when people asked me why i was going to Korea, my most common answers were to learn korean/culture and make some money. the answer that i practically never mentioned was that i was going to spend more time with my dad. i feel like my dad is a mystery to many people including myself. just in case you were wondering, my parents are not divorced. in fact, i think their marriage is one of the healthiest Korean marriages i've ever seen in our parents' generation! but just to clarify, here's my E! True Hollywood Story:

when i was in elementary school, my parents opened up a dry cleaners in downtown SF. unfortunately, it did very poorly, and we went bankrupt. my dad saw an opportunity to make some dough in Korea doing some kinda business. he left my 4th grade winter and did decently in the beginning. but after a couple of years, the infamous IMF pounced on Korea, and my family took a pretty hard hit. this was the start of my dad's cycle of seeing great opportunities and failing business after business to this very day.

tangent: for those of you who wondered why you thought i was an only child, this is pretty much why. after not living with a father for twelve years, you learn to grow up quickly and live independently. sure i could be a brat, but i, Dr. Phil, strongly suggest that my "only child" persona is mainly due to my independent behavior and disposition as a result of environmental factors.

i think i held an unspoken bitterness towards my dad throughout high school. i really could not comprehend why we lived separately AND STILL struggle financially. i mean, let's at least struggle together as a family, right? but yeah, through many absent years, my eyes started viewing my father as a familiar stranger. it had even gotten to the point where i was afraid of how i would react if he were to pass away. would i even cry for him? i honestly did not know.

luckily, there's a happy ending to this story. in approximately seven hours, i will have been in Korea for exactly six weeks. a lot can happen in six weeks. as i reflect on the weekends that i have spent with my dad, i am indescribably grateful to God for allowing me to spend some quality time with my physical father. i have gotten to the point where i can actually look forward to visiting him after church. i even prefer having him move in with me if he did not have his lease contract. he is no longer a familiar stranger in my eyes. rather, he is once again the father i once knew in my early childhood. if he were to pass away, would i cry for him? you wouldn't believe it, but i am actually typing in tears right now just thinking about it.

now is that touching or what?!

my dad tells me many wonderful stories about his past. i particularly love hearing stories about my grandfather whom i never met. literally, every single person, who's ever mentioned my grandfather, tells me that he was such a respectable man. my dad told me that when teenagers used to bow and greet my grandfather, he would bow even lower and the teenagers would feel really embarrassed because of his humility. although he only lived in San Francisco for a few years, everyone in the Korean enclave knew who he was. when he passed away, they say that he received more flowers at his funeral than the mayor of San Francisco did at the mayor's funeral. pretty awesome, huh? i feel like whenever i listen to these stories, i'm having a personal "Godfather Part 2" experience. my grandfather was truly gangster.

you know, i actually had a pretty terrible Friday. everything from chronic diarrhea to bipolar students to cancelled meetings. it was just a BAD day. but you know what cheered me up a lot? watching the junior class' "Had A Bad Day" video on my ipod. that video seriously does wonders for me. anyways, as opposed to crappy Friday, today's Sunday was very wonderful. i learned which bus to take to get dropped off right in front of church. i learned that if i transfer correctly every time, it takes exactly one hour to get to church, which is freakin' good considering how far away i live from church. i actually understood much of today's sermon, which wasn't Christ-centered, but at least i understood that it wasn't. today's Bible study also went much better than last week's. well, i guess ANYTHING would have been better than last week, but i actually enjoyed teaching today. last week, we supposedly had 62 students. today, we only had 48. yeah, ONLY 48. i gave the kids a good laugh though when i accidentally translated "miracle" as "fainting" in Korean (기적 vs. 기절). after Bible study, this little boy who was really impressed came up to me and told me that i was REALLY good at English. haha. like i said, a very wonderful Sunday!

here are some pictures i don't really feel like explaining, so just make up your own story. i hope you too, will have a very wonderful Sunday.





Thought of the Day: 32,000.
Song of the Day: MercyMe-Homesick