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So it's been a pretty exciting week here in Seoul, with the olympic spirit in full swing, Koreans are practically glued to their television sets. At the top of the list might be Korean swimmer Tae-Hwan Park who nabbed Korea's first ever Olympic gold in swimming.
Next you've got the crazy soccer games (two of which I've caught). It seems like every discussion I've had with my debate students ends up a conversation about the olympics.

For those of you who can't keep your faces glued to the tube, here are a couple of medal count links you might find helpful:

This first one is courtesy of the infamous Yahoo, whose board of directors is still in tact btw. It ranks based on total number of medals.

This one is the official count by the Beijing Olympic Website and ranks based on number of gold medals.

Finally, I just wanted to throw down an excerpt of a pretty interesting article I read on ESPN.com

No way met no quit.

"I changed," he said. "I thought, 'That's ridiculous. I'm at the Olympic Games, I'm here for the United States of America. I don't care how bad it hurts, I'm going after it.'

"I just got a super charge."

What transpired during the final 50 meters was the stuff of Disney movies. It was the kind of thing that should land Lezak a co-starring role with Phelps on cereal boxes and network morning shows. And if Phelps does complete the great eight and pocket a $1 million Speedo bonus, he should cut a check for one-eighth of that total to the guy who kept the quest alive: Jason Lezak.

It's a great piece to give you a jolt of patriotism... ESPN ARTICLE

And last but not least... I'm going to be kick'n it with Scholar Jon and Big EZ this weekend. Should make for a good time.. I'll also get the new camera I ordered.. so hopefully I'll have some very amateur pictures to throw up on my newly created flickr account... See you soon!

like i said.

So it's been a while since I last threw some thoughts up into this great cloud we call the blogosphere.. I know, I generally blog during midterms and finals when I should be studying.. but this time around I didn't get a chance to study too much for my finals, so I'll make up for lost time.

Earlier this week while teaching a contemporary issues course, I found myself presented with the age old question of "Is money necessary for happiness?" Needless to say, there were a variety of opinions on the topic and it was interesting to hear the different view points from Korean students, especially the ones that come from fairly affluent families. In the course of our discussion, I referred my students to an article that simply stated that people are generally "happier" when they journal. (or blog in our cases) Either way, the article said that people who journal/blog can go back and reflect on the things they're thankful for and see how their lives have, over time changed, had ups and downs and regardless of the difficulties, these "journalers" (or bloggers) tend to appreciate their lives more than people who don't.
One thing I'm at at fault for, is not taking enough time to stop and be thankful. To fully reflect on how many tens, if not hundreds or thousands of things I could be thankful for... So starting today, I'm going to work on making it a habit...

Today I'm thankful for friends: To top the list would be rockstar. It's amazing how in a world of 6 billion people, all of who have differing personalities, desires and goals, we can find someone and be able to share our entire life with them. Rockstar and I, on many levels, are pretty different. He's creative, I try... I'm tall, he tries... He sings, I try... By the way, did I mention I was tall? ;) Anyways, in the past several months, I've had the opportunity to give to him and receive from him more that I could have imagined. Sometimes I hear people talk about "divine appointments." If you're not familiar with the term, it refers to the crossing of two (or so) paths with a destiny set by God. I truly believe with all my heart rockstar and I have that. I'm still not quite sure what we'll accomplish or how else we're going to continue to help each other, but I'm confident that we will.

Of course I can't forget people like the one and only Mr. Farmer, The Good Doctor and soon to be Mrs. Good Doctor, LM3 and ToriM3, Matt Brunk whose brutal honesty is refreshing, Mentor Tracey Beal, and the slew of friends in Korea including the gyopo of all gyopos... and the countless others...

For you all I am grateful....

Reworking the blog over the next few... sorry about the mess.

Well I was looking back through my blogs and I noticed that around midterms and finals there was a spike in my blogging.. Hmmm.. Why stop now right?The article goes on to mention Korean web giants Naver.com (by far Korea's top search engine) and Cyworld (by far Korea's top social networking sight).  I've tried to use cyworld in the past, as a matter of fact cyworld did a US launch and as far as I can tell aren't having the success they hoped for.  For me cyworld was a little bit too involved.  Let me explain: You have to build a character, decorate your room, hang posters, buy clothes, add a tv, update your furnature... All sorts of "nonsense" that mimic daily life.  I don't know about you, but when I log onto facebook it's to get away from daily life.  Next, I use google.com as my primary search engine.  Why?  Because it's no frills search.  I love more the fact that the google search bar is built into my browser because then I don't have to look at anything.  I can just type my search terms in the little box and BOOM there are my results.  Today, for the first time, I decided to use Naver.com.  And instantly, I can tell you why these web giants are struggling.    The chosun.com article states that...

Experts say the foreign challengers have failed to understand the peculiarities of the South Korean market. Their quality suffers in comparison to local offerings in terms of Korean-language features, site design and sophistication of services, South Korean experts argue.

After using Naver.com for just 2 search terms, I immediately began to wonder if anyone from Google ever did research on Korea before launching google.kr?  Let me use a couple of photo examples.


References: 

So I spent some time a few weeks ago in the motherland.  Well not my motherland (although the majority of my caucasian friends wouldn't know) but Chinese peoples' motherland.  And better yet, in Beijing where it all happens.  Or will happen.. this summer... for the 2008 olympics... so long as Tiebet doesn't interfere, or is it China that's interfering with Tiebet? I'll leave that to those who are more familiar with the matter :\  Before I get too far off topic... here are some pictures:

So I just got back from a week long trip to China.  You know visited The Great Wall, Forbidden City, and Tieneman Square.  (I took over 500 pictures!)  But that's not what I'm going to blog about right now, at this very moment, while I'm trying to fight off a cold, I'm going to blog about my experience with GoDaddy.com .  

Well, Yonsei's Intensive Korean Language level 2 is over, and it's on to level 3! Level 3 is different in several regards from the first two levels. First, in the first two levels, you switch instructors after midterms, in level 3 it's the same instructor all the way through. Next starting in level 3 you get to choose an elective. In level 3 there are four: reading, writing, speaking, listening. Beginning in level 4 you can choose to learn subjects like korean culture, food, and even hanja, Korea's ancient language and alphabet (this is the foundation of Chinese, Japanese and Korean).

Had a rough night, thought I'd sit down and put some thoughts to keyboard. Why is it that life is so hard? I mean, it's not that hard except that we have to deal with people. And if we didn't have to deal with people, I don't know how many of use would consider it worth living. Have you ever wondered if God was just playing a cruel joke on us? I mean think about it, we're creatures that crave and desire community more than probably any other animal in existence, and just about every problem we have, comes from the communities that we crave. Then again, I should probably point out that the highlighting moments of our lives also come from the communities that we live in. When friends gather at Peter Piper for a little shoot-out tourney or when two finally get engaged (it was only a matter of time), or even when you just get to share some late night chicken and laugh about swallowing gum (I guess you had to be there). Anyways, maybe it's not that cruel of a joke after all. Don't they say everything is relative? Perhaps we wouldn't recognize or appreciate the good aspects of the communities we live if we didn't have to occasionally, (or even daily) have to deal with the nonsense.

On to other things, going to visit family tomorrow, going to China in three weeks... Let the good times roll...

So I came across this story on Breitbart.com headline: "Women 'tricked into suicide blasts" the follow up headline:"Mentally Retarded Women Used in Bombings." So first of all, it's disgusting and leaves me almost speechless. I wish I could put to words the range of emotions that I'm feeling right now. My heart goes out to the families of these women. Let me give you a snippet from the articles:

Two women suicide bombers who have killed nearly 80 people in Baghdad were Down's Syndrome victims exploited by al Qaida.
The explosives were detonated by remote control in a co-ordinated attack after the women walked into separate crowded markets, said the chief Iraqi military spokesman in Baghdad General Qassim al-Moussawi.

Police said the woman wearing the bomb sold cream in the mornings at the market and was known to locals as "the crazy lady."

... the use of the handicapped in suicide bombings is not unprecedented in Iraq. In January 2005, Iraq's interior minister said insurgents used a disabled child in a suicide attack on election day. Police at the scene of the bombing said the child appeared to have Down syndrome.

Yes, I'm upset and angry at the terrorists who engage in such atrocious acts, but for some reason, at this very moment, I can't stop thinking about the idiots who try to compare "us" to the terrorists. The people who call the terrorists "freedom fighters" just like those in the American revolution. You tell me the last time you ran across a story in a history book about American revolutionaries using mentally retarded people to blow themselves up... Damn it!

Okay, So here goes. Long time no blog ;) It’s been a pretty crazy time since I’ve returned to Korea. To be honest, I still haven’t worked my way down the list of people I was supposed to contact, so what have I been doing? Reading... a lot. Going to 20 hours a week of intensive Korean and occasionally doing homework for the class. I spoke to Tall Kate today, so that was good. I’ve had the chance to touch base with rockstar, the kids, mr. firefighter, big love and even the rents on a couple of occasions. Well I’m sitting here at Caribu Coffee, my almost favorite hang out, except I can’t get my wifi working for the life of me, heck my MacBook Pro can’t even see the network! Ahhh, so I’m surfing the internet on my iPhone while I’m writing this blog, which, means I won’t be able to upload it until I get home later tonight. And at the same time, I’ve decided that because I can’t get online, I definitely can’t do any homework while I’m here. So... Since people are going through withdrawals at my sudden absence from the blogosphere, I’ll point you in a couple of directions: First there’s the list of friends: joe, elliott, jon, kt, sam, vaka, and missy. Then there are the power house Marks: Batterson and Driscoll. Batterson, pastor of NCC in Washington, DC is a dynamic speaker, whose “boy-next door” charm and humor makes him an easy listen along with his almost daily updated blog make him a keeper. Then there Driscoll: pastor of the one of the fastest growing churches in the country, the largest church in Seattle, a published author, theologian, and all American “white guy” make him a great place to start if you’re into fire breathing, dry wit, and layers of sarcasm. Not only has he read literally thousands of books, but his ability to decipher biblical texts almost unparalleled. So there’s a couple of places you can go if you ever find yourself in need of a good blog or two. Keep in mind that I’ll keep the blog roll - rolling as time goes on. Also if you're interested in checking out some rad pictures, a good friend of mine here in Korea is sort of a photographer extraordinaire. Her name's NaeKyoung and she actually just published a travel guide to London, (written in Korean of course) but anyways, she's definitely an up and coming so you can check out her pics and buy her book too!

Until next time


The cover of NaeKyoung's new book.. it's full of photographs she took...

Blogging for the new year.

Today is December 31, 2007, it’s a Monday and I woke up at 7:30AM. I must say that I feel particularly different about this new year, different than I’ve ever felt. Over the past two days, especially yesterday after hitting up Dr. Fredrick K. C. Price’s church with Elliott, I had an intense urge for solitude. I was slightly torn because I feel like I have a commitment to the guys (rockstar, big love, and bradly) to stay engaged and interact with them during this road trip. At the same time, I feel an unprecedented desire to plan, reflect, and consider. This morning rockstar and I woke up early and headed to the beach. It was a the nicest of mornings, the weather was perfect, the beach was virtually empty, except the dedicated surfers out catching the occasional ridable waves, and the sky was blue. (At least as blue as it can be in Los Angeles) I’ve been dealing with two major issues this year in my personal life: the Sovereignty of God, and change. The first, which I started blogging on before, is something that goes hand in hand with the second.

As we sat on the beach, eating our bagels and drinking our respective favorite Starbucks concoctions and talking; the topic of our futures and the current moment and places in our lives saturated the conversation.

I can’t help feeling like so much has happened this year. As I sit here now in our room, big love, rockstar and I, all blogging while bradly is fighting off his cold, I can’t help but seeing a year full of very high highs and heart wrenching lows. The roller coaster of events, I could not have predicted in my most wildest of imaginations; not just me, but even within the “circle of trust” that I consider those dearest to me, we were all taken for a ride. ... For the first time in my life as I look at this past year, I can say that I feel a sense of movement. My first choice of words was “accomplishment” but I’m a bit hesitant because I don’t know that I feel like I’ve necessarily accomplished anything. But I am quite certain that I have started. For those of you who know me, I’ve always been the mover and shaker. Always doing, moving, working. Isn’t it strange that with everything I’ve done and always seem to be doing, that everything we all seem to be doing, so often we don’t make any headway, no achievement, no advance. We seem to accomplish so many things and yet can’t say that we’ve made any progress of worth. 2007, while by many standards I haven’t accomplished much if anything, I feel like I’ve made movement.

The second area I’m dealing with, change, is the area in which I see the most movement. I’ve been dealing with a lot of change this year. Applying to law schools, two and a half months in DC, mending broken friendships, changes in family, four months in Korea, and immense change within the “circle of trust.” I can’t say exactly when I started feeling it, but it seems like one day I looked up and there it was: CHANGE. As rockstar and I were talking at the beach, we couldn’t help but chuckle at some of the situations we’ve been involved in this past year, and while many were and are still very difficult to close, they seem to be necessary to teach us. For me, the biggest lesson I learned this year, might be simply: I need to change. I wish I could say that many years ago I had this realization, but I can’t. No, it was only in the past 12 months, through a number of unpredictable events that I found myself accepting of, perhaps even longing to be changed. Having just realized this at the age of nearly 27 (or 28 if if we’re discussing my Korean age) I realize I have so far to go, and while my movement in 2007 has been measurable the distance that lies ahead seems just the opposite.

Another first, I can say with all certainty, that I am uncertain of what 2008 holds for me. And at the same time, I am more confident of 2008 than I have ever been of any upcoming year. The “ifs” of 2008 seem daunting so I’ll begin this new year with one of my resolutions and areas of development... WORRY LESS, TRUST MORE...

Happy New Year... God Bless

So much has happened in the past 96 hours since I've been back in the states. I've had breakfast at Parsons three days in a row, been to starbucks twice, and the mall once. It doesn't seem much like Christmas this morning...as a matter of fact yesterday felt more like Christmas; yesterday when I was on the phone with my cousins and friends from Korea. It's interesting how much things change in a short span like four months. I was having coffee with rockstar the other day and telling him that for some reason I don't feel like Arizona is my home. Don't get me wrong, my family is here and perhaps someday I'll be back here to settle down but, in the mean while I feel like I'm a traveler, as if there's so much for me to learn and explore.

My experience in Korea seems to change more everyday than I could have imagined in the whole of the year I'm supposed to be there. I've made a new little sister, Gong-Shan from China, I've made a slew of good friends and even a really great friend. I've met amazing family like Do Yoon and Peel Ju and Hyun Ju; my uncles, aunts, and other cousins have blessed me and introduced me to an aspect of my life and heritage that I could not have imagined possible in a hundred years... and for this I am greatful to God.

In the past week, I've also had an amazing time getting to see the working of a soveriegn God in ways that I had forgotten that He works. I hope to blog more on this topic later today. But right now, Christmas brunch is about to be ready and I should go get ready...

Merry Christmas and Happy Advent.

So there has been quite a bit of debate about human caused climate change, or so I would like to think. Granted, there are those that would argue that the debate is over and now it's time for action, of course I disagree. While I don't disagree that "greener" companies, less dependence on nonrenewable sources of energy and less pollution in the air are all good things, what I am skeptical about is the fervor with which the "blame humans" crowd telling tales of impending doom of the globe into a boiling planet flooded by melted polar ice caps if we don't immediately change our ways. Before you totally and likely ignorantly come to a decision based on the flyby media and "an inconvenient truth," take a quick sec and check out these recent articles:


Did you know that temperatures since 2001 have actually been declining?

"Carbon Emissions Don't Cause Global Warming" - Dr. David Evans

"Climate scientists at the University of Rochester, the University of Alabama, and the University of Virginia report that observed patterns of temperature changes (‘fingerprints’) over the last thirty years are not in accord with what greenhouse models predict and can better be explained by natural factors, such as solar variability. Therefore, climate change is ‘unstoppable’ and cannot be affected or modified by controlling the emission of greenhouse gases, such as CO2, as is proposed in current legislation." Press Release- Dr S. Fred Singer

Did you know it was actually warmer during the midevil period than it is today?
"Medieval Warm Period Reinstated" - Dr. Craig Loehle

Did you know that one of the founding members of the expert reviewers panel of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (UN IPCC) is calling for the abolishment of the panel?
Article - Dr. Vincent Gray

Did you know that CO2 contributions to climate change are considered negligible?
"Heat capacity, time constant and sensitivity of Earth's climate system" - Brookhaven National Laboratory

Did you know that "world climate predictors" admit they're only right about half the time?
Article - The New Zealand Climate Science Coalition

Did you know that many of the climate models used by forecasters are built by "unlicensed engineers?"
"Unlicensed Engineers" - Dr. Hendrik Tennekes

Did you know that less than half of all published scientists actually endorse human caused climate change?
"Comprehensive survey of published climate research reveals changing viewpoints" - Michael Asher

and Finally,

Did you know that Carbon Dioxide did not cause the last ice age? (contrary to popular belief)
"Deep-sea temperatures rose 1,300 years before atmospheric CO2, ruling out the greenhouse gas as driver of meltdown, says study in Science." - Terah DeJong, USC

Needless to say, the debate is still thriving... Perhaps we should wait a bit longer before buying into possible carbon credit schemes and funding more week long seminars on climate change, which themselves, create more pollution that 20,000 automobiles... but that's just a thought.

I got a text message from a friend of mine the other day; it was his 26th birthday.  The message: I feel so old.  How could I respond?  Lately, I seem to be the vent for several of my friends who have been awakened to the fact that they're getting "older" and I'm already there.  Most of their venting and uncertainty stems around the fact that they don't know what they want to do with their lives, or they've woken up one morning and found out that they've graduated school, been working in a mundane job and don't know where the road they're on will lead.  For me it's a bit different.  I don't wake up in the morning wondering what the road holds ahead or if I'll be ready for it.  For me, the challenge is not what will I do but more how will I do it all?  I was talking to rockstar the other day and couldn't help thinking about how any one of the dozens of things I want to do could consume a lifetime.  Do I have to chose?  A career?  Serving God?  Having a wife?  Raising a family?  Caring for friends and family?  Spending time with loved ones?  Seeing the world? To anyone of these I could devote my entire life and find not enough time... Dare I tackle them all?  
Those of you who know me, know I often struggle with priorities. I want to change the world, and yet I'm uncertain of how to go about it. At times I'm 70% sure, other times I'm not sure at all.  Perhaps it's old age, or perhaps it's wisdom (which in essence is old age, but an easier way of dealing with it.)  I think my priorities are setting themselves, and for the first time, I feel like I might hit that 80% mark of surety.

I'm not sure. But once you register with the Law School Admissions Counsel, there seems to be no end. Had a few people ask which law schools had given me fee waivers and sent solicitations and I've never had the time until this morning, when I should be studying for finals. (isn't that always the case?) So I did a quick search in Gmail for "law school" and these are the names that turned up... glancing through them, most included fee waivers, if you want to know specifically just ask...

Washington University New York University
Chapman University Duke Law
University of Virginia Notre Dame Law
University of St. Thomas New College of Law, Ca
University of Detroit University of Michigan
University of Arizona UST School of Law?
University of Miami Arizona State University
Tulsa College of Law Texas Weslyn University
University of Akron Lewis and Clark
Southwest University Santa Clara University
Southwestern Law, LA Washington and Lee
St Luis University University of Iowa
Vanderbilt Loyola University
Pierce Law Washburn University
Phoenix Int'l Law Temple Law
Oklahoma City law Boston College

Not much new going on lately, between "normal" classes, Korean classes, and hangin with family most of everyday seems to be consumed. Hung out with my cousin yesterday, pretty fun, had Chinese food and then I had the opportunity to introduce her to Cold Stone! Her expression was priceless! (Side note, she's never tasted coconut!?) Christmas starts a little early in Korea, primarily because their Thanksgiving is in October so right after Peppero day (or pocky day as Steph calls it) it's right on to Christmas.

Korean class is going well; KLI switches up the teachers after midterms to help mix things up. The new teachers are pretty good, and the pace seems to be just right. I'm headed to the DMZ tomorrow, really looking forward to it. (Although, I'm not quite sure what I'm hoping to see?) I'm sure I'll snap plenty of pictures and hopefully get in some more Atlas Shrugged (ML's kick'n my butt!)

Lunchtime: lunches at KLI are always hectic. If you arrive to the
cafeteria even a minute late it could mean a 20 min delay in getting
your food. Fortunatly I got here 5 mind early today so I'll be
finished before these poor kids even get a peek at their lunches...

So.. I should be studying for midterms, but instead I'm blogging. And of course it has nothing to do with not wanting to put my nose in the books.. but more because I care about everyone who's interested in "all things, me and korea." So here goes.

First, I had a chance to go to 용산 (Yong-san) a few weeks ago. It's a huge 8 story mall (of sorts) that specializes in everything electronic. I picked up an HP printer for $48 while my housemate - Hiro picked up a new cell phone. You'll also see that there was a car display in the court of the mall. YES that's a DAEWOO sign.. and YES, the red car is a DAEWOO... (hmmm, never seen that in the states)







Here are some pictures of my Korean Language Institute class... There are 14 of us, when everyone shows up... It's always a good time.





I mom and grandma are in town this week... so we visited a bunch of family in 강릉 (Gang-neung) which is my mom's hometown. My grandmother's oldest brother's widow was there (86) with her son (who's youngest son is getting married in two weeks), my grandmother's youngest brother (65ish?) and his wife, her youngest sister (74ish?) her next younger brother (78ish), his wife (68ish?) and then my grandmother (81) my mother and I were all there... We ate a lot, drank a lot, and I sat around clapping while all the older folk sang traditional songs from their childhood.. All in all it was a good time.



On a side note... my grandmother was pretty upset about my attempt to grow some facial hair.. and barely spoke to me on the 2 hour drive from Suwon to Gang-neung. (except to tell me I looked like a homeless old man). When we got to her younger brother's house (where we stayed) first thing she told her brother was to grab me a razor... So much for attempting facial hair for the next 3 weeks... Oh well... I'll just look like I'm 12...


Until next time...