yea so...

humans trying to change humans just doesn't work. what works is humans having true passion to carry out certain acts that can then change other people. people don't change people, things and events change people - like passion and fear and hatred and etc etc etc. in other words: changing people is not the job of people, but rather a job only God can do.

in another related tip, don't spoil anybody - even if you like the other party a lot. it just makes it harder for both parties. and you will start to be taken for granted. "everything in moderation, even moderation" - Mark Twain

meditation, happiness, and a lego truck

I am bored. What should I write about today?

Recently, I've been encountering some stress. And also recently, I've been reading Elizabeth Gilbert's "Eat, Pray, Love" I vowed to read this book ever since I saw her talk on TED.com (you should go see it). In the book, she talks about meditation in India. One way to happiness, according to some Indian monks, is by coming to the realization that both happiness and sorrow are inevitable in our lives. Therefore, it is wiser to detach from these potentially very emotional experiences, accept it as it happens, and go on. Then, one does not need to be overcome with sorrow every time something sorrowful happens. Because as I said before, it's not the thing that happens that is bad, it's how people interpret the event that makes it bad. And if one achieves this respectful status, one can achieve a type of constant state of happiness/joy, knowing that life is going the way it should be.

I tried thinking like this. Long story short: it's really hard. And I think I should try meditating regularly. I used to do it a little, but I'm still very much a noob.

In other news, I have been working on this huge lego truck my brother got long ago. He waited for me to come and help him because it's an extremely complicated piece of lego-ness. I'm making this thing and many times I'm just like "who took the time to think up of this, make it, organize instructions for it, and write 4 assembly books for it???" And yes, it must have been a group effort of a lot of people. But how many simple things in life do we take for granted? That shirt you're wearing, somebody had to get the cotton, process it, dye it, design the shirt, cut the fabric, ship it everywhere, wholesale it, retail it, advertise for it, put a brand on it, etc etc etc. I mean, goodness gracious! All around us are the results of thousands if not tens of thousands of people! And this lego truck I'm building ironically is: me trying to build a truck out of the scrap pieces of lego which are the work of some ambitious people over at LEGO.

Unrelated to my previous point: it seems, a main purpose of LEGO is to provide people with the means to build their own creations. What a great idea.

Rejected, but differently.

So I am in Korea now.

Time to break a secret to you guys. I applied to transfer to Emory College a year early. And yes, I spent a lot of time and effort preparing that application, including taking the SAT again. But upon submitting my application, today I received a notice from the admission office that on page 8 of the Oxford College 2009-2010 catalog, paragraph 3 says "Students may not transfer between Oxford College and Emory College." There was no word of this on Emory College of Oxford College's admission sites. I sent an email to the Emory College dean of admission who just in turn said my application will not be reviewed. So then I emailed President Wagner (yes, I am taking it up to the top). I am still waiting for his reply. But I have little doubt that his answer will be the same.

There are very few things in life that annoy the hell out of me, and this bureaucracy is one of them. In high school, they wouldn't let us film our film club ad in an indoor school basketball court because they said we would need a supervisor, written permission and an ahead-of-time schedule setup. So we just filmed it outside. My goodness.

Anyways, the reason I was trying to transfer was similar to the that of Wonmin's. I many times feel limited at Oxford. Oxford has some great people and all, but way too much of my success (arts competition 1st place, campus moviefest best drama, free speech arts competition 1st place, emory tv, etc etc) takes place at the main campus. And simply put, the main campus has a lot more resources I utilize frequently (including more classes). And I was not going to say this, but I think it's ok seeing that not many people read my blog anyhow. I believe the majority of the population at Oxford lacks ambition. Most Oxford people simply exist, and don't LIVE. A HUGE reason of why places like Harvard or Yale is awesome is because of the people there. Most people around you at Harvard are ridiculously ambitious, studious, responsible, etc etc. And there is so much to learn from that.

But now, I will finish my sophomore year at Oxford. Don't get me wrong. Whatever situation I am in I can learn much. Staying at Oxford is not the end of the world for me. After all, I think (I'm trying not to be cocky here) I have a respectable reputation, I have been chosen as a writing tutor, I've got fun classes lined up, and I will be able to stay with my girlfriend. And with the inevitable vast amounts of time that will be available when bored, I can read and undertake some ambitious endeavors (especially related to film). One of the most important individual lessons I learned while at Oxford was of "just doing it" despite the fact that no one else seems to be doing so. Simply put, I am comfortable enough with myself and my abilities to not "settle" into my situation. I continue to be ambitious and strive to learn on my own. And now, I believe I can do that even in the middle of some hillbilly, uneducated, middle-of-nowhere, lame place. And that's an extremely important ability, because one cannot always depend on their surrounding situations to find greatness. One must sometimes necessarily beat down a path of their own where there is none to ultimately be able to reach the greatest type of success.