Another jumpy entry

Can I tell you how much I love my lip gloss? Bought it for 1,000 won (about 85 cents) at the little store at the metro station, and its pencil-thin, cherry flavor goodness rocks my world.

Feeling all kinds of stress about upcoming trip to the U.S. Not about going back or seeing people, but more about the finicky details -- coordination, transportation, how to pay for what out of which account, getting last minute things done (like a haircut, which I desperately need), finding stuff for people, figuring out what to wear at which functions, yadda yadda. Since Thursday is Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving), one of the two biggest holidays in Korea, everything tends to shut down, and I'm not certain what stores are going to be open when, which irritates my ulcer further. Anyhoo.

Korean grapes and pears are the best in the world. I could live on them.

A couple weeks ago, when I told my dad about quitting my job, he met someone who tutors high school kids in chemistry, and that someone has now referred two kids to me who need help with their college application essays. I meet with the second kid tomorrow, after I read his essays for Columbia (he wrote two and needs to pick one). Upon a preliminary glance through the essays, though, I think I might have some trouble with this one.

The first kid's essay was a joy to edit -- a succinct episode, fraught with meaning, that we buffed up with American-style (or maybe just hk-style) simplicity and heart. The Columbia kid wrote about how he used to be fascinated with Hitler in one of his essays, and working with disabled people in his second. Oh dear.

I would be tempted to go with the Hitler essay, as it's an attention-grabbing subject, but it's also a subject best left to the best of writers, with the most fine-tuned sensibilities. Then again, the "epiphany via community service" has got to be one of the most overdone topics in the history of the high-pressure college application process.

Yargh.