i'm here...and back online!

so after waiting for comcast, i'm finally back online thanks to a couple guys who did some fancy ladder work to pull some serious cable into my apt.

just wanted to let y'all know i'm out here in philly safe n sound

after getting some furniture...

Just going thru orientation activities this week.

and...i just saw my first mouse in here as i'm writing this - no joke! yuck!!

time to go crocodile hunter on this mouse, baby

more updates to come

I'm leaving on a jet plane...

I think I might have used this Peter, Paul, and Mary line as a title before, but here it is again.

In about 4 and a half hours, I should be on a plane headed out to Philly, the City of Brotherly Love and Cheese Steaks.

I wanted to send out a mass email tonite, but unfortunately there's no "all" function. haha No spamming from here, baby.

I'm totally backed up on emails right now, and since I left packing until about 9pm tonite, it's kinda gotten pushed back some more.

There's just so many people to thank, so many things to say to so many people; I've seriously been blessed with so so many good people in my life.

Then again, I keep saying that it's not like I'm immigrating to a far & away county forever. These four years will pass quickly (as have the past few - it's already been 3 and a half years since I moved down to SoCal!) and hopefully I'll be right back here.

Then again, who knows what God has in store - the future is unknown and there are all sorts of exciting possibilities. I just wish I had the faith to live this lack of knowledge with hopeful excitement and not apply my normal pessimism to it. I wish I could sound more excited right now, but I'm just tired. I'm pretty sure the excitement will kick in once i'm there & going thru orientation & eventually drilling my first set of plastic teeth!

For my blog friends, I hope to get back on my blogger horse and update more now. Esp w/ pictures, since my writing is so mundane. yawwwwn.

More to come...from Philly!

the countdown...

so my days here on the left coast are numbered. funny how my friends & i talk in such "final" terms... "when are you leaving?" "wow, you're really going" "i'm gonna miss in n out"

then again, it is 4 years that i'll be away, only back for holidays & friends' weddings

gonna fill up these last days with friends and family (and golf!) - that is, when i'm not working

yup, working for rotohog.com right up till aug 6 or 7th or so

then i have a few days off and i fly out to philly on aug 14th. woohoo!!

Inspring...moving

I was really struck by this this clip

http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?vid=646496&cache=1#

something about the underdog rising to the occasion - he just looks meek & sad but has a special part of his life come out & shine (they talk about it at the end)

and the music just seems to fit as well - it's right out of a movie of a guy making it big on a big stage & ppl rising out of excitement both for him and because of him

not sure what chord it strikes in me, but it does

Trading Places

so I'm going east almost the same time one of my best friends is coming back from there

most readers know that Harold's one of my best friends. we've had to just run into each other in spotted occasions over the last 7 years since he's lived in Virginia. Now that he's moved back here to SoCal, I'm getting ready to go to Philly. Bummer!

But yeah - i think CPC (Cerritos Presbyterian Church) is gonna like him; and who won't love SunHi and the kids? Taylor is an angel & Elizabeth seems like a ton of fun. Haven't met the younger one yet, but I can't wait.

They should've flown out here tonite. I hope to get to run into them maybe down in San Diego where Henry & Susan are having this big poker bbq.

Anyways - if you're looking for a church - check out CPC!

once again, Philly wins out!

but this time, the decision was much harder.

Boston vs Philly - either way I was going to the East Coast

But USC vs Penn - this kinda became a decision between going away or staying where friends,family,& church are. I'm really liking my church and with Harold & family moving into the area, the pull to stay became much stronger.

But after talking to some ppl and reading up on message boards, USC's just got too many negatives wrt it's dental program. Every school's gonna have problems, but 'SC seems to have more going on right now. Even some alumni & faculty couldn't recommend going there right now.

Anyways, don't want to bore you with all the smack talk on USC - so that's that.

I'll mourn the loss of not being here for 4 years
and then get excited at the adventure of being in a new place for 4 years - it's time for alittle out-of-Cali experience!

Get some thicker skin, come back appreciating the weather, hang w/ my fun sister in NY...

So this'll be my last full summer here in SoCal in awhile! Let's play! Golf, softball, karaoke, whatever!

Another Decision...

So, many of you reading this know what I'm talking about. but for the ones whom i haven't talked your ears off of, here's what's up

So i got into USC! Woohoo!

But that also has been cause for quite a tough decision.

I don't want to get into it all here, but it's kinda coming down to staying here amongst friends, family, and a church i love while risking a lesser dental education (because I'd be left to learning on my own - thanks to USC's Problem Based Learning pedagogy); versus going to new experiences & getting a more predictable (some would argue, better) education at UPenn.

There's all sorts of other factors - contacts here in LA, opportunities to specialize, taking western regional boards...

We'll see. I've already been sending Penn my deposits (cuz i got in there back in Feb). So I gotta let USC know (and pay $1500) by tomorrow (er, today) at 5pm if I want to go there.

I've been talking to all sorts of ppl about it; praying about it; took some time to be alone over it...time to sleep on it & see how i feel in the morning...

I'll let y'all know soon! For those I've talked to, thanks for the support! (even for the guilt trips!) haha

Munch & Grace had their baby!

I think everyone knows already, but I just had to sound the announcement too!!

Kaylie Chang, born March 27th at 6:09am

Go check out their pics at Munch's xanga!

35 years old and ....USC?

haha, tired post...just info...I'll have pictures soon...

So I had another birthday last last weekend. Again, Sung & Kathy were very very generous to host a bbq for me there! Sakura brought this cool cake dressed up like a tooth saying "Hurray Allen's bday...no decay..." haha. It was good to hang w/ old friends - and got to invite some new friends from church, too!

Turns out I've got an interview at USC this thursday. Not sure what I'd do w/ an admit from them. On one hand - LA, near friends, family, church. On the other had, I'd like to get outta Cali. On another hand - SC alumni network & going to school here in LA - more contacts for later. On yet another hand - SC's reputation has taken a bit of a hit in recent years because of some Problem Based Learning thing they've been doing. Pac-10, IvyLeague...hmm....

Philly it is!

ok, so i'm posting a little later than the 3/1 deposit date. I was seriously neurotic the day before (when I had to send a fedex out). Looking at all the literature both schools had given me; making phone calls all week; near the end, I even pulled up google maps and "walked" around the areas surrounding both schools.

In the end, I sent my deposit to Penn. After all the analyzing & praying & pacing back n forth; just felt like it. Woohoo!

Since then, my time's been filled up with this internet software company I got a consulting gig with. It's nice cuz it's temporary and pays nicely - definitely a big help w/ the ole credit card bills i've stacked up from this last year of lowpaying job/taking classes/paying for applications.

Ah, my blog is so not interesting. Just little updates, no witty creative writing, no adventures. Just a miracle of God's mercy getting me into a school.

Here's what I put Him up against:
- late application - many people were already accepted into schools when I took my DAT exam
- mediocre test scores - DAT scores were half good, half not so good - for overall okay

But I did have a unique story and experiences so that helped.

In the end, I am incredibly thankful & humbled by this whole experience.

But I hear the hard part isn't getting in, it's getting out! haha

Praising God for this open door...