Last post of 2008.

How to spend a New Year's Eve:

1. Tutor from 9-7:40.

2. Cancel 돌돌이 plans (I know, right?).

3. Watch an episode of LOST.

4. Read a chapter from The Purpose Driven Life.

5. Finish reading Momo.

6. Watch an episode of 30Rock.

7. Wish my mom a Happy New Year over the phone.

Quotes of the day:

"HAPPY NEW YORK!"

Me: My new year's resolution is to...
Student: Get a girlfriend?

9 years ago from now, the world was anticipating the start of a new millennium. I celebrated it the right way-I went to bed. And with that said, I am now going to bed once again on New Year's Eve. Happy New Year!

Thought of the Day: Happy New Year!
Song of the Day: 숙명 가야금 연주단-Let It Be

This week's persecuted church: Vietnam
Hmong people, an ethnic minority group, has been growing in the number of Christians. However, the government sees it as a threat and many are being persecuted. Bounty hunters are offered $44 for every human head. Men are having their Achilles tendons cut off. People are tied up and thrown into rivers to drown. But the church continues to grow rapidly.


I was waiting for the subway today and saw our church on the huge local map. I think it's really neat how they drew the picture of the building quite accurately.

As today is the last Sunday of 2008, our small group shared New Year's Resolutions for 2009. Last year was the first time in my life where I made real resolutions. The amazing part is that I not only accomplished them but went even further with my goals.

Goal #1: Finish memorizing 1,000 Korean vocabulary words.
Result: Memorized 1,100 words.

Goal #2: Finish reading 흥부전 and 심청전.
Result: Finished both AND 장화홍련전.

I actually really wanted to finish 콩쥐 팥지전 too, but December just became way too busy. But after I finish that, I want to read 소나기. Just goin' down the list. If I become really ambitious, I might even take my dad's advice and start some basic 한자 too. Ugh. It never ends!

I'm all done with 30Rock, so now I'm on to LOST. Both so very different.

Memorable Quotes:
"You wanna get drunk?"
"No, there's too many phones in here."

"A guaranteed disaster! Like eating a burrito before having sex."

I'll miss you Miss Lemon just like I missed Dwight Schrute.

My good friend, Zen, told me that 2008 was a really bad year for her. I agree with her. In fact, I think it was one of the worst years of my life. Thank goodness it is almost over! Nevertheless, it had its good memories that will go down in Phil history.

(in no particular order)
-Yom in Korea
-Wednesday morning Bible studies
-church retreats
-고성
-Dark Knight
-snowboarding
-escape from Elite prison
-Shenyang
-every single dinner at 돌돌이
-every single dinner with 정우
-도계 trip
-나미섬
-mom in Korea
-Jeju
-Olympics
-monthly dates with 정원

Thanks for the memories, 2008. Let's see what you got, '09.

Thought of the Day: 비빔밥
Song of the Day: The Postal Service-Such Great Heights

Funny how every time I hang out with Jae, we hang out like crazy. On this Christmas day, we watched our favorite chick flick at his 비디오방.


Where's my girl standing in front of me asking him to love her?

On the way home, I listened to all these old school slow jams that I used to listen to in my teens. I went back to slow dancing to Boyz II Men in 7th grade and to those sleepless nights because of some girl who had stolen my heart. As I was listening to Brandy, I came to realize that there have actually been three separate girls who made me cry! Girls may be physically weaker than guys, but when it comes to hearts, they're freakin' buff and ruthless. *sigh* Our kryptonite that we cannot live without.

Thought of the Day: 마늘 떡볶이
Song of the Day: Ronan Keating-When You Say Nothing At All

I think today's sermon was the best Christmas sermon I've ever heard in my life. I didn't know that angels only sang at creation and Jesus' birth. I didn't know that shepherds were like thugs. I didn't know that Bethlehem was a no name town like Burlingame. But the most amazing thing was the parallel that Luke gives!

Jesus' Birth
Luke 2:7-She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Jesus' Death
Luke 23:53-Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid.

I was convicted to live more responsively to the Gospel once again. Pax Christi!

Thought of the Day: Mama Mia!
Song of the Day: Neyo-Because Of You Remix

Super X-mas Land. I can't believe it's already been 4 years.

When I was in high school and college, I used to go crazy with Christmas gifts. I'd literally spend hundreds of dollars every year, choosing clever gifts that I thought family and friends would appreciate. This year, I made the most money I've ever made in my life. But as far as Christmas gifts go, let's just say I'm not in high school anymore.

The other night, I had a goodbye dinner with an old coworker. There were two remarkable things that she said to me that night. Number one. "I want a relationship with a guy like the relationship that you have with 삼겹살." Number two. "...you're the first person in a very long time who actually made me want to be a Christian..." Like woah.

14 students. Extravaganza begins Monday. -8 degrees. Bring it.

Thought of the Day: Ivy
Song of the Day: Epik High-One

For those who share my love for hip hop:

Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee...


First, Busy Bee.

Second, Kool Moe totally destroys him!

Here's a lil visual and perspective.

Here's what we have today.

KRS-One speaks.

There is definitely no one more passionate about hip hop than KRS-One. Every time he speaks, he seriously cannot and will not stop talking. He's very big on educating others on understanding hip hop culture and bringing change to community. I wish I had the same passion for spreading the gospel.

Thought of the Day: Tazza.
Song of the Day: Kool Moe Dee vs. Busy Bee Battle

This Week's Persecuted Church: Bangladesh

Laila Begum, 45-year-old convert from Islam, was stopped by a dozen Muslim neighbors who blocked her way and demanded money (about $3 US). Then they beat her, her husband, and son with iron rods and sticks. Local officials threatened to burn their houses down and evict them from the area if they filed a case against them. This is just one story out of the thousands in Bangladesh. Please remember them.


After watching the movie, I decided to read the actual book. I wish I had read the book first because all I could imagine were the various movie scenes. Honestly, I was disappointed by the things he chose to write about in his book. I wonder what kind of book I'd write if my only means of communication was through blinking. It was still quite something to think that I had read a book that was written with a left eye.
Now here's a book that I've been meaning to read for a while now. When I first met Momo at last year's Christmas party, she told me that she had chosen her name because of this book. I just started it, but early on it says, "...what Momo was better at than anyone else was listening. Anyone can listen, you may say - what's so special about that? - but you'd be wrong. Very few people know how to listen properly, and Momo's way of listening was quite unique." I think Momo lives up to her name.

Thought of the Day: 성막
Song of the Day: Krs-One-Ova Here

These days, I'm going nuts with ramen and chocopie. When I was young, I used to love ramen so much that sometimes I'd put the noodles in my mouth and just suck out all the soup before chewing them. But as I got older, I learned that ramen was bad for you and practically never touched the stuff. In fact, in college, I probably averaged two ramens per year (emergency food). Now, I ALWAYS throw in a cheese as I discovered the pleasures of cheese ramen. As for chocopie, I just never thought much of it even when I was young. But after coming to Korea, I learned the secret of freezing the chocolate marshmallow. Now I go bonkers every winter. I feel like a pregnant woman.
Another winter change my body experiences is dry skin. I absolutely cannot stop scratching my arms and legs. I don't know what I'd do without my milk & honey body lotion. Nevertheless, lotion doesn't last forever, and I go back to indulging my itch.

I just found out that my whole building gets one large water bill, so the residents split the bill 12 ways. Our electricity bill is divided by floors, which means that we split with our next door neighbor. We asked our landlord about it, but he just said to wait until they approached us. After living here for exactly two months now, we still have yet to pay for any electricity. *shrug* He's the boss. The billing system is so funny here. I could just leave my bathroom light on 24 hours!

Thought of the Day: 수도
Song of the Day: Showbiz & A.G.-The Next Level

This week's persecuted church: Cuba
Pastor Gude Perez was imprisoned for 6 months for "human trafficking," taking money to help people leave the country. He is involved with the "Apostolic Reformation," a group that is active in evangelism and church growth. The leaders and church members are harassed and threatened, and his wife can only see him once every 21 days. Remember the Christians of Cuba!

This past week, I learned that my dad is actually a pluralist, believing that all religions lead to God. I also learned that my 실장님 hadn't been going to church this whole time. The last time she had gone was in high school! I'm realizing that being a Christian can get harder as you get older. Life really ain't no youth group retreat. This world is so broken.So my phone started updating something through the Internet after I had tried to receive a certification approval text message. After the update, my phone started showing the weather forecast for the next three days. I was scared out of my mind that I'd have to pay for every second of Internet usage, but it turns out that it's all free. If I'm not connecting to the Internet, how am I getting these weather updates? Cell phones are crazy! And, no, that is not a cool picture of my phone.

Thought of the Day: Navigators
Song of the Day: Natalie Grant-In Christ Alone

I've been going to our Wednesday morning prayer meetings for a month now. Every time I wake up for it, I tell myself that I'm going to call Mike to tell him that I won't be making it out. But I somehow end up dragging myself out of bed and into the subway train. It's been really good every time I've gone, and I encourage everyone to join our 5 or less people group.

This week, I got a chance to meet Alex and Shinae, our Korean Canadian married couple. In one of our conversations, we were complaining about how Korean and Chinese people are notorious for selling fake goods. But out of no where, Alex simply exclaimed, "We got skills!" It was so funny hearing that from him, especially in the context of the conversation. It reminded me of the time when my high school friend, Pat, got a water cup at Taco Bell but used it to get free soda. I told him that he was a cheap Korean to which he responded, "Yea Yea, Korean Pride!" This incident reminds me of the story that Pastor Ryan told in one of his sermons when his dad would pick up pennies from the ground and say, "Penny도 돈이야!" This anecdote reminds me of the times when my mom would take towels home from the gym that she used to work out at. Just ask Simon...we have a GANG of towels at home. Koreans are so funny.

My old coworker and buddy, Brian, wrote to me today. Here's a sample of what he wrote:

"If you aren't happy, you gotta change things. Your life story isn't already written man, you are writing it yourself, every f*cking day! So carpe mother f*cking diem."

"I drank to you and to the best job in the world a couple of times here. People just kind of look at me like I'm crazy. That's true and all, but still.

You're always my boy Phil. Always got your back."

I had a good laugh at the carpe dium part. Brian is a good reminder to me that this world is full of very lost people. He also reminds me that people actually do swear a lot in emails and chatting...something I'm not very used to. But yeah, he promised me the best time in Thailand, so that's my next biggest goal. I'm gonna throw Korean girlfriend out the window.

I started reading Roald Dahl's Collected Stories. The only problem is that it's over 800 pages and heavier than my Bible. Not only is it a pain to carry around, but I get even more stares in the subway. I'm sure the cover doesn't help either. Which is why I'm going to Kyobo tomorrow to buy Kite Runner and Momo (the book). I can read Roald Dahl shamelessly alone in my room and read the others shamelessly out in public. I can't believe I'm buying books now.

I finished The Office. I finished Arrested Development. Guess who's next in line.

Tina Fey is great!

Thought of the Day: 1일 이체 한도...
Song of the Day: Lee Hyun Woo-마취