Today was the first day of orientation, which is going to last all week. There's a lot of stuff to know! The ordination process takes an average of 3 years, which should happen concurrently while taking classes and tests for the Masters program. I need to get psych evals, write essays and be interviewed to make sure my theology is up to snuff. I'm currently working on the first phase, which is to become an inquirer, but I keep putting off finishing the essays. I wish I wasn't such a procrastinator.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 15 (Ready for Battle)
Today was the first day of orientation, which is going to last all week. There's a lot of stuff to know! The ordination process takes an average of 3 years, which should happen concurrently while taking classes and tests for the Masters program. I need to get psych evals, write essays and be interviewed to make sure my theology is up to snuff. I'm currently working on the first phase, which is to become an inquirer, but I keep putting off finishing the essays. I wish I wasn't such a procrastinator.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 14 (First Forays into San Francisco)
I've been here for just over a week now and I barely made it into San Francisco today. After church this morning, my next-door neighbor Ryan and I decided we would try to figure out the public transportation and explore the city. We wanted to take the ferry across the bay, but we arrived 2 hours early because the ferry has a limited schedule on Sundays, so we sat at a bar and had some beer while we waited.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 13 (Embryonic Souls)
Friday, August 28, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 12 (The Quest for Ice)
I know it's atypical, but I really don't like to shop. I like to get in the store, pick up what I need and get out of there as fast as possible. Part of it is that the air in stores really starts to bother my eyes after a while, and another part is that I really hate waiting in line.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 11 (Trader Joe's Thwarted by Charles)
I went to Trader Joe's this morning and bought all the wine. Neither of the people who would not let me buy the wine yesterday were there. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do if the cashier was there, but I did toy with the idea of going through his checkout and reminding him of who I was. Had a nice glass of Trader Joe's Old Moon Old Vine Zinfandel as I read The Lovely Bones. It was in fact lovely. Only five hundred bottles of wine to go before I can finish my wine cork board...
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 10 (Thwarted at Trader Joe's)
My roommate and I spent a pretty hectic day cleaning and getting everything organized one I was able to figure out that the extra stuff in my room didn't belong to him. Apparently, his last roommate left a lot of stuff behind all over the apartment that I guess we are the proud new owners of. The apartment is actually quite lovely now. While I was going through all of my things, I came across a Visa gift card that some of my co-workers had given me as a going away present and I decided I would splurge on some bottles of wine since I had left all of my wine at home. I didn't want to bring it and risk having to keep it in my car where it might have gotten too hot.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 9 (Bomb Components)
Monday, August 24, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 8 (Pig Sty From Hell)
My parents and I got to the school early this morning, so I got a chance to show them around. I love how the school looks like Hogwarts; one of my friend's kids asked her if I was going to secretly become a gay wizard, LOL.
The school isn't big, the student body is only about 150 students. It's cool how you get to know everyone though.
My move-in time was 10:00. Two other students were here at the same time, but their move-in times were later, so I was shown my room first. When we had arrived, the door was already open, and we saw that it was a mess, so I was hoping when the person came to have me sign the lease, she would say there was some kind of mistake and bring me to a different room. It was the right room. *sigh*
I didn't get a chance to really look at the room until we had unloaded my car and my parents left. Amber showed up right when we started and helped bring everything in. As I started to unpack, I realized it was going to be a lot harder than I thought. One of the first things we did was open the refrigerator because we had some food to put away. There was a large area f mildew growing on the bottom and it smelled really bad. Something had been splashed on the door and had dried up orange and sticky, and the expiration date on the milk was 7 days ago.
Then, I had to throw something away. Had to shut the garbage can real quick because of the smell that came out of that sucker. I noticed the sink was full of dishes and after piecing all of the little clue together, Amber and I came to the conclusion that this guy had been away for some time. She noticed some grains of rice on the spoon on top of the rice cooker and, not being from an Asian family, thought that was gross. I kind of laughed it off until I realized what the inside of the rice cooker might look like if my roommate had indeed been gone for a while. We backed off of the rice cooker and I slowly opened the lid, fearfully expecting a pot full of grey mold. The damn thing was still on! The rice inside was hot and dry and had turned brown and hard from being cooked for so long! We're lucky the whole building hadn't burned down! I quickly unplugged it and we looked around some more. The apple peels in the sink looked fairly fresh, so it was possible he had left that morning, but who knows? The toilet was filthy and there was black scum coating the drain in the bathroom sink.
Dinner time came, and I started to get hungry, so I thought about heating some food in the microwave. Fully prepared for what I would find, I opened the microwave and proceeded to clean it for about 20 minutes; there was no way I was going to heat up my dinner with old food splattered all over the place and cooked onto the glass turntable inside. I think I just threw up in my mouth a little...
It's almost midnight and this guy still hasn't shown up. God only knows when he'll finally make an appearance. Michelle, the person who had me sign the lease, told me she thought he was going to move out soon. I hope she's right.
I'm going to tackle the dishes and the fridge tomorrow. Please pray for me all of you out there O_o
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 7 (Luke Winchester)
My parents and I went to Winchester Mansion today. That place is as crazy as the lady who built it. Please see the "door to nowhere" in the above picture. All the posts in the house are installed upside down, there is a staircase that leads to the ceiling and a chimney that stops 4 inches short. One room has a window in the floor. The lady thought she had to keep building lest she be haunted by all of the people killed by Winchester firearms. I know for sure that one couple I saw was gay, my gaydar totally pinged when I heard one of them talk, and there were to other pairs of men that could have been.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 6 (Driving)
Happy Birthday to me!!!
Friday, August 21, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 5 (sake!!!)
I've noticed I've been doing a lot more drinking than normal the last month or so. Wine gives the best buzz, of course. Tequila kind of sneaks up on you. Beer and Sake you kind of have to drink a lot of to get a good buzz going.
We had sushi tonight; with sushi comes beer and sake. My birthday is tomorrow, so the sushi chef gave me a bottle of sake to drink for myself. A few years ago, I never would have thought I would have been comfortable drinking a whole bottle of sake by myself. But, it's my birthday and I'm leaving and I was surrounded by family and friends, so I thought "What the heck?"
A little advertisement for the local sushi bar here: Yama Sushi freakin' rocks!!! I always get my special roll, which isn't on the menu. It has spicy tuna inside, with avocado on the outside and eel sauce and hot chili oil drizzled on top. DELICIOUS!!!!!
It was a totally random night; all these people we knew kept showing up and pretty soon we had a rockin' party goin'.
I leave in 9 and 1/2 hours. Hammie is packed to capacity; the rest of my stuff is gonna have to go in my parent's car. Madonna Inn, here we come!!!
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 4 (Wine and Chocolate)
T-minus 2 days.
Trying to spend as much time with my family as possible. Just got back from The Time Traveler's Wife with my mom and sister. We brought a bottle of wine and a box of expensive French chocolates to eat while watching the movie. Movie was OK; I've been watching a lot of movies lately, so it had a lot to live up to. Eric Bana is pretty, but not really the best actor.
Disneyland rocked! I was finally able to pass on my knowledge of the hidden Mickey on Pirate of the Caribbean to someone else, namely my sister and my friend Stacey. I was also able to show the hidden mickey on Indiana Jones to Stacey, but after 3 times on the ride, my sister still couldn't find it. In her defense, it's pretty hard to find. Shout out to the Shuelkes for showing it to me in the first place! XD
It's hard figuring out what to pack and what to leave behind. For some reason, I decided to start collecting shot glasses this year, but I'm only going to bring two of them. Believe it or not, there may actually be opportunity for them; I toured the "Intentional Christian Communal Living House" last year, and their "communal" alcohol was proudly on display for all to see. Not to mention the "Men of the Cloth" calendar in the kitchen. Before any of you freak out, the calendar is very tasteful. The only skin visible is hands and faces, and no one in the pictures is in any kind of compromising situation.
Lunch with my best friend Carly tomorrow, dinner at Yama Sushi for the last time in probably a really long time.
Gonna do the last of the packing tomorrow and load up Hammie as much as possible. Gotta leave at 8:30 if we want to get to the Madonna Inn by lunch.
So, that's it for now. Tomorrow, more fun with AT&T!!!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 3 (Disneyland)
It's 12:43 am, technically Wednesday now. I don't usually go to sleep this early, so I decided to write the third entry for this blog because I'm going to Disneyland today and I might not get a chance otherwise.
It's been quiet in the Chinappines for the past five days, kinda felt like an only child for a while. My sister's been in New York for a friend's wedding, my youngest brother's been too busy to visit, he goes to school in Irvine, and my other brother is vacationing in the Philippines with his family. I get worried when I think about my parents having only my sister around, which will be the case once I'm gone. I think my youngest brother may be coming back soon, but I'm not sure exactly when that is. I'll just have to call a lot and make sure everyone's OK. I'm usually the referee during intense family situations...
So, I promised some Chinapino shenanigans:
There's a classic Mercedes in the backyard that my mother is using for a planter. I kid you not. I'm so used to weird things like this, I didn't even really notice it until one of the guests at my going away party pointed it out to me. There are succulents covering the trunk and bean plants growing up the sides and the hood. Now, I show it to everyone, LOL.
We live on an acre and my dad thinks he's a farmer. If you can name a type of fruit tree, chances are it grows in our backyard. We have apples, oranges, bananas, walnuts, pecans, tangerines, grapefruit, kumquat, plum, peach, nectarine, loquat, jujubee, cherimoya, dragonfruit, mango, papaya, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah... We have nine lemon trees. Most of the fruit just falls to the ground and rots. Four people can only eat so much fruit.
Three chickens escaped from their enclosure today and I had to catch them and put them back.
Enough about the Chinappines...
Still packing. I have collected an un-Godly amount of religion-themed books over the past few years and I've decided to bring them all with me. I've found them quite helpful as references in the past, and as I imagine I'll have a lot of papers to write, they may come in handy. Plus, I had always planned to read them at some point, so the next four years may actually give me the opportunity. I'm also bringing most of my DVDs and more kitchen equipment than the little kitchenette I'm going to be using can probably handle. I have tons of clothes, a red stapler, two shot glasses and three Magic decks...just in case.
I just hope my poor little Prius, his name is Hammie, can carry all of this crap. O_o
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 2 (Problems w/AT&T)
Simple, right?
Wrong.
When we called to do this, they tried to tack on a "service charge," which of course we were not warned about at the store. Had I known about the "service charge" I would have waited until my dad was available, and he could have added the broadband himself. Not to mention the fact that adding an existing line to a plan takes, oh about HALF AN HOUR!!!!!
This is why there should be size limitations on corporations.
Luckily, because of this ordeal, I got to spend some one-on-one time with my dad, which is something we don't get to do...like ever. We got to talk about some things that we've never talked about before, like how his family moved here from the Philippines and why and a little bit about our family's financial situation. Apparently I have a rich great-aunt in the Philippines that raises chickens and cattle. Oh, just so there's no confusion, my dad is Chinese. My mom is Filipino. That means that my siblings and I are "Chinapino."
next up: Stories from the Chinappines!!! <-----insert exciting music here
Monday, August 17, 2009
Gay Guy in Seminary: Day 1 (In the Beginning...)
So, I just watched Julie & Julia a few days ago and shortly afterwards decided that I should start a blog. I'm sure I'm not the only one that had this idea.
I leave for San Fransisco Theological Seminary, or SFTS in 5 days. SFTS is a Presbyterian seminary. I am gay. I am Presbyterian. The Presbyterian Church does not allow gay people to become ordained ministers. I realize this is a problem.
The thing is, SFTS knows I am gay, and I have met several gay students there already. They have an open campus policy and even allow gay couples that are registered domestic partners to live together in the student housing. I haven't figured everything out yet, but it almost seems like the Presbyterian Church has a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy when it comes to ministers, because these people have to end up somewhere after they graduate.
Now, within the Presbyterian Church, there are people on both sides of the "gay issue." But, official church policy as of the eleventh day of August in the year of our Lord two-thousand and nine, is that gay people cannot be ordained within the Presbyterian Church.
Beyond the Presbyterian Church, Christians haven't been very nice to the gays, and the homosexual community, for the most part, has been dismissive of Jesus Freaks. I realize I am far from being the first gay Christian, the Episcopalian Church even has a gay bishop! But, it is still a rare perspective, and for any who are interested, I will be recording my four year seminary experience here. Who knows, it may even continue beyond that.
Good night for now, gentle readers. Stay shiny!