Homesick

We have a week "off" teaching, so I've been working like mad on finishing up the final test for my master's level linguistic class. I'm happy to have done the work, but don't think I'll take another class like that online... :)

Today I got to go to lunch with Juny (one of my student-friends who went hiking with me once), and we had Chinese! Yum...there's a really good Chinese restaurant right across from school that a lot of students hit up at lunch time. We each had a Korean-Chinese noodle dish and shared tangsuyuk (kind of like sweet-and-sour pork). My favorite part though was having popsicles on the walk back to school. I can't believe it's the middle of December and it's still warm enough to wear light jackets and have popsicles!! Some days are cold, but most are pretty nice so far.

On my way home, I was thinking a lot about being here alone for the holidays and talking to Juny about home made me miss it a lot. This last week has been rough, and it all kind of cumulated today. I felt really stupid crying on the bus, and even more walking home, but once I got close to the apartment I remembered that I'm not here alone. Someone does care about me. A lot! My Korean family...

So I walked into the restaurant probably looking a mess, and sat down quietly. My Korean mom came over and started talking together, and it felt really good to have her calm me down. I'm so blessed to have her with me here. The other ladies came over and gave me a special soup that they made. Then we all shared some raw sweet potato together :) It wasn't the best food I've had by far, but it was so generous, and in their best of hearts. I stayed for 3 hours sitting and talking and helping them prep for the next day, and I loved every minute of it. Korean mom tells me every few minutes I can stop if I want, but I've learned the Korean word for fun "kipuda" and use it often. It reminds me of a mix between "yepbuda" which means "beautiful" and "kiputuh" which is Konglish for "gift". When I put "beautiful" and "gift" together, it's what reminds me of helping in the restaurant. It's such a beautiful gift that they've given me, the privilege of being together with them-no strings attached-and having someone to go to when I'm happy or sad.

Even though it's lonely here at times, I'm reminded daily of how good God is in giving me special people who have touched my life in ways they may never realize. I hope that I do that for other people. I hope that I can touch the lives of others in unexpected ways.