Aloha

Monsoon - Jack Johnson
I absolutely love it here.
I haven't visited the beach yet or done any of the real touristy things, but I enjoy the atmosphere and the people. Above all, I really like spending time with my grandma. It's a different kind of experience spending time with her here. Whenever she comes to NY, she doesn't seem that happy most of the time because she feels trapped in a home where she can't really go out on her own or do all the things she wants to. But she's in her own element here, free and independent--it gives me peace to see her living happily.

My grandma also lives in a retired home complex. It's cute because all the senior citizens leave their doors open and circle each floor to get exercise. The style of architecture is really pretty here. Everything has open ceilings. That sounds funny, let me explain. Imagine looking down on a rectangular-shaped building from the sky and having only the borders of that building being fully roof-topped. There's also palm trees in the middle of the building so it's nice to see that kind of scenery when you walk out and leave your home.

One of the most beautiful things that I've been privileged to experience so far is to be awake enough to watch the sunrise every morning at 7am. Don't worry, I don't get up that early every morning, but my body is still running on NY time so it's actually around 12pm there when I actually wake up. I also knock out at 10pm here..haha I feel so old.

The bus is actually really cool too. You can go practically anywhere on the island and it's not like the MTA where the buses only come like every 40 mins. It actually comes like every 5 mins and the fares are super cheap. My grandma only pays $30 a year for unlimited, yearly use. I, on the other hand, have to pay a womping dollar everytime I get on. Haha just kidding. It's an awesome fare compared to the MTA.

I'm actually sitting outside my grandma's apartment door outside right now. It's the only place where the internet signal strength is strong enough. Yesterday, when I was doing video chat with my family and recording video messages on facebook, the granny's were staring at me like I was crazy because I looked like I was talking to my laptop. But some of them are really friendly as well. I guess it's rare to see young adults in this building.

Witnessing this all makes me want to come here after retirement. I know it's a long time from now, but who's with me?!

I can't fall asleep..

Simply Nothing - Shawn McDonald
Blagh...it's 7AM and I still haven't been able to fall asleep.
I hate the feeling of tossing and turning. It's like one of the most stressful situations that a person can be in while being half conscious and half unconscious. Hahah that sounds funny.

Being at home this break has been good. It's been a blessing to have so many things readily available at hand. I thought that it would be really boring due to Binghamton's long winter breaks, but it's been joyously eventful.

However, it's hard to think that I've been fed spiritually while attending my dad's church. Understanding sermons in Korean is not my forte. I never realized how much of a privilege it was to hear God's word preached in English or at least in a way that I understood. Also, how much of a privilege it is to worship with a community of believers.

From attending the revival on Friday, I think learned that I simply don't try hard enough in seeking every possible opportunity of being fed. There's so many resources out there that I put to waste. If only I keep thirsting after him while embracing every resource that is out there, my spiritual hunger is bound to be satisfied in some way or the other. And if that doesn't work, it's my shortcomings of understanding His amazing grace.
I continually fall in love with the fact that God always breaks us to a point where we need to fall on our knees and cry out to him for help. There really is no better way to put it--there's beauty in the broken.

Okay, I have a plane to catch in a couple of hours to visit my granny in Hawaii. Maybe I'm too excited to fall asleep.