Some Reasons Why Best Friends are More Important than Kimbap

1. Once you eat kimbap, its gone. Next time you have to get a new one. It must be exhausting to be constantly forming new relationships with your kimbap. But a Best Friend can't be used up.

2. If you're hungry, you can eat kimbap but if you're not hungry you can't. Or at least, you shouldn't. But you can spend time with your Best Friend whether you are hungry or not.

3. You can share kimbap with your Best Friend. You can also share a lot of other things with your Best Friend: waffles, honey ice bread, bagels, pizza, cookies, burritos, almost anything. But you can't share your Best Friend with your kimbap. And any of that other stuff? That would be ridiculous. Can you imagine sharing a waffle with your kimbap? How would you even do that? And the taste would be all wrong. Waffles don't go with kimbap at all.

4. You can take your Best Friend anywhere. Can the same be said about kimbap? Well, sort of. Kimbap is a very portable meal but you can't bring it everywhere because it can go bad. So, a Best Friend has a much longer shelf life (FOREVER) than kimbap.

5. Best Friends can help each other but kimbap won't help anyone. Kimbap won't even help itself, it just sits there.

6. Kimbap can't help you with a crossword puzzle. Kimbap is dumb.

7. At first, it may seem like a good idea to select kimbap to accompany you to a desert island for a month instead of your Best Friend but its not and here is why: kimbap goes bad, even if you had enough for a month, it wouldn't last and it wouldn't stay as delicious; your Best Friend can help you find creatures and plants to eat, well plants at least; you would be lonely with only your kimbap to talk to.

There are plenty more but I am done for now.

North Korean Sacrifice

So North Korea just blew up a lot of dirt with another nuclear bomb. This got me thinking. What if those funny guys up north sent a bomb down south? Would I be safe? Would my BFF-Heather take a bomb for me?

I like to think she would. I like to imagine the two of us walking down the street and then seeing something falling from the sky. Then, upon realizing the falling object is a nuclear bomb, BFF Heather pushes me into the nearest subway station entrance and forces me onto a train. Next, for some unknown reason, she rushes back outside to face the bomb. What happens next I'm not too sure of (since I'm safely in a subway train speeding away from the falling nuclear warhead).

It is then that I realize that not even a bomb of nuclearic proportions can rip apart our BFFness.

-One story, two perspectives...

Sometimes Best Friends Go To The Zoo

My best friend Zach and I went to the zoo this weekend with our friend RB. RB wore a shirt with a zebra on it (to the zoo!). This makes her awesome. We woke up VERY early and travelled very far to get to the Seoul Grand Park Zoo. We saw many wonderful things and a very sad thing at the zoo. Probably the most awesome thing we saw was a CLONED WOLF. This was INCREDIBLE. This wolf looked like any other wolf, and slept the entire time we were looking at it. Apparently clones need more sleep than the original creatures. The amazing thing about this clone was that it didn't seem special or different. We wouldn't have even known it was a clone if not for RB, who read the sign that stated this only in Korean. I wonder if I have missed any other clones because I can't read Korean.

(Zach and Heather and the Cloned Wolf)

We also saw a terrific dolphin and seal show. At one point the trainer came out holding hands with a small monkey who was wearing a dress and waving a Korean flag. The monkey was out for probably under a minute and didn't do anything but I like to think that they are training the monkey to surf on the back of one of the dolphins while wearing a dress and waving the Korean flag. Or maybe a wetsuit and flag. Either way, Best Friends enjoy that kind of thing.

One thing that was very sad about the zoo was the dead baby monkey. There were tons of monkeys at the zoo and most were alive, including some babies. But one was not. At first we thought this baby was sleeping on the floor of the cage. The mother was grooming it and it looked soft and she was able to move it around easily. But mother monkeys are apparently not very gentle groomers and I started to think 'Wow, baby monkeys sure are sound sleepers.' But no, I am almost positive it was dead. My best friend, Zach, tried to perpetuate the 'sleeping' theory, but I think that was for my benefit. I think you could tell from the eyes. And the fact that it wouldn't move. It was a sad day at the zoo.

But to end things on a positive note, we also saw some longhorn cattle. This reminded me of Zach's house. You know, Texas.

When Best Friends Meet

The following video gives you a good idea what happens EVERYDAY at Oedae when Heather shows up to work and we see each other for the first time:

Best Friends in Check

Sometimes best friends are presented with dilemmas. For instance, if best friend #1 grants best friend #2's knights invincibility, should she use one of those knights to capture his queen and put him in check? That's a tough one, right? Well, the answer is yes, she should because he will get that queen back and go on to win the game anyway.

Best BFF Poll Overview

I want to thank all of you for voting in the "Best BFF" poll. Allow me to share my thoughts on the results.

First of all, Heather and I won. This doesn't surprise me at all as it was obviously to be expected. What does surprise me is that "Elizabeth and Adam" tied for second with "A tree and rock." This raised more than just one eyebrow for me. I was expecting "A tree and rock" to quite easily take the 1st runner-up position. After giving it some much deserved thought, I realized that the votes for "Elizabeth and Adam" were obviously pity votes. So, to those of you who voted for "Elizabeth and Adam," I applaud you. You did a great thing.

Now why did "Other" receive one vote? I was truly more than a bit baffled by this result. Then I realized that I forgot to make mention in the survey that it was understood that Timon, Pumbaa and Simba are the BEST BFFs of all-time. Of course they would win in any poll like this!

So, if you account for Timon, Pumbaa, and Simba receiving the one "other" vote, "Elizabeth and Adam" receiving 4 pity votes, and "A tree and rock" getting all the votes they deserved, then I think the poll turned out to be very accurate with a 0% margin for error.

Best Friends are Brave

My Best Friend is correct. We were practically killed by a bus. You see, in Korea, traffic lights are mere suggestions (not binding contracts, like a high five). So when the walk light turns green and you are walking across the street, completely within the parameters of the crosswalk, you may still be hit by a bus (most likely the 8880 because that bus doesn't stop for ANYTHING). The scene was like one out of a movie, perhaps the movie Speed. The bus barrelled towards us at breakneck speed, swerving at the last minute. My Best Friend Zach, our friend RB, and I had to dive out of the way, narrowly escaping our death. It was INCREDIBLE. And as for the rain, well, its a good thing I had my umbrella. A little while later, we saw Angels & Demons. They tried hard but the action scenes did not compare to our near death experience. And we are much braver than Tom Hanks. BEST FRIENDS ARE BRAVE! It was an exciting day.

- One Story, Two Perspectives...

Death by Bus

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to die? How about what it would be like to die with your best friend? Well, I can't tell you for sure what it is like to die (although I've got some ideas). I can, however, tell you what it is like to almost die. And what it is like to almost die with your best friend.

So three of us were walking across the street at Daewoo City Plaza. Daewoo City Plaza is the hip hang-out spot that sits between Juyeop Station and another bus stop. Well, I was there, BFF-Heather was there, and Rachel was there. Rachel's real name is Jaeeun. Rachel is her English name. For the sake of the rest of the story, we will refer to her as "RB."

So we were walking across the street. Did I mention that it was raining? It was. Halfway across the street a big bus came-a-rumbling into the intersection. Oh my word! What if the bus hits us? Well, luckily, the bus didn't hit us. Because the bus missed us, we didn't die. We continued across the street and soon found ourselves walking in the safety of the sidewalk....but still in the rain. And even though we were walking in the rain, we all felt relieved that we didn't die.

-One Story. Two Perspectives...

A Best Friend of Many Talents

On Saturday, my BFF and I attended a Oedae Membership Training event (Oedae is where my best friend and I work, together, as best friends do sometimes) . So, we climbed a mountain, saw a temple, met a dog, ate some lunch and left. It was an alright morning, but not as good as the staff implemented Membership Training events. I did, however, feel enlightened after the trip (and it had nothing to do with the temple). Here's why...

I thought I knew everything there was to know about my best friend. He's my best friend, right? We tell each other everything. Well I did have one more thing to learn about my BFF and I learned it on the bus ride to and from the temple mountain (now, I believe I know everything).

Preface: I always knew that my best friend was a man of many talents:

- a genius at the chessboard

- a stellar basketball player

- an unstoppable force at scrabble

- an intimidating enforcer in the classroom

But did you know that he was also a professional musician? I didn't either. Zach is always so modest. I won't tell you what group he played with because then all of his fans would be flocking to Korea but I will tell you that I heard some of their live stuff and it was FANTASTIC. By the way, Zach is also a terrific air drummer and if my students can show me how to get it off of my phone, I will edit this post and add the video.

Flagler Beat Texas A&M!!! Flagler Beat Texas A&M

Straight From The Press Of Flagler College's Gargoyle: **(pay particular attention to the 4th paragraph)** **(For those of you not aware, Heather is an alumnus of Flagler College and Zach is an alumnus of Texas A&M)**

(emphasis added in story by Zach)

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Flagler SAM team wins seventh national title

Photo contributed

From Staff

The Flagler College chapter of the Society for Advancement of Management (SAM) set new records this week when it won its seventh Management Case Competition national title – more than any other college or university – at the SAM Student International Business Conference in Las Vegas.

No other SAM teams have won more than three of these awards. Flagler’s SAM chapter also landed several other honors, including its sixth Campus Chapter Performance Program national title, which recognizes the best SAM chapter in the country.

“The students just did an outstanding and professional job,” said Louis Preysz, advisor to Flagler’s SAM team and professor of business administration. “It’s reflective of the quality of this institution. Flagler College swept every award we qualified for, within our categories. This has never been done before.”

Flagler’s SAM team competed against undergraduate student chapters from 44 colleges and universities at the annual International Business Conference, “Global Challenges & Governance,” held March 25-28. The Flagler chapter beat out students from Ohio Northern University, Villanova University, Wright State University, Texas A&M University and others.

This year’s case company was Church & Dwight, maker of consumer products such as Nair, Brillo, Arm & Hammer and Pepsodent. Members of Flagler’s SAM Management Case team included Maria DiPietro, Trista Straits, Ryan Alfred and Sam Osborne.

Other Flagler accomplishments at this year’s competition included:

• National Outstanding SAM Student award to DiPietro
• Three Regional Outstanding SAM Student awards to DiPietro, Straits and Cassandra Sterba
• Outstanding Faculty Advisor and election to SAM International Board of Directors and Vice President to Preysz

SAM is a non-profit organization founded in 1912 by colleagues and disciples of Frederick Taylor, an engineer often called the “Father of Scientific Management.” The organization brings together academics, practitioners and students to increase management skills and improve knowledge, performance and leadership ability.

An Empty Experience

On Sunday, I went to the Bank of Korea Money Museum. There was plenty to see and do. I put my bills into a scanner that told me my money was indeed genuine and not counterfeit. I stood amidst a variety of currencies from different countries and different centuries.

But my BFF wasn't there. She was at home. Sick. So, even though I was surrounded by the riches of this world, I found myself bankrupt inside.

-One Story, Two Perspectives...

Market Day- Here's one perspective...

As Zach pointed out, Market Day was the ultimate "One Story, Two Perspectives..." Event. You see, I was an art major and am from the Northern United States. Zach is a boy (an athletic one, but I think it was more important that he is a boy in this situation) and from the Southern United States. And so, our fates were sealed. I spent Market Day painting faces in the North wing of Oedae while Zach played Basketball in the South. At first I was like, WHAT??? an entire day without my best friend, that's crazy (because BFFs like to hang out)!!! But, then we had so much to share over popcicles during a break. Market Day=Success

So let me tell you about Market Day, as only I can tell it. You are probably wondering what kinds of things Korean Elementary School students want painted on their faces. Well, most of them wanted exactly what their friends wanted. And probably more than half wanted whatever it was painted on their hands, not their faces. But here is a brief (and by brief, I apparently mean expansive so sorry about that) list: about a billion butterflies, a million rainbows, lots of cats, tons of bunnies (some successful, some very bad, and some that looked like they had duck bodies because it took me a while to place the tail), flowers, lollipops (thanks to the new Big Bang and whoever song "Lollipop"), "Big Bang," a couple of truly bad dragons, some snakes, that symbol that starts a line of music, a bunch of Korean flags, a disappointing dragonfly, a lion, a really great monkey and on the other side of the same kid's face a very mediocre monkey, a dinosaur, a yellow pig, a pink pig, a bat, 2 ghosts, fire, hearts, hearts with wings, a terrible lizard, 2 lady bugs (but they were both on Elizabeth Teacher), and then FINALLY, at the end of the day, some kids let me draw cat noses and whiskers on them.

Best Friends at Market Day- One Story, Two Perspectives...

One Story, Two Perspectives....

There's an old saying that goes like this: "I like stripes, she likes polka-dots."

Hmmm....interesting. Let's chew on that statement for a bit. Are stripes better than polka-dots? I don't think so. Sure, maybe I prefer stripes to polka-dots but that doesn't mean that the former is better than the latter, does it? I don't think so. It merely means that I am a human, and I have a preference.

Is it better to live in the city or the country? Well, obviously, it depends on your own preference. One isn't better than the other. It's a matter of what makes you happy. The author IBID said it best in his late memoirs when he said, "I like the city. You like the country. But you know what? We both love life."

Wow! I love IBID. He always says it like it needs to be said.

Well, I guess you're wondering what this post has to do with BFFs?

So, my BFF-Heather and I were working at our school's market day last Friday. Market day is basically a fun day for all the kids. In place of forcing the students to go to class, we set up various stations around the school (face-painting, games, snack bar, etc.) and let the kids wander around having fun and enjoying the different activities.

I was manning the games station, which was located in the gym in the south side of the school. BFF-Heather was manning the face painting station, which was located in the north side of the school. Because of the busy-ness of the day, BFF-Heather and I were unable to mingle for much of the day. We were forced to experience market day from two different locations, doing two different things. At one point, there was a brief break from the market day action, and BFF-Heather and I shared a moment consisting of eating popsicles and discussing market day. And by discussing the different activities we participated in, we were able to experience twice the amount of market day that the normal person does.

It was from this experience that our BFF relationship grew to another level. We realized that we could share the same experience, but in two different ways. We saw that two different viewpoints on the same subject don't handicap a discussion, but instead enhance it.

I like stripes. BFF-Heather likes polka-dots. I like the country. BFF-Heather likes the city.

How else do we differ?

-One Story, Two Perspectives...

A Great Best Friend Day

Today was a great best friend day and this is why:

1) I painted Texas on Zach's face. (Best friends let each other practice face painting for market day.)

2) I won my first and second chess games. (Best friends give each other chess advice even when they are playing against each other. Also, best friends take back accidental checkmates.)

Correction

So this is actually how it went:

Heather (out of concern for her improperly dressed BFF): "Are you cold?"
Zach: "Cold-blooded."
Heather: "Like a lizard?"
Zach: "Like a lizard."

Cold-Blooded

I am a lizard. At least, that's what BFF-Heather told me today. I was appalled. Why am I a lizard? Why would she have the audacity to call me a lizard?

Maybe I misheard her, I thought. Maybe she called me a blizzard. I double-checked with her. Nope, she called me a lizard.

I'm not sure how I will move on from this. How to I manage a BFF relationship where one party calls the other a lizard? Are there any redeeming qualities of lizard? Is it beneficial in anyway to be a lizard? Should I aspire to be more like a lizard?

I don't have the answers to these questions? That ignorance aside, there is only one question I truly want to know the answer to: How could a BFF call another BFF a lizard!?