KiSoek

There's a guy in my STAT 501 course named KiSoek.  He's really nice.  He sat next to me in lab one day and we just started talking, I'm not really sure about what, but it was probably something about the course.  We talked to each other every Friday when we'd sit near each other in lab, and then he started to sit in the front row of class (with me) so we'd talk then too.  He's super nice, you have to understand.  He's also very Asian, has a pretty thick accent, and somewhat frequently I have trouble understanding what he's saying.  Today I had trouble when he said "fifth" as in "fifth edition" of a textbook.

One day I asked him how he got to class and he said he'd ride his bike, unless it was too cold, in which case his wife would drive him.  Wife?!  I thought he was like 24 like any other grad student.  He then said he also had kids.  KIDS?!  Gosh, how far along are you man?  Then he laughed and said, "My age is uh, 38!"  I had absolutely no clue.  He definitely doesn't look it.  I dunno if he works out or just eats well but it doesn't show.

Anyway.  His kids are like seven and nine years old.

A day or two ago his backpack got stolen.  He was working in the library and got up for a minute, and when he came back it was gone.  He talked to the library staff, then the police, but they basically said it happens all the time and there's not much they could do.  They found his backpack in the bathroom, emptied out.  They took his stat book, which I've lent to him for the night, and his computer.   We were talking about it for a minute at the HUB today, and I thought it was very sad.  He said he didn't care so much about most things - he could buy a new computer - but he mentioned that he had the "entire history" (in his words) of his kids on there.  From day one up until age nine.  And now it's all gone, and he'll probably never see any of it again.

He didn't get very emotional when he said it, but I could tell he was pretty upset.  He breathed in and looked up and sort of sighed to himself.

Peace out.