Help Your Suwon Week 11(Audit)

Currently Balance : 90,580 won
Previous Balance : 70,870 won
Newly Deposited : 19,710won (110,000 won -90,290won)

Help Your Suwon Week 11 was, personally, one of the best gatherings since its inception. I believe so because we had 11 people and 2 newcomers. The more, the merrier. Also, with enough fund to purchase food, we managed to bag up 70 bags with goodies. Half of it was doled out to the homeless at the station and the rest went to those at the shelter. And it was our first time to give something to those staying night at the shelter. After the volunteering, it was followed by Dak-gal-bi and pleasant conversations about K-Pop with each other. The food was good and so were the companions. Thank you everyone for making it to the occasion no matter how tired you were, how far you live from Suwon and how cold it was. Words can't illustrate how appreciative I am of you and your deeds.

Help Your Suwon Week 10 (Audit)

Current Balance : 70,870 won (Sorry, the image is blurry)
Previous Balance : 59,090 won
Newly Added : 11,780 won (90,000 won - 65,220 won (food) - 8,000 won (tangerines by Tammy) - 5,000 won( 5 copies of Korea Herald that Grace kindly purchased on our behalves)

Week 10 was full of twist, I'd say.
A) We had two new people; Mo-Ran and Chul Ho(?)
B) Someone(!!) purchased smaller bags than we usually do and it gave twice as much joy we usually do to homeless by doling out two bags.
C) Since it was Lunar New Years, except for soy milk and tangerine, in order to make it more jubilant, we doubled up the rest of the components (and yes even the bags)
D) Tammy was kind enough to have purchased tangerines in Anyang and brought them all the way to Suwon. I am sure it was good.
E) While on a leave of absence, Rachael made a surprise appearance!
F) Grace went through a lot of trouble to obtain 5 copies of Korea Herald.

Even though it was very much cold(seems always that way), Most of the regulars came out. Thank you so much for that, everyone. Let's continue to carry the torch together. Have a great day, ya'll.

Help Your Suwon Week 9 (Audit)

Current Balance   : 59,090 won

Previous Balance : 56,410 won

Newly Deposited  :   2,680 won (60,000 won - 57,320 won)

News flash everyone!

Sometime this week, Korean Herald is going to do a segment on Help Your Suwon. I contacted Kirsty, a reporter from KH and asked her to do a piece on us. She and I got to know each other back in summer and she was kind enough to introduce my then-intention to launch Help Your Suwon. Because of the piece, some people contacted me and have joined the cause. Now, although we have several regulars, I thought we could use more hands to help those in need. However, the piece is going to seek for financial donation, medical supplies, clothes and food rather than extra volunteers. (I believe we are a very tight group) Anyhow, I contacted the NGO office and asked what they need for homeless and those items were their answers to my question. So, hopefully, there will be more people supportive of what we have been doing.

Also, as you well know next week is Korean lunar new years. I believe that there will be some people taking a short sojourn domestically. I will put up a notice and you can sign or not. Depending on the number of people signing up, there is a chance that we might need to cancel the activity.

Anyhow, I hope you all have a great week.

p.s. I will buy, with our fund, enough number of copies of Korea Herald when they print our stories out. :)

New Year's Resolution 2012

This year, there is no such a thing as New Year's Resolution. Why? That I don't know. It is probably because I really haven't had an opportunity to ponder upon it at the end of the last year or on the onset of this year. But, what is certain is that I really don't like anything set in stone for now.

Last week was such a turmoil. I am back at my old job. And it was a series of awakenings.

First, I came to the realization that I really love my job where I work with dedicated, smart and funny coworkers. Grant it, my team has a lot of workload and they are one of the things that get me through everyday. Now that I was away from these people for a whole year last year, I feel very lucky to work with them. Although there is going to be a reshuffling  at work, I will enjoy to the last minute.

Secondly, I think I have become more flexible and more mature to some respects. This has to do my work of course. As much as I don't relish office politics, somehow I have manged to give into it. Of course, I am not a suck-up. I don't just say things that I don't mean. Also, when necessary, I just say things in lieu of suppressing it.

But then again, there is a fine line between being a straight shooter/asshole and a borderline kiss-ass. Just sugarcoat facts a little. Make them sound tad saccharine. So that it would sound sweat to someone's ear. It works. This, however, bring me a question; am I changing? Am I losing my identity? Maybe or maybe not-

In the long term, I would like to say that I am evolving. I'd like to think of it as opting for different options and deciding which way you are going to turn out down the road. As "evolution theory" states, the better ones will survive. The, here "better" means, put in the context of work environments, someone more flexible, someone, and yet principled, someone who is likeable and yet someone hardworking. I am a staunch supporter of the theory that the world is better not only because of hardworking people, but also because of handful of genius spawning off the groundbreaking ideas and that changes the world.

In retrospect, I think the year 2012 is going to be a change for me to look back at my life, gather my thought and finally present myself a certain set of my own philosophies. So far, it is going well. But, I need more challenges.. or obstacles. 

Help Your Suwon Week 8 (Audit)

Current Balance : 56,410 won
Newly Deposited : 8,230 won (50,000 won - 41,770 won)
Previous Balance : 48,180 won

Sorry that the scanned file of the bankbook is a bit blurry.

Help Your Week 7 (Audit)

Current Balance : 48,180 won
Newly Deposited : 7,600 won (50,000 won - 42,400 won)
Previous Balance : 40,580 won

I would like to add more, but I will do so in the not too distant future. We have a new comer, Karen, by the way. Thank you for having showed up last Sunday. I wish ya'll a happy new year.