Being the self professed technology "geek" that I am... I have found South Korea's lack of free wifi quiet saddening. Seoul in particular, if jam packed with coffee shops galore. There are literally dozens stacked on top of each other, while major chains such as Starbucks and TOMNTOMS have upwards of 6 or 7 within a few mins walking distance.

The challenge is, many of these major chains don't offer free wifi, and many of the littler chains that do offer free wifi also serve beer. Have you ever tried to read a book or study in a packed coffee shop that serves beer? (maybe something for law schools to consider!)

Either way, yesterday I was told by a friend that Starbucks and Google, the infamous search giant have teamed up to offer free wifi Korea's Starbucks. (Wonder why Google would do such a thing? 4% market share). Anyways, I haven't tried it out yet, but you'd better believe I will...

Here's a link to the story

From flickr

Just a quick post today.. I went into the gym this morning to do a little iron pumping, since rockstars guns are bigger than mine. And and as I checked in at the front desk I could faintly hear the music coming from the mens locker room... Hmm, that' interesting I thought. I know I've heard that melody somewhere.. Well, as I made my way into the locker room the song was unmistakable.. It's Raining Men by The Weather Girls. What I wasn't prepared for were the 5 undressed men standing around the locker room all singing the song. Welcome to Korea!

So I'm back in Seoul after spending some much needed time away reflecting, contemplating, showing Louie the beauty of the 오토바이... and just taking some time to recover. As I got off the bus last night in Soul, I noticed a particular smell... not necessarily bad, but not exactly pleasant either. I was talking with my housemate this morning and told her about it, she commented, "Ahh the smell of metropolitan Korea." Hmmm.. Interesting. As I got back to my room and proceeded to take a shower the subtle scents took me back 11months ago to my first impression of the "mother land" as some refer to it... I remember the excitement, the anticipation, and then the shear exhaustion of my first transpacific flight in over 20 years. Anyways, it's amazing how the slightest scent or voice can take us back days, weeks, even years... translate us for a few breathes... I'm glad to be here another year. The opportunity to study, work, learn, teach, give, experience, I welcome them all.

Oh yea... I saw my other roommate just a few mins ago... His first words, "Nice to see you're back... you gained weight, ha ha ha" My response... yea 2lbs, thanks for noticing.. :P On vacation, all the comments were "wow, you're small" or "you look sick, you need to gain some weight" or "man, I don't even recognize you." Here, they're just the opposite, how a few miles can change people's perceptions so much... It's good to be back.

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....

So I attend church at a pretty cool place called Yoido.  Heard about it while I was in the states and so I decided to attend while I'm in Korea (and it's only 10 mins from my house).  I try to mix it up from time to time and attend the Korean service, but recently I've found myself attending the English service.  It's amazing how many people from different countries come and attend this church.  Today the Nigerian Ambassador dropped by with his wife.  And while I was going to take one of those "Handshake and Smile" pictures... I didn't have my camera with me and I felt a bit ridiculous saying.. "Okay Mr. Ambassador, smile for the handphone." Anyways, I snapped a couple quick ones... The guy in the black suit behind him is either his body guard/driver or his man servant. (Not quite sure)

...still working on the blog.. sorry for the mess...

Just thought I'd throw down a few words before my day gets started. First, I've met some new friends in the past couple of days, some really good people with a variety of backgrounds... I say that to say we were having a discussion yesterday over coffee... and I realized that I came to John's defense when the topic turned to his age of ~40. Hmmmm... I thought about it last night and I can honestly say that I don't believe 40 is old.. then again it's not to far from 30 right? :\

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).

A lot has been going on since I last put thoughts to keyboard, here are some in no particular order:

1) I was inspired by a blog about eating dark chocolate
I'm a fan of chocolate, dark chocolate to be specific. And to be more specific, the 72% variety. So when my good friend blogged about the nuances of enjoying a piece of dark chocolate, I must say I was inspired.

2) Sent in my letter of acceptance to Duke Law School

3) Applied for a tourist visa to China
Do you know that a tourist visa costs over $130 for an American to get a visa!?!?!? Highway robbery I tell you! Anyways, I also secured the hotel for my trip, the Westin Beijing Financial Center. Looks pretty cool, it should be fun, except neither my friend or I can speak any Chinese, but I suppose if we did it wouldn't be as adventurous right?

4) Finished reading "Blue Like Jazz," "Rules for Revolutionaries," and "I Isaac Take Thee Rebeka"
So I tried reading Blue Like Jazz once before and couldn't get past the first couple of chapters. I'm not quite sure the reason, but I really disliked the book. I mean, really, really disliked it! Anyways, so I thought I'd give it another shot and I must say that in the couple of days it took me to read it, I fell in love with Donald Miller... Well not with him, but with his writing style and the book. If you've ever wondered what becoming a Christian is like from a non-christian's point of view is, or if you've never considered yourself a Christian, or if you sometimes find yourself wondering if after death comes an eternity filled with pools of vanilla wafer pudding... (don't know why I threw that last one in there?) This book is for you.

5) Visited family

6) MC'd a Music Competition at the Korean Language Institute
Not so bad?

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 recently, I've been noticing that in poor lighting my vision has been a little goofy, and even when I read in "decent" lighting I find myself squinting or straining... The thought of having glasses is a bit weird, since my vision as always been pretty good. The Korean "eyeglass" system is super efficient, and by efficient I mean cheap. I recall about 4 years ago going to get a "check-up" at the local eye doctor and paying something like $70 out of pocket for the eye exam. In Korea, eye exams are free, zero, zilch. And you can find any number of places while walking around that will give you a free eye exam. Glasses, including lenses start around $25 and can obviously shoot up to several hundred if you're one "those" people who need your glasses to have someone else's name who've you never met on them. My friend Hiro just needed lenses so we walked into ALO, he got his eyes examined, 100%UV/Scratch resistant lenses made and paid for in about 25mins. Compare that to the usual week to 2 week wait in the U.S.


Well, I found out that what the eye doctor told me 4 years ago was a "healthy" stigmatism was actually creating some blurriness that I was noticing during lower lighting. My eyes came back at 1.5 (or 20/15 US) for my vision with a slight stigmatism...so I took the plunge and picked up a pair of glasses, which actually make a huge difference. Being the "chill" guy that I am.. Figured I'd pick up some plain jane glasses...

It’s been a pretty interesting year so far. From a new relationship to new friends; from interpersonal struggles to a pride check from law schools, it’s been a pretty crazy start. I spoke with a friend the other day, Ms. D., we haven’t really chatted in a while, but it was good to talk to her. It was interesting a question she posed, it went something along the lines of: What do we do when we feel like there’s way too much to do and so little time to do it. Isn’t that an interesting question. I suppose there was a time when I felt like everyone wondered that very same thing, however, over the years I’ve come to discover that there are the few, the “dreamers of day” that are the ones that must deal with such issues. For most others who “dream in the dusty recesses of their mind” life is easy going, with plenty of time to be bored, to have fun, to hang out.

I told Ms. D about a recent video podcast I listened to from Mark Driscoll. I’ve mentioned him before, but just incase this is your first run-in with him, let me give you some background. Driscoll is the pastor of the biggest church in Seattle and one of the fastest growing churches in the country: Mars Hill (not to be confused with Rob Bell’s Mars Hill). He’s a thirty something with a wife and five kids, looks like your average guy who has a firm pulse on pop culture. (He can be seen often sporting the latest from Hurley and the occasional funny “Jesus” t-shirts) He is one of the top 100 most influential pastors in America and His church is the 2nd most innovative church in the country. Mars Hill is nearly 10,000 strong, made up of a lot of “single white twenty somethings who live with their moms, have Starwars blankets, can’t commit to their girlfriend and can often be found catching the latest Star Trek marathon” (paraphrasing Driscoll’s own words). He’s currently doing a series called “Religion Saves and 9 other myths” where Mars Hill received over 300,000 votes for what questions Driscoll should address. In the last message, Driscoll was asked to address the issue in Christianity he has the most challenge with. The idea of GRACE.

In the message Driscoll talks about some of his life goals: write 6-7 books a year, publish 300 books during his life; help plant 1,000 churches, he preaches some 5 sermons a week, travels extensively, and at the same time is a father and husband. He states that he struggles with how he’s going to accomplish any of that because whenever he looks at his tomorrow, it’s overwhelming.

I’ve felt that way before, and often I find myself in the same predicament. Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t spend Thurs-Sat of last week writing 150 pages of a book like Driscoll, but I would propose that our goals are equally lofty. So back to Ms. D. I’ve thought about it for for a week now, how to answer her question. I’ve attempted to look at it in the most rational mindset I know how to. And no matter how many different ways I try to cut it, it seems to come out the same: You’ve got to sacrifice. Let’s assume that’s the “right” answer, so next question: What do you sacrifice? As I look through history and more recently, I see many people who have sacrificed a great deal. Whether it’s Einstein, Mother Theresa, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Brittany Spears... I can hear some of you laughing at my list, but let me propose something. Each one of these people, in an effort to attain their deepest desires, has sacrificed. Einstein who married his cousin was it? And Brittany who’s been in rehab how many times and lost custody of her children. And in the name of what? For what? Those of you who know me on a more personal level, know that I struggled with this at age 20 while owning and operating a business, working a full-time job, attending school full-time and still not seeing ends meet. I find myself in another one of “those” situations. This semester I’m taking just over 30 credit hours (yes, 30), tutoring English several times a week, helping to lead a weekly bible study in Korean (and no, I’m not fluent enough to read the bible in Korean), growing a new relationship, trying to visit family from different cities every couple of weeks or so, getting everything ready to start law school in the fall, maintain and build on my existing relationships with friends back home, experience cultural life in Korea, and maybe even visit China for a few days. Needless to say, most days I don’t think I can do it all. However, I found a bit of hope in the words Driscoll eloquently delivered so I’ll point those of you in a similar situation, in that direction.

Watch the Video Here...


ORMars Hill Video Link

iTunes Podcast Link

My first Chinese New Year... with Chinese folks! Good times. Let me catch you up on some of the goings on in the past couple of days.

Spent on of my 5 days off at Building 63 with a really good friend. It's the tallest building in Seoul and yup, you guessed it: 63 stories high. It has an aquarium, shopping, dining, and a sky deck. And while earlier in the day I found a McDonalds that might look like it rivals Building 63, a quick look out of the window of the SkyDeck, shows you that you can't compare the two. The last picture of the skyline is high quality, incase you wanted to use it as a desktop image.





HIGH REZ Photo

On to new years. I spent the better half of the morning with my friend at Minto, it's a unique blend of coffee shop slash restaurant slash local hang out with free wifi. Originally it started as a small coffee shop in the late 70s early 80s that was opened by a local christian who wanted a local hangout for kids to be able to study and have bible studies. You pay per hour, or three hours to be exact. Basically you pay 5000won (about $5.50) for a three hour time slot. During the three hours you get unlimited refills on coffee, a variety of teas, you can get a cup-o-noodle, or bread. Once during the three hour period, you can get a latte, milk, ice cream and such. Pretty fascinating concept.

On to last night, the chinese housemates made dumplings and they let me help out. After eating a few pounds of dumplings and then a few pieces of cake which was part of my contribution, we decided to take a 15 minute hike in 12 degree weather to go light some roman candles. It was a good time for all.

(Updated 2/8/08)

Okay it’s next time ;) thought I’d through together a few things about my Intensive Korean class. So far the group is pretty interesting. First there’s teacher 2.0a; she’s what I could consider a “typical” korean girl. Cute, in a 14 year old cousin sort of way, easily embarrassed and not one to be very forceful. Then there’s teacher 2.0b who’s totally not your typical Korean. I’ve heard that she hold some level of seniority at the school, and boy does she walk around like it. The first day of class she came in wearing corduroy pants, Puma shoes, and a turtleneck. As rockstar would say, “she’s rock n’ roll.” Then there’s Hiro, one of five Japanese students in my class. He’s probably in his late forties, has two daughters? and is in Korea studying the language for his job. He works for a Japanese company whose clients are increasingly more and more Korean. There are two girls that I would say are fairly “typical,” there’s the “80’s guy” someone didn’t tell him that tight jeans and turtlenecks left 25 years ago, and then there’s the “stripper.” There’s one girl from Hong Kong, pretty straight forward. Three girls from China, one, Boo-kie looks like a little doll, to quote the Ravi, “her pudgy cheeks make her eyes look like an afterthought” but she’s sweet and of course the baby of the class. Then there’s the Chinese guy who looks mid thirties but is actually early twenties. Hmmm. Rounding out the group is the Brazilian Korean with a brazilian first and middle name and the last name Won. She looks a bit like a Brazilian Lucy Lu to me, except her parents are both Korean? Of course then there’s me, the gyopo (korean abroad) who brings American humor and entertainment to the group. :D I have to say that I’ve been blessed with another great group of friends. I still keep in touch with the last class. Mai, Liene, Zhui-Fong, Nanupa, Elle, and Teacher #1.5a.

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...

Just sitting here in 수원 with some time to kill before meeting up with a friend for lunch so I decided to put some thoughts to words. Several things have happened since I got back this week, including jet lag. What the hell is up with jet lag?! I thought I might have finally beaten it last night, but nope, 4:00AM this morning I was bright eyed and bushy tailed. My intensive Korean class is becoming just that: intensive. From what my teacher tells me, upon graduating level 2 of Yonsei's KLI program students will know about 50% of what the "average" Korean knows with regards to the language and grammer. Now while that might sound very impressive at first, let's remember that the majority of Americans have somewhere around a 5th grade reading level.. (a little less impressive huh?). I'm also taking three online classes through ASU so I can ensure my timely gradution prior to entering law school. (probably a good thing)

I got to see several of my relatives last night, including grandparents, cousins, and uncles/aunts. Also found out that my cousin Benny and his wife Jinny (whom I mentioned previously here) are expecting a baby in about 7 months... wow, that was quick.

On the law school front, still waiting...

Other than that, perhaps a couple of intersting things to talk about after next weekend, but until then, I'll just be studying korean, intercultural communication, technical writing, geology, and reading one of the many books I brought.

Oh yea.. and of course I can't finish the blog without a picture of the all new macbook air... (now that's sexy!) I'm willing to bet the good doctor gets one soon ;)

It's been a few days since I got back to Korea and things are going.. School is going to be intense this semester, but what did I expect? I have to leave for school in a few minutes but I thought I'd throw out one of the goals I've set for myself this new year, READ MORE BOOKS. So here's a quick list of books that I've got lined up and even a couple that I've finished:

Smith Wigglesworth on Power To Serve
Sacred Pathways
The Art of Possibility
Seeking the Face of God
Rules for Revolutionaries
Einstein: The Life and Times
The Screwtape Letters
Mere Christianity
Cries of the Heart
Desiring God
Waking the Dead
Manifest Destiny
Classical Apologetics
Blue Like Jazz
I, Isaac take Thee Rebecca
Come Thirsty
In a Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day
The Knowledge of the Holy
My Utmost for His Highest
Practicing the Presence, The Letters of Brother Lawrence
The Five Love Languages for Men
The Five Love Languages for Singles
Intercultural Communication in Contexts
Technical Communication Today
and...
The Bible...

Now these are just the books I brought with me to Korea... I figure I've got about 6 months to knock out this list ;) I've keep you updated on how it goes and you can check out http://worthitswords.blogspot.com for periodic updates and info about the books my friends and I are reading...

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.

I'm tired... I've slept a combined 10 hours in the past three days trying to reconfigure my sleep to match the U.S. In less than 12 hours I'll be on a Boeing 777 from Inchon to S.F. where I'll have a 4 hour layover (which is good because hopefully I can get my iphone reactivated) and then it's on to Sky Harbor. In the past month I've really started to feel like Seoul is my home. I'm familiar with the surroundings, I have my favorite restaurants, I've made some new amazing friends and finished up a semester of school. I'm a little nervous about going back, so many things to do and so little time to do it in. I'm sure the three week Christmas/New Year break will pass in a blink and then I'll be back at KLI for another serious of 4 hour a day intensive courses..

I have to say that while learning Korean is a great reason to be here, the challenges that I'm facing and the growth they're requiring of me are alone well worth the journey. I'll be taking the iPhone on the plane and I'll try to send updates when I can... Maybe I'll go shower now? Or talk to rockstar...

Well the first half of my study in Korea is coming to an end. As a matter of fact in 12 days I'll be in Phoenix probably eating breakfast at Parsons' with good people. In an effort to go out with a bang, I decided to take my classmate up on his offer to introduce me to some "authentic" korean food. So last night my one classmate and I, (JweeBong, He's Chinese) decided to go to Oh-Jo-Doe's house (He's from Uzbekistan) and share in some good food and conversation.