One Year Ago

One year ago I left on a plane to come to Korea. I'd always had a dream to live in a different country, yet I thought it was just that, a dream. I actually don't even remember applying to this job in Korea, so I was surprised when the recruiter asked for an interview. It was scary when it came time to sign the contract. Even though I was pretty unsure about the whole thing, I knew it was what God was prompting me to do. Though it had been my dream, the reality of the whole thing (a whole year, a different country, a different language...) was a little to real. God kept nudging me to do it though, and eventually I decided to go.

That day a year ago on the plane was hard. I remember sitting on the plane, teary, thinking, "God why are you asking me to do this!? Can't you see this is hard for me!?"

Tonight I sat by the river. My favorite place in Korea is sitting by the river, dangling my feet over the edge, looking at all the city lights and watching the subway trains go back and forth across the bridge. As I sat there tonight, I realized how content I am.

I have absolutely loved my time here in Korea. Almost everyday I walk out of my apartment and think, "I am so happy to be here!" I have a good job, a wonderful group of friends, a great church and I am just so fulfilled. Why is it that I am SO happy here? Is it Korea? Is it just this time in my life? I think the reason is simply that this is the first time I've been in the center of God's will. All my life so far I'd made decisions on my own. I decided to go to Spring Arbor University. I decided what I would study. This is the first time in my life that I think I truly surrendered to His will. I think that's why my heart is so full here.

God didn't put me here to watch me suffer. He placed me here, for this year (and a few extra months) to show me His faithfulness and to prove to me that He truly want me to be so fulfilled and joyful. I can honestly say that the blessings are just running over right now! My time is getting close to an end and I want to make the most of all of it!

Saturday Afternoon Painting

On the street this afternoon..

I guess I should've gotten a folding bike like this to take into my apartment at night so both wouldn't have gotten stolen...

Street food is everywhere. For some reason all the brooms only have about a foot long handle.

My Korean class is down to two students now, which is actually kind of fun. Our teacher invited us to go out for coffee after class today. It was fun because it was just the three of us speaking half English and half Korean! So fun!

Last week my I was trying to teach my 6 year olds how to use past tense. They just weren't getting it, so I used Korean to teach them English. Fortunately I am just learning that in Korean! "Teacher speaking Koreeeeaaan!!!" I only said a little bit but I think I'll just let them think I know more than I really do ;)

Then I went to Insadong to do some Christmas shopping. I bought a little painting with 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 on it for someone else, but I'd been wanting to have the street painter paint something in front of me. I took the bought painting and asked him if he'd copy it with the verse. He said yes!

This is when he first started....

Then I didn't realize he needed to take it over to the next guy, to do the calligraphy. The calligrapher seemed to be busy though, so he wasn't too inclined to do this guy a favor. They started arguing (or maybe that's just the way Korean men sound) :) He agreed to do it.
Finishing touches...

All the Koreans were amazed by this "big" dog. All the city dogs are tiny lap dogs.

Reminders

Example of short skirt, white legs, and heels. I would call this the typical Korean young woman.

This isn't my picture, because I wouldn't be able to find grass like this here, but this is the way all the middle/high school boys ride their bikes. I'm pretty sure I'd just tip over!

In every public bathroom, instead of soap dispensers, there is a bar of soap on a stick. Most of the time you have to get the toilet paper before you go into the stall. I've learned to carry a big thing of Kleenex in my purse, just in case I forget!

I recently got a newsletter from Mallary and her husband, who are teaching English in China. When I was an RA in college, she was my RD. She was and still is a mentor to me. I was reading through her letter and she was comparing one part of China to another. Her comments about China reminded me of my time there. I'd forgotten some of the things. I'd forgotten the toddlers wear split pants, so that they can go to the bathroom in public whenever needed. I'd forgotten that in the summer the men lift up their shirts for ventilation. I'd forgotten than couples wear "couples" matching t-shirts. Many things are the same in Korea, such as the loud spitting on the sidewalks, the smells, the traffic, the crowds....

I have gotten to used so seeing things here, that I forget they're picture worthy. There's a new teacher at our school this week, and in talking with her, I was reminded of all of the things she's seeing for the first time, that I used to think were strange. At lunch I went to the grocery store and was reminded how odd it is that the salespeople stand outside the store with a microphone telling the prices of the latest fruits and other random foods like an auctioneer. I'm not really sure why that's necessary, haha. When I was walking out of the grocery store, I spotted a really old woman carrying a huge bag of rice on her head! The cashier tried to convice her to put it in a bag, but she insisted on carrying on her head.

You'd think after being here for so long I would get over the short skirt factor, but for some reason I'm shocked every time! They are so short that the women carry their purse behind them when going up stairs, so you can see their underwear! Even working women where extremely mini skirts to work. What's funny is that this is acceptable, yet sleeveless shirts that show shoulder are seen as "sexy."

Even now that it's colder, the women still carry something to keep their skin from being exposed to the sun. Most of the parisols have now been replaced now with just a newspaper or purse. Whatever is in their hand, they use to shield their face from the sun.

All of these things have just become a common occurance on my walk to school each day. I need to take more pictures of the cultural differences before my time comes to and end!

Two Tickets

I was reminded today that it is only 67 days until I go home for Christmas!! I had a dream last night that I drove for the first time again.... It's been almost a year since I've driven...watch out!

Before I go home in February, I wanted to plan a week-long mission trip in Asia. I'd looked into a few things, but I didn't know how to go about it since I'll just be by myself. I didn't have any connections.......until two Sundays ago. I met a friend's old pastor, who is now a missionary in Thailand with his family. After some small talk, I found out that he owns an orphange in Thailand. It's the same orphanage that many of my friends at my church have been to, multiple times! I'd always wanted to go there! As I talked to him more about it, I asked if he would take a visitor for a week. After talking with him for 30 or 45 minutes, I decided this was the place. He told me he could pick me up at the airport, he'd let me stay with his family, he'd show me many of the different ministries in the area and he'd have me visit the orphanage for a few days! Wow, perfect! It just fell in my lap. Before coming to Korea, I had no idea where Thailand was.

So first on the radar is home for Christmas, then Thailand the first week of March, and then HOME :)

Next week is my one year mark. I cannot believe it's already been a year since I came to Korea! I really think it's going to be mixed feelings when I leave. I think I will miss Korea a lot. After all, it was my first job and first apartment. Strangely enough, this is where I made my first home. Yet, as it gets closer and closer I'm so excited to go home.

Today we started preparing a presentation for my 2nd grade class. The topic was, "My Hero." Most of the students chose superman, mom, dad, the president...but then one chose Jesus. He was pretty stumped though when he got to the question, "What is your hero's job?" Hmmmm, good question. :)

Loud and Proud

This week I went to a two night conference at our church to hear Francis Chan. He is a pastor from California and has written serval books. I would say he has been one of the most influencial people in my Christian life. I was so excited that he came to Korea, to my church! It was at the main Korean campus, so it was a Korean service, and Francis was translated. This was really my first experience in a Korean service. So interesting. I was kind of surprised at how modern the building was and how "flashy" the atmosphere was, with colored lights, fancy sound systems and the best video equipment. I thought it was so cool when we started to sing. The words were both in English and Korean on the screen. We sang songs I knew! I was so cool that they sing the same songs we do, just in Korean... They had some of their own songs too, of course. I must say, they sing LOUD.

They also pray LOUD. I don't think I've ever heard prayers that loud before! Oh man, if I didn't know what was going on, I think I might have been scared. There was also something cool about it though, cause they were obviously passionately praying. All I grew up seeing were polite, quiet prayers, but I think it's ok to be loud too.

It was awesome to see about 2,000 people gathered on a weeknight all worshiping God. There's something that gets me everytime I worship in a different culture. I remember saying the same thing about China. There is something so special about being surrounded by Koreans, singing the same song, to the same God, halfway around the world. I was trying to follow along in Korean...except I only could on the slow songs cause I can't read Korean very fast :)

I think subconsiously I have this mindset that Christianity is an "American" thing. I didn't realize I thought this until that first night at the conference. When actually, most of the Christians are not in America! I had heard a couple things about the Korean church that caused me to go in with an idea that there was something wrong with it. I was proved wrong though. I think there are some things we could even learn from the Korean church.

Before the message, they all sang this song, which they must sing every time they gather. I know have any idea what it said, but they were all rocking left to right, lifting their hands to welcome one another. A couple Korean old ladies did this to me, which I assume they were just blessing me. Yes it was kind of corny, but also kind of cool. Then they stretched their hands out to Francis Chan and sang another song, which I imagine was praying for him to deliver the Holy Spirit's message.

Francis Chan's talks were pretty convicting and great, just as I assumed they would be. It was so good to hear him in person!

Open Class

Last week, I had to do my first open class. This is when all of the kindergarten students' parents come and watch me teach their kids a lesson. Take about nerve wracking! I'm on video all day long anyway, but it's different when the parents are in the classroom! It was supposed to be a "typical" class, but we had to practice multiple times the weeks before, to make this class perfect. We even had to sing and dance! Oh boy, the things that are done at a private school to get the parents approval... So interesting. I tried to not get frustrated with the whole situation. This past weekend I was so tired and just felt so mentally and physically exhausted. I had been getting plenty of sleep, but I was still just exhausted. I think it was my bad attitude about the open class last week, that was affecting my body. Anyway, the open class went well and the parents were happy, which means my supervisors were happy :) I'm just glad it's over!

I have a new kindergartener as of today. He was so cute and nervous today! He seemed to think the day was pretty long, because he kept saying, "Teacher, math, science, show and tell and then home time?" He has no English name, so I'm stuggling to pronouce his Korean name, Haesol. It kind of comes out like Hazel, like the nut...I'll keep trying.

When the President Doesn't Come Through

Some eggplants hanging out to dry in front of this restaurant.

A few of the hundreds of policemen surrounding the protest.

On Thursday night, I was walking around the busiest part of Seoul with a couple of my small group friends. We walked up to an intersection (the Korean version of Wall Street) beside the subway. Just before we reached the subway, we heard lots of shouting on loud speakers and saw a big crowd. We crossed the street to see what what going on. It turns out a few hundred university students were protesting. The president had promised to lower tuition rates, but suprise, surprise, had not. The students gathered in the busiest intersection in Seoul and sat. Of course this made already crazy traffic, even crazier. It wasn't the students that made up most of the crowd though! It was policemen! There were hundreds of policemen in their flourecent green vests surrounding the students. It was a very strange and a little scary sight to see hundreds of policemen all in one place! They looked a little frantic. As we stood there and watched for about 15 minutes, the police threatened that they would arrest those who didn't move from the intersection. As we stood, many students busted out of the crowd, surrendering their agenda to the police's will. Each student in the protest was wearing a mask (which my dad said was to conceal their identity). Others stayed and were sprayed by fire engine hoses in order to be made to move. When they did not, they were arrested. Very odd, and a little exciting to see!