I'm Twenty-Sieben!

Deborah Kwak
Feb 13, 2019
4 min read

Updated: Mar 17, 2021

It's been 1.5...no wait, 2.5 years since I've blogged, actually, since my very first post on this blog~ I created this blog hoping to share more about my travel diaries, then soon after, lost pretty much all my Europe photos (thinking they were saved in iCloud). Smh. Then, my hiatus from Princeton Theological Seminary ended soon after, much to my surprise, and I've been writing so much for school that I really couldn't find the time to keep up with a blog.

As I look back on these last two years, much has changed. Scrolling through this blog proves to me that I've changed - my outlook on life, faith, relationships, my taste in music, podcast selection, sartorial leanings, but so have my interests, pursuits, values, and the things that keep me up at night or actually the things that consume my time and thoughts because who am I kidding? I can fall asleep on command. I always fall asleep in the car instantaneously (motion narcolepsy is a thing guys). Anyway, I digress. Undeniably, living on my own on the East Coast for the past 3 years has been the most formative.

It's not the case for everyone, but for me to really truly appreciate home, I had to leave. I had to physically uproot myself from my home, my place of comfort, and familiarity. I took so much for granted - like living close to such a big, wonderful, crazy family, a safe church community, amazing friends, and a private college education. By being away from Orange County, I've had the precious time and space to hold on to what I love about home and what I can let go of. I will write more about how this was, in a sense, a search for home at a later time, but for now, here are a few things I've learned along the way.

What I've discovered:

-East Coasters don't use the article "the" before they say highways, for ex: Californians say "take the 5," but East Coasters will laugh! They just say take route 1 or "take 295"

-The cold does weird things to your body: random aches, head splitting headaches, and water dripping from my nose and eyes beyond my control. My sissy and aunt say I need to stop dressing like a Californian haha sometimes I still forget to check my weather app

-NJ, NY, & Philly are refreshingly diverse culturally & socially

-The East Coast is not just geographically, but also culturally closer to Europe

-New Yorkers are tough, they'll push and shove if you stand in the middle of the subway station trying to figure out which exit to take (hehe don't ever do this), but then they'll surprise you and help you with directions when you least expect it

Personal joys:

-A newfound love for cooking & an appreciation for good food (especially Korean) it's funny & weird how the older I get, the more I just want Korean food! I love me a good food blog, cookbook, cooking IG, Chef's Table (the cinematography and story-telling are exquisite)

-Newly interested in history (which I was never good at, but attribute some of this to my bf who is a walking history book and tells history as a beautiful narrative)

-Enjoy reading historical fiction (too much academic reading dulls the mind)

-Nothing like a good cup of joe on a cold, winter, snow-falling day (never drank coffee this much, I blame grad school)

-Eclectic is my word

The first of many things:

-The salt on the ground after a snow day looks like snow (thankful for how quickly they clear the roads in Princeton)

-Beware: Deer everywhere (drive slowly near forests and woods). Both majestic and dangerous creatures. Careful for deer tick

-Missed my train stop from NYC after falling asleep and ended up in Trenton (had to pay for a ticket back but discovered later that you don't need to do that, you can just let the guy know)

What I want to do before I leave:

-Discover more of Philly (it's simultaneously historic and artistic)

-Go to more museums in NYC

-Drive to upstate NY & soak up all the nature

Things I have to tell myself on the daily:

-Celebrate the little things and savor the moments

-Walk slower

-It's okay that you can't finish all 300 pages of reading every week, ooosahhh (inhale, exhale), you're not an imposter

-It takes courage to stand up for what you believe is right

-Bad theology has ramifications and consequences

-There's a time to be silent and a time to speak up

I'll write more on what PTS has been like once I graduate, but specifically, this past year I've been so grateful for the friends, family, professors, pastors, co-workers in my life and the work I've had here. I feel blessed to have worked for/with some of the most amazing people who have invested in me. As much as I love Princeton, I can't wait for graduation in May. I don't know where I'll be post-graduation and as much as I would love to go back to SoCal, I don't think that's where I'll end up. Whenever I go to SoCal, it feels like vacation - the beach is driving distance and you have access to anything within 30 minutes of you, but it doesn't have the beautiful greenery that I love about the East Coast. Currently, I'm wrestling with preference vs calling (also more on this later). Thanks for reading this uber long post which I've uber delayed!

Snippets of these past two years:

PRINCETON/NYC