get-to-know

I met up with the person I'm serving with next year.

I don't know why, but this amused me:

"So...I have to confess that I have a little bit of a messiah complex."

"Oh...(he laughs)...I have a HUGE messiah complex!"

Seems promising, I'm looking forward to a new year of ministry.

blast from the past

I was sorting through files, and came across some good memories. Having all this free time is making me far too sentimental...2003 was a good year.



















The first year we beat them all...













Hands down, I spent far more time on club recognition proposals, training the team, and stressing over strategy than on my thesis. What a great year. And just because Nathan knows I'll never let him forget this...













My parents are super cute (though why is it that they have to display school gear all the time?)





















'06 boys their freshman year at chapter camp...I miss Toah Nipi

time flies

Does anyone else think that Alex Trebek is starting to look an awful lot like Bob Barker? Dang...time flies when you're not paying attention...

lost & found

8"Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Does she not light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, 'Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.' 10In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents." -Luke 15:8-10

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보고싶어 돌아와줘 말 못했어
널 보는 따뜻한 그의 눈빛과

Don't you love it when you find a lost song? I am notorious for my lack of common knowledge of pop culture details. I can watch a movie, but I can't tell you actor/actress names. I can hear a song, but I can't tell you the title. Notorious, I tell you.

That being said, I think one of my favorite simple joys is when I find the artist/title of a song from days gone by that I really liked. Or (more commonly the case) - a song that someone once sang at karaoke or was on some unlabelled mix that I'll remember one catchy line from, but never be able to find. Sometimes, it happens after you've stopped actively searching for it - and it just sort of finds you.

My favorite song of the past year has been this kpop song on a workout mix I copied from someone. Here, we have an unlabelled mix, plus it's a remix, plus it's faster that whatever it's a cover of, so there's even less chance of catching the words - in another language. I've been relegated to calling it "Andy's Mix - Track 07" and copied it into multiple locations, since if I lose it, I'll have absolutely no way of finding it.

Tonight I decided to play some music that I never listen to. Meaning, I bought an album for one or two songs, and never paid attention to the other songs on it. As I was going through the never-before-played tracks, something sounded so familiar, I stopped what I was doing.

It turns out, it was the original of the remixed song.

I don't know how to describe that moment. It's like Gatorade after a hard summer workout. It's one instantaneous moment of satisfaction - which may fade soon after - but recurs every time you hear that song. I get that with certain songs which I've "found" over the years. Rick Astley's "Together Forever". TwoTwo's 일과 이분의 일. And now, Brown Eyes' 벌써 일년.

(And by way, if anyone has a copy of REF's 이별공식, you'll make my day).

conversations

Me: Hey, do you have any bhat left?

A: Yeah, I do, why?

Me: I’m hungry. Are you hungry?

A: I don’t know. Maybe. But food is so far away, we just walked a mile to get to the gate!

Me: Yeah, but we’re going to be on airplanes for hours with nasty airplane food. I know you’re going to be hungry, you eat every hour.

A: But then we have to walk allllll the way back through the gates. Are you really that hungry?

Me: Well, if you’re too tired it’s OK. It’s up to you.

Coach: Haha. Man, she just guilted you.

S: Yeah, and you’re REALLY bad at this.

Me: What? He’s my brother. I don’t need to be good at guilting, I know he’s going to be hungry anyways.

A: OK, OK, let’s go.

So we walk up the ramps and out of security.

A: Hey noona. Now that I think about it, I AM hungry.

I really enjoyed having a brother for a week, esp. one that's so much younger so he was easy to take care of. He was a good dongseng. Even if I had to do his laundry. Haha.

So we found this Korean place in the Thai airport. The kimchee was close enough to the real deal to be satisfying. Rex found us and laughed at us – and showed us his British Harry Potter that he’d just bought. (He and I both collect the British versions, which you can’t buy in the US – we were very excited to find that the airport bookstore had them). But I had no bhat left and my credit cards were with our bags at the gate so we resumed our ramen and bulgogi.

A: So you really want that book, huh?

Me: Yeah well, I can’t get it in the States. But it’s OK, I have the American version.

A: Do you want it? Yes or no?

Me: Eh, I don’t need it.

A: I’m going to ask you one more time. Do you want it? Yes or no?

He bought me the book for “being a good person”. Whatever that means. I think he felt sorry for me that I had to endure captainship of a selfish team. Oh goodness, it was like dying to myself every day.

I've always have a hard time accepting gifts or help from my juniors or dongsengs. It’s a pretty common theme to learn to let that sort of pride go in certain instances. But, for the lack of a friend/peer this trip, I had to learn to do just that. Not to depend, per se – leaning too heavily on a 19 year old could only lead to disastrous expectations – but just learning to take the help when it’s needed. (Like when I busted my foot and couldn’t walk. He yelled at me for taking his arm instead of putting my full weight on his shoulders. I was like, I don’t need to burden you with all my weight, just give me your arm for balance. In the end, I couldn’t put weight on my foot, so I was humbled anyways. I hate being humbled.)

Other funny conversations:

So ever since the last Universiade, I really wanted a Swiss shirt. They have these really nice H20 shirts and gear, and they never want to trade. Especially since we weren’t staying to closing ceremonies, I was trying my best to work some transactions whenever there was free time. I was able to finally get a Swiss girl to trade a workout shirt with me – but it turns out she gave me an x-small. What the heck was I supposed to do with an XS? I’ve never been XS anything in my life!

Anyways, so one night S and I were coming back to the dorms and saw a bag of Swiss stuff that came back from the dry cleaning service.

Me: Hey, look, you should just jack that bag of Swiss stuff.

S: You want me to? I’m pretty tricky, it’d be pretty easy.

Me: S! Uh, commandment #8?

S: What? I’m just stealing – you’re the one who’s coveting!