amazing race

The past few weeks have been some ridiculous form of my own Amazing Race - complete with mad dashes out of state (and out of country) - 2 weddings in the same weekend - crazy attempts at optimizing tutoring kids for finals and SAT's while jetting all over the place (only to have a bunch of finals delayed or cancelled due to perceived swine flu) - and a promotion test to boot whence I made my glorious comeback to sparring (with kneepad, of course) because they made me spar this skinny, bony teenage kid.

me: "my feet are all messed up from w's hips or elbows or something. why are teenagers so bony??"

sab: "it was probably w's face that did all the damage to your feet."

To be fair - when they told me the day before that I was going to spar, I did warn them that all I would be doing were back kicks and head kicks - lest I get injured further by putting my feet and ankles in danger. It was so not my fault.

As I sit at work with a dull headache, dry eyes, a sore throat, and the irresistable urge to put my head down and nap...yeah, I can't even finish that thought.

Canada - once again, a monthly meeting. Once again - even though the weather was nice this time (ie. not 20 below) - I realize that there is nothing that could ever make me work in a place I didn't like. Or a place that gets ridiculously crazy cold.

Boston - good times indeed. I miss it.

California/Collegiate Pan Ams - very very bizarre to be coaching a team that I captained for 5 years. Coachie Poo made some announcement telling the team that they had to call me "Coach" - strange for some since we had been on teams together. My korean boys went from noona to coach to general. General Park - I felt like a Chinese chicken dish.

Slovenia - Note to self: JFK is only 25 minutes away but in traffic can be up to 2 hours. RIDICULOUS. I had a nice heart attack episode when I dashed into the Business class line at 5pm for a 5:25pm flight. Only to be told that they had given away my seat already and frantically trying to re-route myself. I don't know why every ticketing agent comes up with a different itinerary when they all have the SAME freaking database. It's a total crapshoot as to whether you're actually going to get rebooked on something reasonable. That being said, Slovenia was a cool country, for all 2 days I got to see it. And foundries are (surprise, surprise) - extremely dirty. I felt like my lungs shriveled in the day I was there, breathing in all that smoke and dust and who-knows-what-else. I had to eat a lot of gelato to make up for that.

Weddings - it was really good to see old friends. Acquaintances. It's funny, in hindsight, you remember the good things. And I do miss the good things. Bryan and Carol's wedding definitely goes down in my top 3 weddings. Not just in the venue or people or whatever, but...I think what really makes a wedding is how happy the couple is and how much they're enjoying their wedding day. And how close you are to the couple. Very happy for them.

Boston Part 2 - Went back up for a day last week to do forms. Helped out with Riverfest, kicking on those hot mats (apparently my feet have no heat tolerance...sad). Fobby Bobby had a bbq that night and a bunch of the MIT kids came. Most of whom I'd never met. So there was this one Korean kid, and when I introduced myself, he had the best reaction. "you're THE ChristinaPark? Club founder?? I've been wanting to meet you...you're, like, the grandnoona!" I felt simultaneously flattered and OLD.

First softball game is this Sat. Football starts in August. Marathon team prep has begun. Very excited about sports ministry this year...

Next week - off to Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, and Austin, back for PK's wedding, and then JOYManhattan prep begins. Note to self: review calculus and biology before Sept.

Looks to be a full summer.