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