so i am back from my oh-so-fun vacation. and like justin said, "i know you're disappointed to be back." i AM really sad. this land that we call america is one boring place. alot of me regrets coming back to the states. i was getting alotta pressure from my dad to stay in korea an extra week. we would've gone to Gwangju and i could've played with this one noona i know. yeah, it would've been fun. *sigh* but i knew i couldn't miss my last youth group retreat. sometimes, there's just some things you can't sacrifice. and like gary said, you know you love something when you're willing to sacrifice or something like that. and i guess, i just didn't love korea enough. no, that's not true. i guess i just love retreats that freakin' much. *sigh* but still, it hurts. it's nice seeing friends and all, but it's so much nicer seeing my cousins everyday. haha. *sigh* sniffle sniffle.

reflection:

korea was definitely a good choice that i made. remember how i talked about how i needed to make money over the summer for college and stuff? well, i actually came back with more money than 3 weeks of work's pay. isn't that great? well, i think it's terrific. praise God!

i got a chance to talk to my dad about lots of things like family, friends, and church. my role as a son. his role as a father. our past and our future. it was good. i got a chance to see my dad in the working field again. frankly speaking, his business sucks. i'm sure you guys would pity him if you saw the business he gets. but at the same time, i grew a stronger appreciation for my father's efforts. after lunch, he works til about midnight, sitting behind a computer and greeting customers. he jokes around with the little kids and always talks to the adults with much respect. he's just a nice guy. a nice guy who i'm so freakin' proud of.

i got another chance to improve my korean. every time i go to korea, i come back with at least an improved vocabulary of 10 words and an improved slang vocabulary of 5 words. i mean, i learn hecka words everyday but you can only remember so many as part of your permanent speech you know? every single day, i would ask the question, "what does that mean?" at least 20 times. every single day, i would have the same response, "i don't know." at least 50 times. haha. but yeah, it was good.

i noticed that my dad's rich family is REALLY different from my mom's average or below family. i realized that the poorer family were much happier and nicer people. they were also much more generous and knew how to cook some good crap. the rich side was stingy and just bought me dinner all the time. i could sense that my dad felt more comfortable talking my mom's family than his own brothers. very ironic. well, i'm not saying that rich people suck. i'm not even saying that i hate my dad's side of the family. but i just thought it was interesting noticing these observations. i guess money only makes us "worse" people. *shrug*

things i constantly heard throughout my time in korea:

1. "simon, you got so big!"
2. "hey, simon isn't cute anymore. he's all big and ugly now."
3. "how do you say this in English?"
4. "simon, isn't it going to be hard living w/o your brother?"
5. "are you having fun?"
6. "wanna eat some watermelon?"
7. "what would you like to eat? i'll buy it for you."
8. "you look so much like your father. simon looks so much like your mother."
9. "what's your major going to be in college?"
10. "hey, you can speak korean now!"

Thought of the Day: Errands Errands Errands!
Song of the Day: Jaurim-Fallen Blossoms