oh, mr. kang... pt. 2

so right now, i'm at "market O," a really good western/korean organic restaurant in an area called "maebong" in the gangnam district (near jamsil). it's supposedly one of mr. kang's favorite restaurants to go to. he picked me up in his hyundai genesis and took me to his ballin' apt to tutor his daughters for an hour, and then brought me here for lunch.
surprised there's wireless here!

mr. kang is currently across from me taking his test. we ended up eating and talking for too long, so he only has 30 minutes to take it. i told him he could finish the rest tomorrow.
he's on part c - simple present vs. present continuous.

mr. kang is such a character. every time we have free talk, i learn so many more things about him. today we talked about how he met his wife. "we met at work. we were 'CC' - company couple" and "you know, when i first meet my wife, i thought she was... angel" LOL

awwwwwww~~
... until....
"but one problem. i had girlfriend at the time."
"mr. kang!!!"
"overlap.... almost 2 years"
"what do you mean overl-- you dated both at the same time?!!"
"haha yeaah... and then they planned to meet but i found out and i stopped it."

he pretty much cheated on his ex-girlfriend (of 7 years -- they were also a "CC" - campus couple) for almost 2 years, until his current wife found out about her.
can you say...... bada$$??

ok i think i need to finish this entry later.
TBC (to be continued)

might as well call me...

so for a while, i've been contemplating what i should do to my boring hair.

i'm not a lover for change
... unless it comes to hair.
but then again, i'm not really a risk-taker either. shall we briefly go through my history of hair styles?

9th grade - the oh-so-innocent middle part

10th grade

12th grade

summer going into college

(i wish i had my hard drive with me. i have the best picture for sophomore year.)

junior year (spring qtr) - senior year (fall qtr): my first perm since the 1st grade

senior year (winter qtr)

 

october 2010 (korea): my long a-line cut

christmas eve 2010: growing 

yesterday: at an awkward length 

(remember, still shorter in the back)

so then, i came down to 2 options: 1) do a legit a-line cut like....

OR a medium-length perm like....

everyone kept giving me mixed responses. half said the a-line, the other half said perm. i was soooo torn. 

after researching for an hour on hair salons near my area, i saw the coupon i received a block away for this new hair salon that opened a few months ago -- 12,000 won for cuts, 40,000 won for perm. 

after asking a few more people for their opinions (which didn't help), i decided to just get ready and head over to ask for professional help. 

the young lady, who had a really nice, long, natural, wavy perm and not-so-natural flipped bangs (like farrah fawcett in charlie's angels), told me i should get the perm since i have bangs and the a-line cut looks better without bangs. so i trusted her, reminded her a few times NOT to make the perm poofy or too voluminous, and braced myself. 

RESULT: 

still 20% wet - i call this status the "애 엄마" status

fully dry.

might as well call me 쎄라 - member of a new&unsuccessful (non-existent) girl group called sparkle or love4ever or strawberry girls or sunshine or.... 

tina: just wait til gravity pulls the curls down

oh, i cannot wait

why why WHY!

dreamt about it yettttttttt again. and this time.... the whole family was in it.
it's frustrating enough dreaming about it, but come on... with the whole family?!?
what's wrong with you, brain?! God, what do i have to learn from these dreams?!

this will be the shortest entry of my life, but i just have to unload my frustration.

WHY. WHYY! WHYSFWKLER!

KWJERWRLHT


ok time to pray. good bye.


at 10:06 am,
sarah.


p.s.


UGHHHHHH

oh, mr. kang... pt. 1

yes, i'm aware that the past 2 entries have been debby-downer depressing.

i don't have much more depressing things to write about as of now......
you can thank mr. kang for that.

yesterday, sunday morning, i had a 2-hour tutor sesh with mr. kang, right in front of where i live. it was also snowing heavily -- the most i've seen it snow in korea thus far. but that was just a random fact.

seoul pretty much looks like this right now. 

every step you take is freaking slippery -- i have to waddle.

anyway, he bought me a bagel and we sat down. it was the first time we had a 2-hour-long tutor session, so i was kinda nervous as to where our conversations would lead to. i mean... if you read the last post about him...

our hour-long conversation about religion in Korea all started with a yawn of mine. "why are you so tired?" he asked.

saturday morning, 7:32 am -- i got a phone call from stella. her, jeanne, sheldon, and brian song were to leave for thailand missions that morning at 10:05, so naturally i assumed it was a "bye sarah~" call.

stella: sarahhh, i'm so sorry to call you so earlyy
me: oh no no, it's okk are you at the airport?
stella: yeahh... and i'm sooo sorry but... this is going to be the hugest favor i've ever asked you for....
*uh oh -- i have a feeling....*
stella: i left my ARC card (visa) at home and i need it or else i can't go..........
me: oh shooooot...... uh huhh
stella: do you think you can.... bring it to the airport?? it's in my drawerrrr

holy crap. i felt like i was on a mission myself (a different one obviously).

by then i had approximately 2 hours to go from my aunt's to her place (4 stops on the subway, but the station was 15 minutes walking distance from my aunt's and it was snowing...), then her place to seoul station, and then seoul station to incheon airport. i quickly brushed my teeth, changed out of my fuzzy pj pants, told my aunt (she heard me talking and came out of her room, knowing something was up -- she would), and darted out the door. luckily, i found a taxi (usually, not a lot of taxis drive around in the morning when it's snowing) and headed for 수유, stella's hood. i ran the best i could through the long road of melting snow -- praying not to slip -- went up to her floor, punched in her code (i memorized it ever since she gave me the wrong code on her birthday and i got locked out while she was at school and had to resort to PC bang, which made me want to punch every guy/ahjushi in the jugulars because they were all smoking and playing whatever-games-they-are like a bunch of losers and i hateeeee the smell of cigarette smoke), searched her drawers and voila. it was in a ziplock bag of a whole bunch of other cards and cash moneys. grabbed it, texted stella an update, ran to the station, and got on the subway.
mission 1: complete.
*incoming call...*


stella: sarah!! where are you?? you don't have to come anymore!
*you know when some heroic music is playing in the background and then the DJ suddenly stops the track? if that's confusing... i guess a "wah wah wahhh" is appropriate, too*
me: what?!? what do you mean??
stella: turns out i could just get a temporary visa card by just telling them i lost it! sorrryyyy thank you sooo muchhhh sarahhhh
me: no nooo you're my best friend. you know i'd do anything for youu.... *awkward*
stella: HAHA awwwww why you gotta be all dramatic?? hehehehe
me: but honestly, stella, i was kinda excited to do this. it felt like a mission and i felt like an agent.... oh well...
stella: HAHA sorry! mission aborted, but you're still the best agent ever!

... hehehe.

so i returned back to my aunt's after only an hour on the job and took a 2-hour nap. and then tutored. and then tutored again.


and now back to sunday.
mr. kang: oh wow, crazy day for you
me: yupp, so that's why i'm tired and i woke up an hour ago.
mr. kang: i have question. i heard from somebody that when you turn 19 or 20 or something you go to other country like that.... like... it is you HAVE to go... is that...?
me: oh no no, there's no rule like that. people think Christianity is all about following rules, but it's not. it's the only "religion" that is based on a relationship with God, not rules and structure and all that.

and then i went on to explain how a lot of christians in Korea portray themselves as these crazy people who condemn people to hell. "believe or you're going to hell!!" with huge pictures of fire on their banners.

me: i mean, it's true that those who don't follow Jesus will go to hell, but God is all about love and wants us to tell others about him with love, not yell at each other and say, "you sinner, you're going to hell!"

thankfully, mr. kang was just nodding and listening. (i actually prayed to God before the session and asked him to give me the perfect opportunity to EV to him or at least to mention God somewhere in our free-talk. thank you God!)

then, it went on to me telling him about the stupid 5am-cult incident and how even those people claim to believe in God, yet aren't Christian.
mr. kang: sarah, you know, i know most people just say bye and never see them again, but why you follow them?? at night time???
me: because i wanted to tell them they were believing in something that wasn't right! i was so scared, but at the same time, i knew it was a once in a lifetime experience and that i wouldn't regret it. and i knew God was with me.

mr. kang's heart was definitely open. even if he was just listening and nodding to be respectful, i knew God opened his heart at least a little bit so that he could hear me out.

there was obviously more to what i mentioned, but this entry is getting a wee long.

next entry -- pt. 2 (hopefully you'll crack up cuz i did.)

the proudest moments

i am slowly learning to not let students, who cancel on me last minute, discourage me.
in february, i am going to go from having 7 students to 4.
pros: more time to spend with friends and family
cons: less moneys to save up

why do i care about money so much? why are most of my posts about trusting in God and thanking Him for providing?
because ever since the beginning of college, i pretty much supported myself. no allowance -- only occasionally from grandparents or emergency money from my mother. i couldn't/can't help but to think about money. and i couldn't/can't help but to feel a little discouraged when others around me use money like it's not really a big deal. often times, i have to admit, i victimize myself and ask God why i can't be like others and have a family who supports me financially. sometimes, when tough times hit me hard, i cry and feel bitter towards my parents.

i hate to be the debby downer who doesn't go to certain hangouts, or the only one from a group of people to not buy a certain something, just because she wants to save money. i mean, from an outside perspective, it's reasonable to feel frustrated towards the debby.

i do blame my lack of motivation/passion on my parents -- well mostly my mom, since moms are usually the ones who make their children do things. my sister even admits to this, which is why she gave up on lecturing me about trying hard in school.
most of you already know, but i started playing the violin and piano when i was 4 years old. and it wasn't like "here sarah, play and have fun~~~" but it was like "practice 20 more times" and *bam bam bam* competitions, recitals, performances, orchestras, tests (yes, soooo unnecessary, but national tests), blah blah blah, you name it, i did it. i even have a VHS of  5-year-old me practicing my violin (a ~8-min piece memorized). i don't even look concentrated; i look totally ADD -- playing with vibrato while looking out the window.

anyway, my childhood was -- umm... almost non-existent? while kids played at home with their toys or went over to each other's houses to play "엄마작기" or whatever (see, i don't really know) after school, i went to my violin or piano teacher's house to play boring classical pieces of music for hours and hours. i didn't have many toys. i hated it, but it was what made my parents super happy and proud.

today, during my tutor session with jihoon (the math "genius" who started sweating when i first said "hi" in english; or this guy), i asked him to write about his proudest moment in life. he stared blankly at his paper for a few minutes and sighed heavily a couple times. i asked him what's wrong and he said he couldn't really think of any or remember. then, he asked me if i had any.
i sighed and umm-ed for a minute.
violin. piano. 
playing these 2 instruments for 13 years, although i used to feel miserable and overworked and tired and cramped all the time because of them, gave me a reason to feel proud of myself.

my parents invested sooo much in me, and it wasn't for something stupid that i regret.
growing up, i hated all the pressure and stress i had to go through, but now looking back, i'm so thankful and i wouldn't change a thing.

and i'm sure when i look back 10 years from now -- already with a career and hopefully a family of my own -- i will be so thankful to my parents for also giving me the opportunity to learn, at a younger age than some others, how to be independent, yet dependent on God, how to discern between wants and needs, how to be thankful for everything-- big or small/good or bad, how to be frugal...

these are things money can't buy. and although i struggle with these constantly, they're still some of the things i'm most proud of.

reminder to self: without them buying my plane ticket, i wouldn't even be in korea making money in the first place.

just a thought, i guess

so as i was eating lunch by myself at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant after tutor yesterday, i was talking to my mother on the phone, updating her on my life here and vice versa. i told her that two of my friends might be going back to america to visit in february.

mom: you must be very sad
me: yeahh... you know, if it wasn't for grad school, i would go with them in february, come back, and stay here with them til august. should i just study occupational therapy here?? (totally joking)
mom: why don't you research it?
me: .... really??
mom: well, by then your dad's business will start settling and i can come visit often and we'll have our own place! let's pray about it, okay?

... oh shoot. i didn't think it would become a half-serious thing to actually half-seriously think about. i mean, life's tough here, but it's definitely easier than how it's been before i relocated almost-halfway around the world (and i'm not only talking financial), and now that i know my dad bought a nice place for our family to live at, it'd probably become even easier.

i honestly came to korea with 2 main reasons: 1. to escape "reality," and 2. to spend more time with my dad. and i think this thought that i now kinda toy with is proving to myself how much of a coward i am and how much i doubt God's sovereignty.

although i miss home and i'm excited to return, i'm.... scared. it's as if this ball that's been rolling (aka my life pre-korea) slowly came to a halt (aka my life in korea) and now it needs to be kicked hard in order to start rolling again (aka my life post-), which means it's going to roll fast. i don't know if i'm ready for that.

i guess it comes down to "want vs. need," and we all know what's more important.
(this idea is actually what helps me to deal with a lot of things.)

on a downer note,
one of my students, whom i was going to continue with -- without the agency, quit today for some reason i couldn't really comprehend. she was the student who gave me the most hours. i'm sad. but i guess it's God's way of saying i relied too much on myself and these students, and not enough on Him.

God, please remind me that Your grace is sufficient. make me fear You and not the things of this world. may my eyes be fixed on eternity in Heaven, not happiness on earth. 


p.s. seriously, where can i get one of these...........

deactivated

i'm finally back in my little room. i haven't been at home since tuesday.
facebook is deactivated. let's see how long this goes. the last time i did it was almost a year ago? mmm maybe around february 2010, and i went without for 6 weeks.

today was by far the coldest day i've ever lived through -- 13 degrees fahrenheit, not exaggerating.
i felt like there were 23048 invisible layers of ice on me, even though i was wearing 5 layers on top, 2 layers on bottom, fuzzy socks, boots, and knitted mittens (which actually didn't help much..)

tomorrow is supposedly going to be EVEN colder. tomorrow is sunday. thoughts like, "maybe i should just stay home and podcast a sermon" have been popping up throughout the day, even though i keep telling myself, "NO, jesus endured way worse. and your friends are doing body worship tomorrow at church for missions."

just vchatted with these 2 for 30 minutes

back. 

so on monday, i met up with tina cho and leanne kim for dinner and wine. tina treated us out to sushi and leanne - wine. i felt so spoiled! i'm so sad i didn't have my camera to capture the night, but it was so fun. i haven't had a pure GT sesh like that in a WHILE. secret garden recaps, stories told, so many "shut up"'s and "no way"'s, so many laughs about certain experiences... 

vague, i know. 

but one thing they told me while we were talking about my busy schedule was -- while i only get paid __0,000 won/hr from the 2 agencies i work under, they (the agencies) get paid ___0/hr (+30 more than me). all for merely hooking a tutor/student up with each other. that's riDICS. agent john (who introduced me to the CEO a while back, mr. kang, and a college student named soojin) made me sign a contract in november saying i have to work at least 3 months under the agency. well, mr. CEO is out, mr. kang -- i've tutored him for only 2.5 months now, and soojin -- i just started at the end of december. 

this past week, i asked soojin and mr. kang if they were down for some business action: i quit the agency early with some excuse, continue teaching them, and receive ___/hr -- 15 less for them, 15 more for me. 

good news is, they were thinking the same thing. 

so starting february (if all goes well and john lets me go), although i lose mr. mun (he's moving to singapore for work), i gain more moneys = yay savings = yay loans = yay car = yay apt bills = yay phone bills = yay life. 

God: "what did i tell you, sarah." 

me: "you got me YET again"

p.s. please pray for us korean-americans here in korea that we don't die of coldness. 

temperature for sunday 1/16: -1 F morning, 10 F afternoon, 3 F evening. 

i miss you, sunny california.

p.p.s. i introduced modern family (with korean subtitles, of course) to my college students and my cousin suri (who's 1 year older -- also appeared in my mom's christmas video) and they LOVEE it. especially my cousin. she watched season 1 (i watched the first 9 episodes with her STRAIGHT) + a few episodes of season 2 in just two days. 

so new lesson plan: i assign them an episode and make them write about their favorite part and why it's their favorite, for HW.

they're not complaining. :)

p.p.p.s. my hair is growing, which means it's looking very awkward. i cut it 2 months ago in a sort-of-short a-line cut:

and now it's like... 2 inches longer than that, which makes having an a-line cut look super awkward and nast. what should i do -- loose-perm what i have and look super fobby for the 2 months that i have left? or get rid of the bluntness and put some layers in it? opinions please, opinions!

pimple cream

i have pimple cream on my chin right now and it feels weird when i smile.
i also have my retainers and glasses on and my bangs pinned up with a hideous clip. good thing blogs don't show what the author looks like when they're writing the entry.

so i haven't been home since tuesday. unintentionally.
i slept over my aunt's house on tuesday night, jeanne's yesterday night...

the other ones are to be hidden. 

and then i was supposed to go home tonight because i have 4 tutor sessions tomorrow from 11 - 9:10 (aka deathandbeyond) but..... dang it this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and i'm gonna do what i wanttttt.

i called mr. kim and canceled my 11-1pm tutor tomorrow so that i can join jeanne at her school for her last day of winter camp with her kids. i actually went today morning after sleeping over last night and met 5 of her 2nd graders. according to jeanne, one of them has a crush on me hahaha. there's also a little boy that looks like asian harry potter. he gets picked on and it's so sad/hilarious.
well, they don't know i'm coming again. i guess i'm gonna make that boy's day tomorrow. LOL jk!

these days, the freezing weather makes me feel miserable. i don't remember what it feels like to wear just 2 layers. buttt, i never thought i'd be able to survive in a weather like this (my body is usually sooo sensitive to cold weather), so thank you God for being merciful and gracious :)

i'm gonna deactivate facebook tomorrow, just cuz it'll be good for my soul. facebook taints the soul. for rills. but i guess that means i'll be updating this a little more often :)
i like blogging.

this entry is so pointless. but it's also because i only have 5 minutes to write this. jeanne has to make a video and it's going to take forever. (and it IS her computer)

almost 2 more months left hurrrrrrr. spice and rice.
i don't know exactly where that came from.

my pimples need to go AWAY! i think i'm breaking out on my chin so much because my neck+chin is always covered by my thick scarf. you know, it's so cold that when i breathe into my scarf, the moisture turns cold super fast and for like 4 seconds, i get genuinely confused as to why my scarf is wet. daaaaaaang it i hate this cold weatherrrrrr :(

oh yes, my cousin's baby is going to be born in 2 days!! woohooo so excited. maybe my next entry will feature him :)) MASONNNN (my 2nd nephew who i haven't met yet), i can't wait to see youuuuuuu! (if you haven't seen mason yet, wait a day. i will upload his pictures. i'm a proud auntie.)

update: ok here it iss!! facebook ppl probably saw it already.

mr. kang, NO!!!

this is my 50th blog entry. yaaaaayyyy
i really wonder who keeps up with my blog. the only person i know who regularly does is sharon ahn. she says my life here seems so adventurous.
shout out to you, sharie. you're like.... my "number one fan" hahahaha (or just... "my one fan"...)

every day feels so mundane and routine, but i guess thinking back on my 49 entries, my life honestly has been an adventure.

moving on,
i tutored pretty much straight from 10 am - 7:30 pm today. saturdays are no longer weekends in my book. after 40 minutes of waiting for the bus near my aunt's area (in icefog) and another 40 minutes of riding the bus back to gangnam, i met mr. kang near my place at the corner of this street called "bang bang street" (freaking koreans) at 4 pm. today was the first day i met him outside of his company, in his normal clothes. (freaking freak, at times like these i wish i had my freaking camera.)

while i was crossing the street to go to the location we decided to meet at, i spotted a bright turquoise blob (i'm nearsighted, with -9 eyesight) and soon after realized it was him when he starting waving at me as if he hasn't seen me in weeks (i tutored him on thursday). his work clothes make him look so classy and GQ (he has "S.H. Kang" stitched on all of his cuffs).... (oh, and he's 39 years old, in case you're wondering)

but DAANGGG he has no sense in fashion whatsoEVER. like i said... i wish i had my camera.

that's besides the point though. ....when am i ever on point. 

so we decided to sit at coffee bean (literally 30 seconds away from my place) and he bought me this tiny freshly squeezed strawberry juice, which costed 4,900 won. (who do you think you are, coffee bean.) 

oh right, why did we meet on a saturday at a coffee bean? because from now on, he wants to meet twice during the week and once on a weekend, since he has lunch meetings on wednesdays this whole month.

anyway, so the hour-long free-talking became more of a korean culture 101 lesson for me slash whoa-mr.kang-TMI.

examples: 

1. yesterday, he texted me asking for recommendations on good restaurants. i recommended mercado:

   the brazilian all-you-can-eat bbq buffet that i ate at twice

... but he said it was too packed. he told me today that he ended up just eating indian food with his millionaire friend, who asked him last minute to bring some women. "is he married???" "yeah" "then why didn't you just bring your wives??" "it was too late to ask them, and they have to take care of the kids." mmm... ok... so who does mr. kang end up inviting? 2 women who work at the bar he goes to often with his friends/clients (not just a bar, but those ROOM bars). 

so after dinner, the girls invited mr. kang and friend to where they work, but since his friend's new years resolution was to quit smoking and drinking, he just dropped the girls.... and mr. kang... off at the bar. mr. kang ended up spending 150 buying himself and some women drinks + 30 for driver service. 

"mr. kang, NO!!!" (<-- i seriously yelled this throughout the hour at least 5 times.) 

2. talking about the women led into the topic of plastic surgery and how common/normal it is in korea. 

mr. kang: so next month, i receive an incentive -- a big one -- so i tell my wife, "when i get bonus, can you get breast implants?" and she say no. 

me: mr. kang, OF COURSE IT'S A NO!! (slash omgomgomg-awkward-x2309484-but-act-natural)

mr. kang: but you know, these days, technology is SO good, i heard from woman at bar that it only take 4 minute to get it and not a lot of pain! and maybe 3 year ago, they put shot for whole body, but these days, they only put shot for around the breast *shows the area on his chest -- awkwarddd* 

3. later, he started talking about how he gained 3 kg (6.61 lbs) during the last 2 months. mind you, he's a pretty normal-sized man. 

mr. kang: i want to get a surgery to take out my stomach fat.

me (i'm not kidding): MR. KANG! NO!! that's not good!

mr. kang: i knowww but it's fast. oh, you know there is an injection that ummm -- 녹여...

me: melts? .... melts your fat?!?!? 

mr. kang: YES! you get an injection 3 times a week for 2 months and after, it melt your fat and pee......

me: you pee it out....? 

mr. kang: yes! for a month. but... some side effects... but it's fast so i want it.

me: mr. kang........... just exercise. PLEASE. 

sigh.

side note: i saw an ad on the subway that says you can walk in to the [advertised] plastic surgery office, get your nose done in 20 minutes, and return to work right after. "perfect during a lunch break!" 

side note 2: super random, but did you know that if you rub white/clear toothpaste on your white macbook stains and wipe it off with a damp tissue, it gets rid of them?! i did it yesterday and my white macbook looks new again. (but i don't know if it works with the older white macbook model.) 

yay google!

missing

i feel like a small part of me is missing.

and it is.

my camera is gone, my friends. the last picture i took was of my new tutor student, soojin, with her yummy honey brick toast and americano.

losing it was a blur. all i remember is waiting for the subway to arrive, taking the camera out of my bag, forgetting why i took it out, "ooo there's a bench," taking out my planner, "ooo there's the subway," getting off one stop later to transfer, "ooo i should look at today's pictures," realizing i don't have it...................

i went back after EIGHT minutes of leaving that bench, only to see that it was.... not..... there........
(yes, eight minutes seems long, but that subway station is always EMPTY!)

how am i gonna document the rest of my time here (a little less than 3 months omg)???? how am i visibly gonna let my family and friends know how i'm doing/what i'm up to???

now i can't finish ep. 3 of my winter video diary.

i hate losing things. i hate losing people. i hate losing.
sigh.

well, life goes on, right? (i plan on buying the canon 1400is... i just don't know how. amazon says they ship internationally, but when i typed in my address, they said nope. freaking liarswiththeirpantsonfire.)

so after this horrible event, i traveled 45 minutes to jeanne's area, where stella, jean unni (stella's sister), sheldon, and i met jeanne to go to this free movie showing that her co-teacher got her free tickets for.

summary (credits to hancinema.net -- don't judge me if it sounds horrible to you):
Priest Lee Tae-seok, Korea's Schweitzer, sacrificed everything in Africa's Sudan. His last gift is the touching human documentary "Don't Cry for Me Sudan".
In February 2010, a small village called Tonj in south Sudan. A brass band of Tonj marches through the village. The boys in the front were holding the picture of a man, smiling. The villagers could not believe his death and cried for Tonj's father. They are the Dinka, and their lives have been stained with anger, hatred, poverty, and disease. They risk their lives to protect their families and livestock. They are strong, so their tears are worth more. But they are crying for priest Lee Tae-seok, who left this world at age 48. He was the father of Tonj, a doctor, a teacher, a conductor, and an architect. His sacrificial life comes to the screen.

His beautiful life will be shown to the world!


ok, this summary sucked. but pretty much, this catholic priest, who originally wanted to become a doctor and received a Ph.D, left his dream to become a priest/medical missionary in Tonj, a small village in Sudan. with his many talents (music, medicine, architecture, education), he literally changed the lives of those people. this priest died early because of some cancer and the whole village, upon hearing this news, went into mourning -- something they usually don't do for their own people. 

within the first 10 minutes of the film, i whispered to stella, who'd been 열심히 consoling me about my lost camera, "stella, this is humble-bombing me already." 
here i was being so materialistic, when the people in africa don't even have decent water to drink. 

this documentary was so inspiring to me. it really taught me that one person really CAN make a difference. it also made me think:
- i want a husband like him
- i want to help the less fortunate via occupational therapy, money, art, music... whatever gifts God's given me
- the gospel can be spread through actions and deeds, too -- not only through words
- i want to love like Jesus did
- i need to be thankful for everything, including the fact that i used to own a camera and that i could afford to replace it with another one. 

the last picture (taken with my camera) in my "korea 2k11 - january" file. 

(i fit into kids size hello kitty slippers -- surprise surprise)

good bye... i'm sorry i only had you for a year.

note: at least i still have my macbook. i almost left it on the bus a few weeks ago, but before i got off, i moved to another seat leaving my laptop, and some nice lady brought it up to the driver. i'm seriously DUMB. 

twenty-four

i'm 24 in korea now. isn't that disgusting?
i don't want to bash on our culture, but i think it's so stupid how we turn an extra year altogether -- i mean, we already start off our lives as 1 year old. what about those who are born on december 31? or january 1? sucks to be them, especially when they're at the age of.... desperation.

honestly, i know more than anyone that i do not look my age. i think if i were any korean here, and i told... myself i was 24, i'd scoff and say, "you? 24? then i'm the president of peru."

this year, i hope to look closer to 20. (hahahaha dude that's so sad)

anyway, this new year's was by far the craziest.
ok honestly, i haven't come home since the 30th because i slept over at jeanne's for the past 2 nights, and i have so much to update on -- pictures, video, and this blog. i have 2 hours til church. i didn't eat lunch yet. didn't shower. mmmm... if i finish this entry, it'll probably take 15-20 minutes. what to do first....

it matters because if i want to talk about how crazy my new year's was, then i'd have to make the video first because my videos capture the craziness. however, a video takes more than an hour to make, which means i'd have to do it when i come home. that means i can't finish this entry right now.

i'm the type of person that, if i know i have stuff to take care of, i have to do it ASAP and check it off the list in order to make myself feel better. i'mmmm a perfectionist. like.. when i was in elementary school, i remember writing words over and over until they were satisfying to the eye -- for anything: tests, worksheets, letters, writing on the board, etc.

ok that example had nothing to do with me wanting to check things off the list.

wow i just totally forgot i was writing a blog entry for like 20 minutes.

here's a sneak peek of my experience at jongno3ga on new year's:

pushing and shoving like there's no tomorrow. i almost got knocked over 2034 times.

squished almost to suffocation (i'm seriously not exaggerating)

i'm really not kidding, but if you watch my video blog later, the times i didn't capture the craziness was when i was actually screaming for my life and so squished that i couldn't move my arms one bit.

i'm usually someone who dislikes going to really crowded areas -- concerts, amusement parks (although i loveeee rides), really huge gatherings in small locations (ex. kcm W.A.R.), etc. -- but after this experience, and enduring the frigid single-digit-temperature weather of korea for the past month, i feel like i can conquer the world.

almost.

happy 2011! God's been crazy to me the past year. can't wait for what else He's going to bring my way -- good and bad. i think i learned more in 2010 than i did my whole college career (maybe i'm kidding with this one). 

anyway, 2011, bring it onnnnnnnnnn.