Here are some blurry pictures that my unsteady hand took. I have to admit that Korea has some pretty cool cafes. The pictures below happen to be a book cafe in 삼청동. There's something really nice about that place. The simplicity and quietness. Very peaceful and chill.


Oh well. Those pictures are ugly.

Today is officially Parents' Day in Korea since they don't have separate days for fathers or mothers. Last Friday, Elite students were assigned to write a letter to their parents in English as their writing assignment. Of course you get the typical complaints and groans about not knowing what or how much to say. But you'd be surprised to see what kinds of things some of these students will say when they're forced to write (even in English). The biggest thing that caught my attention was when I read letters where students wished that they could have more conversations with their parents. I remember a particular teacher telling me that some of these students become really attached to you because some of them see you more often than they see their fathers. And apparently, even when they do see their fathers or mothers, there isn't much communication that goes on. Something isn't right here.

One thing that I've recently been struggling with is talking with my dad. When he first moved into my place, we'd have all kinds of conversations for hours and on. But after a while, you begin to long for some privacy, especially after a hard day's work. Sometimes, talking is the last thing you want to do since that's all you've been doing for the past 12 hours. However, as soon as I come home from work, talking is all my dad WANTS to do. As opposed to me, he's been home for several hours behind a computer or book in solitude. As pathetic as it may sound, I am his only social life. Can you see where the conflict comes into play? Two people, one room, two different agendas.

My students' letters served as a reminder to me (once again) that struggle is so relative.


Today during private tutoring, I was talking to my student, David, about how much I love 삼겹살 in Korea. I told him how there was this one occasion when I ate it three times in one week. I was obviously proud of this health hazardous activity and was expecting a surprised reaction. On the contrary, David merely expressed disappointment and told me that one time, he ate 삼겹살 everyday for one week (Mon.-Sat. to be precise). I didn't know whether to feel disgusted or humbled. I guess I felt both...and a lil jealous, too. Ha.

People say that you go through different emotional stages when you go abroad. Next week, I will have been here for eight months. It finally hit me that I'm going through a slump. Hopefully, my brother can bring me back up some time next month. That would be just swell.

Kathy finished at Elite today. I'm so sad about that, too.

Thought of the Day: Kinko's.
Song of the Day: Michael Jackson-Beat It

Psalm 92:8-But you, O LORD, are exalted forever.

Thought of the Day: Busan.
Song of the Day: Sandra McCracken-Rock of Ages When the Day Seems Long

I think one of the best things about teaching is that you have a good laugh at least once throughout the day.




This last one was actually my favorite one. It's especially funny because this particular student always likes to imitate Darth Vador in his Konglish accent.

These days, I've been reading Lord of the Flies, one of the few books I actually remember reading in high school. It's really different reading it as an adult now. You actually understand a lot of it and don't have to worry about writing essays on every other chapter. Anyways, there's a particular passage I like from the book: "Suddenly, pacing by the water, he was overcome with astonishment. He found himself understanding the wearisomeness of this life, where every path was an improvisation and a considerable part of one's waking life was spent watching one's feet. He stopped, facing the strip; and remembering that first enthusiastic exploration as though it were part of a brighter childhood, he smiled jeeringly."

It's funny when you're away from home. You find yourself thinking more about life and people. I remember when I was in Paraguay, one of the best things about the trip was being able to reflect a lot on my life...what I'd done, what I was doing, and what I was going to do with it. If there's one conclusion that I can draw about my life, it's that I always end up doing things that I never expected. I never thought I'd be working at Wetzel's Pretzels at the age of 14. I never thought I'd be president of my Youth Group. I never thought my family would ever live in Southern California. I never thought I'd pursue teaching as a real career. I never thought my closest friends would be people like Justin Jang or Dinko Kim. I never thought I'd be teaching at a hakwon for an indefinite amount of time. Seriously, who would've thought? God is so unpredictable (just as He should be). What in the world is next? The only thing that is certain is that I'm an idiot sheep with God as my shepherd. The rest is gravy. If I only I can remember that more often.

"You make everything good, everything wonderful. You grace my days and heaven fills my view. Let's forever sing..."
-Jaci Velasquez

Thought of the Day: Kathy is being replaced.
Song of the Day: Muse-Starlight

Yesterday, I did the unexpected, the unthinkable, the unpossible. I told my boss that I decided to stay at Elite. !!! I actually feel a lil stupid about telling the whole world for the past several months that I was ready to leave this "hellhole." But Tuesday night, on my way home, everything just hit me like a ton of bricks. It really ain't so bad. For several hours, I found myself wrestling and trying to think of reasons to stay rather than to leave. I think that was a clear indicator of where my heart was. Anyways, I told my boss as soon as I came in to work, and everyone was thrilled. My boss hugged me twice. Haha. It's just like those tv shows where main characters decide to leave but end up coming back to everyone. The Lord works in mysterious ways.

Thought of the Day: did u wake up?
Song of the Day: Snow Patrol-You're All I Have

I was having dinner with my co-teachers tonight, and there were a couple of girls sitting next to us. Our white teacher, Mike, kept mentioning how the girl behind Kathy looked pretty cute. After that, Kathy and I had a 10 minute conversation about whether or not we should ask her for her number for Michael. Michael was totally opposed to it, but I finally got up out of my seat, told her in my imperfect Korean that my foreign friend thought she was pretty, and asked if she was interested in meeting him some time. She started laughing and asked me if I was joking. I told her I was totally serious. One minute later, Michael Catinari scored some digits. The best part was talking about Swingers on our way home and referring Michael to Mikey and me to Trent. It made me so happy to be able to joke about "being so money" with my American teachers. What an exciting night!

Thought of the Day: To leave or not to leave.
Song of the Day: Chloe Burgess-World Of Colour

In case you're wondering, the date went pretty well.

Aren't you dying to know more?

I'm almost done with The Holiness of God. Pretty darn good. Unfortunately, I dropped my Chronicles of Narnia into my toilet. I don't know if it'll ever recover.

I finished the last set of report cards that I'll ever have to do in my life (at Elite). Wahoo!

I am so sick of hearing/talking about the Virginia shootings.

"Almost every man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it..."
-Jonathan Edwards

Thought of the Day: Jang Nara.
Song of the Day: Snow Patrol-Spitting Games

These days, having time to watch a movie is a luxury for me. I just finished watching Rocky Balboa on my laptop (with no more sound problems!). Unlike most people, I actually enjoyed this movie because I wasn't expecting much, and it had decent closure for the Rocky series. I think you can only enjoy this movie if you love Rocky for who he is. He was a nobody. The underdog. The humble. The champ! I actually liked a particular quote from the movie:

“Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are. It will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is going to hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and keep moving forward."

Rocky may sound stupid, but his words are wise.

I think this past week was one of the busiest work weeks in my life. My craziest day was on Monday. I was at work from 9:30-9:30 (9 hours of teaching) and private tutoring afterwards til 11:15. If you replace the words, "the world" and "life," with "hakwon" in the quote above, you have a pretty accurate description of my ruthless job. Two more weeks and counting.

This past week, I was talking to Angelo about relationships and how I don't even have time for a girlfriend. He told me that not having enough time for ________________ is an excuse. You have to MAKE time! I really like that idea. We all complain how we don't have enough time for quiet times, exercise, reading books, family, and in my case, a girlfriend. When it comes down, you gotta make time. I mean, I've even made time to write in this stupid blog for the past five years! Time is precious. God gave us 24 hours for a reason. It is sufficient.

Cousin...

Me: Hey, why are those girls dancing over there with all those cameras around? What are they?
Nakyu: Stupid.

One sentence wonders...

"World Cultures Past and Present" cost me 23,000won!

Soo Noraebang is only 10,000won before 6pm!

They finally have Muse's "Starlight" at noraebang!

I love The Office!

I didn't do any work today!

Thought of the Day: Kyobo Tower.
Song of the Day: Johnny Nash-I Can See Clearly Now

My cd/dvd-rom can play everything but only produces scratchy, unclear sounds. I've looked on 10 billion forums and troubleshooting guides but to no avail. How'm I supposed to watch The Office like this? Somebody help me!!!

Thought of the Day: Exponents and Roots.
Song of the Day: Queen-Under Pressure

Taken from my email entry to my brother:

"In other news, work has been going alright these days. I lost a couple of students because they quit for various reasons. I'm actually pretty happy about those cause those students were bastards. But of all the days that I've been teaching at Elite, I had the FUNNIEST incident in one of my classes today. Basically, we have this detention system where you get three warnings for speaking Korean or being disruptive in class. So one of my students, Wendy, always has a bad habit of using Korean in class. After she got her third strike today, the other students started singing WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS! all passionately. After they ran out of the familiar verses, they started singing the CONGRATULATIONS song. FREAKIN' jacked up and funny. Wendy was so very pissed, and the fact that I was laughing didn't help. These Korean kids are jerks...really really funny jerks. Isn't that hilarious?"

Anyways, I absolutely relish The Office. I heard of a couple of people who really liked it, but I thought it'd just be another dumb sitcom or something. It's the hardest thing to watch it in the dark and hold in my laughs while my dad's asleep. I'll finish Season 1 tonight, and start Season 2 immediately. I actually heard that the original, British version is ten times funnier. It's hard to imagine, but that's what I thought of the American version at first, too. If you haven't seen it, I suggest you jump on it!

I've also been enjoying The Holiness of God a lot! I can see why Dinko and Simon regard it as their favorite christian book. It discusses profound ideas with such simple sentences. Now that's a good writer! Jump on this too.

For some strange reason, my ipod can't stop playing rave music. My ears will not allow me to listen to anything otherwise. Many people do not know that I was really into trance when I was a sophomore and junior in high school. Sometimes, I get really embarrassed about it. Six years later, however, the redundant beats have enTRANCEd me yet again. What a season.

Thought of the Day: TOEFL speaking secret!
Song of the Day: Feel The Beat

I finally finished Evangelical Ethics. So I've moved on to The Holiness of God.

I no longer have patience for peekvid, which means I'm going to take a break from 24. So I've moved on to The Office (thanks guys!).

I ran out of 웃찾사 on Youtube. So I've moved on to 개그야.










Thought of the Day: The Holiness of God.
Song of the Day: Oasis-Stand By Me

I've got some bad news. I had a lot of complications with work and visa, so it looks like I'll be coming back to California this week. I'm really going to miss Korea and everything that I've learned here. See you guys in a week.

*sigh*

Happy April Fools.

Yeah right I'm coming back! I'm never leaving Seoul.

Thought of the Day: Chick.
Song of the Day: Eru-까만 안경

MrLee311 (오전 9:58:12): hey
MrLee311 (오전 9:58:15): your back?
Pretzelboi96 (오전 9:58:22): hello, chris
Pretzelboi96 (오전 9:58:25): not quite
Pretzelboi96 (오전 9:58:28): still far far away
MrLee311 (오전 9:58:31): how could you leavec without telling me
MrLee311 (오전 9:58:34): im so mad at you

Chris is so funny.

Last night, two of my co-teachers took me out to dinner and noraebang. It's really interesting eating and drinking with pagans. They felt bad that they couldn't take me to a strip club and buy me a lap dance. "But it's your birthday!" they would say. For what it's worth, I appreciated the thought. It was also really fun singing with these non-Koreanized people...even if one of them was drunk and tone deaf.

Thought of the Day: Shady.
Song of the Day: The Beatles-A Hard Day's Night

Due to even more popular demand...









Yesterday, I got contract!

Thought of the Day: Hyo.
Song of the Day: Pure Harmony-If

It's like my students can see right through me.

On Sunday, our Bible study leader said, "Why do you worry when you can pray?"

It's so true.

Thought of the Day: Psalm 61
Song of the Day: 2pac-Hit 'Em Up

There's been alotta hype surrounding Kim Yu Na, the 16-year-old junior figure skating champion. Today, she had a chance to win the championship in Japan, but she fell twice. After her Japanese rival, Mao Asada, skated her nearly impeccable performance, I just stopped watching.

"Being number one is everything. There is no second place. Second sucks."
-Bob "Bull" Hurley from Over The Top

When Mao Asada had finished her performance, she was in tears because she knew that she had won. Even if she is Japanese, you can't help but feel happy for her. She must have worked so hard.

One day, I want to be in tears for working so hard and finishing on top. I want to be able to face God Himself with confidence that I worked so hard in this life to please my king. It's crazy to know that I already come out on top.

Thought of the Day: Over The Top.
Song of the Day: 2pac & Scarface-Smile

One of the worst things to come home to is an email account with no new emails. It really crushes my day because I always expect at least one measly email.

When I go to my LG job, I have to go up five flights of stairs in the subway station. It's hard to see in the picture, but the last set of stairs is actually three mini flights of stairs. Whenever I exercise in the morning, I consciously think about how I need to be in good enough shape to do those stairs without much trouble. Those stairs really killed me the first time.

This is the view from the room that I meet in. It's a fantastic view in real life.

The tall building in the back is the 63 Building, Korea's tallest building.

Today, Angelo and I talked about how so many people think that money and career = happiness. I learned that Bangladesh has the highest index of happiness. By the end of class, I think I got Angelo really thinking about what he considers happiness. On our way out, he asked one of the secretaries if she was happy. That was funny.

I started studying Korean on my own every night for one hour (more like 45 minutes). I basically make flash cards, memorize, and will start on an easy Korean novel next week. Studying after running around a 12 hour work day requires a huge discipline on my part. It actually feels a lot like exercise: you hate the thought of doing it, but once you've finished for the day, you feel really good. On a realistic note, I no longer have dreams of becoming fluent within the next 1.5 years. I will merely have an improved vocabulary and a better sense of the culture. With my current lifestyle and exposure (or lack of), fluency is out of the question. God has brought me to Seoul for other purposes.

For the past several weeks, I've been going out to dinner with my co-teachers at least once a week. In our past two dinners, the issue of religion has always come up. I happen to be the only Christian teacher at my hakwon, so everyone notices when I pray for my meals. Anyways, they have these intense, critical discussions about how Mormans are super nice or why Jehovah's Witnesses are ridiculous. In the end, they are strongly opposed to religion, and I'm just sitting there silently with my mouth full of pork and vegetables. Last week, Kathy's boyfriend even tried to challenge me to a discussion about hell and condemnation, but I didn't further the conversation because 1) I was timid and 2) it would have just led to angry, disorganized debate. Psalm 56:5-6 says, "All day long they twist my words; they are always plotting to harm me. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life." When it comes down to it, I lack boldness and care too much about "what if I stumble?" This lone christian thing is hard.

Speaking of work, I actually gave my resignation notice to my boss today. I sought a lot of advice, asked for prayers, and cried out to God myself. After six months at Elite, the irony is that I'm leaving because of personal obligations, not mere dissatisfaction. I actually have a great fear and worry for Elite. Next month, we're supposed to move to another floor. By May, Kathy and I will be gone. By June, our secretary will be married and probably be gone as well. If there was ever a time to quit, now is not the time. I'm sorry, Wonjangneem. I don't have a choice.

As soon as I wrote down "3/22/07" on my homework sheet today, I literally remembered that it was Terrance's birthday.

Happy Birthday, Terrance!

Thought of the Day: Airfare.
Song of the Day: Muse-Starlight

Due to popular demand...








Thought of the Day: Drive.
Song of the Day; Hamasaki Ayumi-Jewel

I've been praying about a lot of things lately. On Thursday, I was at a point where I was so discouraged that I felt like God wasn't listening to me (which is pretty rare for me). As I told one of my friends, uncertainty is the most dreadful thing in the world. But by Friday, I got two long awaited prayer requests answered, both dealing with potential jobs. It was just like my dad predicted; God's gonna answer everything all at once! Well, not everything, but it was a big chunk of everything.

Many of you may not know, but I started having English conversational classes with some LG employees twice a week before I go to work. When you go to the LG Twin Tower building, you get a strong sense of professionalism and upper class. Ain't no Elite English Institute.


This is generally what our classroom looks like. The chairs are extremely comfortable, and the area is very quiet. It's really weird being this young guy facilitating conversation and teaching people who are at at least a decade older than me. But we have some good discussions and laughs. On our first day, I asked everyone to introduce themselves with their English names. I had names ranging from Kevin to Lucia to Angelo. That Angelo totally grabbed me by surprise...freakin' 40 year old Korean man named Angelo. Hilarious. In our last class, I asked everyone to talk about their hobbies. One guy said that he liked to play Starcraft. It's funny imagining these hardworking office workers playing computer games during their down time.

For all you former KCPC people, Hyunsoo Ra (aka Teacher Hyunsoo (aka Mike Ra)) got married today. It was the first Korean wedding I've ever been to. I know that everyone has their own style, but this wedding seemed very particular to me, probably because it was a kyopo marrying a native. They tried their best to bilingualize (I know that's not a word) everything, which made some parts of the ceremony a bit awkward. But through it all, Hyunsoo and his bride looked terribly happy. Despite their cultural differences and backgrounds, they both love each other very much. It reminded me of how different Christ and the Church are. But with Christ's love, all differences are of no matter. To Mr. and Mrs. Hyunsoo Ra, just as the banner read in the dining hall, I, too, wish you a "HAPPY! WEDDING".
Random: I saw Pastor Mingy or Mingee or Minky or whatever his name is at the wedding. I also met a guy who went to Burlingame High School. Burlingame!

After the wedding, my dad and I had dinner with some family friends of ours. Another thing that you may not know is that my dad is having some major disc problems. His left arm always feels like he's "being stabbed with a knife" because of the nerves. We're not doing so hot financially, but he's in so much pain that he's ready to go into surgery any day. Anyways, after dinner, the adults decided to pray for my dad because one of the ladies had the "gift of healing." As we were praying for him, she started busting out tongues and the shaking, so I was getting more upset than uncomfortable. My dad doesn't really believe in supernatural gifts either, so he thought it was a lil bogus, too. It was funny cause my dad was trying to hint to the lady that she could stop cause her arms might be tired. As we were going home, he told me all that pushing and "healing" only gave him more pain. Go fig.

For one of my classes, I'm reading a book called "Sarah, Plain and Tall." As Sarah talks about her hometown, she says, "There's always something to miss, no matter where you are." People always ask me if I miss America or the friends that I left. As much as I'm enjoying Korea, there are some things that I do miss. I can go on and on about pollo asado burritos or playing hold'em, but the number one, superficial thing that I miss about home is driving. I remember after coming back from Paraguay (2.5 weeks), Edu and I shared how we totally sucked at driving. I actually dread the thought of not knowing how to manuever my car like I used to. Nevertheless, I didn't expect to miss driving. I must emphasize that I miss driving in the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. I have absolutely no desire to wheel around the streets of Seoul. That is a NO THANK YOU VERY MUCH.

It was my cousin's birthday yesterday, and as I was hurrying to buy a dvd, I found this.

It's not perfect, but neither is he. HA! I hear that the Dago will be leaving for China next month or so. I really miss that sheki, too.
Random: I told one of my classes the story of how Dinko got his name, and they loved it. Even my dad thinks DINKO is a funny name.

Thought of the Day: Stranger.
Song of the Day: Miura Daichi-17 Ways

So far, I've found a Priscilla and Zen store. The other day, I found an Olivia. What's wrong with this country?

There's a girl in my class named Jenny, and I recently realized that she looks like a girl version of my brother. The ironic thing is, she has a freakin' hilarious laugh that makes the whole class crack up. If Simon had turned out to be a girl, I'm confident that I'd have a sister named Jenny. I wish you guys could hear her laugh.

Yesterday was just a weird day. Nothing went right with making plans, finding jobs, or even receiving emails. I guess random snow in the month of March is a pretty clear sign that things just aren't going right. At least, I got my Boys to cheer me up:

Thought of the Day: 24 Season 1 finished.
Song of the Day: Nirvana-Smells Like Teen Spirit

I celebrated my March 1st Independence Movement day by visiting the Unification Observatory. In other words, I got to see North Korea...from very far away. One thing I've come to appreciate is this country's history and culture. Before, I really could not understand why Koreans hated Japan so much. I thought Korean history was crazy boring. Even the whole North and South Korea split, I didn't see what the big deal was. Ignorance is a vile thing.

But before the main event, I had some expensive, foreign food with some friends.

Before we started our meal, my friend was telling me how her brother eats a GRIP. She was going on and on about how much he loved to eat and whatnot.

It's not like I was trying to beat him, but I cleaned up pretty well...

and was very happy.

Provence Village (that is not a typo).




Finally, we hit up the observatory. That is not North Korea.

This is North Korea. One interesting the hyung told me was that you'll notice that there's no trees. He said it's not just the border, but the whole country is like that. The poor country lacks lots of natural resouces.

There was also this huge drum that kept going off. People are supposed to hit it three times for the unification of Korea. It felt great to hit that drum as I wholeheartedly wished for unity.

I also met someone very special. Look how happy she looks.

Today, I had some time to kill, so I visited a palace all by myself.

So

very

very

boring.

My dad was watching The Ten Commandments on his computer last night. I watched some of it with him and realized how inconsistent many of the parts are with the Bible. For example, Moses from the movie was confident and eloquent. Why did they even bother to put Aaron in the movie? Anyways, I remember watching it in second grade and being utterly amazed by the whole thing. I specifically remember being in awe of God and promising to never sin again. Haha. I used to do that a lot. Even in youth group, after some energetic rally or retreat, I'd always tell God that I'd never sin ever again. How utterly wrong I was.

Many people feel that Christianity enslaves people to good works and no fun. The irony is that Christ frees us from good works and shows us what real "fun" is. How many people out there are trying to win God's favor by their good works? No church attendance, passionate prayer, or Bible reading is going to get you into heaven. We all need a mediator. The perfect mediator.

I have made a terrible habit of going to bed past 3am. My social life consists of 24 and GAG skits. They are so very different.

Thought of the Day: Elddeereeddee.
Song of the Day: The Beatles-Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band