If you've been expecting an email from me for many months now, I am finally on my vacation, which means that you should get one any day now depending on your ticket number. Sorry for the delays; I'm a businessman.

But before I get into any details, I'd like to take this moment to congratulate myself on finishing ALL of my required reading for my student David. In addition to that, I have succeeded in meeting one out of two of my new year's resolutions, which was to finish reading my 흥부전 and 심청전 book before 2009. The other resolution was to finish learning my 1000 Korean vocabulary words. I only have 600 left. Only.

EM SUMMER RETREAT

Joanne and her amazing youth ministry.


While Evelyn was scared for her life, her mother was busy capturing this Kodak moment with my camera.


What a mom!


I actually had the privilege of washing Yom's feet.


Jesus Rangers!



Speech Contest

This boy always wins second or third place.


Our awesome AWESOME 실장님...


with the most awesome AWESOME stress.


My female coworkers.

고성

I've been meaning to visit 종성's place for a long time, but I finally got a chance to squeeze in a few days in my vacation. He first took me to where they have the famous Dinosaur Expo. I used to LOVE dinosaurs!


He was going to show me this really cool cave area, but then these not-so-cool waves surprised us and destroyed our shoes and pants.


회's expensive, but 종성's a good guy.


His father's church.


Their old church.


Their dope pad.


고성


was


very


beautiful!


종성's Sunday School


One of the best things I got to do was go bike riding in the open fields of the countryside.


Reminded me of the childhood scenes from 가을 동화.


Crazy big tombs.


Very high.


Doesn't this remind you of the standard Windows XP desktop picture?


Along with bike riding, I thoroughly enjoyed playing pingpong with 종성!


The wonderful thing about the countryside is that there's nothing to do. Living in Seoul, I'm ALWAYS doing something, even for leisure. However, what I wanted to do more than anything during this vacation was to DO NOTHING. My favorite time in 고성 was whenever I just sat on the floor in 종성's room just looking outside his window. Thank you for the real vacation, friend.

제주도 (my not so relaxing vacation)

My dad and I first took the KTX all the way down to 목포, which is as far south of Korea as you can get.





Couldn't even fit in all the 반찬 in the picture.


From 목포, we took a ferry down to 제주도.


Everyone just chose a spot on the floor and did whatever to pass the time for 5 hours.


So we have this family friend who took care of us so well. On the way to our first meal, he called the restaurant and just told them to "get it ready." So gangster.


Amazing 볶음.


His phone was blowing up 24/7, making plans for golf and rescheduling flight plans for important people. Crazy busy.


Breakfast.


한라산, the highlight for my dad. This monster is 1900m tall, which would make it the tallest mountain in South Korea.


I was fairly happy before we started.


The power of Jeju typhoons!


Very beautiful day.


Cup ramen, the thing to do at one of the high points of the mountain.




Look how focused I am.


There were SO MANY STAIRS.


Oh yeah, and there were SO MANY STAIRS.


Did I mention to you that there were SO MANY STAIRS?


The top! This is the huge valley/crater in the middle of the mountain. I noticed that there wasn't too much water on any part of this mountain...probably because it's a volcano.





Still happy.


Very clear day.





I was so sweaty that I had to change shirts. Unfortunately, I jacked up the second one too. It was crazy windy up there!


Going back down. This was when my smile slowly turned upside down.





I was so tired that I just stopped taking pictures. I also grew an incredible hate for rocks.


I gathered up all my energy to take one last picture. As you can see, my dad had zero problems coming down. I, on the other hand, was cursing all of creation. Freaking 7+ hours! I officially quit hiking.


Out of all the things in Jeju, I was looking forward to the 흑돼지 삼겹살 the most.


Unfortunately, I was disappointed. 돌돌이 still holds the gold in my heart.


This gave me a good laugh.


More breakfast.


This was the cleanest water I've ever seen in my life.





Lots of seafood since we were on an island.


I was actually very bitter during this part of the trip because my legs were killing me after 한라산. My dad kept taking us to places that required walking up and down stairs no matter how many times I groaned with every step. The man knows nothing of compassion.


But after taking a short nap with some shade and scenery, I felt much better.


성산일출봉. My personal favorite place in Jeju.


MORE STAIRS!!!


AHHH!!!





At the top, there was this carpet of trees. Very beautiful.


For our grand finale, we got invited to a bbq party where there was so much meat and alcohol.


The youngest person there was this 39-year-old mom who was only drinking 소맥s (소주 + 맥주) the whole night. Amazing Koreans.


This 흑돼지 did so much more justice.


Unfortunately, my camera ran out of battery after a couple of pictures after this one. After all the eating and drinking, these three 아줌마s busted out guitars as they started performing all these old school Korean songs from their college days. It was so much fun! It was really funny watching them sing their clumsy "You Are My Sunshine." Such a great way to end Jeju.


"Get ready, Tank. We're gonna blow up cities tonight." I'm really going to miss Yom.

Dude, August was nuts!

Thought of the Day: Overrated.
Song of the Day: 거북이-비행기

I hate war movies, so I assumed I'd hate war stories. This was different and gave me a new perspective on a soldier's experience. Nevertheless, it was still war.
"...you could tell about a person not from what he believed, but by what worried him."

"Cowardice is what you make of it."


I have never cared for the Olympics until this year. Watching your native country play while you're actually in the native country is a very special experience. I can walk into any one of my classrooms and ask my students about the results of the previous day's events. They all know! As soon as I come home from a hard day's work, I always ask my dad what we won in that day. I don't even have to think twice about who to cheer for if it was Korea vs. USA. In fact, there's a part of me that wants Korea to win even more being the traitor that I am!

But with all that aside, more than the matches themselves, the best parts are watching the players' reactions after winning/losing. The picture above shows a picture of one of our women's ping pong players after winning against Japan for the bronze medal. She and her partner were crying so much as if they had won the gold. It was really really beautiful. Probably my favorite Olympic moment thus far.

I've come to enjoy watching the women's events more than the men's. There's something really passionate in the way women compete in sports. Even though Korea got the gold in taekwondo for both men and women just a few minutes ago, I thoroughly enjoyed watching 임수정's match so much more.

I finish my summer intensives for the last time tomorrow. It's practically all finished as tomorrow is speech contest day and my report cards are all freakin' done. To make matters better, I got food poisoning on Tuesday but recovered like crazy today. My dad was SO convinced that I had a fever of 110 degrees that he was THIS close to taking me to the hospital in the middle of the night. It was almost worth getting sick just to feel the restoration and recovery (but man were those some heinous days!). Thanks to those who prayed. God heard and answered indeed.

Some more good news! Not only is my boss going to keep her end of my ambiguous contract, but I've also officially told her that I will be leaving Elite for good. Take one more look at the picture above, and you'll get a glimpse of how I feel. If anyone needs a hakwon job, Elite's hiring. Ha!

Thought of the Day: Fall.
Song of the Day: TVXQ-HUG (Soft Electricity Mix)

"Human beans is the only animals that is killing their only kind."
-the BFG

It is two hours past my bed time, and I can't even tell you how many cursed papers I've had to read and correct today. I've restrained myself from saying this so many times, but I just don't care anymore. I hate my job. There. I said it. But one song that randomly caught my attention while grading papers was The All-American Rejects' "Swing Swing"...the lyrics, in particular, actually.

Swing, swing
From the tangles of
My heart is crushed by a former love
Can you help me find a way to carry on again?

All these years, I never knew what this song was about. Until today. But with that said, I got a text message from Karen a few hours ago. That means two things. 1. She went out of her way to find my number to get in contact with me. 2. Christine is still alive. Praise God for both!

Korea's totally rocking more gold medals than I expected. The Olympics are SO MUCH better in the motherland.

Imma hate life in the morning.

Thought of the Day: Moka.
Song of the Day: The All-American Rejects-Swing Swing

"The horror, the horror" of reading this book! One of the hardest books I've ever read in my life.
I actually saw the TV movie with Halle Berry in it first. Books are always so much better.

“Aw, don’t make God look so foolish-findin’ fault wid everything He made.”
-Tea Cake

“If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don’t keer if you die at dusk. It’s so many people never seen de light at all. Ah wuz fumblin’ round and God opened de door.”
-Janie

“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.”
-Zora Neale Hurson

I really like this last quote especially because I totally had an epiphany today. These days, I've been really blessed with so many different tutoring jobs. This morning, I got a very unexpected call from my very first private student in Korea whom I had not seen since Christmas Eve. I began to think of how I even came to meet him in the first place. I traced him back to Tommy's family from the Sanbon church I used to attend. Then I realized that Tommy's mom was the one who had also introduced me to Sang Wan. Sang Wan recently introduced me to Sung Woo. Basically, I have this strong network of private students because of one family that I had met in Sanbon.
I can also see why God wanted me to stay at Elite for one more year instead of starting something new at IBS. Through my TOEFL class, I was able to meet David privately and receive a flood of other students as well. 2006-2007 were my years that asked many questions. 2008 is answering many of them.

One of the best performances I've seen in a long time. Amazing!
As my hiphop culture professor once said about Tupac Shakur, "What a damn shame."

Thought of the Day: Dark Knight
Song of the Day: Big Bang-마지막 인사

Check this sinful summer schedule out!

Mon
9:00-6:00
8:30-10:00

Tues
9:00-6:00
6:45-8:15

Wed
9:00-6:00
6:30-7:30
7:45-9:15
9:30-10:30

Thur
9:00-6:00
6:45-8:15

Fri
9:00-6:00
8:30-10:00

Sat
11:30-1:00
1:30-2:30
2:45-4:15
5:00-6:00

I've had it bad before, but it's never been THIS bad.
“Getting jolly well sick of this fun.”
-Joseph Conrad from The Congo Diary

Thought of the Day: Shin
Song of the Day: Usher-Love In This Club

Proverbs 5:21-For a man's ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all his paths.

Thought of the Day: 고성.
Song of the Day: Cool-사랑을 원해

“I’m tough. I’m indestructible. I’m like that coyote in ‘Road Runner’ who is always getting flattened and dynamited and crushed and in the next scene is strolling along, completely normal again.”
-Joe Melby from The Summer of the Swans

I have never read so much so quickly in my entire life.

Thought of the Day: Sons of the Most High
Song of the Day: 태양-넌 나만 바라봐

On Saturday, my student was telling me about how he didn't understand that "lol" meant "laughing out loud." So when he was inside a chatroom, everyone was using "lol," whereupon he typed "lollipop" to fit in with the conversation. Everyone told him to shut up and kicked him out of the server. This story really made me LOL.

I just finished Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." I think it started off well but ran out of gas towards the latter half. Ain't no "1984." Anyways, I think the author said some very good things in his interview:

“It has nothing to do with pay. Either you love what you’re dong, or…Look, I wrote for years, and I wasn’t paid. My love carried me through all those years. I sold newspapers on the street corner. When I was twenty-two, I was making ten dollars a week. When I started making twenty dollars a week from selling stories, I quit selling newspapers. You’re either in love with what you do, or you’re not in love.”

“Reading is at the center of our lives. The library is our brain. Without the library, you have no civilization.”

I like that last quote. Everyone knows I have a great heart for movies, but every book does something special that movies will never be able to do. These days, books ARE my movies (until Dark Knight)!

I start summer intensives tomorrow. If you need someone or something to pray about, there you go. I know I'll be.

Thought of the Day: Yom Da Bomb & Enoch The Hotdog
Song of the Day: Yom Da Bomb-I'm Yours

Freakin' past 4 AM! What am I doing?


Oh how I wish I could pop!

Thought of the Day: Cafe 다
Song of the Day: 태양-나만 바라봐

Nobody ever calls me, but the one time I didn't have my phone for a few days, a flood of people tried to contact me. It's like having countless free weekends but having no one to hang out with. Then there's that one weekend when you're called into work on a Saturday, and the whole world suddenly decides to see if you can play. You're right, Alanis. It really is ironic. Murphy's Law or whatever, right?


I finished "1984," which was totally good! Now I'm reading "Farenheit 451," which is very intriguing. Although many of my friends read all these good books in high school for English honors, I'm kind of glad that I'm reading them now when I can actually appreciate them. It all started with "The Good Earth." Subsequently, "Life of Pi" really threw me into a reading frenzy. You should see the stack of books I have on my desk now. I believe "bibliophile" is the word.

So I had all these funny stories from work I really wanted to write about, but I can't seem to remember any of them. Wonderful anecdotes forever lost! Sorry.

Thought of the Day: Shy.
Song of the Day: 태양-나만 바라봐

Now that's what I call a 공짜폰!

Thought of the Day: Beef Jerky.
Song of the Day: Um Jung Hwa-DJ

So it turns out that the 730 bus doesn't even go to 압구정. I was walking around for an hour in the pouring rain looking for a bus that didn't even exist. I think I had confused it with the 472 bus.


I've been playing with these two boys a lot these days.


(finished).
(disappointed).

The year I was born was a very dark year.
I've been reading a lot these days.


It's been raining a lot these days.


My brother is in Paraguay these days. Please pray for him.

A few nights ago, I couldn't remember if my real age was 23, 24, or 25. My youth group kids are going to be seniors in high school. Christine Kim is going to be a senior in college. Not only are we getting older, but so are the things that we own.

A few weeks ago, the sound in my right earphone started to go on and off. At first, I thought it was a problem with the song. Then I thought it was the ipod. Now, I know that my earphones are just getting old. I'm sure Enoch can relate...kinda.

Last week, one of my students asked if I had a cell phone. I told her yes. She asked if she could see it. I took out it out of my pocket. She looked at it and started laughing. Tomorrow, I'm going to change my phone.

Last night, I broke my glasses. This morning, I told my dad that I needed new glasses. He told me that it was time to get an eye exam anyways since it's been two years. Two years!

Last week, I was browsing through some of my past entries, and I found myself being fascinated by the many things I had gone through these past two years. I don't mean to brag, but I'm a freakin' warrior...

No guilt in life, no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell, no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
'Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

...because of Christ.

Thought of the Day: 번호 이동.
Song of the Day: Natalie Grant-In Christ Alone

I HATE 압구정!

Thought of the day: Monkey Juice.
Song of the Day: Lifehouse-Quasimodo

I don't know how many times I've told people about how jealous I am of this year's Mongolia team. I really really wanted to go this year, but the only thing that was holding me back was my job. Although it's a very legit reason to not go, I had all these crazy fantasies of just quitting my job so that I could do "the Lord's work."

This year, Zen went to Eritrea, Joanne went to Pyongyang, Mike & co. go to Mongolia, and Simon will be going to Paraguay. These are just a handful of the thousands of Christians who go to different cities and countries all over the world to further the Gospel. But what about you and me? What the heck are we doing?

One valuable thing that I learned from visiting Dinko in China back in February was that his life really wasn't too different from mine. He's abroad. I'm abroad. He teaches English to teenagers. I teach English to teenagers. He's had opportunities to share the Gospel with students and coworkers. I've had opportunities to share the Gospel with students and coworkers. But the funny thing is Dinko is on "missions," while Phil is making money in Korea. What's going on here?

I've come to realize more and more that we're all on "missions" all the time. Anything we are called to do in our life is the "Lord's work" that He has given us to do. Pastor Dennis who preaches in downtown Los Angeles every Sunday morning is doing his mission. Momo who cooks and cleans for her husband and daughter everyday is doing her mission. Then surely, Phil who teaches at his hakwon and tutors his students is doing his mission. Just as it would be ridiculous for a pastor to consider abandoning his church to help out another ministry in another country, it is ridiculous for me to consider quitting my job just to go and serve in Mongolia for a short period. As Colossians 3:23 tells us, "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord..."

Besides, the Church needs senders too.

Thought of the Day: Iron Lung.
Song of the Day: Lifehouse-Take Me Away

"Maybe she didn't even remember him. He was sure it made no difference to her on which day he appeared: for her, everyday was the same, and when everyday is the same as the next, it's because people fail to recognize the good things that happen in their lives every day that the sun rises."
-The Alchemist

Thought of the Day: Yom!
Song of the Day: DJ DOC-여름 이야기

Hiphop, you saved my life.





Thought of the Day: The Alchemist
Song of the Day: Lupe Fiasco-Hiphop You Saved My Life

"오늘 phil기도 많이 했어."

Dopest MOM hands down!

Sorry, Momo!

Thought of the Day: Mongolia Translation.
Song of the Day: Lifehouse-Take Me Away

I'm watching a lot of sad movies lately. Not what the doctor prescribed.

Thought of the Day: Pity.
Song of the Day: Epik High-유서

I was on a computer fast for one week but actually failed after staying home all day on a Saturday. The funny thing is, I wasn't doing it for any special cause, but I still found myself feeling guilty for failing with only two days to go. Oh well. But one thing that I learned from this fast was that I love to use my computer for emails, blogs, and music because they are the sources of my times of reflection. Whenever I came home from a long day's work, my substitutes for my computer were my journal and ipod. I usually write in my journal about once every few months. But this week, I must have written in it at least three times. I guess that's what I would do if I didn't have a computer. Anyways, it's good to be back.

Literature

I've been enjoying Life of Pi these days. I think Yann Martel is a terrific writer who really knows how to use his words well:

“To lose a brother is to lose someone with whom you can share the experience of growing old, who is supposed to bring you a sister-in-law and nieces and nephews, creatures to people the tree of your life and give it new branches. To lose your father is to lose the one whose guidance and help you seek, who supports you like a tree trunk supports its branches. To lose your mother, well, that is like losing the sun above you.”

Isn't that beautiful?

Movies

So the main reason why I broke my computer fast was because I wanted to finish the two Korean movies that my dad had gotten for me for my birthday so that I can send them back home with my mom. The first movie is called 손애보 or "Asako in Ruby Shoes." It's about two different lives that are very lonely. Gotta love them lonely movies, right? Totally loved the girl too.


The second movie I watched was 내 마음의 풍금. I've grown a special heart for Korean teacher movies just because I've "been there, done that." I'm also a sucker for unrequited love movies. If you've never taught in Korea before, you probably won't enjoy this.

Music


It should have rained today.

Thought of the Day: Asako.
Song of the Day: 숙명 가야금 연주단-Let It Be

2:13 AM - Mosquito rapes Phil over and over and over again.

Thought of the Day: 추신
Song of the Day: Weezer-Pork and Beans

Imma do the things that i wanna do
I ain't got a thing to prove to you



Gotta love that drummer!

Thought of the Day: Aspirin.
Song of the Day: Weezer-Pork and Beans

1 Kings 19:4-8-He came to a broom tree, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. "I have had enough, Lord," he said. "Take my life; I am not better than my ancestors." Then he lay down under the tree and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, "Get up and eat." He looked around, and there by his head was a cake of bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, "Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you." So he got up and ate and drank.

Just the other night, I was chatting with Dinko who has been sick for some time now. I told him I couldn't even begin to imagine what it would feel like to be sick right now with the hot weather. Well, guess who decided to join Dinko? Whenever others are sick, I always tell them to take plenty of fluids, get much rest, and EAT! But now that I'm the one who's sick, I find it so burdensome to take care of myself by looking after my meals and whatnot.

Yesterday at work, I was pretty much repeating the words of Elijah, "I have had enough, Lord. Take my life." With all the stress of work and illness, I really just wanted to give it all up. One of my coworkers has been having many obstacles with getting a visa, and she often proclaims, "I give up!" Last night, I was speaking with a friend who has been having it tough and has, in a sense, "given up."

Friends, if you are having pains and inconveniences in your life, let us be encouraged that our Lord calls us to "get up and eat." He will help us to keep going through this heinous journey called life. Are you eating your spiritual food everyday?

Thought of the Day: 좌절금지
Song of the Day: David Crowder Band-All Creatures Of Our God And King (No. 2)

"My eyes feel like they're gonna bleed
Dried up and bulging out my skull
My mouth is dry
My face is numb"

Do you guys know that one song by Green Day called "Brain Stew?" Well, I've been listening to it for years, but the lyrics just recently made so much sense to me. I was listening to it the other day, and the words were like poetry to my insomniac mind. If there's one thing that Cognitive Psychology and Korea has taught me, it's the importance of sleep. Lately, I've been having a lot on my mind (which robbed many hours of sleep), but one of my biggest issues was recently cleared up. But the amazing thing was that I felt my eyes begin to grow heavy and my body long for sleep as soon as my 고민 was resolved.

Thorns truly cause us to rest on Christ's power. But thank God that He also removes them according to His will. I think I'll be the one with the "good night" tonight.

Thought of the Day: 교회 아줌마
Song of the Day: Sara Groves-He's Always Been Faithful

Here is a picture of my favorite pencil/pen that I received as a gift from my dad in high school. I finally began to use it for work some time last year since this awesome tool not only functions as a mechanical pencil but also works as a black and red pen. Can you get any more perfect? It's especially helpful for grading papers and writing homework sheets for work. Anyways, maybe about a year ago, one of my students gave me another one of these pens as a gift just out of the blue for no particular reason. I gladly accepted it for two are always better than one. Then a couple of months ago, our EM members received the same exact pen as a gift for our three year anniversary. If two are better than one, then surely three must be better than two, right?

Two weeks ago, I lost my first pen at work. Rather, someone took it from me and did not bother to ask if anyone's awesome pen was missing. One week ago, I dropped my second pen in the sanctuary while packing my stuff up after service. That's two gone. Now I only have my PCL English Ministry version to work with. Although it's no big deal, I wonder why God allowed two of my favorite pens to disappear one week after another. I guess sometimes you just have to lose some good things in your life in order to gain some things that are better. I wonder what I'll gain this time.

Thought of the Day: Bethel.
Song of the Day: Sixpence None The Richer-Breathe