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| Honestly, I LOVE Coffee Bean more than any other coffee shop and I LOVE holiday drinks, even more so when they are free. It makes me so happy when I see Starbucks, Coffee Bean, and other coffee shops offer their Pumpkin Spice Latte and Peppermint Mocha during this holiday season. I also want Trader Joe's Candy Cane Joe-Joe's and Ghirardelli's Peppermint Bark Squares right now... YUM! :) On or before Halloween, I was already listening to Josh Groban's "Noel" album, which is my favorite collection of Christmas songs. Needless to say, I am SO ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas to come. Please come sooner.
---LKH---
¤ Today, I am thankful for: Eight and a half hours of sleep. Warm and cozy bed. PA presentation that went well enough. Free Coffee Bean. Tim and Tammy. Seeing Lorraine again. Catching up with Lynna for a bit. Good chat with Mom on the phone. | | |
| Today was Veteran's Day, but I didn't do anything too special for the day off. I woke up at 7:15am to make it to my usual meeting with my Ethics professor and the other two PAs (Peer Assistants) on Wednesday mornings at 8:15am. Even though the rest of the school had a day off, my professor didn't and we still had to meet at our usual time because that's just how it goes... we had work to get done at our meeting that couldn't be arranged for another day. I thought I would be the only one in my house up at that hour on a holiday when everyone could be sleeping in, but I woke up to find Jess and Sharon already up and working at their desks. Nurses = dedication and discipline defined. I caught a ride with Sharon to campus and got to school 25 minutes early for my meeting. I was at school at 7:50am on a holiday... I felt like such a NERD to be on campus! No one was walking by and no cars were driving into the parking lot. The doors for the Education Department weren't even open then.
Anyway, going to campus wasn't the nerdiest thing I could have done on Veteran's Day. I then came home and spent much of the afternoon grading 25 midterm exams that my Ethics class just took yesterday. I'm already done grading all 25 exams, which are seven pages each, and it is almost sad (or too nerdy) to say that I actually enjoyed my time grading them. That's probably why I even got through the grading so quickly. My professor had given me a week's time to grade them, but I'm already finished. In all my years of being a student, I always wanted my exams back as quickly as possible, so I made sure to remind myself that when I become a teacher one day, I would try to get my grading done as soon as I could. Well, this is the first time I have ever done some legit grading. The exam was filled with 50 multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank, and short answer questions. I had to be the one to make the choice of docking 0.5 or 1 point off for every answer that didn't fully hit the correct answer spot on. As much as I enjoyed grading the exams, I just hope I don't get a flock of students coming up to me in a week to complain about their midterm grades. I'm hoping my professor will take care of all that. So far, I have really enjoyed this PA (TA-ing) experience. It is definitely different being on the other side of the class.
Enough about that... anyway, here's something short and sweet that I read today as I was waiting for my meeting to start this morning. On the topic of justification by faith:
"... although my conscience accuses me, that I have grievously sinned against all the commandments of God, and have never kept any of them, and am still prone always to all evil; yet God, without any merit of mine, of mere grace, grants and imputes to me the perfect satisfaction, righteousness, and holiness of Christ, as if I had never committed nor had any sins, and had myself accomplished all the obedience which Christ has fulfilled for me; if only I accept such benefit with a believing heart."
---LKH---
¤ Today, I am thankful for: Being able to survive the day and not to be sleepy once even with six hours of sleep last night (six hours is considered little to my IDK-why weak body). Riding in the car with Sharon to campus. Ethics TA-ing opportunity. Prayer. A chill day off at home. Tina's encouraging kindness and her chocolate chip and pumpkin spice muffins. Jess and our time in the car ride home from campus and at home to finally catch up. The joy of living with all my Rancho housemates. God's peace through my family's trials. | | |
| Weirdly, right now I feel like writing in my blog. Maybe it's because I have been reading other people's blogs from time to time and it reminds me why I want to write down my thoughts in the first place - to look back days, weeks, or years from now and be able to remember what I was thinking at the time. Also, seeing other people write about their evidences of grace reminds me to reflect and jot down what I'm thankful for as well.
Anyway, I meant to write about my classes this quarter after the first week of school, but now it's the end of week 5 and I never got to it earlier so I guess now it will be a mid-quarter report.
1) Sociology Honors: Though I was hesitant about how well I could manage the work of this research program, I applied during spring quarter last year and got accepted so I have decided to stick with it. It's a year-long research program with two classes, one in the fall, one in the spring, and research in the winter. Basically, I pick a sociological topic and find a faculty mentor in the fall, do my research in the winter, and write a 35-55 page thesis and present my findings to the UROP (Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program) board in the spring. Not looking forward to the writing, but it will fulfill my upper division writing requirement. Plus I'm excited to do some research about a topic I'm actually interested in and to build good relationships with my seminar professor and my faculty mentor.
2) Chinese: Even though I have taken Cantonese in Chinese school for 12 years, I decided to try Mandarin because of personal interest - it'll be useful if I ever live in China to teach English abroad. I took the placement exam last spring and somehow managed to pass though Chinese 1 so now I'm in the Chinese 2 series. In the beginning, I was so lost because even though I realized I could understand and listen to more Mandarin than I had thought, I didn't know how to respond or participate in class at all. The first week of class was all review on last year's material, which I had never got to take a look at during the summer, so I was studying 40 new words each day for the dictation while everyone else barely had to look over the material again. That was so hard, and by the way, we still have dictations every day. Though I'm only taking this class P/NP because I don't need this class for any requirement, I find myself spending time in studying Chinese more than most of my other classes. I guess this time around, I finally care about learning Chinese and see how it's useful for my future... unlike how I felt when I took Saturday Chinese school for 12 straight years. Now that I've taken five weeks of this class, I am honestly surprised at how much I have come to understand the language and I'm excited to see how far my Chinese goes by the end of this school year. Though the class is an hour every day, which means I finally have class on Fridays, I have finally found a class that I am happy with putting more time and effort than need be since I don't care about the grade, but actually just want to learn. That is how I should see all my classes, but too bad I don't...
3) Peer Assistant in EDUC 126: Ethics and Education: I took this class last spring and then the professor asked me to help out his class as a peer assistant for this quarter. Though I am not one of those TAs who lead my own discussion class, it is still interesting to see the class from the other side. Now it's my turn to pass out handouts and grade student presentations, midterm exams, and final papers, it's definitely different not having to worry about my own grade and wonder how to participate in class. While I took this class last spring, I enjoyed the material covered and the open discussion our class was able to have over some touchy topics, such as morality, ethical issues, religion, and more. This class is honestly my most favorite at UCI, and the professor is the best one I have had at UCI as well. I am glad to have the opportunity to work with him and to learn how to teach from my most favorite professor.
4) 40 hours of field work to complete minor in Educational Studies: Over the past four weeks and at least for the next four more weeks, I am volunteering as a tutor in a Kindergarten class over at Turtle Rock Elementary School. It's such a joy to get in-class experience of what I want to do for my career in the future. My students are adorable! While the students are in rotations, I get to work with a small group of students or roam around the classroom checking to see if students have questions or need my help on the class activities. I have plenty of stories after each day of going to field work even though I am only there for five hours total in two days of the week. To say the least, teaching is definitely rewarding.
Though I am really busy this quarter with applying for teaching credential/Master of Arts in Teaching programs on top of my classes, I am thankful for all the new and exciting things that I get to do this year. I feel as though I am finally doing the things that I actually care about.
---LKH---
¤ Today, I am thankful for: God helping me persevere through the busyness and stress of this quarter. Not sleeping in too late and making it on time to field work with the help of GloCho. A last-minute Halloween costume for field work from Sharon's nursing uniform and stethoscope. My students. Joy of seeing my students adorably dressed up in Halloween costumes. Knowing enough Chinese now to be able to participate in class. Sleep. Bible study in Hebrews. Laughs at Chick-fil-A. Time and desire to write in blog. Weekend to catch up on sleep and work. | | |
| Another summer has gone by and it's already Monday of Welcome Week. I flew in to Irvine this morning and have been trotting down a long and busy, yet eventful, day. I can't believe I am already here for my 3rd year, albeit my last year at UCI. I have been unpacking and settling into my new apartment much of the day. It's definitely going to be a new experience living with friends. My housing situations in the past two years have been quite tiring to manage, but God always provided something that was for my best. Whether it was an off-campus apartment that I heard about from my cousin in New York whose friend's friend's best friend was my roommate or an on-campus apartment that was literally the closest I could get to my classes, God provided even in the very last minute. He answered my prayers with His own timing and plan. All I had to do was just trust in Him, He who has everything in His control. As years have gone by, God has been teaching me to continuously rely on Him, being faithful and dependent on prayer. I am thankful for these past housing opportunities, but I am also thankful that this year I get to live with five of my closest friends. A new apartment, five new roommates at least for the fall quarter, a new means of transportation to school, friends as neighbors. Now I'm beginning to see how fun it is to have friends living less than a minute walk away or even in the same apartment as me. I never had that my first two years of college. When all the freshmen were in the dorms, I was a 20-minute walk away. When all the sophomores lived at VDC or Norte, I lived on the other side of campus. Finally, I get to experience yet another new housing situation, and I am looking forward to this year, despite the classes and the busyness of my fall quarter.
---LKH---
¤ Today, I am thankful for: Jess and Sharon. Ethics TA-ing opportunity. My bed frame, mattress, desk, and chair. Friends who are now my neighbors at Rancho. People who are willing to serve others and help out without me even having to ask. Boiling Crab to go. Time with my bro. | | |
| MOVIES
- Taken
- He's Just Not That Into You
- She's the Man (again)
- Step Up (again)
- Ghosts of Girlfriends Past
TV SHOWS
- Partner (Korean)
BOOKS
- Stop Dating the Church by Joshua Harris
- The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis (not done)
CHURCHES
- Abundant Life Christian Fellowship
- CCCC
PLACES
- Lynbrook High School Graduation for Leon and Vicki
- Cupertino High School Graduation for Nadia
- Mom's Friend's Boss's Mother's 100th Birthday Party
RESTAURANTS
- Fu Lam Moon, Mountain View (Chinese)
- Roux Louisiana Kitchen, Santana Row, San Jose (PoBoy Fried Shrimp, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potato Fries)
- Three Flames Restaurant, San Jose (Steak, Baked Potatoes, Veggies)
- Diamond Harbor Seafood Restaurant, Foster City (Chinese)
- Asian Pearl, Fremont (Chinese)
- Faultline Brewing Company, Sunnyvale (Fish and chips)
- Yuki Sushi, Santa Clara
- Tarragon, Sunnyvale (Steak)
- Tomi Sushi, San Jose
---LKH--- | | |
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