Janice’s Blog

Today is Halloween! My bumblebee mission failed.
Instead, I have this interesting option of being a cat or a mouse:

I have to admit, I mulled over this for the longest time. How can one be a cat OR a mouse, I wondered. One of my roommates finally took pity on me and explained that it all depended on the color of my nose -- black if I want to be a cat and pink if I so desire to be a mouse. OHHH. I think I will just be a cat. Costume problem, solved!

Due to a conference that the social work faculty is all attending, the majority of my classes were canceled today. I'm using this to my advantage and heading back to Jersey this weekend with a few friends to visit old friends :D and contrary to popular belief I am NOT running back to my home state because I am scared of Phillies fans, even if they are crazy and nearly burned the city down the other night ;) several of my friends were in the city when the Phillies won and so I have heard several first-hand accounts of mad chaos and people swinging off traffic lights. It sounded like it was gloriously fun and all, but I think I like hearing about it more so than being a part of it...

Posted by Janice at 11:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

My head is a mass of tangled curls at the moment. I was playing around with my curler, seeing what I could do with it for Halloween... but then I got tired of standing so still and... well...

There's a reason why I don't curl it often! Moving on.

This past Saturday! The first ASLAN (we're the Asian student group on campus) event of the semester successfully took place~ resulting in full tummies & pop stars in the making. There's a video that I desperately wish I knew how to rip off of Facebook so that I could share all it's crazy glory on here, but...

(I'm not very good with finishing my sentences today, am I)

We started out simple: a box of ramen, drinks, and chips...

But then kimchi and crackers and random side dishes appeared as the people congregated...

Transitioning into karaoke time!


Sort of group shot! (a handful of us are missing)

Posted by Janice at 6:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I was putting on everyone's scarves and whatnot to amuse myself in the library earlier today. Then the cameras all came out and it was... well, now there are several dozen pictures of me looking like this on various cameras & cellphones. Attractive.

Today was one of those days. It started out quite wonderfully and then [slowly but surely] progressed to an unbearably silly day (:
I was at my internship today and a [surprise] visit from the field coordinator (well, actually, there was some fancy title along with her name. I just can't remember...) was the first thing on the agenda. It caught us a little off-guard, but it went better than expected? It's really funny and somewhat awkward to watch people when they are in unexpected situations; you have the opportunity to watch and catch onto little nervous mannerisms they have unbeknownst to their knowledge, and you can't help but smile to yourself...

The silly part of the day started in the library, where the above picture was taken. A few friends and I literally sat there for an hour, making each other laugh~ was it a waste of time? Yeah. Was it really wasted? Nah... it's hardly a waste when you're in good company.
Later on, some of us went and looked at Halloween costumes. I have this crazy notion that I want to be a bee this year. Yes, you read that correctly -- a bee. A bumblebee! I didn't see any bee costumes though, so I suppose I might have to improvise... it can't be all that difficult, right? Tune in next week to find out! It's either going to come together nicely and I'll end up gloating about it OR it's going to be so horrendous I'll be bawling for another week about my failure. There is no inbetween! There is no giving up! Bzz :P

Posted by Janice at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Tuesday mornings the day starts with having a cup of coffee with Heather (:
I stumble out of my apartment half asleep and walk the 2O-something steps it takes to reach her apartment. I call her first, although Heather's phone tends to hang out by itself... so then I ring the doorbell and hope that I'm not waking anyone up :P by this point, Heather's roommates are not surprised to see me standing in the middle of their living room (they have been so good about it, I think most people wouldn't take too kindly to having random people walking around my apartment at 8am) and they go about their morning routine -- which always makes for a good laugh because the chemistry between these roommates is undeniably hilarious. I love it.
Sometimes we drink the coffee while sitting around with the other girls. Other times we pour it to-go and walk to main campus. Either way the morning always starts out on a brighter note, meeting my quota of funny moments for the day even before it begins :D

This morning I put Coffee-mate's Pumpkin Spice creamer in my coffee and it was fantastic! Sure enough it's coffee with creamer but a slight spice invades all your taste buds right before you swallow. Fantastic, indeed. We were walking to campus and I lost Heather while we were crossing the road... it's happened before, she always catches up. The campus is unbelievably pretty with all the leaves changing colors and falling and you know, there really isn't a better way to start off a Tuesday morning than with a good friend, a mug of pumpkin spiced coffee, surrounded by the beauty of God's creation, and conversation that could very well be more meaningful than anything I've learned in class today......

P.S.

Posted by Janice at 2:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Look at this tree! It's located at the very end of our driveway (my father planted pretty much all the trees on our property, including this one!) and it's nice as you pull into the driveway you're greeted by a burst of color. This picture doesn't do it any justice, but the flaming red and gold that has crept upon the usual luscious green is so beautiful<3 Yes, autumn is well underway...

Today is the last day of fall break. Honestly, I'm not too upset. It's been a [unexpectedly] rough weekend and I'm almost relieved that it's over... but who wants to face the workload that was put off because of fall break? Not me! Oh, and speaking of such... midterms are also right under our noses. I have a social policy midterm this Friday which kicks off the barrage of midterms that are coming my way. One thing I would like to accomplish in this lifetime is to meet someone who is genuinely excited for midterm and final exams. I know, I know -- I dream big ;)

Well anyway, one thing I did over break was work for my mother. That statement in itself probably doesn't sound the least bit exciting, but my mother... well, she's kind of amazing. She's a real estate agent but also runs a small custom jewelry shop -- which is where I was at (:

I really like tiny tiaras. My sister makes fun of me and calls me the tiny crown princess... which makes me sound like I'm only three inches tall :(

Posted by Janice at 2:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Ever see a one-man show?
Yeah, me neither. Until today...

If the guy looks familiar, it's probably because he is. It's B.D Wong! The psychiatrist that occasionally butts heads with Detective Stabler on Law&Order SVU! Now how does one go from playing such a serious character on Law&Order to doing a one-man show in which he plays eleven characters (all by himself -- because it's a one-man show -- okay, we're all on the same page...)? Beats me. But he was fabulous, no lie!

I first heard of this show through my sister (who heard about it in her theater class), and she convinced me we should go catch one of the performances... so after church we faithfully made the [rather terrifying drive] to Princeton University, where the show was taking place in the McCarter Theatre. I really didn't know what to expect from a one-man show, and when the show first started I was being a Debbie Downer, grumbling that I was going to get confused as to which character he currently was because there was no costume change or anything -- just the occasional use of an additional prop and changing inflections in the voice. Once the show was well underway though, I forgot all my silly complaints and was totally captivated by his performance. I can't imagine how much time and training had to be put into this, as no two characters are the same (well, obviously) and he pulled it off so well :D bravo!

P.S. The dressing room was on-stage. A little weird, people around us kept shrieking when he was changing :P

Posted by Janice at 12:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Quiet World
- Jeffrey McDaniel

When she doesn't respond,
I know she's used up all her words,
so I slowly whisper I love you
thirty-two and a third times.
After that, we just sit on the line
and listen to each other breathe.

I talk an awful lot. Half the time I ramble because I am not exactly sure how [I want] to express my thoughts so I talk until I figure my words out and am able to get my message across. Clearly, I would not be able to survive on 167 words a day... but after reading this I was reminded of the importance of [my] words. What if I had to say exactly what I wanted to say -- and that was it? What would I say, and to whom? Would I save my words for certain people? Do we take our voices, our ability to speak for granted? Can love be heard through silence? (sorry, just had to throw that question out there...)

Ah, this gives a whole new meaning to "think before you speak"...

Posted by Janice at 9:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The English ministry hosted a family retreat this past weekend, and guess who was recruited to babysit? You got it, yours truly! I was the only college student to have tagged along (the other babysitters had several years on me as well) and I felt more like a playmate to these kids rather than their babysitter, but that really wasn't such a bad thing. We watched the kids mainly during worship time and the seminars, but a lot of family-oriented activities took place during the retreat as well :)

The Blue Team building a human pyramid during the Family Olympics:

I adore these kids~ they're so funny and being able to spend this time with them was absolutely delightful! They are honestly mini-adults, from certain mannerisms that they have picked up from their parents to their own quirky personalities blooming and making them such wonderful little individuals.

Cute! :D

The only thing is... was... well... during the retreat a lot of the parents referred to me (to their children) as "ee-mo" (which means "aunt" in Korean) or as "auntie Janice" -- I know they called me that with loving intentions, but I really felt old every time this happened. I called and semi-whined about this to my mother later on, and she laughed at me! Goodness. But really, hearing people say "play nice with auntie Janice!" when I'm only 21 pains me :P it's different when my nieces and nephews refer to me as such, but... to these other kids... can't I just be an older sister figure? :D

Posted by Janice at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Going to a Biblical University means you're going to have to deal with the inevitable: weird stereotypes and awkward conversations from people who aren't quite sure what to make of the fact that you attend a Bible school.

Person: What's PBU?
Me: Philadelphia Biblical University
Person: Oh! You must want to be a pastor.
Me: Actually... I'm a Social Work major.
Person: But I thought you just said PBU was a Bible school?
Me: *makes a face*

Person: I bet they have a "no fun" rule at your school
Me: What?
Person: And I bet you all are in bed by 1Opm
Me: .......I wasn't aware I had to be so boring. I'll try harder.

What a world :P
From personally experience and observing others go through similar situations, I have found the two most typical reactions to be as demonstrated below:

A). Immediately pretend to sleep (implying you have not/can't hear what they are saying)
B). Have an expression on your face that expresses all the confusion that is probably running through your head + clearly communicates "what the heck, man!"

But really, people just need to be educated on what a Biblical University is. I think PBU should recruit Chuck Norris to help out with this mission, he clearly gets the point across every time...

Posted by Janice at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)