Fall

When I was dropping Vanessa and Nina off at the airport bus terminal, I was running across the street with their bags and one of them caught and tripped me. Needless to say, I fell hard on my knees and really hurt them. I felt sorry to the girls because they really needed to catch their bus, but I wasn't hardly able to stand up on my own. Well, anyways, they got off on time, and I went back to my house. I didn't have ice (forgot to fill up the ice cube trays), so I went down to the kimbap restaurant for ice. I had just fallen, and was pretty banged up, so I was crying. My Korean mom wasn't there, but her husband was so nice and very helpful in getting me ice and helping me get back up to my floor.

I don't write this blog because of the fall, that was the trivial part. Clumsy on my part. But I wanted to write about how the kindness of others really was impressed on my mind today.

In the states, things are different. If I have a problem, I can go to the doctor myself or have my parents take me. I know how to go to the drugstore to get medicine. I am a pretty independent person. But here, I have no idea how to do any of that...so I need help. I'm so thankful for my friend, Jamie. She's been a huge help to me ever since we met. And her family has been so kind. Her dad is a pastor at a very large church, so he is extremely busy. Yet he and his wife always make time to meet me and apparently ask Jamie about me a lot.

I called Jamie, and she took me to the hospital this morning early. I didn't have to pay for the doctor or pharmacy since they know her family through the church. It was really nice of them to help me. Something I thought was strange though, was that the doctor grabbed my knee and started twisting it asking if it hurt!! Of course!!! When I fell, it felt like it popped out of place and then back again. Hmm...Must just be a different way of doctoring here :)

After the doctor visit, her mom invited me over for breakfast since she'd heard that I was sick (in Busan I got the flu/a cold). Haha. I felt like such a helpless person being catered to. But it was really nice. Her mom said that I probably missed my mom since I was sick. So she'd done some research and found out that Americans like "chicken soup" when they're sick and she wanted to make it for me. It was an interesting Korean twist on chicken noodle soup :) No noodles. She took a chicken, stuffed it with ginger, ginseng, garlic, onions, and other things. Then boiled it in a broth until it was really tender. Then we took the broth and mixed it with rice to make a porridge. It actually did taste very similar to chicken noodle soup only maybe chicken rice porridge.

I went to visit my Korean mom for dinner, and her husband had told her about my accident. So she wanted to see. In front of everyone in the restaurant, she got down on her knees in front of me and rubbed my knees with an IcyHot sort of medicine that she had with her. It's so rare for an older person to serve a younger person, and it was very touching. And her husband had tears in his eyes while eating dinner with me telling me with hand motions how his heart hurt seeing me cry this morning and that he would pray. He's not a Christian, yet when I came in this morning, one of the first things he told me was to pray. What a neat thing to hear. He usually makes fun of my Korean mom for being a Christian and for talking about church with me. Yet he was so kind in this situation. I will pray for him.

I felt so blessed today. It's interesting when something so painful turns into something used for good. God used the situation to bless and encourage me. Not all things we view as bad are meant to harm us if we take the time to see the good in them.

Well, I'm off to bed early. This medicine has made me feel and act really strange. Hopefully I didn't write anything too strange. I guess I'll have to read this over again tomorrow ^^