Habitat for Humanity, etcetera

    Well, I'm back safe and sound from our trip to the capitol of the Philippines aka Manila aka Pollution Central.  The students did well and we did some hard work, though we didn't get to see as much visible progress as the other Habitat group.  We spent most of our time moving dirt or rocks or sifting concrete. 
   One of the days we visited Baseco, a village where thousands of people live in handmade shacks of scrap wood.  There was a fire that destroyed all of Baseco just a few years ago, but now there are 1000 Habitat houses with another 1000 being built.  It was quite moving to walk through and see the conditions that so many people find normal...  Children playing in the trash-filled streets...  Cats digging through garbage for a scrap of food...  And yet so many smiling faces greeted us.  And as a sort of cruel dramatic foil to the squalor we experienced at Baseco, we spent our evening shopping at the Mall of Asia, complete with indoor skating rink. 
   There's much to tell, but not much time to tell it.  But a picture is worth a thousand words, so let's be economical: Click on the picture to view my photos over on facebook.

   In other news, Julie and I have been dating for six months now!  To celebrate we went to a really nice Italian restaurant called Casa Bianca.  Dinner was a bit expensive - we payed $40 in addition to her $100 gift certificate!  So a huge thank you to the fourth grade parents for that gift to Julie.  The restaurant is gorgeous.  It feels like you're eating dinner in a quaint little house in the Italian country side.  Not that I really know what that's like.  But it sure doesn't feel like Korea, or even like a restaurant.  Garlic bread with real garlic on it, red wine, clam chowder, grilled chicken salad, and filet mignon.  It hit the spot.  I'm sure you all want to see how gorgeous my girlfriend was, er, is, so I will show you. 

   And now it's time for me to go to bed! 

부활절 축하합니다!

HAPPY EASTER! 

Stuffs

   Saw 300 this weekend.  Ate man-food on Saturday morning.  Progressive dinner Saturday night.  I made nachos. 

   I'm going to the Philippines next week.  I leave Friday, March 23rd.  I'm one of 6 leaders with 17 students.  We'll be working with Habitat for Humanity - probably digging holes and making bricks.  Stay tuned for stories and pictures.

   Now I'm going to read about curriculum design, then go to bed.

:-]

Two in a row!

   Okay, so I'm taking the concept of "in a row" fairly liberally...  More like "in a month." 

   More tidbits from Brian:  This weekend has been pretty chill.  I didn't get enough sleep during the week, so I was crashing Friday after school. Thankfully we had two home soccer games to cheer me up.  It was our first home games, and the guys and girls are both looking great!  They should go far. 
   After soccer was over (with a 4-2 V for the girls and 6-0 for the guys), it was time for movie night.  The freshman class student council was sponsoring the open event, featuring the work of cinematic genius Step Up.  Dude can dance, that's all I've got to say.  Then, since that wasn't enough movie watching, I stuck around for the cheerleaders' end-of-the-year party.  Julie didn't want to be sole chaperone and it was Friday night - one formulaic foot-stompin freestyle dancin movie wasn't enough.  We changed gears a little bit with Bring It On #3, washed down with copious amounts of Baskin Robbins (I carefully avoided the ill-chosen green tea ice cream in the bucket!). 
   When the last cracker crumb was picked up off the floor and DVD player powered down, I walked Julie home then hit the hay - we both needed our sleep for the LASA Fun Run 5k on Saturday morning!  The Lord was good to us and sunshine greeted us at Expo for the annual fundraiser run.  It was cold, but not nearly as miserable as if the predicted rain had followed through.  The field was sparse, but Julie and I were still proud to come out as top men's and women's finishers.  My time was 19:57, hers 27:35.  I don't want to be presumptuous, but I heard a few people tossing around the words "the new Mike and Jaci." 

   In other news, I hear that there are requests for some Julie and Brian pictures.  Well it just so happens that for Valentine's Day we decided to have a Korean Valentine's.  What that means is you go downtown, buy couples' shirts, take sticker pictures (like in the photo booth at the mall) and eat dinner.  These activities are staple diversions of Korean young people.  So please enjoy our pictures! 

   Have a happy week, folks!

It's been a while

   Yes, it certainly has.  I'm sure nobody ever checks my xanga, but perhaps there's a few lingering subscribers out there whose eyebrows may raise and/or jaw drop at the prospect of an update from me. 

   I'm still in Korea. 

   I teach Physics.

   I have a girlfriend.  Her name is Julie.  She's totally sweet.

   I've been to Thailand twice this year.

   That's the summary.  There are more details out there, and perhaps I'll tell some, but it's gotten way too late tonight.  If I get some feedback here perhaps I'll be motivated and do some more posts.  Otherwise, I'll catch you all on facebook.  I don't like wasting so much time on the computer, but I do love keeping up with friends around the world and their stories.  So I just thought perhaps I ought to offer my news for you.

Goodnight.

Summer in brief...

   Welcome to summer, everybody!  It's been pretty crazy as I fly around (literally) from Korea to Michigan to Colorado to Florida and back to Michigan...   Just in time to head to Minnesota this weekend.  :)  But it's great to have some time off, and especially to enjoy the beach.

   I'll spare you all the details but here are some of the amazing, exciting things I've been doing since my return from Korea:

• Best-manning my brother's wedding
• Watching the World Cup
• Hanging out with friends in the Mile-High City
• Eating a Wendy's picnic at Garden of the Gods
• Taking in the spectacular Western night sky, free from light, sound, or corpuscular pollution
• Playing in Florida's balmy gulf waters
• Getting sunburned
• Spending quality time with my college roommie
• Playing beach volleyball

   In all of my adventures I have gathered lots of knowledge and life experience.  Some bits of wisdom I have gained:

• If you're allergic to shellfish, you're also allergic to iodine. 
• A $500 credit limit doesn't go far when you're traveling around the country
• An avulsion is when you get a big cut that leaves a flap of skin dangling
• It doesn't help to buy sunscreen if you leave it in the hotel room
• Two drinks plus going to bed at 3:00 AM -- two alarms are NOT enough to get you up on time for the conference
• The Chevy Aveo was not made for off-roading...  or even ON-roading without pavement
• A rational function whose numerator has an order of one less than that of the denominator will have one horizontal asymptote along the x-axis

   Each of the preceding life lessons has some sort of personal story or explanation, some more exciting than others.  I'm sure your imagination can connect the dots...  Or if not, ask. 

   In any case, I have to get up early tomorrow to go to Minnesota for wedding reception, round #2.  And also I have to pack.  So I bid you all goodnight and leave you with a few pictures from my erstwhile adventures.

   Send me your good words from your corner of the world!

--Brian

(click any of the following to enlarge)

  
Garden of the Gods                       Sunset over the Gulf in FL

 
At my conference                         Getting ready for fireworks

Painting with sparklers