stuff GCC loves (09/10)

It's that time of year again...

So, I have compiled a list of things that I believe have been quite present in GCC undergraduate culture during this past academic year. There were many things to choose from, so you are free to dispute any of my choices and suggest more fitting ones if you feel like I selected the "wrong" ones.

I recommend that as you read through this list, you listen to any of the following songs (Everlasting God, Wonder of Your Love, How He Loves, Party in the USA, Hey Soul Sister) to get the soundtrack of this year along with your list of:

STUFF GCC LOVES (09/10 version)

edit: after clarification/protest by several people LOL:

1. The book of Mark

So, okay, I will say that it's common to stick to only one book for Bible study (Genesis was the book of choice for a while), because it's Bible study, not a Bible buffet. But Mark was definitely the head honcho Gospel this year, and basically the default book for almost all our sermons (which was intended by P. Young, as many of y'all pointed out, my B).

oh hai Genesis

2. Boston

GCC LOVES Boston. We love Boston so much that we are planting a church there this summer! And if you didn't know this, you have probably been living underneath a rock all year, falling asleep in service, or not attending service all year. But yup, we love Boston. And you should tell all your Bostonian friends about Symphony Church of Boston so they can meet some of GCC's finest :)

3. The Chinese accent

Thanks to a 2012er named Michael Hsu, you can't walk through the crowd of Friday night or Sunday afternoon fellowship without hearing at least one, "Oh ssanks!" or "That's the good deal" as your meander your way around. Though I would say that the Asian population at our church is pretty evenly divided between Chinese and Korean peoples, the "Chinese accent" has infiltrated the vocabulary of many, many people regardless of their ethnicity. Of course, we don't know for sure if these phrases sound like what a fobby Chinese person would sound like speaking Engrish, but hey, if it makes us smile, then why not?

om nom nom nom nom

(This is the first picture that showed up in Google Images when I typed in "Chinese boy")

4. Class phrases

It seems that the younger generations at GCC have class-specific phrases that have caught on like wildfire. Three that come to mind are: 1) "gewgoe" (2011), more popular last summer/early fall, 2) "purple" (2012), and 3) "g-word" (2013). And it seems that the youngest are the sneakiest, because gewgoe and purple are relatively straightforward (in fact, "gewgoe" has its own urbandictionary.com entry), but no one outside of the class of 2013 knows what the "g-word" actually is, since the penalty of its leakage is excommunication.

Purple: Red (girls) + Blue (boys)...speaking of which....

5. The dating boom

If you divided the number of new couples by the number of weeks last semester, you probably had one new couple arise every other week. Okay, perhaps that is an exaggeration, but GCC has probably never seen this much purple all at once in years. Or ever. This dating boom, kind of like the baby boom sans babies, was quite a hot topic, particularly in the months of March&April...just in time for Spring Fever.

6. Causing chaos on the Internet

They say keep your friends close, but your enemies closer. But you're going to have to reassess who's a friend and who's an enemy, because if you leave your computer open with Gchat/Facebook/etc. while you take a bathroom break or you visit a friend in a different room in Meyerson, there will be chaos. From absurd status changes to even a Wikipedia page created in honor of your bffl (shown below), GCCers have had quite a lot of fun messing with each other. Let's just keep it PG, k?

Did you know that J.Paik is a famous singer?

7. Fad websites

It all started with OMGPOP last spring (which regrettably did not make it onto the list last year, so we are redeeming it this year). That evolved into MyBrute.com to Facebook Mafia Wars to most recently, formspring.me. These websites become super popular for a brief period of time - formspring.me lasted about 2 weeks - and by the time everybody else catches on, the early adopters have already left, making these websites just a little less fun.

8. Settlers of Catan

"I'll trade you one wood for two sheep." "No man, forget that. I need my wood." One boardgame has never been so beloved in our community until Settlers exploded onto the GCC scene during second semester. Of course, the game has been around for years, but somehow, this little red box has suddenly come to represent all the important things in life: territory, alliances, length.

9. Titanic

The hit movie (particularly its ending scene) made a comeback at both Praise Night and Grad Night 2010. With some good voice-acting ("J-j-j-j-ack...I'm so c-c-c-c-cold") and funky suspenders, the reenactments gave us good (albeit awkward) laughs as we celebrated both Jesus and our grads.

And finally...

There were 3 finalists when it came to the non-thing person that will annually sit at #10 on this list (edit: although last year, IYP was at #9, whoops). Unfortunately, only one could make it as #10.

Runner-Up #1: Greg Fu

This guy has influenced the way we speak and what we find funny. A beloved family group leader and classmate, he definitely was at the center of GCC attentions this year.

Runner-Up #2: Pastor Andy

One of the many pastors that will be leaving us this year, Pastor Andy is probably singlehandedly responsible for triggering the Dating Boom (see #5) that came about this semester. (JK) But in all seriousness, he has been a wonderful pastor, mentor, friend, sports-watching buddy, and sometimes even a chauffeur to many.

G. Fu (2nd from left) and Pastor A. Park (3rd from left)

But despite these very good reasons to select them as this year's #10, these two actually don't like having a lot of attention directed towards them, so I present to you our favorite GCCelebrity:

10. Jason Y. Lee

I think I recognized that Jason was still making a huge impact on GCCers worldwide when I heard a friend squeal one day at Overflow rehearsal, "I MET JASON LEE!" with the same amount of passion that she would had she met, say, Brad Pitt (or insert famous young male actor here). With his new initiative, The Jubilee Project, he is not only reaching out to help "GREAT" causes, but also to those who know and love him already, AND generations that will have never met him (read: 2013). Now, that's the mark of a true celebrity.

But didn't this guy graduate last year? O.o

So, to help out our #10, you have 4 more days left to help him out at the Pepsi Refresh Project, where he is in the running to receive $5k towards boosting his project. Don't let the current rank fool you, every vote can make a difference! And even after May 31st, stay updated at www.jubileeproject.org to see what Mr. GCCelebrity and his gang are up to!

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So, that's all for now, folks.

Hope those of you on summer vacation are enjoying your time off! For those of you still in school, you can do it! :)

This was Sarah Ryu, reporting live from Washington D.C. (LOL jk)