Category Archives: stuff

My “default”. Just general stuff about what’s going on with me, or that doesn’t fit any of my other pigeon-holes.

안녕하세요 (ahn-nyong-ha-se-yo)

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Which is Korean for hello…

Why Korean all of a sudden? It’s a rather short story: I was thinking about what I would like to do after I finish my month in Japan this summer, and it struck me that I could take a ferry over to Korea and spend a couple of days there before returning to finish out my week then fly home. I started investigating things on the internet which piqued my curiosity even more, which of course led to all kinds of interesting stuff and ultimately a desire to learn at least a little bit of the language so I could get by during a short stay.
I bought a couple basic “learning Korean” books and was ready to dive in when I made a trip down to the Korean Center of Los Angeles in the mid-Wilshire district on Monday. I had gone to see what kind of tourist information I could pick up, but tucked into he stack of fliers, brochures and maps I grabbed was a little flyer about the Sejong Institute—the Korean language teaching program there at the center. And it just so happened that the next term’s classes were starting the next evening—I drove down last night and signed up!
What a great deal, I might add! A 10-week class—two hours every Tuesday night—in basic Korean for only $50.00, including the textbook. That will coincide perfectly with my timetable too: the last class will be two days before I leave for Japan. By then I should be able to decipher the Hangeul writing system (which seems a lot more straightforward than it looks) and know enough phrases to at least get by. I just hope that I don’t A) get confused with my Japanese, and B) forget everything before I finally get to Korea on July 19th or so. If I want to keep studying when I get back home, they have six levels of classes for the same bargain rate.
So there you have it—I can now add yet another notch in my language learning belt: this is number seven.

2008 AT&T Champions Classic Golf Tournament

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Last spring my friend Mike E. managed to get us some deluxe tickets to watch the AT&T Champions Classic golf tournament, complete with luxury lunch buffet in the clubhouse. It’s part of the Seniors PGA Tour and was the first time I had ever been to see a golf tourney in real life.

Well, when I spoke with some of the volunteers then, I became excited to also volunteer. I’d been thinking about it, but never got around to actually doing anything about it until this past Monday when I realized it was going to be this week! I went up to the Valencia Country Club, located the proper people and signed up.

I ended up working four days and spectating for one, having a great time. I spent most of my shifts working on the fairway of the 10th—which was really exciting during the Pro-Am tournament when the wind kicked up. It was very lucky that we had a tree to hide behind!

On Saturday, Mike and I walked around following the action. No deluxe buffet for us this time, but we still saw great golf. When we arrived around 10:30, it was an absolutely perfect day for golf: gorgeous sunny weather, only a very light breeze. But by the time we walked back to my place around 2:30, it was actually raining on us! Kinda put a crimp in the festivities…

On Sunday, I worked the green on the 14th (which is where the photos are from). As you can see, Valencia CC is an absolutely beautiful course. The exciting bit is that—since I was a hard-working volunteer—I will actually get to play the course in August. That’s pretty cool since there’s no way I could ever afford to join. But it’s also pretty scary considering I watched the pros play and know just how tough a course it is! Denis Watson ended up winning the tournament after 3 playoff rounds.

In the evening, I went from marshaling to transportation. I drove Curtis Strange and his wife down to their hotel near LAX—such nice people. My second and final trip was fun too: I drove Brad Bryant to LAX for a late night flight. It was funny because he had one special request before we left: he wanted to go eat dinner at In & Out Burger! So he treated me to dinner, which was really nice. He says that In & Out is always a must-visit site for the PGA tour folks, since they’re only in California. I said it was the same for me when I visit the South and have to go to the Waffle House since the nearest one is in Phoenix, Arizona. He also gave me an autographed visor which was really cool.

I had so much fun that I hope to do it again next year if I’m still around.

Hanami, So Cal Style

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Today I had to drive to the valley to my old place and pick up a couple of things. As I was zooming down the 405 freeway, it occurred to me to get off and drive by Lake Balboa to see if the cherry trees were blooming. As you can see, it was a good idea and they were certainly in bloom. It was an absolutely glorious day and the exact reason why I live in Southern California—while parts of the rest of the country are languishing under piles of snow from record, late-winter storms.

In Spring of 2006 before I went to Japan, the Japanese Club at Pierce College went to see the cherry blossoms and have a picnic. It was really my first time and it was indeed a lot of fun. I can only imagine what the trees must look like in Japan in the spring, and can totally understand why Hanami, or flower viewing, is such a popular traditional activity there. One of these days I’ll be there to see it for myself.

In the meantime, I’ll settle for what I have here locally. No picnic for me today, but there were a lot of people out enjoying the blossoms and taking photos—many more than I thought would be out on a workday. There was even a group of what looked like Japanese pre-school or kindergarten kids who were dressed just like in Japan, complete with the little yellow hats out sitting under the trees eating lunch (but I stupidly didn’t get their photo).

I’m once again also extremely pleased with how these photos turned out, taken with my iPhone (and cleaned up a bit in iPhoto). Click on them to view full-size.

Introducing—The EeePC!

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Last week, my friend Mike was talking about a really cheap, small new PC on the market that will run Windows. Sort of wanting to be able to play Empires in Arms but definitely not wanting to pollute my Mac with Windows, I thought I’d take a look.

Well, that turned out to be a problem…

The Asus EeePC is apparently the hottest selling piece of technology that company has ever made. Being a total Mac geek, I never really heard any of the buzz because I couldn’t be bothered. But after seeing it online on the NewEgg website, I spent practically the entire weekend reading reviews, watching podcasts and generally studying up on the device. I liked what I saw so much, that I ordered one and it came today; here are the unboxing photos. Note the 6-inch steel ruler in most shots for size comparison; this thing really is small and surprisingly sturdy and well-made.

Take note: this is the first non-Apple computer I’ve bought in over 25 years. I wish Apple had come out with a cheap, portable device like this rather than the beautiful if somewhat crippled and definitely pricey MacBook Air.

My research got me thinking about how this little, 2 pound, solid-state computer essentially has everything you need to get on the internet and do light work—for only a couple hundred bucks (my top-of-the-line model 4G cost $399.00). The research also got me really into the world of Google (especially Google Docs)—but that’s another story.

So far, this little guy pleases. It’s so handy and “forced perspective” speedy (it takes less than 30 seconds to boot up). However, I’m not yet convinced I could use it as my real mobile computer solution, especially since I value my Mac ease of use so highly. Time will tell—though I’m fast learning that Linux is not for the faint of heart. I’m sure I’ll have to switch it over to Win XP, which it supposedly handles quite well.

You’ll have to stay tuned to read more about my adventures with this little guy. I’ve already been reading up on how to make a bootable windows sytem on an SD card, and am even now downloading a disc image of —believe it or not—a MacOS X install for it!

出来た！ or, “I did it!”

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I finally made it! I just got word that I actually passed the 2007 JLPT Level 3 exam!

The score wasn’t exactly a lot to write home about (67%, with 60% the minimum passing score), but I’m happy just the same. It’s definitely better than missing it by a measly 8 points like last year!
 I did ever so slightly worse, believe it or not, on the Kanji section, slightly better on the listening section and quite a bit better on the reading/comprehension/grammar section than I did on the 2006 exam.
Of course, NOW I have to press on to Level 2—yikes! But I’m in no particular hurry for that. And then I have to continue my studies and especially become more conversant and less afraid to speak. I think those goals could be accomplished with a bit of dedication—and another round in the KSU IJP program this summer!
I’m glad that this happened, since it was an important goal I’d set for my possible future in Japan.

Kyoto in ’08? An Intriguing Possibility…

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There was in interesting email in my inbox today from Paul Churton at Kyoto Sangyo University.

It seems that beginning this year, they intend to offer a third-level class as part of the IJP program—the one I attended in 2006. It also seems that they are opening it to general enrollment rather than having to go through a particular University. It’s also possible—and cheaper—to attend the program without receiving college credit.
It looks like the same month-long program will be more than $1,000 less than I paid in 2006! Granted, I won’t get college credit and there won’t be a company to reimburse me for my tuition, but that’s still a terrific deal. I’ve also got enough Virgin Atlantic miles to get a free roundtrip ticket on ANA.
In case you can’t tell, this is an opportunity I’m extremely excited about and very seriously considering. I can get back to Japan again for an extended stay, with a true purpose and for a relatively low cost.
Incidentally, did you know that in the current global currency environment (with the Euro so high) that traveling to “expensive” Japan is actually a better deal than traveling to europe?
Why not come and visit me there!

Sailing Off into the Sunset…

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Well, today was my last day at Princess Cruises.

“WOW! That was fast”, you might say.
Yes, it was indeed. I enjoyed myself there and it is indeed a good company to work for, but the world of a Call Center Rep just wasn’t for me. My object for working there—to get “on the inside” and find a position in their training department—turned out to be an impossibility. It didn’t look like there would be any positions in that group anytime in the near future.
So, on my first day back of the new year (January 2nd) I handed in my resignation. I must say it came as a slight shock to my supervisor—who was in point of fact transitioning to a new position herself. My replacement supervisor was out on extended vacation, and I actually didn’t meet her until today—and ended up knowing her for less than an 8-hour shift!
The people I worked with there were great, and I’m kind of sad to be departing so quickly, but that’s life. Hopefully our paths will cross again in future.
I’ll now move onto other adventures that will bring me closer to the kind of career and life I envision.