darn darn darn

I have felt upset this Lunar New Year over some things. I have hope in the Lord that God will work things out. I just pray that everything will be OK.
God is faithful to love us, forgive us, guide us, and hold us up. I do wish very much that I could just be held by Him right now.

COEX Mall, Obama

This week my roommate and I stayed up late at night to watch the Obama inauguration on Yahoo! news. It was great. We had pizza and apple soda. I took off a lot of the cheese. The festivities started at 10 AM EST and midnight our time. There wasn't much going on for a while. Finally the dignitaries were shown getting in place for the ceremony. The Obamas were dressed nicely. At first I thought Michelle Obama's dress was ugly because the colours on the computer screen made her dress look like a greenish-yellow when it was in fact gold. It was an interesting outfit and had a 1960s look.
I thought it was funny when the presidential oath was said wrong. It's true that even very intelligent people make mistakes. They are still human.

Today I had to go back to the SDA hospital for another drug test. When I had the last one I was on some medication because I had been ill. I don't take medicines very often, but I was feeling very bad. Unfortunately, it made my drug test come out positive. I am hoping and praying that things will be OK this time. I have never taken illicit drugs in my life.
I later went to the COEX Mall. I had trouble finding the place when I got off the subway at Samseong. I wandered through some fancy designer stores until I finally found the mall. I grabbed some Italian at the food court, had my hair cut, got a cell phone charm, a pillow, and also three books and a board game at Bandi & Lunni's bookstore. I went to the mall mostly for Bandi & Lunni's. I love bookstores and I spent a long time there looking at the English books. I miss the 500 or so books I had to leave behind. I had better keep out of the malls for a while.
I got: The Island of the Colorblind and Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks as well as Einstein by Walter Isaacson.

The Dobu Restaurant

Yesterday Bernedette and I met up with the secretaries from the institute and we went to a dobu (tofu) restaurant with the other staff members. The Korean junior teachers were there, the director and his wife, their two young children, and the two former English teachers from South Africa. We sat on the floor on three tables that were put together. I sat across from Glenn and Ingrid and between Bernedette and Hidy.
The food was excellent. There were side dishes all over the table. There was some good kimchi with garlic shoots. There was friend and fresh tofu. I had a dish of soy sauce with the garlic grass and sesame seeds in it to dip it in. We each had a stone bowl of rice with a wooden cover. The rice had pumpkin seeds, beans, and a ginseng root in it. I love ginseng. We scooped out the rice into a metal bowl and then added a broth to the stone bowl. We then put the wooden covers on and let them sit. We then could have a soup of crispy rice. It was good. I sampled a side dish of hot peppers with bean paste smeared on them. Only Glenn tried a piece of it and I had the rest. I was the only one that seemed interested in some green peppers in red pepper paste. I ate all that side dish. I tried some tofu with paste on it, some garlic shoots in pepper paste, spinach, jap chae, and white radish kimchi.
After all that I felt that I didn't need to eat again until the next day. I had some good conversation there. It was fun. I like the people I work with and I like Glenn and Ingrid.

Hanging around Hoegi

I went to the Filipino SDA Church of Korea (FILSDAK) yesterday. It took me an hour by bus to get there. The bus #707 was extremely crowded once it got to Seoul. The windows were also foggy and I was worried I wouldn't be able to see where I needed to get off. The bus eventually stopped in Seoul and everybody started getting off. Apparently the bus was having troubles. I then waited on the street and a man told me to get back on either bus #260 or #270. Thankfully it arrived soon.
I made it into the church at 11:15 or so. I didn't miss the sermon. I came in during the children's story. It was about forgiveness. The storyteller took a sweet potato in a bag and said that as long as we don't forgive someone, things are like that potato. We have to carry it everywhere and eventually it will get rotten.
The church was VERY crowded. The sermon was good, it was about Cornelius. I didn't follow it all, yet it's something I want to read more closely.
I was glad to see Miez Amoso. I had wondered what happened to her. I didn't see anyone else I recognised, but many people introduced themselves.
We had dinner after church. There was rice, pumpkin and lentil mash, brownies, gelatin, sweet potatoes, tofu, etc. The folks at the table spoke in Tagalog for a while. When I was nearly finished with my food they then started to speak to me in English. They were very friendly. I found that others lived in Namyangju as well.
I later went to the children's program and the kids sang. I left and then started talking to a South African man named Waldo. He teaches at Kwangju Sangmu. I also taught there, so we had a conversation. We walked together to the main institute where a presentation on Gethsemane was going on. It made many people sleepy. I saw Ashley, a Korean teacher that I went to Cambodia with a few years ago. I also saw Thelma, who I worked with in Bucheon. I was happy to see them.
Ashley helped get me to Kevin and Kim Ellis' home for dinner. I had a good time. I found their daughter Crystal is in the 1000 Missionary Movement. The couple has been in Korea for 15 years now. I think that's great since they like it. The food was good. There was a crouton/mushroom casserole, tangerines, salad, etc. We were talking about freemasons and Skull & Bones for a while. I said that Obama is a 33rd degree freemason and some people were shocked. I said that Alphonso Taft started the S&B at Yale. His son was president of the USA and was also a Supreme Court justice.
Thomas Jefferson belonged to the "Flat Hat Society" of scholars at William & Mary.
I later took bus #707 back home. It was the first time travelling back by myself. The bus was so crowded that I had to stand for about 40 minutes. I met up with a Korean woman who had just returned from studying in Missouri, USA. She said that she knew of the South African couple that had taught at my institute because her mother runs a pet store they frequented. She also said that she had gone to Hoegi to attend a Bible study and church there. She had just attended the Bible study about Revelation by Kim Ellis. I said I had just been at her house. It was amazing. She asked me if I had religion and I said I am SDA.
She got off before me and had the man sitting next to me tell me when to get off. I started to figure it out for myself as I started to see familiar sights.

An E-Mail From an Advisor

I got an e-mail from my former academic advisor at Atlantic Union College. She wanted to know how I was doing and where I am these days. It was great to hear from her. I did have a good English department to study in over there. It was a good location, since Massachusetts is a centre of literary history in the USA. To this day many students of English want to study in that area.
I do miss hanging out in that old mansion which became the English department and having tea and discussions with the other students and professors. I miss the couch that was one of my favourite places to hang out on campus. I miss academia completely.

Free-IQTest.net

Free-IQTest.net - IQ Test

I know that many of these online I.Q. tests aren't totally accurate. I have never taken a formal I.Q. test. Of course, I.Q. is something that can't be measured completely anyways. As there are many types of intelligence, our levels of strengths and weaknesses make us each more unique.

Vanessa Mae "Happy Valley" at Reunification of Hong Kong

Sahmyook University church

Yesterday my roommate Bernedette and I went to the English church at Sahmyook University. We had originally planned on going to the Filipino church, but we ran late. The kitchen was full of tiny, nearly transluscent ants. We were killing them and washing out our dishes to get rid of them. We took a taxi to "Sahmyook Taehakyo". We found the theology department. I was wondering if the church wasn't going on during break because the place was dead quiet. I later found that there were some people already there worshipping on the fourth floor.
I was glad to see Victor and his wife Angelina. I also saw Patricia and Bessie. It was great to see some old acquaintances from my last time in Korea. The sermon was done by a woman. She was preaching about being thankful in all circumstances. It reminds me of Philippians 4, which is one of my favourite chapters in the Bible.
After the service I talked with Me'Chelle on Bessie's phone. It was good to hear her. She's moving to Seoul soon, which means I will be closer to her later on. That will be great.
I went over Patricia's apartment. Peter, an Australian man I met before was there. I don't think he remembered me. He taught in Suncheon when Bernedette was there and I visited her. There was also an American woman named Joy, a Kiwi named James, and a British woman named . There was some good food there. We all talked about various stuff.
James was talking about how he wants to travel the world for a few years. He wants to stay in Korea for a while and then possibly head off to South America. He was chuckling about how he has garbage in the hallways near his neighbour's door. He also didn't return a can opener for 4 months.
Peter was saying that he was going to be thrown out of his university job in Suncheon, but later had a broken leg and they didn't get rid of him because they felt bad for him. It was something that did turn out to be good after all.
Bernedette and I were the last people to leave. A sick teacher called Patricia and she agreed to send him some food. We were still talking for a while, and I was feeling bad so I tried to cut the visit. It wasn't easy, but it finally happened. Patricia had another appointment anyways.
After church we tried to get a bus back, but we ended up going a long ways. It was soon getting dark and we did some shopping. I needed shampoo, conditioner, and a hair brush. I ended up spending a bit on supplies at the Face Shop and they gave me a lot of freebies. I won't get any more of that stuff until I use up what I have.

I am stressed out

I moved into my apartment last night. I was freezing cold because the heater was broken. I have piles of dirty clothes and no detergent to wash them with. I wore my dobok bottoms and a T-shirt for pajamas. I had no sleep. I was cold and had racing thoughts that kept me up. I woke up in the morning and then wondered why I didn't roll out of bed and put on long sleeves. My T-shirt said "I'm With Genius" on it and had an arrow pointing to my head. It should have said "I'm With Dimwit". I guess I just had my mind set on staying in bed. I don't think it would have done any difference as I haven't had a good night's sleep since I arrived in Korea nearly two weeks ago.
Most of my students are transitioning into new books. Some of them haven't been bringing books to class because they had finished them. I had to inform the coordinator which classes need new books. I have now finished one week at this hagwon.
I woke up this morning being very tired. I am thankful the staff room had some coffee. I had no breakfast because the apartment had no food in it and my roommate and I wasted time searching for a kimbap shop. I went to the institute and had some bibimbap ordered. I was thankful to eat something. I had more bibimbap for dinner. That's one thing I practically lived on the last time I was in Korea.

Pi Day at Harvard University

I recently found this photo on a friend's Myspace page. Last year I went to Pi Day at Harvard University. It was one of the nerdiest things I have done. I like those things that are stereotypically nerdy anyway. I went with my sister and three friends. One of the friends, Shawn, was applying to study mathematics at Harvard. The event was held in the math department on March 14
(3/14) and at 3:14 pm. He wanted to compete in the pi recitation contest.
The pi contest was held first. Just one student did the binary recitation. He recited a long sequence in 0s and 1s. He was very hyperactive, had his hair in a ponytail, and wore a tie-dyed T-shirt that said "Fermat's Last Theorem" on it. My friend eventually recited 360 places of pi. The winner, however, recited pi for 3,141 places. He sat for 45 minutes and recited it, sometimes slowly. He said he could see the numbers in his head. He often paused for a drink or to clear his head with a shake. His mother was there and hugged him at the end. I was amazed.
Later on there was a pie eating contest. A professor played a piano piece he called "Recitation of Pi". Later on some wines and cheeses were brought out.
I decided to meet with the students there. They were very interesting. Unfortunately many of them cracked math jokes which I didn't get. I wasn't very good at math in school. I learned what I needed to learn, yet learned it slowly. I did excel at other stuff though.
I did have a good time. Shawn never got accepted there, but later did an extension programme through the university. I was thankful for the diversion and the opportunity to meet some very intelligent people. Those are the types I like to hang out with.

Going to the Hospital

I went to the Adventist hospital in Seoul for the mandatory testing. I had forgotten about it and was on the internet when my boss told me that he was ready to leave for Seoul. I then left without eating breakfast. I was very hungry since I didn't eat much the last two days because I was sick. I got into his van and we went to Seoul, which is 20 minutes away.
I was put into a large room where we had to wait for at least 20 minutes. We had number cards and when my number was called I had to get my blood pressure and weight done. I was among a crowd that was doing the same thing. I weigh 54 kg. I am glad I already knew my height in metric, 153 cm. They also wanted to know my chest circumference. I was confused at why they would want to know that. I only know it in imperial, so I gave it. I then hoped I could have some time to grab a snack at the shop there. I would have to wait until the next task for a while. I was looking at the food when I was called by my boss. A nurse came with a tape measure and measured around my chest in front of my boss. It was the same as if I were being fitted for a new bra. I felt a bit humiliated that my boss now knows my measurements there.
I eventually bought a bag of chips. I was eating it when I was then called to have my urine tested for drugs. I was finding it difficult to "go" because I really didn't have to. I then put the stuff in a little window. I then had my chest X-rayed (maybe that's for tuberculosis). Eventually I had my eyes, nose, and throat looked at. I also had a vision test, which wasn't so good. My teeth were also checked by a dentist. He said my wisdom teeth should be extracted since they have cavities. My bottom teeth never came in. He also said I will need some fillings. It looks like I'll have to get a lot of dental work done.
I was glad to go the Sahmyook health food store later. I got some sausages and ramen for later.

Feeling like dirt

Last Friday I was sick. I was throwing up and having diarrhea. It was terrible. I stayed in bed all day. I was thinking of going shopping at the COEX Mall, earlier, but that idea died. I eventually went to the doctor. I was trying to avoid that, but I still felt bad in the afternoon. I went over. They gave me a bunch of pills and some packets of liquid stuff to get rid of the diarrhea. Koreans seem to medicate people a lot. I generally try to rely on natural remedies, but I really wanted to get rid of that.
Saturday I was going to go to the Filipino church. I hadn't been there before, but there were some people there I wanted to meet. I felt too tired and weak to go, even though I was feeling a bit better. I stayed in my room and slept or read. I took a bath.
This morning I do feel a lot better, thankfully.