April 20, 2000

I was in class today and I simply could not follow what was going on. Language planning is very difficult and very complex. Instead of listening to what PhD students had to say about the language policy in India, I was daydreaming. I thought how nice it would be to go back to my room to find 10 messages waiting for me on the answering machine. Why do I love messages so much? I feel important and needed when I find that people have called me and left me a message. I like hearing long messages, and maybe that's why I leave long messages on other peoples' machines. If you've ever gotten a message from me, you probably know that I like to elongate the message as long as possible, and I like to make it as weird as possible.

The Jack Dinner was good. I didn't know Adrian was such a "fan"atic of MacGyver. He was my hero on Monday nights. Growing up, I would be in agony as I waited for the Monday Night Football to end. And a lot of times it would go over the appointed time limit due to extra innings, oops I mean touchdowns. Whatever.

Sigh. What am I feeling... ? I recently got a new Quiet Time notebook, from Wal-Mart. It's blue. I took exactly one year to finish my other one. The first date was April something, 1999, and I recently finished it. Isn't that neato pateato! Gosh, I just have nothing significant to say, do I. I'm just making time go by so that I don't have to work on my thesis. Perhaps I should do the survey that Danny made up, with slight adjustments according to gender. Here goes:

Name
Jieun Grace Park

Why did your parents give you that name?
I believe my grandfather gave me the name Jieun. The "Ji" was supposed to be there, and the "eun" was chosen because it meant "grace." Hence, my American middle name.

Where do you consider your home and why?
It's all about Cerritos, CA, home of the famous car place. That place is full of sweet memories for me.

How many siblings do you have? What are their genders? What's the birth order?
I have one older brother and one younger brother. I'm the middle one.

Can you swim?
Yes.

Colored or white under garments?
Depends on my mood.

Where do you get most of your clothes?
Gap. I want to work there some day.

Do you sleep on your back, side, or stomach?
I start off on my right side, and then I flip to my left side, and then to my back. Finally I fall asleep, and I probably do three more rotations throughout the course of the night. I never sleep on my stomach, though.

How many showers do you take in a typical week?
3 or 4.

Do you make your bed daily?
My mom taught me to never leave the house without making my bed. Even to this day, I try to make my bed daily. When I'm just way too busy, my mom's words haunt me the whole day.

Deodorant or anti-perspirant?
None.

Do you pluck your eyebrows?
Yes.

How many servings of fruits or vegetables do you eat a day?
About 2.

What season do you like best?
I think it would have to be spring. I don't like the cold too much. I freeze like crazy! Spring is lovely.

Are you allergic to anything? What?
I have seasonal allergies, but it's not severe (usually).

Who's your favorite Smurf? Why?
Smurfette. She was adored by all.

What sports did you play in high school?
In junior high school I did track, volleyball, softball, and cheer. In high school, I did cheer and Colorguard. I twirled around flags and rifles. My arms were really buff during that time in my life. Not so anymore.

Have you ever had surgery? Why?
Yes. Twice. Once in Korea when I was a wee lassie. I ran into the door of an apartment while someone was opening it. I was running away from my neighbor, who was chasing me. It was horrible! My mother rushed me to the hospital on her back. She ran to the neighborhood doctor. (In Korea, everything is local.) I vaguely remember the doctor telling me that I'm so good not to cry. To this day I have a scar in the shape of a "Y" on my forehead. The other surgery happened in America. I was on my bike being chased by my older brother. I think I put on my brakes too suddenly, lost control, and then flew in the air. I fell smack on my face. I think that's why I have an upturned nose.

Favorite way to relax
Turn on some music and just chill.

What's your favorite Disney movie? Why?
Beauty and the Beast and Mulan are tied. I like the message of Beauty and the Beast: true beauty comes from within, and I like that Mulan was an Asian movie.

What's the best class you've ever taken? Why?
Modern Japanese my freshmen year at Stanford. The professors were awesome, and it was very intense. The kind that really challenged me.

What's the worst class you've ever taken? Why?
Stat 60. I died. I'm just not the Stats kind of girl.

What's your dream job?
I don't know at this point in my life.

What's your most memorable or most recurrent dream?
A recurring nightmare was when a giant piece of butterscotch candy was chasing me.

What's your biggest pet peeve?
People who think they aren't racist, but they really are.

What's your biggest fear?
My biggest fear? Hm... I choose not to answer.

What do you feel is your greatest earthly accomplishment?
I don't know. Maybe this thesis that I'm writing, if I ever finish!

What quality do you most wish you had?
Natural friendliness. A lot of times it's contrived, or I have to really remind myself to be friendly to people.

How do you identify yourself?
A child of God. That's my core identity, the only that really counts, eternally. But also, I'm a 1.75 generation Korean-American. It's cool how Korean-Americans can have a hyphenated identity like that, unlike Korean living in Japan.

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