Against Nothingness

How to become a MAN We recently went to a korean folk museum, and among other interesting things, we found out how to become a man. A long time ago, in Korea, everyone had a coming of age ceremony. For normal young boys, i.e. not royalty, the ceremony was very simple. A boy was a man when he could lift a very large stone. Meanwhile, a woman's coming of age ceremony was held on her wedding day. What happened to the good old days, eh? P.S. I wouldn't really want to go back to those days

The King's Road While in Seoul, Kristina and I have been able to take in a few of the more cultural sites. By far the one I enjoyed the most was the guided tour of Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was beatiful to look at in the first place, but having things so well explained, and getting all the little details makes it a much better experience. Among all those things we learned, we were told about the king's road. Starting right from the entrance, the pathway through the middle of the palace grounds (which, incidently, goes right through the 4 most important buildings of the Palace. The ceremony hall, the kings office, the king's house, and the queen's house) is divided into three sections. The middle section is elevated and, as you probaly guessed, this is the king's road. Civil officers walk on the right, military officers on the left. What struck me about this were several things. I was walking on a road that, for hundreds of years (the entire Joseon Dynasty...

I have, in the last weeks, joined with the majority of the rest of the blogging community in abandoning my blog for the joys of holiday busy-ness. Though the holidays, for me anyway, are not over yet (not until next monday), I am not so busy anymore and am going to blog again. More blogs will, hopefully, be posted in rapid fire succession over the next few days, but in the meantime, here is an update on what I have been up to. Christmas was busy; finishing things up at school (the semester/grade change in Korea is at the end of december, so we are getting new students and such after Christmas), plus kindergarten christmas concerts, all the normal end of the month stuff, and Christmas preparations on top of that. Christmas was hard. I am sure I mentioned previously that this was our first christmas away from family, and it was tough. But mostly, Christmas was wonderful. It was.. well.. it was christmas. What more needs to be said? Over the holidays we are taking of a friend...

Christmas is coming? Over here in Korea, and in the rest of the world, Christmas is fast approaching. But for me, this christmas is a little bit wierd. It is my first Christmas married and away from home. Also, I am working right up until the day before Christmas, which is wierd because for as long as I can remember I have had at least 2 weeks of holidays before Christmas, and another 1-1.5 weeks after it. I guess thats what I get for not going to school again this year. Its also different because I am in Korea. Out here Christmas isn't nearly as big a deal as it is at home. Sure, all the big stores put up decorations and sell stuff, but there are no Christmas lights, apparently about half the families out here don't really do anything for Christmas, all the little stores are just normal. Plus, since we don't watch TV, we don't see any Christmas commercialization, at least not on a big scale. Now, I have to say, that I have long complained about the Christmas becomi...

Another One Bites the Dust Another one of my friends has started a blog. Actually, I shouldn't just say another one of my friends. This is THE friend I have known for the longest time; you might say he is 'The Man'. We met in grade 9, it was my first day of school, I had moved over the summer, and I was a replacement for Bob, his invisible friend who got hit by a bus in the middle of the classroom. Anyway, we have kept in touch ever since. Many of you may have noticed that most of the links on my blog are of a religous nature; my religion is central to who I am and my life. The links that aren't there for that reason are there because they are my friends. This guy, Bucky Jr. as he calls himself on his blog, is here becaues he is my friend, and because he is hilarious. If you want a good laugh, his stuff is worth reading. A while back he emailed out a few short stories to all his friends; great stuff. I hope to see more of that, but I guess we will see. ...

Whats Goin On I just felt like blogging, so this blog isn't really about anything. Its just whats happening with me. Life is going well in Korea. We are both continuing to enjoy teaching, I don't know how much more there is to get used to in the culture. Both our shower and our washing machine broke this week, but the school was excellent and fast at taking care of those. Broken monday, fixed wednesday. We have a new washing machine, that actually mixes hot and cold water (our old one you had to pick), and a new shower head that doesn't get half the pressure of the old (but it doesn't spray all over the place either, so I shouldn't complain). We found a nice little restaurant today that serves really good Tonekasa, pork cutlets that is. Maybe, or so I am hoping, we are both over our string of colds. We will see. It is two weeks until Christmas, or just over, and I imagine that, in spite of the holiday we get, this will be a hard time for Kristina an...

Matrix, and Terminator??? are Ripoffs!!!! So, here's news you don't see everyday. Apparently some woman, Sophia Stewart, has succesfully sued the Wachowski Brothers, Joel Silver and Warner Brothers for copywright infringement. These famous and highly popular movies are stolen from some 1981 manuscript she wrote and submitted to the Wachowski brothers (or at least this is the case as far as the matrix is concerned, I am not sure where Terminator comes in). I find this amazing for several reasons. Apparently the case has been going on since 1999 and was only made public in 2003. This is no surprise, considering that the parent company of Warner Brothers is AOL-Time Warner. All of the above you can find on the article. My issue is with media control. The vast majority of the media that we consume daily is owned by, what, 3 companies? This is one more proof that these companies control their media almost solely in their own self interest. Does anyone doubt the da...

It's Finally Here I posted it on the other blog Superman and I have started; my thoughts on the atonement that is. Go HERE to check it out (or just to our other blog, it is the newest one right now).

True Understanding T here are so many things I think about, and so many things I have opinions on. Lots of them are very strong opinions. I really don’t like President Bush, not as a person, but his actions, policies, and publicly demonstrated character. I also belong to a small group of people, I think it is a small group of people anyway (I have no way of really knowing for sure), who believe that most of the modern Christian church and its “gospel’s” are missing the point. I haven’t fully decided on the issue, but I lean towards open theism, and I have some interesting ideas about hell (slightly past the metaphorical view… I can’t remember if there is a name for what I think). I am economically under-informed, yet I know I don’t like capitalism in its current forms. I could go on. W hy do I bring this up? I have been thinking lately about how I go about forming my opinions, how I think and such, how people should deal with disagreements and so on. Read ...

A New Thing Since Superman and I have started to actually write long and involved posts on this issue of theories of Atonement we have made a decision. We are starting a new blog, or I think we are anyway (its our first try at this joint blogging thing... hope it works). It will be specifically a place for debate, both of us will continue to post on our regular blogs. We have no idea how long it will last, maybe only until the atonement discussion is over. Who knows, who cares. It is going to be fun. So if any of you were very interested in the discussion that got started a few posts down, you can follow the continued discussion at our new blog. " Just Two Guys " My follow up post, promised to superman a few days ago, should be available there soon. I will also, most likely, post teasers or begginings on this blog, which will link to whatever it is I/we have written over there. I think I will only do this with substantial posts though. If anyone is very intereste...

Say What?!?!?!? I have promised superman a more in depth resopnse on the atonement stuff, but in the meantime I found out something that has shocked me quite a bit. Apparently NBS and CBS have rejected a 30 second "United Church of Christ" advertisement because it is too controversial. The part of it that is too controversial? Acceptance of homosexuality. Say what?!?!? I am just not sure how else to react. Here is the UCC page on it. I found this thanks to this blog.

Substitutionary Atonement Theory: Fresh Debate I think most of the people who are reading this will know what an atonement theory is, and what this one in particular says, but I will give a brief explanation anyway. Atonement theories are theological ideas about the meaning of the death of Jesus on the cross. This one in particular, the substitutionary theory, claims that Jesus death on the cross was him taking the punishment, God's wrath, for our sins, thus buying us forgiveness, allowing God's justice and mercy to be satisfied at the same time. I hope that does justice to it; if you want to read up on it somemore there are lots of good sites on the web. ( here is a reformed theology page for example, took me 30 sec to find, looks decent, my thoughts on reformed theology notwithstanding :) It has been a long time since I began to have doubts as to the importance evangelicals proscribe this theory of the atonement. How many evangelicals even know that, without going i...

The Resurrection of the Son of God I just finished reading N.T. Wright's book, the title of this post, and it was excellent. I haven't fully processed everything yet, so this isn't going to be any kind of substantial post on it. These are just my initial thoughts and feelings. I always find the end of Wright's books to be the best, because it is at that point that he takes his historical conclusions, and his arguements, and all the questions he has answered and moves them up a level to ask, in one way or another, so what? I also find the end of Wright's books, at least the books in this series, to be the most frustrating. He always briefly mentions what is coming up in his next volume, and I never want to wait until his next volume is out. I want it now. F or this specific book, his conclusion is something I have heard from him before, in other books or maybe sermons or both. It is his threefold point on what the resurrection means. A summary: many peopl...

Letter: To those who struggle with the current state of the church, especially evangelicals. I know you struggle with many of the same things I do in regards to church. I have found the being so seperated from all of those things which frustrate me, and make me angry, in evangelicalism, and its attendant organizations, has allowed me to take a definitely needed step back. From this step back, I have realized many things; most of them are self-condemning, not in a bad way, but in that I have made many mistakes. I have allowed myself to become so critical and so cynical that I search for the bad without thought; I often do not give people the benefit of the doubt, or act in love as I should. I also have continually fought a losing battle with hope; that is, I have many times, and in many ways, lost hope. I have become lazy. I see problems, and though blessed with intelligence, education, opportunity, all in an abundance which most of the world does not have, I do next to nothing....

Recent Readings, Quotes "The current church culture in NA is on life support. It is living off the work, money and energy of previous generations from a previous world order. The plug will be pulled either when the money runs out (80 percent of money given to congregations comes from people aged fifty five and older) or when the remaining three fourths of a generation who are institutional loyalists die off or both..." "A growing number of people are leaving the institutional church for a new reason. They are not leaving because they have lost their faith. They are leaving to preserve their faith." ( i McNeal, Reggie. The Present Future. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass, 2003. p.1) "Christianity started out in Palestine as a fellowship. Then it moved to Greece and became a philosophy, then it went to Rome and became an institution, and then it went to Europe and became a government. Finally it came to America where we made it an enterprise."...

Love Grows O ften, in my marriage, and my relationship with my wife, I notice, and marvel, at how our love continually grows. If you had asked me when we first met, or even when we got engaged, if I could ever love someone this much, I would have had no concept of where I, and we, are at now. I am used to moments where I realize my love for her has grown. That happens fairly regularly in this marriage and, I hope, in most marriages. But something different happened recently. It was like I could feel my heart expanding. As if I could watch love envelope areas of my black heart that had been previously surrounded in selfishness, as they were washed in fresh blood and brought back to life. B ut, perhaps the most surprising part of this experience, this was not occuring because Kristina did anything wonderful for me. She does such things daily, and they do indeed bring us together and cause our love to grow. This time though, I was the one privileged to be doing something for ...

A Four Course Meal M y wife is hilarious. On an evening this last weekend, when she wasn't feeling very hungry, and I was complaining because I was, she decided to pull a prank... kind of. She locked me in the computer room, as only a woman can "Don't come out!!" (said with that tone), and prepared dinner for me. W hen I was allowed to exit, I found our apartment turned into a candlelit dining area, complete with nice place settings, and a waitress (Kristina, of course). Through the entire meal she refused to acknowledge that she was my wife, putting on a perfect impression of a paid servant. She then served me salad, 'crouton' with jam and peanut butter, nacho's with ground pork, chili powder, cheese and salsa, and 2 chocolate covered almonds for dessert (still not sure where she got those). I wasn't sure if I should laugh, or play along, or be really appreciative. I also wasn't sure if I should say something about the small por...

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex I just finished watching GITS: SAC last night, or at least the first season (the 2nd season is currently being aired, and only the first 15 episodes have been fansubbed so far. Haven't started that season yet). But, anyway, I finished the first season. I love anime, and while I haven't watched tons of it, I have seen a bit. This anime has to be the best I have watched to date, my new favorite. Its simply amazing. I liked the first movie, and if you did to, then you should definitely watch the series. Its awesome. And now the 2nd movie is out, and the 2nd season is airing as we speak. I can feel the tingles going up my spine.... ahhh, tingly tingles.

Berry Again Found another quote from Berry that very elegantly sums up my thoughts on a completely different issue than the one which Berry is speaking of. "A change of heart or of values without a (change of) practice is only another pointless luxury of a passively consumptive way of life." If that doesn't speak to the issue of conversion to Christianity viewed as merely a momentary, or even long term, assent to a belief and/or belief system, I don't what does.

Movements I found an interesting article on movements. Its actually about respecting the earth, the domestic arts, and the problems in our economy, but it begins with movements. Its an excellent article in and of itself, I could quote the whole thing, but for this blog entry, just the stuff about movements will do: "In Distrust of Movements" by: Wendell Barry " People in movements too readily learn to deny to others the rights and privileges they demand for themselves. They too easily become unable to mean their own language, as when a “peace movement” becomes violent. They often become too specialized, as if finally they cannot help taking refuge in the pinhole vision of the institutional intellectuals. They almost always fail to be radical enough, dealing finally in effects rather than causes. Or they deal with single issues or single solutions, as if to assure themselves that th...

Sick In Korea There are things that someone really needs to tell you before you go into a foreign country. Like how the medical system works. When we got our job, we were given the choice of getting medical insurance or not. We immediately, and fortunately, said yes. Everyone told us this was a good idea. Its actually very normal for teachers to get quite sick in their first month or two here. Combine the fact that you are getting exposed to all the new strains of viruses that you don't have at home with the fact that you are working with the primary spreader's of viruses, and you pretty much gaurantee you are going to get a cold/flu/stomach problem/etc. at least once. Kristina and I have been no exception. So far I have been sick twice; the flu, a few weeks ago, and a cold that I am almost completely recovered from. Nothing to write home about, nothing I went to the doctor for. Actually, come to think of it, I did write home about it. And this is the first thing y...

Here are some interesting links on bush and the election: First, some perspective on 87 billion dollars. Second, some interesting maps on how the voting population actually looks in the U.S. Thirdly, 4 interesting articles . I found the second and the last to be the best.

Pepero Day Today, Nov. 11th, is a special day in Korea. It is Pepero Day!!! Let me tell you about Pepero day: It is a day that has only been celebrated for 4 or 5 years here, and what you are supposed to do is give pepero sticks) to your friends and family. (Pepero sticks are the same as Pocki, if you have ever heard of that. Chocolate covered wafer sticks). Why did they start celebrating this holiday only such a short time ago? The answer to that is very simple. It was only such a short time ago that the marketting genius's at Lotte thought if it. Lotte is a very very large company over here; they have fast food restaurants, department stores, they make everything. One of the things they make is the candy called Pepero. Of course, now that there is a pepero day there are lots of imitations. Pipiro, Peperong, etc. etc. I guess it was only a matter of time before some company took advantage of this kind of thing. Every holiday is so commercialized anyway, why not make...

A Trip to Seoul This weekend Kristina and I took a trip to Seoul. Never been to Seoul? Let me tell you about it, and our trip. It started with a lazy saturday morning. Seoul is a 2-3 hour bus ride away, depending on traffic and such. But we didn't take the bus, we took the KTX. Hi-speed train. Not quite the bullet train, but it goes 3ookm/h. We really should have bought tickets ahead of time, or maybe gone earlier in the day. Most people get up early to make weekend trips, you know maximize your time and all that. Not us. Why move when you could not move? wake up when you could sleep? The KTX does the trip in 45 min, a vast improvement over the bus. And due to our laziness, we were forced to buy first class tickets (Darn!!). If riding a hispeed train is like anything, its like flying. You go fast, in a straight line, the washrooms look the same, they have TV's and stewardesses with free drinks and headphones. And you have more space. 3 seats to an aisle...

In Response to the Comments on my last post I don't like that bush won, but I don't think its the end of the world. I don't think the election was nearly as simple as you make it out to be anthony. I was thinking about what makes the U.S. vote for Bush when the rest of the world hates him? what do they see that we don't, or vice versa? And I think I came up with a theory. Bush is a bully. Nobody likes the bully unless he is on their side, and guess what? The U.S. public see him as on their side. I don't think he will run rampant on his second term because he has free mandate or something, he did whatever he wanted on his first term, so the second term won't be any different. He controlled/controls public opinion, right from the very start before he was even elected (i.e. the whole fox news thing, not to mention teh voter scandal in florida). I think its total close minded crap when people say they vote for him because he is a Christian. True he is prolife an...

Bush wins. I don't know what to say. You reap what you sow, and I hope his second term is better than his first.....

I can't sleep. I don't know what time the blog says I am posting this, but it is late. I left my blog on MST, but I think I am 18 hours ahead of that right now. It sucks not being able to sleep. Especially when I have to get up early tomrrow morning for school. It's also really wierd. I really feel like writing, or doing something productive. After all, I am up anyway, might as well use the time. Unfortunately I don't think I am really clear enough to do much besides ramble, watch something I could only half understand, or play very simple computer games. So, of those options, I am rambling. Why not? This is my website, my writing, and you don't have to read this, no one is making you. If there does happen to be someone out there with a gun to their head, being forced to read this blog, leave a comment, and let me know who the insane guy is with the gun so I can knock some sense into him. Wow, there are a lot of problems with that last propositio...

Another friend has a new blog. Justin , who is a good friend of mine, and a very good friend of Kristina's. It's in my links, "On the Campus."

Be Human I just listened to a Yoko Kanno song, from the Ghost in the Shell soundtrack, and it caught my attention. It's a good song in and of itself, but the lyrics hit me. Its about a robot who wants to be human, singing about all the things he would do if he were more human. But what struck me is that I wondered how many of us could sing this song, and many (or all) of the words would be true of us. How much of what it really is to be human do we ignore, delete, or replace for one of a million reasons. I'm to busy, it's not a good thing, it's not (insert appropriate religion, or other group, here. i.e. Christian), it doesn't fit the job, etc. Lyrics: I analyze and I verify and I quantify enough one hundred percentileno errors, no miss. I synchronize and I specialize and I classify so much don't worry 'bout dreaming because I don't sleep. I wish I could at least 30 percent, maybe 50 for pleasure then skip all the rest. If I only was...

Why I Like Anime Anime, its a wonderful thing. Let me explain why. My favorite hobby is reading: of all the ways I like to spend my time thats right at the top. But sometimes I just don't feel like reading; maybe I am feeling lazy, or tired, or just bored of whatever book I am reading. So, that leaves me two options really (barring activities with other people, which are not being counted right now). I can play videogames or watch something. Now, Anime comes the closest of all things I can watch/do to reading a book. I guess that needs to be explained to. Maybe some of you reading this have no experience with Anime. When I say anime you thing Sailor Moon, or Dragon Ball, or stupid drawings of people who make stupid unrealistic faces, and cartoons that are all about big robots or many episode long fight scenes. Such Anime exists. Such Anime, as I have no doubt you agree with, usually does suck. But, such Anime is not what I am talking about. I am talking about good Anim...

My Wasted Time Blogs are all about just writing what you want. So I am going to tell anyone who cares to read this what I do with my free time. Thats all this post is. Read at your own risk. 1. I read. Currently I am reading the following: N.T. Wright "The Ressurrection of the Son of God" Tad Williams "Mountain of Black Glass" (third book in the Otherland series) James Clavelle "Whirlwind" (final book in the Asian Saga) Erwin Rapheal McManus "Uprising" 1st book in the 38 book early church fathers series Dag Hammerskjold "Markings" 2. I write, here and on my comp. 3. I watch... my computer. Normall you say TV, but I haven't turned the Tv on since we got our laptop. Why bother when you can A: rent movies (haven't done that yet since we got our laptop either, but I anticipate we will) and, more importantly, B: download anything I want to see, most especially current TV shows, instead of watching old reru...

Marketting, Evangelism, Love and Money I have long lamented such popular christian items such as the prayer of Jabez, the purpose driven life, the left behind series (i know its fiction, doesn't really fit, I just had to throw it in there), and so on. I haven't always done so here on my blog, but if you have known me for any amount of time, I am sure it has come up. I wonder if anyone ever stops to notice that none of it seems to matter. I should clarify that. It does matter, in my opinion, but what I am talking about when I say it doesn't seem to matter is in regards to what these items themselves promise. How many churches are doing, or have done, or will do the 40 days of purpose? How much money have Christians spent on Prayer of Jabez books and accessories? Is there any noticeable difference? is there ever? I see a lot of statistics; thats nothing new. It doesn't seem to matter where you are, or what shrink wrapped, out of the box, no assembly require...

I found this link on another blog, TheHeresy , and I thought I would pass it on. Biased, but basically backed up (some dead links though.) George Bush's Resume

Ignatius, in the Epistle to the Ephesians: "And pray ye without ceasing in behalf of other men. For there is in them hope of repentance that they may attain to God. See, then, that they be instructed by your works, if in no other way. Be ye meek in response to their wrath, humble in opposition to their boasting: to their blasphemies return your prayers; in contrast to their error, be ye stedfast in the faith; and for their cruelty, manifest your gentleness. While we take care not to imitate their conduct, let us be found their brethren in all true kindness; and let us seek to be followers of the Lord (who ever more unjustly treated, more destitute, more condemned?), that so no plant of the devil may be found in you, but ye may remain in all holiness and sobriety in Jesus Christ, both with respect to the flesh and spirit. And pray ye without ceasing in behalf of other men; for there is hope of the repentance, that they may attain to God. For “cannot he that falls arise again, ...

Wonderful things about Korea (in no particular order): 1. People are generally very friendly and helpful. 2. Chicken is not popular over here, so it is quite cheap at the supermarket. 3. The kids are kids just like everywhere, and therefore fun. 4. Hi-Speed internet really means what it says. I can download 3 movies at over 200kbps, and browse the internet with no lag. I have yet to use up enough bandwidth to slow it down. 5. Sauna's... they are just great. You gotta try one to know. The whole naked thing takes some getting used to though. 6. Pizza - it comes with corn and green peppers and is much cheaper than at home. 7. Movies are cheap, to rent or in the theatres (though they come out later than at home, and we miss some). 8. Our apartment - its our apartment... you have to understand our relationship. Long distance for over 2 years, after we got married we travelled and stayed with family and friends for 2 months. 9. Some of the food is really good. Bulgogi beef, p...

The hits just keep on coming: Two more friends with blogs. Bobby and Arnold.

A New World I think I have discovered a new world, or at least I feel like I do. I recently found out, thanks to an email from him, that Jon Decker , a friend of mine back at home, has started a blog. Through his blog I found links to Mindy's Blog , who is the wife of my best friend. Commenting and links from there have led me to a few more more: Stefanie's Epiphanies , a friend from Toronto project (where I met my wife). Justin for the Experience , another friend from Toronto. (sadly, neither of home I have kept in touch with). Now, reading their blogs, and commenting and such, I feel like I have somehow stumbled into a room at the back of my house, that was always there, but I never knew about. Thanks for posting all you guys, emailing, commenting, and the like :) God Bless you all, and maybe blogging will keep us better connected.

U.S. Elections: Moral Issues? As we all know, unless you have been living in a cave in the antarctic somewhere for the last year or so, the U.S. elections are quickly approaching. Its been a while since I posted anything about politics, so I figured it was about time. That and I am sick of hearing how it is somehow moral for a Christian to vote republican. Why is this? Supposedly it is becuase Bush and his group have moral stances on Abortion and Stem cell research. Sounds good.... until you think about it. Has anyone actually looked at abortion statistics? Depending on where you look, it has either been on a steady decline for over 14 years, or else it actually rose slightly during the last two republican presidencies. And what of Stem cell research? Its all very well and good for the bush party to hold the stance it does, when they know very well all the difference it makes. Science is hardly a national endeavour, and though I am sure that the united states being against it slo...

Certainty I wonder if certainty in our beliefs ever gets in the way of belief. An odd question, but stay with me. This is a bit of a ramble, thinking as I go, so lets see. I mean, we don't know if our beliefs our true with absolute certainty, not in the regular sense of the word anyway. That is why we need faith. Our faith can be absolutely certain, but that is a different thing. Wright put it something like this: you are aren't justified by faith by believing in justification by faith, you are justified by faith by believing in Jesus. So maybe what I am asking is if I have ever believed in my beliefs to much, and not in the person who is the basis and foundation of those beliefs. To have the humility to admit that I could be wrong, not neccessarily about the larger things, but even about the smaller intricacies of my Christian faith, creates problems. I often hear about preachers who boldly declare that we must be certain of our salvation. The famous, worn o...

Wierd things in Korea (in no particular order): 1. This guy who rides around on a red bike with red flashing lights on the back, dressed all in red, with a red helmet that also has red flashing lights on it, speakers softly playing a patriotic korean song while he belts the words out along with it. 2. The 'paper cups' you get at water coolers are not cups, they are little pockets, like two pieces of paper stuck together. 3. the complete lack of toilet paper in 75% of public facilities. 4. our apartment repair man who considers himself my uncle, as he is 40 years older than me, and who makes sure that I understand he can fix anything. 5. The children who go out of their way to talk to, meet, and touch strangers. This is especialy true when said stranger is english (Hello, hello, hello x 50) and unshaved (5 year old child tries to feel my face... a little bit freaky the first time). 6. Taxi drivers: Crazy. Bus Drivers: Crazy. There is a saying here, that "Korea is the ...

Here is a question for you, or me. How much of my belef's are motivated by my comfort and desires? My prejudices and all that? I have seen King Arthur twice now. I liked it, as an action movie I thought it was pretty good. But both times I saw it I got thinking about the same thing. Two parts of the movie stand out; the mention, and description of Pelagius, and the priests in the town in Northern Britian who are killing heretics. Historically, Pelagius and Augustine argued about some stuff, and Augustine won, Pelagius was declared a heretic. The term Pelagianism is used to describe (I think) the idea of us saving ourselves by our good works. You can look any of this stuff up online if you want to, I am not going to go into detail with it. The point that I started thinking about is this: In the movie, Pelagius is represented as fighting for freedom, and the other people (mostly left unnamed in the movie) are fighting for the idea that some people are born, or predestined, into...

Looking for a laptop... There are so many options out there. I thought it would be cheaper in Korea, but it does not seem to be. I have not visited Yongsang market in Seoul yet, but I have been to several places in Daejeon. It seems that while desktops and all things built in korea are quiet a bit cheaper, laptops are not. Plus the selection is very limited. So I am looking online, and praying that customs are not to high. Of course it doens't help that what I want in a laptop seems to put the price close or just over 3000 canadian. just in case anyone reads this who knows anything about laptops, here goes: 15.1-15.4 screen, 2.6 or higher processor, 512-1024 ram (expandable to 2G), 60-80gb harddrive (5400-7200rpm), dvd burner (multi format), 128mb video card (not real picky about model or brand), and normal accessories (mouse, extrabattery, carryign case). I wish there was a site you could enter the specs you wanted, the site would give you your options, with prices...

Aside from being a good place to babble, waste time, and journal, this blog might also be a good way to keep my vocabulary up. Teaching English, I have realized (through the help of a friend, who, upon reading my last mass email, informed me that basically the only adjective I used was the word 'nice'), can severely limit your vocabulary. Half of my classes I am teaching kindergarten children who have only been learning English since last March. Considering this fact it is remarkable how much they have learned. Still, as much as they know, they don't know words like 'great', 'spectacular', 'stupendous', 'excellent', 'terrible', 'horrible', and so on. They know 'nice', 'good', 'bad', and maybe a few more. Learning the multiple similar meaning adjectives in English might be 'nice' but its just not as important as learning so many other things. Also, though they have learned a lot, they have st...

On sunday my wife and I went to a church here in Daejeon. The church was at a christian school, and it was really good. It wasn't to big, though I suspect that might change after the school semester starts up again. The sermon was excellent, very deep, and the pastor was not afraid to explain some hard theology, while at the same time making it understandable and even applicable. I also noticed that, without any harping on community or meeting new people, there really did seem to be a sense of community there. They gave newcomers a chance to introduce themselves if they wanted to, a chance for prayer requests to be shared, and after the service we talked with/met several different people. Then a newly married older couple (not old, just older) took us, and several other people our age, out for lunch. It was a lot of fun. Its probably just that we were all in an uncomfortable place, outside of the church that is, being in a foreign culture, not knowing the language, etc. b...

Well, the edge of typhoon Magi just finished passing over Daejeon today. It wasn't much to speak of, except a lot of rain. I am sure that isn't true everywhere though, and I am glad we just got the edge. One of the other teachers here described to me an experience with a typhoon he had a few years ago in Daejeon. Apparently the wind was strong enough that it took 4 ppl to open the door. Why they were bothering, I don't know. Trying to find things in Korea is quite fun/frustrating. All the signs are in Korean (naturally, though many have a word or two of English), and even though I can read Korean, I can't read fast, and I don't have much of a vocabulary at all. Add to that the fact that in Korea stores can take up every floor of a large building, so the signs just go up and up and up, and it can be just a touch difficult. I asked for instructions on finding a gym, and all the other teachers just told me to look up at the windows until I see treadmills in them. I ...

I changed my blog around, and who knows, I might even write here more than once every 2 months. I have said that many times though, so don't count on it. I have been in Korea for nearly a month now. I started out teaching for 3 weeks at a summer camp in Sokcho. It was a lot of fun, if somewhat tiring. Now I am in Daejeon, getting my on the job training. I still have to make a visa trip to Japan in the next week or two, but other than that, I am almost settled in. My wife and I are staying in a small apartment temporarily, which is why I say almost settled in. We move into our own place this weekend. Teaching so far has been a lot of fun. It demands a lot of patience, but more often than not I really enjoy helping children learn. As well, we have been lucky, and have no horror stories to tell of our teaching experience so far. Admittedly, we are just getting started here, so maybe I shouldn't speak to soon. But I know the Lord has been taking care of us. Korea is a coun...

Well, its been nearly a month. I tried to post once from Mexico, when Kristina and I had two hours to kill as a result of misunderestimating the bussing system in Puerto Vallarta, but apparently it never made it. I am married now, have been for nearly three weeks. It's great, awesome, wonderful. As well as that, I convocated today. Which means Kristina and I finally have all the stuff together we need to finish our applications to go to S. Korea and teach English. There are lots of stories from the last couple of weeks: swimming with dolphins, going to a movie in mexico, "camping" across the rockies, convocating, and many little things about marriage. Swimming with Dolphins was great, very hard to describe, so we bought the DVD. They are like big dogs, you touch them and they roll over for you to pet their belly. They are very gentle, and disarming, bigger than I thought they would be. Yes, life has been undeservingly good to us. Right now, we, ...

Back in vancouver, and married in 5 days. People keep asking me if I am nervous, or anxious, but I'm not. I am almost starting to wonder if I should feel those things, but I just keep get more and more excited. A few things left to do, all those things that can't really be done until the final week, and a few extra's because of our plans to go overseas shortly after we get married. It's so good to be here with Chapter for this week before the wedding. Good to be able to talk face to face about our fears, excitement, expectations, etc. Not like we haven't talked about them lots before, but after so long of a long distance relationship, there is something freeing, and of course exciting, about knowing that is all over. I glanced through my teach yourself Korean book, and noticed that Korean is a syllabic language, which I think is really cool. You combine two or three symbols to create one 'letter' which represents a syllable. Hence, three syllabl...

Gotta love the iraq scandal going on right now. I particular like this: A group of terrorists beheads an american as 'retribution', and it, according to the american government, reveals the character of those they are fighting, etc. etc. But "The actions of a few don't reflect the values of Americans and those involved in the abuse will be punished, he said." which is a Rumsfeld quote. what a surprise.

Busy times. I am getting married in just under 2 weeks. After that, Chapter and I will be travelling, and hanging out for a few weeks, until we (hopefully) head over to South Korea to teach English. Until that time, I will likely be hardly blogging at all. After that, I do hope to blog about teaching english, Korea, being married, and such; but to be truthful, I have no idea what our internet access will be like, or what other factors may come into play. So, we'll see. This isn't to say I won't blog at all until then, but look for it to be as it has been or worse.

Vancouver Trip Plane Trip and Arrival Wednesday night and the red glare of my clock is bleeding into my eyes: 1:45. In 3 hours I have to get up. Its hard to be anything but excited about the prospect of only having 3 hours of sleep because I am flying out to see Chapter. I close my eyes, putting a stop to the bleeding, and drift into a very light sleep. 4:45 and awakened by the annoying tonal blips of my alarm clock. The drive to the airport, graciously given by Superman (who got no more sleep than I) passes in the early morning haze of the man who’s still in bed in every way possible; I need caffeine or sugar. When I awake I have checked in, Superman is presumably on his way back to bed, and somehow a half eaten Tim Horton’s donut is in my hand. The haze lifts and I head to my gate, only to be accosted by one of the most tempting things you can put in my path. A book store. Next thing I know the plane is taking off. I have been so engrossed in this book, William G...