AND I HAVE BEACHFRONT PROPERTY IN NEBRASKA TO SELL YOU:  North
Korea has announced that it has produced candy that will not only taste
great but make their children smarter, taller and healthier.  This
candy, instead of
chocolate and sugar is “made of seaweed, beans, carrots and sesame
seeds”.  It is also revealed that the journalist who wrote this
apparently has never been to any asian country because *surprise*
pretty much ALL food here is made from seaweed, beans, carrots and
sesame seeds… yet I guess North Korea sees all forms of rice as bad.

THIRD TIME’S THE CHARM: 
Took the guys out to see Episode III over at Lotte.  I have now
seen it three times!  Yes I am proud of this accomplishment, now I need a costume and the circle
will be complete.  I just wish I knew why my co-workers are making fun of me.

BEWARE!  DEEP THOUGHTS LIE AHEAD: 
The other day I was hanging out with a great group of people and we
were discussing our various walks with God and the lessons we had
learned.  Since moving to Korea two years ago, God has revealed
Himself as the Great Mystery.  Let me explain, no mind can grasp
the totality of the Divine Infinite and thus resorts to having to “box”
or compartmentalize various aspects of God while leaving the more
difficult aspects that require a great deal of grappling behind. 
We have His word to guide us and to help us know Him and yet how can a
simple book explain the true fulness of God?  The author of the
book of Hebrews, wrote to those struggling with Judaism and following
Christ saying, “the word of God is living and active…”.  In the
two years I have been here God would not allow Himself be confined by
the miniscule box that I had placed Him in thus destroying this box
through the various trials undergone and understanding aquired. 
God is not who I thought He was and I realize that He is
so much more and this frustrates me as I continue trying to understand
this God and His ways. 

Now this whole thought is quite a bit to unload any unsuspecting victim when they are expecting a “I’m fine” reply.  So future seekers, beware, ask only if you really want to know and be prepared for any response. 
I felt like I could trust them with some of my insights.  However
they were not ready for such contrary thoughts.  Maybe to them it
came across as me doubting God’s existence but if I recall my exact
wording it was, “I have moved out of the ‘honeymoon’ phase of my
relationship with God when I realized that God is not who I thought He
was and I am not who I thought I was either.  As a couple who are
first together only see perfection, but after a couple months true
differences begin to emerge.”  [As I read this, it does sound a
tad ambiguous but rest assured dear readers, all 6 of you, I am still
Christian and have no desire to renounce my faith].  So the road
to pursuing the True and Living God must begin with not a baby step
forward but beginning to walk backward back to the beginning of where I
first stepped astray.

Closing thoughts:
- Everyone is guilty of putting God in a box, these boxes come in all sizes, shapes and forms and not everyone has the same box.
- When God destroys your box, it is painful… in fact it just sucks to
be you during that time but in the end I believe it will be well-worth
it for you are on your way to freedom.

<><
Will

FINALS:  Yesterday was all
about endings!  Like how my PS2 met its untimely demise at the
hands of my guys… *sniff* It was an accident so nobody can be blamed
(dadgumit) but this book I’m reading has reminded me that everything
ultimately belongs to God has He has not given us ownership but is
letting us borrow, so I am not upset but I had to say “God, sorry about
your PS2.”  Oh well, one less thing He has to worry about.

FINALS THAT WILL BE CONTINUED IN OCTOBER:  Had a birthday party for this gal up in this guy’s apartment with him, her, him, him
and
other RAs who do not operate a weblog, or just decided not to tell
me.  Sad.  Stayed up til almost 2am to watch the 2 hour
season finale of Lost! 
The show was truly “dynamite”… as in “it will blow you away”… 
as in its “da bomb!”  Okay enough of that.  Looking forward
to season 2!

FINALS PART III:  Episode III
arrived in SK but I have discovered that Asians are not particularly
fond of Star Wars so there is not alot of hype going on.  The
weird thing about movies is that movie theatres will pull a movie if
its not doing well after 3 days.  So if an American movie comes
out but does not do well, its outta here.  So I have to be quick
about seeing them before they get the can.  Anywho, Episode III
was very good, it was what I & II had been lacking… less of the
swiss dialogue that had been present in the first two episodes and more
action.  Amen!

<><
Will

BACK FROM NAM:  Over the
weekend I was able to enjoy a little vacation to Namhae island which is
at the southern tip of SK.  I was looking forward to some sun and
sand.  Namhae is has mountains going right down to the beach which
creates a semi-tropical atmosphere.  The beach was less than great
as you can see but the view was still nice compared to being stuck in
the city with tall buildings everywhere.

 

A LITTLE MORE SEASONING DOES THE TRICK:  Rejoice with me!  Fox has agreed to extend one of my favorite shows (24) for 2 more seasons!!!  Of course I still have yet to see the complete season 3 meanwhile season 4 is almost finished… doh!

<><
Will

PLAY BALL:  After church went out to a Hanwha Eagles baseball game with Chris, Ryan,
Becca and Angela.  The weather was perfect but the game was
pretty slow as the final score was 2 – zip, but Hanwha won.  I
even got to support fellow megook, Davis  as he is the center
fielder from Chicago playing here in SK.  Korean baseball was
pretty neat as it is very similar to American baseball but the fans
were definitely much more involved and rowdy.  They had this guy
leading the fans in shouts and there were cheerleaders.  Never saw
cheerleaders at a baseball game before but then again what anything
Korean would be complete without dancers?  I took some pictures
but my card reader is not wanting to work right now.  Sorry B, I know you would have appreciated these pics butt you will just have to wait.

PAST ISSUES:  I have had some really deep
thoughts about God and who He is these past couple of days… maybe
when I sort them out I will share them… only if you are on your best
behavior.

33 days
<><
Will

BRIAN AND THE DUCK:  Apparently in Biology class, Mr. Hunter has rewarded his students’ good work with a prize namely a duck.  Today you could walk the halls seeing various students walking with a box holding their baby duck.  Brian Shim, who is re-taking study hall with me again this semester, apparently did well enough to be awarded a baby duck.  The duck has taken to Brian and is content to believe Brian is his mother (which brings countless jokes about Brian to mind).

Brian was surprised that the duck had not laid an egg but something else.

I sit here sometimes awish that I had a little ball of fur to call my own but again the reality is I doubt it would appreciate needles and poking around its neither regions in what we would call immunization from here to the States.  How fun to have your own pet duck though, wouldn’t that be original or what?  Of course I would hate to raise him here in Daejeon but back home with a real backyard with actual grass and a baby swimming pool to paddle around in. 

<><
Will

WHATSAMATTA… YOU YELLA?:  Every Spring there is a wind current that picks up sand from the Gobi desert and carries it over to Korea, its like pollen but much more aggrivating to those who have sinus allergies.  Its called, yellow dust.  I’m battling a little bit of it out of my system, several of the guys have been showing symptoms of it.  You would think that after warning them they would close their windows but… So I try not to leave my apartment unless I really have to on my time off.  Here’s to wishing for more rain to wash out the dust!

SHOWTIME:  What would you do if you came across a million dollars?  Give it away to the poor, spend it on yourself?  That’s what this new movie that came out over here is about “Millions”.  Everyone seemed to like it quite a bit, but for me it left the story unresolved… maybe its the conviction that I need to not be so materialistic.  It was weird watching a British movie because for the first couple of minutes… listening to Korean and too much Canadian English from this guy… I simply could not understand a single word the actors were saying!!!  However, thankfully it slowly came… the movie I would recommend is worth it.

40 days
<><
Will

MORNING GUILDS THE SKIES..:   Have you ever stepped outside after a night of rain and just smelled the freshness of the dew of morning?  I did just this morning!  I cannot remember how long it has been since I last enjoyed the clean spring air with a scent of freshness, such a enjoyable experience… then I walked by an open sewage drain – moment over…

TOUGHIN’ ‘EM UP!:  One of my students, who shall go unnamed but referred to as “Bob” who would like to see me die a horrible and painful death.  “Why would anyone wish that upon you, Will?” You wonder to yourself.  Poor Bob, I have gotten him to believe that as the RA it is my duty to harass and make his life as hard as possible.  For instance, (recall my chapter on Trickery) sneaking up behind Bob and scaring the ever-loving __[fill-in-the-blank]___ out of him whenever I can.  Allow him to start beating me at a game only to come back and wipe the floor with him.  My personal favorite, if he needs something I only give it to him if he says “Thank you Mr. Will for bothering me.”  It is hard work but Bob will one day be a more wiser person and tougher than when he first arrived on our doorsteps here at TCIS.  These guys definitely need to be more grateful…

BY THE NUMBERS:  Here is a random list of “how many days until…”
+ 12 days until Episode III comes out… I hope it is worth the money this time
+ 32 days until I fly to the States
+ 119 days until kickoff, Clemson vs. Texas A&M football… ahem.. I will be there, woohoo! 
+ 1,264 days since Clemson last lost to University of South Carolina (almost 3 1/2 years, folks)
+ 2,413 days until Clemson hosts The Oklahoma Sooners… start standing in line now!

<><
Will

SWEET THANG:  Ahhh… surely there is nothing sweeter than the sound of the 11:00 “lights out” bell on a Thursday night when yours truly has Friday off!

I-FEST:  Today was a national holiday in Korea, “Children’s day”.  I drove the van to school this morning and the roads were deserted, truly amazing… I must confess that had there not been an abundance of high schoolers in the van with me I would have done donuts at the flashing light intersection on our main road.  You see, at TCIS I seek not to instill that sort of behavior in my students… especially since most if it is already ingrained.

The International Festival was nice, of what little I saw of it.  However with the rains that came I was not pushing people to run out of my dry booth set up in the gym.

Come Friday!  Come…

<><
Will

FOOTBALL 101:  My gal, having been born & raised in West Africa does not know much about football… but because it is one of my passions she honestly wants to learn about it and enjoy it with me (isn’t she wonderful?).  She asked if she could come with me to the football game!  She does not know what the experience will be but to get things started off, let us differentiate between Northern and Southern football since most of her extended family comes from the North.

SOUTHERN vs. NORTHERN FOOTBALL
by: Anonymous

Women’s Accessories:
NORTH: ChapStick in back pocket and a $20 bill in the front pocket.
SOUTH: Louis Vuitton duffel with two lipsticks, waterproof mascara,
and a fifth of Captian Morgan/Crown. Money is not necessary – that’s what dates are for.

Stadium Size:
NORTH: College football stadiums hold 20,000 people.
SOUTH: High school football stadiums hold 20,000 people.

Campus Decor:
NORTH: Statues of founding fathers.
SOUTH: Statues of Heisman trophy winners.

Homecoming Queen:
NORTH: Also a physics major.
SOUTH: Also Miss America.

Cheerleaders:
NORTH: If you are slightly coordinated, you make the varsity squad.
SOUTH: You begin cheer camp at age two, complete with ballet, dance, & gymnastic training.

Getting Tickets:
NORTH: 5 days before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus and purchase tickets.
SOUTH: 5 months before the game you walk into the ticket office on campus & put name on the waiting list.

Friday Classes After a Thursday Night Game:
NORTH: Students and teachers not sure they’re going to the game,because they have classes on Friday.
SOUTH: Teachers cancel Friday classes because they don’t want to see the few hung-over students that might actually make it to class.

Parking:
NORTH: An hour before game time, the University opens the campus for game parking.
SOUTH: RVs sporting their school flags begin arriving on Wednesday for the weekend festivities. The really faithful arrive on Tuesday.

Game Day:
NORTH: A few students party in the dorm and watch ESPN on TV.
SOUTH: Every student wakes up, has a beer for breakfast, and rushes over to where ESPN is broadcasting “Game Day Live” to get on camera and wave to the idiots up North.

Tailgating:
NORTH: Raw meat on a grill, beer with lime in it, listening to local radio station with truck tailgate down.
SOUTH: 30-foot custom pig-shaped smoker fires up at dawn.  Cooking accompanied by live performance by “Dave Matthews’ Band,” who come over during breaks and ask for a hit off bottle of bourbon.

Getting to the Stadium:
NORTH: You ask “Where’s the stadium?” When you find it, you walk right in.
SOUTH: When you’re near it, you’ll hear it. On game day it becomes the state’s third largest city.

Concessions:
NORTH: Drinks served in a paper cup, filled to the top with soda.
SOUTH: Drinks served in a plastic cup with the home team’s mascot on it, filled less than halfway with soda, to ensure enough room for Captian Morgan/Crown.

When National Anthem is Played:
NORTH: Stands are less than half full, and less than half of them stand up.
SOUTH: 100,000 fans, all standing, sing along in perfect four-part harmony.

The Smell in the Air After the First Score:
NORTH: Nothing changes.
SOUTH: Fireworks, with a touch of Captian Morgan/Crown.

Commentary (Male):
NORTH: “Nice play.”
SOUTH: ”When you tackle, break his legs!!!”

Commentary (Female):
NORTH: “My, this certainly is a violent sport.”
SOUTH: “When you tackle, break his legs!!!”

Announcers:
NORTH: Neutral and paid.
SOUTH: Announcer harmonizes with the crowd in the fight song, with a tear in his eye because he is so proud of his team.

After the Game:
NORTH: The stadium is empty way before the game ends.
SOUTH: Another rack of ribs goes on the smoker. While somebody goes to the nearest package store for more bourbon; planning begins for next week’s game.


Nothing else in the universe comes even halfway close to the
glories of Southern football… Amen!

<><
Will