deal is about to close finally. Thank you so much for being so cooperative!! j.
Date: Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 7:55 AM from J to B
Hi Bill,
I have not received the payment yet. Please let me know when you can wire the money.
Date: Mon, Aug 10, 2009 at 12:03 PM from B to J
Hi Joonyoung, I'm sorry for the delay...but I'm now set to send it Monday! Bill
Date: Tue, Aug 11, 2009 at 8:32 AM from B to J
Hi Joonyoung,
The first payment is now authorized and will credit on the 11
Date: Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 9:21 AM from B to J
Joonyoung,
My bank has informed me today that this account is closed, and a payment cannot be made to it. What would you like me to do? Bill
Wed, Aug 12, 2009 at 12:06 PM From J to B
it can't be. that's odd. let me call the bank and find out what's up then i'll let you know! :D
Fri, Aug 14, 2009 at 1:52 PM From J to B
Bill, I'm sorry about the trouble. I'm not sure why they say the bank account is not available because I can still access my account online. I have yet to be able to call the bank. However, I think it would be a lot less trouble for both of us if you could just wire me the total amount to my Korean bank. The international wire transfer fee is usually a lot more than domestic transfer and they charge about the similar amount per transfer. I'll also be losing a good chunk of money because of the exchange rate and the wire transfer fee on my end. So it will be better for both of us if you just keep the 600 dollars for now and when you are ready with $1200, you can wire me the total here in Korea.
Here is my information you'll need.
(Korean bank info for international wire transfer follows)
The bank said this would be the info you'll need. But, if you need anything else, please let me know. Thank you so much for your patience. I"ll be expecting the payment at the end of the month.
Sat, Aug 15, 2009 at 9:16 AM from B to J
Thanks, Joon Young, I'll plan on that. Bill
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 5:56 PM from J to B
Hi Bill,
I checked my account and the transfer has not been made yet. Will you send me an email when you make the transfer? $1200 should be about 1,494,544 by today's currency rate. Thanks!
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 11:16 PM from B to J
Hi Jounyoung, This month's bills will take me out until late next week, when my daily work might give me enough. I'll try to get it to you then.
Thu, Sep 3, 2009 at 11:55 PM from J to B
that's fine bill but i really need it soon. hope it doesn't get delayed longer than that. i trust you that you will send me the money next week. thanx!
Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 2:58 AM from J to B
Bill,I'm beginning to think that you do not value the deal you made with me and it's getting harder to trust your words.I understand you have been having hard times economically, but so has the rest of the world. That just has been the tough economic trend of the past couple years and the impact is felt just as hard outside the U.S., if not harsher.I have been trying my best to be patient with you, but it has been almost three months since I finally got hold of you, let alone the three years that had gone by prior to it. I understand that there was a problem with the bank transaction at the end of July. However, I can only assume that you are ready to make the final transaction with the total amount regardless of the previous difficulty if you had intended on keeping your words. The 18th of the month has gone by, which is the date you promised to make the transaction when we last exchanged words on facebook chat, and I still have not heard anything from you. You said I was the first priority and I'm not sure anymore if you really meant it. I am not sure how much further I can wait before I bring in the outside help to resolve this matter. Please wire the money to the Korean account that I gave you and email me within the next couple days.
Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 5:00 AM from B to J
I symphathize with your situation, but I just paid the lease payment at the shop for September, 13 days into the month.. You will receive at least half of the payment, and I will follow through with the rest as soon as possible. Revenues are not coming in as I hoped. Other outstanding accounts are receiving small monthly payments, though they are in similar situations at yours. There is a considerable debt, and I am doing my best to amortize it. The last couple years have tested our solvency, and I am at a crossroads with the store, and will be deciding in December whether to continue, depending on various factors. In the meantime I appreciate your patience while we try to avoid a catastrophic loss of the retail business. Bill
Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 10:26 AM from J to B
O.K. Since you are making small payments to other similar accounts, would it help if I gave you my friend's U.S. account so that you can wire domestically on monthly basis?
Sun, Sep 20, 2009 at 12:06 PM from B to J
Dear Joonyoung, This would be extremely helpful. Bill
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 9:46 AM from J to B
Bill, How do you plan on paying back the money with the U.S. account? I just can't take your word for it when you say it would be helpful because I have no idea how it's going to benefit this deal. How long is it going to take you to pay it off if you were to wire domestically? How much will you send at a time? I can ask my friend who is in the U.S. Army if I could use his account for this purpose, however, I do not want to get him involved in this if you are just going to drag it on and on. Because I'm using someone else's account, the transaction needs to be brief. I do not want to trouble him for an extended period of time with my problem.
Regardless, I do not understand why you don't say anything about how or when you are going to close this deal. It seems like you don't have any concrete plans as to how you are going to deal with this but you are just trying to delay making the payment as long as possible. I'm not saying it is totally true but I'm just explaining my perspective here. I need to see the payment soon, Bill. You said you would wire it by the 18th and that I was your first priority. I was being patient with you but now I feel like it's just not going to happen unless I get some sort of legal help. I'm very concerned to put it mildly.
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 2:13 PM from B to J
Joon Young:
Thank you for your willingness to accept a payment arrangement. I propose $200 monthly payments, I can begin immediately. However, I need to know where to make ANY payment. I have no place to pay, unless you still want me to wire monthly payments. Unless you tell me where to pay, I will go ahead an make $200 monthly payments with the method you've provided me. I will wait until Tuesday for this information, and if I do not hear from you with alternative US payment arrangements, I will use the Korea Exchange Bank information you've provided. If you wish me to make $200 monthly payment elsewhere, please inform me of where to make the payments. Thank you. Bill
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 7:23 PM from J to B
Bill,
Just to be clear, I really do not prefer getting monthly payments. I'm only trying to be done with this whole thing ASAP and somehow make it easy for you as well. Here is the thing. I'll be leaving Korea by early November for my new job. I'll be working in someplace SE asia. I'll still keep my Korean bank account while I'm gone. My friend's US account, however, won't be available after December because he is an American photographer working for the U.S. Army and his service ends at the end of November.
Ideally, it would be most desirable if you could pay it all off withint the next two weeks, but I gather you're having difficulty. So there are some options.
One, you can wire $300 a month for 4 months directly to my Korean bank account, but you must pay all the transfer charges. They will also deduct about $10-20 on my end as well so essentially I'll be getting about $280-290 or less each time, and ultimately I'll be getting only about $1120-1150 in total. And since I'll be accessing most of this money overseas, they'll charge me again for international ATM use. This is the reason why I prefered getting a lump sum so that neither of us has to pay so much on the bank charges. I can see that you only want to pay me $200 a month but that way you will spend so much money on international transfer fees.
Two, you can wire $600 a month for two months to my friend's U.S. account. Although I still have to go through another transaction each time so that I could eventually get the money in KRW but It will save you a litlte money on bank charges and most importantly we'll be done with this deal within the next couple of months. Please remember that this account will not be available after the end of November. This is the best I could do Bill. The situation is not the most ideal because of my departure and the difficulty on your end as well. But, I never expected this to go on for as long as it did. I can only hope we can move forward from here. Choose whatever works better for you and email me as soon as you make the first payment. Thank you.
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 10:10 PM from B to J
Joon Young, Apparently you don't want, or aren't able, to receive payments after all. It is not my responsibility to pay the fees associated with international transfers. I have already paid fees for a transfer that was not successful, since your bank account was closed. These are your costs. I will do what I can as soon as possible to take care of this debt. Most piano retailers in California have gone bankrupt. I don't think this will happen to me. But you don't appreciate the fact that you showed no interest in getting in contact with me for more than three years after you signed the consignment agreement. I lost your contact information, probably during the business move in 2007, which was only an address in the US, as it turns out, anyway....don't you think I might have needed you to get in touch with me? You could have googled for my business name on the consignment agreement at any time to get the business website and contact information. I will make as large a payment as possible this week. I cannot promise when another payment will be made, but I will do my best to get one to you soon again. Bill
Mon, Sep 21, 2009 at 11:09 PM from J to B
Bill, Giving you an closed account number was an honest mistake and I apologize for that. But, I am deeply deeply disappointed that you are blaming me for not contacting you after I've explained how hard I tried to get in contact with you. I have a lot to say but first I am going to see if you can keep your words this time.
I realize that I didn't add the U.S. account info. Now you have it.
(U.S. bank info of a third-party follows)
If you want to pay it off in one payment, I'll be happy to pay for the transfer charges. I'll be waiting patiently for your notification email for the first payment this week. Thanks.
Monday, September 21, 2009
owning your spinsterhood
I have finally moved in with my parents. I picked up the last bits and pieces from my old officetel today and now it's completely empty. I've had so many memories there. Heaven knows how many bottles of alcohol, movies, songs, TV shows, books, photos and men I've consumed. THAT was my ultimate bachelerette nook. A nice plush lazyboy, entertainment systems, musical instruments and things to amuse the eyes plus food and drinks! Amazingly, my constant messiness didn't really seem to bother anyone. Or so I thought. In any case, as Esther used to put it numerously, "once I set my foot in this place, I don't wanna leave."
At the same time, I was rarely home. Though not in any copious amount, I had money. I shopped, dined and wined. I pretty much had all the local restaurants figured out, categorized and rated, many with my undying support. I also had friends - lots of them surprisingly. Many of them meaningful, some life-long and a few already forgotten. Regardless of the value of each relationship I had with everyone I met here, they were all there for me so that I could grow up slowly but surely. Come to think of it, the activities I held in that place were pretty limited - eat, sleep, shower, read, watch shows and movies, fuck, process photos, hang out with friends and get online.
And I was with CDI the whole time I lived there. But I won't go there today.
So yes. Where were we. My parents. Yeah. They just got a ginormous place in Suji and gave me two of the rooms. I turned one of my rooms into my "chill pad" where I got my books, CDs, DVDs, computers and cameras. I have no job at the moment. I do not date. My niece and nephew totally dig me and i dig them back. My parents are concerned that I won't get married any time soon but they're happier that I am finally under their roof after 13 years of absence. So far, living under their roof ain't so bad. I got warm healthy veggie-filled meals three times a day and free room and board with quite open-minded parents. "Spinster" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.
I have the 2nd interview with my prospective employer on Wednesday. I'm uber psyched about it and I will totally rock that interview, this time with a bit of chill. But, whether I get the job or not, I will remain in this house with my parents for as long as I can because I like it that way for now. So it goes.
At the same time, I was rarely home. Though not in any copious amount, I had money. I shopped, dined and wined. I pretty much had all the local restaurants figured out, categorized and rated, many with my undying support. I also had friends - lots of them surprisingly. Many of them meaningful, some life-long and a few already forgotten. Regardless of the value of each relationship I had with everyone I met here, they were all there for me so that I could grow up slowly but surely. Come to think of it, the activities I held in that place were pretty limited - eat, sleep, shower, read, watch shows and movies, fuck, process photos, hang out with friends and get online.
And I was with CDI the whole time I lived there. But I won't go there today.
So yes. Where were we. My parents. Yeah. They just got a ginormous place in Suji and gave me two of the rooms. I turned one of my rooms into my "chill pad" where I got my books, CDs, DVDs, computers and cameras. I have no job at the moment. I do not date. My niece and nephew totally dig me and i dig them back. My parents are concerned that I won't get married any time soon but they're happier that I am finally under their roof after 13 years of absence. So far, living under their roof ain't so bad. I got warm healthy veggie-filled meals three times a day and free room and board with quite open-minded parents. "Spinster" isn't the right word, but it's the first word that comes to mind.
I have the 2nd interview with my prospective employer on Wednesday. I'm uber psyched about it and I will totally rock that interview, this time with a bit of chill. But, whether I get the job or not, I will remain in this house with my parents for as long as I can because I like it that way for now. So it goes.
Monday, September 7, 2009
MOVIE OF THE DAY
I watched it for the 10th time. Awesome soundtrack, especially the ones by the Kinks.
I wonder if my brother has seen it...
Friday, September 4, 2009
Yongsan Massacre Protest in Seoul
in January of this year, there was a crash between the police and residents and business owners in Yongsan. Basically, the government wanted to redevelop the area and offered compensations to tenants of this one building in yongsan for demolishing it. they weren't unhappy with the demolition and the compensation and ended up protesting against the redevelopment. The clash grew violent resulting in 5 tenants and a police officer dead in the process. There is also a suspicion of government-involved cover up of the investigation of the incident they now call 'Yongsan Massacre.' The protest goes on.
As mark and I were heading to Namdaemun in a cab, we saw this protest unfolding. We decided to get out of the cab to take pictures. I ended up running out of film after only three shots so i had to go into a convenient store nearby and got whatever they had and pushed up ISO a stop for it was getting dark and there was a lot of action going on. There's nothing like the high u get from the adrenaline rush you feel in the midst of such commotion.
Click on the photo to see more pictures from the protest.
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