It's Now How I'm Living, But How I'm Surviving

Short enough just considering the time, but long enough to have lives change. While those changes were taking place in people's lives, I saw it happen to me too. A stop in my life in Paris was probably meant to regroup myself. Regroup in order to prepare for what I am now, a R.O.K. Army soldier. Something I took initiative to, enlisted myself to fill the purpose of my family's desires. It'd be a lie if I told you that I never thought about quitting, or questioned my decision time and time again. But as humans, we feel the greatest feel of accomplishment through the most difficult challenges that we face in life. In the military it's not how you live, it's how you survive. I was blessed to have 'lived' in a life where people are free to walk the streets and find work in a high rise building, then have the option of letting go. Then I found myself surviving the artic cold weather in the woods of basic training. And through that I'm in a new position, where I'm in position not just to witness it but actually be able to change other people's lives having been recruited as a Drill Sergeant. Not just building civilians into combat soldiers, but to be fearless, confident and a brave individual ready to face the challenges of life. I still face those challenges today. My day starts at 5:20 in the morning and it doesn't until midnight when all the training and meetings have been covered. Putting in 130 hour work weeks, 7 days a week is no easy task. But like I said, I have no choice but to survive, you never want to put your dead body in the hands of a comrade first. My time is up, my first leave was a chance for me to recharge my batteries, and when I go back to base tonight, finding better and more efficient ways to build on my leadership is key, and for those I've lost touch with for the past couple months, due to my situation, believe me, you are still in my prayers.

Demolish In Order To Conquer

Life is often comparable to architecture, the way it's built from a blueprint to construction ultimately to a structure. Then so far, I love my platform. But there comes a time a structure is beyond repair and simply easier to demolish in order to be built bigger, better and more efficient.

Just like anyone else I have immense amounts of different decisions I would've made if I knew better a second time around. But I'm fortunate to be where I am through those decisions that in one way or another shaped my life the way it is today.

Who knows, I might cherish today for today because I couldn't go back and have the opportunity to change those decisions.

Earlier in the year, I made another crucial decision. No one will ever know the impact it'll have in my life until I look back in the next ten years but I have a good feeling deep down this moment, that this will change my life forever.

God must've known this was coming because I can honestly say the last couple of years truly prepared me for this moment. The deep understanding of our culture in Korea, the true lessons of survival I attained on my own in America, coupled with the valuable test of patience and optimism in Paris, it couldn't have set up more flawlessly.

And so I salute to those who raised me, my mother and father, for giving me more than they ever had in their lives, my brother for having gone through this process before me and made me proud. I thought I'd never say this, but salute to the country that fed me but raised me in better conditions.

I will miss you all and I hope to greet you guys soon when I'm back from my leave of absence. Until then, best of luck and wishes for you all truly deserve it. My year starts now!!!

Woof! Woof!

I've been looking forward to this moment for a long, long time. I finally got a chance to eat dog meat in Korea! Boshingtang, the kinda meat that make white people go. "No thanks, duuude." I know there's a lot of people that disagree with me on this one, haha, and being a dog owner myself I shouldn't have probably tried it but the curiousity was a bit too enticing. My brother took me to this spot in Non-Hyun Dong and it wasn't necessarily off the hook, but it was darn GOOD. It tasted like Bo-ssam but the meat was a lot more softer. I couldn't ignore the general perception that it gives men its power boost if you know what I mean ;) I should need it to knowing that I'm going 'camping' in a day haha. I'll post pictures as soon I as I get a chance.

Other than that, been busy meeting friends (seriously 5 people I can call family to) and just quickly re-adapting to Korean way of things, how they talk, walk, their slangs and mannerisms. That's been the only worry, the mental aspect of having to adapt in such a short period of time. I'm just glad I've been here before and some of the old memories are coming back. Physically I'm down to 167 pounds (I haven't been below 170 since ...) I was quite surprised because I've been consuming all kinds of junk food knowing I can't have them in a while.

Anyhow, it feels good to be here, be close with family and family-like friends I never had in Paris nor New York. Knowing you have people you can rely on is a great feeling and gives me a certain swagger difference from your own self-confidence. I haven't felt this way in a long time! Staying positive baby!

Obama's Letter To Malia & Sasha

You can't help but to admire Obama and who he is and what he stands for. I came across this letter that he wrote to his children, and I thought it was so deep that I wanted to post this so I will never lose it and I can always go back to it, possibly when I have children one day. Here it reads:

Dear Malia and Sasha,
I know that you’ve both had a lot of fun these last two years on the campaign trail, going to picnics and parades and state fairs, eating all sorts of junk food your mother and I probably shouldn’t have let you have. But I also know that it hasn’t always been easy for you and Mom, and that as excited as you both are about that new puppy, it doesn’t make up for all the time we’ve been apart. I know how much I’ve missed these past two years, and today I want to tell you a little more about why I decided to take our family on this journey.

When I was a young man, I thought life was all about me—about how I’d make my way in the world, become successful, and get the things I want. But then the two of you came into my world with all your curiosity and mischief and those smiles that never fail to fill my heart and light up my day. And suddenly, all my big plans for myself didn’t seem so important anymore. I soon found that the greatest joy in my life was the joy I saw in yours. And I realized that my own life wouldn’t count for much unless I was able to ensure that you had every opportunity for happiness and fulfillment in yours. In the end, girls, that’s why I ran for President: because of what I want for you and for every child in this nation.

I want all our children to go to schools worthy of their potential—schools that challenge them, inspire them, and instill in them a sense of wonder about the world around them. I want them to have the chance to go to college—even if their parents aren’t rich. And I want them to get good jobs: jobs that pay well and give them benefits like health care, jobs that let them spend time with their own kids and retire with dignity.

I want us to push the boundaries of discovery so that you’ll live to see new technologies and inventions that improve our lives and make our planet cleaner and safer. And I want us to push our own human boundaries to reach beyond the divides of race and region, gender and religion that keep us from seeing the best in each other.

Sometimes we have to send our young men and women into war and other dangerous situations to protect our country—but when we do, I want to make sure that it is only for a very good reason, that we try our best to settle our differences with others peacefully, and that we do everything possible to keep our servicemen and women safe. And I want every child to understand that the blessings these brave Americans fight for are not free—that with the great privilege of being a citizen of this nation comes great responsibility.

That was the lesson your grandmother tried to teach me when I was your age, reading me the opening lines of the Declaration of Independence and telling me about the men and women who marched for equality because they believed those words put to paper two centuries ago should mean something.

She helped me understand that America is great not because it is perfect but because it can always be made better—and that the unfinished work of perfecting our union falls to each of us. It’s a charge we pass on to our children, coming closer with each new generation to what we know America should be.

I hope both of you will take up that work, righting the wrongs that you see and working to give others the chances you’ve had. Not just because you have an obligation to give something back to this country that has given our family so much—although you do have that obligation. But because you have an obligation to yourself. Because it is only when you hitch your wagon to something larger than yourself that you will realize your true potential.

These are the things I want for you—to grow up in a world with no limits on your dreams and no achievements beyond your reach, and to grow into compassionate, committed women who will help build that world. And I want every child to have the same chances to learn and dream and grow and thrive that you girls have. That’s why I’ve taken our family on this great adventure.
I am so proud of both of you. I love you more than you can ever know. And I am grateful every day for your patience, poise, grace, and humor as we prepare to start our new life together in the White House.

Love, Dad

So Far So Good

That is the best way I can describe my experience in Korea so far. I'm still in awe with all the technological advances here. I can't tell you how much it makes life easier. I thought when I came here I'd feel the 'panic' from the recession but honestly walking down the street I don't feel it much. Everybodys still going out to clubs and bars and spending their money as my brother would say. Over the past couple of days, I met up with my one of my closest homies in my lifetime, Jun and Juan both whom I met while I was living in Peru. These dudes are my brothers, and after all these years aint nothing changed between us but age. I'm really glad I have these folks here that I can look forward to meeting with. It's funny to me, 'cause if anyone saw us together now, they'd probably think how in the world we'd ever become friends. We're all real different in a sense, but it's the high school experience that brought us all together. Since back then, we'd never 'judge' a friend by 'what they do' but solely accept them for who they are. What's also great about meeting up with old folks is that each one of us have a distinct memory of all our past times, it's quite refreshing and suprising.

So I have 6 more days 'till time becomes a friend of mine and so many things are racing through my mind. Six more days my freedom is gone. It reminds me of the day I went to Central Booking for a day for a DWI case in New York and how much I told everyone it's something everybody should go through atleast once in their lifetime because of how you get to appreciate your freedom. The only difference is that was a day, this is two years that I'm talking about. I really won't know what it's like until I face it but I know almost everybody makes it out alive. That's good news, just don't drop the grenade. For the next few days I'll be meeting up with a couple of more folks I knew and watch the time fly by. Hopefully I won't run into some crazy ass people I've encountered along the way, you know, one of those Korean people asking you to go to the 'temple' with them. Weird Buddhists.

Back To The Future

In Korea at last! But...

I hate flying.

Not to mistake hate with fear. I hate flying. It took me ten hours and fifty-nine minutes to stomach my likewise problem. Just a few seconds more I thought, but watched a few years gone by. Eleven hours into the flight, as soon as the tires hit the ground and the plane made its routine turbulence, it was out. I barfed. Like a slick terrorist, I sneaked the blanket I barfed on beneath the front seat successfully like a bomb was to go unnoticed. Then I'm sure it blew, not a real bomb, a stink bomb when it went ahead and got discovered. :)

During the flight though, I sat next to this French guy named Peter, who at first seemed obnoxiously ignorant talking on his cell phone as loud as if his eardrums fell off, was a real cool dude afterall. He was on his way to Indonesia on a connect flight from Seoul, to teach surfing, which is his occupation. He seemed to have it real good, he says he works 6 months of the year and has the rest of the 6 months off and he still gets paid during the offseason. My first thought,

'Where do I sign!?'

Please. I'll take those jobs any day. So he wasn't as fluent in English, volunteerly like any Parisian, but was very fluent in Spanish so we started conversing in it. He talked about two things majority of the time. Alcohol and women. When the subject of women came about, I expressed my disappointment in French women not really being rich in volume. He was quick to engage himself in defense mode, and gouged in his pocket for what he called 'personal' in Spanish, a digital camera with a picture of his girlfriend in a lingerie. +_+. So, where do I sign again!? Nah just playing, lol.

What I realize about Seoul is it breathes the air of convenience of everyday living. They say money is what buys it, but you don't need that when you have a country that's outerspace in technology. Internet is The Usain Bolt. My brother's navigation detects speed bumps, ridiculous. I asked him if it detects gums on the street but sadly we're not there yet. When I went to see a doc in Paris, they had a lamp. I went to an ortho here in Korea, he pulled out an ultrasound system for a ligament tear on my pinky. Public parking lot attendants don't drive the cars up the floors and take the elevator down with it, it stores a car in certain number lot and all he does is punch in the number and it will bring the car down itself.

Other than my amazement of this futuristic-ness, I'm catching up with old real homies and some of the forgotten moments of my past is dug up again, and realize my life was more interesting than I thought, lol. Spending time with my brother is always good and I'm just on cruise control, enjoying life, being thankful, staying positive like always. If you wanna break me down, you gotta go for my mind, but try me. I'm grateful for the real homies that never wavered as well, shout outs to Jun, Juan & Soo. It's 7:25am, so that means I stayed up 6 hours talking to Jun over the phone about our high school days. These moments, priceless.

Life Lessons

I'm Seoul bound tomorrow, half excited, half sad that I'll be leaving the beloved Paris for a minute but hand in hand I believe this is my destiny and I'll be able to fufill the experiences of Seoul as much as Paris.

A friend of pops stopped by tonight and gave me one of the best life advices I've ever heard in a long time. He might be much younger than my dad, but he really knew how to give a motivational speech. Now I'm all hyped to be experiencing something completely different from what I have and going to Korea I know I'll be just alright.

I've been so busy the past couple of days just seeing parts of France & Paris I've yet to see, and it took me 4 + months to actually visit some of the tourist spots I've been lazy to visit. All in all, still haven't packed yet, so gotta get to that right now. But damn, today was a good day, have gone up the Arc du Triomphe finally, then some sushi with moms and pops, then get to listen to some great advice. Anyways, I'll prolly post something up when I'm in Seoul but if I get some time before that I'll post something but otherwise, talk to y'all when I'm in the Far East!!!