2010 in 2009

Sorry. Yes, this is a post. By Mai Kao. But it's about Magic.

It applies to the girls, too.

So, Josh read that article about 2010 core. I swear this was the happiest I've seen him in so long, it was so strange and I couldn't understand it! [These days, to bond with Josh, I read MTG articles over his shoulder and ask lots of questions and bother him.]

With that said, Josh and I now have an epic wager. I told him to keep mum about it... but that's OK. When we come back home, you'll see if it works out or not. We won't divulge the details, but let's just say this deal is all about Josh, the 2010 MTG cards and his commitment to be a physically healthy person.

Now that he doesn't take the blood pressure medicine, and we don't have Jewel or Walmart to go test his blood pressure, I really don't know if he's OK or not. So I still regularly think about his health, wanting him to be active in preventative care. In big flashing lights, I see things like "diabetes" or "high blood pressure" or "gout" or "high cholesterol" in his (and even my) future if we aren't careful.

So scary. Girls, try to help your guys take care of themselves before it's too late. Easy on the meat, salt, sugar, and oils!

Tis the Season

Lent started on Wednesday. Ever since after Greenville, I've tried to regularly observe Lent. At first, I wrote a long post about what Lent is, and why it's important and why I think, if possible, we should all practice it. But then I erased it.

I know not all denominations recognize/celebrate this season, and of course those reasons are legit. CM&A is one of them. But I've found that Easter is so much more meaningful to me since I've started practicing Lent. So "Happy Lent" everyone, though it's not really a 'happy' time.

All this Predicting the Meta Game is so fun!

I love seeing our friends prepare for the upcoming Magic Tourney. its super fun guessing what you guys are going to play and how the tourney is going to turn out. the other night Mai Kao and i spent a whole hour talking about who would win. we made a small (and pretty arcane) player strength measurement grid to see who would win the whole thing. the results we had are as follows:

IL 39 wins vs. MN 37 wins.

we came to this by matching one player against each and every player on the opposing side. we just figured who would probably win in the matchup (just player vs. player, no decks) and it came pretty close. even though this analysis is pretty rough, it shows how close this thing is going to be.

Mai Kao and I are eagerly awaiting the results.

NON MAGIC Talk.

Everyday Mai Kao and i go back and forth about moving home or staying another year. right now, we are still seriously undecided. we've got until the end of March to decide. prayers are welcome.

Right now I'm thinking about all the nieces. it was so good to skype Sam and Geu and put the video on. we got to see Riley and Kam. also, seeing sam and Geu's face really made my day. i almost cried. Ditto goes for Isiah and Puns the other night. Vern if you are reading this lets set up a video skype date so we can see each other and you can show me Wesley. We'd also love to talk with grace, tubter, jeanie and Audrey.

I lead worship at church this week. I love leading worship for Shanghai Christian Fellowship. the people always come each sunday eagerly expecting God. its quite cool to lead worship for a church that is eagerly expecting God to move. the only thing is its quite exhausting. you have to lead for 2 services and are at church from 12 to 6:30. but serving is so worth it.

I'm becoming more confident as a teacher each day. i still dont consider myself a good teacher, but hope to get there. One thing for sure, I never short change my students. I always try my hardest to convey the lesson to them.

So this weekend is Pro Tour Kyoto and i'll be staying home. the plane tickets just didnt pan out. however, on the bright side, mai kao and i will be hoping to go to Beijing for our anniversary to see the Great Wall and misc. It should be a blast.

love one another,

Josh out.

i confess...

i love sleeping right now. not naps, sleeping. this week i've been going to bed SUPER early, like around 9ish and waking up at 7:30. it feels so good.

even though i'm in China, i'm getting pretty excited for the magic tourney in MN. i've never been in a place where i would be happy if either team wins. MN major props for getting yourself prepared. IL major props for having great communication as a team. as the tourney unfolds you guys have to give me a full detailed tournament recap.

when i get home we are going to have a few tournaments. 1 draft, 1 standard, and 1 pauper tournament. awesome.

josh out.

NO KYOTO :(

so no pro tour kyoto for me. dont worry i'm not too sad. its actually been a really good experience letting something like that go. maybe some day soon. actually, i'm thinking of going to GP Singapore later this year. and i'd actually be able to play in the main event too.

even though money isnt an issue right now in our lives, i still felt that the amount i was going to spend to go to Kyoto was not worth it.

been reading Celebration of Discipline again, its been really eye opening, yet again. the book calls for deepness in character. mai kao and i looked at ourselves and realized that the reason we struggle so much in this foreign land is because we arent people who are deep. deep calls to deep. thats our goal this year, to go deeper, find the unsearchable riches that can only be found when you dig deeper.

josh out.

p.s. mai kao has agreed that when we get home for the summer she will let me spend tons on MTG. i'll be ready for whatever event comes up. yes.

Vietnam and Kyoto?

so we are home safely from vietnam and been teaching now for 1 week. it feels good to be home and getting back into the swing of things.

Vietnam was really wonderful place to visit. i dont recommend it for all, but for the backpacker you couldnt ask for more. its got beautiful landscape, really nice people and excellent food.

top memories from Vietnam.

1. Kayaking on Halong Bay and entering a secret cove that was totally protected by the rock island by way of a cave water inlet. the views were stunning and the shear size and magnificence of the karsts (rock islands) were humbling, in a calming type of way. sometimes its good to be reminded that you are part of creation.
2. eating, eating, eating. Bun in vietnam is ridiculously better than in the states. it is eaten totally differently and tastes sooooo much better. its hard to explain but we'll show you when we get home.
3. new ways to eat noodles. pho, bun noodles, and other types.
4. walking the beach with mai kao collecting shells in Hoi An.
5. dodging even crazier traffic in Hanoi. i thought traffic was bad in China, however, i was seriously mistaken. there are seriously millions of motorbikes in hanoi...honest, there are 10 million plus people in hanoi and most own motorbikes.
6. sleepless nights. either the nonstop noise of motorbikes honking through the night or the rock hard pillows normally kept us from getting any real sleep.
7. Mai Kao destroying me in Paib lev (cards) i had no real chance in all the games we played.
8. no more trains! 20 hour train rides in any way shape or form are brutal.
9. drinking coconuts on the beach...not that good but always wanted to do it.
10. squid fishing in halong bay with the locals at midnight on new years.
11. coming back to our wonderful apartment to finally get a good nights rest.

i wish you all could have joined us for the trip, it would have made it even more awesome.

oh, one more important thing. you must respond ASAP. Should Josh go to PRO TOUR KYOTO in two weeks? yes or no? is it worth it? let me know pronto. my staying or going depends on your answers.

josh out.

New Pictures

go to the flickr site cause we have captions on the pictures.

BTW

That means back to work. But I don't want to work right now!

I heard that if you don't file your taxes fast, the gov't might give you and IOU. What??!?? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. No matter what, I think that stimulus package of billions of dollars is bogus. Debt can not make the world or life better.

One thing that really weirds me out nowadays is an asian that speaks perfect, accentless English. Strangely, me and Josh fall in that category. But it never ceases to amaze me when I meet or see someone else the same.

The next post will be devoted to Vietnam highlights and our new pictures should be up soon.

Have a great day, friends!

BS

SHOCKING! Who's keeping up with Battlestar? We just saw the first 3 new episodes and... it's no-hold-barred.-anything-goes!

can't wait till next week. Adama has to be alive. But they can kill him if they want too. Why not? And the 5th cylon? what the heck. we were not expecting that. was what is Starbuck?unbelievable.

Speaking of vacations...

Are you guys (IL) planning to go camping this year for 4th of July? Cause Josh and I get so happy when we think about this: we want to come home in time for camping. Our last day of teaching will be June 30th. We'll change all of our summer plans if there will be a trip that weekend. The 4th is on a Saturday and too bad not on Friday! But that's good enough.

Let us know!

rocks vs. clouds

We're back in Shanghai from the longest "vacation" we've ever taken! Josh and I aren't vacationers. We spend almost all of our off time with family or friends. Like MN or camping or HLUB. So actually, we really don't quite know how to best plan and spend our time off.

With that said, I miss the bun and pho and sandwiches. But we're glad to be back here. Why? Because last night, we had a fantastic night of sleep. For the past 17 nights, I don't think I've had 1 great, satisying night of sleep. Only out of exhaustion would i really get a reasonable rest.

The biggest problem in Vietnam was this: every place we slept at had pillows that felt like rocks! I know that is a little exaggerated, but seriously, every single pillow my head hit in the hotels/hostels were the hardest I've ever slept on in my life.

But here, in our apartment, my pillows feel like clouds. They're just big fluffs of cotton. I actually didn't like them in the beginning, but after a while, I got used to them. And now, I like this to coffee. Why drink black when you can have cream and sugar and enjoy the taste? Same thing with pillows. Why sleep on a firm, hard rock-like pillow when you can have a soft, cloud for your neck and head?

MTG sads...

seeing all the powerful cards in conflux has made me super sad. i was going to purchase a complete set of conflux including rares no mythics (x4) for $200 bucks, but i think i'm deciding against it. to be honest with you all, i have no one to play with here and it would be a total waste for me to buy all of these cards and play against no real competition. it hurts to let go.

josh out.