Yesterday, I heard a story where a wife emailed her husband and said that every time she woke up in the morning, she wished that she could wake up next to him. That story saddened me so much.

Thought of the Day: "Pac's a strong dude."
Song of the Day: Green Day-When I Come Around

Last winter, Zen brought me a big bag of Nacho Cheese Doritos. As grateful as I was, I didn't touch them this entire time...until today. I was a little afraid that they'd be old and stale cause the bag was mad dusty. Fortunately, the chips went GREAT with my little sandwich. The funny thing is that I had this huge orange for dessert too. It was essentially the same exact lunch I used to pack every single day in high school. I remember how Dykas used to be amazed at how I could eat the same dang sandwich every single day. One word. Doritos!

Thought of the Day: 하숙.
Song of the Day: Shinhwa-Yo!

Sunshine, you would've been so proud of me!

Acts 19:34-But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

Acts 26:28-29Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

I was reading through Acts, and I realized that the Bible can be so different when you read through many chapters at once and found myself finishing the book. Acts is like is a freakin' movie. I can only imagine how hard it must have been for Luke to record all of those crazy events. Even blogging about all of your crazy events is hard enough. I'd encourage you to read through any epistle the whole way through (although Acts is not an epistle). You seriously get the feeling that it was meant to be a letter and not just a "Bible passage."

Thought of the Day: 1.5
Song of the Day: Chris Tomlin-Unfailing Love

I can't remember the last time my eyes were bloodshot red. I need some physical rest. Good night.

Thought of the Day: Snowboarding!
Song of the Day: Kim Dong Ryul-취중진담

Lately, I've been getting a lot of positive feedback about how much my students like me as a teacher. While feeling flattered off my feet, one of my previous students pulled me aside after class and asked me why every single class seemed to like me except for hers. She was absolutely dumbfounded by how the other students could even like me.

Lara, I don't know.

This is a very special weekend for me for many reasons. Tomorrow, I am going snowboarding for the first time in Korea. I am also meeting up with my really good friend, Christine, after not seeing her ever since she found out that she did not pass her English Teacher exam. In addition, 종성 will be taking his Government Official test. Finally, one of my students is going to take the TOEFL on Sunday. In conclusion, this will be a very special weekend for me.

Now that's a good response for TOEFL speaking.

Thought of the Day: 폐인
Song of the Day: Utada Hikaru-Time Limit

On Valentine's Day, I got one tutoring job and three more offers. Today, I sealed the deal with two of the offers, so now I'm just waiting for the last one.

"Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in."
-The Godfather, Part III

Thought of the Day: Philip is a dummy.
Song of the Day: The Vines-Get Free

When I go back to the states, I wanna try me a cannoli!

Thought of the Day: "Look at my life!"
Song of the Day: Jason Mraz-I'm Yours

So I was looking through all the pictures I have on my computer, and I ran into a few that I never knew I ever had.













Coincidentally, I was browsing through youtube and happened to come upon this old video as well.

The past always seems to be happier than the present. I guess it would only make sense to take pictures and record the good times.

Thought of the Day: Juno
Song of the Day: Jungle Brothers-Jungle Brother (True Blue)

From Dinko:

1. The candied hawthorns are called bingtang hulu.
2. Peking duck is most definitely not "really expensive" for Chinese people. It's just not cheap.
3. It's a ferris wheel, not a carousel!
4. Man TOU. "Man toe" makes it sound like the toe of a man.
5. The school is CALIFORNIA International University.
6. Hao. Not hou.
6. Xie xie. Not shie shie.

I'M SO STUPID!

Thought of the Day: Happy New Year.
Song of the Day: The Offspring-Why Don't You Get A Job

About two months ago, Dinko and I entertained the thought of me visiting him in Shenyang, China. Well, four days ago, we made that entertaining thought happen.


Possibly one of the biggest statues I've ever seen in my life...


of Mao Zedong.


Shenyang has the dirtiest air my lungs have ever breathed in. I thought LA was bad. Then I thought Seoul was bad. Looks like we have a new winner.


Here's Dinko with his first of many cokes and Chinese pork sandwich. Ghetto and good.





Cool looking McDonald's.


Underground shopping center where you can buy clothes,


cut your hair in front of everyone to see,


eat food,


and, of course, get your tattoos.


Many of the entrances/exits had these screen covers that really annoyed me.





KFC is the biggest fast food chain in China.


For our first real meal, we had Taiwanese food. You can't really tell from the picture, but this restaurant had the biggest menus in the world.


The drinks with the "Hoping" sticker are the ones the restaurant does not have at the moment. That is why you must keep "hoping" for them.


I chose milk tea, and it tasted nothing like the stuff from Tapioca Express. Ginormous, no?








Of course, none of this would have been possible without our good friend, Nick. He is one of Dinko's students who recently decided to become a Christian. Before Dinko left for China, I made a 1 year commitment to pray for him every single day. Meeting Nick was a great reminder that God listens to, answers, and uses our prayers.


Almost every place had these red decorations because the Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year) is coming up.


I forget what these are called, but Dinko insisted that I had to eat these Chinese candy apple things. Very delectable.


This sheki actually lives like a king in China. His place seriously feels like a hotel room.









While he lives in this,



many people have to live in these.






Dinko's favorite Chinese food is Peking Duck.


Although it's really expensive for Chinese people, this whole meal probably only costed less than $20.


After lunch, we had the opportunity to go to a Chinese Sunday service filled with hundreds of Chinese Christians. It was so encouraging to see so many of a minority come together to worship our Lord on the Sabbath. It was also great to take Nick to his first church service.


Here is a freakin' good restaurant that one of Dinko's bosses, Mrs. Lee, took us out to. That night was the coldest weather I had ever experienced in my life. With the wind chill factor, it was probably around -20 degrees Celsius, which would be around -4 degrees Farenheit.


At the nicer restaurants, you actually order by looking at the food displays and showing the waiter what you want.


Check out your options.


Mrs. Lee is very good in Korean, Chinese, and English. Although she is Korean, she has this awesome Chinese woman laugh. She was great.








World's best shrimp.


I actually LOVE dumplings (mandoo), but we ate them so much so frequently that I am officially sick of them now. I even had to eat it again for airplane food.


One of the highlights of my China trip was being able to visit a city called Dandong. It's the city that's located right next to the border of North Korea.





Here is a picture of the Broken Bridge that was damaged during the Korean War. The bridge behind it had trucks that were delivering stuff into North Korea.





Dinko and I thought it was funny how there was a random carousel in that dreary area of North Korea.





Paul is another one of Dinko's previous students who was actually from Dandong. He was an excellent tour guide and took very good care of us. He, too, is a Christian.














As you can see, we were able to get awful close to North Korea. It was amazing.








We actually walked on the Broken Bridge too.











After the North Korea stuff, Paul's family made us an awesome lunch with all kinds of great seafood. I swear, I thought of how much Terrance would have loved all the wonderful things we got to eat.


Before, I came to China, I asked Dinko if we'd be able to check out the Great Wall of China. I was pretty disappointed when he told me that it just wouldn't be possible with the transportation and large population during the Chinese New Year.


But to our surprise, Dandong happened to have a different part of the Great Wall!











It was quite a long walk to get to the top of Tiger Mountain.


While Beijing's part of the Great Wall would be packed, we had our part all to ourselves.





Killer steps.


More killer steps.











You wouldn't believe how steep these steps were. You had to walk like a giant in order to get down to the next step.





Paul's family actually became Christians after his mom asked her Christian sister to appear in a dream from heaven before the sister died. Paul said that after his mother saw her sister appearing like an angel in a dream, she turned to Christ. It was awesome seeing Paul's mom praying before eating her meal.


The Epic Picture.


As Dinko said, the Great Wall was good for us physically, emotionally, and even spiritually.


There were fireworks going off everyday at random times of the day and night. I'm kinda sad that I can't see how crazy they go on the actual New Year day.


China's greatest invention is not the compass, paper, gunpowder, or printing. It's MAN TOE!


Chinese Hot Pot. The soup on the right is FUNKY. The peppers make your tongue go numb. Very interesting stuff.


Our only real form of transportation. You thought LA had crazy drivers. Then you thought Seoul had crazy drivers. Actually, Shenyang wins again. You actually have to see it for yourself.


Dinko trying to catch us a taxi.


This is the school that he works at called Chinese International University.








After checking out his school, we actually went to go get a real Chinese massage. All I gotta say is Dinko likes to break toilets, and I don't believe in underwear. Quite an unforgettable experience. Unfortunately, I did not have any opportunities to take pictures there.


After our massage, Dinko's BOSS boss wanted to take us out to dinner. Check out this meat cake!





One thing I've come to learn about Chinese people is that they're stinkin' hospitable. They also love to overfeed you.

Dinko: I'm so full!
Boss: Should I order some more meat?

I gained a couple of pounds in a matter of days.


I always knew Dinko liked to drink coke, but I never knew how bad it was until recently. That fool's gonna die early.


Finally, during our down time, we became very intimate with Freaks and Geeks. This is an awesome TV show that only lasted for one season back in 2000. We finished all 18 forty-five minute episodes during my time there. Hey, Dinko, did you know that Linda Cardellini (Lindsay) was 24 years old in that show?!

During my stay in China, one of my LG students emailed me:

When you come to Korea, plz call me.

We hope you to join lunch/dinner or beer time in February.(ASAP)


Isn't that hilarious?


China was "HOU!" Shie Shie, Dinko.


새해 복 많이 많이 받으세요.

Thought of the Day: Great Lovefest.
Song of the Day: Pure Harmony-If (Kamikaze Mix)