jaybird

End of a year

2010-05-06T07:27:00.000-07:00

I'm an hour and a half away from my last final for my junior year (not including one other big paper that I have yet to finish). I know I haven't posted anything in a while, so I'll fill you in on what's been happening in my life...

This last weekend was regionals, which was a huge disappointment as always. It was 90 degrees and sunny on Saturday, which usually means big trouble. We won our first two games and then lost to Pitt in the semis.. but the heat, combined with the fact that I was drinking water primarily (instead of gatorade, which replenishes bodily salts) gave me severe cramps. It was awful - it seemed like every possible muscle on both legs took turns cramping up. Eventually I was taken to the medical center at Princeton, where they stuck IV fluids in me. Yikes. I ended up having to take an exam the next morning (on a Sunday - fucked up, I know), and en route to Princeton I learned that we had lost our first game - meaning my season was over without me having any say in it. And so ended eight months of hard work.

Anyways, I'm soon to be a senior. Got elected captain of the Ultimate team here at Penn for next year, so I'm super excited for that. Major pwnage to be had all over the place. It's weird, I feel like I've gotten so much better at Ultimate while in college - I feel like I had no idea what I was doing out on the field for most of high school, until fall of senior year. Then my game really took off here in college, when I was put in a handler position.

I have a girlfriend, her name's Evan. We actually met at a party only a week into the spring semester (and no, it didn't begin as just some sketchy hookup). Since I'll be coming home in a few days, I'll definitely be disappointed to not see her for a while. But I would love for some of you guys to meet her eventually.

As for summer plans, I come home in a few days (like I just wrote), and I'll be studying for my MCAT for over a month. I take that exam in mid-June, and then I'm headed out to Spain for a summer-abroad program! From there I think I will be flying straight to Korea for a few weeks, and I'll be back in Eugene (at least for a few days) in late August.

Wish me luck on my ochem exam! And I'll see you all soon.

health?

2009-11-30T01:13:00.000-08:00

Started brainstorming for 2-pg Spanish essay at 6pm.
after much thinking about essay and idling about on computer,
Came up with essay topic at 8pm.
Watched football at 8pm.
Went to the grocery with roommates at 9:30pm
Cooked at 10pm.
Ate fettucine alfredo at 10:30pm.
Watched football at 10:30pm.
Ate cereal and idled about on computer at 12am.
Started writing essay at 12:30am.
Ate fettucine alfredo at 3:30am.
Finished writing essay at 4:15am.
Started blogging at 4:15am (estimated time of termination: 4:30).
--
Started sleeping at 4:30am.
Woke up at 9:30am.
...
ODed on caffeine for entirety of next day.

WOOOOO

Do you consider this to be healthy?

I apologize if that comes across as somewhat of a rhetorical question. It is. I don't have the slightest clue what is healthy anymore. If you lead a lifestyle that is 'healthier' than this then you are probably more qualified a medical school candidate than I am.

Oh boy, I'm ahead of schedule. It's only 4:28!

Impending doom apprehended: any suggestions for a cure for gastric ulcer much appreciated

A lot on my mind, a lot on my plate, a lot on my mindplate???

2009-09-15T23:49:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest. I've been lazy to update this thing. It's harder to muster up the willpower to update a blog when you're geographically much closer to those who read it - a sense, whether true or not, that those people will then automatically know what's going on in your life. Anyways..

I'm back at school. I have a busy semester ahead, with 20 hours of class divvied up among courses in organic chemistry, physics, spanish, neuroscience, and also one in humanities (a lecture called "The Information Age".. not very interesting so far). I am continuing my work in the ovarian cancer lab that I picked up with in March, as well as volunteering at the local hospital to gain some hands-on experience (and hopefully a gushy recommendation letter to med schools about how nice I was!). So far it hasn't been awful, but darker days are ahead.

I want to say right now that I have never had a more clear view of the finish line than I do now, at least school/career-wise. I basically have planned out the courses I will need to take for the rest of college, the timeline of medical school admissions, etc.. etc.. I need to take some tough courses, raise my GPA, take my MCAT next summer, kiss professors' asses in the process and get recommendation letters, and then things will work themselves out. The application process for students who plan on going straight to medical school (without a gap year) apparently begins this upcoming spring for juniors. That is kinda coming up soon, yeah? I think my biggest goal will be to really, really focus on academics. Like never before. This year will really make or break my future, and I think that urgency is finally settling in my brain. No junioritis.. I can't afford it. It won't happen.

I think my plans for next summer are already coming together. Barring any radical changes, my plan is to take the mid-June MCAT. I think I would stay on campus and study, since all of my books are here anyways! Although it would be great to catch Yeon's graduation (as well as my cousin's UO grad), and I feel obligated to do so. I have to think that one out.

In mid- to late-June I would head to Spain for a month and a half for a summer-abroad program. Penn has an awesome program called 'Penn-in-Alicante', where students study Spanish language/culture at the University of Alicante. Alicante is located in the southern half of Spain's mediterranean coastline. I would take two courses there and wrap up my Spanish minor! My friend took that program this last summer and had good things to say, so I'm likely to head that way. (Hopefully Spain wins the World Cup while I'm there?!!)

And then to come home in late July, I think. Maybe for a few days. Though I haven't found home to be too interesting lately. My hope is to come home for a few days and relax, then spend 3-4 weeks in Korea, for the majority of August.

And then I've already completed another year.

I really enjoy trips to Korea - seeing family and friends is always good. But besides that, there's always the privilege of seeing a different culture. Wait, no, not just a different culture, but your INHERITED CULTURE. It was like my mind was finally ACTUALLY coming home after years of thinking my mind - my beliefs, customs, etc - was at home in the states. As if I had just been offered a red and a blue pill and I took the red. I think what I'm trying to say is that my MODE of thinking felt at home. I think like a Korean person, and that aspect was right at home in Korea.

I think physically I feel home in the US. I really do. I couldn't handle staying in Korea for too long, I think. The country is just too frickin claustrophobic. Mentally, though, I can reconcile. I think I still feel comfortable mentally in the states, but occasionally there are things that help reinforce the fact that I'm different here than the majority of the population. And by these things I point to things as diverse as Asian jokes, the difference in cuisine in the US and Korea, and the fact that I automatically get asked whether I'm Chinese or Japanese. Occasionally, if I mention that I'm actually Korean, I even get asked if I'm from North Korea.

..uh..

Like, what the fuck? It's as if you were just asked whether you were born and raised in Antarctica. I mean, it's comparable to that good friend you've had for a while who, even after you've gone to a college for two years, still can't tell you which college you actually go to.

I should go to bed.

purge

2009-05-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

Damn, the pretzels in chex mix really suck. I am scouring the bag eating all of them now so they don't bother me later. No pain, no gain, as some might say.

I'm also packing to move out into my new house.

If you really like pretzels but don't like anything else in chex mix give me a call.

2009-05-11T13:10:00.000-07:00

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

I'm done

Regionals '09

2009-04-20T20:22:00.000-07:00

This next weekend is that thing known as the Metro East Regionals. In New Jersey. What a great place. (Chill out, I'm kidding.) It will be played pool-play format, which I really like. And the weather is supposed to be a balmy 80+ degrees both days. Yikes. All the sections have finished, so we have:

Upstate NY:
1) Cornell
2) RPI
3) Carleton U
4) SUNY-Buffalo

NJ/Metro NY:
1) Vassar
2) Columbia

West Penn:
1) Pittsburgh
2) Bucknell
3) Edinboro

East Penn:
1) Pennsylvania
2) Drexel
3) Lehigh

Colonial:
1) Maryland
2) Georgetown
3) Towson
4) American

Which I think the UPA lists in a seeded order (though it claims that it's not!):

http://www.upa.org/scores/tourn.cgi?div=18&id=5918

- Pittsburgh 2712
- Cornell 2695
- Maryland 2488
- Pennsylvania 2366
- Georgetown 2415
- Bucknell 2382
- Edinboro 2419
- Towson 2358
- American 2212
- Vassar 2241
- Rensselaer Polytech 2220
- Carleton University 2285
- Drexel 2154
- Lehigh 2230
- Columbia 2219
- SUNY-Buffalo 2024

So obviously, the most solid region in the country! I'll tell you the truth... before this season started I probably didn't know that half of these qualifiers even existed as teams. This year, three of our top challengers didn't even make it out of their respective sections (Delaware and George Washington failed to qualify out of Colonial; Queens-Kingston didn't get their stuff in on time for Upstate NY).

I think we have a great chance to take one of the two bids to natties. The weather will be nice, which I think will play into our favor (we are NOT a poor-weather team). And our team also seems to be peaking at the right time. We had a practice this past Sunday which went great.

Pittsburgh and Cornell are overwhelming favorites. Pitt has won 10 straight and is 19-5 on the season. Cornell has won 16 straight and is 22-3. But I think on any given day we have a fighting chance to beat either team. The one time I have played Pittsburgh (last year) we won, so we definitely have a good shot this time around as well.

If we get through our pool unscathed, we will likely get our shot at Pittsburgh. If we took that game in the semis we would likely play either Cornell or Maryland the next afternoon for the regional title, and with essentially 2 games-to-go (2 chances!) in a row. That would be great. Wish us luck!

Just a post.

2009-03-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

An anecdote-

Tournament second day is canceled, so I get back to my apartment at 1. I go out to throw a disc with some friends. It is 6pm. It is sunny and 74 degrees when I go outside. 15 minutes have passed. Blue skies turn into light yellow clouds, a robust mix of storm clouds with sun and thunder. All hell breaks loose. It hails very much, hail the size of bottlecaps if bottlecaps were spherical. People run for cover, cars stop, the street is ankle-deep in water within a minute.

That was the weirdest weather incident I have ever witnessed! Upon seeing the yellow cloud-mix to the west, I mentioned to my friend that "the weather seems really end-of-the-world-like". Later, I talked to someone else who told me that one time, he and his friends were outside and their hair started gathering static, and they ran like no other. Apparently, that happens right before you are about to be struck by lightning. Scary.

Anyways, our tournament this weekend was partially canceled. The weather today was mostly great (see above), but we didn't get to play because we annihilated the fields yesterday in stormy conditions. We beat our Ivy League compatriots Columbia and Harvard.

I start laboratory research tomorrow. I am going to be working in the lab of a researcher at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania's (HUP) Biomedical Research Building. He conducts research in ovarian cancer (hold your giggles, stop judging me), and what I would do eventually is biologically engineer some tumor-fighting molecules called 'lymphocytes'. It's not a paid position as of now, but once I learn the basic lab techniques and get a hang of what I'm doing, I'm going to ask for a salary. I also think I'm going to continue with research after school is over, probably until late-June/early-July, so that my entire summer is not wasted on frolicking.

That being said, there is almost nothing that I love more than summer in Eugene. The best part is playing some disc in the late afternoon or early evening and then just hanging out on the fields with people you love.

Ultimate season begins!

2009-02-20T11:35:00.000-08:00

Hah, sorry for all you readers out there who don't really follow ultimate.

But for those who do, check this out:

http://winkysthinkies.blogspot.com/2007/09/10-types-of-ultimate-players.html

just woke up.. or maybe just starting to dream?

2009-01-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

I landed in Philadelphia at 11:05pm yesterday, and got back to my room by midnight. It's bitter cold here.

When I am in Eugene, I don't have a care in the world. I just live freely, have almost no thoughts of school and being back at Penn, until the last day before leaving. But after I have said my goodbyes (I have to do this again?!!), my mind switches mode. It's like my brain has already traveled back, even before my body has boarded a plane, so that if I were to run into someone like Aubri or Tony unexpectedly the morning of my flight, I would flip out. It's like two different worlds I live in, where no one in one knows anyone else in the other.

I love Philadelphia and being at Penn. But it's not (yet) the same as being home and with people you've known for years.

I have to contradict my earlier post a little bit when I say this, but it's not as easy as it seems to come and go. It's not just going to be 8 hours spent on airplanes and in terminals getting back home and being able to see friends and family. It takes four months to get back to Eugene, but it feels like less when people come visit (which never happens). So I bide my time.

barriers

2008-12-16T09:29:00.000-08:00

Isn't it weird to think that I can say to someone, "See you tomorrow", when I am all the way across the country? I just find it weird. Well, I guess more amazing than weird. And that I could really just fly out to some place we've all only seen in movies and documentaries if I wanted to, in 24 hours or less. That the Taj Mahal, the holy city of Mecca, the Amazon rainforest, the Siberian tundra, Philadelphia, Eugene, OR - all just a few flights and a day away.

Just started snowing here.

Finals!

2008-12-09T14:20:00.000-08:00

Oh man! Tomorrow is my first of four finals. I've been studying a lot over the past few days (which is what you're supposed to do). And then I'll be home on the 17th. Home! Home. It's kind of a big thing because, well, the furthest I've traveled in the past three months is to Washington D.C. Meanwhile, all three of my roommates have been home twice..

Which reminds me, I went to my friend's house for Thanksgiving, which was chill. He lives 30 minutes (by train) away in the suburbs, and I stayed there for three nights. I went to mass with his family on Thursday morning, which was sorta weird, but I'm over it. Turns out his dad is super-Catholic, but none of his children are really religious. I told my friend and his two little bros that I hail from the least-religious area of the country (I think it is, right?), and they all mentioned something about living there sometime..

And I think I am 99% set on a major - Biology with a concentration in neuroscience. So I'll be taking a lot of classes having to do with brain and behavior, which is all really interesting. And I'm going to minor in Hispanic Studies (fancypants way of just saying 'Spanish'). I haven't officially declared this yet, but I will in the coming months.

.. yeah, so I gotta get back to studying..

new day

2008-11-05T20:48:00.000-08:00

Wow. The last week has been something different, something awesome, something INSANE.

Last Wednesday, the Philadelphia Phillies brought home a championship, the first pro sports championship for the city in 25 years (multiplied by 4 pro sports teams = 100 seasons). The last champion in this city was... Rocky. And he wasn't real. After the last out was recorded at about 10:10 PM EST, I went outside to see if anything was happening.

There were people were pouring out of bars, dorms, other public buildings! Almost every car on the road was honking incessantly, and people high-fived anyone in sight. 5.5 million people instantly became friends with anyone and everyone in sight. A massive crowd formed to celebrate the occasion on Broad Street (a major thoroughfare that passes City Hall and center city).

Simon, Edward, and I rode our bikes down 25 blocks to witness the madness, at about 11:30. There were massive (drunken) crowds, burning dumpsters, a few brawls, riot police, and thousands upon thousands of red-clad fanatics. Also no enforcement of the open-container law. It was something that you could never imagine happening in Eugene, let alone the entire West Coast. Imagine the celebration if the Oregon Ducks won the National Championship - now multiply it by 100! It was as if a city of millions released a breath it had been holding for too long, and also as if the entire city caught an epidemic all at once. People who didn't even follow baseball went downtown to celebrate! Seeing an entire metropolis celebrating is just an unbelievable sight.

You might think I'm overreacting with this World Series schnooz, but it's hard not to get excited when something completely rocks the city for days.

I also went to the Phillies victory parade on Friday (skipping three classes!), which was more subdued, but still pretty sweet.

Then there was last night! I'm sure you all know what went down. As soon as the news came out, Penn students started celebrating in the middle of campus, and I went down to celebrate with! And then... the crowd moved east. 25 blocks east. Yep, all the way down to City Hall, in a light drizzle. Combining with Drexel students partway through. Blocking off avenues, high-fiving bus drivers, security guards, hobos.. Almost marching expectantly towards City Hall as if something would happen as soon as we did. As if future President Barack Obama would miraculously drop down on the corner of Broad and Market and fill us with comforting, powerful, hopeful words. Too bad I didn't move to Chicago right after the World Series. The march was like a Phillies celebration hangover, as if people now just expected a mass mosh pit in the center of the city. Chants of O-ba-ma, U-S-A, Yes-we-can, Yes-we-did. Even mass-singing of the national anthem?!!

Anyways, it was all pretty awesome. Living in a big city definitely has its advantages. You all should visit sometime.

fall break

2008-10-05T14:20:00.000-07:00

Already a third done with this semester. Next weekend is fall break, from Saturday to Tuesday.. and I have no plans whatsoever. Each of my three roommates are going home, since they live in NJ, DC, and TN respectively. I can't really go home, but I can't really chill with old high school friends because NONE of them came to the east coast. (I'm pretty sure I'm the only one at Penn with this problem.) So unless someone flies out here or something, I suppose I'll just be sitting, sleeping, sitting, sleeping for

four days

place

2008-09-24T17:22:00.000-07:00

The first one is on the plane near Chicago. Otherwise pictures of my place. Still kinda raw, I am getting a few more posters..

in honor

2008-09-17T19:51:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to a memorial service on campus for a former teammate, who passed away on August 25 in a car accident. Michael Sheahan of Madison, WI - on the team we called him 'Wheeler'.

I guess I couldn't believe it when I first heard the news from another teammate. More that I didn't believe than I couldn't. He was an awesome kid, a great teammate, and good friend. I didn't hang out with him too much outside of Ultimate, but when I did hang out with him (Ultimate or not), it was always a good time. And it was only a few days before I would have seen him too..

I'm in grief that Wheeler has passed, because of all the good times we have spent together. But I'm saddened, I think, just as much because of what could have been. Perhaps it's just speculation, but I really believe he would have come over to our room to hang out all the time, since Edward and Simon, two of my roommates who play Ultimate, were also close with him. He was someone who could have been a great friend of mine.. Great potential, shattered in a moment..

Rest in peace, Wheeler. I'll miss you man.

2008-09-07T17:29:00.001-07:00

penn.

2008-05-26T10:10:00.001-07:00

I´m in Costa Rica.

That´s all.

I'm through.

2008-05-12T12:21:00.000-07:00

I give up. I have some more stuff I really need to study in depth for my final, but after several days of non-stop pounding info back into your head, there's a point where you just say, 'I just don't fucking care anymore, let's get this over with'. Hopefully I'll remember the stuff that I need to study right now, if they come up tomorrow on the final. But my fear of failing might force me to study some more.

TV-watching and video games for me! ^_^

Semi-calm before the storm.

2008-05-10T18:44:00.000-07:00

Today I have been biology biology biology. Some of it very interesting (e.g. variation from expected Mendelian segregation ratios; meiotic recombination within inversion loops, which results in inviable gametes), some of it very bullshitty (e.g. the pivotal role in bicoid protein localization in D. melanogaster embryos in determining anteroposterior development??? ...). I went to a Q & A review session today and spent 4 more hours poring over slides. Anyhow. I can't believe I kept up with the reading. But I have much more stuff to review. 1/3 of the slides to go, practice tests to look at, practice genetics problems to try. But there's also so much more sleep to be had! And leisure! And packing! What to do...................... Yep, it's true. The study of life kills.

So yeah, my first two final exams were actually on the 5th and 6th. I've basically been stuck here for an extra week because of this damn bio final. And to think, I could have been in Independence, MO. My first final, statistics, was really easy - basically plugging numbers into equations. The problem is, it must have been easy for everyone else as well, so we'll see if I shattered the curve. Also, history was pretty easy, with a map quiz and two essays, but I don't know if I'll get such a hot grade in it.

Two of my roommates moved out today. The room feels really hollow. I couldn't concentrate with all this sense of 'done-ness', so I herded myself into the library. The campus, which is one mile west of Center City Philadelphia, felt deserted. I dared think that everyone else at Penn actually opted to somehow bribe their professors into moving their finals to before the weekend. Joke's on me, right?

Also, I think something that scares me even more than my bio final at this point is the arduous task of moving out. Obviously, I won't be able to lug stuff home (except in two suitcases), so I had to order a service that stores 6 boxes over the summer, filled with your belongings. I'm afraid it won't fit some of my stuff, so that stuff will have to be stored at the Ultimate house. Meh, whatever. In less than 92 hours I'll be boarding a flight for San Francisco. And then Eugene.

Post-Regionals

2008-04-29T19:23:00.001-07:00

Hi all. Regionals has come and gone.

It was disappointing. I won't divulge on too many details, but just know that it was a letdown. We won our first two games against Queens-Kingston and Carleton University, but both of them were close calls (we were actually down to Carleton U 5-10 at one point). I think we wasted too much energy, and since they were close games, we relied too much on our core of 'reliable' players - which, unfortunately, we don't have too many of. Then they were exhausted for our semi-final game against Maryland, and we broke down. Poor handler play did us in as well. We ended up dropping our first and only game on Sunday to Edinboro.

What I think needs to be done for this team to thrive is great development of basic skills!!! Our team was very much a 'system' team - one that was solid on fundamental strategies, which helped catapult us to some big wins over the course of the season. Solid no-dump defense and poachy under-defense were the trademarks of our success. But too many of our team consisted of role-players, people who, on other top-tier teams, would not get a sniff for an A-team spot. Granted, they didn't play much for our team anyways, but they were missing some vital element: throws, athleticism, coordination, or any combination thereof. They were missing some of the fundamentals. And that's why I was so pessimistic in the fall, because I didn't see much potential with this team. Strategy was the major harbinger to our success, not layout D's, not incredible hucks, not sick skys.

Since I'm pretty positive I'm set for captaincy in my senior year, I will get to work making sure any new recruits are solid in the fundamentals... I'm going to try and build a team capable of making nationals.

34 Hours.

2008-04-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

Only 34 hours until one of the biggest tournaments in my Ultimate career so far. So pumped. So pumped. Ready to rip some faces off. Getting the kind of determination, focus, adrenaline rush that only really hits me at about this time of the season, when it really matters. Envisioning myself get that layout grab deep for the double-game-point in the game-to-go. Just watched footage of our win over Pitt, and I think there's good reason to believe that we will trash the shit out of Maryland and Pitt.

It's official, we've beaten two teams that are #1 in their regions (Michigan and Pittsburgh), and another team that has a good shot at being #1 in their region (Harvard). I'm going to watch some Ultimate highlights.

Near close of semester

2008-04-22T14:50:00.000-07:00

Wrapped up my sixth-to-last day of classes today, and it was an uneventful one. Learned about cancers in my molecular biology/genetics class. Learned about ...??? in statistics. I have a five-page history paper due tomorrow, which I am half-done with, and intend to start at past midnight because I really don't care. Took my bio lab practical yesterday, it kinda sucked, but hey, whatever. I'm done with that sad part of my life now.

Fast times in the Illadelph. [For reference, 'Illadelph' is a badass way of referring to Philadelphia. So logic holds that I refer to the city in said manner.] Colbert hosted his 'Colbert Report' for much of last week in Penn's Annenberg Center. On Friday, Obama spoke to his largest crowd ever, ~35,000 at Independence Mall. (I didn't go.) Last night the Clintons dropped by the Palestra, Penn's basketball arena. Pro-Hillary people shouted, chanted, even marveled at their own frivolity as they scared the shit out of people crossing the intersection of 34th and Walnut. Trucks with loudspeakers kept crossing the intersection, blaring artificial crowd-noises that kept chanting, 'Obama'. And almost anti-climatically, today was/still is the primary election day. Most important of all, there are only five more days of school before dead week and finals.

I'm pretty sure half of our team is Jewish. This week happens to be part of Passover, so they can't eat leavened bread, beer, and other stuff. I can't tell who on our team is not Jewish. I can't even tell if I'm not Jewish. But at least I don't play on BYU's Ultimate team. Also, for anyone out there who knows: if your cleats are tight so that the your toes bend at the end, does that have an effect on your leg muscles? Because my cleats are really tight, and all of this season my legs (especially quads) seem to have gotten tired prematurely.

Man. Who cares about school anymore??? Seriously.

The Series.

2008-04-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Note: This post will be almost entirely devoted to College Ultimate. Sorry Ginny.

It's almost 2 AM. What am I doing up? I was going to do a mini-workout, actually. And I can't seem to concentrate on any sort of work (surprise?). So I must pour out my Ultimate-related thoughts...

First off. NW Regionals. Good show by Collin, David, and Greg to make regionals. Not an easy task (at least for WA/BC sectionals). David's GURU proving that they were underrated. Collin's Sweets challenging for the section crown before falling in two close defeats (what if...? A possible 1 or 2 seed could have been?). Greg's Beavers (?) going 6-1 on the weekend. Nice. I can't believe Western played so poorly this weekend.

My guess for NW Regionals seeding:

1 UBC
2 UCSC
3 Stanford
4 LPC
5 Oregon
6 Cal
7 Washington
8 Whitman
9 WWU
10 Victoria
11 OSU
12 UC Davis
13 Humboldt St
14 Lewis & Clark
15 BYU
16 Gonzaga

My guess is that UBC and Stanford make it out, and UCSC doesn't hold up to its seed. Whitman will be the upset specialist.

Also, I'm going to talk about the Great Lakes Regionals for a little bit as well, because I always think of Luke. And because we've faced 3 of the region's four top teams (Michigan, Ohio St., Notre Dame). We've beaten Michigan, lost to Notre Dame once, and lost THREE TIMES to Ohio St. (though each time they were close games, and we practically gave away our third game against them). I think Michigan and Illinois will make it out, but look for Notre Dame to make some serious noise.

Anyways, on to the region everyone loves most!

My guess for ME Regionals seeding:

1 Pitt
2 Maryland
3 Penn
4 Delaware
5 Edinboro
6 George Washington
7 Carleton Univ.
8 Cornell
9 Princeton
10 Penn St.
11 Bucknell
12 Lehigh
13 RPI
14 Queens-Kingston
15 Hofstra
16 Vassar

I see Pitt beating us in the finals, and then us beating Maryland soundly in the game-to-go. Our previous loss to Maryland was coming off of a deflating loss to Ohio St., with one of our best players (a 6-3 grad student who would demolish Stout from Ego) out. We didn't play with energy (we didn't have any left), and I think we would come out fired up in a rematch. Also, Cornell and Edinboro are underrated.

Here are some very good Ultimate blogs...

http://matchdiesel.blogspot.com/

http://tnilan.blogspot.com/

And I'm sure you all read RSD? MSSUI? Woo.

Spring and motivation.

2008-04-03T18:48:00.000-07:00

Spring is here. That means many things, I know. One, it's getting close to my birthday! Two, the weather's getting better. Three, the college Ultimate season really heats up. Four, school is winding down.

That last one seems to have hit me hard. I just lack any sort of motivation these days. When the weather starts to get better, I just can't help but daydreaming about late summer afternoons, shirt, shorts, birkenstocks, aviators, hat, watching Ultimate. And perhaps some beach volleyball, because that sounds like the shit. I also can't help but think about the fact that I have just over three more weeks of classes left, and how that will be gone in no time. So I am lazy. My thought process on homework as of recent:

1) I should probably do that bio reading
2) But it won't hurt if I do it later. Let's watch that basketball game
3) I should probably do that reading before I go to bed so that I understand lecture tomorrow morning
4) Fuck it, let's go to bed
5) I didn't understand the lecture at all. Maybe I should read the book
6) How about not, I'll just read up before midterm/final. At least I went to lecture
7) I have a huge midterm tomorrow, I should really read that stuff in the book I swore to read many times over
8) Meh, it's probably not going to be on the exam

7 and 8 haven't actually happened yet, because I haven't had a midterm in a few weeks. I hope it won't happen. When I do subject myself to reading, I skim at least half the time. But my thinking is, at least I go to lecture! I was talking to my friend Edward the other day (he is also a premed, and plays Ultimate, and is awesome). He said he had skipped his last three classes, which gave me great comfort. Later that day I talked to another friend who mentioned that he knows some people at Penn with 4.0s, who took more courses than I did fall semester. And he also mentioned another friend at MIT who thought his classes there were easier than those at his high school. I got really freaked out by that.

But these days I am slacking off!!!!! I probably do an average of one hour of work per day. Last semester I probably averaged about 2.5 or 3. I don't know why/how. I don't know if it's because my classes are easier, or what. But I think that might be the general attitude here, because my stats professor cancelled two future quizzes because of Passover on one Friday and a big Spring Fling concert on another, with Ludacris, Gym Class Heroes, and OK Go (he then proceeded to tell his that the reason for that was that he had had a dream recently about Ludacris and diet coke). Yeah, sweet, I know.

And I'm also just bumbling along in life in general. Tomorrow I'm going to have to buy a new printer, I recently took a tumble while wiping off dust on my shelves (which are up high), and I must have landed on my printer/scanner. When I couldn't print anything, I looked at the scanner thing and the glass was all shattered. And before that I had accidentally sent a letter without a stamp (unless I just forgot and had actually put a stamp on it). I have to rewrite that... ...

But it'll all be over soon, just one and a half more months...

Roll Call, D.C.

2008-03-31T19:01:00.000-07:00

Void of UPenn took a short three-hour drive down to Poolsville, MD (near Washington, DC) this weekend for a 40-team tournament.

We were placed in a power pool (there were 2 power pools) as the 5th seed, meaning we were seeded 9th overall. Luke's North Park, being 1 seed of the second non-power pool, were then 11th overall coming in.

Our first game on Saturday was against Wesleyan, seeded fourth in our pool and a huge question mark. We had no clue what they were about. As it was, Void overcame some sloppy end zone offense and spotty defense to pull out a victory, 12-9. Wesleyan ended up 0-8 for the weekend. During our second-round bye, I went over to watch North Park face Northwestern in a cross-town battle. Incidentally, one of our best players is a grad student who played at Northwestern, so he was on the opposing sideline watching as well. Anyways, Luke is a tool. Just kidding. He played pretty well.

Our second game of the day pitted Void against MetroEast powerhouse and nationals contender, Pittsburgh. Pitt was coming off a successful weekend at Centex where they had taken down the great Wisconsin Hodags. In their first game of the day they had beaten Maryland in a close encounter, and their second game against Void would prove to be no different. Void took an early 3-1 lead with flow-offense and a strong dump-defense, but Pitt went on a 4-0 run using poor spirit, bullshit calls, and deep looks. While on the sideline I distinctly remember a Pitt player mentioning, "we're not losing to some nerd school". Pitt would take half 7-6 and would stretch the lead to 10-6, leading to a Void timeout.

Void would regroup and come out strong, cutting the Pitt lead to 10-7, then 10-8, 10-9, and eventually 10-10, an unlikely combination of two break points and two downwind points in which Void capitalized on Pitt turnovers. Pitt and Penn would trade points, eventually reaching 12-11 Pitt, game point. Void would score downwind, setting up double-game point, and med student Tim Gaulton's upwind forehand huck to a wide-open Birdo (not me - our captain actually has that nickname) in the end-zone. A mosh-pit would ensue. It would be Pitt's only loss of the weekend.

The next game would have Void facing Leadbelly of Ohio St. A letdown was inevitable, and Tim re-aggravated his hamstring while Void took a 13-10 loss. In the following round, an exhausted Void couldn't keep up with regional contender Maryland in a 12-8 loss. This would see Penn end up as fourth in their pool, setting up a pre-quarters matchup with another regional opponent, Cornell.

Sunday - Came out flat early on and traded points (breaks) with a good Cornell team, until Void took half 8-6 on a break. Void would eventually take the game 11-8, setting up another inter-Ivy-League matchup with Red Line with Harvard.

Harvard had thrashed Western Washington on Saturday as the 1 seed in the other power pool, and was seen by most as the top team in the Northeast region. A disappointing performance at Centex had been forgotten with a 4-0 record on Saturday, and a thorough pounding of George Washington in pre-quarters. Now they faced a pumped-up Void that aimed for yet another upset...

A few things about that game. Harvard had a med student playing, and he was really good... he wore glasses, scrubs, and a strip of cloth like some football wide receivers like to do, but he was good nonetheless. He was intimidating. Also, George Stubbs was roaming the sidelines, but I didn't know it was him until like, just now.

All I can say is, Red Line was impressive, but they were mostly unable to stop Void's flow offense, which relied on very solid handler play. Soft cap sounded with Void and Red Line tied at 8, and Void would score deep. Game to 11. After Void set up 10-9 game point, Harvard would come back and score, setting up universe. And yet another upwind huck to Birdo, from Grant, would propel Penn to semis, with another quality win.

Semis saw Void face Ohio St. for the third time of the season, and Void controlled much of the game until 11-8, when Leadbelly went on a run. They would eventually take a tight game, 15-13, and promptly get trashed by Pitt in the finals.

All in all, Void would have an impressive weekend, positioning them for a 2 or 3 seed at regionals, and a great shot at making nationals. Penn Void has now notched wins against Michigan, Pittsburgh, and Harvard - three teams widely regarded as the cream of the crop of their respective regions. As an added bonus, Michigan and Pittsburgh both have beaten the Hodags.

Another thing. It seems like teams like Harvard and Pitt are really good when I watch them play other teams, but when they play us it seems like they suck. I can't figure out why.

Boulder is not as far away as I thought.

Phone

2008-03-18T16:15:00.000-07:00

My phone is freaking out, so I'm sending it in for repairs. If you want to reach me, just do it by email or facebook.

jaybrd526@yahoo.com

Going to North Carolina

2008-02-29T12:29:00.000-08:00

In eastern Virginia, on our way to North Carolina again for our second tourney...

Sayre High School

2008-02-26T14:00:00.001-08:00

So, I feel like I should fill you in on something that I feel great about.

One of the courses I'm taking this semester is URBS-178, Urban-University Community Relations. I originally signed up for it to fulfill a requirement for the Benjamin Franklin Scholars program, which I am in. It's an academic-based community service (ABCS) course, which means we tie in our studies with community service (as the term implies!). Mostly, we are studying Penn's relationship with the West Philly community...

We volunteer in three shifts at Sayre High School, an urban high school located in a very dangerous neighborhood, with poor funding, with half of its teachers apathetic to the students' performance in class, and a school environment that is also not conducive to performing well in school (or going to college for that matter). In other words, it's your typical public urban school (but it's better than some others in the area).

My mentoring group of four goes from 3-4:30 on Tuesdays, with a program coordinator. Our goal is to get kids ready for college, to tutor them, to offer them guidance. And they really need it. But there is a wide variance in socioeconomic status and academic performance as well... for example, one junior the other day didn't know how to type, whereas a freshman had a computer at home. Many of them see college as a distant idea - not a reality.

And whereas the Monday and Thursday groups get kids who WANT to be there at the College Readiness Program, we get the kids who are forced to be there by their football/cheerleading/dancing coaches. They don't want to be there. So the kids, when we introduced ourselves and did stuff as a large group, were very uncooperative. When asked to go around in a circle and introduce themselves, many would mumble their replies, talk amongst themselves instead, etc. Difficult.

But today we (the mentors) were grouped with 5-6 students, of all grade levels. My group consisted of five girls - Shanae, Channell, Kenya, Ashley, and Jessica - two freshmen, two sophomores, and a senior. We basically talked for the 25 minutes we had left, asking where they were from, what they wanted to do after high school, what subjects they needed help with, etc. On a personal level, they are so much more cooperative! The time went by really quickly, but I definitely left feeling awesome. Kids who hadn't shown ANY interest as a large group finally spoke up about what they wanted. It was really amazing.

That being said, I was left reminded of the fact that there are more important things than just doing work and being concerned with your own well-being... I'm already planning out what my group will do next week. Maybe I'll show them the Penn campus?

Anyhow, I've got a dinner with my dorm in five minutes... we have a guest speaker by the name of Kalpen Suresh Modi. He's a guest professor this semester in Asian-American studies. Here's a picture (he's on the left):

For those of you who don't know (apparently 100% of you), his colloquial name is Kal Penn. He's appeared on House (as shown), 24, and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, among others. Cool. Dinner and a celebrity-professor beckon.

Queen City Tune-Up

2008-02-11T08:01:00.000-08:00

Here's a really dry recap:

21 people on Penn Void this weekend took the 11-hour drive down to Charlotte for the Queen City Tune-Up tournament, aptly named because Charlotte is known as the Queen City (I don't think I would want to live there). We went in as the 16th seed overall, which I found absurd...

We were in a pool with Georgia, Ohio State, and William & Mary. Georgia and Ohio State had made Nationals last year, so this tourney was a sort of measuring stick for us.

Saturday: To start, winds were about 20 mph, making everything difficult. We played zone defense most of the day, and we faced zone defense most of the day as well. In our first game against Ohio St., there were numerous drops and errant throws, but we were neck-and-neck the whole way with a nationals-caliber team. In the end, they capitalized on our end-zone turnovers and took the game 13-10. Georgia was next, and we came out very flat. Making more bad throws and numerous drops in the wind, we got hammered, 13-3. Against William & Mary, we shored up our offensive woes (at least as much as we could with the winds) and took a gritty match 8-6 on hard cap. Technically we had broken seed...

In our crossover game, we faced Virginia. The winds had died down, and we rode our momentum to a 7-4 halftime advantage. We came out flat the second half and eventually lost on universe point 11-10, setting up a morning match with Michigan Magnum...

Sunday: Winds had picked up to about 30-40 mph, making Ultimate really crappy. We had a tough match against Michigan, who had played well on Saturday, with a 3-1 record (losing to North Carolina, a nationals team, by 1). Play by sides was sloppy, and Michigan held a 6-4 advantage at one point, threatening to pull away. But we regathered and took half 7-6, and eventually took the game 11-7, a huge win - also a turnaround and a wave of momentum we hoped to carry to our quarters-match against Pitt.

We played poorly against Pitt, a Nationals team in our region. We went down 3-0 early and never really recovered, losing 12-7. But we did show that we could play with them - the 3 point lead never really grew until the very end.

Though we didn't play particularly well, we finished tied for 5th, a great showing considering we went in as the 16th seed. I would give us a 50-50 chance of making Nationals. Delaware and Pitt made it last year, but Delaware looks awful so far. It's going to be between Penn and Cornell for the second spot to Nationals...

Also, on the drive back from North Carolina, we almost hit a wildfire... we had to take a detour that set us back an hour. Just thought you should know.

First few days back!

2008-01-17T14:38:00.000-08:00

Ugh. Awful. The weather outside is, of course. It's snowing! (Add that to my long list of moronic sayings) But it's stupid snow, the stuff that makes everything really wet but never sticks. Boo. I saw a weather report on TV the other day and it said Phila has only gotten 1.8 inches of snow so far this winter, which is definitely less than I saw at my house in Eugene. Apparently Boston has gotten 34.7 inches at the same time, which is wack.

But anyways, onto more important stuff! My first few days have been aight. Classes so far have been drab... my history class, biology class, and community-service-based seminar have been boring like no other. My statistics class was okay, mostly because my professor was a goof. He was probably in his early 30s or something, which is counter to my stereotypes of Penn/Ivy League professors - old and/or stoic. His appearance... hahaha. So you know in many depictions of Jesus He is shown to have long brown hair and an extensive beard? My stat teacher looked exactly like that, plus additional facial surface area/volume and glasses.

But my community-service seminar should be really rewarding. We are going to be volunteering at a local West Phila high school - academic and career support stuff. I'm super super excited.

Rush started yesterday, so a few of my friends and I went out to the various frats. Pretty much I ate a bunch of buffalo wings and sandwiches with no real intent to join the frats... meh.

I'm taking off, so...

2008-01-14T05:30:00.000-08:00

Peace.

some random videos

2007-12-11T05:36:00.000-08:00

This one is really funny.

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

-

Serious acid trip....

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

-

This guy is way funnier than Eddy Izzard.

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

-

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

Yeah!!!

2007-11-30T11:21:00.001-08:00

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!!!

2007-11-29T14:20:00.001-08:00

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

grasping

2007-11-27T15:30:00.000-08:00

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!

2007-11-11T06:55:00.001-08:00

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

2007-11-05T15:24:00.000-08:00

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

2007-10-19T21:36:00.001-07:00

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.

2007-10-14T19:04:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-07T16:07:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-02T17:04:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-09-22T10:56:00.000-07:00

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!

2007-09-17T21:11:00.000-07:00

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.

2007-09-01T22:55:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-31T19:45:00.000-07:00

Box 103
3909 Spruce Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104

Coming to Philadelphia

2007-08-29T20:13:00.001-07:00

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.

2007-08-26T20:49:00.000-07:00

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

2007-08-25T19:59:00.001-07:00

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

Last days in Eugene

2007-08-25T19:13:00.000-07:00

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...