Blurbs From Eunee's Mind (and Life)

This past Monday a tragic thing happened in Seoul, South Korea. . . . One of the historical monuments that has been standing for over 600 years in Seoul was destroyed in an arson fire. Now all that remains of this structure is the stone base. This structure, pictured here, is called Namdaemun (or Sungnyemun)- The Great South Gate. While it has gone through renovations in the past years, there were pieces of that structure that dated back to the original construction of it over 600 years ago. For a while it was not open to the public to walk through, but just recently had been opened. And I had an opportunity to walk through the gates and admire the paintings on the ceiling. Many Koreans are in grief over the burning of this piece of our culture, as am I. In fact, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that most Koreans are mourning the loss of this cultural monument. Rebuilding it will take years and cost millions of dollars.... The more terrible thing was that it wasn't an acci...

I went on a trip to DC this past weekend, leaving Thursday and coming back Sunday. I took the bus (DC2NY) and it was great! Most people I talked to were surprised that I had such a great experience. The trip was 4 hours and 15 minutes (just about, including the 15-minute rest stop break) and smooth both to DC and back! No traffic or anything! I must have picked some good times....although, leaving NY at 4 p.m. did not seem like such a great time, but I had no choice - it was the only bus that went to DC on Thursdays. Nonetheless, I still made it into DC by 8:15 p.m. I was trying to count the tolls and then figuring in the gas - for driving to DC by car and back. And really, I asked myself, why bother? The bus did it in great time; I didn't have to worry about the tolls; and I could either doze off, watch a movie, or go on the internet! Can't do that when I'm driving! :) But yes, my friend here in NY was so surprised that I had such a great experience! Though she jokingly sa...

"live with intention. walk to the edge. listen hard. practice wellness. play with abandon. laugh. choose with no regret. continue to learn. appreciate your friends. do what you love. live as if this is all there is." - mary anne radmacher I'd like to think I do live with intention. Most of my major decisions are made with intent, purpose, and goal. And I do suppose I walk to the edge - the edge of what is known to me and my circle of influence, although sometimes it might just be the edge of a box I tend to live in most of the time, unfortunately. Perhaps though in walking to the edge, and walking along it, I attempt to push the boundary out even further....or knock it down altogether. Listen? Oh yes, I listen hard. If anything, that's one thing I learned to do well in my years as a psychologist and counselor; of course, I also learned to listen hard to me, and the Voice that gives me guidance (albeit sometimes my voice speaks loudest....). I do try to practice wellne...

I went to SoCal for about two weeks over the holidays and I had a good time. I mostly ate, as one does when returning home for vacation - ate with family, with friends, with former colleagues now friends, and of course, the snacks I used to enjoy like Porto's. :) I think it would be appropriate for me to list some of the places I went to eat at besides mom's house (hee hee): Cha Cha Chicken, Black Cow Cafe, the Alcove, and Yun Kyung (for jja-jang myun and tang soo yook). Jja-jang myun is a Chinese-Korean noodles-in-black-sauce dish (and thus can't be found at traditional Chinese or Korean restaurants - believe me, my friend has tried; tang soo yook is crispy fried pork (or beef) with veggies in sweet sauce. Yum!! :d I did get to go snowboarding because a winter storm hit Southern California while I was there. I took some pictures and showed some people here and my classmate laughed. He asked me if it was really southern California. I think people forget that there are mount...

Can you believe that it is already the first day of 2008? In some places in the world the new year is already a day or two old. The new year has come here in Southern California, and with it the advent of new things - I hope. I look forward to the new year, with new vision and with new hope. And of course, I hope to sail upon new shores and ask that my journeys bring me to new horizons. This world is so big, yet so small in some ways due to the advent of technology. Still, there is so much yet to be experienced - and I cannot wait. With the new, sometimes I think that I am quick to forget the old. But the old is also worth keeping and bringing along even in the new year. I think we're all like that in some ways. We look forward to new technology - bigger, better, faster, flashier. It's like a race to that one shiny bauble that will make our lives better. I hope that's really not the case and that the material is really just a side to the things that truly make our lives bet...

Today was the last day of classes for my first semester back in school, and I must say that I am relieved and happy about it, although I cannot believe that it's already over! I just checked my grades for my Biostats exam and I did quite well! I was so excited I called my friend Sylvia and jumped up and down, sharing the news with her. I'm so excited because I was quite anxious about this exam. My final grade hasn't been posted yet, but still, I got to see my grade for the final exam. Anyway, it is quite amazing to find myself at the end of my first semester. I have at least 7 more semesters to go before I'm finished, but hey, who's counting? Heh heh. I have adjusted to a new life and a new climate. It definitely is different out here, compared to southern California; and the weather? Well, let's just say that I laughed at myself when I told my friend this morning that it was a comfortable 43 degrees Fahrenheit, even with it feeling like 38. It's about 50-so...

Today is the 3rd time it has snowed since I have been here. You saw my first snow experience (or if you didn't, you can click here to see it). The 2nd one came and went in the blink of an eye - with no telltale signs that it had come at all. But today, it made its presence known. Have you been hearing about the severe storms that have been hitting the midwest? Well, we got it here today. This morning it was very pretty - and I bundled up in excitement. But in the time it took for me to get myself together and out the door, it quickly turned into tiny little pieces of ice - my classmate called it rock salt. Pretty accurate. By the time I got to campus, it had turned into lots of different sizes of pieces of ice, and the roads were slushy and slippery. I was walking to class from the parking lot and as is my habit when the umbrella is up, I listened to the sounds of ice bouncing off my umbrella, and I concluded that it was much noisier than rain. It didn't have that soothing sou...