2006 memories:
-four horsemen ("to Zeus!")
-deciding/leaving for Korea
-ipod for birthday
-my crazy, last day in the states
-Sergio's with Snugs
-Arizona
-hardest quarter in Irvine
-graduating
-crashing at 319
-balling with James Yea
-watching X3 and Superman with Irvine
-riding waves at Huntington Beach
-Grand Canyon
-tutoring Juho, Sean, and Karan
-balling with youth group
-three retreats back to back
-freakin' linear algebra
-still bigger than HIP HOP (Wu-Tang Clan, Dead Prez, Nas, etc.)!
-Star Wars and LOTR marathon
-lunches with Edu in Brea
-freakin' CSETs
-Choosuk *sigh*
-Sunday night dinners with dad
-helping the old geezer move into my place
-Pusan, the craziest trip ever
-rearranging our whole house by myself
-diarrhea days
-last night was, by far, the most memorable New Year's Eve i've ever had in my life. they don't really celebrate Christmas here, but their last day of the year is pretty crazy.

after church, my dad and i went to Insadong and met up with his best friend. after dinner, i waited in line for 20 minutes just to buy some ho-dduk. but let me tell you, once you bite into that hot bun, you'll know where those 20 minutes went! it made tina's ho-dduk look like crap...and i don't even like sweets that much.

we looked at all this traditional stuff as my dad's friend educated me about Korean culture. he is a firm believer that i have very deep Korean roots. he was testing me with questions like: if there's a monkey, a bear, and a banana, which two do you match up? true westerners will match up the monkey and the bear while true easterners will match up the monkey and the banana. it has something to do with learning nouns versus verbs or something. i chose the monkey and the banana.





later that night, i met up with my cousin, his girlfriend, and his girlfriend's friend. i spent most of the night alone with the girlfriend's friend cause "the ugly couple kept losing us on purpose." haha. she is truly the funniest girl i've ever met in my life. she says that my cousin and his girlfriend's relationship must be TRUE love cause they're both really ugly.

we went to Jong Gak because it is the place to be on New Year's Eve kinda like Times Square in the states. i cannot tell you how much walking we did the whole night.


supposedly, there were about 150,000 people in that area. there were constant fireworks going off, loud Korean drumming, and various performances by no one i knew. it was really funny watching these Indian guys dancing all crazy with the Korean drummers. they were having such a good time that everyone just made a big circle and watched them dance in their own bliss. Jang Go is SO cool! i really got a taste of what it must have been like watching the World Cup in Korea. i think my blurry pictures are very symbolic of how the night felt: elusive chaos.








things got really crazy right after the countdown. there were so many fireworks going off in the sky that your eyes hurt. it was my first time counting down in Korean.



oh but the fun didn't end there! i have never been pushed and shoved by so many people all at once. everyone was rushing to the subways cause they were only running til 2am. because my cousin and his girlfriend wanted to stay out the whole night while the noona and i didn't, i graciously took my new friend all the way to her distant house cause it was late and dangerous. first of all, her exit was about 1.5 hours away. second, her house wasn't even near the subway. third, the train stopped in the middle of no where cause it was pretty late. so, a gang of people exited and headed for the late buses. a completely full bus didn't even bother to stop for us. the second bus, which was just as bad, let our huge crowd in. i thought the busride to campamento in Paraguay was bad. THIS was really really bad. i think there were over 70 people in our bus. i had to stand on the stairs cause there was no place to put my feet. haha. our bus driver was so angry. by the time i got home with my very expensive taxi ride, i felt like this kid.


my dad just finished preparing lunch and said, "Come on baby!"

i woke up to a really sore body. walking outside for 7 straight hours in dress shoes in negative temperature cannot be good for your body. why do i keep doing this to myself? i'm never going to get better.

i usually don't make New Year's resolutions but starting today, i am going to start calling my cousin, "hyung," because he's really one year older than me. it's hard though cause i've been calling him by his name ever since we were little kids. anyways, the Lord has been excellent to me in 2006. may God continue to bless us and work out his wonderful plan in 2007. Happy New Year!

Thought of the Day: 2007.
Song of the Day: Erik Satie-Trois Gymnopedies

hey, guess what? i got pink eye in my other eye, too! that's two pink eyes for Christmas. what a lovely gift from Santa Clause. speaking of the fatman, our church's sunday school kids put on a skit about Santa and his reindeers. it was actually pretty impressive with the acting and funny dialogue. i also realized that their version of Santa Clause was a lil different from ours. in the skit, when Santa saw that the children were bad, he didn't give them black coal or merely leave them without presents. no sir! he told his reindeers to beat the sleeping children with sticks! and apparently, Santa Clause has been going out to church, too. haha. what a good, Korean skit.

Thought of the Day: 25.
Song of the Day: Thy Mercy My God

hey, guess what?

i got pink eye!

and now i have a bloody nose!

awesome.

THE best bibim gooksoo, hands down...

EVEN with Jaepil's hype!

walking...

through a...

winter...

wonderland.

too bad these girls missed everything by 24 hours. all the white beauty has melted away, and we're back to dirty Korea.


i got super sick again. but i also got super better again. i can't remember how it feels to be 100% healthy and cold-free. anyways, i realized today that i have really conformed to Korean life. whenever i travel with the girls, i realize that they lag so much. no matter how slow i try to walk, they're always a few feet behind me. Seoul is just like NY. even just seeing them hold onto the subway handles so tightly while i'm chillin' with my hands in my pockets, they are such Kyopos. haha. i'm only going to get worse.

tomorrow (rather, today), i will be giving my co-workers Chistmas mixes with personal notes written on the binder paper cd covers. i wrote the notes in red pen and wrote their names on the front with a red marker. i thought it was a nice touch to the candy canes that i taped onto the cd cases, too. when my dad saw my extra-meaningful gifts, he told me that you only write in red to a dead person. *blink blink* i'm learning so much about our native culture, even if it's the hard way.

i finally paid off my whopping credit card bill tonight! i feel as light as a feather now, but so does my wallet. however, that won't be stopping me from buying everyone my favorite samgyupsal as a Christmas present. so if you're in Korea and you're free on Saturday night, dinner's on me! otherwise, have yourself a Merry Christmas.

ps-thanks to the many friends who wrote wonderful letters and sent precious Sriracha Sauce to me. even my dad says thanks!

Thought of the Day: You guys were my favorite class.
Song of the Day: Kim Ah Joong-Maria

it's finally snowing in Korea!!! i'm not talking about little dinky, stupid snow. it's really coming down out there! i wanted to touch the snow, but i slipped on the stairs and fell on my butt. i felt really stupid. five minutes later, a girl slipped in the same exact area and fell on her butt, too. that made me feel better.

tomorrow, the four girls in my life whom i tried to run away from will find me in Hongdae. just kidding. they will actually find me waiting for them in Mokdong tomorrow night. i will lose sleep. i will lose money. but i will be happy to see familiar friends again...even if i have to be the only guy (again).

Thought of the Day: Pojang.
Song of the Day: Martina Mcbride-O Holy Night

i get sick every winter. this year is no different.

Thought of the Day: Larenz Tate
Song of the Day: Noise-너에게 원한 건

me: how are you doing today?
min jun: so-so.
me: why just "so-so?" why not "great" or "wonderful?"
min jun: i don't know. i'm just "SO!"

Thought of the Day: Running shoes.
Song of the Day: Lee Jee Hoon-나만의 신부 (Remix)

my dad introduced me to Bugsmusic. you can listen to just about anything! my dad even went out of his way to buy me 30 songs to download. the first song was ok. the second song didn't work. i tried downloading again, and it didn't work again. i downloaded a third song, and that one didn't work either. then i saw in one of the windows that said something about songs with a lock icon. i tried using a Korean dictionary to translate the words, but all i could get was..."when you download songs with this lock icon, you can transfer to portable machines to make it possible." and yeah, that's all i got. my problem remains solutionless, and i hate Bugsmusic. i remember one of my cousins once saying that he wished English never existed. right now, i wish stupid lock icons with impossible Korean descriptions never existed.

i finally started reading The Chronicles of Narnia for the first time in my life. it's nice reading story books again. i think i've been stuck in a theological book camp without any room for regular literature. of course, i still have my bathroom reading, so i'm still trying to finish my neverending list of theological books.

i also started exercising in the morning too. there's this secret park that my dad discovered behind all these apartments in the hills. i jog up a billion stairs, walk up another hill, and gasp for oxygen when i reach the park. i don't know if i'm just really out of shape or if the polluted air has gotten the best of my lungs. whatever it is, i feel great when i am finished.

man, i sure could go for a Tour of Italy from Olive Garden right now.

Thought of the Day: Marty.
Song of the Day: JuJu Club-으아이으

the other day, there was some leftover food for me at work...

me: do you want to have some?
joe: no, that's alright. i already had some food.
me: well, if you want to eat, just take some.
ron (3rd grader): are you guys fighting?

kids are already funny to begin with. the fob factor takes it to another level.

Joe, our oldest (and best) teacher told us all that he will be leaving Elite in February because he got a job offer at the number one high school in Korea. although i've barely known him for two months, i have learned that he is a great teacher with a great personality. he's just one of those guys that everyone loves. his work ethic and attitude really puts me to shame, especially with everyone at work knowing that i'm the Christian teacher. Joe is the only person in my life who constantly asks how my Sunday Bible studies are going. it's so humbling to see your nonchristian peers living more exemplary lives than you. man, how does he do it?

this is the longest i've gone without driving in my life. i'm actually starting to miss it, not that i would dare try to drive in a place like Seoul. NO THANK YOU. anyways, as i was walking into my building, i noticed that my dad's car was gone. that's strange. he's usually home around this hour. when i came into my place, my dad was lying down at his usual spot in his red sweats. my dad sold the car! 3,600,000won (approximately $3,600). not bad for an eight year old piece of junk. i was pretty happy about the deal. my dad was more bittersweet. i guess he really liked that car...and that's something that i can understand.

do you remember that old Korean group, Ju Ju Club? their music is SO weird! but the thing is, their music sounds so weird that i almost like them. kinda reminds me of Jungabung. she's really weird too.

Thought of the Day: Ironic.
Song of the Day: TwoTwo-일과 이분의 일

Jaepil and i busted a crazy. WE WENT TO BUSAN!!! we took a midnight bus and arrived at 4:45am. the first and craziest thing we saw was this junior high student (still in her uniform) walking in the streets at such an ungodly hour. she either just finished studying or she was getting a head start on life! either way, that was ridiculous.


before we departed, we ate some food at one of those food carts. just in case you were wondering, those are NOT my soju bottles.

we had gotten there earlier than we had expected, so we just planned our trip and waited for the subways to open at 5:30.


we luckily found a 24 hour 짜장면 place, so we had our breakfast there. we couldn't believe there were other people there too.

can you believe it? 2,000won 삼겹살!!!

we saw the ocean from three different spots.




this subway station had 15 different exits. that probably interests no one except me.

finally, we hit up the famous Jagalchi Market where they sell all kinds of fresh seafood.



anyways, we took the KTX back to Seoul, and i was only five minutes late to work. i was SO glad that my boss hadn't come in that day. man, i was so tired.

my coworkers call me "Phil the Phantom" because i quickly disappear and leave right after work without them. i have separate classes from them, so they have no idea what's going on with me at work either. "I don't even know who you are, man! Do you come to fix the copy machine or something?" said Joe. haha. work is so weird to me sometimes. the funny thing is, i think i'm the weirdo to everyone.

i've been watching plenty of old school movies with my dad. we've been hitting up a whole bunch of Hitchcock movies lately. i swear the fifties was the best time in the world. i particularly like seeing San Francisco from back in the day. i can't quite articulate what's so attractive about it all. i wish i could have lived in the fifties...as a white man of course. i don't think Asians were treated too nicely back in those times.

my dad taught me how to play jangi (Korean chess). i seriously hate this game cause it's so dang hard. the red pieces have different Chinese characters from the green pieces. i feel like playing jangi is like playing with chess pieces that are drunk. chess is so much more organized and logical. screw the billion characters! chess has pieces that are carved out for clear distinction that both sides share. as my brother wrote in his college essay, chess is a way of life. the funny thing is that my dad said the same thing when he taught me how to play jangi. lack of familiarity is never a pleasant feeling. i think jangi is very similar to my stay in Korea. this complicated game really is a way of life; it's just very unfamiliar to me. surely, the motherland often acts like a game of jangi to me. i can either learn to play the game and improve or conclude that the game sucks. for now, this game is so hard.


here's a random picture of one of my cousins and his girlfriend after his musical performance. i think only Simon would care about this picture.

Thought of the Day: Beanies.
Song of the Day: The Fray-How To Save A Life

went to my first palace in Korea. i took all these other pictures of the actual palace, but they're boring. i like this one the best.

Jaepil and i went to Namsan Tower too. we were lucky that it was unusually clear, so we were able to see all of Seoul. as i told him, pictures can never do justice, so i stopped taking pictures. we had to go back to the terrace three times cause the view was that nice.

this is my favorite class that i teach. two students who really struggle with English but manage to make me smile every time i see them. during our five minute break times, most of my older students like to knock out while they can. it kills me to have to wake them up for the next lesson. lately, i've been having some trouble with my spelling. my SSAT student had to point out that i had written "judje" and "imigrate" on the board. i can't believe those words looked absolutely fine to me. i was like, "what? what's wrong with it?" sad, dude.

this was the Thanksgiving dinner i had with my dad when i got home. leftover kimbab, instant miyok gook, and my Frankenstein pasta.

i realized that i really don't read enough, so i got myself to start reading on the bus and subways. besides my bathroom reading, i've been reading this book called "O. Henry's American Scenes." it's a buncha short stories with meaningful twists and ironies that are supposedly known by every Korean high school student. *shrug* in the light of Thanksgiving, i read a very touching and appropriate story with a quote i'd like to share:

“Good morning. I am glad to see that the troubles of another year have not hurt you. You continue to move in health about the beautiful world. For that blessing you and I can give thanks on this day of Thanksgiving. If you will come with me, my man, I will give you a dinner that will surely make your body feel as thankful as your mind.”

-Old Gentleman from Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen

coming to Korea, i've learned to be more grateful for my family. i think i secretly assumed that most families were healthier and happier than mine. i learned the contrary. there's alotta screwed up, unhappy relationships out there. a good family is such a wonderful gift from God. i still cannot believe it. what are you thankful for?

Thought of the Day: $20.
Song of the Day: Red Hot Chili Peppers-Otherside

i can't believe how much time it takes to email and blog.

this past weekend, my dad took me to where he grew up as a child. since the traffic was so bad, we first hit up a recommended restaurant.


you can't see everything in the picture, but there were actually 15 different banchans on our table. 15!!!

then we hit up my dad's old elementary schools. he actually told me a really funny story from his childhood. my grandfather was actually the principal of the school, so he used to give speeches to the whole school while all the kids lined up in their classes. well, this one time, my grandfather was giving a speech, and students started laughing. my grandfather continued to his speech, but again there was laughter! my grandfather looked around his clothes and wiped his face, but there was nothing wrong. but when he turned around, he saw my four year old dad who was imitating him the whole time in front of the whole school. haha. so funny.


this is where my dad used to live when he was in 5th grade. the place is locked up, and no one lives there. since the school provides housing for the principal, their house was right next to the school.

my dad lived in a very rural yet peaceful area. as a kid, he didn't watch tv or play video games. he used to climb trees and race down mountains with his friends.



and to finish off the weekend, Grace, Jane, and Pris took me to Costco. their Bulgogi Bake is the closest thing to a burrito i'll get. quite delicious by the way.


i'm really sad that i'm going to miss Thanksgiving this year. turkey, hold'em, and Black Friday. you guys are so lucky. i like to tell my students about Thanksgiving food and how much i miss it. they laugh at how sad i get. it really is no laughing matter though. because i'm missing out on this wonderful holiday, i've already fastforwarded to Christmas mode. i already made my "Christmas Mix" last week, so i'm already in the happy holiday season. "Give up the dough on Christmas, yo!"

Thought of the Day: Longer hair.
Song of the Day: Tony Bennett-Winter Wonderland