WanSeok / The Flu

Last night, WanSeok and I got together!! I'm so happy to be friends with such a great guy!! We met at the subway right before a huge downpour. On our walk to the restaurant, it started raining so much that we had to duck into a store. That store happened to be a place where you can get pictures taken. It was fun to do that and have pictures to remember our time together. We ended up getting umbrellas to finish the walk, and he surprised me by taking me to a really neat Iranian curry restaurant in a little, tiny alley. The alley opened up and the inside of the place had an amazing atmosphere. The curry was super hot, but we still enjoyed our time talking and catching up.

After dinner we walked around a nearby park where we heard some live performers. We decided to check it out, and as we got closer, I recognized the singing. It was a Christian song! He recognized it too, and wanted to sit down to listen to the music. I was so happy that we could do that together! He's not a Christian, but he knew the words to some of the songs, so was able to translate some of the Korean songs I didn't know. It was a great end to the night!!

At KBU, there are 3-4 students who have the swine flu. Everyone is intensely afraid of getting the flu, so everywhere I turn people are sanitizing things and using hand cleaner. I guess that's probably a good thing. They shut the school down for 2 hours this afternoon to sanitize with a fogger. It looked and smelled just like the stuff for fogging a field to get rid of mosquitos. We had to teach right after that, and it was like talking/teaching in a cloud. I can't imagine that that is super healthy either...Hmm...

On the way home, I was thinking (usually not a super great thing to do when alone) about Korea. My emotions are usually pretty stable. Not too much of a swing up and down, but since I've gotten here, I can't seem to control it. I have super great days and then not so great days, up and down, back and forth. I hope things stabilize soon. Then I got run over by a bicycler...I'd better pay more attention to where I'm walking than think about things while walking :)

Pictures

WanSeok and I out on the town last night!!
Hiking with Daniel and Jinsu last weekend
Happy 21st Birthday, Bible!!
Beautiful Bongsunghwa
1st room service ever ordered in my life (on my own)!! Kimchi soup and veggie side dishes. Yum...

Week/end

Almost every day I stayed until 8/9pm talking with students, eating dinner, talking with other teachers, correcting papers, coming up with school plans, etc. All things I really love doing, but I think I need to slow things down a bit this next week.

Korea has a national holiday, Chuseok, coming up this next weekend, and it's a big family. So we get Friday off!! I don't know what I'll do for 3 days, but maybe I'll start writing the midterm exam and try to get into Seoul.

Even though the week was long, it was filled with pretty exciting things. I went out with Jamie and Bible to Mr. Doughnut, a doughnut chain here, and it was fun to be together just hanging out. Then it was Bible's birthday on Thursday, so Jamie brought in a cheesecake, and we sang her a song and drew a cartoon person and flowers on the board. They both sang in chapel this week, so I was really excited to be able to listen to them and see a few other students perform as well.

This weekend I wanted to go hiking, so Daniel (a student of mine) and one of his friends joined me for a climb up Suraksan. We ended up taking a new trail up to the top and it was super easy!! Either I've become a really good climber in the last week (which probably isn't the case) or this will be a great trail to remember for future trips up. At the top we stood up on the highest rock and sat for about an hour just enjoying the view and talking. The way down on the other hand was another story. We took a "wild" trail, which was basically carved by rain water that had run down over the years. Parts of it were almost straight down and we had to slide down on left-over ropes from previous climbers. A little scary, but mostly fun and exciting. It was our adventure that I couldn't duplicate again if I tried...We even saw a squirrel which was pretty cool. Not a ton of wildlife that you see every day.

We topped the night off with some pizza and promises to go hiking again together soon! Pics soon to come (hopefully after getting a stronger internet connection early this week...)!

Namsan Tower

I mentioned a while back that our program directors took us out for dinner in Seoul and to Namsan Tower (the highest point in Seoul) for an evening together. It was very beautiful, and we had a really fun time talking and getting to know each other better. Well, today I was so happy to see the pictures for the first time, and I'd like to share some of them with you!!

Better

Thanks everyone for your kind words and thoughts. I'm feeling much better now after a weekend of much needed rest. I think that sometimes too much stress can be not good for our bodies...If you think of it, please pray for my students. Many of them are having difficult life circumstances that need a lot of prayer.

I can't believe that I've been in Korea for over a month already. It feels like it's only been a few weeks!! I'm surprised that there haven't been too many instances of "culture shock", but I'm happy for the peace and enjoyment God has given me so far. I have joy knowing that this is where God wants me to be.

I look out my window today and see the sun shining through the bright green tree leaves. The air is cool but refreshing. I love being able to wear a sweater and be comfortable while enjoying the weather. This morning, I was able to watch a soccer game outside the window and smile at the laughs of the children walking by. There must be a special activity going on today, because all of the children are wearing traditional Korean outfits (brightly colored flowing dresses with big bows down the front and headbands of red and blue).

I haven't been able to take pictures lately, but hopefully I'll get that going again soon and post a few pics of campus and other things around the area. Ah, something interesting happening in Korea now is "yellow dust". It's basically sand from China blowing over and hovering in the air around Seoul. My location doesn't have much at all, but lots of people have started wearing masks. What I found really interesting is that Australia is having a "red dust" storm right now!! It's the first in their history, but it's making everything in the air look red. Very interesting. Yellow dust is nothing in comparison with this...Check it out!!

Sick

I was looking forward to hiking today all week long...and when I woke up I was really sick T_T (Korean crying face). I always hate letting other people down, but I couldn't go hiking even if I wanted to. I'm so, so thankful to have had a cell phone so I could call though!! Right in time...

Later this afternoon I felt a little better, so I went to return a few movies I'd rented last night from the movie store. It was really great to go there yesterday. The guy speaks really great English, and they have quite a few English movies. Maybe not a ton, but probably 20 newer movies maybe 3 or 4 months old.

I pretty much laid around the apartment all day, but that was probably a good thing considering I wasn't feeling good. I did get a little cleaning and lesson preparation done though. I think that'll be a huge help for starting the new week Monday. I'm hoping to start and maybe finish my Linguistics reading for Hamline tonight too...Lots of plans, but maybe I'll just head to bed early. Who knows...

Long Week

This week we got our Registration Cards, so we're legal now. That, and Jamie took me to get a cell phone! Yay! Thank you, thank you, Jamie! I'm happy to be able to feel a little safer and comfortable now. I was a little nervous before about being alone and having no way of contacting people/school if something happened or I was sick for work or something. Plus, now I can talk/text with people...

I started the Online Master's class last week, and it's going to be a tough one-Linguistics. I'm enjoying the class, but it seems like there's just not enough time in the day to do everything. My students have been staying after class to talk, and I can't say no. I love spending time with them and talking. They are my joy! I've been blessed to get to know some of them better and allow them to share some of their joys and struggles. I told one of the students today that I thought of her as my friend. We're the same age, have similar hobbies, and enjoy talking together. She was so happy that I said that and said I was her first foreign friend.

One student, Jamie, and I played ping-pong after work yesterday. And today, Jamie and I played soccer and football with a few children in the soccer yard at school! I'm so happy to have opportunities to do these fun things. Also, I found a piano room, so I've been really encouraged by being able to use that!!

My students and I have been talking a lot about the differences between Korean and American friendship barriers. Their essay for this week is to choose anyone in the world to be their friend and explain. I immediately think of singers, actors, and other famous people. But many of them have been having a hard time choosing someone because they don't want to be rude to that person, making them hang out together...Wow, I never thought about that...Anyways, it's been fun learning more about their thoughts and after teaching about superstitions this week, I was really happy to hear some more about their superstitions and traditions. But I'll save that for another post.

I'm going hiking with a few students tomorrow. Should be fun!!

Preparing the Bong Sung Hwa

We had to make do with the salt containers for smashing the leaves :)

봉 선 화

Right after school Friday night, Jamie, Bible, and I headed out to grab dinner and go to my apartment to do our nails together. Jamie suggested I take them to the kimbap restaurant where my "euni" works. I was so pleased for them to meet her and to be able to translate a little too!! Her son was there and it was great to be able to "meet" him. He was working, but she introduced us briefly. We each had a different kind of fried rice and shared a little bit. I LOVE the kimchi rice there!!! Of all the food and places I've had/visited in Korea over the last year and 1 month, this is by far one of my favorite places to go. Besides galbi (grilled meat)...nothing can top that ^^

Ok, so after dinner they came up to my room, and while I was getting things together I saw them praying. They said that it's Korean tradition to pray over the person's house when you visit for the first time. I was so honored that they would do that for me.

So now for the surprise that I've been keeping from many of you...bong seung hwa! It's a tradition that many women and children do during this time of year (early, early fall). First you find a special flower ( ) and crush the flower and leafs together. Then add something like salt (you get it at the drugstore to keep the snakes away) which helps the color soak into your skin. Wrap your fingers up in plastic and wait until morning. Then wash off the mixture and you have beautiful nails! The first week or so your fingers are also dyed, but that wears off.

Intro: Jamie and Bible

God has been so good in giving me 2 great friends at KBU! Both Jamie and Bible study Theology and have been getting together with me for the last week or so just to talk and hang out. They've also really blessed me with their friendship and Korean lessons ^^

Sunday/Monday

God is good!!! I need to make sure to remember these happy times when the hard times come. Let me start from the beginning.

The 3 of us teachers taught Sunday School to kids at KBU. It was a little fun, a little not. But no matter what, kids are cute!! I really enjoyed having a few of them rest on my arm and give me big smiles. It's an encouragement to see joyful kids! Then we headed to Jubilee Church (where I went last week) where they had a sermon on the Passover as well as communion. It was a different communion than I'd ever had before. Everyone was dismissed by rows to go to the front and grab a piece of bread and dip it in the cup while the servers spoke reminding us why we were there. It was a good reminder of how God loved us so much that He sent His son. Some might wonder why a Father would let His son die. Wouldn't a Father try to take the place of His son?? But that's how much God loved us. He loved us more than His own son's life, and calls us to share in His blessings. And so often we, myself included, sin time and again without remorse. Yet He still loves us. And I should show my love in return.

After church, I went to meet my old friend Wanseok!! I was a little nervous that I'd get lost with directions that said to get off the subway, go right, go straight for 7 minutes, and then stop at the intersection...But I got there! Thankfully Wanseok was standing by the window so I noticed him before noticing the store! We went for dinner together and I was so " " by our getting together. I say " " because I can't describe how I feel. I am so thankful for a friend like him. It was cute, he called his mom and had me on video phone so she could see! He said they'd like to have me over again for dinner sometime. I suggested hiking together since we all enjoy that :) We'll see...I think we're getting together next week for dinner again, so I'm really looking forward to that!!

Today (Monday) we took almost 5 hours off work to go to Immigration to get a registration card in order to live here...Ahh!! What a hastle. 10 more days and we'll be able to get a bank account, internet, and a phone though...10 more days...

Bukhansan Hiking (last weekend)

Funny Story, Dolls, Matchmaker

So much happens the first few weeks in a new place that I feel overwhelmed in trying to remember/write it down. It's stuff I want to remember though.

Today I went to school to help set up for Sunday School and found out that no one was there...so I just walked back home. On my way back, I saw one of the funniest things I've seen in a really long time. You must understand that cars here are absolutely insane. If you don't watch where you're going it's really, really easy to get hit. Well, it was early in the morning and there was a lot of traffic. I was on the sidewalk, but coming towards me on the main road taking up one lane of traffic was an elderly man in an electric wheelchair. Imagine cars swarming around him with one of his hands on the controller and smoking a long cigarette in the other--obviously not happy with the cars around him. I wish I could have taken a picture. It looked so funny.

At home I dropped off my groceries (I finally found a good grocery store!!) and headed downstairs to figure out my address. The buildings here have no numbers, and there are no street signs, so it's not easy. I tried talking to the apartment manager, but he couldn't help me. On my way downstairs to talk to the security man, I stopped on the 2nd floor to drop off some dry-cleaning. On walking into the store, I told the woman to please clean my clothes (in Korean), and she scowled at me and said "Ani!! (no)" and shooed me out the door. Oops...I thought it was a dry-cleaner, but I think it's just a tailoring place :)

After filling out paperwork (I have no idea what for), the security man finally gave me the apartment's address. I'm not sure if it's really what I was asking for, but he seemed to know what I was talking about. Hmm...

Hungry for lunch, I headed to the kimbap restaurant, and was pleased to see my friend/older sister. She was happy to see me too, and she quickly brought me 2 little clay dolls that she had made and painted herself. They're really fragile and bend easily, so I'm not sure what to do with them without breaking them. Any ideas?? They're in the refrigerator now because it's so hot here that they were melting.

We ended up talking for about an hour and a half with the help of my phrasebook. I found out that she has two children, and one of them is my age! I also found out that she's Catholic and likes hiking. Ah!! The language barrier is so hard!! I hope that someday we can go hiking together. When I was about to leave, the apartment security man came in and is apparently friends with the kimbap ladies. He told me that I should date the woman's son who's my age. He said I could call him Uncle Mr. Kim, and that I had found a special friend in this woman. It was cute. He put us together, and said, "Mama...baby". It was sweet--even though no one can replace my own mom :) He took me into his office after eating together, and said that I need to find a Korean boyfriend. He said he will make sure it's taken care of. It seems like I have a few matchmakers here in Korea...

At home I cleaned my apartment, which was no little task...then popped in a few movies I got from Kwang (a friend from the U who works in the office with Ian). Last night I watched Freedom Writers. Even though I've already seen it, it is such a good movie!! It was a challenge to my own life. How do I encourage my students to be better not only in English but in life? Great movie if you've never seen it...

God is so good

Today I've sung the song "God is so good" I don't know how many times. Literally!! Down the street, in my apartment, at school...And He is. Today has been such a blessing.

I've had the opportunity to spend quality time with many students today as well as meeting other people. Most of the student stuff is in the blog post below, but after work (after I blogged) I met another group of students where Za'chary and I were for dinner. Then I met one student walking with his YWAM team (I didn't realize that there was a YWAM in Korea...). And another in the subway on the way home!!

After work, I went scouting for trash bags. We really needed some of those, but no one knew where to get them. In the elevator on my way down, I met a guy from Canada who was really nice--short conversation, but it was so good to meet someone who's in my building. In the bottom of the apartment building, there is a little corner store. I didn't find bags there, but walking out, I was chased down by an American girl (Kristin, from Florida) who was really having trouble. I didn't know how to help her, but I tried as best I could. We hung out for a while and talked about where we were from and what we were doing here. Yet another English person in our building that I know of now. She was really thankful I tried to help her, and in return showed me where to find trash bags!!

Overwhelmed by the goodness of the day, I headed back up the elevator to go back to my room and met another English speaking lady. She was from the Philippines and wanted to practice her English. She married a Korean guy, and is living here with him now. Singing "God is so good" in the apartment hallway, I was trying to think of how I could be an encouragement to others tonight yet. So I picked up a small box of chocolate I'd bought just for this next occasion, and went to visit my kimbap restaurant friend. I walked in, and no one was there except for her, so I was really happy. I held out the box of chocolates for her, and smiled saying "Nu-na" which is "older sister"...I thought... :) She said no, no and started laughing. I thought she was saying "no" about the chocolate, so I pushed it more to her. She smiled and said, "Uh-ni" -- "sister". I figured I'd made a mistake and laughed saying "Thank you, sister" correctly this time. Wondering what I'd said wrong, I headed upstairs smiling to myself. Once I got into my room I cracked open the phrasebook and realized that at least it wasn't as bad as it could have been...I'd called her "sister" correctly, but there are 2 words for sister. One is when a man is speaking, and another is when a woman is addressing the other woman. I had portrayed myself as a man!

Heesung

I had a GREAT night last night (even though it was a late one) because I was able to see a familiar face in Korea--Heesung!! We met halfway, which meant an 1.5 hours for each of us, but it was such an encouragement to be able to talk with him and share our joys and struggles. He's doing really well, and it was nice to be able to catch up with him and find out how he was doing. What a wonderful act of God for us to have met in Korea, become better friends in the US, and then be able to meet once again back here!

Little Blessings

I've finished one full week of school and am almost done with the 2nd! I've been blessed beyond explanation by my students. They tell me that they pray for me, and I truly believe them. I really want to know how to better pray for them, so I came up with an idea of a "Prayer Box". It's basically the box that my iron came in that is turned inside out with a red ribbon tied around it. There is a slit in the top for them to drop their prayers into and I will pray for them. It's been very good so far, and lots of students have started using it.

Last Friday a few students came in and brought me a makeshift lunch--"fire eggs", milk, and a sandwich! It was really thoughtful.

*Fire eggs are hard-boiled eggs that have been slowly roasted over a fire. So the inside and outside are a golden brown color with a smokey flavor...really good...

Today I had a lot of one-on-one time with random students! I really love to be able to interact with them more personally like that. One student came in early to ask if she could practice her conversation skills with me during lunch sometime. Between classes, a student in an Old Testament overview class (who I didn't know the student/professor) came in and asked for my help. I thought that was really sweet. She probably didn't need my help though ^^ Just wanted to talk. After one of the classes finished, another student (who really struggles with English) stayed after to figure out what I was trying to say. So that was really, really good! He didn't necessarily want to stay at first, but I'm so thankful that he did! It was fun trying to talk about church and school and the class schedule through gestures and my little Korean phrasebook ^^ He has so much to say, but just can't make the words. I'm sure that's frustrating for him--I kow it's hard for me as a teacher!! The last incident today was when I was walking, and a student caught me and said hello. Usually they come up, say hello, and stand there waiting for me to say something, so it's a challenge for me to come up with new conversation each time. Usually I just ask about classes and such. But today we got talking more and talked for probably a good half hour in the stairwell!

Even though I love praying for them, it's hard knowing what they struggle with. I don't want any of them to be burdened with things. But I know that as a human, we each carry different things. Most of their struggles are with being able to finance school or family health issues. Even though I know it's important for me to continue going to school (I was accepted into Hamline's Master's program!), it was really hard for me to pay the tuition online today knowing that that same money could help many of these students tremendously. Something to pray for I guess.

I can't get over what a love for these students God has given me.