"Review tests are just like my mom. They both bother me."
-Elite Student

Thought of the Day: Review Tests
Song of the Day: Inspectah Deck-Get Right

For once in my life, cnn.com is not loading up. Weird.

I had a really good New Year's Weekend. I ate, watched too much tv, napped, and ate some more. Come to think of it, it was a lot like a Korean Thanksgiving! I wish you could have seen how much I ate...how painful/good it was. I also got to make mandoo with my cousins and nephews in the middle of the night. There's nothing better than eating your own mandoo at midnight with family. Everything that Priscilla said, ditto.

There was this one night where I was on the subway on my way to my cousin's place. There was a woman who sat between me and this other woman. We'll call the woman in the middle, woman #1 and the other, woman #2. Although I was listening to my ipod, I overheard woman #2 begin to evangelize to woman #1. It was really amazing. You don't even see this kind of stuff in the states. I thought it was even crazier cause Seoul people don't really like talking to strangers. Anyways, I could sense the discomfort and awkwardness of the whole conversation. The woman didn't really care to hear about religion, and the christian kept insisting that Christianity wasn't a religion. The christian kept challenging her with questions about life, death, but eventually got to the Gospel. Woman #1 only showed signs of No Thanks. I had to give credit for the boldness, but random ev doesn't seem like the most practical or effective way to witness, especially in a place like Seoul.

For some reason, I've been more conscientious of witnessing ever since I got to Korea. Perhaps, it is because I am being exposed to different forms of sin in a different land, and I am constantly reminded of the need for Christ. Regardless, I am getting a taste of what it will be like to be a Christian teacher in the states. My students will know what I believe because I will eventually tell them that I spent my past Sunday at church. My co-teachers will know what I believe because they will eventually see me pray for my meals. Those things are easy. The hard part is walking the walk and talking the talk PASSIONATELY. I've got a long way to go.

Yesterday, I bought my first Japanese cds.



It's funny how the obscure, unknown places have the very things that the big, mainstream places should have.

If you know where I can find her, please let me know ASAP. If not, I could live with just the cd, too.

Last night, Michael and I were walking on the street, and this car freakin' hit me! The sideview mirror smacked my left arm, and I gave a quick "Oh!" Of course they didn't stop to apologize or see if I was ok. The car was stopped at the signal up ahead, but we didn't bother to make a scene. I think Priscilla would have done differently. No, I take that back. I KNOW she would have done differently.

I'm realizing more and more how much of a quiet person I am. There are too many incidents where I just have nothing to say. In fact, I can be quiet for so long that I'll actually have to sit there and think of things to say. When did I become this quiet? Extrovert, reveal yourself! One good thing about being a teacher is that you're forced to talk...although half of it is telling the students to be quiet. Haha.

Thought of the Day: Cold heart.
Song of the Day: Finch-Perfection Through Silence

If you are uncertain and anxious like me, let's take comfort because "the plans of the LORD stand firm forever, the purposes of his heart through all generations." (Psalm 33:11)

Have a good day y'all.

Thought of the Day: Right ear.
Song of the Day: Akeboshi-Kamisama no Shitauchi

Work is so hard.

Pslam 31:23-24-Love the LORD, all his saints. The LORD preserves the faithful, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD.

Thought of the Day: Review Tests.
Song of the Day: Shocking Lemon-Inner Light

I seriously cannot get enough GAG.



Thought of the Day: Cyclothymia.
Song of the Day: Scott Brown-Elysium

"SHE LOVES YOU!"

("YEAH YEAH YEAH!")

"SHE LOVES YOU!"

("YEAH YEAH YEAH!")

This was the best Valentine's Day ever. In Korea, the roles are switched, so I got plenty of sweets from my sweet, female students. The big chocolate bucket, however, was from a male student. Hmmm. Priscilla took a group of us out to dinner for some overpriced Bennigan's, and Grace got us dessert. Girls are wonderful (sometimes)!


This is my dad every night before he sleeps. He's been a Bible reading maniac for about a month now. Ever since I assigned Ecclesiastes to him, he's just been rollin'! It's very encouraging.

This is the smallest computer I've seen yet. It's like the size of a large modem!


This is what my brother wrote in his email today:
"i'm pretty buff now man. i can like, twitch my chest like chong li."

I had a pretty good laugh.

I guess even singles can be happy on Valentine's Day.

Thought of the Day: Tangerines Mandarines.
Song of the Day: The Beatles-She Loves You

After a brief conversation with a co-worker, I am slowly letting go of Pretzelboi96. My new email is: philchung96@gmail.com. What a life-changing experience.

(I can't believe "Phykas" and "Fergman" were already taken!).

Thought of the Day: Work.
Song of the Day: Inspectah Deck-Word On The Street

One big thing I've been learning through my hakwon experience is the extreme competition amongst the students in Korea.

8-year-old Karen borrows pencils and erasers from 10-year-old Jennifer everyday. The other day, Karen tattled on Jennifer that she spoke English in class, which is worthy of detention. Even 9-year-old Elizabeth decided to team up against Jennifer by supporting the exaggerated claims of Karen. Jennifer NEVER did anything negative to those two girls. Why did they do that?

About a month ago, Elizabeth got over 100% on her vocab quiz while everyone else practically bombed theirs. In class, she told everyone that they shouldn't be sad because they did well, too. In fact, she "got a really bad score as well!" <--- false humility. Right after class, she sprinted to the front desk to share the wonderful news that she was the only one in class to get a perfect score while everyone else had failed miserably. Can you say TWO-FACE? Why do you do that?

Yesterday, Jennifer got a 93% while everyone else got 100% or better. Jennifer's spirit was so downcast. She told me that her mother had told her that "if Elizabeth gets a 100%, Jennifer had to get higher than 100%." No matter what I said to encourage her, her discouraged heart wouldn't budge. According to her mother's standards, her 93% was a fail. That really broke my heart.

Right before this episode, I asked Elizabeth why she hadn't done her homework. All at once, everyone decided to answer on her behalf. "She didn't do her reading homework either!" "ELIZABETH GETS DETENTION!" I wanted to calm down the negativity in the room, so I thought some support from her friends would encourage Elizabeth. I merely asked, "Should Elizabeth should get detention?" (assuming that there'd be some sympathy). Without any hesitation, every student yelled YEEEEEEEES! Even her "best friend", Karen, joined the others in unison. Elizabeth was so shocked and hurt by the hate and began to bawl. I was shocked and overjoyed at the same time. Redemption.

These kids aren't university bio majors or law school applicants. They are young children who still watch cartoons and collect stickers. Somehow, this society has turned them into vicious competitors who will betray their best friends in a second. Truly every man for himself. Utterly selfish.

People like you and I have been so blessed to grow up and have an education in a place like the U.S. I seriously had no idea.


That Peterjkim guy has a really cool xanga with some awesome pictures. After seeing them Young Adult Retreat pictures, it really hit me that I'm living such a different lifestyle. It's amazing.

Thought of the Day: One month in advance.
Song of the Day: Scarface & 2pac-Smile

I started watching 24 again. Everyone raves about Prison Break and Lost, but I have to finish what I once started. I can't believe they're on their 6th season. I remember when Dykas used to bother me in high school to watch 24, and I thought he was so stupid. Who's the idiot now?

I'm also starting to enjoy these Korean gag shows now. I used to think they were so stupid and unsophisticated. But now, they're one of the few things I'll actually make time to watch. Although I barely understand about half the things they say, the stuff I do get serves me great entertainment.



"대한민국에 안 되는게 어디에 있니? 다 되지!"

I love that last line.

I'm having a mid-job crisis right now. There's so many potential jobs that I can switch over to in a matter of weeks. I'm hearing about some pretty sweet offers. Life-changing offers. My dad was so excited about my opportunities that he couldn't sleep last night. No matter how much money I make (or don't make), I just want peace. Dough is nice, but satisfaction is sweeter. What does God have in store for me?

Thought of the Day: IBS.
Song of the Day: TLC-Creep

This is what I wrote in my February 1st entry one year ago:

over winter break, i was very uncertain about my plans on studying in Korea after graduating. i had fearful thoughts of change and transition and discomfort and regret. my decision to go was at about 50/50 during winter retreat. i asked many people to pray that God would make His will for me much clearer...sooner. this past saturday, i had a good talk with some who have already gone to Korea and even plan on going for the first time this summer. i was very encouraged with the responses. that same excitement i had last year when i first made my decision has come back to life. there are even some nights when i can't fall asleep just thinking about the future that lies ahead of me. one desire has disappeared and a dead one has resurrected. so much happened in January 2006.

It's very good to be in Seoul.

Thought of the Day: Borat.
Song of the Day: Jennifer Knapp-Hallowed

I just got back from Danyang with my dad. I feel like I got a real taste of the countryside on this trip. My dad's cousin has a Galbi restaurant, so I ate so much on this trip. After today's lunch, I almost felt like throwing up. Painfully wonderful.




One thing that I really love about our Korean culture is its value of sharing meals with familiar family and friends. My dad and I were originally supposed to have dinner with just my distant cousin's husband. When we got to the restaurant, my dad's cousin said that we should also invite his youngest daughter and her husband. After them, he also called up his brother in law whom my dad used to tutor back when he was in college. There are three things that Koreans absolutely love: meat, soju, and coffee. The best part was that it was all free.

No crowds.

No honking.

No subways.

Clean water.

Clean land.

Clean ground.

Terribly different from Seoul.


We went to this place that makes those old school pots that can hold great amounts of 된장 and what have you.




These are the results.

Afterwards, we took a lil boatride down the Southern Han River.


This was my favorite part of the boatride. There was this huge area with frozen plates of ice, but we just went through all of it. It reminded me of Titanic.


My dad was really excited to take me to this cave. At first, I was imagining a dark dark hole that would be super cold. Much to my disappointment, it had all these stairs and lights. At least it was pretty warm inside.


As we were ducking our heads and walking really carefully, my dad happily commented that Zen could probably run around without any problems. He also mentioned that some areas would be difficult for my brother cause he wouldn't be able to fit through some rocks. My dad is a wise man.






Now we have our zenith of the trip (literally). The main reason why we went down to Danyang was to go up Taebaek San, supposedly one of the most natural parts of Korea. My dad's been wanting to go to this mountain for so many years, so he was thrilled when we finally started our hike. The hike up was about 2.6 miles.





I know it doesn't look steep, but that's cause I had to tilt my phone to take the picture. The hill was like Sky Farm steep! <--- Only a few will get that.

Although I'm smiling in this picture, I was quite disappointed to find my phone with low battery when we got to the top of the mountain. That's where all the best scenery was! Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience with the freezing wind. My body never knew it could feel that cold. I took off my gloves for a few seconds to fix my sunglasses, and my whole hand went numb in an instant. I was truly amazed by the cold.

Throughout the whole hike, I couldn't stop praising God for making so many beautiful things. It was worth all the shivering and leg aching. The crappy part was that my phone went back up to one bar when we were half way down. Work just HAD to call me!

At the bottom of the mountain, we were welcomed by the Snow Flower Festival. Everyone thought it wasn't that great, but I was greatly impressed. I mean, they freakin' built huge sculptures out of snow! It's not like you can make a better snowman.





Naked woman. Hehe.


Some of you may recognize this as the monster from 괴물 or "The Host." I was most impressed by this one.

Pooh.


They also had this cafe made out of ice where they were selling coffee for 3,000won. Yikes.

I liked the cupholders.

My dad's cousin was nice (and drunk) enough to pay for our two nights at a condo. This was the view from our room. The best part about the condo was the sauna. My dad and I went both nights.

So, in conclusion, my phone can take some pretty dope pictures. I wish you could've been there with me. God, thank you for Danyang, Taekaek, and everything that was there.

Back to work tomorrow.

Thought of the Day: Car trouble.
Song of the Day: Crying Nut-밤이 깊었네