I want to buy the first 3 seasons of The West Wing… and you should too!

A UNIFORMED DECISION:  Clemson unveiled their new 2005 football uniforms recently… so to celebrate I thought I’d change the site a little too.

BOOK ‘EM DANNO:  The general outpouring of support for my humorous imaginary book, ”Dorm Life: When being a RA is one letter away from AA”, has overwhelmed me.  So just to wet your appetite further I present for your reading pleasure…

CHAPTER EIGHT – DEALING WITH CULTURAL DIFFICULTIES AND OTHER ICEBERGS

“Not all boarding schools are exactly the same.  Across the globe there are schools than house students from many different parts of the world from many different backgrounds and lifestyles however one thing remains a constant that binds them all together… students.  For the RA, as difficult the students may be in different circumstances attempting to understanding them, sometimes there is reason to their madness which we call culture differences, is not only difficult but time consuming as well.  Never in a million years will you ever hope to understand it… because if you did, well the students would realize that their upper hand in life has disappeared so they suddenly morph into something else thus resulting in a net loss of wasted time, resources and energy yet gaining a new understanding of levels of frustration previously unknown with a defeatist attitude on the side.  In order to bypass the obstacle of cultural difficulties is still simply:  ignore students between 3 and 10pm or just resort to plain trickery.”

As always I am looking for more endorsements… if you feel that my writings have impacted you in your life vocationally, feel free to drop me a line and I’ll post it for all to see.

YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT:  Ever have that craving for something but unsure as to what?  Well… its difficult here because my limited options include but definitely not limited to: Korean, Korean, Korean, Korean, Korean, McD’s, and Korean.  I do not think I can stomach another trip to McD’s but yet the smell of sea food still turns my stomach.  Oh how I long for the days of Chik-Fil-A and Troutman’s BBQ with huge cups of sweet iced tea.  Drew was wonderful in sharing some of his oatmeal with me… it smelled so good with the cinnamon and brown sugar it reminded me of home.

CHINESE WALLY WORLD:  A picture from China at the Great Wall with my girl.

I am standing where the first Great Wall-mart was supposedly built… but destroyed by an angry mob of local merchant Huns 

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Will

TIME FOR A RANDOM SILLY POST:  If I were to ever get around to writing a book I think I would entitle it, “Dorm Life: When being an RA is one letter away from AA”, one chapter would begin something close to this…

 
MR R. DIDN’T READ MY BOOK                 MR. A. READS IT SEVERAL TIMES A WEEK

CHAPTER THREE – RA MAINTENANCE

 ”Being an RA (Resident Assistant) is never easy, in fact it is a very demanding vocation.  Many times it Is a thankless job with many stressors.  Without proper care, health and even sanity can quicly ebb as the day grows long; I have found the key to maintaining a healthy sanity while keeping the RA fit and alert.  RAs across the globe have been searching far and wide for an answer and I believe I have found the perfect solution to this dilemna:  Ignore the students between 3 and 10pm…”

Yes, this book would be quite controversial but I pitched it to the boss man and he was more than happy to write the forward for my book…

“As Boarding Director at Taejon Christian International School, I vouch that Will’s suggested methods are truly an example of what not to do.  I would highly recommend that anyone who reads this book not even bother applying to work here, in fact pretend that you never heard of TCIS.“ 

Brent Frazier

And all I need is a publisher..

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Will

After sitting her reflecting on the importance of everything in the universe I came up with a simple revelation, allow me to share it with you:  Living 13 hours ahead of people in the States is nice when my Thursday is over and theirs is just beginning.  Its nice to have Friday almost upon us!  The weekend is almost here my friends!!!  To borrow from Boromir, “It is a gift…. let us use it against them!”

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Will

*shudder*

SORRY CHOO:  I dedicate this post to my boy, Kyong Shic. up in Illinois.  Tough game, sorry the Illini lost… Jaewoo is sitting here in the office listening to Michael Bolton love songs on his laptop (I can’t help but laugh at him, so I hope you can too).  Here’s to next season I hope Illini makes it back to the Finals where they will of course lose to Clemson

FOLLOW YOUR NOSE:  I think I’ve kicked the sinus infection, without the meds!  Praise God… normally it requires about a week and a half of sniffling and feelin’ pretty crappy.  I only used my humidifier and its helped a ton… now comes the hard part of whether or not I should bring it with me to the States.  The beginning phase of “packing up” as it is called has hit me, the counting of days has started (75) and the urge to start sorting through stuff, what to toss, what to give away and what to bring home.  My apartment is a mess trying to sort my China gifts away and freeing up my boxes for the eventual packing that is soon to commence.  Closure will be found…

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Will

My day off… ahhh

WESTERN POLITICS:  Ahhh… got the 4th season of The West Wing while in China… life is good.  Truly a interesting show that causes one to reflect what one truly believes in the political field.

KNOW THY ENEMY:  I decided to research sinus infections and I was alarmed to learn that 1 in 7 people suffer with sinus problems.  I suppose the 6 people around me need to start giving me props for takin’ it for the team. 

COMMUNISTS IN THE DORM:  After a trip to Beijing, I brought back some nice gifts for David and Johann.  The Chinese guard hats bring out their more disciplined half.  I don’t know what their parents will think. 

“By Lenin’s beard we vow to crush the Capitalist swine and push them back into the sea!”

It was weird to think that at my age my parents never had even dreamed of visiting China (with the Vietnam war going on).  It is such an astonishing thought.  As neat as it was, it wasn’t my favorite place to visit.  Maybe someday I’ll try out the beaches of Thailand, I hear they are the best.

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Will

TGIF… ER… S:  Last night made it out to TGIF for dinner with Chris, Craig, Virginia, Malka, Angela, Cordell and Becca.  It would’ve been really great but I had already eaten some pizza beforehand and just went for the social interaction… but who can turn down TGIF dang chicken quesadillas?  On the way back to the apartment, unlike what Chris saw, the sweet sign of young love was a girl helping her drunk boyfriend “walk” home.  I use the term “walk” loosely because all she could do was keep him from doing a faceplant in the sidewalk.  It is humorous the first time you see it but night after night its the same stuff and now its pretty sad.  Is the pressure on these students THAT painful that they have to drink to numb the pain away?  It was interesting that in the part of Beijing we were I never saw public displays of drunkeness by the college students nor businessmen like seen all the time in SK.

Beijing Christian Church: one of the government-approved churches

PICKING A NEW POPE:  The pope died today, John Paul II served 27 years.  Prayers out to my Catholic brothers and sisters. 

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Will

BACK FROM BEIJING:  A trip to China really opens your eyes, it was not what I expected.  However what I did expect was horrible air quality which resulted in a nasty sinus infection only after being there for two days which knocked me out for most of the trip.  Thankfully I did experience Tianamen’s and the Wall so I’m pleased.  Still sick so must continue to drink water like its going out of style… tomorrow I gotta start putting stuff away and start thinking about packing up for the summer… bah that can wait… tomorrow I will call my girl  that makes me feel better.

Meeting college students in the square… college… has it been that long?

Off to bed now, more about China to come now must recoop and pray that I won’t feel like crap tomorrow.

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Will