Eyes wide open

I'm so tired. I got ZERO sleep on sat night cuz we were at Abebe's house in Indy for the international students sleepover... so last night i actually went to bed at 9.30pm! isn't that insane? i don't think i've ever gone to bed so early.. since i was a kid. but omg by 8pm my eyelids were fluttering shut and i couldn't keep them open at all. so i just gave up and went to bed, and fell asleep immediately. now i have to finish all my hw before my first class at 11. ugh.

But the weekend was fun. went to senior art shows on friday.. yayy free food again! campus was buzzing cuz there was tons of stuff going on. craziness. youth conference, the play 'Smoke on the mountain', art shows... tons of high school kids running around campus. awww so cute.

The weather on sat was incredibly warm and beautiful and wonderful. i sunbathed for an hour waiting to go to Indy... i loved soaking in the sun's rays. oh warmth, how i've missed you so much. then we went shopping! YAY. finally got to go buy some nice appropriate intern clothes cuz i accepted the internship!!! i don't really care that it's a small company because.. i just wanna go to NYC for the summer and get some work experience. it's about time.

So the retreat was fun.. went to play laser tag!! and shopped at the Asian market!! yayy. then played some form of charades at Abebe's beautiful, huge house until about 4am. then i couldn't fall asleep cuz we were sleeping on air mattresses, and one of them kept making this sound (in the morning we realized why: it was slowly deflating throughout the night!), and then i had to get up at 6am cuz i was going back to campus with the early van. so... sunday was spent trying to stay awake. went to youth conference service, which was really good. liked it alot. :)

Now it's back to classes. but 3 more weeks, then finals, then SUMMER!

1 month to summer

OMG. summer is RIGHT AROUND the corner!!! YAY!!! i love it! the weather today was soooo warm. makes me happy. i realized the weather really can affect our mood. everyone was so cheerful and smiling today, not like when it's snowing or rainy, where everyone is grouchy. so in commemoration of the start of spring (finally!), my wing had our First West Dress Day!!! everyone wore dresses to chapel. haha. it was fun to finally wear something other than jeans and shoes/boots.
SPRING IS HERE!!!!

So i did an interview today, with an online magazine called JuliB.. it's a smaller publishing company, and it sounds kinda cool, the stuff that their interns do.. cuz it's a smaller company, interns get to be more hands-on and do more editorial stuff, instead of just getting coffee. PLUS fridays are off days!! so nice huh!! so within hours of my interview, they told me i got the job!!!!!!!!! so how.. now i don't know if i should accept it right away, or wait and see if i get anything better. i have less than 24 hours to decide.....
oh. and it's in New York City!

Anw Hannah, Katie and I went out tuesday night to Thai Smile (yummy thai food!! i love that they serve enough for 2 portions, because that means leftovers for dinner the next day!).. and to watch...
17 AGAIN!!!!!

I really liked it. it was funny, simple and lighthearted. good for a night out with the girls :) only i kept expecting Zac Efron to burst out in song every once in a while. too much high school musical. haha. he did play basketball and dance in this movie though.. so he was kinda keeping to his HSM stereotype.

i got to interview pretty cool people this week.. this Taylor senior guy who got into Harvard Business School.. i'd say that's a pretty big deal. he was kinda quiet and shy though, not what i expected. i thought he'd be the take charge, fill the room with his presence kinda authoritative guy.
also got to interview this other Taylor guy who's studying abroad in Australia right now.. he portrayed Jesus in an Easter performance, complete with blood, wooden cross and crown of thorns.. and got the national media's attention. so that was cool :)

OMG and there's been so much theft around campus nowadays! it's kinda scary and whenever i'm away from my room i was fret and worry and think about my computer's safety. so expensive k! i dun wanna lose it! apparently people have been losing ipods, wallets, computers, even cars! craziness. in a christian college too. goes to show really no one's perfect.

You spin my head right round

AAAAHHHH.

i got a call back from MTV in Santa Monica, California!!!!!!!! but i can't accept!!!! because i'm already committed... to another internship program.. which hasn't found me an internship yet!!! and it's only a month left to summer!!! HOW HOW HOW. sucks. i really wanted to work for MTV. but then.. their internship is only 2 days a week. so... oh well. maybe next time. so sad. and also, so stressed now. been interviewing people about grad schools.. today i interviewed this guy from Taylor who got into Harvard Business School. so cool huh. so stressful to think about graduation next year. don't even know what i'm gonna do. should start looking at grad schools now. or potential jobs.

it's been really rainy these couple of days. outside looks so dreary and desolate. but got to go out on sat.. to Target and RR :) fun times. went for Anna's senior voice recital on sunday. man, she's always so quiet and soft-spoken, but when she opens her mouth to sing, she totally belts out a beautiful tune. it was so amazing hearing her sing in different languages too.
Susan cooked curry on sunday for dinner. yummy. and then went for TCA Worship Night. was kinda nice.

I GOT IN!!!!!!!!

I'll be in sunny Los Angeles, California, this fall!!! Aug 22-Dec 10!!! Whoo hoo!!!! :)
Found out yesterday, after weeks of excruciating anticipation. omg i was so depressed on wed because they said they'd let me know by wed and i didn't hear anything, so i just assumed i wasn't good enough. BUT YAY! i got in after all!!!
And so.. i'm kinda scared now. hahaha. it's so stupid, i know. but i don't know why i applied!!! i don't know anything about making film!!! i don't know anyone there!! i don't know how to drive!! i've never lived in LA before!! what am i supposed to do????

argh.

ok, negative feelings aside, i'll be interning somewhere in Hollywood!!!!!! that's exciting, at least. haha. and taking a scriptwriting class, a film criticism class, and a production class, where i actually get to be part of the crew that produces an original film to submit to a film festival!! sounds crazy. i feel kinda overwhelmed just thinking about it. can't believe i'm going to LA!!! no more tiny little upland!!! it's surreal.

so yeah. and i turned down the marketing/advertising position at BlackBook mag, but then the Editorial department contacted me and so now i've another interview with them. at this point, i really don't care what internship i get, i just wanna get something so i can stop worrying about what i'm gonna do for the summer. plus, i'll be doing another internship in LA anyway.
man, this year is a year of venturing into the exciting/terrifying unknown!! living in NYC by myself, doing my first internship in the big city, living in LA and doing another internship in Hollywood!! craziness. i hope i can do it.

on another note, i totally cried last night. and for no good reason, too! i guess i haven't shed a tear in a while, so a breakdown was long overdue. but... i don't know. was just kinda frustrated at being compared to others and constantly feeling like my writing isn't good enough. and also the stress of not knowing what i want to do with my life. hate that. hate it when people ask me what i wanna do in the future. i don't know, okay!! leave me alone.

Discussions, discussions

So, Media, Faith and Culture class. Once again... has made me think about all the things that is wrong with Christianity. and i'm not saying it's bad. in fact, i love it. i thrive on it. it's so interesting and i feel like we, as Christians, ought to know all these things so we can improve and fight against it.

Anyway, in one of our readings, there was a intense survey done of the youths in America, and it said their top few criticisms of Christians was that Christians are
1. Hypocritical
2. Too focused on getting converts
3. Judgmental
4. Anti-homosexuals

Isn't that so sad? That Christianity is beginning to be known for what it stands AGAINST rather than what it stands FOR. That people only see the bad side of Christianity through crazy people like Britney Spears who claim to be Christians but obviously do not know what that means.

And then we watched a HBO documentary called 'Friends of God', where this non-believer went around the States to document Christians. And obviously her stance was biased, and she only went to the Bible Belt of America - the South (like Texas, Tennessee, etc.) and she only showed the controversial, weird parts of Christianity. Like pastor Ted Haggard (this was before his scandal, though. and on another note, i really don't judge him or think bad of him even though he did something wrong. cuz we're all sinners. his sins just happened to be televised on national TV. and we all have the potential to fall, but grace is the only thing that keeps us from falling), who managed to make Christians look really unreal and weird.

And there was this Christian Wrestling Federation, where this Christian guy nicknamed 'Jesus Freak', the founder, claims his wrestling matches takes wrestling and cleans it up for kids. well, i don't know what he means by 'clean', but his matches look pretty darned violent to me, just like WWE, minus the crude language. and there are all these kids screaming and yelling in excitement as they watch people bash each other up in the ring. and then at the end there's an altar call, and the pastor claims 10% of the kids/youths accept Christ.

So what does this mean? should we support this kinda stuff? Just cuz a few lives are saved? no doubt, every life is precious in God's eyes, but at what cost? So does this mean we can start up a 'Christian' club and have parties, drinking, gambling and all that stuff, then at the end give an altar call, and as long as a few people receive Christ, it's ok? that makes it Christian? I DON'T THINK SO. if this is the case, then, seriously... anything goes. u can do whatever u want and just slap the 'Christian' title on it to justify your actions.

And then, Rolling Stone magazine had this article written about this guy, Ron Luce, who hosts 'Acquire the Fire' conferences around the States. And each time, about more than 10, 000 youths attend his rallies, and they're so... extreme. it's like a huge, radical youth crusade. They have mass confession and weeping, then they proceed to show off their best dance moves for God, and there's also all kinds of bands that perform, and they do other stuff like write down 'things of the world' they wanna give up for God like music, movies, even Starbucks and Victoria's Secret and cereal. and then the preacher, Ron Luce, tells them all kinds of extremist stuff like 'real stories' about people who have 'lost their souls to secularism'. like there was a girl who left Jesus and got date raped, or another girl who dated a non-Christian boy and now lives a bisexual lifestyle and works in the porn industry.. it's all just so... extreme. and they sound like an orgy of emotions.

And then (sorry to go on, but there's just so many interesting things we talked about), there was this website which looked like a porno site, but then when u actually click and click and click inside, it leads to testimonies about how people have stopped their addiction to porn, and there's also a hotline to call for help with addiction to porn. and this method of getting people to the site but misleading them and making them think it's something when it's not, is called the 'bait and switch' method. which i think is totally wrong. how can u deceive people into thinking something when it's not this thing at all??

but then again, it makes me think of how... most of the evangelistic events we have are kinda 'bait and switch'. in a way. like we tell people it's a magic show or a musical, or we bring people in by enticing them with video games, and then at the end there's an altar call and we expect them to come to Christ.. i dunno.
SO MANY THINGS TO THINK ABOUT! my head is bursting.

i should probably go get some sleep.

YES YES YES!

Last night watched 'Yes Man' again. so inspired. i shall say 'yes' to (almost) everything now!!!!! start living life!!! haha.

So i didn't end up going on the MuKappa retreat after all.. really wanted to. oh it was so stupid. i got up at 7am, only had 4 hours of sleep...packed and everything... then, of course, my 'best friend' came. complete with cramps and nausea and all. so i was like, ok guess i'm not going after all. went to breakfast and saw everyone and felt bad that i wasn't going, but oh well.

The BlackBook interview went well.. was pretty informal and laidback. but they told me the internship position was more of marketing/advertising, which isn't something i wanna do.. so, i guess i'll be looking elsewhere. sigh. too bad. it looked like a pretty cool magazine. now i wish i majored in Public Relations/Advertising. seems like there are soooo many of those positions available for interns. not many people want writers :(

So the last few days were spent slacking to the max. I LOVED IT :) it's SO NICE having no one around!!! there's prob only like 50 people left on the whole campus... which is so great. i have the room to myself, there's only 4 girls on the wing now.. the bathroom to myself... i can do whatever i like!!!! love it. so i've been playing my guitar. after letting it rot in the corner for almost a year. heh. man, my fingers hurt. i pulled out the songs i used to write when i was going through my years of teenage angst..and totally laughed at myself. those lyrics i wrote... so emo. hahahaha. maybe i'll post one or two up sometime so we can all laugh at me at age 15, hating the world.

Friday night went to try the new Chinese restaurant in town.. called Happy Buddha. i don't know why but so many chinese eateries here insist on calling themselves '____ Buddha'. like Lucky Buddha. wonder why. anw the food was ok.. hope the place doesn't close down. it's weird how this is the 3rd family to own the place cuz they don't get enough business so they always close down, but then the next person who opens the restaurant there always happens to sell chinese food. weird.

Today was Easter Sunday!! went to the Daudts for dinner. was so good :) yummy lasagna and breadsticks and salad and fruit salad. so super full. and then played all kinds of card games. hilarious, the stuff we come up with.

Easter Break

i love it when they separate Easter and Spring break. that means two breaks!!!! YEAH!! and since my class today was cancelled, and I don't have class on tues, i have a 6-day break! :)

So this week:
THE REJECT SHOW ---- so lame. basically a bunch of people singing their hearts out, or should i say, yelling their hearts out. and the singing was pretty bad. although there was a really cool mime. the other performances were average. at least it was only $2.

I'm still waiting impatiently for the results from the LA Studies Program!!!! SO SLOW!!!! They'll notify me next wed.. April 15.. I hate it when people ask me cuz I'm like, I DON'T KNOW YET!! stop asking me!! i'll tell u on april 15!! gosh!! soooo.... nervous. on one hand, i really wanna go. i think the experience will be awesome. i'll get to study film, i'll get to be part of the process of making a film, i'll get to intern in Hollywood... but then... i don't know anyone there, not even the people from Taylor going (i don't know them that well. and i'm the least experienced with film out of all 5 of us). and most of all, i have ZERO experience making film. i'm gonna be surrounded by film gurus and i'll be totally overwhelmed. oh i really don't know. it's scary. soooo.... if i get in, i'm meant to go. if not, then not :)

Wed was the longest day ever. so many classes. but at least we got to go to Starbucks for Layout and Design to look at their brand and logo. then went to the souphouse and made dumplings!! yummy. and watched/danced to/sang along to High School Musical 3. much to some people's amusement. i was totally into it. haha.
got to skype with mummy and daddy today! yayyyy.

Random: i think one of my pet peeves is when people make plans but don't come through with them. like when people keep saying, let's do this! let's go here! but they never do.... it really annoys me. cuz if you're not gonna do it, then why bother making plans and getting me excited?? seriously.

Anyway, tomorrow I HAVE AN INTERVIEW WITH BLACKBOOK MAGAZINE!! really nervous. but i wanna get it over with. i've actually never heard of the magazine, but i looked it up and it looks cool. it's like a city guide to what to do in cities around the States. and they have stuff about travel, nightlife, clubs, fashion and entertainment. so.... pray the interview goes well. Friday 11am! I'll be interviewing while i'm on the road to the MuKappa Spring Retreat!!

Ok that's all. gotta go prepare answers to typical interview questions. and finish packing.

Palm Sunday

That's today. But I have no idea what on earth it is. Other than that, it rained ALL DAY. made me not feel like going to the gym at all. bleh. on a random note, i realized April Fools' Day came and went, and nothing much happened. we were gonna do an Echo issue all about fake news stories, but then we (the staff) had to pay for it out of our own pockets, and no one was too keen on that. so it didn't happen. which i didn't mind. lesser work :)

And even though i was completely reluctant to study on tues for my Historic exam, i finally started at like midnight.. after much delay. and was totally shocked when i got my results back.. 93%!! really unexpected. but yayyy :)

And then kept putting off writing my personal narrative article for class on fri until midnight (again).. got done at 2am.. got ready for bed.. and then the stupid fire alarm went off, and the entire dorm had to evacuate out into the frigid cold for like half an hour! everyone was so groggy with half-opened eyes, and we were all pretty much dead the next day. grrr to the person who set off the alarm!!! plus, i went to class on fri and the professor flippantly said, 'oh, it's not due today anymore..let's just push it back'
i was....... pretty darned annoyed. but oh well. i'd have to do it eventually anyway. might as well get it done now.

Fri was the senior art shows!! they were great.. there are some really talented artists here, and their work was amazing (food was amazing, too). wish i could have artistic talent like that. but pretty much all i can do is draw stick figures and smiley faces. haha. and there was a wing retreat in the hallway, but i didn't go..not alot of people did. finally got to go to walmart for groceries!!! yayy for strawberries, grapes, apples, yogurt, granola, cereal and almonds! man, i'm healthy. :)

Saw Fast and Furious ystdy. one of my fav movie series!!! and this one was a continuance of the first one, my fav! but.... ohhh. total letdown! the plot was lame, nothing much happened. the script was cheesy, so many cringe-worthy lines and cliche scenes.. the only thing worth watching were the explosive action scenes, which were of course, totally AWESOME!!

Spring break FUN :)

Me, jo, steph, wen eu and sung ah! childhood friends, college friends and new friends :)
At the cool, funky organic restaurant.

Us at the Bento Cafe. waiting for yummy fried rice and noodles and bubble tea!!

Rainy days=wet jeans, soaked shoes, squishy earthworms on the sidewalk and hoodies :)

Sitting around... trying to find something to do.

Nemo look-alikes at the aquarium! so cute.

The overhead aquarium thingy. pretty cool.

Look at that disgusting fish. I was in a tunnel behind the fish tank. being at the aquarium really made me wanna eat fishies! especially stingray.....

At the World of Coca-Cola!

With our 3-D glasses waiting for the Coke movie to start.... and... it ended up being really lame.

Free flow of Coke and all kinds of Coke products!! awesomeness.

The guy who created Coke. cool, huh. i got to 'meet' him. haha

The weird Coke mouth thingys that the guy made us hold to take a picture. haha

Coke advertisements from all over the world, from all over the ages

Awesome Coke pants! I so wanted one

Waiting by huge Coke bottles to go into the introductory Coke movie

Jo, me, sung ah. oh fun times :)

SIX FLAGS!!! at the NINJAaaaa

Still at Six Flags..random pose.

another random pose

Got to meet Batman!! he was kinda pudgy though. ahahaha. and a little intimidating

The Georgia Scorcher!! the rollercoaster ride where we had to stand up throughout. awesomeness

Bugs and Tweety :)

On the subway..the MARTA. i love public transportation :)

Sing for the moment

I'm sitting at my desk, back in my room at Taylor. I guess this means spring break is officially over.

SIGH.

i'm utterly lethargic right now. have lost all motivation to study. i just wanna graduate now and go... do something useful with my life! have an exam and a quiz tmr... haven't started studying... i guess i should start soon. but it's so dreary and rainy outside, the perfect day for snoozing. plus i only got an hour of sleep last night.

Anyway, the rest of spring break was entirely wonderful. The Georgia Aquarium, supposedly the 'largest in the world', was disappointingly small. really nothing i haven't seen before. just a bunch of fishes and cute little sea creatures. it was fun, but i'm glad we got the after hours student discount. we walked a lot too, on this trip. cuz no car, saving money on transportation, so it was tiring. walking=our workout for spring break :)

And can I just say, i loved trying all the different kinds of foods in Atlanta!! We had korean food, chinese fried rice and noodles and bubble tea, southern biscuits and gravy, yummy sweet potato fries, etc. Jo's friend was awesome. she brought us to all kinds of eclectic, funky places that were full of fascinating people and interesting food. there was this organic, natural food place that i'm sure my mom would love.. and their food was awesome! ate until almost burst. went to a few bars and cool hangouts and now my clothes smell like smoke. bleh. met some of her friends..they were all really nice. heard horror stories about being at a huge school like Georgia Tech, which made me really appreciate Taylor for its small, friendly community and open house hours (which means no guys at girls dorms and vice versa, except for weekends)

Plus I got to watch movies that I missed over christmas break!!! YEAHH!!! we found several dollar theaters nearby, and they were kinda shady, but who cares! $2 for a movie is totally fine with me! watched 'marley and me' (which was so long and boring and pointless and plotless. the dog was just an ordinary dog, just that it was exceptionally hyper. THAT'S ALL. such a disappointment), 'the curious case of benjamin button' (which was intensely fascinating. good, but not great), and 'valkyrie' (which i was dying to watch cuz i love war movies. but it was alright. not the best war movie i've seen).

The weekend was rainy, so we spent some time just chilling in the apartment..slacking...watching movies..playing DS..taking naps.. so nice and relaxing. Went to church with Jo on sunday..to Atlanta Chinese Christian Church. It was actually my first time going to a chinese church here in the States. weird, huh. it was interesting. kinda weird to see all the asians..but it was cool.
and we had car adventures.. (jo's friend was so nice to lend us his car!)

#1 - failed attempt to pump gas. hahahaha. cuz in singapore there are people who do it for you! so we were pretty much clueless and couldn't even get the latch of the gas thingy to open, neither could we get any gas to come out of the pump. had to ask for help from this spanish-speaking guy, and all he could say to me was, 'u china?'
#2 - had to send the car in for oil change. and since it wasn't our car, we didn't know anything about it. clueless again. the workers must've thought we were dumb or something. haha.

And then, lunch at Popeyes!!! i love it! yummy fried chicken and biscuits. so... the first thing we noticed when we entered was that everyone there was black. even the workers. kinda weird, but we sat down anyway. then these 3 black youths entered. one sat and like stared at us while we were eating. another asked if jo and i were both girls (cuz she has short hair, so i think they mistook her for a guy), then he attempted to pick us up and wanted to sit with us, then he offered to take us around Atlanta, but we politely declined and got the heck out of there. haha. i know this sounds dumb and probably racist and horrible, but sometimes i get scared that what if i offend someone and they not happy, and they just whip out a gun and shoot me. that's why i'm totally against america's gun policy. seriously! no one should have the freedom to hold a gun! not even for hunting.

so yeah. that was my spring break. the last night was fun. went exploring bars. interesting experience. stayed at jo's friend's house. with her crazy hyper little doggie. slept for an hour. got on the plane at 6.40am and got back here at 12pm. and i'm still trying to put off studying. aaaahhhhhhh. so unmotivated!

Halfway through spring break '09!

I LOVE SPRING BREAK.
it's kinda weird though, this year being my first year not going on a spring break mission trip. but i like it. it's nice to just take a break and not have to wake up at the break of dawn everyday :)
so monday we got to Georgia Tech!! it's a freakin awesome place. sooo jealous cuz it's so much nicer than Taylor! their campus is like probably 10 times bigger than ours. haha. but it's a Tech school.. so mostly nerdy engineering people around here. but they have an AWESOME student center..complete with a bowling alley and a gaming place! sigh. i wish Taylor was nicer. but then again, the people here are kinda... lonesome. so it made me really appreciate Taylor's community. cuz we're such a small school, everyone's so nice and we all know each other (mostly).

so sung ah and i are staying at jo's apartment. which is so dirtyyy!! haha. we're planning to help clean it for her :) we met some of her friends too. they're really cool and interesting! and nice! they bring us around to nice places to eat :)
went to see the World of Coca-Cola!! it was so fascinating! there was the entire history of Coke.. all the cool advertisements over the years. i entertained the thought of working for Coke for a second, before i realized my mom would chastise me for working for the devil. haha. and they had a room full of free-flow Coke products from all over the world!!! we drank until we were totally bloated and feeling gross, and now i never wanna see another can of soda ever again.

ystdy we went shopping!! at this place called Lennox Square mall. took the subway there. but there was nothing much to buy. oh well. save money! going to the Georgia Aquarium later. the largest aquarium in the world! the weather's been really nice lately. not too warm but not too cold either. although it rained today.
but yeah! can't believe it's thursday already. time flies.

so anw i will probably be doing an internship from after school gets out until July 18th... in New York City. not totally confirmed yet, but should be. hopefully.

Oh how I love traveling experiences...

being sarcastic there.

so... guess what happened? Northwest flight got delayed, due to some technical problems, not surprised at all. they put me on another route.. from Indianapolis to Minneapolis to Atlanta. finally got here at 8pm after traveling for one whole day when Georgia's only like 2 hours away from Indiana. waited at the baggage claim... and of course! no luggage in sight. not surprised at all. both of us didn't get out luggage until today.
once again i say, I'LL NEVER FLY DELTA AGAIN!
but of course i will. cuz the other american airlines are even worse.

on the plus side, they put me on FIRST CLASS for both flights! i'm really blessed. although i must say, i really don't make full use of being in first class. i just sleep through it. so i only enjoy the nice, huge space i have. not really any of the drinks/snacks or anything. traveling is just too tiring.

Anw, on friday we went to mimi's house in Indy..was so nice to meet her family! they have 5 girls, all adopted from different places in the world..so their family is a mix of caucasian, korean, indian, and hispanic. isn't that so cool? i wanna have that too. adopt kids from all over the world (aka Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt) so i don't have to have my own. haha. it'll make for a really interesting diverse family :)

and today! the crazy guy at the front desk (we're staying at Courtyard Marriott till mon.. it's a pretty crappy place, but i'm just glad to have a place to stay so i'm not complaining) told us we had to leave the hotel at 7.15am to get to Six Flags by 10.30am, when they opened.
SO. we got up at freakin 6am! i couldn't sleep too..so i got no sleep. and we took the subway..was pretty easy to navigate. we were like the only asians there. heh. black people are everywhere! was really interesting to observe. they're really free in their expression. one guy was singing in the subway, another was dancing, another was preaching to anyone who'd listen! so interesting right?? and some of them tried to randomly talk to us. fascinating :)

so we got to the Six Flags subway stop at 8am!!! 2 and a half hours before it even opens!!! and we found this awesome, weird toilet. it looked like a metallic box. and u press a button and the door slides open. looks cool outside, but inside is like any other toilet u'd find at a gas station in malaysia. and u have to press a button and they give u like 2 squares of toilet paper. so of course i pressed the button 50 times. anw everything in there was automated. was pretty futuristic.
and then we rode on the subway to random stops until 10am, then SIX FLAGS!!!!

it was awesome. i LOVED every single ride. there were rollercoasters galore. it was like my dream come true!!!! soooo many crazy rollercoasters of all kinds!!! there was the Georgia Scorcher where we had to STAND UP the entire time!! coolness. and Superman, where we were lying face down, with only one little seatbelt thingy holding us from falling to the ground. was absolutely awesome. sung ah and i got on so many rollercoasters one after each other that after a while we got dizzy. heh. we finished all the thrill rides! there was hardly any lines too! we got done by like 5pm. and now my throat hurts from screaming so much. but yeah. i love six flags. but then again, it's no Disneyworld. Disney is still the best :)

YAY for going to Georgia Tech tomorrow!!

SPRING BREAK '09 YEAH!

it's officially spring break. i'm leaving in 10 mins but i thought i'd update quick.
Sung Ah and I are going to Atlanta, Georgia!!!! so freakin excited. only been there once before, last year on spring break.. but it was on the way to Miami so we only stopped by one day. but still. they have gooood southern food :)
And we're gonna stay with my childhood bestie, Jo!! at Georgia Tech!! yeah for real college life!! haha. going to Six Flags also!! it's an awesome THEME PARK!! and everyone knows I LOVE ROLLERCOASTERS and ADRENALINE RUSHES!!!

YAY!!!!!!
and we're taking 2 extra days off. haha. cuz it was cheaper (mileage-wise) to fly back on tues than sun. yay for 10 days of spring break!!!!! homework? who cares about homework!!!
man this week crawled by excruciatingly. but the day is finally here thank God. :)
pray for journey mercy as we fly on saturday. leaving at 1pm and only get there at 8pm! long layover. sigh.
and we're staying at a hotel 1st two nights.
so pray for protection too!
:)

THE WAIT IS KILLING ME

aaaaarrrggghhhh.

I HATE WAITING.
especially for something i really, really, REALLY WANT.
oh God, please let me get it. please. please. please.

i'll know if i get into the Fall 2009 LA program by April 17.
i'll know about an internship in 7 days.
omg why is time passing so slowly????
my stomach is twisting into knots. there are 9,999 butterflies fluttering around in my stomach now.
OK not stressing out.
think about other things!

And... please pray i'll get it!!! or whatever God has in plan for me.

Going about life...

I guess nothing much went on this week. It wasn't a very happening week. I tried racking my brain to think of what to say... but came up with nothing exciting. so you can stop reading at this point if u want to. haha.

This week was....


Yup. Sex and the cornfields. Sessions, talks and panels about sexuality. Weird, huh. You'd think that we'd be done with all this don't-have-sex-it-leads-to-pregnancy-and-abortion talks by now. At first I thought it was gonna be really lame and cliche, sprouting the usual 'the Bible says it's wrong to have sex before marriage,' blah blah blahhh. but then i went to the women's panel, where they were surprisingly VERY open about discussing every aspect of sex. and it was really interesting! haha. i actually learned a lot. and it sparked off many interesting conversations too.

one Christian friend actually asked me if it was really morally wrong to have sex before marriage. i was utterly horrified. i think the media has desensitized us to the true meaning of sex. it's glamorized it and made it so ordinary that no one thinks it's a big deal anymore. and that's really sad.

This week I kept oversleeping. don't know why! but i missed classes cuz i think i subconsciously heard my alarm, reached out and turned it off, and went back to sleep. and by the time i woke up for real, class was almost over. so weird!

went to Blockbuster and rented a random chinese movie entitled 'Protege.'

it was, without a doubt, THE most depressing HK movie ever. all about drugs, cops going undercover in the gangs, violence and death. doesn't that ring a bell? infernal affairs, anyone? ugh. really creepy too. totally regret renting it. at least i didn't buy it thank God. obviously the only reason i glanced at it a second time was daniel wu. his hotness was beckoning me. hahaha.

can't wait for double roomie date tomorrow! :)

Would you rather...

Have eyebrows that go all around your eyes in one long line (and cannot be shaved)?
Or have legs that are stuck together mermaid-style and end with one foot?

Tough questions! hahaha.

Me and some girls from my wing have been playing that game and other random questions at Payne's. was SO funny. but oh, chocolate milkshake at 11pm.... so bad!! plus didn't get any hw done...spent the entire day sleeping after getting back from korean church. didn't get much sleep cuz i was out late last night :) plus it was Daylight savings time, which means our clocks go forward 1 hour... so now we're 12hours behind home instead of 13!
anw, this semester has been the most fun ever! got to de-stress from this crazyyy week.

And we settled our housing issues. talked it over calmly. kind of. i was calm, anyway. So... looks like we'll be living in crappy apartments next year! Oh joy. but i won't be here for the fall (hopefully) cuz i'll be in LA.. can't believe i'm graduating in ONE YEAR++!! can't wait to get out of here and live in the REAL WORLD!!

Ok. something that I-R-K-S me is... this whole idea, concept, theory, whatever you wanna call it, of 'community' here at school. i feel like we always emphasize how close-knit everyone is on campus, and we talk about being open and vulnerable and honest, and about building close relationships... and in some ways we really are. like, i love being here. i love the friendships i have here. but i just dislike the fact that there are some... sensitive topics that we all shirk away from. stuff that people do that no one dares to talk about because we're all supposed to be goody-two-shoes Christians.

And it's such a misconception because no one's perfect! we all fall, we all make mistakes, we all drift away from the path sometimes.. and i feel like there's no good in covering it up, pretending to the world (and the university's donors) that we're leading perfect, upright lives here. i hope i don't sound cynical, because i'm not. i'm just annoyed.
I just wish there was more openness and opportunities to be genuinely honest about stuff, even stuff that makes us look bad, without being judged and thrown to the fire. And i wish i could spell out exactly what i'm talking about, but those same rules that ostensibly protect us prevent me from being completely honest.




What irony.

GUESS WHAT???

I GOT TAYLOR-APPROVED to study abroad in LA IN THE FALL!!!!!! (still have to wait for approval from the program itself, but should be able to get in!!! continue praying)
AM SO EXCITED. one step closer to going to california and getting out of upland!!
i actually can't believe i did this. applied and went for an interview in just 4 days. haha. i know i don't have much experience with film production and all, and it's probably gonna be intimidating, surrounded by all the wanna-be genius film producers... but hey, i think it'll be a challenging but awesome learning experience :)
so that's the good news.


here's the bad.

no one should EVER bake cakes at 3am when they have to get up at 7am to prepare for a presentation. NEVER. i was so out of it, i had a headache and felt nauseous the entire day!! or maybe that was because we ate the double fudge chocolate cake at 8am. heh. the birthday boy was thankful though, so that made it worth it :) and i went to bed at like 10pm. the earliest EVER.

so... our presentation... was... uneventful, to say the least. The ENTIRE class was OUTRAGED by the end of our presentation. not at us (mostly), but at what we were saying. i've never seen so many angry faces staring at me. i've never been so intimidated. they questioned us for like an hour! my professor looked so red i thought she was gonna cry!

so background:
it was about Christians and film, and we were playing the devil's advocate. we played an advertising agency trying to convince film studios to market to Christians because they're a gullible niche market that will take in just about anything Christian-y.
Ever since The Passion of the Christ, Hollywood has been trying its best to put their hands into Christians' pockets.
Point in case: Movies like Fireproof, Left Behind and Facing the Giants.
All pretty bad films quality-wise (meaning very cheesy and just badly produced. made up of volunteer actors and produced on very low budget), but great in the sense that many people's lives have been touched through these movies.

To me, I have no problem with badly produced, cheesy films. heck, i watch them all the time. (Example: high school musical, camp rock, bring it on 1,2,3... the list goes on) And i definitely have no problem with cheesy Christian films if they result in lives being saved. 'Cause like the Bible says, every life is precious, and if someone is touched by a movie, I'm all for it.

i mean, my own church, FCBC, did this too. Ps Khong produced those lame movies that he acted in, and they were pretty bad. but i know people were touched by it, and i think that's a good thing! i mean, some people are called to do this, and that's great! but the people in my class, being film production majors, CANNOT stand bad quality films. they say that as Christians, we're called to produce excellence in everything we do. and all these lame Christian movies are just giving us a bad name. but still.. they have improved over time. i mean, we can't all be outstanding film producers from the start.

This wasn't the worst part. the worst part was, through our research, we found all these awful Hollywood marketing to Christians... and Christians actually falling for it. Car companies like Chrysler and Chevrolet would pay pastors or give them free new cars just to mention their cars in their sermons or display the cars in the church parking lot.
There are product placements even in the pews of churches! some companies even put on free worship events and pay the bands just to mention their product.
I mean, there's a line... and this just crosses it. do these people not know they're being marketed to? do they not know they're falling into the trap of consumerism and capitalism? are they not aware they're being USED?
i just can't understand.

Most of this happens in megachurches. which made me think of FCBC, my megachurch at home. but i'm pretty 100% sure Ps Khong does NOT do product placement or any of that crap. so maybe this is just an American thing. i've noticed (the more contemporary) pastors here do love to show clips from movies and base their sermons on that. i mean, there's nothing wrong with that... but when they start accepting money for product placement and all... that's just so wrong.

so yeah. the entire class was mad. mostly about the marketing part. cuz Hollywood has found the Christian demographic to be a very gullible and accepting one, and they're pumping as much money as they can out of us. it's all really depressing.

Even more depressing... turns out i'm like the only one excited that i'm studying abroad in the fall. cuz i was supposed to live with 3 other girls in the off-campus apartments senior year, but we didn't get in. so i applied to study abroad. and now they have a problem cuz it's only 3 of them. and i feel really really really bad cuz i guess i did ditch them. i didn't really think about it. i just saw it as God giving me a second chance to apply for study abroad. so now... they have to either find a house, or live in other crappy apartments... both of which aren't very nice choices. and also, two of us don't really feel like living with the other two anymore... but u know how i am. i'm very non-confrontational. and some sort of a people-pleaser.

i don't know what to do.

And there's been a lot of girl drama recently.
And of course i'm caught in the middle.
what else is new.
this is all very draining.

Why am i still awake

I don't know. I feel like I should write a poem entitled "Why Am I Still Awake".

Why am I still awake
Oh it's a cake I'm about to bake
For a friend who's birthday is tomorrow
And I don't want him to feel low

That's my feeble attempt to come up with something creative when my sleepy eyes are half-open. And I have a group presentation worth 25% of my grade tomorrow. which we spent the whole evening preparing for. and it was kinda fun. we were mostly goofing around.
But anyway, it's one of the guys in our group's birthday tomorrow, and he'll prob have a sucky day since we're meeting at freakin 8am to run through our presentation, which is at 3pm. Sooo... we decided to bake him a cake. aren't we all nice and sweet and fluffy. even at 3am. it's a double fudge dark chocolate moist deluxe cake (from cake mix, of course). doesn't that just make your mouth water??
here's a pic i found. only it's not the exact one. but close enough :)


Anw my interview went really well!!! but i'll only know if i get Taylor-approved next week. sigh so slow. i wanna know NOW! i really hope i get it. please please please let me get in. i'm about ready to get out of this tiny little campus and experience 'the real world!' only i wish i had more experience with film production, instead of just writing, writing and more writing.


YAY the cake is done! and it looks good! who knew i could bake. (cake mix is still baking, ok. it involves mixing in water, oil and eggs. totally not easy. haha)

Now or never

My script 'The Long Road Home' is officially submitted to the Page Awards!!!! kinda nervous about that. but we'll only know if we got into the quarter finals in july, semi finals in aug... etc. so late. i wanna know NOW! well actually i just wanna see their feedback. so i can improve. and write better scripts!!!

And I did homework the entire day today. from the time i woke up at 1 till 8, when i made cookies and had a girl party where we watched High School Musical 3!! it was awesome. although hannah didn't let me sing along with the songs (that i painstakingly memorized. ahaha).


~we're all in this togetherrrr~

Oh those lucky rich and famous kids. haha

random: been listening to old songs from the '90s. backstreet boys, 'nsync, m2m, boyzone, savage garden... going down memory lane.

Back to hw! Actually, not really. Just filling out applications for study abroad in the fall. My interview's tomorrow!! at 3pm!! pray that God's favor will be upon me and the interview will go great and i'll be Taylor-approved to go study in LA!!!! :)
(This is lame, but i just realized LA is in california. I'LL BE IN CALIFORNIA FOR THE FALL!!! coolness)

Honestly tell me that it's.. over

Me,cartoon and sung ah. I don't know what i was trying to do. haha

:)

Sungah wanted to 'flash' people. haha.

oh fun times.

we saw a live band playing. had no idea who they were, but their songs were cool. yeah mosh pit!

oh another fun night :)

I really wish i could say that next week's going to be better. or even that i'm semi-prepared to face another week of busyness. but nope. it's the weekend, and i didn't get anything (academic) accomplished so far. although i did catch up on some much needed sleep. i was like a total zombie on thurs and fri. less than 6hours of sleep every night for one week can do that to you.

so another issue of the Echo is done, and another one is coming up. oh joy. but at least i'm not writing any articles this week, thank God. still trying to apply for internships. got to interview some really cool people for my job hunt article - about students facing the job/internship search process. talked to some authors of books that help people prepare themselves for jobs.. talked to the VP of an internship program (University of Dreams).. got some good perspective on the current job market.

OH. and AWESOME NEWS: i was in a scriptwriting class last semester, and i wrote a script for my final project, about two brothers who have an estranged relationship, but the death of their parents and an unexpected twist of fate brings them together again. so i guess my professor really liked it, cuz she's submitting it in an international screenwriting contest!!! how cool is that!! i'm so excited that she thought my puny little script has some potential!! i'm not really expecting to win, since it's my first time attempting a script and all, but i'm just so... shocked. and honored. that she thinks it's good enough to enter a competition!! and a group from the Digital Filmmaking class wants to PRODUCE MY SCRIPT!!! they really liked it!! so they're gonna make it into a short film!!!! OMG. i'm so excited. am gonna work with them to perfect my script :)

i just can't get over it. Me?? a scriptwriter??? YES I TOTALLY WANNA DO THIS AS A CAREER! haha. i really enjoy creative writing so much more than reporting the boring news. it's alot more work, but I LOVE IT. i just do. it's fun creating something out of nothing. news is just like.. oh.. this happened.. this person said this.. blah blah blah. but writing scripts for movies and tv shows?? you really get to impact tons of people!! of course it's always hard to avoid the cheesy God-is-love-and-you-should-become-a-Christian kind of story, but i think films are a great way to reach out to the masses for Christ :)

so yesterday i got a little jealous. looking at all the art shows that the seniors put on.. i always wished i could draw. it'll be so fun! to draw faces and stuff. but oh well. vivienne had an AWESOME show. she etched/waxed/painted these egg shells so intricately with tons of detail! there were emu eggs, ostrich eggs, duck eggs, goose eggs, and they were all painted so beautifully. it must've taken SO long to do. and one girl did a magazine photo shoot spread. SO COOL.
AND i learned how to play poker!!! some guys taught me. and i won too!! but they kept saying it was beginner's luck. i had so many chips by the end of the game. haha.

i really must learn to be more assertive. i keep saying yes to people even though sometimes i wanna say no. but the thing with me is, i'm so easygoing that even when i say yes when i wanna say no, i actually don't mind that much saying yes. even though i would rather say no. does that make sense? haha. so we watched 'A beautiful mind' last night till like 2am even though all i wanted to do was go back to my room and sleep. but it was cool. i think having schizophrenia is the worst thing that can ever happen to a person. alzheimer's is the second worst.

so today was Girls' Night Out. hosted by the MK guys. they were so sweet. it was supposed to be a surprise..they told us to dress up and they'd take us to a secret location, but i totally knew it was gonna be at the nearby church. cuz that's what we did for them. and it's more convenient too. with so many people. haha. but it was fun! they made food for us, served us, gave us entertainment.. i dunno why but i got crowned Queen of the night. ahahaha. gave me my own tiara and everything. and a free bubble blower thing. and then i learned how to waltz! and we had a mini dance partayyy!!! awesomeness.
but back to the real world. tomorrow i'll be doing hw all day. SIGH.

In a blur

Ok tons of things happened. I can't really remember cuz i'm soooo tired right now but can't go to bed anytime soon cuz there's just way too much stuff to be done and sleeping's not really my first priority as of yesterday.
To summarize last week - freakin' awesome. and also... interesting creepy experiences. let's just leave it at that.
Went to watch the Taylor play 'The Crucible', and promptly fell asleep again. i always fall asleep watching plays! and yet i still go to them! no idea why.

So anyway, we didn't get into the new university apartments. sadness. sigh!!!!! we were number 20 and there are only 15 spots. sigh. but.. i guess it's all part of God's plan. when i found out, i immediately went to apply to study off-campus. hahaha. cuz i told God that if we didn't get the apartments, it means He wants me to go study abroad.

SO I APPLIED! the deadline's monday, so i'm cutting it kinda close. but who cares. my interview's monday, and all my application forms and references have to be in by then. so this weekend.. no sleep!! so hopefully (please pray hard for me) i can go study in LA next semester!!!! AAAHHHH!!!! and do an internship in freaking HOLLYWOOD!!!! i really hope i get it. please please please.

also been doing a ton of interviews this week. our writer for our lead story on the student body president elections decided to bail on us last minute, so we have to write the whole article ourselves. sigh. plus i'm already writing another article for the newspaper. oh well. it's the life of a journalist. also pray i can get an internship this summer!!!!!

ok. can't really think anymore. need to go back to studying/writing articles.

Out of bad comes the good

Reading 'The Culturally Savvy Christian' certainly has been quite an experience. you get so upset/frustrated/depressed at the first two chapters, with quotes like 'entertainment has become a replacement for religion; in the same way people used to quote scripture, they're now quoting Seinfield.' And just talking about how popular culture has really influenced Christianity, instead of Christianity influencing pop culture. And God often being displayed as a mere entity or 'the man upstairs' in movies instead of the divine, loving, merciful, personal and graceful God He really is.
One really interesting thing: most Christians are in the extremes of their consumption of culture.

here's 3 categories we fall into:
-cultural anorexics. people who stay away from popular culture at all costs cuz they're trying to avoid being corrupted by it
-cultural gluttons. people who consume all and any kind of popular culture cuz they're just so into it
-cultural bulimics. people who consume lots of popular culture and then turn around and condemn whoever created it.

So i'm totally a cultural bulimic. haha. i love popular culture, as can be seen by the 10 trashy american tv shows i keep up with on a weekly basis. i know they're not really edifying, they don't really glorify God, but at the same time, they don't make me lose my faith either. they're just pure entertainment to me. something to watch in the background as i do hw. so anw i gorge on pop culture and then turn around and condemn the creators of those same tv shows i watch for being unspiritual and without morals. and i think most people fall into this category, unless you're a monk and refuse to indulge in any kind of pop culture. guess we're all hypocrites here. but hey, we were never created to be perfect.

this week has been, without a doubt, one of the craziest ever. i've never had so much reading, so many quizzes, presentations, project proposals, articles to write, assignments due. Ever. i've seriously been stuck in my room all day and night (when i don't have classes) studying my face off. and i hate it when the stupid Echo makes us do last minute articles on thursday when the newspaper comes out on friday. it's craziness! trying to get a hold of people to interview and write the entire article while juggling classes and other articles to edit and page 1 and 2 to layout and design. omg. Am so awfully glad the weekend is ALMOST here. just two more classes away from a long, restful sleep of at least 12 hours. oh that sounds so good.
also, last night was seriously one of the most fun/awesome/crazy nights ever. too bad i'm not at liberty to spill. you never know who reads your blog :)

so to end off, here's a verse from one of my favorite hymns.

Oh to grace how great a debtor, daily I'm constrained to be
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter, bind my wandering heart to Thee
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it, prone to leave the God I love
Here's my heart Lord, take and seal it, seal it for Thy courts above

i love it cuz it's so true. my heart always wanders, but Lord You have permission to take it and seal it forever! don't ever let me fall.

Being a culturally savvy Christian

so i've been reading TONS for all my classes. every class is just like, here's 100pages of awfully boring information that no one will ever require you to know, READ IT! sigh. oh the dreariness of education. but my media books have been vaguely interesting. talking about how faith influences the media, vice versa.
and i found some quotes that i think are really interesting.

"In Fight Club, writer Chuck Palahniuk gives voice to a lost generation - we are the middle children of history - no purpose or place. There is no great war for us to fight, no great depression. Our great war is a spiritual war. Our great depression is our lives. We've all been raised on television to believe that one day we'll be millionaires, and movie gods, and rock stars. But we won't. We're slowly learning that fact. And we're very, very pissed off."

"For we are called to be culturally savvy Christians, who are serious about faith, savvy about faith and culture, and skilled at fulfilling our calling to be a loving, transforming presence in the world. Such radically fully human people, aglow with God's presence, will create culture, counter culture, and communicate a better way of life in culture."


So omg..kinda beginning to be more than a little overwhelmed by projects and stuff ALREADY. and it's only the 3rd week of class. sigh. really don't really like my classes this semester. they're just... boring, in a way. oh well. hopefully they'll get better.

anyway. i'm learning to really dislike Valentine's Day. not cuz of all the mushy couples. oddly enough, i don't feel envious of them at all. really enjoying my independence! so here are 3 reasons why i don't like v-day: cake, cookies and chocolate. i guess people just feel the need to give others TONS of junk food on this particular day. and when i'm presented with junk food, obviously i stuff myself with it. so yeah. feeling really gross now. ate way too much chocolate, candy, cookies, cupcakes and what not. all the deadly Cs.

and i've been waking up at the BREAK OF DAWN like these few days! friday cuz my friends made me get up at 8am to go to breakfast, sat cuz i went with girls from my wing to go Walk-a-Mile for the homeless. we walked in the frigid cold for a mile.. i have no idea how that helped the homeless. and today went to korean church with a bunch of people. which was awesome as usual cuz of the awesome korean food. and the company :)

i don't know why but feeling quite sian nowadays. even though working out makes me more energetic. also feeling a tad far from God.

Place personal ad here, please

Yesterday we worked our butts off to get the Echo published on time. today, i read it and hannah and andrew wrote a personal ad for me in it! it was kinda funny. at least they didn't put my name down.
if you can't see the picture, here's what it says:
Asian female, 21, seeking Disney prince. Will settle for Zac Efron-esque individual, but musical ability is a must. Prefers a man with pretty eyes and a heart of gold to match. Call Taylor's Lucy Liu at ....

they obviously made fun of my love for disney princesses and high school musical! haha. and there is nothing wrong with that! as for the musical ability... who doesn't like a guy who can play an instrument? (piano/guitar)
the pretty eyes part... well, i really like (angmoh) guys who have really really really pretty eyes of pretty color. and my friends all know that. haha.
'heart of gold' comes from an essay i wrote. that hannah saw. and never let me forget.
and i have no idea where the lucy liu part came from. just cause we're asian! haha


this is my personal ad. placed in our school newspaper for everyone to see.

our newspaper. the Life & Times page filled with personal ads! true love awaits you... haha. in honor of Valentine's Day!

All you need is love. couples whose relationships have lasted the test of time. awww.

The Echo, our newspaper. front page!!! yes, hannah and i did this entire page plus page two. my story's at the bottom! kinda blurry though. and it continues onto the second page :)

you know what, i'm really learning to appreciate the fact that i'm at a christian school, surrounded (mostly) by fellow like-minded Christians who really do have a heart for God and want to reach the world for Him. I mean, where else would i get the opportunity to ever be in this environment, to be continually encouraged by men and women of God, to learn more and more everyday about God, to be challenged in my faith and learn to stand strong... it's just pretty awesome.

and my professor was saying in class the other day about how we ought not to give the appearance of being godly, but that we should truly have a real, genuine relationship with Christ, because in the end, that's all that matters. it's no use being godly on the outside if you're not really living out what you believe in. and then she shared about some of her friends.. who always seemed like such loving Christians, but now they're all like divorced and their relationships are all messed up. and it's kinda sad, really. the one thing that really ticks me off is unfaithfulness. it's rather intimidating to see so many relationships break up, even Christian ones. i just wish people would try harder to save what they have instead of giving up so easily.

Oh internships

So been trying to find internships that i can do over the summer here in the States..and it's been so unbelievably impossible to find the perfect one. i'm not even that choosy, but i do need to find one that provides housing, cuz obviously i have no family here..and if transportation were provided that'll be cool too. and to be paid would be very nice. so that narrows it down to like 0.001% of all the internships available. argh. i've found a few...hopeful ones.. for magazines..national geographic..disney..abc.. world gospel mission..all that stuff. gonna get my resume together tomorrow and meet up with my advisor. really wanna apply and get this over with! doesn't help that alot of the deadlines are over already and i'm kinda late in applying for the summer!

in other news, my NEW YEAR resolution is... to be happy, healthy and hardworking! the 3Hs. haha. happy as in not stressed about classes or projects or the Echo or relationships, healthy as in working out 4 times a week (which i've been doing so far!) and eating healthily (because there are wayy too many things i wanna do in this world before going back to be with the Lord), and hardworking as in... not slacking too much. like i am right now :)

ooh in other other news, i saw the Grammys on sunday night!! awesomeness. and i saw, on TLC channel after that, THE PREGNANT MAN. and of course i was totally taken aback when i saw it. they were filming him giving birth somemore!! totally traumatized cuz how can a man give birth omg. but then as they story went on, i realized 'he' was a WOMAN. who did a sex change but still has female reproductive organs. ew ew ew. how can they even call 'her' a MAN when obviously she was born and still is a WOMAN??? she just looks like a guy and is married (ew) to another woman, but still... a woman!

so i was disappointed. i thought they made like some scientific breakthrough where guys can now get pregnant. because, as those who know me will know, i have no plans to have children. that's what adoption is for. i mean, why bring another child into this world when there are so many poor, lonely, starving children who don't even have anyone to provide for them??? plus being pregnant is painful and traumatizing. and i've paid my dues for suffering every month (or even twice a month).
enough said.

What is going on in this world

So. there's been a lot of discussion lately around campus about the emergent church. i personally don't even get what it is exactly, but i think it's kind of got to do with postmodernism, where people think everything is relative, and they don't wanna be subjected to the norm, and they're trying to break out of society's expectations...whatever. so from what i understand, the result of this 'emergent church' thing is many Christians leaving the church because they don't like preachiness and they think everyone's equal and that they can find God themselves. and so people are setting up 'churches' (church has become a rather broad term) in cafes, golf courses, parking lots, etc. it's really weird. they even have drive-in churches, which people claim to like because they can leave straightaway after service.

but hello?? what kind of church is that if you're only thinking about leaving throughout the entire service?? where's the fellowship and community and all that? sure you can grow in your walk with Christ alone, but how much can you really grow, and how can you keep growing without being accountable to anyone? no one's that perfect to go seek Christ alone. sure, the emergent church has its positive points like social justice and helping people and stuff, but really, we're made to be a part of a community. i personally would have probably drifted away from God like years ago if not for the support and love i found in church.
so yeah. this has been a topic of heated discussion. and although people have been voicing their disagreement with the emergent church, some do actually kind of agree with it. it's really weird. i don't know what this world is coming to.

And then reading in Historic Christian Belief (a bible class i have to re-take cuz the stupid prof failed the entire class last spring), learning about how scholars dispute the authority of the BIble, how some people think the Bible is made out of 'myths' and allegories instead of spiritual and historical truths... is just really disturbing but interesting at the same time. especially learning about general revelation, which states that everyone, even non-believers, have reason to believe in a Creator because God reveals HImself and His divine power through nature and all creation, etc, etc. so i'm pretty excited to learn more.

So thursday we put out our first issue of the Echo for the spring. things went pretty well..we have an earlier deadline, which i prefer, so we can get outta there quicker. and it was nice to see everyone so excited about the Echo on fri :) sense of accomplishment. and i turned in my form for off-campus housing!!!! hope hope HOPE we get it. Sungah, dorothy, capri and i wanna get an apartment off campus..in the awesomely new apartments. but there are only 15 spots and tons of competitions, so hope we have enough credits to get it!! otherwise, i'll apply for study abroad programs. leaving it up to you, God! haha.

Friday was Capri's bday celebration!! totally surprised her when 15 people turned up at Flattop grille unexpectedly for dinner. food was awesome, as usual. Asian stir fry!! plus cocktails and margaritas. cuz u only turn 21 once :)
and then watched 'He's just not that into you'


It was... rather lacking in morals and values, i must say. despite the all-star cast and the plot's resemblance to 'Love actually', it was kinda disappointing. there were funny parts, of course, but there were also disturbing parts and 'omg-he-did-not-just-do-that' parts. mostly disagreed with it cuz it condoned sleeping around, divorce, adultery, unfaithfulness, etc. one scene stuck out in my mind. this girl was like, so if you meet the man of your dreams, and he's married, does that mean he's off limits? and her friend was like, no, he might be your soulmate! you can't give up on love just cuz he's married! --- what kind of messed up logic is that. i don't care if you think he is your soulmate. he's married and therefore off limits completely. no questions asked. and i don't care if she's your soulmate either. your marriage might not be perfect, but you made a vow, a commitment, so please stick to it! gosh.


our group at the theater

with sungah, mimi and britni at Flattop

with sungah, barbie and carly in the theater

ok so this is a really long post, but i have something else to say!
today, sung ah and i drove to muncie, which is half an hour away, to go to Target for grocery shopping. and it was kinda weird/scary cuz we both didn't know the way, it was at night and dark, and she isn't that experienced in driving.

so we got there fine, but coming back...omg. almost got into an accident. we realized we were going the wrong way, so she made a u-turn, but it was SO dark that we didn't see the lines between the lanes, and she TURNED ONTO THE WRONG LANE. and we didn't realize it until we saw tons of bright lights coming toward us, and we realized we were on the OPPOSITE LANE! omg. total panic attack. the cars were like THIS CLOSE! and she swerved onto a huge patch of grass, we heard a loud thump, and finally we got back onto the right lane. omg. my heart almost jumped out of my chest. but she was freaking out more, and she was the driver, so i had to calm her down. but really, THANK GOD SO MUCH that 1. we saw the cars in time, 2. there was only a patch of grass separating the lanes and not some huge pavement, 3. we got back safe and sound.
no more going out at night for a while.

but yeah, thank God :)