So for the last six months, I've been promising people that I'd give a long expansive update as to what I've been up to since I made it back to the States. Well boys and girls, here is that update.

So I'm about to start my second semester studying Security Studies at Georgetown University. No, I am not preparing for a job as a security guard, or in running TSA (as one of my friend's mom asked.) The program prepares people for jobs in national security. No surprise there.

Last semester I took four classes. First, I audited Japanese, which was incredibly dumb. Japanese is a hard language, and there really is no future in this language. Everyone and their mother can speak Japanese. Korean, on the other hand, is a critical need language. If I can improve my Korean ability, I was have a highly marketable asset that I could use to get jobs with.

Next, I took Theory and Policy in Security. Got a B+ in this class, mostly because I think I'd forgotten how to write, and form a coherent argument. In grad school, I have to use my brain in ways that I didn't in Korea. Which is good, but it means that I have to work again. This is similar to when I messed up the English section of my first GRE because "my brain got dumb." This class dealt with international relations theory, just war theory, and a ton of other theories about war. I really didn't like this class, and participated less than I should have, and I'm happy that I got the grade I got.

Third class that I took was Grand Strategy and Military Operations. In this class, we looked at various conflicts such as World War I, World War II, the French in Algeria, Afghanistan, etc. and looked at the campaigns waged, and what worked and what didn't. We were suppost to look at it from a strategic, operational and tactical level, but in the end, I didn't learn enough to do that well. I ended with a B in the class, which is what more than 50% of the class received.

Final class was Security Issues in East Asia. I actually wasn't a fan of this class, because I felt like I wasn't learning very much in this class, plus I had to write four different papers (three 5 page, and a 20 page.) But thanks to my awesome paper where I discussed the lessons of the closing of the US bases in the Philippines and related them to the bases in South Korea, I received an A-. Go me.

This semester, I plan on taking five classes. They are, in no particular order, Theory and Policy in Asia, Theory and Practice of Intelligence, International Security Issues, International Negotiation, and Korean. This semester will suck, especially around midterms and finals.

This summer, I should be interning at the US State Department, following a background check. Though there is a small possibility that I'll head back to Korean to do two months of intensive Korean training. If that goes down, the I'll be sure to contact my Korean friends and hang out.

Christmas was spent in Texas. Next year I have decided to only spend one week in Texas, and spend the rest of the time visiting people, or simply chilling in DC. I had a very successful Christmas, though I wasn't able to meet up with Kyla, despite a plethora of messages. Oh well, there's always next year.

Random side story. This past week I was in NY, met up with Ash, Tiff, Erica, Craig, Mark, Shyam, and Craig's girlfriend for some dinner, drinks, and karaoke. It was quite a good night, and I had a raging hangover the next day to prove it. However, I did spent the karaoke session arm and arm around my ex, Erica. Now, nothing happened, since we were in a small room full of friends, and there's now way we were going to start making out in amongst everyone, but it very easily could have happened. Man, I have to send her an e-mail, especially since I apparently I broke her heart at the end of freshman year by not contacting her. Yes, I know I was/am an immature jerk, it's something I'm working on, and hopefully the next time I'm in NY we can meet and work this out.