Another semester has begun, and I am definitely enjoying my last one here in DC. Things are going pretty well in the capital--my $2000/mth apartment on the "gay circle" is awesome, my roommate is cool, and now I know how to get to the nearest RiteAid from where I live--, though the city isn't as big as New York City and there are far too many homeless people in the city. The bottom line is, I wouldn't be able to get a decent canoe trip on Potomac River anywhere near the cornfields.  Neither will I be able to see Senator Joe Lieberman on a street or Justice Ginsburg in the Supreme Court. 

Gees, I'm so not ready for another year. After this year I'll be practically done with my undergrad studies, and I am definitely not ready for the real world. I don't know jack. Maybe that's why I wasn't too excited about the new years this year. That morning on Jan 1st was just like any other morning.

 Now that I'm done with my classes which I was forced to teach when I completely lost my voice, I can finally relax and meet up with friends, etc. Ooh, I have to look for a flight ticket to Prague over the spring break as well. Not sure if I'll really take off to Prague for a week yet though. Maybe Paris, again? Athens this time?

 Anyhoo, wish everyone a very happy new year, and for the sake of a record: thanks for being around, love you too, Dan.

 First off, hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and if I don't get to update this stupid page till the 31st, which is quite likely, happy new year! Yeah, another exciting year awaits all of us. I'm not sure how or how much, but you know, things you can't see ahead can be a whole bunch of fun.

 It's been pretty much hectic for me. Got done with the finals (all 6 of them and two additional papers!!) on the 15th, left Ithaca and had an exciting 9-hr journey to Manhattan through all that snow that night, left for Korea at night on the 16th (actually 17th midnight), got home on the 18th like at 5 am, and started my classes the next morning. As far as my classes go, I'm teaching 7 hours a day, 5 hours of pure SAT stuff and 2 hours of other essay stuff. Yuck. It totally makes me feel like throwing up sometimes, but I'm getting better at dealing with those brats. It's also very encouraging that their moms are pretty much supportive, though they can be VERY nosy. Man don't I hate those overnight millionaire moms--and their kids.

 I'll be in Shanghai in two weeks. Oh man, can't wait to 1. finally get out of Korea and properly visit other Asian countries, 2. have fun with my lovely family, and 3. see Shaun! Thank goodness I'll have a free tour guide in Shanghai.  So, souvenirs, anyone? No guarantees, but I can at least try to bring one of those gross-looking sticks of worms or cockroaches they sell on the streets.

 Okay, I have to hand in a part of my group project tomorrow morning, and instead of working on that stupid government report, I'm scribbling some random stuff. Oh man, I really should cut this..

 I recently pulled an all nighter just to figure out what I'll be taking next semester. ...Well I did have tons of work due the day after too anyway. I'm pretty sure that this year is going to be my last year in Ithaca, so I had to decide on what to take and when to take. Damn, so many classes I wanted to take are either not offered this year or in conflict with other classes that I really have to take. It's actually freaking me out that I'll be graduating in no time...

 My mom might visit me in February, and I still have to think about how to bring her all the way up to Ithaca from LA. I can totally see how it may end up being a huge ordeal, but still it'd be sweet to have her here for a week.

 And.. I'm craving for Indian food. I can't drink milk anymore because I can't digest it. Not sure if I'm lactose intolerent, because cheese still works fine for me: 50/50 chance of digesting yogurt. I used to hate soymilk but now I can drink it just like water. A small daily intake of dark chocolate keeps you healthy, and Whoopi Goldberg is coming tomorrow. It's so freakin cold these days, and I don't know what I'll do for Thanksgiving, though I'm pretty sure I'll end up going to NYC. Baby carrots are awesome. Death penalty should be abolished in this counrty and I can totally give a 15 minute speech about it right now. Sony is paying for my free Napster service. I'm going to pass out soon.....

 So, I had recently pulled another visit to Champaign. Though my flights from Syracuse to DC to Chicago were totally messed up thus I had to stand up Arvind and Ken at O'Hare for many hours and spend my precious Friday night in Baltimore Airport, sitting on a bench like a hobo and shivering, I had much fun back in good ol' Champaign. Too bad I didn't have a chance to see as many people as I wanted to see--a vast majority of people moved out to frigging apartments from GC and it was truly a pain to get ahold of some of them... or you for that matter. Oh well.

  Highdive was still a lot of fun, and this time, I could buy myself a drink! Now I'm thinking that I might have been a bit too smiley at random people that night at the club--and that was why I got a lot more looks and drink/dance offers than usual? --, and I probably shouldn't have had that much alcohol, but it was all good, at least Melissa and I had so much fun together, just like good old days. By the way, if you have a chance to go to a club and ever see a girl--whether you know her or not-- sleeping on a couch in a corner, do NOT use a cold bottle to wake her up. Personally, I totally wanted to slap those people who touched my leg with ice cold beer bottles attempting to wake me up like every 5 seconds. An alternative: a small, gentle tap on a shoulder works just fine.

 Yes, I did have a lot of fun, but on the way back to Ithaca, I felt quite depressed. Things were not the same--this time around, I felt like a total stranger on the campus--, and people were not the same either. It was especially just too tough to see one of my best friends whom I have regarded as my own younger brother acting like a different person. I have never felt that kind of 'distance,' and I am not upset about the change itself: I was just a bit angry at the fact that time can definitely make negative changes and that I didn't know what to do and how I was supposed to feel. Seeing something very different from what I was familiar with, and debating inside myself whether I should accept the unpleasant change or not are simply not the coolest thing in the world. Psh, whatever, I bet this Mr. I'm-too-busy-to-give-shit-about-it would be sleeping or smoking weed right now, if not working at a frigging pizza place.

 Aside from that little note of frustration, I just wanted to let everyone know that I miss you all very much already.

Oh man, I'm so not ready for my 9 am tomorrow.