Posted 3:13 PM by Andy
So what has been going on since I've been back in the Northeast? Here is a rundown.

Winter. After a brief respite, winter is back in full force since last weekend with a barrage of storms and snow. I'm clad in my usual garb of beanie and bomber jacket as I trudge around campus.

Weird Times. This is an unusual time to be alive. The US is at war with Iraq which has elicited many protesters and various demonstrations around here as well as a slew of editorial emails over the IR listserv. I am one of two people in my IR theories class who supports war. Don't get me wrong, peace is the ultimate aim, but sometimes to secure that peace, you need to be proactive and strike first. Thus was borne the preemptive strike doctrine. To rile you up further, I also support capital punishment. I was ambivalent on this issue until I saw good scriptural support for the state acting as an agent of God or justice. I realize the system is flawed and there are some innocents who are incarcerated, but I believe the principle is in line with biblical teaching.

Final Four. It's bittersweet as the Syracuse basketball team has advanced to the Final Four, avenging a loss by Cal to Oaklahoma with a sound drubbing of the Sooners last Sunday. When you can hold Hollis Price to 8 points on a horrible shooting percentage, you're doing something right. Next up, Texas. The key of this game is to contain TJ Ford. You can't allow him to break your initial line of defense and penetrate into the lane. If the Cuse can get past the Longhorns, this place will be rocking. So far the 2-3 zone has worked to almost perfection with Jeremy McNeil anchoring the backline and Carmelo, Hakim, Gerry Mac, Keith Duany, and Billy Edelin all performing well. People have camped out for season tickets, many rabid fans are taking a road trip to New Orleans, and t-shirts are selling like hotcakes. It feels great to root for a dominant team. Can it be that I'll have three championship teams this year? (The reigning NBA champs Lakers, reigning MLB champs Angels-it's a bit of a stretch but Irvine is close enough to LA to claim as my area town, and the NCAA bball champions.)

Internship Hunt. It's getting to that point where summer is looming and I still don't know where I'll be in 6 weeks. I could be in DC or the Bay Area. I talked to DevelopmentSpace.com, a startup that launched an Internet marketplace to connect social investors with global development projects. The premise is intriguing and the position is in sales and marketing as the company is trying to expand and increase adoption by more firms. I also submitted an application recently to the Federal Reserve Bank of SF in their regulatory and banking supervision department focused on the Asia Pacific region. This is one of my many desperate attempts to go back to the West side. Cue Dr. Dre's "California Love" in the background.

Hanging out. I was depressed last weekend because of a lack of recreational choices and the dreary weather, but I did get to hang out with a few people recently to alleviate the boredom. I went grocery shopping with Ivy, Makkiko and Tatsuya last Saturday. That was my highlight that day. Ivy is the lone Chinese girl in my program so I have a natural affinity for her. The others are from Japan and so they discussed the overwhelming sense of peer-pressure and obligatory ties that pervades Japanese society. In other words, they feel stifled by the politics that govern relationships between Japanese people but feel helpless to combat it for fear of being ostracized from their own community. It's interesting because in my international law seminar we discussed the existence of Asian values. Do Asians value the group and order over democracy and individual choice? Leaders of authoritarian regimes employ this line of reasoning often to keep the status kuo. Lee Kuan Yew, the elder statesman of Singapore, says things like, "We Asians don't want the freedom to make choices but a stable environment where everyone in the group is prospering" or something along those lines. I hung out with Karlai at a discipleship group meeting last Sunday. I feel better knowing that my circle of Chinese female friends here has grown exponentially to 2 due to her. I played ball with Wai, her brother, this past Wednesday. It was great to hold the court for two hours although at the end I was exhausted because I had also lifted weights earlier that afternoon. By the way, there are some cool basketball commercials on the air. I like the Kobe "What's your thirst" Sprite series because it inspires me to prove the doubters wrong. I use it as motivation when I lift. That, and also knowing that Earl Boykins, G State's 5'5'' 133 pound point guard, can bench 300 pounds.

Ball. I love this game. It's a metaphor for life. Every guy in the NBA has a story, like Ricky Davis featured in the latest issue of Slam (is he the next incarnation of Isiah Rider or someone better?) and every college player has something to prove and so on down to the playground and rec leagues. Random sampling of what I think about when I have spare cycles in my mind include Kobe's 5-point play, highlights of the NCAA tournament, and MJ. Witness: In a heated game with the Kings, KB8 stepped back beyond the 3-point arc, launched a jumper that was pure, and drew the foul on Jim Jackson. Just another 4-point play in the making, right? JJ goes berserk and draws a technical foul. Kobe swishes two freethrows, and history was made. Best moments of NCAA tourney action so far: Drew Nicholas' running 3-pointer at the buzzer to win it for the Maryland Terps. On that play, he dribbled from the backcourt up towards the right wing, shot a runner fading into the corner with the defender draped on his shoulder, and the ball touched nothing but nylon. Unreal. The Arizona-Gonzaga game: it was nip-and-tuck virtually the entire second half, and it came down to one play. Gonzaga was down one on the final possession. There were a couple of errant shots, but the Bulldogs' guard Stepp Blake corraled the rebound with 3 seconds to play. He freed himself for a clean look from 8 feet from the left side and the next second must have seemed like an eternity for him. I know exactly what went through his mind: should I bank this or shoot it straight? In his split second decsion, he opted to go glass, banked it too hard at the buzzer, and Arizona survived the upset bid. Heart-pounding. Last night's game between the Hawks and the Wizards in Michael's farewell tour: What was a routine blowout through 3 1/2 quarters turned into riveting drama as #23 got into a groove. From like 12 points down, after a string of jumpers and the occasional assist, he tied the game with one more possession belonging to the Wizards. On that pivotal possession, he was isolated against Ira Newble at the top of the key. He took two dribbles to the right and lofted a 17-foot jumper over Newble's outstretched hand. The ball clanged off the back iron and the Hawks called timeout with 0.6 seconds. Shareef Abdur Rahim took the inbounds on the right baseline and released a 18-foot shotput as he fell backwards on MJ. The ball bounced on the back iron, then dropped back in the basket. Hawks 91, Wizards 89. MJ's magic didn't translate into a W but there are moments where he is still the most dramatic player in the game despite being a shadow of his former self. Let the Madness continue.

Things to look forward to in the remaining month here: My sister and bro-in-law are visiting tomorrow. We'll go to worship service on Sunday and probably the downtown area called Armory Square for lunch. Academically I'm cruising. I believe I just aced another exam today. I have one more econ case study and exam, one more regression research paper and exam for stat, and a group project and final paper for IR theories. The group projects are fun, and as the leader of my group I get to practice my team-building skills. It seems like the most difficult part is finding a good time to meet in a group of 5 people. I'm always the one pushing my teammates to meet earlier because I just want to finish things. The prospective IR class for the fall is coming next weekend for a series of welcome events. I'd like to meet some of them since I'm in essence straddling two classes of people. Spring formal is on the last weekend of April. Then I'm heading west to Cali. Can't wait.