Changeling

since i’m so SEVERELY jet-lagged and probably won’t fall asleep for another 5 hours, i feel the need to blog.

on my flight back from japan i got to watch all the movies i wanted but didn’t cause i didn’t care to see any of them that much by myself.  please know that i am totally fine seeing flicks solo if i want to see it badly enough without fellowship (transformers is a perfect example)… heh, i just kinda wanted to brag about how i can do things by myself.

i saw slumdog millionaire … i thought it was over-rated and predictable.  still a good movie that i enjoyed, a pretty solid movie actually, but it really wasn’t that great. perhaps it was all they hype that disappointed me.  but i think a lot of people feel that they have to say what a great movie it was because they’ll appear “uncultured” and stupid if they didn’t; cause you know, minorities star in it and it’s kinda indie.  3 and a half stars.

twilight … wtf???  i watched the first 20 min and decided it was just another bratty, spoiled teenager movie. one star.

i also watched the curious case of benjamin button.  meh.  fitzgerald was one of my favorite authors in hs and college … i’ve read almost all of his books and short story works, and bb was one that always stuck out to me (but i always that that they should have made a modern version of a diamond as big as the ritz into a movie, but whateva).  it was obvious and loud … not nearly as witty and sharp as the text.  but you know, hollywood.  two and a half stars.

just when i though that all hope for a really good movie was lost, i accidentally played changeling by clint eastwood.  amazing.  i was giddy with excitement the whole time.  it was grungy and disturbing, hopeful and full of tasteful scenes.  after watching it, i finally became one of the billions that typed “angelina jolie” into google.

the part i liked best was that christianity was portrayed in such a wonderful way.  i’m not shy in admitting i hate the tumor that has become the western church on Christ’s body, and that i really dislike being called a “christian”.  i am not ashamed of Christ but … eh, i regress, ask me about it if you wanna hear my thoughts (Biblical, personal, and otherwise) about church, but this movie made me proud to be a follower of Christ.

the rev gustav briegleb was a passionate hound of justice – using a swear word even to express his outrage and fervor!  ha!  he advocated, got the law on his side, and fought for someone who had lost their rights as a human, a Beloved.  i wept during the movie.

sure, it was just hollywood.  sure, things were over-dramatized.  and sure, probably most of it was fabricated in a small, dank writing room.  but it made me really happy to see a movie about followers of Jesus standing up to the powers that be, forsaking their reputations for the sake of justice, and playing the games that we have to if societal change is going to come about … and even if the movie really wasn’t about that, it was to me.  four stars.

Grateful.

i remember, way back in 2003, i was in a prayer group at intervarsity’s urbana mission conference . . . we were praying for the world.  i started to weep, and i prayed that the united states would learn to love its own forgotten, written off, and lonely.  that night i think God placed on my heart the calling to urban ministry.  and i am so grateful He did.

“Hi, I’m Mr. Bhang”

haha  i’ve been meaning to blog about this for a while now, but i’ve been too busy . . . preparing lessons!  cause i’m a teacher, biotch!  haha  freaking wild.  just call me mr. bhang.  ^^

i’m teaching hs biology and health at seattle urban academy.  follow the link and watch the videos and i’ll spare you all the details of the school.  but lemme tell you . . . it’s been one freaking wild ride.  each day it’s kinda like having a weekend youth retreat crammed into 3 periods of biology and 2 periods of health; just as exhausting, rewarding, and action packed.  whew.

now i know what you’re thinking . . . “wtf is chris doing being a teacher??? should this job have gone to someone more qualified like jklam?”  a good question.  but now looking back on my life (i’m 24 years old now – i’m a grown-ass man!), i feel God’s been ordering my steps since before i realized:  majored in microbiology (a major i never thought i’d use after college!), spent 2 years working in urban ministry, love working with youth, and i’m an excellent roll model (BUWAHAHAHA!).

i still have dreams of law school . . . but for right now, i’m feeling very grateful, honored, and that like i’m in the right place in this season of life. and i’m very fortunate to have a lot of friends that have chosen to work in education to help me. please feel free to pass on any new advice for your noob friend. ^^

-mr bhang

Story Time

it’s a beautiful day here on the west side (of philadelphia that is). the sky is nice and blue, the clouds are wispy, and a light breezed brings a pleasant still to the neighborhood. all that’s missing is a girlfriend to sit by me and enjoy the moment. haha ^^ as i was sitting out on our little porch reading, i started to reach for a cigarette, but then stopped. i guess i felt it would be sacrilegious to burn a newport on such a nice day. then i heard the ice cream man drive by . . . and it made me want to blog.

almost funny inequalities
i just finished kozol’s savage inequalities. not a bad book. the more i read about our nation’s schools, the more interested i become . . . if i go to law school i think i might want to focus my attention to education reform . . . hmmm . . . my first-hand experiences with inner-city schools has been pretty limited, and didn’t see things quite as bad as what kozol described, but here’s a story:

my roommates and i went to go see a middle school girl’s basketball game at a school across the street from our apartment to support one of the girls at our church. ben, if you’re reading this, you can attest to how ridiculous it was. imagine 10 full-grown women crammed into a less than half-court court (where the three point line on both sides met mid-court), in a room meant to be an auditorium, shuffling around for position, but can’t really do anything because the ref (who obviously had some major complex-issues) keeps on calling 5-second violations in keys that take up half the playing space. it was madness . . . but the players kept on playing (or at least trying to), and the small audience (sitting in uneven rows of hastily set up metal chairs) kept on cheering – as if this was the norm. this story is pretty trite next to those you’ll find in books . . . but it’s a memory i’ll never forget. and y’all know that nothing like this would ever fly in radnor or mercer island schools.

privileged pacifism
not long ago i was involved in a little scuffle with some dude who tried taking my laptop on my walk home from the trolley. in living here (and chicago) i’ve learned the meaning of “watching your back”, and saw him running at me by his shadow. after a little struggle, i punched him in the stomach and elbowed him to the back of the head and ran home. taught that dude not to mess with nerdy looking asian kids walking down the street with their school bags.

i’m sure my resort to physical action disappoints some of you . . . but let me assure you, i was disappointed in myself too – the first time it happened. the first time a guy messed with me on the street, i took the insults and trash he threw at me for as long as i could, but when he started pushing up on me and threatening some serious violence, i clocked him good. i returned home suuuper depressed, as if i had betrayed some great part of me, and that i had failed as a christian.

but over the course of the next few days, i realized that i wasn’t, nor was i ever really, a pacifist. i was fake one . . . having never really experienced a situation that put my safety at risk (to that extent), it was easy for me to preach non-violence. these days i think that those who advocate for non-violence simply for non-violence-sake are spoiled, and exercise little more than privileged pacifism. cause it’s easy to cry “peace, peace!” when there’s no violence around you. but when faced with the dangerous realities of what goes on in this world, forgive me for sounding jaded, sometimes violence is unavoidable.

and just a disclaimer, i’m not saying violence is the answer. another story to illustrate my point: while my roommate and i played some night football with neighborhood kids (man that was some intense football . . .), a couple of gang bangers started making a little trouble. one pulled me by my hair and said, “the fuck are you china man? you their coach or something?” now HERE was the time to be an example of peace. even though i wanted nothing more than to break the guy’s arm off, the guys we were playing with were watching. they soon sided with us and said, “naw, these guys are our friends.” and told us not to mind them too much – “theyz no good.”

the ice cream man
one of my first memories of living in chicago was the ice cream man. he’d drive up and down west end and maypole street (referred to by the cops as the “shitty street”) selling his goods to a slightly off version of fur elise. all was good and well, until we started hearing his truck drive around at 1am. the dude was obviously selling more than sponge bobsicles.

… umm … i forget where i was going with this story. haha. anyway, the ice cream truck that came by earlier reminded me of my chicago home.

i should get back to work. -chris

His Name is X.

y’all probably know about what’s going on in Tibet. so i humbly ask you to join me in praying specifically for my friend, X. . . . this guy is one of the coolest people i’ve ever met, and it’s been horrible to see how these recent events have shaken him. he’s a Tibetan believer . . . there’s like 5 of them in the whole world (i’m exaggerating only slightly), and has an amazing testimony of faith, and has great hopes for his culture and people to be redeemed by God’s love and justice. the dude is special. incredibly special. here’s an email he sent out:

Dear brothers and sister in Christ,

My people in Tibet are experiencing extreme difficult time in struggling with Communist Authority. Based on reliable sources and personal contacts, just last week Saturday, there are more 100 Tibet ordinary people are killed by Communist troops. And there are more 2000 people are arrested.

I would be sincerely appreciated if you can pray for my
people in Tibet, thanks.
Sincerely,
X.

thanks in advance friends.