Category: Friends

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Flight Scare with Anna

So we got on the flight to DFW (Dallas Fort Worth) and half hour into the flight, Anna comlained of sharp pain in her side.  It was bad enough that she started to cry.  Soojin got scared… her mom had appendicitis and the symptoms seemed to be similar…. pain coming and going.

When we landed, Soojin asked ME what we should do.  Let me just say, it’s freakin’ huge responsibility to be responsible for one life, let alone three!  I wasn’t sure of what to do… but with a child traveling and less than an hour to our connecting flight, I figured it’s better safe than sorry.

So I asked for the paramedics.  They came and started to look at Anna.  She was still complaining of pain.  They didn’t think it was appendicitis and when they had asked me if we wanted Anna taken to hospital, I decided that we’d try to wait it out as our flight now was gone and had to get on a different flight.

At that point, I had missed a call from Paul Minifee.  When I had called back, his father Dr. Paul Minifee, was next to him.  You see, he’s a senior doctor at Children’s Hospital in Houston!  So with such awesome knowledge available, I laid the concerns to him.  He then asked if Anna’s appetite was gone.  She said she was hungry.  He then asked if Anna could touch her toes quickly without bending her knees.  And she could.  Dr. Minifee said that if she had appendicitis, she wouldn’t have appetite nor be able to bend and touch toes w/o pain in the side.  Whew.

Got off the phone.  I held Anna and started rubbing her back… felt bit of knots on her left spine so I massaged that away.  Then everyone (except me) wanted pizza for lunch so we ate that. Anna felt better by this point and when we walked over to the other gate for our new connecting flight, I was worried that we wouldn’t get on…  but I guess the other agent had left note on our case and reason for missing the previous flight ’cause the new one called me as Mr. Jang and asked me about how Anna was doing, and that they’d get us seats soon.

Though they had charged us $60 for luggage ($15 X 4), at least their service didn’t suck.  We finally flew into La Guardia airport and we were welcomed with NYC’s finest drivers and 2 hour traffic.  But we are home.  Thank God.

Merry Christmas everyone!

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Video Project from a friend – “Bobby”

Jun Kang, a friend from the Austin years, has always had such an artistic side to him.

Here’s his latest project that he shared with me. 😀 It’s very enticing though it may not seem to have any major message. And that’s Jun’s voice interviewing Bobby.  It definitely was a good break from all this financial turmoil and such…


Bobby HD from Jesse Armstrong on Vimeo

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Visit to Dallas

After having visited Austin two weeks ago, I visited Dallas this past weekend.

I got to see Jun Kang, an eclectic friend of mine, who is a movie/film director/editor/producer. He is a very artistic guy, and I always think of that director dude from the series “Entourage”! 😛 Had lunch with him on Friday and hung out at the Dallas Museum of Arts. Then we hung out at the museum’s little gravel garden. It was good catching up with him…

After that, I went to see my ex-roome, Jin Chung. He came back from Washington, DC where he worked for a great non-profit organization called IJM (International Justice Mission) but came back home to take care of his parents. He’s a good guy really… misunderstood like the most of us… but a great guy with passion. We had fun catching up and reminiscing on the good ol’ times.

Then, I met up with Erica Quinn (now, Erica Bittner!) and her hubby, Travis, and my old favorite Daniel Quinn for dinner! We met at a neat Chinese restaurant called May Dragon. We had an awesome time catching up and having some of the best laughs I’ve had in a long time! And very glad to find out that Travis is a good guy and easy to get along with. My boy Daniel was now all grown up and working… sheesh… where does time go?!

Then I spent the night at Mo’s place. Dude… he lives too far!! Frisco!! But we had good time catching up and awesome breakfast at Le Peep’s nearby.

Then I met up Joohee Kim and her new hubby, Kihyun Kim for lunch. I think we went to the same Soon Tofu place that Alex Lee loved so much! I had missed Joohee’s wedding since I had to stay longer in Korea. She looked pretty happy so I was glad to see that. Joohee’s husband is a jundosanim (pastor-in-training) and he seemed sincere enough.

Then I headed over to Deborah Ahn (now Wingate) and her husband, Jon Wingate’s place! But since Erica didn’t know other couples like herself (Korean marrying Caucasian), I had asked Deborah if it was ok for Erica and the family to join us for dinner!

Added bonus was that I got to meet the Editor-in-Chief of “The Brew” magazine, Eric Beach! 😀 It is always nice to meet people in person after you meet them online. The two couples seemed to hit it off and I am glad to have been the link.

Afterwards, I had great talks of all kinds with the Wingates. Then the next morning, Deborah cooked awesome breakfast of bacon and eggs!! 😀 Mmmmm… and more great talk and catching up.

I attended Binnerri Church for service and see Mo again. But afterwards, I wanted to see Brian Shinn and his kid! So I met him up at local Chili’s resaturant. Last time I saw him was at least 8 years ago so it was great catching up with him. He had gained some weight… but he still was the same Brian! Since his kid was sleeping, he came alone. So I drove to his place to see his kid, Tyler, and meet his wife for the first time! Tyler was sooo cute!

After all that, I drove back home and got home around 7 pm. It was tiring… but awesome just catching up with old friends.

By the way, Jun, Jin, and Mo are still single if some of the readers are single women! 😉 LOL…

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Getaway Trip to Austin

So since I had free time and being more flexible, I decided to head up to Austin to see some friends I hadn’t seen in years!

I got hold of Minkyung who was visiting her mom in Kileen, and went to see her.  She is now a mother of two!  😮  Her one-year-old daughter was sleeping so she came out with just her 4-year-old daughter.  She is very cute and looks and acts just like her mom.

After that, I came down to have dinner with two Young Nak members:  Taeyoung and Sungsoo.  Taeyoung is still as well-behaved as ever… and still calls me “ah-juh-ssi”!  LOL.  I suppose I deserve that since she’s 20!  😛  Sungsoo, who is now 23, was becoming a very thoughtful man.  For those that know him, I knew him when he was in high school and has always had attitude with him.  So I was very pleasantly shocked to find out he’s been teaching Sunday school, taking kids on mission trips and such.  God does do miracles after all!!  LOL…

Then, I went to visit the newlywed, Sunhee.  It happened that Chancety was in town as well, so I got to see those … along with Sunhee’s wife.  It was good just hanging out and catching up.  I was just glad to see him doing well…

Then thanks to Joe John, I had a place to sleep for the night!  😀  After church at good ol’ AKPC, I had lunch with Young Ji, young Hwa, and Hakbum, and good ol’ time catching up on everyone…

Afterwards, I tried to see if I could visit Daniel and Amanda but they were busy.  But thankfully, Karen noona and her family were free!  So I went to visit them in south Austin and had good time catching up sharing about everything from raising kids to Korean culture.

I realized that it really isn’t that far from PS’ house to Austin!  It’s only a little over 2 hours!  And I wasn’t even speeding!!  Anyhow, I hadn’t seen some of these people for 5 years!  When I visit Dallas, I will be seeing people that I hadn’t seen in longer time than that!!  Yikes!

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Soojin and the Family in Korea: Update

Thanks to everyone that has been praying for Soojin and the kids. Soojin is feeling well enough that she can attend church, walk couple of blocks, and take the kids to the local library. 😀

Kids are enjoying themselves in Korea… eating all the Korean popsicles (JJ loves “Jaws bar” and Anna loves Lotte’s “Screw bar” – no jokes please). To keep them entertained, Anna has been loving piano lesson (which is mainly learning how to read notes) and both have just started on some kind of art/painting class. Both love that latter one so much that they don’t want to leave!

I also wanted to take this time to thank everyone that has offered meals and weekend “lodging”. PS was the first to buy me a meal when I returned (though his first words were, and I quote, “I missed you Peter! I had no one to pick on!” 😛 Then that weekend, John and Christine took me in for the Saturday, and though John is semi-vegetarian, he cooked me an awesome (medium-rare!) steak!  John and Joanne also invited me over for a meal and offered free room anytime I need it! Andrew also bought me an awesome meal at this nice Italian place near Galleria mall! Joanna has been also super about it… thanks for helping me discover awesome Mexican place! Chung & Celeste always offered meals & room and I would’ve taken their offer if it weren’t for them being over an hour’s drive away! 🙁 It’s great to know that you are taken care of…

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Korean Word: ? (pronounced “jung”)

There was this girl when I was in Austin while I helped out at Austin KPC.  It was her last year in college and she was going to move to a faraway place to Boston for more schooling.  She had a rough year, and all she had was resentment, frustration, and bit of anger mixed into one gigantic concoction.  Her graduating class seemed so… hopeless to her.  They seemed to to be not trying… at least in her sight.  So when I had a chance to speak with her, she complained of them and told me how she wouldn’t miss Austin.  She really meant the people.

I told her then, just as I would again now if the opportunity came back, that no matter how much people had upset you and made you flabbergasted, when time goes by, you will miss them.  In fact, that you would long to see them again, and even perhaps want to relive that moment.  She didn’t think so.  I saw her briefly few years later… and she had told me that indeed, that is the case.

There’s a word in Korean language that my good friend, Professor Paul Andre Minifee, understood all too well.  ?.  There’s no English equivalent word for it.  It is similar to affection, having developed a sense of bond, of belonging, of family, and becoming a part of that person’s life.  It’s like as if you have imparted in that person(s) a part of you in them and so when they are far away, you miss them.  You long for them.

I have been nearly married (come next June 9) seven years.  Seven freaking years.  Time just goes by.  Did my use of that f-word startle you?  Does that seem to imply that I’m not happy for past 7 years?!  Well, it would be partially true.  But only in very small part.  You see, as I have been telling whoever seems to need to hear it, we fought practically on a daily basis the first couple of years of our marriage.  It’s sheer God’s grace that we had pulled through it all.  When Soojin and Anna stayed in Korea for 2 months back five years ago, I hadn’t missed them so much (save for that stupid movie with the worst intro called “Finding Nemo“!).

However, now that we have been together for 7 years, having lived with my daughter for 6 years, and JJ for 4 years, I have developed a sense of “jung” towards them.  It just seemed like yesterday when JJ’s constant waking up at 3 am would drive both of us nuts!  It seemed like yesterday that Anna would simply just cry to put a stop to her father’s impending punishment.  And it still feels like we just fought yesterday.  Now, I miss them.  Terribly.

Funny how life changes a person.  As time goes by, through the thick and thin, you develop this special kind of bond.  I suppose this is what you call marriage.  And a family.  What used to bother me, I’d trade everything I have to just have it back!  I miss JJ snoring (like his father) at night.  Anna sleeps like a stick (or a frog, depending on her fatigue level) at night.  Soojin is… unreadable only sometimes.

I now find myself again finding God to be… a bit of a comic.  To make us as we are, I just can’t stop thinking about what He must’ve been thinking when designed and created us!  I’m not lovable by any means… but I guess God had developed a sense of ? (jung) towards us: both lovable and annoying at the same time.  It’s going to be tough three months, but we are all in a place God wants us to be…

I miss everyone … all the people I had met in the past.  I wonder if that girl, who is now married, would still tell me that she misses those people from Austin…

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Two Weddings in August: Won Lee and Kathy Kang

Two people that have been friends of mine since… 1995!  😮

Both are finally getting married!!  And no, not to each other!!  Won Suk Lee is getting married on August 16 in California!  Kathy Kang is getting married in San Antonio on August 23!  Here’s Kathy and her fiancé together…

I don’t know if I can make it to either of the weddings with Soojin’s condition and uncertainty but I am very happy for both of them!!  😀  My prayers are with you all…  And huge big congratulations!!