Joan of Arcadia, weight, nukes

I finished season 2 today. It ended so abruptly, I cannot believe it was not picked up for another season though season 1 was obviously much better than season 2. Yes, there have been some wonderful TV series but none like this. Most of those "religious" kind of "spiritual" shows are so cheesy (Touched by an Angel, ew). As far as I remember, Highway to Heaven was good but I'm sure if I watch it now, I wouldn't last 15 minutes. Joan of Arcadia, well, it's timeless. I mean, the first season was like 2003 or 2004 and well, 4 or 5 years later, the solid messages held strong. I think it dealt with God in a reasonable way, a way in which people could think and see how Jesus could apply to their everyday life. That's what it's about right, what evangelizing is? Anyways, I'm a little sad that it's over, but one day I'll get the DVDs or something and remember it fondly.

Today I got most of this editing thing done that I am doing for a theology grad student. It's pretty anti-American (though it's about the North Korean mission and peace and such), interesting for me to read. Oh well. Just doing my job, trying to make the grammar ok, if not good. It's not even an issue of grammar but more so an issue of making it academic which I am far from. What will I do in the coming years? Be real, I guess. I haven't written many legit papers in the last 5 years, so we'll see how it goes in grad school.

Got called fat by two people yesterday and short by another. The two were my aunt and grandpa and the other was my mom's friend who remembers me from when I was 6 and 13 (in which case I am taller than I was then, though I haven't grown that much since I was 13). The lack of height comment was nothing in comparison to my family saying I gained weight (regardless of the truth in the statement). Anyways, yeah, sure it's Korean culture to say people are fat and it's supposed to be written off as caring but that's some damaging stuff. I can get over it but the damage of the words are still there. I see pics of friends (via facebook) from high school and some have dramatically lost weight, others have drammatically gained it but here I am, about the same, and I'm ok. Definitely can't use Korean cultural standards as my measuring stick. I mean, yeah, I was affected by the words yesterday, but more so as a shock issue than it causing me to starve myself. But no wonder there are many eating disorders in this country. I'm often thankful for coming out of the American culture. It's not perfect but it's close enough for me.

So, I was checking out cnn.com and it said something about North Korea and the nukes and well, for a second, I was like, "That doesn't affect me." Then I remembered that I'm still in SOUTH KOREA and I clicked on the article and saw that something, maybe, good was happening. Sadly though, they could really use nuclear power for energy but there's no trust so it's all gotta go. But how quickly I displace myself. Will I keep up with it from the safety of Kentucky?

You know, I'm apparently going to a town of 5,900 or so people. I did not know this bit of info until the other day as I was looking for churches. Apparently Radcliff, KY has like 6 Korean churches but like nowhere else in Kentucky does. There's only 21,000 there. Crazy, eh? And Radcliff is a good 71 miles from Wilmore. So yeah. I grew up in a town of 4,411 people and then I spent the last 5 years in a city of 11 million and now I'm heading back to a town of nearly 6,000 so I'm not sure what to think. I mean, it's good I didn't know about all this while applying because it's likely I would have hesitated a bit longer. Exciting times, eh? Definitely in for some adventures. Are you guys ready? It's like I'm going back to high school as a more confident, semi-adult who's been out in the world a while. Could there be anything BUT adventures?!?

Oh, random news, but met up with two fellow Missourians here in Jeonju. Funny, huh? They are linked to my home church and people there and here I meet them where my mom lives where only like 400-600 other foreigners reside. Met the second dude yesterday. But yeah...before meeting him, I spent a couple hours in a coffee shop and read and thought. Been a while for that. That kind of freedom is something so easily taken for granted, and I don't mind staying here at my mom's for days and days but once you taste that "freedom" again, it's hard to forget it easily. But I need to buckle down and get things done. Only a few more weeks here in Korea, at my mom's. I really need to spend time with my mom too, not just in front of my computer. There may not be too much more from me while I'm here, but please don't give up on me. The shorter notes will be easier to read, right? And maybe I'll actually do some pen and paper journaling? oooohh.

By the way, the rioting in Seoul because of beef is just too much. Are they for real? Definitely got out of there in time...