friday. april 18 2oo8

so there are these two CHINESE guys... [ stanley ] he likes to play the geeeeee-tar and snipe for awesome deals online. when we first met, he was the size of the marshmallow man in ghostbusters. he is currently less than an inch taller than me but appears much much taller than me for some reason. his foot is way longer than mine, so he's unable to bask in the greatness of my shoe collection. if you're driving around in austin and happen to see a grey 325 with some dude driving wearing oakleys, be sure to honk at him and yell, "go yao ming!" then take him to pluckers to get some wings. in the next few months, he will be joining a music ministry called Carpenter's Tools International. it's about time he used his musical talent outside of fbcc. he's like me. he needs money. hook a brotha up! check out what the ministry is all about (http://www.ctimusic.org) [ jeremy ] he also likes to play the geeeeee-tar. when i first met him, he was also the size of the marshmallow man in ghostbusters. i don't know how tall he is, but i'm sure his hair adds a good two inches when spiked. however he's a half shoe size larger than me, so he occasionally passes on fungal specimen to my footwear. he is currently bumming around in the land of sugar. he will be serving in the youth ministry with tasks such as RC racing, ds-ing, attempting to play basketball, and checking out aftan. he has a single lens reflex and intends on using it. you can try to run away, but he'll just bust out his zoom. for you ladies out there, he can speak mandarin. that's supposed to be sexy or something. ::: :::

monday. april o7 2oo8

so there's this girl... i've already said too much...hehee ok just kidding... so what's been going on with you this past month? and how come you're so bad at updating steven? and why are you writing in third person? let me try to break this all down and be all organized and stuff... [ apartment ] if you don't already know, i'm living with a guy named craig. we live at an apartment complex/compound whatever called viraj millenium. we live in apartment H87. we both basically live in our rooms. our living room is completely empty with no furniture, but it's all good b/c we don't really need it. we don't have a stove or oven, but we survive with a microwave and a water boiler thingy. at least i do. i think he goes over to kayla's for food most of the time. the place is pretty nice actually. we did have a leaky faucet in the kitchen, but it got fixed. the light bulb fixture in the kitchen has been broken since day 1, and no one has fixed it yet. they said we had to pay for it =P so we've been walking into our kitchen with flashlights at night hahahaa! there are other little things, but overall it's a nice place. since craig is leaving at the end of this school year, i need to find another place for next year. i'm hoping to live alone again, and i want a place with a good location. i want it to be located within walking distance of the places i visit most often. we'll see how that goes. if not, there is the possibility of me moving back to my old place. i'll let you know next month how that goes. as far as me and my roomie, we've only gotten into 2 fights. there was one time he threw me off the balcony b/c i left the toilet seat cover down. it wasn't too bad. my left arm broke off, but it's ok b/c i only use my right when i play bball. the other time i set his bed on fire while he was sleeping b/c he hid my jordan3's. i think he's ok though, aside from the fact that he now has no bodily hair. [ school ] i'll do this in order of classes i have on my busiest days... remedial teaching...i'm helping two boys (chris and jeff) with 6th grade math. when they're focused, they can do really well. half the battle is getting them to stay focused on one single thought. they literally stare off into space while we're working. on top of that, they're friends, so they constantly distract each other over the littlest things. geometry is a class full of 9th and 10th graders. they are very much segregated even though they're all friends. there is one thing they are always consistent with. every time i assign homework, someone is sure to complain or beg for no hw. you would think this far into the school year they'd realize that i give hw practically every day. i'm glad we've gotten past the "proofs" section of the class. some of them were struggling to understand. now we're doing 3-D figures, and it's good for the visual learners. many of them don't like calculating with formulas b/c they weren't very fond of algebra. hahaha wait till we reach the next section when all we do is calculate surface area and volume. 7th grade computer is basically a typing class. they use a typing program called typing master. it can get really boring at times. they are some who are highly motivated and want to increase their wpm. some of them just don't care. i really have no idea what to do with them. we had parent-teacher conferences last week, and i basically told the parents to make them practice at home. it's hard to make typing interesting. the most you can do is make it competitive. i'll be honest. i'm just waiting for the school year to be over with that class. 8th grade computer learned microsoft word 1st semester and microsoft excel 2nd semester. we're pretty much done with all the tutorials in the book. from now till the end of the school year, i'll be giving them mini-projects where they have to turn in assignments using the stuff they learned. they're given a set of instructions on creating documents or spreadsheets. they save it, and i print it out. i grade according to their ability to accomplish the tasks. it's my first time trying this, so we'll see how it goes. 7th-8th grade boys bible was split into two groups this semester. i have 15, and craig has 15. it's alot easier to manage. we're studying the book of Acts this year. having a smaller class allows me to do things like skits. i think it helps alot with understanding the bible as opposed to just memorizing it. tomorrow they have a test on Acts 8-12. i'll find out if our activities have been helping. algebra2 is a challenge for me b/c i don't exactly enjoy teaching out of this book. i'm glad i was given the opportunity to choose a different book for next year. of course i chose the one fbisd is using =] it's a good thing i have smart students this year. also, it's good that i only have 3 of them. it's become more of a self-taught type of class. i guide them more than teach them. it definitely has its pros and cons. for this year, it works. next year...nope. i'm not helping out with any after school sports this season. the boys are doing rugby, and the girls are doing volleyball. i decided to take a break. i want more bible time. i do get the occasional tutoring jobs after school, but it's always unpredictable. [ aftan ] yes, she has her own section in my life. at this very moment, she is on a mission trip with her school in the philippines. i miss her very much. i'm guessing you want to know more about her. i can only say so much b/c there are some things you just can't describe. i will say that she is passionate and driven. she also has the right amount of silly for me. if you know me, you have a pretty good idea of what that means. she has a heart for kids of all ages. i know b/c i've seen her in times of joy and frustration with the kids, and she resonates nothing but love for them. oh right duh...i forgot to mention what she does =P she works at another NICS school in pyongtaek, korea. she is the athletic director and PE teacher for all grades. with the very little free time that she has, she volunteers to help out with coaching bball and soccer. i guess it's also worth mentioning how this all started. wow i just realized that i've never publicly written the story out before. ok here goes... for all NICS school, it's required that we attend a 2-week thing in mississippi called Pre-Field Orientation during the first weeks of july. the title speaks for itself. basically, that's where we met. at the time, neither of us were really interested in pursuing a relationship. after all, we were going off to different parts of the world. in october, we started talking more. in early november, we expressed *ahem* feelings for one another. and we have been talking ever since. b/c i had a 1-week break near the end of march, i decided to fly to korea to spend time with her. i know what you're thinking. whoa one week?!?! let me just say that it was very much needed for our relationship to grow. we had an awesome time visiting different places and eating lots of food. but my favorite part of the trip was when the two of us would just sit and talk. you can email, chat online, skype, and talk on the phone. but nothing really compares to talking in person. we definitely grew closer to one another during that trip. so that's basically the story up until now. she hopes to visit houston near the end of june and beginning of july for a couple weeks. if you're in town, i hope you get to meet her. if stanley doesn't come home during that time, i'll probably take her up to austin. i'll also be spending a couple weeks in her hometown, kansas. and then when august comes around, we'll depart off to kenya and korea again =\ it's been quite a journey for both of us. we're about 5 months into our relationship, and it's beginning to take a toll on us, especially ever since i visited. we're both wanting a future future together. please pray for us. pray that God will give us guidance with our relationship and also with our future. there's no telling where God will lead us next. we're looking forward to that. oh i also wanted to explain why i love that picture of her so much. you may just see a girl stirring a pot of food. i see a girl who went to a foreign country and soaked up the culture in a matter of months. an asian guy and a white girl walk into a korean restaurant where you sit on the floor. understandably, the waiter speaks to the asian guy asking him something in korean. the asian guy is chinese, so he has no clue. instead, the white girl responds in korean, and the waiter reacts with a subtle surprise of a smile. later on, the food comes, and the white girl knows exactly what to do with it. meanwhile, the asian guy sits in awe at how cultured the girl has become. and this is why i enjoy that picture so much. not only has she taken the time and effort to learn the culture, but she has become part of it. she enjoys the same foods. she respects the do's and don'ts. and she does it all as if she's been living there for years. i'm most amazed by her ability to read korean. i can tell that she was determined to learn b/c even now when she sees korean characters, she gets excited about reading them. she amazes me. ::: :::