Mississippi Life
Family Day
42 years ago
by JR
in Mississippi Life
I think a part of me is missing Korea although I do enjoy our life in Hattiesburg…I find myself still checking out my regular Korean blogs and friend’s Facebook pages who are still in Korea. JJ and I both realize that our lives have changed and that we are now living in the States. We are both going through culture shock. The convenience factor of Korea is still my number one reason for enjoying life there. I really forgot how nice it was to have everything so close to you.
I still have a list of things to do that need to be done before we leave for Kentucky but are getting pushed further and further back. Luckily, they are all personal projects that really don’t have a firm deadline.
We did make it to early Mass at St. Thomas here in Hattiesburg today. We all came back to my parent’s house and put up the tree and started the process of decorating from Christmas. My brother and his family came out and we ended up taking a bunch of photos. I told my brother that I would send my photographer bill to him in 3 years when he finishes law school.
Extreme Makeover Hattiesburg, MS
32 years ago
by JR
in Mississippi Life
My brother lives right down from the latest Extreme Makeover home. The construction has been ongoing for past week. I have never seen the show, but it has been a huge deal around Hattiesburg. My brother and his wife were sitting at home one night when the part of the crew knocked on their door and apologized for the mess and the noise. They invited them to walk down to the tents for their meals for the rest of the week. My sister-in-law has been taking full advantage of that:) I have been wanting to get down to the site and check out the house. I worked at the Sheriff’s Office with the winner of the makeover many years ago. His name is Sherman Heathcock and although we were not close, I always remember him being a good guy. I do know that he was flown back from Iraq to be involved in the show. For more information you can check out the Extreme Hattiesburg Website.
We walked down there today to see the moving of the bus. Well, we actually saw them move the bus in practice but they were taking so long that we decided to head back to my brother’s house for some warmth! We did run into a couple of celebrities. Christian Slater who helped with construction and Ty Pennington ,the host of the show were on the scene. I was able to get a few photos. There were people everywhere and we were able to slip past security and get pretty close to the action. We actually made two trips to the site today. The second time we went there were way too many people and were not able to see anything, so we headed back after getting cold.
The house seen on the left looks great. I am glad that they did not build something huge that would stick out in a neighborhood of somewhat smaller houses.
This is what it looked like when we arrived the second time. You could really see anything.
We can’t wait to see what it looks like on the inside and are looking forward to seeing the episode when it airs in March.
Study Day Hattiesburg Library
32 years ago
JJ and I made our way to the Hattiesburg Library today to get some studying time in. JJ studied for a few hours and I walked over to the cemetery next door to get some shots of a tree that I have been wanting to take for awhile now.
I wish that I could say that the library was a great place to study, but there were way to0 many distractions too study peacefully. Two guys were playing a computer game on their laptop right next to us. They even had brought their own controllers. They were cheering at every chance and it got old fast. There was also a guy across from us that was dipping and using a bottle has a spit cup. Thankfully, he was asked to leave. Next time, I will ask them to unlock one of the private study rooms, which I should have done today.
Here are a few shots that I got from the cemetery
I don’t know what holiday the Stars and Bars are out for or for how long, but many of them had been destroyed. I was curious if they were torn down or had just been damaged from the weather that we have been having recently. The father must have fought in the Civil war as he would have been about 30 when war broke out. After seeing this photo and seeing the work by Marty Kittrell and Robert Walker (a couple of great photographers by the way), it makes me realize that I really need to get over to Vicksburg to take some photos around the battlefield.
Korean Words of the day:
- 부지런하다-to be diligent/hard working
- 중요하다- to be important
- 사업하다- to do business
- (-이/가) 막히다-to be blocked
Holiday Spirit, Mississippi Authors, Project 35, and Korean Study
22 years ago
by JR
in Mississippi Life
Holiday Spirit
Since today is a Holy Day of Obligation, my mother didn’t have to work and she choose today to start getting all the Christmas Decorations out. We spent about an hour searching through the attic, finding all kinds of holiday items. Sometime this week we will need to go out and find a tree. We usually tag one earlier in the year, but with the wedding and all the other goings on, we didn’t have the time. It looks like this year we will be picking one up from the Lion’s Club Tree Lot.
My mother and grandmother both collect Jim Shore Pieces. Here are a couple of photos of his work. You can find more information about him and his pieces at his website here.
Mississippi Author
Last night I had the opportunity to meet an old friend at a book signing at Main Street Books in Hattiesburg. Joe Lee and I have been friends since we met in RCIA class where I sponsered him to become Catholic. I look forward to visiting with him again and really look forward to bouncing some ideas I have off of him. Joe is a great guy and has a new book out. I actually helped him with some research(as in I answered a few of his questions:)) and am thanked in the opening pages.(How cool is that!) I haven’t read this book , but have really enjoyed his other titles. You can check out the homepage for Dogwood Press here. You can also check out his Amazon Author page here. You can also buy his books online at Amazon here. His latest book, The Magnolia Triangle sounds like it is going to be great.
Project 35
In the past couple of years, I have put on about 35-40 pounds of pure fat. I pretty much stopped working out when I arrived back in Korea in 2007. I had done so well in 2005 and 2006 but the last two years were pretty lazy as far as exercise goes. I am starting my New Year’s resolution early. I intend to lose 35 pounds of fat this year. I am about a size 37 in the waist and would love to get down to 34. I started today by doing 40 mintues on the treadmill and look forward to joining a gym as soon as we get settled back into Hattiesburg after our trip to Kentucky. Some of the things that I am doing:
- No Fried Food(Not an easy task in Mississippi)
- No Sweets
- Starting to eat Breakfest
- Drinking 8 glasses of water a day
- Exercising 4-5 times a week
- Portion Control
- Eating more fruits and vegetable
- Allowing myself one “rules free meal” per week
Korean Studies
My Korean while pretty good is not where it should be. I got my books in one of our boxes from Korea that arrived yesterday. I am busy trying to devise a study plan. I know that I have already forgotten so much. I have started back with Sogang’s 2A student and workbook. I will go out today and buy some note-cards to start my note card system once again. I really want to be able to converse more with the in-laws and they are beginning to want to speak more and more to me when JJ calls home.
I also have been following Amanda’s blog (Amanda Takes Off) for awhile now and her studying and Korean level drives me to study more. I also regulary plug “foreigners speaking Korean” into You Tube’s search engine to find even more inspiration.
JJ and I do have plans to return to Korean after 5-6 years and I really want to be able to rely less on her to help with translating. There are no Korean classes offered in my area, but I figure that I will pick up a tutor from the University. I can probably find a University student who wants to earn a little pocket money to meet me a couple times a week. JJ will continue to help me, but I would really like to be forced to study outside of our house.
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