Desk Drawer.

 My very last exam of the freshman year is on this evening (April 30th). After writing it from 7-9pm, I'll be moving out of the residence and head straight to the Pearson Airport. By the time the morning sun arises at 8am, I'll be already on a flight heading (back) to Seoul.

I was quiet busy in the past week with packing and assigning each belonging with new destinations: a box that will be stored during summer, a luggage to head South Korea with me, or garbage bin (Sorry, no recycling!). The following pictures and writings were created during the beginning of the week, when I was not really aware of the urgency and the ticking clock. I probably did most of the packing in the past two nights out of the whole week.

Last summer, just before my family shipped out every furnitures and belongings back to Korea, my mom asked me whether I would like to keep this retro bill. Being a person who doesn't easily let go of things, I had to trade my regular 20$ bill to save this one from being spent on a store by mom. I don't know if it was worth the trade, but this legal tender was printed back in 1979 and stil fresh as if it was printed yesterday. Just look how young the queen is! 

God save the Queen (:

I really enjoyed going to the National Art Centre back in my high school years in Ottawa. The first experience was in grade 9, when my music class went to see the opera Don Giovanni. I was a bit of troubled student back then and showed up late after having a lunch with friends; The music teacher gave me an unforgettable displeased stare. Of course, I've gradually changed over the years and by the end of grade 12, I've received one of the most considerate letter of recommandation from the same music teacher. 

Watching the film Amadeus (1984) has really triggered my interest in classical music in grade 10. It led me to practice extra hours on my clarinet and motivated me to listen and learn more about the genre of classical music. Luckily, living in Ottawa allowed me to go and see an outstanding orchestra as many as I wanted- with or without friends. I guess this was, and still is, an unique interest for my age. 

New York, Ottawa, Toronto, Washington, Seoul, New Jersey, Montreal, Philadelphia

For a student like myself, public transportation is the only option to move around in a city. The same rule applies whenever I visit a foreign city too. It's really interesting to see the different fare policy, rider demographics, history, service frequency, and age of fleets in each metropolitan systems. For aside, there were couple of occasions that I've gone into 'so-called' dangerous regions because of the public transit: I once took a wrong express train in the New York and reached the 116th Street and the other time, I had to transfer at Camden, one of the most dangerous city in the states. However, counterintuitively, public transit in these regions were not filled with violence and thugs but average day people on their way. 

  Unfortunately, Toronto has one of the most confusing transit system I've ever experienced. I still don't really know how the transfer ticket works and why they are not enforcing the zoning fare in this city size; riding a few blocks cost the same as going to an airport from the other side of the city. I heard they are bringing a transit card system called 'Presto Card', but I doubt that they will install it in every bus before my university graduation. Until then, I should carry these tiny sized tokens around- these are perfect for utilizing that small pocket within a pocket of your jean.

Mariners at Blue Jays

Ichiro Suzuki's Plate Appearance. 

I used to mimic his batting stance in high school game and everyone would find it amusing. 

Seattle Mariners at Toronto Blue Jays (April 27th)

Blake Beavan (1-2, 3.60 ERA) vs. Ricky Romero (3-0, 3.18 ERA)

SEA HR: Montero (7th), Saunders 2 (9th; 10th, 3 on)

TOR HR: Encarnacion (2nd), Thames (8th)

Game Score: F/10 9-5

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Top of the 9th. Scoreboard indicated 5 runs for the Jays and 3 runs for the Mariners.

2 Outs and 2 Strikes. Everyone in the crowd stood up and started clapping when the closer was about to throw the last ball of the game. Kyle Seager hit a easy ground ball but Brett Lawrie screwed the chance to end the game by causing a throwing error. The pinch hitter reaches the first base. 

The pinch hitter gets replaced by pinch runner, Munenori Kawasaki. One first, still 2 Outs. While Dustin Ackley was at bat, the Blue Jays catcher, J.P. Arenciba attempted pickoff and caused a throwing error. The runner reached to the third base. With an intentional walk of Dustin Ackley, the base was again loaded up with runners on first and third. Another pinch hitter, John Jaso singles on a soft line drive to the centre field- allowing the two runners to reach home. The game became tied to 5-5; another ninth-inning collapse of the Jays, another blown save, and another disappointing loss at home.

Top of the 10th, Michael Saunders hits a grand slams (3 runners on) to right field.

Justine Smoak scored. Jesus Montero scored. Alex Liddi scored. 

Beside the tragedy, the game was overall enjoyable. Although, Ichiro Suzuki and Jose Bautista, did not make a single hit through out the game, there were other fine plays done by underrated players. It was good to see the new centre fielder, Colby Rasmus, doing well and Edwin Encarnacion, keeps rolling as usual. I've also tried to keep the scorecard for the first time. Moreover, I found out that 500 levels seats are not bad for its price (15$)- I might as well watch more games in the atmosphere that I love. 

The Suburbs.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs (2010)

In the suburbs I, I learned to drive

And you told me we'd never survive

Grab your mother's keys we're leavin'

You always seemed so sure

That one day we'd be fighting

In a suburban war

Your part of town against mine

I saw you standing on the opposite shore

But by the time the first bombs fell

We were already bored

We were already, already bored

Sometimes I can't believe it

I'm movin' past the feeling

Sometimes I can't believe it

I'm movin' past the feeling again

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One night back in grade 12, I hung out at my friend's house in Barrhaven- a rapidly grown suburban neighbourhood, just located Southwest of the city. It was late on a friday or saturday night and on my way back home, I got on a lousy bus full of people around my age- so called young adults. Based on the direction of the bus and their drunkenness, I assumed that they lived in the suburbs and were heading downtown for clubbing.

One thing I noticed was that the crowd was all dressed up in a similar way. Almost all the boys were all wearing plaid shirts, only in different colours, and the girls were all wearing thick makeups and dressed up in white t-shirt black skirt style. It's an absurd thing to judge people based on the look, but these teenagers seemed to have a lot in common beyond their clothings: identical background, neighbourhood, family income, and lifestyle. I'm sure each one of them would have different stories, but on that night I could only see people who all dressed up in the same way and who were on their way to express their 'You Only Live Once' attitude. The bus ride got me thinking about how different perspective they and I might have on life and values- one surrounded by homogeneity and other one exposed to heterogenity.

The first time I heard this song was back in 2011, when the indie band won the Juno Award for the best album of the year. I wasn't so sure about the music at first, but I did find the album concept pretty interesting. The visuals, lyrical contents, and track titles were inspired by band members Win and William Butler's childhood in a suburb of Huston, Texas (According to Win butler, the album "is neither a love letter to, nor an indictment of, the suburbs - it's a letter from the suburb."). Along the album, there is a 30-minute short film called 'Scenes from the Suburbs', produced in collaboration of the Director Spike Jonze and the Arcade Fire. It features the song with the scenes of care-free teens living in a suburban community- distant from the reality. 

Everyone would have a different interpretation of the lyrics, but I particular like this one: "The dreams you had as a kid in the suburbs with your friends are so quickly forced through the meat grinder of life that that they began to fade, even back then you were "already bored". And today while only a remnant of those feelings exist you find yourself "moving past" them again, and you only realize it when you look introspectively and it baffles you cause you know before long those feelings and dreams will be gone. Hopefully I can have a daughter too while I'm young, before I'm lost to the mediocrity of the real world." It matches with what I somehow felt in the bus while looking at the others; who were so similar to me, but yet so different.

MLB All Star Game 2012 Ballot

First Base:                                                          Second Base:

Adam Lind, TOR (.238 AVG, 1HR, 6RBI)               Dustin Pedroia, BOS (.269 AVG, 3HR, 5RBI)

Freddie Freeman, ATL (.296, 3HR, 13RBI)                   Chase Utley, PHI (--- AVG, 0HR, 0RBI)

Shortstop:                                                                Third Base:

Jamey Carroll, MIN (.245 AVG, 0HR, 6RBI)                 Brett Lawrie, TOR (.264 AVG, 2HR, 9RBI)

Jimmy Rollins, PHI (.250 AVG, 0HR, 3RBI)             Ryan Zimmerman, WAS (.224 AG, 1HR, 7RBI)

Catcher:                                                          Designated Hitter:

Joe Mauer, MIN (.302 AVG, 1HR, 9RBI)                Travis Hafner, CLE (.333 AVG, 2HR, 6RBI)

Buster Posey, SF (.375 AVG, 1HR, 4RBI)                                                                              

Outfielders:

Jose Bautista, TOR (.222 AVG, 2HR, 6RBI)                    Ryan Braun, MIL (.245 AVG, 1HR, 5RBI)

Shin-Soo Choo, CLE (.234 AVG, 0HR, 9RBI)                  Matt Kemp, LAD (.481 AVG, 8HR, 20RBI)

Ichiro Suzui, SEA (.279 AVG, 1HR, 9 RBI)                  Shane Victorino, PHI (.315 AVG, 2HR, 4RBI)

Snow Patrol Live.

How can I possibly describe this concert. I'll just say that, for the first time ever in my life, I felt my hairs standing up like a stunned cat. It was a level beyond having goose bumps.

Surprising thing was- I knew every song by heart and was able to recalled the lyrics unconsciously. I never knew listening an actual gig, and singing along the song you've loved, could be this much of fun. 

The opening was done by Ed Sheeran, a sing-a-song writer whose been recently on trend in European chart. I've found about him through several friends across the Atlantic mentioning his name. Regardless, I didn't like his music and he only reminded me how great the band Snow Patrol is.

I also bought a band t-shirt for the very first time; image of the band logo and the album jacket of 'Fallen Empires', with the list of cities of North American tour on the back. Snow Patrol is undoubtedly the band I would want to wear and feel proud of. 

Now I got first exam on the day after tomorrow.

But this guilty pleasure was totally worth it (:

My Dorm Room.

Now that the second semester is over and the only thing left before the summer is the final exams, 

I thought I should take some visual records of where I have lived for the past year. 

This is the general view of the room- Unit:K2G

I knew I was going to upload these photos but I didn't really bother to clean up the room- because this is truly the average day look. A bed is such a great place to sleep on during night and put things on during day; often before going to sleep, I organize everything back to where they belong.

The 'No parking sign' on the back is one that I got from Ottawa. One night back in grade 10, I just decided to take the paper sign out of the snowbank to put it on the wall- now it's hanging on the wall in Toronto, taking me back to Ottawa time to time. If you look closely, there is also a picture of Ford Fiesta of the Ford World Rally Team.

Before the last Christmas break, I rearranged the direction of the furniture to optimize the usable space and create a small room that is somewhat like a private office; you know, visually enclosed- a chair facing the door. At first, I thought it was a revolutionary idea but then I had to put the blind occasionally in order to look at my glossy laptop screen.

I framed the leftover OC Transpo bus tickets as a souvenir- pretty good idea isn't it?

Although they are useless in Toronto, the tickets mean a lot to me and it is worth keeping them displayed. Looking at them always makes me think about all the bus ride I had and the the related memories: shopping mall at St.Laurent, night walking at Tunney's Pasture, running home from Metcalfe, saturday school at Merivale, playing baseball at Bayshore, library at Centrepointe, beach barbecue at Mooney's Bay, fairwell at the Airport, friend's home in Orleans, buying an iPhone at Vanier, watching movies at Gloucester. There are just so much memories condensed into this one symbolic piece of paper- the bus tickets.

Collection of my photos and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom.

This whole wall decorating thing- I didn't really understand why the others did it . But then I realized it when I woke up in the morning and felt like I was in a plastic box. In my opinion, putting pictures or posters is a process of creating a distinctive space of self, around new and unfamiliar surrounding environment; just like a seed trying to put down its root.

Trust me, I've been to other rooms and my room is pretty descent compared to them. 

One of my housemates still hasn't opened his printer box yet.

April 5, 2012. Season Opener.

It feels like the spring training opener was not that long ago, but it has already reached to that time of the year: the opening day of the Major League. This season is slightly different for me because, first, I now have a descent laptop to watch the game, second, I found good friends who I can both watch a game and play a catch ball with, and third, I live in the city of Toronto, where Rogers Centre is waiting for me.

Yesterday's game against the Indian's went up to the 16th inning, making it the longest opening day game in the Major League history. I was fortunate enough not to sit in front of a TV and waiting for the game to be ended. Being on a busy day made me follow the game with video highlights of each inning; of course the major highlight of the game was Arencibia's triple run homer in the 16th inning. Fouling a ball by bunting at the first pitch, then hitting a clean homer. That is definitely something.

There are number of players that I would like to follow for the season: Brett Lawrie of the Jays. This young- fresh off from AAA league- third baseman debuted only last year but had descent plate appearance so far. RBI single at his first career at-bat to a grand slam as his first hit at the Rogers Centre, as long as he doesn't get injured, he is going to lead the team to possibly post-season. Yu Darvish of the Rangers. Known as one of the best pitcher in the Japanese league, Yu is finally coming to the MLB. I still remember the speed and accuracy of the pitching he has shown during the 2009 World Baseball Classic Championship match against South Korea. Jose Bautista of the Jays. He is already a star player of the team, but he seems to have more things to show. Stats from the last season shows that he has .302 AVG, .608 SLG, with 1.056 OBP over the 513 at-bats; showing that he is consistent- and able to be both a contact hitter and a slugger. On the last night's game, he hit 3-4 with a solo homerun.

During the spring training, Toronto led the American league with impressive 24-7 W/L and .774 Winning PCT. I know it was just part of training and doesn't really reflect the regular season score (based on the previous years standings), but it shows that there is some hope for the Blue Jays. I know that post-season is too much to ask for at the moment, but I hope they can finally break the AL East paradigm of New York - Tampa - Boston - Toronto - Baltimore at last.

The team has recently adopted a new logo, a modernized version of the franchise' first logo that was used from 1977-97. I can't wait to wear these on a street again and possibly at the rogers centre this September. 

Niagara Falls.

The fall was originally located at the edge of the Niagara Escarpment, along the lake Ontario. As the ice from Wisconsin glaciation melted, the upper Great lake emptied its water into the lower Great lake, through the Niagara river. In the past 12,000 years, the fall has been receding towards the Lake Erie to reach where it is now; eroding the cuesta inch by inch. In the far future it is expected that the Niagara fall will reach the edge of lake Erie and cause an immediate drainage that can over flow the lake Ontario.

learning geology can make one understand and survey the natural landscape, 

and give knowledge to say more than just "it's beautiful" or "it's huge"

Niagara Glen Nature Area.

The bedrock of Niagara river basin is consist of hard dolomitic limestone, which is a sedimentary carbonate rock rich in calcium carbonate. Due to its nature of being easily eroded, a bedrock could be easily collapsed and create a massive landslide. Niagara Glen Nature Area is an example of bedrock broken into numerous pieces of boulders, which often have pugs vugs that indicates the chemical erosion.

Professor Nick Eyles.

He started his career in Great Britain at the universities of Leicester, Newcastle upon Tyne and East and moved to Canada to work at Memorial University in Newfoundland. He’s been in Toronto since 1981 when he was awarded a prestigious NSERC University Research Fellowship. 

He’s conducted geological fieldwork from the Arctic to the Antarctic, including work with the Ocean Drilling Program onboard the drillship Resolution.  Recent sabbaticals have taken him to Brazil and Australia. 

Source: CBC Geological Journey - About the Series

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Dr. Eyles is a good professor. At the beginning of the semester, I found it pretty hard to follow his teaching style but as soon as I thought of the lectures simply as a 'geological journey', each of them became quiet interesting and making sense. 

He has an exceptional and so-called British humor. He often leaves punch lines (mix of sarcasm and satire) during a lecture, with his evident English accent, and they always cracks me up; the jokes often remind me of Jeremy Clarkson from my favourite BBC series, Top Gear.

He is always interested in listening to an individual student and passionate of what he teaches. He is also as passionate on motocycles and often put the photos on lecture slides. There are somethings about him that I definitely want to learn. 

Niagara Escarpment.

The escarpment is the cliff face of a ridge that is as the edge of a much larger formation called the Michigan Basin. The Michigan basin is a roughly circular depression in the earth's crust, centered under the state of Michigan. It is formed of layers of sedimentary rock (Silurian and Ordovician rock) that were created over 420 million years. The majority contents of the cap rock is dolomitic limestone, which could be easily eroded into shales as it can be observed on the photo.

Hamilton, ON

Scarborough Bluff.

Approximately 13,000 years ago, the edge of the cliff I was standing could have been the shoreline of the glacial lake Iroquois. The exposure of the terrain and the difference in colour provide clue for the source of deposit and the variety of the soil contents. The bracket of exposed grey sand on the edge, was once the bottom part of the glacial. Through paleoenvironmental reconstruction, its rich contents of underwater fossils provide vital clues of what the ecosystem might have looked like in the past.