some random videos

This one is really funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2nkoGLhrE

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Serious acid trip....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AexPuBei-Hk

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This guy is way funnier than Eddy Izzard.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24Ryj1ywoqw

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I have a math final tomorrow, a research paper due tomorrow, bio final on Thursday, and a flight home on Friday.

Yeah!!!

Okay, so I got up this morning feeling rather crappy. The meds I took at 1:30 AM, after studying for a few hours, had a lingering drowsy feeling this morning. My eyes wouldn't stay open, and I was afraid I would fall asleep during my math midterm at 10.

Then I took some aspirin and drank a bunch of coffee, and almost arrived late for my midterm. I felt fine by the time the exam started, and blew right through my exam. (I wouldn't be too surprised if I got a 100!!!) Except I got really unstable - my hands started shaking near the end because of all the caffeine.

Then I speed-walked at 30 miles/hr to my biology lecture, where I learned something that makes me love biology.

Apparently, evolution plays a part in whether humans have dry or wet earwax. Almost all East Asians have dry earwax, whereas nearly all Africans and Caucasians have wet earwax. East Asians have evolved from having wet earwax to having dry earwax (and because evolution only happens if the trait that evolved gives an advantage in survival, dry earwax must help humans survive better. So eventually, all humans will have dry earwax.). That means that, in terms of earwax saturation, people like Ginny and James are primitive compared to me. Ha ha ha!

Ow!!!

I went to student health services today and I have a sinus infection... I just have massive a headache right now. Bleh.

grasping

Lately I've had a rush of memories just coming back to me. They've been refreshing at first - flashbacks of different moments of my life. Good memories, bad memories, I've been having the whole lot... and a lot of nostalgia along the way. But every memory that I have... something always bothers me... something's always missing... what is it?

I leave our apartment and walk along a path with my sister. We are walking to the convenience store to buy some candy. I have a few coins in my pocket, my sister has a tiny purse of coins. Maybe 2000 won in all, enough to buy a few pieces of candy.

We cross an alley. A large truck stopped just to our right. Cling! Clang! My sister drops her coins. Just four years old, she gets on her knees to pick them up. The truck starts moving.

Okay, stop. I can't recall the memory vividly. I remember most of the details, and I remember how I felt, but I can't actually feel the emotions that I felt at that time. I get frustrated, I am unable to remember that which makes the memory whole. I can't feel the panic, I can only know that I felt it. Watching a six-year old me in a black-and-white film. And I want to be the six-year-old me again.

It's been in my brain for twelve years, yet never have I really experienced that moment again. An almost haunting memory, an illusion that deceives me when it appears every now and then. And then there are the millions of other memories...

It's like reaching out to touch fog, to touch clouds. It seems so real and tangible, yet no matter how much I grasp I can never get at it. Just wisps. Sometimes I just wish I could re-experience my life over again. I want to know what I felt, I want to take a walk in my own shoes.

I'm wishing for too much.

James is here!

So James is now here, sleeping on my bed (while I study/use the computer). Yesterday we went to NYC. Saw Little Italy and Chinatown, Ground Zero, Wall Street, Times Square, Rockefeller Center and NYC's glamorous 5th Ave., Central Park, and the Statue of Liberty (from the Staten Island ferry). We opted to skip the Empire State Building, because we didn't have enough time. But the trip was pretty sweet.

The only thing is, the bus we took was sketch-tastic. It went from the Chinatown in Philly to the Chinatown in NYC... and they were really disorganized. We just barely found the place to board to head back to Philly... it was some random street corner in Chinatown. And they kept shouting at us to go on one bus, while some other people would tell us to get another bus... I almost had a heart attack. But anyways.

James and I are going to grab a Philly cheesesteak sometime later today.

Disillusionment, disenchantment, disappointment

It's a Monday. For most it would be the worst day of the week... for me it just feels like another day. No better, no worse, no different.

That's the general feeling that's been overwhelming me - and one of the only feelings that I have deeply felt in a while. These days I just feel... hollow, empty, even indifferent. I feel like everything I do, anything I do, is devoid of real happiness, real sadness, real anything. I might play Ultimate, do well on an exam or project, laugh at a joke, whatever. But these temporary feelings, I feel, are adding up to nothing. I'm sleepwalking through my life - weeks fly by, and I cannot point to any single event or anything that distinguished that week from any others. Where is the passion in everything, the real emotions, that I felt during my last year of high school, and during the summer?

Why is this happening? Maybe it's just that I don't have enough time to enjoy anything without worrying about that lab report or essay due the next day. Maybe it's just that I don't have many really close friends, just some good friends and some acquaintances - I don't share any deep connections with anyone here. Maybe it's the East Coast life... always busy, hectic. Maybe it's just life in the city. Or maybe it's just how college is... I don't quite know. Maybe my life is colorless. I do homework like a robot, go to bed at around 3, eat really bland and nasty food at the dining hall, think on a day-to-day basis only. But SOMEONE wake me up. Perhaps, in a metaphorical sense, my alarm clock died on me.

.....................

I joined our dorm's intramural men's volleyball team a few weeks ago. It's one of the things that actually brings me joy these days - even more so (much more so) than Ultimate right now. We are 1-1 against other dorms, and we have another game in a few hours. Ultimate is just drab these days. Our fields suck, my playing sucks as well, and I'm not in shape. All in all a very bad combination. Our last tournament got canceled due to poor field conditions.

And another thing I've noticed - I really miss Korea. Everything about it - people, culture, food, whatever... anything and everything I have come to associate with my experiences in Korea. I think I miss it more than Eugene, which is really a testament to how much I miss Korea, not how much I don't miss Eugene. Maybe it's that I haven't eaten enough Korean since I've been here.

Also, I'm getting this seething hatred of Princeton. Penn's biggest rival is Princeton, so you could say it's natural for me to get this feeling. Our football team beat their team this weekend 7-0, woot. Hey Princeton, what's so good about you anyways? The Princeton Review is located in your city, and they ranked you #1. How rigged is that??? Also, you are in NJ, which is basically the biggest petroleum- and chemical-refining wasteland in the country. And you are a bunch of stuck-up brats who think they're royalty... why don't you just change your name to "Kington"?

Whoa, I got carried away there.

I got to spend the weekend with my mom, when she came for Parents' Weekend. We didn't actually do too much - much of the time I was preoccupied with studying and homework. And we tried to watch the Duck game on TV (it was supposed to be broadcast nationally on ESPN), but our hotel decided to be an ass and didn't get ESPN at the time. So we walked over to my dorm and tried to watch it, but ESPN was showing a Cincy-South Florida game that no one cared about. So we missed the first 1.5 quarters of the Duck game. The East Coast really blows sometimes. But in any case, I get another visitor this week - James! I'll have to spend virtually every minute of every day this week doing homework and studying, but it's well worth it.

I think that's all I have to say. (Yeah I know... finally, right?) Sorry that I write so much, and I'm also sorry if my posts suck. But you gotta understand that this blog is the canvas on which I paint my life. Too bad it's bleeding black and gray.

Tired tired tired

So it's a Friday night and I'm doing homework (working on my research paper on international development, rather). Sigh.

My trip to NYC was pretty fun, but very tiring. We went and saw Ground Zero, Wall Street, Times Square, Central Park, and Yankee Stadium. And we passed by Madison Square Garden, and saw the Empire State Building and the Liberty of Statue from afar. But man it was tiring! On the day, my roommate Luke and I must have walked about 200 blocks. (70 of that was to and from the bus station in central Philly.) I'm too lazy to put pics up, but maybe I'll get around to it at some point.

NYC was way bigger than Philadelphia. There were tall buildings everywhere, so that vast swaths of the city were blanketed in shadow. Fruitwise, comparing NYC to Philly is like comparing apples to oranges. And then Philadelphia compared to Eugene is like an orange to a grape. ... To make this more accurate, you have to remember that NYC is a big apple (get it?). And then Philadelphia is a mandarin orange, which is smaller than normal oranges. And Eugene is... a raisin. All shriveled up compared to these cities. (To those who love Eugene but hate raisins, I'm sorry.)

I know, that analogy was horrendous.

Anyways, I have a lot of homework/other work this weekend, and I'm not happy. And I have to find a costume for a character in Marvel v. Capcom for an Ultimate tournament next weekend. Not happy. And it's still frickin hot here! I know the great majority of you readers out there cannot empathize, because you are shivering and blow-drying your feet, perhaps getting pelted by hail. But heck, I sweat myself to sleep. Awesome.

Anyways, the one thing I'm getting really pumped about is Ultimate. Not particularly my playing, nor the conditions of the field we practice on (it's going to be waterlogged after the sort of rain that just came down). Just the team. I feel like we have a pretty good team, and the region we play in is not that strong, so there's a good chance we can make it to Nationals in May! I'm going to do my best to get us there.

New York! And some pictures.

Yeah! I'm taking the bus up to NYC tomorrow with my roommate Luke. I haven't been to the city, but he's been there five times, so we shan't get lost. We're planning to hit up downtown, midtown, and uptown, so I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures. Speaking of which...

I've decided to take more pictures with my phone, so that you can actually see for yourself what the heck is going on in my life. So here are some pictures...

A view of the Schuylkill River. Halfway between campus and downtown.

People doing the Macarena on the stairs of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. This museum is the one with Rocky on the (outside) stairs (or so they say, I never watched the Rocky movies). Also, did you know that Penn spends the most of any U.S. university on orientation stuff? No wonder tuition costs so freakin much. The picture was taken a while ago, obviously.

My biology lecture. We had a guest speaker on that day.

Locust Walk on a lazy Friday afternoon. I take Locust Walk every day of the week to get somewhere, whether to get to classes or to head to the Commons to eat. It's usually a lot busier than the picture shows.

The Upper Quad gate (yeah I know, crappy picture, I took it while walking). Unfortunately I don't live in the quad.

Just some thoughts and happenings

It's a Sunday night, and I should be studying/doing homework like mad. I am so behind, and possibly seriously screwed for midterms, and my research project. But ah well!

And it's still so freakin hot here! Mid-80s. I don't think it's dipped below 75 since I got here in late August. BUT it's supposed to cool down to low 60s this weekend! And this weekend is fall break! Booyizzle!

I went to church today... for the first time since arriving at Penn. The church was actually a university branch of Grace Covenant Church, whose main line is located further off (there is also a branch at Temple University). And it just felt really good to be in church again. After being away from a place of worship for so long, I just felt an overwhelming sense of relief wash over me as worship started, almost to the point where I teared up. My faith had never been completely solid until the mission trip, and now I feel like I can't lose it. So going to church today was a really good experience.

So about the church. Service was located in a small auditorium-like room underneath a Penn building, and there were a LOT of people. And mostly Asian at that, which was a change of pace. So many Korean and Chinese people! (I do believe that there are few Japanese Christians; even in Japan Christianity does not hold much sway - most practice Shintoism.) The worship and hymns were alright, but I ended up almost screaming the worship songs because of 1) the loud instrumental, and 2) the masses of people doing just what I was doing. I miss the feeling of singing hymns in small groups, where the worship music just sounds more... beautiful, especially when the occasional harmony presents itself.

The pastor was a hoot. I say that in a semi-good way, because he was possibly the funniest religious man I have ever heard preach. I had a comedian preaching to me today about marriage and relationships (this is not meant to be demeaning). I mentioned that it was only semi-good, because the comedy seemed to dilute the meaning of the message for me. And the sermon went WAY too long, to the point where I got restless and started fidgeting. I'm going to try out some other churches in the area. Good thing there is a bevy of churches in the area.

If you want to know about the rest of my day, here it is. I soon thereafter went to a biology review session, where students basically asked the professor questions. (This was the boring one of my two biology professors - the other is a quirky British guy who emphasizes the superiority of England to the U.S.) I didn't really get anything out of it, so I just left. Then I went to the gym, where I witnessed an abso-frickin-lutely cult-like ARMY of people running in place, eyes glued to televisions on the wall. It was pretty mind-blowing. I decided against working out my lower body.

I'm going to study. And maybe later get my ass kicked at ping pong. I have like a 1-13 record against this one guy from LA, and I'm set to play him again tonight.

Into October

We're into October. It's almost been an entire MONTH of school already for me, which just seems insane. I'm bracing for bio and calc midterms, which are next week...

The Penn Ultimate team traveled to Penn St. last week for the Penn State Fall Phling tournament. It was fun... and tiring. We stayed in a cabin thirty minutes from the fields, and it was in the middle of the woods. It was really dense forest, and it looked like the kind of place where you would expect a serial killer to pop out and chop your head off. (It was probably the deciduous trees... if you think about it, you wouldn't really expect a serial killer in a coniferous forest. Maybe a big bear.) OH and another thing, the dude who was driving our car ran over a live deer. It had already been hit, and it was laying on the road. The dude didn't see it until it was too late, and at that point the deer RAISED ITS HEAD, and a loud 'crunch' was soon both heard and felt under the car. It was the most traumatic experience ever (at least in terms of animal-related happenings). The next morning we took the same road to the fields, and there was a disgusting mess on the road.

Oh, by the way, we won the tournament. We were playing against mostly teams we were expected to beat. But we did beat Edinboro, which (according to the UPA) was ranked way above us. So, awesome. In our first game against Haverford, I got two handblocks and a layout Callahan (yeah I know, when does that ever happen to me???). But the Callahan was caused by a floaty throw by a Haverford handler, and I just laid out for it as if I was on offense.

And we're supposed to be scrimmaging against Princeton this weekend. (Doesn't that just sound weird? I'm going to play Ultimate against Princeton. What??? It just seems unreal, because the Ivy League is not just a faraway concept any more, it's a reality. I actually still get surprised when someone reminds me that I'm going to school in the Ivy League.)

Anyhow, my biology class is causing me a lot of stress these days. Too much work! And I feel like I should be reading everything that is either assigned or recommended, so that I am as ready as possible for my midterms. I think part of that is caused by the perfectionist in me who wants everything to be complete - for my knowledge of this stuff to be really comprehensive. Bleh. And I'm getting pretty anxious because only 20% of all students can get an A with the curve... so I've got to be really ready for this exam, because most of the other students here will be.

And I'm really happy that I didn't get into Harvard, Yale, or Princeton. Penn, unlike those schools, doesn't have that too-good mentality, which is definitely a good thing. There aren't (many) snobs here. The only school that I would still like to go to more than Penn is... Stanford. It's on the West Coast, and has a bomb-shizzle Ultimate team...

Wall of Pictures!

So here's the little board of pictures that I finally got around to putting up. Some little known facts about it I will now share with you...

1. I used eight thumbtacks (out of a possible nine).

2. Erin's picture got its own thumbtack.

3. Mary's and Kate's pictures got marred with ink...

4. I am in this picture more than anyone else! (thanks James)

5. I miss all these people.

6. Aubri's and Ginny's pictures are conspicuously absent.

7. If Luke had a senior picture, I would put that up.

8. Not everyone on this board went to Churchill. That includes my parents...

... I guess not all of those were little-known.

An Update!

Hey all, sorry I've been so lazy about updating. I've been more than a little busy lately (this isn't any old lazy day in Korea, where I had no homework and a lot of free time). One night I had an energy drink to keep awake to do homework.

Penn has been real fun so far. Making friends is the shizzle, especially when they are from so many different places. On Saturdays a few of us gather to watch college football; one of my roommates is a USC fan, one of my other friends is a Rutgers fan, another is a Michigan fan, and so forth. A much better way to spend Saturdays than watching Penn football. (Penn just lost their first game at home to Lafayette 8-7. They were up 7-3, then purposely gave up a safety late in the game, only to have Lafayette score a game-winning field goal. Pathetic.) And one of my roommates spends half his life playing Zelda on N64. But that's a whole 'nother story.

Ultimate has been kind of a challenge so far. Practices haven't been too great, simply because 1) it's really hot, 2) the fields are crappy, 3) I'm out of shape, and 4) the team is not solid on fundamentals, so scrimmages are messy. This past weekend we played at Club Sectionals in New Jersey, and split into Penn White (my team) and Penn Purple (these are our team colors... rather South-Eugene-esque if you ask me. But the school's actual colors are red, white, and blue. Weird, huh?). We lost our first three games by a combined score of 39-4. It was some of the most frustrating Ultimate I have ever played... We won our next game, but proceeded to lose both our games on Sunday.

But not all hope is lost! One of our team captains plays for Pike, a local club team (and a pretty decent one at that). And there's another freshman on the team who played for (and co-coached) the University School of Nashville, which is a pretty good team in the East. He's definitely a better player than me, so there's a foundation here. The best case scenario is that he and I are captains for senior year (and we win Nationals).

Playing in the tournament, however, really screwed up my homework situation... I have a lot of homework, including a four-page research project proposal by Wednesday. I have to research a dilemma in international development, and I have decided to pick the problem of water pollution in Korea, China, and Thailand. (In case you've noticed, I'm really into that environment stuff...) I have to turn in a combined 24 pages of writing by the end of the semester. Oddly enough, I'm really looking forward to it.

Otherwise, math is seriously kicking my ass, almost to the point that I want to stop taking it after this semester and consider a different major (perhaps a different career!). But biology is pretty swell so far, and I'm really looking forward to taking chemistry next year. So we'll see.

Oh yeah, good luck to everyone going to OSU!

So far.

Penn has been pretty alright so far. Orientation and moving in have been really hectic, since a lot of the stuff I needed couldn't be brought by plane (furniture, basically). I've been weaving in and out of campus with my family, buying stuff, getting me back for orientation events, etc. Not to mention that is being done in the middle of a very big city.

I said goodbye to my family today, which was tougher than I thought it was going to be. As I write, they are probably on the plane from San Francisco to Eugene, or perhaps have arrived already. I definitely couldn't have gotten all of moving in without them...

I was too busy today to even watch any football on TV. After some orientation stuff in the morning, moving more stuff in, and saying goodbye to my family in the afternoon, it was already 4. At that point I cleaned up my room and got ready to go to a party Penn was hosting at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, which is the location of the famous steps in "Rocky" (or so I've heard). I hung out with my roommate Luke, who is from New Mexico, and his friend, but proceeded to make few acquaintances thereafter. (Sometimes I wish one of my friends from Eugene had come to Penn with me, so that I wouldn't have to force myself into groups that seem to have already formed, among people from the same high school.) Later on I hung out with two girls from Oregon who I had met in Portland several weeks ago.

The other day my family traveled to New Jersey to meet one of my dad's friends from a long time ago, who lives in Cherry Hill. It was only a thirty-minute drive from Penn's campus, and it was really cool to see the scenery and different environs of the east coast (crossing the Delaware into New Jersey was especially awesome). The license plates might be from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, New York, and such, it's quite interesting. I've seen many a thing in this city with either 'Ben' or 'Franklin' associated with it. We got to the house of my dad's friend (who is a pastor) and stayed and talked for a while. I got to talk with the pastor's son, who is a year older than me and attends NYU. Basically, I now have a refuge on the east coast, if I ever get a craving for Korean food, or if I get bored over Thanksgiving. It makes me feel a LOT more comfortable, actually...

Philadelphia is, for the most part, a beautiful city. At least center city is, in terms of 'wow' factor. The skyscrapers are amazing, and the museum and city hall are beautiful as well. Brick buildings dominate the cityscape. The campus is pretty as well, although it can get pretty busy with traffic. Being in a big city brings both its pros and cons, I suppose.

Penn is very much a party school. It's study hard, party equally as hard. I haven't gone to any parties yet, and am not very enthused about going to one, but I might try one before the semester is over. Being in Eugene IHS definitely contributed to my discomfort in this regard, because IHSers don't really party hard, do they? If I do go to a party, I will definitely refrain from heavy drinking.

My roommates seem okay. Luke is the one I hang out with the most. The others are Stephen, from St. Louis, and Ben, from DC. Stephen is a Jewish engineer-to-be, and he is really busy. I don't know if I'll be hanging out with him much, he doesn't really seem to be one of those guys that you can just chill with. Ben is a 6'4" tech-savvy kid, who once told me that he thought he was pretty good at Ultimate. But I can tell by the way he throws around the phrase 'throw a Frisbee' (not using the word 'disc') that he is definitely not going to be that good.

Tomorrow is Sunday, but I won't be going to church. I haven't really made an effort to look for one yet, since I'm still trying to adjust to this new change of surroundings. And the thought of looking for one is daunting. I haven't met any Christian friends yet, and I have to decide whether I'm planning to attend a church on campus, or if I'm commuting to a church elsewhere in the city. And I have to start getting ready for Ultimate again! I guess I'm still getting settled in.

And now I'm settling into bed.

My new address

Box 103
3909 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Coming to Philadelphia

So I woke up at 4 this morning, on three hours of sleep. I got the rest of my stuff together, and our family apparently got out of the house too late (4:40), for a flight at 6! I got a window seat, and the setting was amazing for takeoff-a distant glimmer of sunlight on one horizon, a full moon on the other. And the only thing that could drown out the din from the plane engine was the sorrow overflowing within me...

Just kidding! I mean, yeah, I was sad and all, but I'm not gonna give you guys another emo post. Come on!

Yeah anyways, our flight to Denver was fine, and I remembered the hideous sight that was the Denver airport from the air. Seeing as we had extra time, I took a decent chunk out of the 300 pages I had left of summer reading (shudder).

We then boarded the plane for Philadelphia, which was surprisingly short (just over three hours). I tried to sleep, but to no avail. First, it was exceedingly cold in the plane, and this baby behind me would not shut up! Arrggh, it drove me nuts. The only thing of interest on the ride was that I saw clouds that reminded me of popcorn (plain, not buttered or kettle). Hmm, perhaps I flew over North Park, you never know...

Anyways, we just got back to our hotel after walking around campus for a while. I've gotten only 8.5 hours over the last two days, so I'm gonna go to bed. Peace.

Going away.

Today is the 11th anniversary of the day when my family came to America. Back then I was just a little, unassuming boy who had almost no knowledge of English or of America. We were only supposed to stay for two years, but I guess there was a slight change of plans...

How is it that I have already spent eleven years in Eugene? I can still remember how confused I was upon learning that I was living August 26, 1996 for a second time after unboarding the plane. The past eleven years have been a blur, and now it seems absolutely absurd, unfathomable, to think that I will not be calling this place my home.

Right now I feel like I can empathize with my nearly hollow closet and drawers. Toughest is the fact that this last year of high school has been absolutely amazing, and I have made so many friends, many for whom I have such a deep respect and appreciation. Seeing Collin, David, Kaylee, and Andrew off has actually not been as difficult as I had thought, but now the realization of their absence, and of how much they had meant to me, has really sunk in. To be almost 4000 miles from people one has called friends for years, perhaps from elementary school, is a grief one cannot quite put into words, save perhaps the phrase 'Woe is me'.

As I have been packing, I have run across artifacts that brought up memories both old and new. I've come across a Switchfoot concert stub, a penguin-pencil, a Darth Vader Mr. Potatohead, a happy birthday paper crown, recyclable pants, a copy of a matchmaker quiz, and numerous Ultimate jerseys. All of these have brought me such happy memories from over the years.

The only thing that is keeping me sane and composed is the the fact that some of my friends are still here. I have spent the majority of the last three days with James, Aubri, and Greg, whose presence has kept me from straying into a deep metaphorical forest of isolation and sadness. Even today I parted with James for the last time until winter break. I am dreading the evening when I myself must bid farewell to the likes of Greg, Aubri, Ginny, Reed, and whomever, much like those who have departed before me. I can only apologize to those who I will leave behind, and hope that they will not be left with as much sorrow as I will be upon boarding my flight.

-

No, I'm not colorblind
I know the world is black and white
Try to keep an open mind
But I just can't sleep on this tonight

Stop this train
I wanna get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

Don't know how else to say it
Don't want to see my parents go
One generation's length away
From fighting life out on my own

Stop this train
I wanna get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
But honestly, won't someone stop this train?

So scared of getting older
I'm only good at being young
So I play the numbers game
To find a way to say that life has just begun

Had a talk with my old man
Said "help me understand"
He said "turn sixty-eight
You renegotiate"

"Don't stop this train
Don't for a minute change the place you're in
And don't think I couldn't ever understand
I tried my hand
John, honestly we'll never stop this train"

Once in awhile, when it's good
It'll feel like it should
And they're all still around
And you're still safe and sound
And you don't miss a thing
Till you cry when you're driving away in the dark
Singing

Stop this train
I wanna get off
And go home again
I can't take the speed it's moving in
I know I can't
Cause now I see I will never stop this train

- "Stop this Train", John Mayer

I guess I'm not one to be saying this, but it would be nice if we could all have stayed in Eugene, or local, at least. On the other hand, going to college on the East Coast, with new surroundings and completely new friends, holds a strange intrigue for me that I cannot wait to experience.

It is true that I will be all the way across the country, in a different school, sub-culture, and even time zone (from most of you, at least). I will be just about 2500 miles from the place I have called home for the past eleven years. But it is also true that I am only half a day's travel away! It only takes slightly more time to come back than those in Spokane or Walla Walla. So I am really not as far as you might think. And winter break will be here sooner than we know it. If eleven years in Eugene have passed by so quickly, then four months should be nothing.

As hard as it has been, and still will be, to say goodbye, to see you all again in December will be a joy unlike any other.

So, until then.

Packing

Some clothes in my room, along with a few other stuff.

Last days in Eugene

So my last few days have been spent with a few of the wonderful friends who are still in Eugene. I'm just getting ready to move out, but I want to make sure that I hang out with friends as much as possible, because I won't see them again for quite a while...