our vacations are not as thrilling as others may imagine. its not all covert ops to the dmz and missle negotiations with the north. we tend to do a lot of everyday stuff. we don’t get to spend a lot of time together so we enjoy doing mudane stuff.

this trip already has the feel of a trip to los angeles. which means of course, getting haircuts and coloring……those koreans are so stylish and clever with hair products. its been over a year since theresa got her hair cut and done….after a certain point, she wanted to wait until we got to korea.

then it was off to the procuring of nourishment for the week……..

the korean supermarkets are very westernized! they have some familiar products like frosted flakes and fruit loops with the familiar characters…..and a few of their own characters selling i dunno what. like the einstein brain juice? and like the cute/scary(killer bunny from monty python)selling beef broth bullions?

my favorite thing to do in international markets is finding the western brands selling unusual flavors tailored to asian sensibilities like everybody’s favorite……feta cheese pringles?

then there are the aisles that remind you that you are no longer in the west! or maybe you’re in koreatown in la or fort lee, nj?

the rest of the day was spent with family….mostly theresa’s aunt who is super hip, fit and young. she is the lead sister of 8 girls and boy(7 girls and 1 boy). she is over 65 but lives like she’s 50(or younger)….she drove us around and showed us the bus routes and places to eat.

she reminds me of my mom’s mom who used to joke around and play nintendo while smoking a cigarette. no tobacco here but she’s already been pretty open and off color with us…..encouraging us to make a baby while in korea. another time, one of her granddaughters was whiny and huddled against her dad’s chest; she chastised the kid for looking like she wanted get breastfed by her father.

so i got pretty comfortable with her right away. at the noodle shop, she asked me if i wanted some yaki mandoo. i giggled and mumbled something to theresa. the aunt wanted in on the joke. t explained that in english, it sounds like she was offering me yucky man doo(doo). she laughed….composed herself…and then called me a bad man.

and away we go!

part of the fun of international traveling are the distractions provided to mask the full day flights including……

……..the food! theresa has already done a fine job of detailing some of the goodies we got. i like the fact that we had a choice of entrees(a-pork vs b-fish) as shown in the menu above. i also appreciate the disclaimer at the very bottom…which if you squint through the fuzziness tells you that the photos and the actual food served may differ. those asian(airline)cultures are so truthful!

…..and of course the(free)drinks. what i learned on this trip is don’t get drunk on the plane. just kidding. i’ve only been drunk once. and that was a long time ago, when i was 9 years old. don’t worry, i was drinking with my dad.

let me explain.

near midnite on december 31, 1989, my dad allowed me to make any drink i wanted to for the new year. i made the biggest, strongest(and likely nastiest)brew a 9 year old could. in a matter of minutes, i was knocked out cold and missed the arrival of 1990. this is called aversion therapy.                                                           (oops…i meant 1979/1980….but some people do think i’m 28)

though my parents can drink heavily, i’ve only had a mild interest and drink only periodically. my dad was so clever. so on the plane, we just had a taste of this and that but mostly had good old h2o.

but no amount of distractions could make up for a 5 hour delay for our connection flight in japan…..boo! we did find some juice for our electronics and tried to keep occupied with nintendo and battlestar on my laptop. we finally boarded and arrived into seoul close to midnite. we left on a monday and because of the time difference, arrived close to wednesday. our actual adventures in korea would have to wait until tomorrow.

North Korea: South Korea driving relationship to ‘catastrophe’SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) –

North Korea cut off dialogue with South Korea on Thursday, claiming the peninsula was on the brink of another war.

North Korea also accused South Korea of driving their relationship to “confrontation and catastrophe.” The country said it was stopping dialogue after South Korea failed to apologize for remarks one of its generals made this week.

The general said South Korea would attack suspected nuclear weapons sites in North Korea if the North tried to attack the South with atomic bombs.

On March 27, North Korea expelled 11 South Korean officials from a joint industrial park in Kaesong, North Korea. That move came after South Korea’s unification minister said it would be hard to expand the park without North Korean progress on de-nuclearization. The next day, North Korea fired a barrage of short-range missiles of its western coast.

Then state-run television in North Korea warned that it would turn parts of South Korean into “ashes” in the event of a pre-emptive South Korean strike on its nuclear sites.

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Who would go to south korea at a time like this????

Doh!

i’ll start blogging about our trip soon. theresa already has a head start.

here we are…back again….its like we never left. back in montgomery county, mary-land. back with my boys, the sun brothers, mike and eric. mike is the most athletic non-athletic looking dude on the court from u of i champ/urbana. eric is a md phd economic medical genius from princeton/u of c. they are my fellow illinois school attending, comic loving, convention attending, joke making, hole in the wall food eating, trouble finding, traveling companions these past 15 years. i was their youth pastor before we became really good friends with assorted adventures up and down the east coast and in the midwest.

and what bwings us together today is mawwaige. that’s the bride, pinarsky(marrying eric, not mike….but mike is part of the package(but not that way))

and here i am….marrying them! in wonky montgomery county, almost anyone can do weddings….as long as you are a representative of your religion…whatever that means….this is a liberal state(when bush destroyed dukakis in 1988, dukakis carried maryland!)  what’s really important in marriage in this state is the paperwork. i sign….you’re married! and, of course….i also have to mail in the paperwork. pretty unromantic. but that’s what it takes.

if you’re looking for a more romantic recap, here you go:

i love doing weddings. its like how the movie love actually depicts airports: so much joy in reunions, new starts, anticipation, welcoming and family. i haven’t done too many weddings where there was extreme family drama…mostly only the good stuff.

and i love the good stuff: i love the fact that all the couple has to do is get down the aisle and i’ll be able to take care of the rest….they can relax and enjoy the moment of god joining them together. i love giving couples this gift of life. i love being with people on the most important days of their lives.

i love doing weddings with moco people….its a reunion of days past…of days long ago and yet not so long ago. a chance to go back in time and get another chapter in the story.

this is church, folks. its not what building you go to or how many people attend or the kind of programs offered or what you accomplish….its the people you live, travel, laugh, celebrate and mourn with. you attend each other’s weddings and funerals; you raise each other’s kids; you are in each other’s homes and lives; you get to carry each other….and all the while, allowing god’s grace to shine to bless each other.

thank you, moco. viva!

                                      
usually we vacation right after easter….a natural end to a run of work and ministry….but this year, we had to delay our vacation to the other motherland because of a wedding and girls football tourney. vision wound up sweeping both leagues as i was officiating. in between easter and wedding/football, i had a few extra days and a free plane ticket soon to expire. it was a no brainer as i headed to dallas to see my niece, jacqueline.

same same same: she’s still bald and super cute; still super squirmy so my parents have a hard time holding her. new new new: she’s got some teeth now and likes adult food. jaq learned how to play hide and seek. and she cries a bit more but generally a super easy baby. yeah, i know…blah, blah, blah. its just another baby to you. but she’s still pretty magic to me.

speaking of magic, for dinner we went to rudy’s….home of good, inexpensive(compared to nyc prices)bbq. it was my parents first taste of real bbq….not like the fake stuff they’ve been getting in nyc. mmmm…moist brisket. the ribs, turkey and sausage were also winners. my mom declared that we were coming back again! she was scraping the bottom of the styrofoam for more of the cream corn that my boy gideon calls “lifechanging”. we did go back for lunch.

more magic! i found my college buddy roger ferris! it was the first time i had seen him since his graduation in 1992! so long ago and yet not so long ago….but the math says 16 years. the internet(specifically facebook)is good for something! i was pleased to see that he still had hair and hadn’t gained 600 pounds like some of my wheaton classmates. asians have the super youth gene that make their cauc-asian counterparts look a bit(lot)older. when i saw some of my classmates at my reunion i was like….you went to college with me? you look like you taught me in college!

roger and i were in the same small group in college…he’s a dear, dear friend that i’m glad to have reconnected with.

another tsang family favorite is babe’s chicken….good old fashioned southern cooking. look at that spread! fried chicken, catfish, tenders, chicken fried steak, corn, mashed potatos, real buttermilk biscuits….if i lived in texas, between this place and rudy’s, i may well also gain 600lbs!

another great but too short trip to the lone star state! i’ll close with jaq going crazy almost on cue to my ipod playing pixar’s jack jack attack. how does she do that?

spent a weekend up in boston and new hampshire with the good folks at BCEC, CBCGL, and CGCM. i think thems is the acronyms. i made reference to the neon bible. its a song by the nutty band arcade fire. here they are making music in an elevator. note the percussion. the band has mormon roots but methinks that they are as disturbed by the crass commercialism and branding of faith and the bible as i am. go see them if you have a chance…they are amazing, amazing. here we are in austin watching them.

my main motivation was to go see old friends. i don’t like to speak at retreats where i know no one. so pastor enoch used jim and christine to lure me and out. i’ve known them for close to 15 years. zoiks. how did that happen? in the middle are me and isaac jumping up and down first with a slower film speed and then a higher action speed catching our insanity. ellis slept through most of it.

here’s my view of the crowd at the retreat. the top set is a bit clearer and the bottom “fits” together better. i made them take ancestor pics…..and advised only ugly people to smile. they were so great even when i told that patriots joke. they asked what was my favorite bible verse. i said i liked genesis 18:1 or exodus 18:1 or matthew 18:1….basically anything 18 and 1 was perfect!

i had a great time sharing my jonah series with them. originally, i was going to do the esther talks but some of the churches mentioned having done that book earlier already. i usually have a few series that i preach at churches and retreats for a few years. seems like jonah was the way to go and god seemed to have something for everyone.

i’m always nervous to go up to boston to speak. it seems like a more conservative culture. and i never know if my humor is going to fly. but i sensed god telling me to be myself in my brokeness and insanity.

a bonus benefit was seeing other longtime friends and connections from all the periods in my life. i got to reconnect a lot with tim lo from wheaton and nyc/nj ministry. the little cutie in the middle is my friend phil chew’s daughter, Rachel. phil is someone who i grew up with in high school at OCM Chinatown. Lastly, that’s Ethan who i used to play with a lot when he was a toddler during my time in MD. in fact, it was a pre-sermon ritual to visit ethan and his class until they moved away to UMASS.

all in all, a great trip to the land of beans.