update.

I'm signed up to head to Korea on March 28th, a Saturday. YJ's wedding is in May, so I'll get to be there for that too. I'm going to China and hopefully Japan as well, but only China's set. Kensie called from Korea the other day...she lost her voice singing, but I'm sure she'll be fine. Work's going pretty good, got some new projects and the people there are pretty cool, time seems to be going by faster these days. Finally starting to get paid some money too. Visited Pastor Kim's father in the hospital...I have to remember to keep praying for him. Naomi might visit me in Korea, I haven't seen her since way back when, so maybe that will happen. It'd probably make my year. Just came back from more basketball...starting to get back in shape.

I'm trying to get people to go see Yao Ming...so we'll see about that.

"As I grow in age, may I grow in grace."

I met Steven Curtis Chapman...really nice, down to earth guy, got a cd signed for my cousins.

A month until Korea. March 29th is my target date for leaving.

Been really exhausted lately after work. Trying to work as many overtime hours as I can to help pay for my Korea bills.

I'm finally starting to turn the corner on getting in shape, but I keep getting hurt playing basketball. Bruised elbow, bruised knuckle, cuts on my arms, ankle hurts and my left arm hurts from lifting weights.

Looking forward to Daniel's party this Saturday.

brown out.

Books I'm Reading:

Stickin: The Case for Loyalty - James Carville

Robert Kennedy and His Times - Arthur Schlesinger Jr.

Leadership - Rudy Giuliani

Rudy's aide was a little skeptical when I said the book was for my cousin's birthday. At least he spelled "Happy Birthday" right. But I think talking to Tony Ventrella for 10 minutes after that was probably better than meeting Rudy. Tony grew up in the town that I went to college in, so we talked for a little bit, really nice guy.

Work is going great. I've never had more friendly co-workers. Me and 3 new coworkers go for bagels at 8:30 every morning. I get a toasted plain with bacon cream cheese. Then at 11, we usually either go to Safeway or the Korean market for kimbap. Sometimes I have to pick up my dad downtown after work. Best part of my day on those days is driving across the 520 bridge and just looking around at the water and the mountains.

Can't believe it's already February 10th.

1. Wait, is that Marques?
2. Mascot Basketball?
3. Jamal, I played against you in high school man...
4. What? I won $43?
5. What? You're buying me a drink?

Going to see #1 (should be) Arizona play UW today. I'm rushing the court with a friend of mine if we win.

Ronald Reagan
Oval Office of the White House, January 28, 1986

Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But, we've never lost an astronaut in flight; we've never had a tragedy like this. And perhaps we've forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle; but they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. We mourn their loss as a nation together.
For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we're thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, 'Give me a challenge and I'll meet it with joy.' They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.
We've grown used to wonders in this century. It's hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We've grown used to the idea of space, and perhaps we forget that we've only just begun. We're still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.
And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we'll continue to follow them...
There's a coincidence today. On this day 390 years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, 'He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.' Well, today we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake's, complete.
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honoured us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for the journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of earth' to 'touch the face of God.'

Went to the Sonics-Kings game with my cousin Aaron. Didn't get a chance to go on the court and attempt an NBA-3 like last year. Peja shot the lights out, as usual. Former Presidential candidate Bill Bradley was in the house. I met him in 1998 at my high school at a party. We asked him how we could break out of our team's losing streak. Whatever he said didn't help, because we ended losing the rest of our games anyway.

Cuts I'm listening to:
Evanescence - Bring to Life. No one believes me. This track is going to light up...soon.

Eminem - Rabbit Run.

Dear America,

We want to come back. We think that America needs us.


Signed: The Noid, Robert Kennedy, Sylvester Stallone (before Stop or My mom will shoot), Hypercolor, Seinfeld.



I'm going to the Sonics-Kings game tonight with my cousin Aaron. We're sitting twenty rows up behind the Kings bench. Check us out on TNT, national tv...baby. I'm going to do my best to meet someone famous so I can share about it tomorrow. I'm also definitely going on the court after the game, to try and hit a NBA 3 this time.

The Ramblings:

As I walked briskly in the subway terminal in Seoul, a man addressed me for no reason in particular and asked me in Korean, “Where are you from?” I replied in Korean, “I’m from America. I came from Seattle.” He looked at me with a puzzled smile, nodded, and went on his way. A few weeks later, after a few hours of early night partying with friends, I exhaustively got in a taxi-cab and told the driver to take me to where I was staying. Thirty minutes later, I had just been through a full lecture on the importance of knowing Korean thoroughly and telling me of his young niece who lived in Chicago. That’s a lot of information to be getting at 6 a.m. when the sun is just starting to rise.

Famous people I've talked to:

1. Will Ferrell (the kindest)
2. Randy Johnson (most intimidating)
3. Yo-Yo Ma (the nicest)
4. Ethan Hawke (nice gut ethan)
5. Rudy Giuliani (biggest noggin)
6. Colin Powell (whoa...it's him)
7. Eric Snow (doesn't look like a baller)
8. Bill Gates (wow...$40 billion)
9. Bob Costas (almost as big a head as Rudy)
10. David Halberstam (smartest person i've ever met)

People I'd love to meet:

1. Ichiro
2. Tom Hanks
3. MJ

As a child, I attended Korean school on Saturdays, seeing it more as a chore rather than beneficial. Now, many years later, I realize that knowing Korean is not only important to me, but essential for my future. Being half-Korean, I feel a strong responsibility to speak the languages of the two cultures I call my own: American and Korean. My Korean grandmother helped raised me, living only two blocks away at my uncle’s home. We only spoke to each other in Korean. I promised her that I would learn Korean and she promised to learn some English. My intention to learn Korean and become more fluent is both for myself and in honor of her.

I hope to one day join the American government and help foster better relations between the governments of my two cultures, and help bring peace with North Korea. I am uniquely positioned as a person who has embraced both cultures. I have a grand stake in the fate of each. I have family on each side. As an individual who enjoys being a role model and a mentor, it is important for the younger generation of Korean-Americans to understand the necessity of understanding the Korean language. This is one of my lifetime goals.

Through the Yonsei program, I hope to become more confident and bold in my Korean speaking and writing ability. By becoming more proficient in Korean, I do not intend to tuck my new knowledge away, but to use it for good. I want to be able to have meaningful conversations with my relatives, cousins, and friends. I want to be able to speak freely without having to search my mind for the right words to use or feel confused and uncomfortable. What can be more vital than being able to talk to one’s own relatives? A blood cousin is a cousin no matter if he or she speaks a different language. This is how I feel about it. And it drives me. I want to be an example to my future children as a father who can speak Korean. I have already been blessed so much by knowing the Korean language. I have engaged in conversations with basketball players at universities, been warmly lectured by taxi-drivers, and even shook the hands of a Korean president. But most importantly, I was able to use the Korean I knew to understand my Korean grandmother. And now I want to take the next step, and learn more so that I can make positive changes in the years to come. In America and Korea.

First of all I'd like to thank Kristen Mie Kawachi (My Tufts friend from Hawaii), who gave me this livejournal as a gift. I haven't figured out what I'm going to put in here. I'll have to call a meeting with my advisors and staff for that. So thanks again to Kristen, and so it begins...