You would be amazed with some of the conversations I have had in the past few weeks. Graduation is an afterthought, honestly. My life has been a blur, but an exciting one. Ones viewed through an entirely different set of goggles. Interesting that goggles must be plural regardless. In fact, if you say “hand me those goggle”, it just sounds outright fobby. Anyway, I don’t know how many of you know… but I honestly think that I didn’t think I was a Christian until 3 months-ish ago. Up until this 2 week period of constantly waking up not knowing who I was, I look back and see that I lived a life of bondage.

We can discuss this idea of “being set free” later, but for now, I gotta vent about what has been up in terms of this stage. I had heard that Ministry Partner Development (that part of ministry before I actually start when I beg for money provided through God’s grace and the power of Christ) is a sanctifying process, but also one of the most spiritually intense. After this first 3 weeks-ish, I have seen that my expectations were way off, miscalibrated, if you will. I thought it would be spiritual warfare to the max. It is definitely there, but the Enemy will never find power over God’s sovereignty. But where there are issues are with my heart breaking for my kinfolk—by kinfolk I don’t just mean immediate family… After all, all Asians are related aren’t they? Let’s go into a few fun stories, so as to be an encouragement to you, brothers and sistas. I will be throwing around quotation marks like nobody’s business… but whatever. That’s how I write, homies.

I will use false names, for effect, for humor, and for…confidentiality, obviously.

Ivana calls himself spiritual, but doesn’t yet see his relationship with the “God” he believes in to be fully tangible. He calls his relationship “interesting.” His brother, Ryne, is a “hardcore” atheist.

Many ladies—let’s call them Sistahood of the Traveling Paints—were given the Gospel through my testimony of my past few months of seeing the mercy and love of God provided through Christ’s crucifixion, death, and resurrection. Crazy that we have gone to church all our lives and not once heard something so refreshing as “Jesus REALLY loves you.”

Harriet saw his mother find her faith, and he couldn’t be more happy for her. He, himself, does not think he has experienced enough life to consider himself happy or sad. He is very sad. And lonely. And there IS victory in joy. Eternal joy. That foo’ needs Jeeezuz. Can I get an Amen? I love that little booger.

Danny-Boy was so shocked by my testimony… he has been praying for me since I was a tyke.

OK; last one. DaTiff were shocked, but also extremely encouraged. The Spirit is living in their house, and it is freaky.. in a God-loving kinda way. I am praying for my brothers with them

Wow; I didn’t once talk about support. But it is coming in a nifty way. Fantastic. Thanks, God. I know you are there.

I love y’all. Dog+Mom… friends in Christ of Solomon

People try to provide food to the third world countries. These same people may “shop local.” They are pouring more cash into their own food system, as to be environmentally friendly, but could not they save that doubled food cost to take a trip over to actually help out like they said they wanted to?

People try to do good to people overseas. These same people may condemn un-likeminded actions in the states. Why are they treating people different than people?

People attack religion. Some attack Christianity. What do those so called atheist get out of attacking religion? Self satisfaction?

People attack each other. Some attack Christ followers. What benefit comes from attacking anything? Pride? Pride breeds pride breeds pride.

In the words of my man Cizzle Sizzle Lizzle i.e. CS Lewis: “Pride leads to every other vice: it is the complete anti-God state of mind.”

To close, “As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him.” Matthew 3:16

So, I went home earlier this week to spend a bit of time with my father. Most of that time consisted of reading, as he was asleep (approximately) 65% of the time I was home. Quality time, dad. I was talking to my dad about how much his mother went to church, and how she came to know the Lord. He said that she devoted so much time to the church because that was the only place that kept her going. “Her life sucked”, said he. Thus, she poured her time into doing God’s good will. When she died, she had a very stern face and said, “I’m going to spend the rest of my life with God.” Now, as a powerful woman, much respect is due. Thus, I see her like one of those “good ol’ ladies.” Sort of like those slavery ladies that had nothing but the love of God through Christ Jesus. Yep; that just hit me, and yes, I did just compare my China-abiding-moved-to-Taiwan nai-nai to a “Praise the Lord” black lady. And I say that in the highest regards. God is good.

one more time; everybody’s feelin’ fine. Here we gonna—yes, yes, yes, here we go; 3-2 has got the flo’. A little throw back for the traveling of San Fran 2012.

3/11

Nathan picked me up around noon, and we headed out to the airport. We checked in and headed out to our terminal. As we sat down, there was an announcement that our flight to LAX needed two volunteers to change flights in order that others may get on. Nathan had the brilliant idea to see if we could get rerouted directly to San Francisco—I don’t use brilliant in a sarcastic manner in this occasion…seriously! Quit thinking all I write is sarcasm! For changing, we received a $200 travel voucher for any United flight, a $10 meal voucher, and first class status on the direct, yes, direct, flight to San Francisco. Additionally, our flight departed nearly 2 hours later and arrived only 30 minutes later than the original! On the flight, there was this larger gentleman who fell asleep with his mouth open; we wanted to put food ins his mouth, as he looked like Andrew Zimmern. Caddycorner to us, there was an attractive middle age woman who was eating Oscar Meyer deli ham…piece by piece, out of the plastic container. She was also reading anime, to boot. I want to take a second and reflect on San Francisco early on in the trip that I might later reflect again. The vibe of the town and people in general is just alive, very much so. Everyone is edgy—the gentlemen all have tight jeans, sneakers, tattoos, and thick glasses, and usually, a sports team ball cap. But everyone is so friendly. We got in about 5:50PM and proceeded to Monk’s Kettle. After two delicious beers (one being a Great Abbey Dubbel), some hop-salt fries with pungent mustard, a pretzel with brilliant cheese sauce, it was off to meet Do. We checked into Knight’s Inn, and it was off to Incanto. Oh, at the BAR station, the stand guy cussed at a “Regular” homeless lady to get out. She claimed to be “goin’ on home, good sah.” Incanto was superb, cheap, filling pasta. Blood pasta, rotelli with some nettle (?) pesto, tuna heart spaghettini, and pipa rigate with duck. Also, a phenomenal Almanac Winter Wit. We then proceeded to Zeitgest, a crazy cool bar; our Boston server was great. I had a Death and Taxes. Oh, we met two UT girls, a nursing major, the other architecture. Our last stop was Gestalt Haus. Nothing crazy. But another good beer bar. That night, Allison called, but I failed to respond.

3/12

I woke up today, but Do failed to get up for breakfast, as he was still full from dinner. Nathan did not wake up. Totally expected. I had some polenta, potatoes, and French toast. It was totally mediocre, and by mediocre, I mean quite disappointing. Then, I picked up a sticky bun, banana bread, and a bear claw at Pinkie’s. Next, I got a Rwanda pouover at Sightglass, which is arguably the coolest roaster/coffee shop around. The guy doing it was talking about some nerdy coffee TBS thing. Then, we got the rental and proceeded to pick up the ladies. We stopped at Italian French Bakery to get a hodgepodge of baked goods. Then, it was off to the wondrous town o’ Napa. I drank about 80 oz. of water, and I had to pee like a race horse. We pulled into Artesa, and I could feel my stomach hanging over my belt. After I relieved myself, I had some awesome vino and enjoyed the phenomenal view, though I am sure that the girls+Do loved it more. The architecture was nice, and a fountain was discovered to be made in San Marcos! Can you believe how prominent Texas is? Additionally, we have met a lot of individuals from God’s great state. After some scenery and excessively large pours of Jesus juice, our next stop was V. Sattui. I remember this stop very distinctly, primarily because I used this vineyard to pee last year, and they were not open. This establishment was a bit more family friendly. The wines were abundant, and they certainly had some rather unique sweet offerings. At this point, the girls began dozing in and out of wine-induced slumber. We had a final stop at Black Stallion, where the wine was outstanding. Brilliant, developed Cabs alongside sexy reds. Understandably, the females did not enjoy alcoholic beverages at this establishment as much? On our way out, we stopped at Oxbow, and Nathan got Ritual pourover. The girls stayed in the car… all the way until our next stop at Healthy Spirits. We also passed by a “Stop AIDS” thing.. free condoms. Rainbow wrapping, no less. Then, it was off to Mr. Pollo. Our Irish car shuttle driver wrecked the shuttle on her second day of work, then the engine pooped out on her on the same street. She was not the best driver. Oh, she also dropped the “F” bomb. Mr. Pollo was very unassuming, but the 10-seat institution was far from Tex-Mex fare. The $20 4-course was incredible. Potatoes with verde cream (?) and sweet potato jam; asparagus with mushrooms and parsley cream; langoustine with eggplant, fried brussels; and herb risotto with fried nettles. While we were outside, I kept designating individuals to give bread to. And Allison kept finding deferring characteristics as to why they were not in need. The best: “He has an iPod!” Next was Humprey Slocomb to try to drink our Allagash Belgian Stout, Speakeasy Scarface, and some Beer Barons stout from Milwaukee. At HS, they had Oolong and Black Sesame. We dropped into Chili Cha-Cha, but they had a $10 corkage. Then, we just proceeded to Em’s. On the bus, there was a hardcore transie: 6-foot black he-she. Wow. I am sure that she is nice. Em’s smelled liked a very nice “homey” apartment. You know that feeling you get at a new-old abode. I love it. Stan is in Urban Planning, and we discussed the bus system. Quite fun. I walked on home and crashed. I am somewhat of a party pooper. Oh, at Mr. Pollo, I got a call from Justin about CRU running my app! Praise God for open doors… perhaps some should close in time.

3/13

I woke up to a slightly dreary day, but I had a “glorious” Morning Glory muffin and the Blueboon special at Sightglass. T’was from Mission Beach Baking? Then, it was off to wake up the fellas. We had a little hassle getting our rental, but I met a guy from Greer, SC who went to Clemson. Then small town boy made it to the big city! The only thing I remember about Greer is bagels. We packed up, checked out, and headed off to Della Fattoria in Petaluma. Really an amazing bakery! Great breads, olive oil, and snacks; total cougar town. Next, on the itinerary was Russian River. I had a rowdy Consecration, a dark sour aged in Cab barrels. My OVL stout was much better. Santa Rosa seems a more business-like town than Napa. My stop at Cricklewood boasted a Guy Fieri-endorsed French Onion. With a 30-minute prep, possibly to account for the “au gratin”, its half inch caking of Swiss phenomenal. Bad news for Nathan! OK, moving onto the vineyards. Man, Do is so happy. Our Arrowood stop boasted alright wines. A couple from Corpus was right before us, and Joe had been to William and Chris. In the Hill Country—go Texas! Our last stop was at B.R. Cohn. They have a connection with the Doobie Brothers—pun intended. On our way back home, we were behind schedule, but my vacations always seem to work themselves out. God really has a funny way of timing in my life. We dropped off Nathan with our stuff at Baldwin, which by the way, may have some allergens present. Do and I made 4 loops under the highway to try to return our car… We filled up gas and returned it 5:50PM. Wow. There were “scratches” that ended up being some dirt. Scary. A cab was called, and we got to the restaurant only 15 minutes late. I love Enterprise. Everyone seems to exhibit grace to me… and for that I am very thankful. A little glimpse of God’s message? “Forgiveness first, permission second?” The guy was from Sicily, and his family owned an Olive farm. I had 4 reservations in a row at Wayfare Tavern, and every 2 days beforehand, they called to confirm. Super hard to get a reservation! Oh, and 3 at Incanto. Hehe. Man… my journal ALWAYS gets written out of order. Stupid pages get stuck together when writing multiple entries. Ok. Amy met with us! I had an Anderson Valley oatmeal stout, mac and cheese, and French fries. The mac and cheese was arguably the richest ever. The fries and fried chicken were OK. I was very happy to see Amy, and hearing her struggles really provided some encouragement for the coming weeks. As Do says, “life is built around experiences that won’t ever leave you.” Perhaps there were points—no, I KNOW there were points—when I was not walking with purpose. I walked Amy home and then home to crash. Do said that traveling can wear a man out, which is true. But I am even more mentally fried when I plan and see way too much to process. Thus, I write. At least that is a way to “talk my thoughts out.” O, and we keep talking about how our palates are in sensory overload. All cylinders are overwhelmed by excessive firing!

3/14

With an exciting last day ahead of us, Do and I woke up and headed out in some heavily raining skies. I stopped at Walgreen’s to get myself an Umbrella. Our first stop at Bravado Coffee offered up a great, rich espresso with a chocolate biscotti. Too bad the barista was a jerk. I asked where Park street was, and she retorted, “Don’t you have a Smart phone?” “Hey, lady, what if I can’t afford one?” Next, walked into the South Park area for an awesome almond croissant. We hopped onto the T train (doesn’t that sound like some fullback?) to Just For You Café, a fusion eatery. Our server was not very nice. Talk about onion, apple, onion. We had a not airy, good beignet and an egg sandwich boasting a tasty tomato and awesome cinnamon raisin bread. Next, it was over to Plow, a very fancy, sleek eatery. We waited a bit for our amazing meal of ricotta lemon pancake, duckfat cornmeal griddle cake, and crumblecake. Oh, and the most amazing potatoes. Then, we caught the 22 over to Presidio. Nathan was at bars all day. We walked to the Palace of Fine Arts, and it was beautiful. Do really loves architecture. Apparently, they built it for a world Expo and left it due to its beauty. Amazing stuff, really. Under the dome, a group sang “Love Lifting Me Higher” in acapella. Those of you who know the actual title can condemn me for not looking up the actual title. The bass was awesome. I thought it was a 1:57PM flash mob, but who would do that in SUCH a rainy day? Well, they went further and said it was actually a wedding. Then, we headed to Lombard and walked up the “right” way. Yikes. There really is no “right” way to get to the world’s windiest steep road, lest you take the trolley. We headed back to the hotel and rested up a bit. I have a final interview with Teach For America…wow. Oh, on the way home, Do peed at an Exxon, and a homeless guy dawdled around and proceeded to relieve himself on the station. I said Do should have joined him. We were off to Ferry Plaza, and Nathan rolled back into the hotel like a zombie to proceed to take a near 2 hour nap so he could go to more bars. We walked through, and I got a Blue Bottle pourover ($2.75!), then got on the F. We did Fisherman’s Wharf and Pier 39. Then, we got an awesome grilled cheese naan at Cowgirl Sidekick, chili-cheese fries at Gott’s, 2 breads at Acme, and a killer avocado egg burger at American Eatery, the outpost of Prather Ranch. I finished with a mediocre scone at California Coffee Cake Company. Headed back, Nathan came, and off to Sam Wo. This mom and pop knew what was up. Nathan got pork wonton soup and beef noodle soup. He left in a food coma for $8.75. Would it work on the drag? We will never know.

3/15

I had my brief VA DI-Houston interview in the stairwell this morning. So much has taken place in 3 days. My brain is fried. I stopped for a carbo-load at the following: Cocoa and Bread for an everything round, mini blueberry and bran muffins; Batter for B2G1 items—chocolate hazelnut shortbread, carrot ginger, and cherry walnut scone; Madeleine Café for an almond biscotti and chocolate almond bear claw; and Coffee Bar for Anthony’s whole wheat raisin oatmeal round staple, Sandbox’s bran muffin, and a Starter’s almond biscotti and mini Danish. I got on the subway, and Nathan ended up showing up at the EXACT same transfer… goes to show that the public transportation system is fairly sporadic. On the flight, I sat next to Kaycee, a CALIFORNIA COWBOY, who bullrides professionally. The Austin rodeo is his first Texas gig, and he said that it is much easier to get big if you live in Texas. He is not well-traveled, but he has such a great heart. Very…rustic and country. Heck, he more Texan than almost all Texans I know. He was definitely the most interesting character of the entire trip. This trip has been quite amazing, and everytime I travel, I feel so blessed to get opportunities as such. Though I am burned out and always say that I will never travel again, it is already time to plan out my $200 flight somewhere and activities to partake in within the new city… only a year to do it!

The Lord has always given me one path. For example, UT was my only school. Only one fraternity was my choice. I had to be diagnosed with a life-changing health disorder. All of these decisions were for good. Now, with essentially 39 paths in my future (I actually calculated it… give me +/- 3 paths), it sucks. Well, in my wisdom, it sucks. The Lord will work it out for good, regardless if I feel it is good or not. Time for some major prayer. Actually, I am going to write them all out, just for kicks. Before I forget, I need to remind myself to live for Jesus in my fraternity this year. Go Blue.

1. University of Texas Health Science Center (UTHSC) Houston MPH

2. UTHSC MPH + RD

3. UTHSC RD (not possible)…. but let’s throw it in there for kicks

4. UTHSC MPH + RD elsewhere (e) (next year)

5. Tulane MPH

6. Tulane MPH-Peace Corps (PC)

7. Tulane MPH + RD (e)

8. Tulane MPH-PC + RD (e)

9. Tulane MPH-PC—> working abroad

10. University of Alabama-Birmingham (UAB) MPH

11. UAB MPH + RD (e)

12. University of North Texas Health Science Center (UNTHSC) MPH

13. UNTHSC MPH + RD (e)

14. RD + MPH (e)

15. RD + UNTHSC MPH (defer, guaranteed)

16. RD —> work

17. Georgia Southern University (GSU) (pending) MPH

18. GSU MPH + RD (e)

19. East Tennessee State University (ETSU) (pending) MPH

20. ETSU MPH + RD (e)

21. Teach For America (pending….)

22. Find work (don’t even think about the potential locations)

23. Full-time staff with ministry

24-26. Potential RD programs (Houston VA, Memphis VA, Dallas-Baylor)—this one is less up to me.

27. Seminary… I don’t think so.

28-32-ish. RD + MPH (if deferral possible, pending acceptance) Sorry these are all scattered.

33. Travel… Let’s hope it does not come to that

34. Bum around Austin/Arlington unemployed

35. I swear that there were more choices. But, hey… close, huh? I am no mathmetician, but I was just outside of +/- 3.

Oh, a pet peeve just came across my mind. I hate when my cousin tags me in pictures of her daughters. First off, they are not longer in their “baby cute” stage. In fact, now they are becoming beautiful young girls, dancing into the pre-teens. That is pretty dang shady if I get tagged in those pictures. Talk about creepy. On that note, here is a picture of my mom and my nephew. Funny because his mother is my cousin… and she is like 37. Nolan. Not a very Asian name. My kid will be named something like Hunter or Winston. We have a pledge named Winston, and he is half Asian. Breaking the stereotypes one baby at a time.

Well, I will be the last to clear this living room table—the location that we 3 muskateers choose to inhabit during our frantic finals push. Do finished Saturday, Nathan is done Monday, and I will be crossing the finish line Tuesday at 5PM. The Lord is pressing on my heart, and I am ready to rest in Him after this (should be more) stressful period. Again… my thoughts are too muddied to translate into an articulate blog. But, I did apply to grad school! Here is another edition of my processing of life in Pickens!

6/7

This morning, we had breakfast, and then we had our physical activity lesson and we went over our commercial. Ours (Andy, Gabriel, and Jeremiah) used the slogan: “Apples are red; please don’t eat glue. Make sure to eat breakfast; it can help you!” Kane’s mom is a bartender, and she suffered higher-than-third degree burns in a motor cycle accident. Oh, and his dog ate poison. Dear God! Then, we did our teams course. They were doing great until broken bridge. I woke up with a lot more energy this morning. It is crazy how many chips I had. When I gave them the board, they all grabbed for it! It was even weirder when Khalil took their board and asked them questions, they all rose their hands before they even decided on an answer choice. They eventually got it, but James and Jayshon are still party poopers. After a bunch of salad, we had water slide time, but the big one went flat; it had a hole. We had etiquette next, and then we had free time. I helped Khalil plan the scavenger hunt. After a dinner of Taco Bell-esque grub, I headed out to the field to try out a relay race. The kids had to be entertained for about two hours. Things got sticky. Jeremiah could not do the ropes course, Austin’s parents came, and it was getting late. Kain left too. Then, we gave out supplies for the water balloon catcher. We totally scratched the scavenger hunt. They could not get along! Then, for camp fire, we had an awesome Chief Iwannabigbum Skit. Then, lights out.

6/8

After an early wake-up call, we had breakfast and headed out tot Dupont. My head hurt a little on that windy road. We got there and hiked a little. Kids say the darndest things. Jacob said “I know where Abraham Lincoln died. I just forgot.” We did the whole waterfalls thing, and we had lunch. Apparently, Jackie wants us smiling at all times, and she wants us to hang out at all times. On the way back, Tommycried about the Tyler, Taylor, Charity drama. My guys have a crush on Alexis. We had crafts and then Tyler broke down about his bad mood. Then, we had a terrible dinner of chicken nuggets and mashed potatoes and gravy and Chips Ahoy. After dinner, we had movie time. We watched Open Season 2. At dinner, I sat by Jeremiah, and I had no idea that I was opening a can of worms. He talked about WII, the internet, and Pokemon for about 45 minutes. We had campfire after the movie. When I said to Jeff, who is apparently having a pickle with Gabby, that I opened up a can of worms, he chimed in and said that he opens up a can of worms to go fishing.

6/9

Another early wake up call led to a quick breakfast. Kids are staying in bed longer. We headed out to Hannon and some of us went on a hike. The rest swam and fished a little bit. I hung out with the counselors a bit, and sure enough the lunch sucked. There was that gross roast beef again. We got picked up really late and headed over to rafting. That was quick, and then we headed home. Dinner was supposedly the etiquette dinner, but all I could think about was eating. Lasagna was a great end dinner, but I only got one slice. Next, I did the dance. Then, we had campfire. My airplane skit went fairly well. We ended with the “Touch Your Friend” game from CYC. Then, Khalil said that I was going to regret letting the kids go nuts. Sure enough, after dodgeball, Jacob got kicked in the stomach. Good night boys… thans to Khalil. First incident report, check. Oh, when I ate my beef jerky after dinner, I felt like an animal after eating real beef again.

6/10

The kids left today, and it was such a relief. We cleaned for about 3 hours. Jackie is so demanding. Crazy to think that she is only 24! She is no doubt milking my $53 of work. The Adventure Camp came in, and Sam and I went to Wal-Mart. We stopped by The Huddle on the way home, and I got a delicious patty melt. It was raining so hard that my car started dripping. We got back and we headed out Barley’s. The beer selection was amazing, but the food was horrendous. Oh, by the way, the Mavs are up 3-2!! Dad called me while I was drunk. We went to the Acoustic Café after I had 12 beers. I was pretty drunk and ended up sword fighting with some old guy. There were 4 of us in line, and we went in, and I compared streams. Weird. Then, we went to The Ale House. Frat stars, galore. Then, Jackie, Shia, Sam, and Mal went to Dixie Café. I was exhausted at this point. We finally went home, and I think we almost hit a dog? Weird… There were also these 3 tools dancing and goofing around. 21 year olds acting like junior high kids. NF. J

6/11

I woke up around 7:45AM and was in my post-drunken starvation. I walked around and ate. The Farmer’s Market had stuff from freaking Tennessee. Not local! I ate at The Green Room, The Chocolate Moose, and Coffee Underground. Then, I felt bad because I went back to meet the guys to go to REI, and they waited almost an hour. We headed over to Asheville and shopped for about an hour. Then, we met the girls in Greenville for dinner. Apparently, last night, Jackie said she was not having fun because she was “not with her friends.” Talk about a slap in the face! We headed to Blue Ridge Brewing, and I had the best grits and pimento cheese ever. We went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 in 3D, and man, movies are expensive in cinema deserts. It was $13.50! The movie was really good! I walked into the restroom and this old guy had farted, and Jeff just laughed out loud. He said, “The toothless wonder speaks again.” Absolutely hilarious! We came back; I finished up laundry, and then went to bed. I woke up and accidentally scared Jeff. We both had to pee at the same time.

6/12

I woke up this morning and tried to untie my flyrod knots, but that definitely did not work. I ended up cutting it off and not being able to tie my tippet on. Then, I had breakfast at the Carolina Fine Foods. Then, I went to Five Points Church; it was so much like The Stone. The pastor reminded me of a transparent contemporary preacher. We talked about Doctrine and Tradition. He used the words “boob”, “little finger”, and “sex.” Then, I had lunch at Jimmy’s Family Restaurant. I came back and hung out a bit. Then, we got ready. We have 50 kids. Dinner was chicken and dumplings. Sadly, the kids did not enjoy it. After that, we had a lot of games. I have a huge group. It rained like crazy today. My group is totally obeying me right now.

6/13

We slept alright. These kids really wake up on time. Most were up by 6:30AM! We did a little music, and they played dodgeball. We had our flag pole and I did the story that I read from church. We loaded up the buses and headed out to Dupont. I got to ride in the Stratus awesome. We had our same ol’ hiking trip as usual. It was fun, and I keep forgetting how much I need to appreciate this opportunity out in nature. Praise the Lord. We had a nice rest on the bus and after we got home. Kevin is totally like an Erkel. Then, we played some games and had dinner. Chicken nuggets; great. After that, we had our scavenger hunt and water balloon catcher. My team built a total tank. Later, we headed to campfire. We came in and duct-taped Jeff’s bed to itself. Happy Birthday!

6/14

We all slept in pretty dang late this morning, about 7AM. I got a text last night about rush. I have such a lack of feeling now. Paul is moving out Thursday. We got to the ropes course around 9:15AM and started the high ropes. We spent until about 11:30AM, and 10 children (the ones that wanted to go) all went in a quick manner. Shia’s group ended up finishing late. Mel noticed that I do not eat a lot of meat. I had a huge salad at lunch while the kids ate hot dogs. After dinner, I helped Khalil re-rope the stupid rock wall. We literally have not put a new rope up there since Gabby dropped it. I went up and sat at the top; it was pretty dang scary. Then, I went to play dodgeball. Apparently, John has been making fun of Jessica. What a tool. Also, there have been a lot of issues with Aaron. Shia is having a hard time. I think her and Jackie were not ready for these misfits galore. Then, we headed to camp fire. I did the candy store skit, and it went pretty well. I also did Chief Iwantabigbum. Too bad Aaron was a douche and did not play along with the water. Total tools in my group, my Shia has had the bad ones two weeks in a row. I dragged along slowly today, but I took a great dump. We had solid homemade spaghetti tonight. Finally! I wish Jackie would cook more. Also, we bought a cupcake for Jeff. Nice. After campfire, Jackie and Khalil said that they want to send Aaron home. Crazy. These kids have no concept of time. When we were eating lunch at 12:30PM, Kevin asked, ”Are we eating dinner?”

6/15

I woke up this morning and schooled Aaron at basketball 7-0. More energy this morning. He is so cocky and messy. He said ,”If I was awake, I would have beat you.” After flag pole and breakfast, my group had physical activity, commercial, and teams course. After lunch, I schooled Aaron 7-0 and 5-2. Tool. Someone asked, “Have we eaten dinner?” Crazy kids. My slogal for the commercial was: “Zest Quest, we have a bobsled team.” Also, “Sleep the rhythm, feel the rise. Get on up, it’s activity time!” After lunch of salad, I went to take a Lego Lab, and I figured no one was going to be there. I left every door open, and then I heard whistling. Nick walked in, looked at me, and laughed. I asked him to close the door, and he said I had it right trying to take a quiet dump. After classes and dodgeball, we had dinner and started to pour. We watched Spy Next Door. A lot of kids made comments about me and Jackie Chan. Then, we had an indoor campfire. Afterwards, we played Mafia, and the kids loved it. Khalil told a story about a witch with a long green finger and red lips.

6/16

We got a late start to the morning at 7:10AM. We headed out to the lake. Lake Jocasssee is awesome. We hung around, and my group went canoeing after lunch. Dwayne bought us Chic-Fil-A sandwiches. What a nice guy. Canoeing was awesome. We came back and had rest time. Then, the 2 older groups had crafts. After I actually got the kids to do those weird weave bracelets, they were fairly int it. Next, we played a little dodgeball; I can actually feel myself getting bette. At dinner, Mel did not prep enough lasagna, so we ordered pizza. While we were enjoying our real food, two girls walked out of the restroom talked about crap being all over the restroom, and Jackie straight-up cut them off and asked, “You mean there’s crap on the floor?” Yes, someone let loose in the Coke restroom, and it went everywhere. Jackie said that she wanted to check if it was a boy or girl because someone had done the same in the girls’ restroom. It came out as “I am Sherlock Holmes of poop.” I have not laughed that hard in a year! Then, we did the rock wall for a little while. For campfire, Shia told this story about a girl who burned her face on a curling iron. Weird and girly. Then, we all turned in for the night. When Shia talks about boo-boo, it is absolutely hilarious. I gave the story about the blood and white house. When I said goodnight, no one responded. Either really scary or boring.

When I travel, I write about my days. They are often very boring posts, but I always write so that my parents know what they are investing in me. I do not want them to send me off to California, St. Louis, Singapore, South Carolina, or wherever God calls me, and not know how or what I am doing. Transparency is key for accountability with God… Plus, we are supposed to live in community, so why not tell them about my life—at least most of my life. There are still certain things that I would not write in my re-typed journal to my parents. :) Here goes the first set of posts:

5/21/11

God’s low country is beautiful. My friend Khalil is super fratty and awesome. He said that we will go fly fishing and what not. Yesterday, Jackie took us to pick up Jeff at the airport, and then we headed to pick up LaShia for dinner at BWW’s. I drove myself to camp from The Dillard House and had quite the feast. The gorges and overlooks are breathtaking in Northern Georgia. I cannot wait to get out there and spend time in nature. Praise the Lord. I am so blessed to have gotten this opportunity. The drive into Pickens was everything I expected: left-behind shacks, tractors galore, little flea markets, farmer markets, and BBQ shacks. The people across from us apparently shot off shotguns and drank a lot last year. Rowdy redneck parties. I cannot wait. Last night, we drove to the local Walgreen’s.

First day: 13 hours. WE tied knots and rock climbed all day. I really enjoy community, and I need to get into the habit of desiring it in every aspect of my life. Heck, I was sure that I would have wanted to brave this 1500 mile road trip alone, but the trip with my mother was awesome. Today, interacting with new people in a new environment (ropes and rocks) was rewarding and fun. It amazes me how little some people have explored. Jackie is a little high maintenance. There is a really cute black lady in our ropes training class. She offers random advice, and she reminds me of a grandmother. She tried to tell the “knock, knock, banana, orange” joke today, and she told it incorrectly 3 times! Lunch was sandwiches, breakfast, was oatmeal and grits, and dinner was lasagna. On the side, I am eating lots of salad and fruit. I see this as making up for my nutritional deficiencies in the South. Oh, I really enjoyed my talk with Chris about his interest in theology.

5/22

Today was another doozie of a day. We woke up and ate the typical breakfast of quick foods. Again, I had oatmeal and fruit. We headed out for a day on the ropes course. Long day, indeed. We learned some more knots, but I really liked learning about the safety bag. We also learned about medical issues. FYI, do not ever take Viagra and Nitroglycerin. It will straight up kill you. Today, as I was climbing, Gabby got stuck up on the zip line. She cried and freaked out. That was crazy. Jackie and Nic talked her down. Later, Curtis wanted to make me a rescue victim. I got to the hanging vines, then I fell and somehow got caught up under the steel wire. It pinched the crap out of my stomach. When Khalil ziplined, this rowdy caterpillar got onto his shirt. As he bent over, he got stung. Talk about freaky. After closing ceremony, Curtis basically said that he sees me having a future with this camp. Nice! I am thankful to have worked with these people. Before Chris left, he told me that this camp will swallow my faith alive. I need to find a Christian foundation fast. I need to be a light for these people. It is dark. We went to Wal-Mart at night, and these people, no kidding, were mountain people; Khalil was right. They were uneducated, rude, and tools. Wow, that was judgmental. Those dudes, Jeff, Sam, and Khalil went to McDonald’s and ate 7 hamburgers. Sam lies a lot, but “he has a gypsy soul and was made for leaving.”

5/23

Now begins Monday. The days fall together, but I can manage. I got a great 8 hours of sleep. I guess this job really is not that mentally taxing. I pee twice a night, and that is a little weird. Today was awesome. I dragged on really slowly in the early part of the day. We watched a policies and procedures webinar from Tony. It was actually pretty interesting. A kid has been hit by a sheathed machete. For lunch, we had what we have everyday: sammiches. After lunch, I dragged on really badly. We started the teams training, and I woke up a little bit. We had some awesome talks. We started with 1 silent helper, 1 backward helper, and 1 blind guy to put balls in a circle. I was told to make up an organization, the World Eating Times, or WET. Nice. Then, we had a crabwalker throwing blind bombs. After that, we went into the woods to have team-building. My favorite exercises were the blank crossing and the wall climb. It really showed me patience. Jackie is so much of a “know-it-all”. She said “of course  I untie this string to wrap it.” For dinner, I told Jackie that I would make grits for everyone. It was nice using the kitchen and sharing a little bit of my Southern cuisine with everyone. Jackie gave my grits a thumbs up, even though she normally hates grits. Jeff ate grits for the first time, and he enjoyed them. We met for some rainy day games, and there were some really fun ones. I really liked the improv prop game. It was really annoying researching games when Jackie kept throwing things my way and told me to get off of the computer. I need to learn to have more patience with her. While we were watching the Mavs game, Nic and I talked a little bit about religion. He pointed out that a lot of human interests and religion do not always agree. Also , we talked about where we want to live What country would I be happy in, if not the US? Go Mavs!

5/24

Finally, a somewhat relaxing day. I feel like when Jackie says that the hardest is yet to come. We had an early wake up call today. Guess what I had? Yep; oatmeal. We had a lecture over team-building theory. I dozed off for a little bit. Next, we walked around a bit around the course. Lunch was not sandwiches today…it was grilled cheese! With a piece of ham in the middle! We also had it with Campbell’s Mmm-Mmm soup, tomato, to be exact. Oh, good ol’ trans fat-laden margarine to fry the bread. Sweet! We are all looking forward to the kids coming for some real entertainment. After lunch, we began planning our full lesson plan. Jackie was really testing everyone’s patience. I honestly do not know how she gets by with so much sass around her friends. I led ground school and felt pretty solid about it. We played “Friends and Enemies”, and that was really enjoyable. We also brought back Ninja. We went through our plan, and it all went pretty smoothly. After that, we went to compile some stuff about games. Jackie really does not want to hear anyone else’s opinion. For dinner, we had this gross squishy beef in BBQ sauce, green beans, and mashed potatoes made from “pearls” with a healthy addition of trans fat. Oh, how well they feed their staff. I left the site to go to Sam’s, but I turned back after I realized that I might need my wallet. By the time I got back, it was too late, so I just went with the group to Wal-Mart. I bought some essentials, and Jackie tried to give me a hard time about holding up the line to get a $10 price adjustment on my rain jacket. Wow. I cannot wait to go to Scooters and Hooters! It was really fun today joking with Khalil about Texas and how I believe that it is part of “The South.” He will barely even give Louisiana a call. I will try to convince him this summer. Jeff keeps joking around with his Texan accent. He uses it all weird, so I am sure that he will leave with some really awkward accent. Wow, ironic that my last word was close to accident. Around 11PM last night, 3 guys rolled in: Nick, Jordan, and Alan. Nick looked high, but apparently, they had just been in a wreck. Rob, their director was going too fast and hit a pipe off of the road. Nick actually got hit by the airbag and “dust” flew into his eye. Well, I went to get Khalil, and he called his brother. The dust is actually fiberglass, so he was taken to the ER. Poor guy.

5/25

Wow, the guys did not get home until 5:30AM, and they got up at 7AM. Unfortunate. I got up and ate 4 bowls of Melanie’s granola. It was actually pretty good. We got a really late start to the day because Jackie was dealing with the optical situation. We started the drive to Dupont State Park. I dozed off, and it was great. We stopped at Caesar’s Head for an amazing view of the Appalachians. Next, we had a winding drive over to Dupont. We started at High Falls, and it was a really pretty waterfall. Next, it was an awesome three-tiered fall called Triple Falls. Lastly, we had along walk across a river back to the car to grab lunch. I think Jeff and I are going to have a bro-mance. I ate some fruit, and then we headed into the freezing water to have a game of Water Ninja. Next, we swam over to the waterfall at Hooker Falls. There were a lot of trout jumping! It was so pretty out at the falls at Dupont. Afterward, we dropped by the drop-off and pick-up spots for our rafting trips, for future reference. Then, Nick suggested BBQ in Brevard. It was not anything too special. Next door was a cool flyfishing shop. The national park close by was Pisgah. We headed home for the night. Then, we watched the Mavs  game.East style pork is vinegary. West style pork is sweet and saucy.

5/26-29: Arlington for Sterling’s Wedding

5/30

When I got in, I dropped my stuff off and headed to a group lecture by a black speaker named Carleton. He talked about taking photos. Back to the day I left. I woke up and headed to the good ol’ GSP. 12 whole gates. My 4 days of parking cost $18. Great! I stopped by Auntie Ann’s for a hearty bowl of grits, eggs, ham, and gravy. Next, I had a breakfast at Tommy’s consisting of a country ham biscuit with red-eye gravy, a sweet potato pancake, home-fries, and cheese grits. My flight ended up being slightly delayed. I got back to Arlington and ate a great meal at Neighborhood Services Tavern. The wedding on Sunday was awesome. I went to The Paradox Church on Sunday. There were a lot of pretty ladies; it reminded me a lot of The Stone. Three magenta flamingos on a stump. That is a song that we sing at flag raising. The wedding was extremely pretty, and I am so proud of the Tardys. We had a scavenger hunt and a disruptive behavior lecture when I got in. I started the day with Ricky at Mama Daughter’s. He thought I was going to meet him there. Crazy. Khalil smells really bad. On my way in, I had some pretty awesome BBQ at Henry’s Smokehouse. The mustard-style pulled pork and ribs were solid. I am planning to go to New York on July 4^th. We are first on the waiting list at Brooklyn Fare! Too bad Johnny had a conference call. After a dinner of salad, we had a rules lecture. Then, we had camp activities. The go-karts and water slide are fun. We also played a pretty fun game of hoops. Then, we headed to camp fire. There were some really fun games and skits and songs. There was on about a rare bog, a rickity bog, way down in the valley low. Also, the Indian ritual with water balls; Curtis is hilarious. I had a larger-than-my-fist pinch of dip. Man, Copenhagen gives you some crazy buzz. All of the guys are pretty quirky; they laid around outside smoking something and talked about aliens, Carbon dating, pharaohs, and fish conservation. Total country folk…

5/31

We woke up and had flag raising at 8AM. I slept pretty dang hard. I think I will lose breakfast weight this summer. I had a bowl of cereal and an apple. We got a lecture from Bill Box about First Aid. Then ,we played some rainy day games. We had a nice chicken taco lunch with beans and corn. George Calzadilla gave us a pretty awesome talk, and he talked about driving aggressively and God’s plan for YLI. After lunch, Jeff and I completed cleaning the boys’ dorm and the Lego Lab. We played a little basketball, and Gabby and Jackie walked in on us. I freaked out a little bit. Then, we planned out a lesson for 2 hours. Gabby asked me questions about breast implants. Her friends have gotten some. Crazy. The others had a 5 hour defensive driving course. Our dinner consisted of chicken fingers, fries, and corn. So unsatisfying. After dinner, we hit the internet hard again. I am actually starting to get worried about not having enough material for the kids. We led a campfire, and I felt that it was a good way to get in the flow of things. We played trolls, mind reading, and we sang Pizza Man, Moose Juice, and we listened to Poison Pudding and Pickle and Princess. During trolls, I peed in the trees, and Jackie got onto me. Afteward, I watched the Mavericks lose. Darn.

6/1

We got woken up by Khalil at 8:10AM this morning because Jackie told me last night that breakfast was at 9AM. I woke up to you guessed it, granola and milk. Then, we got to unloading all of the CAMP VOYAGER stuff. That sucked. I liked doing utility stuff and using tools, but the aspect of nothing working properly sucked. Also, there is so much random stuff scattered around the place. For lunch, Melanie cooked. It was quite delightful. There was pasta salsa and these small sandwiches and lots of different cheeses. Too bad Mel has to take a leave, as her brother-in-law passed away. After lunch, we finished building these horrendous and stupid tables. Our teamwork started coming through. Then, we got to constructing our Lego Robots. Oh God, that may be the nerdiest sentence in this journal. It was pretty fun doing hands-on stuff for a change. We worked all the way up until dinner. We had sandwiches for dinner. Then, we went at the legos again, and at the very end, Jackie dropped her’s and Khalil’s scorpion. We had campfire, and we called it a night.

6/2

Jeff woke up on time this morning, as Khalil gave him an alarm clock. We did flagpole, sang “Alive, Awake, Alert, Enthusiastic,” then had breakfast. Yes, I had granola, but there is fresh fruit now. Woohoo! After breakfast, we tweaked our robots a little more and added tacks. After a run at the Thunderdome, we really did no pop one balloon. After more adjustments, no further popping. I suck at building stuff. Time flies by when you are playing with legos. Then, we walked over to the lunch room for… sandwiches. Surprise, surprise. After lunch, we were supposed to go on the waterslide, but the 2 were not ready. This morning, Jackie said that she was going to make bacon for Jeff. That did not happen. Also, she completely forgot that Jeff had not gotten keys. It kind of reminds me of a sitcom with a forgetful character. The waterslide was not set up, so we tried out the R/C cars. They were not functioning. This off-schedule has been a learning and growing experience. After a go at the cars, we headed over to the go-karts for a touch of training. Next, it was time to jack around on the waterslides. I am not very good at sliding. After a bit, we cleaned up and went to do flagpole. We had a freakishly early dinner at 4:55PM. Donna cooked us burgers and crinkle-cut fries. Ugh. After dinner, we did some more research. It was a boring 2 hours. I led camp fire, and we did Boom Chicka Boom, Gorilla/Gun/Man, Bubblegum Chair, Telephone, Bully-Off, The Beaver Song, Forrest Gump Skit, and Touchie-Touchie. It felt rushed. I ended with my “Building Friendships” story. Training is pretty much over with. It has been tiring, but fun. Jeff and I went to the weight room to watch the Mavs game. We talked a little about faith, and he says that science has disproved every religion. Hog wash. I went to bed at 11PM because the Mavericks were down by 9.

6/3

I woke up to pee at 4:25AM and heard a text from Nathan. Apparently, Shaun is changing up the Jackson trip for Tay B. He shows favoritism way too much. Also, Johnny had texted me: “Did you see that?” Needless to say, I had a hard time falling back asleep, especially since my nose was stopped up. I woke up around 6:50AM to watch Sportscenter. Lo and behold, the Mavericks pulled out a Game 2 in Miami win! I did my laundry and then we had flagpole. We sang the “Fly, Mosquito” song and played Evolution. After yet another breakfast of granola, we did a little wrap up. I gave Khalil the Khal-onqueror Award and Jackie the Peppy-ment Patty Award. Then, we played a game where we all told the story of training from different perspectives. We went in to Jackie’s office, one at a time, to get some perspective on training. I need to watch what I say and do around kids. After that, training was over. Woohoo! I made it! Jeff and I headed to explore Clemson. He made a good observation; all of the attractive ladies are accented because of the lack of them here. We walked around, and I think that the town is a bit too small for the really nice, spacious campus. I really liked the Death Valley stadium. After we got back to the car, I took Jeff to Mac’s Drive-In. It sucked; my burger sucked; and the people sucked. I paid for Jeff, and he got really mad for some reason. I will not be doing that again. I forgot my camera, so I went back, and Jeff decided to  nap. What a weenie. I dropped him off and headed to Spartanburg. On my way there, I got a weird feeling of loneliness, but it dissipated after dinner. Weird I had not felt that since exploring in Vietnam. I went to The Beacon. The atmosphere was pretty cool. They yell out your orders in this unique style, but I ended up giving my order to a quitter lady. I had chicken stew (much like chowder), hush puppies, fries, and a chili cheeseburger with onion rings. A PLEN-TAY! Then, I drove all the way to King’s Mountain, but it closes at 5PM. There were a lot of trees. Then, I went to the historic Revolution Cowpens Battlefield. I walked through it for a bit, and I saw these really cute rabbits. Then, I stopped at a fireworks and peach stand. $3 for a basket of Abbott Farms peaches. Holy crap. I will let you know how they taste. I guess instead of gas and beer, it is peaches and fireworks up here in the NC. Next, I stopped to get a picture with the World’s Largest Peach. Nope, it is not in Georgia, but in Gaffney, SC. Then, I went to the Polo and Brooks Brothers outlets. There was nothing appealing. Then, I went home. Long day, but successful. Jeff took a ~6 hour nap. I need to get people to explore with me. Community is key. Apparently, we have 47 campers. Holy crap!

6/4

Today was pretty dang eventful. I woke up at 7:30AM and made my breakfast and ate 4 peaches. They were not very good. At 10AM, we headed out to Camp Hannon to pick up our fellow Adventure counselors. We made our way over to Pisgah National Forest, but first Jeff drank Bootlegger’s Apple Flavor. Gross. Sliding Rock was awesome. It is this natural waterslide. The water was super cold, though. We went down a few times, and then we hung out at the beautiful Looking Glass waterfall. Then, the group went back to Camp Hannon. Curtis’ house literally smells like poop. His dog is really wild and fun. We went up to the waterfall , and on our way down, Khalil ran into a beehive and got stung on his head. I was right behind him and somehow avoided the bees. Sam was behind me, and he got stung too! I stopped by Brett’s store on the way home, and he was so helpful in hooking me up with a flyrod. I got the whole set for $125, and he invited me to fish with him and Khalil. I headed back to Pickens. I got 2 hot dogs at Heidi’s Dogs and a sweet potato pie, 2 pieces of chicken, a steak and potato, and macaroni and cheese at Bojangles. Bojangles rapes Heidi’s. Then, I met up with Khalil at Ingel’s and we went out to the East Takowee (?). Flyfishing is so awesome. I probably spent 1 hour just untangling, but I was just happy to be out there. When the sun set, it was so beautiful and peaceful. On my way back, I heard crazy sounds. Horseflies hurt like crazy when they bite. We headed home, and Bob’s, where the turnoff was, apparently has an awesome inside. Brett said there are high couches, boobs, $1 troughs, and lots of bands. When he was drunk one night, two rich ladies were at the bar, and Brett smoked a joint with them. He made it halfway down the hill and blacked out. Homegrown green I guess! Brett is so good natured. He opened his shop the day he left YLI.

6/5

Jackie is intense. There are no Catholic churches out here. I guess the Bible Belt wants the sword of the Spirit to be heard, not rituals. Nice! I went church searching this morning, and I went to Mroning Star Baptist for 10AM Sunday School. I ate at West Family Kitchen. I had a biscuit, country ham, gravy, redeye gravy, a hotcake, 2 eggs, and home fries. It was so inviting and homely. Then, we went to pick up all of the kids! I was so excited. The baseball game sucked. It was hot, and the kids were hungry. Then, after all that discomfort, we had PB&J for dinner! My kids are pretty fun, and most of them are pretty well-behaved. They are all really well-natured, though. I am doing my best to all of their respect. It started really well at the game. We came back and had campfire. Then, it was supposed to be lights out, but the kids were pretty dang rowdy. They did not sleep until pats 1AM. Finally, we got to bed. Jeremiah told me to remember to say my prayers before bed. The kids love the bologna skit.

6/6

Today was crazy. It started with me leading flag pole. I got my new group: Alexis, Taylor, Kendall, Jayshon, Andy, James, Jeremiah, Gabriel, and Charity. We started high ropes at 9AM, but we skipped all other activities and did not eat until 1:15PM! Kendal cried, and Andy was stuck around the zip line for about an hour. That sucked! No one could talk him into going. We had a really late lunch, and we learned about the federal funding. Zest Quest gets all free lunches because 50% or more of the campers are from Pickens. After lunch, the water slide was played on for about an hour. The kids hugged me to get wet! Then, we had our Sleep and Healthy Habits classes. Then, we had a group session with Shia’s group. I was so tired too. Next, we all had Go Karts. We played Mafia as a group, and that was a lot of fun. I wish these kids enjoyed “Friend-Enemy” more. I woke up with a heck of a lot of bed bugs this morning. Apparently, Austin ran off the Go-Kart track and nearly hit a freaking pole. We had dodgeball as a camp, and then we had canteen, then campfire. I told the kids about Texas and cowboys and Indians in Oklahoma. That put them right to bed. Bevo was rescued!

So, I honestly cannot tell you much about my past two weeks or so. It has sort of been a blur, and my mind has been in tunnel vision. I have been praying for some guidance on applying to graduate programs and what not. I have just been scatterbrained to be quite honest. I have been able to meet with a few fraternity brothers to just “life it up.” One meeting with an “atheist” was quite refreshing; the other was more struggle focused. It sucked at the football game because one of the guys I hung out with to sort of show the way was arrested. Wow. I am going to sort of recharge my brain and bring you to about a year and a half ago when I was able to spend time with my family in Taiwan. None are believers, and I now look back to how sad my cultural and language barrier appear as a crutch in my life.

524

It has been a really fast 12 and a half hour flight.  I have slept for the majority of the flight.  I have made a personal decision to write this journal with a US time stamp for personal, heartfelt reasons.  It will probably be hard to follow since 1. it’s written in military time and 2. I will be 13 hours in the future as I am documenting my trip with my mother.  I am alive and kicking.  The sun is up, so I am up.  My mother has been peer-pressuring me into subjecting myself to these meals of mediocrity on this tortuous flight.  At least the chicken tastes like chicken.  This specific photo documents pizza reminiscent of a time when I was a child discovering the glories of the microwave and what happens when you put pizza inside for about 2 minutes.

A disclaimer: these posts may be a bit out of sync with time.  Think of it as literary skill, not a dysfunctional ability of blog writing; I assure you I am a blogging master.  Also, note that once in Asia, an obligatory “peace sign” picture must be on the agenda, regardless of the time.  This specific one was taken in Narita International Airport in Tokyo, Japan.

525

As you guys may be wondering, why the BBQ banner?  Well, that’s probably going to be my first meal when I get back to the US.  Not that I will be craving BBQ for a while… food in Asia is awesome and plentiful.  We got into Kaohsiung, Taiwan about 10:30PM, and we picked up our luggage.  All in all, it was a total of 24 hours outside of a living quarters; pretty rough.  My uncle and aunt picked us up from the airport, and we drove about an hour to my their daughter’s (my cousin’s) house.  We slept in an A/C-less room on the floor.  I slept like a baby, but my mother did not fare so well.  I think she’s slept about 6 hours cumulative in the last… 36 hours.

We all had some bread for breakfast, chatted a bit, then we headed out for a day of traveling.  We stopped by Chung Cheng University, which is where another cousin graduated the LAST time I was in Taiwan, 1996.  I don’t remember anything, and apparently the university has changed a lot.  It was pretty cool seeing a difference type of university, in terms of design, students, and culture. We also stopped for my first fruit pit stop on the side of the road.  This guy was selling 3 containers of pineapple for 50 Taipei, about $1.85 American.  It was fresh cut and really sweet.  This is my aunt giving us the samples.  Does she look like my mother?  (The left one, FYI)

We also stopped and watched this weird worship type thing at this temple thing..  I thought the guy in the mask was going to stab me because my uncle told me to take a head on picture.

Then, my uncle took us to eat lamb hot pot; he made a pretty awesome guess that I like lamb.  It was pretty awesome.  For about 500 Taipei, roughly $18.50 American, we got a full lunch of lamb, soup, noodles, and veggies with this fermented soy type dipping sauce.  I’m going to stop naming prices in Taipei so you guys can convert yourselves.  The conversion rate is roughly 32 Taipei to a buck.

After filling up, we were on the road, and we finally arrived at the final destination my mom was traveling for, her home in Dongshih, Taiwan.

526

Today was pretty relaxed.  I am pretty much on Taiwan time now having slept about 7 hours straight for the last two nights in a row.  My mother slept about 11 hours last night, so she is just about on schedule now as well.  Last night, my uncle took me to an Asian wedding dinner.  It was pretty awesome.  Each table had unlimited wine and whiskey, and we had a 10 course seafood dinner.  There was sushi, lobster, crab, and other such Oceanic items.  After dinner, everyone just got up and left.  It was very Asian: do your business (eat) and get out.  It’s totally not like America where we dance and having a 30 ft. cake afterward.  


That’s my gnarly uncle.  (the older fellow on the left)

527

We all woke up around 6:30AM, ate breakfast, and hung out for a couple hours.  Then we headed to the hot spot of this country town… the exercise center (basically a massive swimming/spa complex).  We swam, sat in the sauna, steamed, got water pump massages…etc.  I’m going through a little bit of EAPAD, Excessive Asian Population Anxiety Disorder (self-defined).  Especially since there were about 100 elementary, junior high, and high school students running around and swimming.

After swimming, we had this awesome lunch at this little dumpling cafe.  Real gritty, cheap, and good.  We had a full meal of tofu, seaweed, beef, soup, shrimp dumplings, pork dumplings, and other stuff.  The whole thing was so cheap… 600 Taipei.  Got the hang of calculating?  (about $17 American for 6 of us)

As the Asian custom goes, we had this fruit that was new to me, thus my first off-the-street-new-species-experience of my trip.  I’m likening this buying fruit off of guys on the street to buying watermelon from the Good Ol’ Tom in Mississippi or Alabama; no racism intended, FYI.
 

In the afternoon, my uncle took me to have “Tea Time” with his fellow teachers.  He’s actually retired, but the lounge at the high school is very casual.  Teachers and retired teachers alike all hung out and made small talk.  Of course there was food, tea time consisting of small cakes and fruit.  I learned that my uncle is a Super Tea Master.  We had two different types of Oolong, and each pot took about 10 minutes to prepare with 50 second steepings… he had it down to an art.  We drank tea and chatted for about 2 hours… talk about relaxed teachers.  Also, notice the students radical uniforms… loose-fitting with ridiculous colors.  They look like a hybrid between the LA Lakers warming up and prisoners.
After tea time (boy, that sounds snobby), the grandparental units, my mother, and I took a stroll through town.  I never realized how country my roots in Taiwan were.  Dinner was an awesome home-cooked meal prepared by my aunt.  It consisted of beef noodle soup with all the fixins’.  Real Taiwan beef noodle soup is already awesome and unattainable in America, but it still doesn’t beat it being made right at home.  Notice how Asian the right picture is.  The specimen is carrying a large cleaver-like knife.  She is performing the token peace sign.  Also, do not overlook the large wok in the background.

After dinner, we had another tea time.  I’ve spent 5 hours today drinking tea and listening to unrecognizable Taiwanese being spoken.

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Before you question my clothing choice… Yes, I am wearing the same yellow t-shirt.  My aunt does laundry everyday, so I feel obliged to wear the clothes that she washes for me.  I assure you I am not wearing the same shirt over and over again sans washing.  These days are starting earlier and earlier, as well as blending together.  We were all up and having breakfast by 7 in the morn’, and we were off to swimming again by 8AM.  Again, too many Asian children running around is making me uneasy for some reason. 

  This sign was sort of weird.

After the swim, we headed out to Sanyi, which was some city that had some stuff and things, namely woodworking.  We stopped at a Buddhist temple that is currently in-the-works.  Lots of Buddhisty type stuff and things.  Sorry about my bland writing, but there’s not much to describe it. 

Here is a picture of gramps watering the Buddhist baby statue.  

Lunch was at this little cafe specializing in thick rice noodles.  It was really awesome, simple food.  Noodles and pork broth and lots of beef, veggies, and other assorted accompaniments.

After lunch, we took a stroll through the shopping strip, of which 50% of the stores sold wood carved items.  This finally made me understand the industrialization of America.  My uncle told me that each area of Taiwan specializes in a particularly craft, trade, or food product.  This falters a bit as we will see in a second.  My uncle splurged on this big tea platform made of stone.  With some bargaining, he also obtained a large painting/decoration thing.  I bought my first tea platform.  Along with this, the pot that my uncle is going to give me, I am ready to become a tea-brewing master.

Afterwards, we went to see a really big tree, like REALLY big.  Then we saw the Taiwan equivalent of Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.  They used to take sugar canes and make sugar and stuff.  Too bad, they were overtaken by an outsourced company that now produces the majority of Taiwan’s sugar.  Sad day.  The sugar plant has been turned into a touristy attraction.  Sausages, flea markets, and field trips was what I saw that the place consisted of.  I did get a Popsicle made of cane sugar, though.

 

Afterwards, we headed back to Fongyuan, the nearest large city to our farm-like town of Dongshih, and I got a pretty awesome massage.  Back to the house for dinner and relaxation for the night.  A long day, as we were out by 7:30AM and weren’t back in until about 6PM. 

I’ll close with a bit of insight.  I’m sure most of you have heard of the French paradox.  In case you haven’t, it is basically the idea that the French (and in most cases, every culture besides America) eat whatever they want, and are as a whole healthier than Americans.  Americans prize health and nutrition so much that we reduce eating down to principles of science, measurement, and structure.  American meals are designed to suit caloric intake, nutrient density, and are often rushed to fit into schedules.  The French eat long, hearty meals with company, disregarding food groups, heart health, and the fear of becoming fat.  The same seems to apply for the Chinese.  For dinner, we had beef tendons, ribs, and fat, egg yolks, sweet rice, sweet flour buns with beef, and other oily and carby goodness, yet the obesity rate in this household, and Taiwan as a whole remains very minimal.  Wow, that was way more than you wanted to hear.  I have been reading Michael Pollan and and shopping at the farmer’s market way too much.

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Today was a pretty relaxed day.  My mother got about 3 hours of sleep; she’s still pretty off the Taiwan sleeping schedule.  My mother’s older brother got back in pretty late last night, and they stayed up late chatting the night away.  We got up and hung around the house for a couple hours, then we headed to the market.  I told everyone I’d cook them American food.  There was a bunch of really crazy stuff like brains and live eels.

I tried to go as non-Asian with the meal as possible, but I had to definitely do some tweaking and adjusting.  Margarine instead of real butter, sesame oil instead of olive oil, woks instead of non-stick skillets.  I did like the aspect of my menu that incorporated both Chinese and American aspects.

Lunch:  Shrimp, corn, and tomato salad
            Taiwanese sausage and scallion hash
            Creamed Chinese broccoli
            Steamed apple pork chops

After lunch, some more family came over, and we sang some karaoke.  Boy, was that ever Asian…  My family does have some pretty jammin’ voices though.  The house was chock full of family.  My mother’s older and younger brother, the younger brother’s wife and child and his other child’s child, the older brother’s wife and child, and the regulars.  The older one I liken to Speed Racer.. being very Asian and with that killer helmet.  The younger brother looks somewhat like my dad.

After singing it up, we all went out to eat a big dinner together.  My cousin who we stayed with when we first got into town met all of us there.  The dinner was plentiful in food, and there was also no lack of Asians.  Taiwan is chockful of Asians.  I don’t think I can emphasize that enough.  

There’s gramps fratting hard with beer he made me smuggle in for him, though I shouldn’t discount the fact that every place in Taiwan is BYOB.

Asians don’t like the cold.  I don’t either, and the restaurant was a tad chilly, as the fan was blasting.  I can put up with a bit of cold, but my uncle went and grabbed everyone parkas.  We dined like eskimos.  Dinner consisted of a bit of sushi, lamb, dumplings, scallion pies, beef, pork belly, Kung Pao chicken, soup, Chinese broccoli, fish, tofu, and sesame pastries.  It was huge. 

Also, I wanted to take this time to mention a common pastime of the Taiwanese truck drivers.  As you drive down most large streets or highways, you see lots of small stands that have huge annoying flashing lights.  My uncle told me that they sell betel nuts.  There is a big controversy over these stands because they use scandalously dressed females to have truck drivers buy them.  The betel nuts are comparable to American tobacco/chewing gum.  It’s used like tobacco, but it doesn’t have any real side effects.  Also, he said sometimes “betel nut sales” really just means indecent exposure being sold.  For 100NT, you get “2 packs” if you catch my drift.

The Lord has blessed this past week with not a whole lot of school work, but it has still indeed been heavy on my heart. Although there have been many other things spinning around in my life, the fraternity just keeps coming back to me. I am blessed to have Justin to guide me through this! In fact, I will just go ahead and layout EXACTLY what I was not able to do at meeting. This is just a copy and paste of my testimony/plead to the chapter:

” I do not want to go too in-depth, just touch on what I would like to see happen in this fraternity. In college, you grow in 3 ways: socially…or we should; academically…again, there is not much room to go down; and spiritually. This last foundation in your college life is surprisingly the most easy to gauge, on a superficial level. Either you grow toward a so-called religion or further away from it. Please do not come down on me because you see the fraternity as a social hub, business, and an addition to your resume. Unlike politics, true religion and fraternities are inseparable, so just hear me out. Just look what percentage of our alumni, who are our biggest supporters, are of Christian backgrounds!

I have been talking with some KA’s—now Omicron… and SAE’s. I am not trying to model our spiritual growth after those fraternities, but I gained some insight on some foundations that they have put in place. This explosion of Christianity may seem funny because they are certainly some pretty rowdy gentlemen. Our fraternity was founded on Christ-centered principles, and I do not want to see our fraternity go secular. I just want to plant a Gospel seed before my time here is done.

My main conviction behind it is that I am honestly trying to live out a life for Christ. Aside from me having a Christian background, please know that I am not judging anyone for anything. That is not my intention. Without any actual offices, it certainly feels that I am out of the loop. I have shown in my previous positions that I will stay committed to something I truly believe will make a difference. A good amount of our alumni base are strongly rooted in their faith, so how much better will our chapter look with something to show?

How does this translate into practical steps? For one, I will hold a weekly hang-out. It will simply just be a time to chat in a real setting. This will allow us to communicate in a setting aside from social events and academia. With community comes true growth. Basically:

1. Every Monday, at 6PM, I will have chips and cokes or something along those lines. Free of cost. Location and time may change, depending on where it is convenient for the majority of y’all.

2. Come and go; no obligations.

3. Although I am not a counselor, I commit to being there for anyone of you who want help with anything: school, relationships, even rides down town. Yes, if you need a ride downtown, let me know.

In regards to getting the pledges plugged in, I am going to work with Justin and Embry to just give the pledges some possible ideas for a pledge Bible study. If any pledge classes or the fraternity as a whole would like me to hold private, smaller-setting, more formal gatherings, do let me know.

Thank’s y’all. “

Friday, we headed out to a hockey game, and it was awesome. Hillary got us on the big screen, got us free pizza, and well… just into a really fun game! On Saturday, I did the ALS walk, ate at Casa De Luz, and had a really hip experience at Handshakes. Sunday, I served in KidStuff for the first time in nearly 7 months. It really filled me up! The Spirit did a work in me. The main message: God always keeps his promises. I also baked chocolate muffins. And we had our first gathering as a Makarios group. Awesome. Also, I have been able to see change in Do and Calvin recently. Fantastic. And Do has been trying to talk me into opening a restaurant. No, sir.

Many people love Jeremiah 29:11, Kevin being one of the masses. But, I really took a lot from my KidStuff lesson over…

Jeremiah 29:10.

“This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.”

Since I did not post any goofy pictures, I will show you some random photographs!

Article #1; Hatch in a Hurry Coconut Curry Tacos:

Item #2; Buddies forever:

Item #3; Caesar’s Head with the ZQU—Zest Quest for your Best!—staff:

etsy:

(via Snacks of the Great Scribblers Print New York Times by wendymac)