my mother

woke me up at 4:30 am this morning.
By suddenly turning on my light and jumping on my bed.
Then she asked me to sign something while I had my eyes closed and disoriented.
Then she pinched my chick and shook my face, subsequently splitting my dry upper lip.
I asked. “mom. Do you do this to dad all the time?”.
“yes”
“well. Anyone will get pissed if someone does this. don’t. “
“I do what I want to do. When I want to do it. I don’t care. “

then she turned off the light.

Few minutes passed.

Then my dad turned on the light.
“my printer is not working. Come and fix it now. “

Well. These are my lovely parents.

Sigh.

my last night in NYC in 2009

2am. After a snowy weekend, my last night in NYC this year is as calm as it has ever been. When I return, the city that never sleeps will welcome be with a sweet scent of spring.

I love you, New York.

Time for annual resolution, no?

Though it feels, sounds and reads very cliche, looking back your footsteps at the end of year is sobering and important ritual for many, including myself.

So, what has happened and what has changed?

I remember January was filled with high hopes and disappoints of recruiting while February gave me a sense of relief.   Since then, I’ve explored Latin America for the first time (twice), forged new friendships that I believe would last for long long time, and trained myself to be accustomed to be called an “ahjeossi:아저씨.” Amongst all these experiences lies another chapter of my life finishing up.

Once thoughts start searching through my not-so-great memories to make permanent in semi-public blog, it becomes more apparent that there definitely were converging themes in Andrew’s life drama of 2009.

1. piece of mind

After being herded through the MBA recruiting campaign for banking and consulting (consisting of career counselor induced urgency and panic), I finally was able to become more comfortable with a thought of not being the top of …. whatever and figure out the best way to enhance what I’ve accumulated throughout my work experience, passion, and personality.  As a result, it feels good, or even better, to be me.

2. Generosity should be reserved for everyone else, but not for YOU!

By nature, I knew that I was a forgiving person.  Friends and family may do me some harm or be disappointing at times, but it was OK. because, …. well, because they were my people (I’ve been using this phrase for sometime, but now that I know Prof. Okun throws out these words, they seem so….. tainted).

What I didn’t realize, or turned my back against, was that I’ve extended such forgiveness for myself as well.  When I didn’t achieve what I aspired to be or do or whatever, I always told myself that it wasn’t my fault.  It’s the racism, competition, language barrier, money, family, luck, but no no no, it couldn’t be that I didn’t give it all.     what a shame.

Now, back to Econ paper.

oh, word of the day.   Austerity: a quality of being austere (which means stern or cold in appearance or manner).

Austerity is also an economic term referring to a national government’s reduction in spending in response to fiscal deficits.  For myself, there definitely is a need for an austerity measure in my own personal finance in lieu of future expenditures abroad.  No?

My favorite holiday…. it’s updated

Ever since I can remember, I always loved Christmas.  Those cheesy carols just had a special place in my heart, as well as many gifts, snow, santa, …

until..

my first Halloween in New York City last year.

It was the night of Halloween in 2008.  With a group of my classmates, we decided to become the Crazy 88’s from Kill Bill.   Being a bit tired from overwhelming work of school, I decided on getting to the party by myself a bi later in the evening.  From the moment I got out of my apt in midtown to the party spot at gramercy, the whole street, taxis, subway, grocery shops, restaurants, and even in copy stores, everyone was dressed up in most extravagant way possible.

Mind blowing indeed….

The night ended in a sour note because I was mistaken as Hiro from Heroes for most of the night, despite my sword (well, I guess that didn’t matter).

Wind the clock forward a bit.  It’s now the Halloween of 2009.  This time, I was ready.  I put on my sunglasses, army colored jacked with slicked back hair.  got my belly swollen with a pillow.  I was ready to embrace Kim Jung Il, the supreme dictator of North Korea, an Axis of Evil.

And, it was a success!  From subways to streets, inside and outside the party, I heard people shout, “Oh My God, Kim Jong il!!??”

So I decided.

My favorite holiday is Halloween!!!

Now, let’s dig up my carols again….

I got an idea for a great chicken restaurant

Here is the premise. There is a restaurant called pommes frites, a fantastic french fries joint in the village. The gimmick for the place is that you get to choose any kinds of condiments you can think of from the unlimited list that they have. (about 25 sauces)

Why don’t we make one with chicken? the concept of tons of sauces will be there and you can choose type of chicken you want to eat with the choice of sides that will go well together.

So, the menu will say.

Choose the meat you want! 1)breast, 2)legs, 3)thighs, 4)wings

Style you want it cooked! 1)fried, 2)grilled, 3)steamed? (for healthy ones)

Sauces to go with it (choose up to 3) 1 thru 25

sides to go with it! 1)fries, 2)salads, 3)tortillas,

I think it will sell