It was strange, but very comforting. Last night, I dreamed I was taken up through the most beautiful-blue sky, into Heaven. I have absolutely no recollection of what happened while in Heaven, but when I was placed back on Earth I remember being told a number: 8.22. There were one or two more numbers, but that is all I can remember now. For some reason, in the dream, I interpreted this as a specific date in 2010, but not August 22nd. There was some sort of logic involved, but I can't remember now because I can't remember the other number. Then, in the dream, as I realized it was a specific date (all I can remember now is it was sometime in the Fall of 2010), I thought to myself, "I need to remember this date, it's important, it's when the Resurrection will happen." The most beautiful, interesting thing about the dream, the thing I will probably never forget, is the color of the sky, and how comforted it made me feel. Now, of course I'm not saying I had some sort of vision or anything, but it was the only dream like that I've ever had.
The next dream I remember having was getting married. The date was sometime between now and fall of 2010, which makes me think it was an extension of the first dream, or something. It was the wedding day, and our families were all there and I remember us having to do stupid things that the families wanted. And by "stupid things" I mean weird stuff, like take our shoes off, and eat with only our pinkies. Anyway, just after the ceremony I remember thinking, "Oh no! My apartment is a mess (which it is right now), and we're going there right now." Another thought also occurred to me: I didn't have any condoms for the honeymoon. In short, I was unprepared for this wedding day. However, it, too, was a very comforting dream because of the feelings I had for my unknown wife, and the feelings I knew she had for me. We didn't have the wedding-day jitters, or that super-euphoric love, just an unstated, I-will-do-anything-for-you love.
Immediately upon waking, I tried to mix these dreams together and interpret them. I came up with the idea (and this is moments after waking, still in a dream-like stupor) that the Resurrection really was going to happen in a little more than a year, and that I would not be ready. I can't quite agree with that interpretation, however, because I'm not convinced I had a vision from God, and in the wedding dream I didn't feel bad because I was unprepared, it was something that just happened.
Like I said, I'm not convinced I had some vision from God, but that dream was very strange, different than any dream I can remember having, and it was so peaceful and reassuring. It was welcomed, because I've been so busy lately and I feel like I'm being pursued: by work, by worry, by time.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Thursday, July 2, 2009
So busy
I have been sooo busy this past month with all my classes. Every week I have to grade 18 1-2 page essays, 17 short essays, 12 story summaries, 12 character analyses, prepare two pages of in-depth discussion questions for two classes (questions such as, how does the author use chiaroscuro in the story, what is the purpose of parody, what are the conflict, plot events, and resolution of the story, how does the author use housework to illustrate the deeper meaning of the story etc.), grade 12 word tests that include spelling, part of speech, and sentences, etc, and that's only for 6 of my 13 classes. Those are my most work-heavy classes, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to the others. As I've mentioned before, I tend to get to work an hour or two early, stay 30 minutes, grab dinner, then grade papers for an hour or so, then go to bed. Now, in addition to all that, I have midterms to grade.
Today, however, I caught up...somehow. I have nothing big to grade this weekend, and my usual online overtime is smaller this week for various reasons. In short, I am relieved almost to the point of tears. I want to assign less work so I will have less work to grade, but if I do that the students won't learn as much.
I traveled to a nearby city and bought a used Xbox 360 from a guy. I had been debating over it for months, and finally decided to do it. I had been spending between $5-10 a week in internet cafes, playing Starcraft b/c I was bored (until I got so busy, that is). I bought the 360 and two games for around $200, and I probably won't be going to internet cafes anymore, so technically I kinda saved money. In addition, John is moving to China and it'll be nice to play Halo with him, in addition to Mike and Alex who are still in South Carolina. I don't have Halo yet, but I've been able to talk to both Mike and John while playing different games, so that's pretty cool.
I've been thinking a lot about extending my contract or not, and it basically boils down to a job. If I don't have a job setup in America when my contract is up, there's almost no point going home to the economy and trying to find one. However, I can't imagine a situation in which I would extend more than 6 months, so I'll almost certainly be back in the country before September 2010. My friend Austin, however, has been doing independent website design. He's been able to make pretty good money and, from what I can tell, keep pretty steadily employed. If I can manage to study some programming languages while I'm here, I could head back to America after my 1 year, assuming nothing keeps me here (primarily the proverbial girlfriend). Doing programming will also allow me the opportunity to travel and see the friends who will, by that time, scatter to the corners of America. The problem will be finding time. Therefore, I'm considering not doing the online overtime next semester, which will cost me ~$100/week, but will also give me ~5 hours/week. Knowing myself, however, those 5 hours may go towards things not productive. It's all very tentative, as you can see.
On a totally unrelated note, ThePirateBay.org is being bought out for just under 8mil and it will become subsidized. A horrible blow to those of us who believe information should be free. I have never thought much of what I am able to produce or give, and have always had trouble charging for it. For instance, I taught surf lessons for free through much of high school and college, even though they go for ~$30/hour for a private, and I taught flute lessons for almost 2 years for free. I also have a difficult time imagining teaching private lessons here in Korea for money. It upsets me to see some charge outrageous prices for, what amounts to, frivolity. Thus, in Korea where there are no ramifications, I shall pirate all the media I can, while I can.
Today, however, I caught up...somehow. I have nothing big to grade this weekend, and my usual online overtime is smaller this week for various reasons. In short, I am relieved almost to the point of tears. I want to assign less work so I will have less work to grade, but if I do that the students won't learn as much.
I traveled to a nearby city and bought a used Xbox 360 from a guy. I had been debating over it for months, and finally decided to do it. I had been spending between $5-10 a week in internet cafes, playing Starcraft b/c I was bored (until I got so busy, that is). I bought the 360 and two games for around $200, and I probably won't be going to internet cafes anymore, so technically I kinda saved money. In addition, John is moving to China and it'll be nice to play Halo with him, in addition to Mike and Alex who are still in South Carolina. I don't have Halo yet, but I've been able to talk to both Mike and John while playing different games, so that's pretty cool.
I've been thinking a lot about extending my contract or not, and it basically boils down to a job. If I don't have a job setup in America when my contract is up, there's almost no point going home to the economy and trying to find one. However, I can't imagine a situation in which I would extend more than 6 months, so I'll almost certainly be back in the country before September 2010. My friend Austin, however, has been doing independent website design. He's been able to make pretty good money and, from what I can tell, keep pretty steadily employed. If I can manage to study some programming languages while I'm here, I could head back to America after my 1 year, assuming nothing keeps me here (primarily the proverbial girlfriend). Doing programming will also allow me the opportunity to travel and see the friends who will, by that time, scatter to the corners of America. The problem will be finding time. Therefore, I'm considering not doing the online overtime next semester, which will cost me ~$100/week, but will also give me ~5 hours/week. Knowing myself, however, those 5 hours may go towards things not productive. It's all very tentative, as you can see.
On a totally unrelated note, ThePirateBay.org is being bought out for just under 8mil and it will become subsidized. A horrible blow to those of us who believe information should be free. I have never thought much of what I am able to produce or give, and have always had trouble charging for it. For instance, I taught surf lessons for free through much of high school and college, even though they go for ~$30/hour for a private, and I taught flute lessons for almost 2 years for free. I also have a difficult time imagining teaching private lessons here in Korea for money. It upsets me to see some charge outrageous prices for, what amounts to, frivolity. Thus, in Korea where there are no ramifications, I shall pirate all the media I can, while I can.
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