Coincidence / Lance Armstrong

2008. 10. 19

Since he has been living in Suwon almost 10 years (on and off, of course), he, whenever leaving home, feels like he'd encounter someone he knows of. And it never is wrong.

After spending a couple of hours at the library and parsing the vignette in Genesis where Jacob runs into God (or God in a form of man) and wrestles with him, he exited the premises, expecting to bump into someone he knows. And he did.

She was one of the colleagues that Oh worked with while volunteering at the international health clinic on campus. That was their first encounter after Oh came back from the states. They have been meaning to meet with each other, but well, Oh has been busy and so has she.

Anyways, they were glad to see each other and decided to have a little conversation over a cup of coffee. And they unfolded the past couple months of their lives. The nurses that Oh used to work with at the clinic were all doing fine other than some of them broke up with their boyfriends. And Oh and the lady talked about their work, good ole times and whatnot.

After promising to have a get together with all the clinic personnel later, Oh said good bye to the lady and got on his bicycle. Then, he thought that this area is too comfort for him. He knows the place too well and so from a certain point, it has served as a comfort zone for Oh. Some say that stuck in a comfort zone is bad and some say it is not. Sometimes Oh feels jaded with the same things, the same buildings, the same roads and even the same people almost every day. But then again, he also believes that making adjustments to a new environment and being alone might not as good as being in a comfort zone and feeling snug.

At any rate,

Back at the library, Oh was reading Time and spotted a spread reserved for Lance Armstrong. While reading the article, something struck Oh. It was about why Lance is always up for a challenge. After he retired, he challenged Boston Marathon. And now he plans on riding again. I bet he's earned enough money and reputation, has a beautiful wife and must be living a helluv life. But still he is trying to broaden his horizon. Here is an excerpt as to where Lance's motivation comes from.

And while parsing this segement, Oh felt like Lance was talking about Oh's reason to exercise. Oh, at the gmy, feels like he owns the gym. He is yet a skinny and lean Korean man, but works out and really enjoys it. The two hours at the gym everyday is when no one can not interrupt Oh. He feels lucky and gracious for having a healthy body and thus can even move. Sometimes, when Oh goes to work, he runs into this particular man with disability. Just like Oh's passed uncle who suffered from stroke, the guy, relying on a metal cane, limps. Whenever Oh passed by the guy, he feels guilty a bit for doing that. He is pretty sure that that guy would even notice Oh, but still in presence of people with disabilities, Oh feels like he owes something to them. Ah.. he misses his uncle today more than ever, to whom he even could not say good bye or sit next to his death bed.

Something to think about

2008. 10. 18



Maybe this is what befell.

Maybe. Maybe not.

By letting someone let go of you, you let go of him or her.

Random people

2008. 10. 17

On his way to work, he always runs into these two particular people in the morning. Since Oh commutes in a bicycle, he does not want to put on the brakes, but to rush to the office, beating the traffic. But sometimes he thinks that it would not be such a bad idea to get off the ride and say hello to those two people.

This sounds insane, Oh thinks. But when you think about it, it actually is not that despicable. Of course, it would be awkward and weird, but it would not be that crazy to talk to random people that you bump into every morning. Well, come to think of it, people accost strangers and say "Hi, my name is so and so. I thought you are really beautiful. blah blah blah..so.. Can I get your number?" (Oh's pickup line is way better than that, btw)

Anyways. Sometimes when Oh thinks that he is running late, he hopes to run into them and thus realizes that he is not late actually. And it has occurred. This is a very tiny moment of happiness that one can easily have during a day.

This reminds Oh of his stay in Iowa a few years ago. He took "Society and Language" and it was a lecture. So, there were more than one hundred students in classroom. Oh, as one of a few Asian students in class, was always sitting in 3rd front row. In the class, there was a girl always sitting in the front row. She had a difficulty in hearing and so there was an sign language interpreter with her all the time. This was very shocking to Oh in that this would never happen in his country that is NOT people with disabilities-friendly. And except for the prof, the girl, as Oh, did not talk to anyone, but the interpreter. So, Oh occasionally thought of talking to her and becoming friends, not out of pity or sympathy.

And one day when Oh was walking on campus, someone called him out. Oh did not reckon him at all. But the guy said that he is in "Society and Language" as Oh. And they started to walk together and talk about the class. And it turned out that they both lived in the same dorm, Courier (Shoutout to All the Iowans! Let's go Hawkeyes") So since then, Oh came to have an acquaintance in his class.

Unluckily, Oh does not recall the name of that guy. They did not even exchange email addresses or whatnot. But still that particular day when the sun was beating down on Oh who thus needed to wear a pair of Oakley sunglasses still has its spot in Oh's mind and this is why Oh considered his visitation to Iowa was one of the best times in his life except the fact that he lost his uncle and cousin 10 days apart and there was nothing Oh could not about it besides mourning and suffering.

Back to the random commuters that Oh passes by everyday, one day Oh might muster up courage to say hello, or at least to give them a nodding, or mutual eye contact that says "Hey, you guys. Have a nice day. Although I can not say it out loud."

Drinking/Midnight Workout

2008. 10. 16

Oh comes home almost 11:30 PM, tired from workout. Why did he work out later than he usually does? Well, the story goes back to four and a half hour ago.

On the verge of leaving for home, he was coerced to go drinking with some of the colleagues. Oh really did not want to because A. he needs to work out and thus is repelled by the idea of drink (well, he has never been a big fan of Soju or any kind of booze) B. he thinks that going out on a Thursday night is one of the stupidest ideas. Well, he is a newbie and thus sometimes needs to put up with people's yanking his chain around. But this is not too bad at all because A. he will get to know more about the coworkers and B. get free dinner :) and C. comes to realize how much he cherishes exercise and the strings attached.

So, at a local bar, with 4 different people, Oh started to drink. Well, it was not too bad. Only two shots of Soju and that was it. Normally, when drinking in Korea, you need to drink as much as people you drink with do. In particular, if someone older than you, or whose social status is higher than you, such as your boss, you need to just greet your teeth and throw back Soju. Well, the ambiance of Oh's company is not that coercive (irony, huh?) and Oh does not have to be forced to drink. Anyways, after 90mins, he left the scene, headed home, changed clothes, packed up and speed walked to the gym.

Though it was pretty late, there were still some people working out late. Well, the gym is located in the middle of the drinking alley, there are a lot of people starting to work late. Anyway, after saying hello to the trainer, Oh started to stretch out and later get on the treadmill.

As if trying to sweat off all the smoke and Soju seeming to be circulating in the every single vein of his, he ran like crazy. After solid 2 k run in 10 mins, he was perspiring like a pig and got off. Today is to work on chest pectorals and triceps. Oh asked the trainer to assist him intermittently. While finishing up the last set for tricep, the trainer accosted him and began to drill Oh like Death. Feeling his tricep torn up, he feels adrenalin kicking in. Ah.. this is a good pain! The reason I work out. The very sense that you are alive! (not a masochist!!!!) And he would like to pursue the feeling as long as he can.

Russian Kids

2008. 10. 15

Just like yesterday, Oh took some foreigners out to lunch. This time it was a bunch of Russian kids and school faculty from 28th Bladivostok school, a sister school of Suwon Foreign Language Highschool. Well, it is a long story, but let Oh put it in a huge nutshell.

Suwon Foreign Language Highschool has established an exchange program with some international highschools over the world. And this time, the local school invited Russian students over to Korea since they were invited to Russia this past February. So the school decided to get some sort of support from Oh's company who took them upon the offer.

So, Oh has been a liaison with this teacher at SFLH and promised her to provide as much support as possible. And Oh and his boss decided to give away some promotion DVDs of Gyeonggido and to buy the visitors from the coldest place in the world a nice decent Korean food at Korean Folk Village in Yongin. So, Oh needed to head down to Yonggin to treat Russians.

Whenever Oh hears the word Russian, he feels a certain connection. He attended one of the most prestigious high schools, a foreign language one in Seoul and majored in Russian, which he hardly remembers anything about other than greetings and whatnot. So, when Oh was at Korean Folk Village and was going to the rendezvous place, he tried to recall some Russian words that he learned back in high school. Well, it was no avail.
Sitting next to the principle of the Russian highschool, Oh tried to understand what she was saying in Russian. Well, later, he found himself speaking English to her.

Russians. They look cold, arrogant, strong, tough, introvert and sometimes very reserved. But no one should not look down up them. Remember back in the 70's? The Star Wars? They have potentials. Their long and cold winter is what makes who they are.

Once Oh and a good friend of his were talking about Fedor Emilianenko and amazing boxing skills. And he does not seems to train at a state of the art gym or be helped by personal trainers or whatnot, but work out and run outside and use some rusty dumbbells. And yet, he is THE BEST MMA fighter in the world right now. So, I suggested to my friend that Fedor might be staying at a deserted nuke silo and under the aegis of Putin be working out with the best physiologist, doctors and trainers in the entire Russia.

Anyways, after sending off the Russian kids and some Korean teachers from SFLH, Oh walked around the Korean Folk Village a bit and saw a number of Korean kids on a picnic. They were so many of them. At one point, Oh was surrounded by them and all of sudden was reminded of his adolescent time. When on picnics, Oh wanted to sit next to the girl that he liked, or just merely leered at her from time to time, waiting for her to come and talk to him.



Lots of thought ran thru his brain. What was he like when he was a kid? What did he do when on a picnic with his friends? One thing for sure is Oh was very self-centered. Very. And Oh still thinks that the trait still lingers inside of him. Sometimes Oh chalks it up to the fact that he is an only child. Well, there are millions of only children who are not selfish, so Oh just pins it on himself. Then, he exists the village and gets on the bus back to the office with two hot Korean pizza for the collagues in his bag.

Germans and Sweet Potato

2008. 10. 14

A group of german travel agents arrived Korea a couple of days ago and has been on a trip in Korea. And Oh's company sponsors some of their legs of trip by taking them out to lunch at a luxurious local Galbi place, paying for admission fee to a local temple, car rent, etc. Since Oh has been soley responsible for championing the trip as a liason, he needed to go out and treat them Korean cuisine earlier today.

The rationale of this pro-bono lunch is to lure more Germans to Korea. Last year, only hundres of Germans visited. So, this trip was organized to give German tour agents thinking about devising tour products encomassing Gyeonggido a peek at what this province can offer to German people.

Anyways, around lunch time, Oh left the office for the lunch and arrived the restaurant. Since he represented entire Gyeonggido, he needed to look watchable and kept fixing his hair and clothes. Soon, a bus arrvied and threw up 5 Germans and 1 Korean tour guide. Shaking hands with each one of them, Oh thought that this is not going to bad lunch.

Sitting next to the acting sales manager, who has been in Korea 8 times already, at Korean Air in Fruakfurt, Germany, Oh began to ask questions and answer some inquiries as to general tourism in Korea. They ate Galbi, talked, laughed and dealt with awkward silence and pauses. Not too bad, Oh was thinking. After lunch, Oh handed over the brochures and the maps to the guests for which they were delightful. Lastly, taking care of all the charge, Oh ushered the Germans out of the place and said good bye to them.

Oh thought that although they are going to stay only a couple of days, the impression that Oh, the city and locals put them under can decide whether more Germans will come to Korea or not. Not particularily patriotic, but some kind of pride he was feeling about his job.


And later, Oh got a box of sweet potatoes he ordered the other day. This is for his wokrout. He needs to carb up for a bit. Well, chicken breast would've been far nicer, but it is not like chickens are going anywhere.

But the devliery guy Oh could not understand. Walking into the office, the delivery guy called out Oh's name and hurled the box on the floor, saying "Here are the sweet potatoes you ordered, Mr. Oh!" And my team members all cracked up at it. The delivery guy who came to our office everyday, never does expose the category of the itmes that we placed an order for. But why me? Some kind of hazing for a newbie?

Anyways, we got a lot of kick out of it. :)

Nobody by Wonder Girls

2008. 10. 13

Oh is hooked on this song, "Nobody" by Wonder Girls. They are a group made of 5 high school and college girls and have been beloved by middle age Korean men since last summe when their "Tell Me" struck the entire nation. This song has been played at the gmy that Oh works out. Thus, Oh unavoindingly finds himself humming and even murmuring this song. If you lived in Korea, you probably would hear this song a lot blasting from street vendors boombox or stores on the street.

While surfing on the web, he located this video clip where this white boy is emulating the choregraphy of "Nobody" and he just nailed it. So, kindly enough, here is the video segemtn of that white boy's performance and the original one by Wonder Girls. Oh hopes you get a lot of kick out of it. :)






Did you savor them? One phenonemon that he finds pleasing is that so called 'Korean Flow" is all the rage in many countries such as Japan and some nations in South East Asian. Also, the Korean Flow has permeated North America as well and thus it is not uncommon for web users to run into youtube video segments where Americans or Canadians mimicking some of Korean boybands' choreography.

Then the question remains; what is so appealing about us? Tanned skin, dark-brown eyes and hair are what is so attractive about us? Or is it that we are simply different from the West?

Leaving Home

08. 10. 12

In lieu of going up to the mountain near home, Oh slept in. No hiking.

He got up, ate brunch with dad and started to watch the American presidential debate, a couple of SNL vignettes where Tina Fey was parodying Sarah Palin. It will be one of the most memorable SNL skits ever he thought.



Afterwards, he watched a couple of episodes of Two and A Half Men and got ready to go back down to Suwon. Putting some food that his mother prepped in the suitcase, Oh told his parents to discuss the 29th anniversary plan. Whenever leaving home and heading to the adjacent subway station, Oh always thinks that he should've been nicer to them. They don't always wait for them. Sad, but true.

On the subway, he spotted a real good-looking lady. He hesitated whether he should talk to her or not. Well, since the subway was way too jam-packed, he did not dare to edge out the crowd and sit next to her. Instead, he, as the most of the guys on the train leered at her from time to time and finally got off the train, hoping she does as well, which did not happen.

Getting on the bus to his crib, Oh was simply looking out the window. Then, he saw a pretty cute lady getting on the bus and then right away a co-worker of his as well. Instantaneously, he sensed that they were an item. Interesting...

Oh was hoping to get off the bus earlier than the couple, but exactly the opposite befell. The co-worker spotted Oh introduced his girlfriend to him and asked what he was doing. Answering the question, they said goodbye.And when the co-worker gave Oh a lil goodbye wave while getting off, Oh put his two thumbs up in the air, insinuating that his girl friend is totally a hottie and indeed she was.

Interesting night, Oh thought.

Arriving home, Oh got a text message from two friends of his. One was saying hi to him and the other asked Oh a favor to translate three page long presentation dialogue into English. Dude.. it is Sunday night.. Oh was not happy, but well, what can he do? It's his friend's request.

After tweaking the dialogue and sending it back to his friend, he turned his laptop off and went to bed. Not a bad weekend at all.

Going Home

08. 10. 11

After sleeping in and hitting the gym, Oh met up with his friend that he saw last night. His friend's mustache seemed to grow an inch overnight because of heavy drinking last night. After getting on the subway, they caught up and talked about girls, blind dates, life, money, work and whatnot. Oh's been worried about his friend who has spent almost two years on the public servant exam, which is a tough thread to needle. Next year's exam will be the last attempt that Oh's friend is going to make.

Anyhow, it is always good to see and talk to friends. Since Oh needed to get off a stop earlier than his friend, they shook hands and separated each way.

Oh came home and found out his folks just got back from bicycling with their friends to Han River, which is almost 3 hour ride. It seems like they really enjoyed it.



After having some dinner, Oh and his mom went to the market together and had a little chitchat. Oh talked about his workout and his work and whatnot while mom later talked about house and real estate. Oh's parents own houses and they need to decide which one they are going to sell and which one they are going to keep and continue to sublet. While Oh's dad, a dedicated and delligent man, is quite apathetic with money and all that, his mom is really good at investment. In addition, Oh's folks are real good friends of local real estate agents so they are targetting at some real estate speculation. (Nothing illegal!)

They also talked about 29 year anniversary and the plan to celebrate it. Oh's planned out things and asked his mother to get back to him on the plan sometime this weekend.

While Oh thinks that he also needs some "father and son" moments, he decides to go hiking tomorrow only with his dad.

Good to be home although it's been awhile.

Road Not Taken

08. 10. 10

Oh called a best friend of his. A friend that he has known for 2 decades. Same elementary school, same middle school, same high school, even same college they went together. What is more amazing is that there are two more with the same history. 4 musketeers..anyways,

They met and talked a bit. They talked about Oh's work, Oh's friend's study and whatnot. Then, Oh realized that it was a Friday night and was almost midnight.

Since they were talking near the college arena, there were ton of students coming out of bars, drunk and going somewhere. Also, Oh saw many couples hand in hand going up to seemingly the guy's or the girl's apartment for the feverish night. They were holding hands so firm as if their love's going to last forever. Some couples were an antithesis; while the boy almost was trying to drag the girl to his place or her place, the girl was resisting. After struggling a while, they, just like other couples, held thier hands so tight and disappeared into the dark back alley.

Since Oh's friend needed to go back to the bar and continue to hang out his friends, Oh said goodbye and promised to see each other next day and head to their hometown together in the afternoon.

While getting on the bike and getting ready to leave, Oh saw another bunch of guys coming of the bar. Oh did not have much recollection about drinking back in college. On Fridays, he used to stay in the dorm with his roommates and watch movies or whatnot. And sometimes when getting out of the library on late Friday night, he used to pass by a bunch of international students in the dorm going out for a drink, clubbing in Seoul, etc. Most of time Oh was asked to join them, he took a rain check on it. Well, Oh was an RA and he had to be on duty literally all the time.

In hindsight, Oh sometime thinks that he should have gone out more, done stupid things and learned lessons. But he does not regret how his life turned out. Since he worked hard and earned scholarships, his parents, while fully able to do so, did not have to pay his college tuition mostly. And furthermore, he feels always gracious for being able to employ the second language so fluently that he could have been able to communicate with wonderful people around the world and get to know lots of things about them. If he had not been reading and watching a countless number of magazines, books and movies in English, while his friends went out and get wasted, he would not have been able to as versatile and 'international" as he is now.

He always thinks that life is all about opportunity cost. You gain something you lose something else. What is more valuable to you thus what you choose between choices may decide your life. But how you take on those choices you make is going to be your life.

Then, Oh thinks of "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. Most of people think that the poem is telling us that although the decision you made was unorthodox and not supported by pre-existing social concept or whatever, you will eventually end up accomplishing what you wanted after all. But that is NOT the right interpretation. Let's take a look at the last two stanza for the poem.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Previously, the poet says that two roads are equally grassy and worn. And two roads have pretty much the tantamount physical condition. And thus it is not right to say that you decision is out of ordinary and does not conform to social norm or whatnot. Also, by using "sigh", Frost is on the fence whether the difference is positive or negative. He is not even sure how his decision turns out to be because it is still affecting him by saying "And that HAS MADE all the difference."

So whichever road you take, it does not matter. What matters is how you take on it. You are going to make differences. Your attitude, approaches and directions that you are going to create for yourself is going to be who you are and your life.

With this all jeremiad and crap, Oh gets on the bike and goes home to get some sleep.

Juggling

10. 9

What follows is the list of things that we need to take care of today..... or any time soon.

1. Contact Suwon Foreign High School in regard to supporting Russian students' visitation next week.

2. Contact a local tour agency in regard to payment to make when German tour agencies come to Suwon next week.

3. Contact Global Society Club with respect to the trip that a group of 21 American people will be on this weekend.

4. Contact a local car rental office to rent a car for the team

5. Contact Samsung PR office to comfirm a tour for Chinese public servants in third of October.

6. Contact Ansan English village to receive the final draft for this project that Oh's company and they have been working on

7. Start to write a report as to the asseessment on international meetings in Korea

8. Call a local publisher to make sure that the Cruise brochure that Oh's been working on will come out in time so that he can shift them to China next week

9. Redact his training schedule.

10. Start to toy with what to write for speical suggestion that Oh has to make for the company

11. Devise a power point that the president will address on curise industry, which is one of Oh's job descriptions.

12. Draw a memorandum to notify the accounting department as to the refund that he will receive tomorrow

13. Begin to work on the translation that one of the branch offices asked him to do.

14. Call Korean Tourism Organization to get some info. The person, in charge, a lady, has a real cute voice and Oh is meeting her in 10 days :) Oh, when on biz calls, sounds very official and even cold-blooded, was firtatious with her whom he has never seen before. Oh feels silly by the way.

Get things done

Do not get stressed out

Take it easy

Get help from your colleagues

Be professional

You don't get the axe because Oh's company totally rocks!!

Enjoy, lastly

Sick

2008. 10. 8

Oh is sick. He was fine in the morning, but later started to feel like he was beaten by a bunch of backstreet hoodlums.

So Oh decides to go to the convenience store to buy some drinks and drinks ton of water for the rest of day.

He comes home and wonders if he should go to the gym or not.

He sees himself putting gloves and shoes in his book bag and getting on the bicycle.

He does not feel good, but continues to work on his back and bicep.

Wiping off beads-like perspiration, Oh feels better, crossing off the workout checklist and jotting down the number of repetitions and the weight he's done. He is still making correction. People around him look at Oh like he is studying or something. Systemticity is very crucial in workout.

Then intermittently he wonders if Apple's advice is cogent enough to redact the entire routine that he and his, according to Apple, shady trainer whipped up. He decides to stick to what he has now. After all, Oh does not even know who Apple is.

He comes home, eats, puts on some tv shows and goes to bed.

While on the verge of sleeping, he realizes that he might be lonely. But he is uncertain this is because he is sick, or because of the weather or he is really lonely.

His friends have been asking Oh if he would like to be fixed up on a blind date. They said, "As long as you give us a go ahead, we will set the date and the place. Girls are ready for you." Strange.. Oh thought.

Even at the wine party that Oh attended, some of the girls that Oh met, after realizing Oh is single, told him that they would hook him up with some girls. "What.... you don't even know me.." Oh thought, but did not spit it out in their faces.

Then, Oh thinks that it might not be a good idea to go on a blind date for now. It is not fair for the date because, then, what will ensue is just nothing but feeling and filling the void.

Korean men are very sensitive and get emotion during fall. Since Oh is also Korean, he feels like his mindset is in transition from cold-blooded to mellow. "Let's make sure to know what the pitfall is!" Oh reiterates.

After popping in some meds and guzzling down water, trying to finish Genesis, he falls asleep, having no idea what tomorrow will bring him.

Gabriel

2008. 10. 7

One of the reasons why Oh savors American tv shows is many of them are sprinkled with biblical metaphors, anecdotes, symbols and so forth. Therefore, while it is possible to relish those shows on the surface, extracting the biblical analogies and insinuations from the works and correlating them with the bible is not quite easy to pull off if you don't much background in Christianity.

In this respect, Oh has been liking "Heroes"in that it weaves some of the bilical characters with contemporary settings, imaginary ideas and futuristic concepts. And now while watching the lastest episode, Oh begins to wonder why the show revovles around Gabriel and how to comprehend the show by surmising the role that Gabriel is going to play as the narrative continues.

-->Gabriel vs Noah<--
Heroes, as the title implies, is a tv show where factitious characters with super powers live on earth, kill and protect each other. Although it is not still clear how the show is going to end, it seems like Gabriel (Sylar) is an anti-Christ while the rest of the characters makes attempts to stop him from disrupting the world. And what is most scary about Gabriel is that he has the ability to absorb the others' super powers.

At any rate, Oh has been always curious why the writers named the character "Gabriel" (By the way, there is a character named Noah and he is the one trying to keep the peace on earth by locking up the bad guys with great superpowers, such as Gabriel.) And Oh's been thinking that Noah, who is the ONLY character with NO absolute power, but with just sanity, wisdom and valiance, will survive the Apocalypse and save the earth eventually as Noah survived the Ark in the bible.

So, tonight Oh is parsing some of the vignettes in the bible where Gabriel is mentioned, such as Daniel and Luke. (Oh reads the Bible in English, however, in that Korean translation is just awful.)

- Drwaing of Gabriel-

Also, he does some Internet research and later feels disappointed. As much as the Bible and its interpretation are various, the approaches to Gabriel also are too many to count. But one fact, well, at least the traditionally consistent interpretation is that Gabriel is the angel of death. In this light, Oh begins to latch onto the character, Gabriel on Heroes.

However, Oh also unearths that there is a theory that Gabriel and Noah are the same individual. Well, since Daniel labels Gabriel as the Man of God, he thinks that Gabriel could be a person, but that there is no way Noah and Gabriel are the same person.

-Deluge of God-

Then, Oh thinks, while recalling the show, the very thin line between good(Noah) and bad(Gabriel). According to the bible, Noah saves his family and the animals from Deluge and thus receives a covenant from God and later repopulates the earth. (Recall the movie, Evan Almighty) Seemingly, Noah is trying to save his family, the other good characters and after all the earth while Gabriel is to destroy the entire world. But is that necessarily true?

Sometimes you need to empty something in order to fill it back up to the fullest. You can fill a cup that is half full by adding more to it. But then the water already in the cup will be still there and eventually dilute the fresh water. In the same manner, creation sometimes requires
downright devastation or destruction. While Noah protects the others, it might back fire in that those with special powers might use them for unethical purposes. If you have power, many are tempted to use it for their own and end up hurting others and shaking up the pre-existing orders controlling the world. So, if Noah fails and thus Gabriel wins, the world status goes back to nil, before Genesis or Big Bang and the regeneration might begin. And this might be a better situation than Apocalypse.

-Noah-

So, who is more righteous and virtuous? Is it Noah or Gabriel? And who is to blame and who is to extol?

Workout Routine

2008. 10. 6

Although Oh has been working out for years he has never tried to bulk up. The primary reason he's been exercising is to stay in shape and remain healthy. He does not want to suffer from m.s., hyperthermia, arthritis, or any kind of diseases. He has seen too many suffering from maltreating thier health by going on a drinking binge, smoking, which Oh does not do. He does not want his wife and kids to be bereft and he wants to play with his grandchildren later by piggybacking them. Oh always worked out for tone. And that's why people have been saying that Oh looks lean or fit. But Oh has never particulary relished the comment.

While Oh has never signed up for a commercial gym, he only has taken advantage of free gyms on campus or local rec-centers with poor and rusty equipment, not to mention no personal trainer. Now that he put down 3 month long gym pass two months ago, he wants to take the whole thing to the next level by getting more serious. FYI, he does not aim to be a pro.

Last week, while sweating off the bitterness, he came to think that he needed some professional help from the trainer at the gym. So he basically harassed the trainer for 3 days to devise daily

workout routine and was assisted on the postures, nutrition and so forth.

It was an eye opening experience for Oh. He's always believed that he needs to lift heavy weight to bulk up. But the trainer constantly told Oh to work out for tone instead of getting massive. Convinced, Oh asked the trainer to groom him so that he could have a solid body in lieu of lean or fit. Thus, the trainer taught Oh that he needs to lift lighter but more. Feeling doutful, Oh decided to just follow the master's advice.

So, here Oh uploads his workout routine, which is still debatable and not decisive. If you have suggestions or comments, please let him know. He is going to print this out everyday and feeling excited to cross out each item for the daily program.

Basketball

2008.10.5

Sometime around September, Oh receives a call from a unknown number. It was an executive director of LG Sakers, Korean professional basketball team. "I know that this offer is long over due but we would like to hire you as a chief translator for our basketball team. We are impressed with your resume and all the experience of yours in relation to basketball. Wanna come help us out? We are going down to the Philippines soon to participate in the official Korean Basketball League tryout for foreign mercenary players."

Oh from time to time envisions himself become a basketball player. When he was a 4th grader, his parents bought him a b-ball and Oh did not know that was going to make basketball part of his life down the road.

In middle school, his skills were already famous in town and thus always he played b-ball with high school kids and local adults. When he turned 15, with his b-ball buddies he participated in NIKE 3:3 Basketball Championship in Seoul (Middleschool Division). As a result, his team "ARK" which Oh named after "Ark" in the Bible, took the second place in entire Seoul after beating more then 1,000 teams in the bracket, except for one they met in the final. Oh named his ARK just like Noah and his family survived ARK. He wanted him and his teammate to survive the tournament.

Once the PE coach asked Oh to participate in a try out at this high school renowned for

basketball. Oh hesitated, but decided not to because he was way too smart (at least back then he thought he was) to dedicate his whole life to a sport. Coincidentally, he got admitted to one of the best high schools in Korea later.

In high school, Oh was basketball, literally. During annual sport day, Oh enraptured lots of girls by showing off his behind back pass, and quisy-Magic Johnson no look pass and whatnot. So, his seniors and juniors, while not knowing Oh's real name, always called him "B-ball Boy" or "The guy who plays ball real good" He and his teammates won two annual intramural basketball championships. In his senior year, Oh established a basketball club. Still, when he runs into his alumni, people recall him as someone who was really good at basketball.

In the military, he played b-ball with African American soldiers. It was a culture shock to him. They were huge, tall, big and above all real. He knew that he won't be able to beat them in terms of physical conditions. But Oh had a brain. He survived at least amongst fellow Korean soldiers. He won 1 championship, 1 runner up and another 2nd Infantry Division Basketball Championship. Once when Oh was on a vacation, his boss personally called him to ask to come back to the camp to play some games, which Oh said to yes for his fellow Korean soldiers. Oh knew that if he said no, that boss would give him and his fellow Koreans a hard time for Oh's disobeying.

In the U.S. Oh studied real hard. And he needed to relieve stress from time to time, so went the gym. Oh was very lucky to study at the University of Iowa, one of BIG TEN schools in Midwest. He met a bunch of Chinese-Americans and Korean-Americans. They called Oh Korean Yao Ming. For the first time in his life, Oh bought a pair of Micheal Jordan shoes. He still has them and rarely puts them on.

Today again, Oh wonders what if he accepted P.E. teacher's offer and became a professional basketball player. Oh's uncle, once a basketball player, even asked Oh to take part in a try-out when Oh was 14 or 15, which Oh turned down. Then, Oh shakes off "What ifs" What is important is now, not what ifs.

Oh used to count how many games he's lost since Day 1. The last number he can recall now is 30 or 40 something.

Oh misses one of those days when he is on the floor, passing the ball around, shooting from downtown and puts up a beautiful reverse layup, the crowd goes crazy and claps for him. That ecstatic and indescribable moment is something unforgettable for the rest of his life.

Understanding vs Acceptance

2008.10. 4

On his way back to Suwon from Seoul this morning, Oh starts to think about the definitions of love. They are too many to count. Oh thinks that it is futile to try to draw a definition of love.

But he believes that love has something to do with acceptance rather than understanding.

Understanding requires a complete or partial empathy meaning you should be able to relate your own life to others'. So, when you say that "I understand.", it means that you know exactly what others are talking about or what they are going through because you have been there and done that. For example, if a friend of yours were to be dumped, you would say "I understand what you are going through." As long as you went through a breakup or at least were dumped, you are entitled to say "I understand."



Oh then thinks that people too easily say "If I were you... if I were in your shoes.. I would do this and that.." because they will never be able to understand what it is like to be under the very particular circusmtance." But Oh also thinks that saying that meaningless sentence is a least attempt and a meaningful gesture to console the person in agony.



Consecutively, Oh then questions. If understand fall shorts, then what would be qualified as an entity that is closest to the essence of love. Oh always thinks that acceptance is the answer.



In English, people use to say "I like you for you who are." Since he learned this usage, he enjoys using it when necessary. The quote above indicates that one accept, likes the other regardless of any kind of exteior or interior conditions that he or he is under.

While understanding is about partial condition of one person, acceptance talks about "as a whole"

For this reason, Oh thinks that acceptance is a better definition for love than understanding. Take family for example. Your family embraces you for who you are. Your parents, or siblings do not particular make attempts to understand you, but simply accept you and love you for who you are under the name of family.

Your dad might ground you for a week since you sunck out of the house and were on a date with this guy. You dad says, "Teenage boys are all beasts and out of control. You have no idea what they can do to you." He (your dad) might not understand what you are going through. You think you love this guy, and your libido is out of control and you even think about having a baby with him and whatnot.

If even you get knocked up, your boy friend ditches you, your dad still supports you. (There are always exceptions, sadly) And that is acceptance and that is love.


It really does not matter the person that likes you does not know anything about your job, or hobby or whatnot. He or she still is ready to accept you for you are. If you try to understand every bit of the person you like, it would be hardly possible to do so. This is so because you are not him or her.


But accepting other is very possible although it is too arduous. But it pays off eventually. If you try to understand others, there are moments when you just want to quit doing that because you can not relate yourself/yourlife to his or her. But once you accept others sincerely, then it gets easier.

Lastly, Oh finds what Bible says about Acceptance and spots excerpts from Samuel.

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7b)

A whole new experience

2008.10.3.

Oh wakes up to his cel phone alarm clock, then starts to hesitate whether he will go to the office today and take a short trip to Paju with his mentor. He does not have to, but then thinks that it will be a great opportunity to learn lots of things about his work and to be more professional. So, he gets up, jumps in a shower, pops and scrambles two eggs and gulps down a can of tuna, pieces of bread and milk. Munching food, Oh thinks that what is going to be ahead of himself today, not knowing a lot of things are going to transpire.

His mentor is already at work. Oh asks what the itinerary is today. After giving a very helpful lecture to his mentee, as usual, the mentor suggests they hit the road. Oh, of course, calls "Shotgun"

Traffic is not too bad. Sun's beating down on them. Oh's tapping his fingers according to "Nobody" by Wonder Girls.

After wasting 90 minutes, they arrive Paju, pull up the car at the parking lot for this particular restaurant whose food Oh and his mentor need to sample for the special project. Tofu place it is. The place is packed. They wait outside about 5 minutes and are ushered in.

After eating delicious tofu, they hit the road and head over the Heyri, an art village in Paju. Feeling that Heyri is a nice place to hang out, Oh also thinks that Cathy would love this place. He also thinks that he should have taken her here in lieu of Insadong the other day. While his mentor gives Oh a short tour around the place, they end up in a book store looking like a gigantic shed. Oh walks inside and finds that the place is actually really nicely decorated, artistic and architecturally strcutured. He starts to parse a book about Van Gough.

Oh seldom understands art, well, certain types of art, such as drawing, patinting, sculpturing. Surely, they look nice, but never actually deliver life-changing experience to Oh's personal life. However, when Oh continues to read Van Gough's book and runs into some of the most famous portraits, it sorta strikes him. This gets Oh thinking "What am I doing here? Where am I in my life?..." Alas, the place is too swamped to take time and meditate on such philosophical questions. Bummed out a bit, Oh and the mentor walks out of the building and walks more around Heyri.

Getting back on the car, the mentor re-sets the designation to Suwon on his GPS navigation system. Hitting the road again. Living up the little title that his mentee gave him, the mentor, while driving, bombards Oh with a number of advice as to how to live a life, how to excel in his work and whatnot. Most of times, Oh does not like to take advice from people because he is an egoist. But the mentor's advice is different. It is genuine, helpful, detailed, not condescending, but realistic. So Oh just tries to regurgitate every single word coming out of the mentor's mouth.

On his way back to Suwon, Oh notices his cell phone starting to buzz. A text message "Hey, I am throwing a wine party at a Frazer Suite pent house near Insadong, Do you wanna come?" has arrived. It is from Alex one of the mentors in Oh's life. There are three mentors. And this mentor Oh met in the military. He currently works for the VP of SC Banks in Korea as a personal translator. It has been awhile since Oh saw him, so regardless of the possible characteristics of party, Oh wants to go all the way up to Seoul as soon as he arrives Suwon.

But Oh is not sure if he would fit in "Wine Party" and upscale "Penthouse" He is a pretty down to earth guy. At first, Oh thinks that Wine Party is like a private one where these snobbish people gather, sip glasses of wine, exchange businesse cards and look for eligible bachelor(ettes) to sleep with or to get hitched to. But, knowing that Alex is a snob nor a son of a rich family, Oh finds himself lean toward the idea. So Oh calls up Alex and bombards him with questions as to "Who is going to be there? Is there anyone that I know of? What is the dress code? Is there an entrance fee?"

Then Oh arrives Suwon and still is not sure whether to go to Seoul or not. Oh thinks that getting prepped and going all the way up to Seoul is just pain in the ass. But it will even out the fact that he will get to see a good ole friend! Still undecided, Oh leaves the office, saying good bye to and thanking his mentor at work, and heads directly to the gym.

The trainer was not there. So Oh stretches out and starts to work on his quads. Oh asks the front desk clerk about whereabouts of the trainer to which the clerk says that he is one his way back to the gym right now.

The trainer shows up. The gym is empty. Oh thinks that this is a perfect timing to get a free one-on-one lesson. The majority of the gym members just comes to the gym, works out and leaves. Oh, having been taken work-out more seriously, thinks that it would be stupid not to take advantage of the trainer while he can. Oh has been cozying up the trainer and the kid is quite nice and hospitable. Anyways, today Oh needs to work on his shoulders.

The trainer teaches Oh some routines and corrects his postures. Oh, while feeling utmost pain on his shoulders, actually relishes every single moment in that workout makes him feel alive and helps him relieve stress to the great extent. After a 50 min long private lesson, Oh calls it a day, takes a shower, winks at himself in the mirror, jumps out, puts back on the clothes, and comes back home. Then he starts to doll up to go to Seoul.

On the bus to Seoul, Oh is in disbelief, thinking that he rarely goes up to Seoul unless it is very necessary. But now he is. It is not a time-sensitive matter or urgent, either. He just wants to see his good ole friend. Although Alex enticed Oh to come to the party, telling him that they are a lot of eligible, good looking, successful singles at the party Oh just does not really care about them much.

Oh, however, wonders if he by chance could run into her in the middle of Seoul, knowing that she could be in Seoul now. He has lots of things to say to her. Bitterness again.

Upon arrival Seoul, he spots the penthouse right away. He is actually surprised to see that luxurious building standing next to Insadong. He has never noticed the building before. According to Alex, monthly rent is 7,000,000 won. Oh flabbergasts.

He calls Alex who then comes down to the lobby and lets him in by swiping the card. They exchange firm man-hugs. It is always sooo good to see friends.

Reaching the 15th floor, they enter the room. All eyes upon Oh. Oh is obviously nervous. 3 guys and 7 girls. Oh thinks that it is going to be a very interesting night. The night is young and they drink (Oh does not), eat, chit-chat. The first impression that Oh gets is that the party members are snobs. But it turns out to be wrong later. Well, some of them are snobbish.

As times goes by some leave the place. Oh needs to decide whether to go back down to Suwon or just stay up all night with total strangers that he gets on the wrong foot with. Oh is still on the fence. In order to catch the last bus Oh needs to leave right now. But Alex talks him into staying and he falls for it solely because he could talk the night away with Alex.

Around midnight, there are only 4 people left. Two girls and two boys (Oh included). They talk, eat, and drink (Oh still does not). Oh feels left out because except for Oh, they all know each other. They are all co-workers. Actually, the party members are some of the close co-workers of Alex or at least previous ones. So probably 75 percent of time, they talk about their work, other colleagues and trash talk them. Oh starts to pitify them because he thinks it is a bit stupid to talk about your work outside the work. Also, Oh thinks that it is insensitive of them to talk about their work while they are fully aware that Oh has no idea what they are talking about. Office cliques..

It is around 3:20 am and everyone feels tired.

There are four people and only two beds in the place.

Next morning, only in his boxers, Oh gets up and takes a shower. With Alex, Oh leaves the place. The girls are still sleeping in. Alex needs to participate in choir practice at this church near Oh's parents' house. Oh shortly contemplates whether he will head parents' home with Alex. But Oh needs to work out later and above all feels tired. So, after exchanging firm handshakes, Oh and Alex go separate ways and promise to see each other later.

"What a day" Oh thinks.

Things that I have done today before I punch out

(In a time sequence)

1. Felt bitter, got up, took a shower, ate, came to work.

2. Still felt bitter and went about a day by taking care of one of myriads of paper work.

3. Could not simply shake off the bitterness and dug myself in a pile of paper work.

4. Went out to lunch at a local chicken place and ate for free. Started to feel better and relished
sunshine a lot.

5. Swamped with more paperwork.

6. A bit shocked to know that I might take a business trip to Shanghai.

7. Made doznes phone calls to Germany and realized that German ladies voice is super sexy.

8. Began to feel bitter again, looking at my computer monitor.

9. Contemplated when I am going to get my dad's car.

10. Sucking on a rolliepop and a bit hyped up probably because of sugar.

11. Excited about the idea that I am going to the gym later. Will ask the trainer to train me real
hard. He is a good kid. My grand project has just begun.

12. Made another phone call to Germany. A guy picked up the phone. Felt bitter.

13. Tried to count how many girl friends I have had and how the relationships were. Thought
this is just useless and unproductive.

14. Contemplated whether I should take a friend of mine's suggestion that he set me up on a
blind date with this 5'7 inch tall graduate school student who, according to my friend, is super rich. He's been urging me to take him upon the offer. Need to think about it.

15. Thought I need to read the Bilble more.

16. Contemplated whether I should take part in a friend of mine's wedding tomorrow. She is the best friend of one of my ex's, who at age 24, got hitched to this super rich guy and ended up getting divorced. Afterwards, she, through the mutual friend, conveyed the message that she would liek to meet me in person, which I thought was pretty interesting. Her nickname back in college was "1 out of 100", which means only 1 out of 100 guys could be her boyfriend

17. Wondering when this bitterness will go away.

18. Thanked Amy Xiong for all the advice that she gave me today and wish her new hairdo would turn out fantastic.
19. Feeling bitter while writing this. Thinking of her.

20. Curious if I could turn the clock back and be 20 years old again.

21. Excited about the idea to meet up Ria if I went on a trip to Shanghi this month.

22. Contemplated how to say "Your workload will snowball as of today and you've only got
a month here. It is not personal nor my decision" to the temp at the office when she comes back on Monday.
23. Still feeling bitter and thinking about her.

Coworkers

As much important as it is where you work, whom you work with is also crucial. In this regard, I am very fortunate to have very professional colleagues. My team, overseas marketing team consists of 5 (me inclusive) members.

The team captain; he used to work at KNTO (Korean National Tourism Organization) for years, later moved to Hyundai Asan that has paved the way to nurture Korean's tourism in North Korea, in particular Geumgang Mountain and Kaesung. He basically started the whole thing from scracth and set up the things now known as Hyundai Geumgang Mountain Tour. From time to time he talks about entertainment industry and behind stories that he knows of. According to him, he knows people in the industry and thus gets updated on juicy stories of Korean entertainment field. He seems to be callous from time to time, but that is his style. Seemingly, he talks insensitively, but deep down, we all know that he is a good person. He lost his father in-law few weeks ago. He's been suspicious as to whom I live with..hehe. The area that I live is pretty flamboyant and full of bars and whatnot. So he thinks that I live with one of juicy girls or young college girl. Well, no one except for my folks has been my home..so who knows?

And the ranking number two, she is in Europe now, on 3 week long trip, which she got lots of denouncement from outside the department. She is in charge of Chinese tourism and has been associated with the government office and so forth. Fully capable of speaking both Mandarin and Cantonese, she is very professional and that's why she has not been married, yet. Workaholic she seems to be sometimes. One day, I needed to pick up something that I forgot at work and thus came back to work around 11pm. And she was still there staring her computer monitor and constantly typing up something. I was very impressed with her dedication and devotion to her work. And I believe that she deserves her trip to Europe, (well it is not a trip actually, the company endorses her trip to Europe in order to ameliorate the employee's sense of tourism). She earned it herself. And she said that this is her first time to go on a long trip since she started to get invovled in tourism about 20 years ago. She was very ecstatic about it, but those who have no idea why her trip to Europe is so meaningful to her say "She just kicking it off in Europe. It is very irresponsible for her to take a trip at this very busy time of the year." Well, I don't think so. She won the very competitive competition and thus has all the right to relish what she's obtained.

And my mentor. He is smart. Probably one of the smartest persons I have ever seen. Both book smart and street smart. Ambitious, funny and sensible. From the very day I started to work, he has been giving me a lot of advice as to how to live a life, to excel at work and to further my career. The pieces of advice were not just superficial, but very realistic and helpful. Of course, I have not done any of them, but once I stay on track, I will. He is like my brother that I don't have. I am an only child as you know. He sits right next to me and always welcomes my inquiries and make fun of me as to, again, whom I live with. And he's got a one year old son, so always shoves the baby's pictures taken on cell phone in my face. Oh..and he eats constantly. But he ain't a pig.

The last one, the japanese master. Whenever she is on a business call with some Japanese person, I feel like some kind of channeling happens to her. The voice tonality completely switches to that of Japanese women, which is quite ticlkish. Sometimes she is moody and thus throws tantrum at me, but other times she is very helpful and nice. She always talks about her 2 year old son that is living with his grandmother. Somtimes she is harsh, but most of time, just like my mentor, she is very helpful and I consider her from time to tim my older sister, which also I do not have.

Taken all together, my coworkers are very professional and caring. But work is work. I need to be professional as much as they are. And I don't need to cozy up to them. But sometimes, like today, I would like to depend upon them and listen to their good ole stories or advice. After all, we all should live in harmony.