을왕리 Beach
After Busan, our tans were looking so good we couldn't let them die after only a week so a group of us ventured to Eulwangri Beach near Incheon on the next Saturday morning. We started out the day with a walk to a "stair path" Anna had seen. The trail to this path took us up rather muddy and rocky cliffs that required us to use all of our spiderman abilities to climb. The other three did fairly fine, unfortunately, my broken/dislocated finger wasn't cooperating and I barely--and ungracefully--completed the climb. The climb to the "stairs" took us to the top of a hill that overlooked the water...can you say gorgeous, I can. There also was what some in our group dubbed a "bunker for Japanese attacks." Literally, at the top of this hill was what appeared to be a watch tower and an underground, sandbagged bunker. I felt like we had stepped onto the set of some famous war movie that I probably haven't seen, but it was even better because it was real and we were there. We posed for lots of pictures and in one of these poses, Anna thought grabbing my broken finger would be a good idea. It probably was a sensational pose but sadly I reacted to quickly with tears and embarrassed laughter...the pictures of that are pretty good though. After I stopped being a baby, we journeyed onward toward the illusive "stairs" and ended up walking down some more beautiful paths, slipping on the muddy path, and concluding it all by petting puppies. I'm still not quite sure where these "stairs" are or if they were the cover story to make us go climbing...but either way it was worth it. We spent the rest of the afternoon playing Frisbee on the beach, swimming the length of the beach with Anna, watching the boys sleep for hours, and seeing the sunset on what is claimed to be the best spot in Korea. Oh and there was something about getting our feet stuck in quicksand-like mud and washing it off at a nice restaurant and then being yelled at in Korean...but who wants to hear another annoying foreigner story? After a long day in the sun, we were exhausted and headed to a dvd bang in Sukdea for the final activity of the night. I've heard the movie was good but I wouldn't know as I peacefully slept through the whole thing. After that hour nap, we all went home to actually sleep although Anna and I aren't known for doing that quickly when we're together so maybe I should say: "after that hour nap, the boys went home to sleep while Anna and I talked into the wee hours of the night.


Gosu Caves, Ferry Ride, and Chungju
In honor of the great Ashley Gordon, we ventured one Saturday to the place she used to call home: Chungju. Before we could arrive in said town we had to check out the Gosu caves nearby. Some in our group were hoping for extreme spelunking in which one had to crawl and carve their way through the cave; however, in typical Korea style, these caves were safer than living in a bubble. You walked along well laid metal pathways and cushions were placed on the ceiling in places where you could potentially bump your head. Despite the over protectiveness, the caves were still quite beautiful and it's always stunning to look at God's handiwork. Plus, the company wasn't too bad. After the caves we eventually made our way to a ferry that would take us into Chungju. Ben and a group of Norwegians just narrowly made the ferry ride as well so our crew was finally complete. The views from the boat were beautiful and it felt like we had stepped into a different country with the blue water, the gorgeous mountain ranges, and the crystal clear sky. Most enjoyed some conversation, while Heidi and I in typical foreigner fashion wandered off to take photos of ourselves. While photographing, we stumbled upon a dance floor overloaded with old people...of course we had to join. We danced with any of the men that won the tug-of-war match over us until our we couldn't take the groping alone anymore and went to find our friends...who we then took to the dance floor as well. We weren't there long but really after a few butt grabs, a few chest bumps, a tug or two we were happy to check the experience of on our list and return to the views and conversation. When we arrived in Chungju we checked out a 4d ride, bought crazy Konglish shirts at a sweet shop, had what Ashley calls the best galbi in Korea, and had drinks at an amazingly cute outdoor garden shop. After an hour wait at the bus station that was filled with some excellent Duncan conversation, we ventured home exhausted.


Reuben Departs
After 3 years in Korea, it had come time for Reuben Haggar to depart this land for more adventures and students in need elsewhere (aka. Beijing). To make the most of the three days we had left with Reuben before his departure we began planning early, only, to have a tropical storm approach and try to ruin all of our plans. But we were not to be deterred. Reuben and I began Friday night with plans to finally see the 63 Building but instead took highly necessary photos for his blog (okay maybe a little deterred). We then met up with the crew for a little galbi action in what Reuben and I call "our neighborhood." Afterwards, I went home to read the luxurious hunger games while the others ventured for untold activities. At 3am, the girls and I were reunited in my house where we spent some time talking (eh, we're girls) and then we fell into glorious sleep. Bright and early the next morning, Reuben, Anna, and I met up with Shawn and Abi to mail some packages and enjoy lunch on base! After our necessary base stop, we rejoined Heidi and Duncan and began our tropical storm filled day. We weren't going to let the storm stop our planned hiking expedition...so off we went. We spent most of the afternoon exploring a mountain-whose-name-I-can't-recall, getting attacked by birds, looking at beautiful green fields, climbing fortress walls, and sharing life together. After all these adventures, we returned to Seoul for warm showers and fall clothes (yes, in late June). We then returned to the rainy streets, for some dokgalbi which was beyond delicions and gelato. Ben and the Norwegians joined us for a little 고럐방 action, in which I may have finally developed a love for the pastime due to my ability to belt out "Smack that" (thanks Angela...). And we were able to hear Reuben belt out some of his favorites while also witnessing those epic dance moves of his. And the night ended with some crazy dance moves until the wee hours of the morning followed by a 5am Mcdonals breakfast run (which only Anna and I managed to make). After an hour of sleep, we went to church in the morning and ended the goodbye activities with a tour of Gwangahmun and galbi for dinner. The goodbye weekend was unfortunately concluded. I've typed and re-typed sentence after sentence trying to summarize how hard it is to say goodbye to someone whose friendship you value so much...but my words don't do the emotions justice. So I'll just say that I am grateful for Reuben's friendship, grateful for the lifelong memories that he's now part of, grateful for the lessons he's taught me about life, and grateful for the fact that Beijing is only a short plane right away. See you in September.

You Can Prevent Accidents If You are Cautious.

This past weekend included a Monday off work in honor or Korea's memorial day. In the spirit of embracing all that Korea has to offer a group of us used the long weekend to journey to the complete other side of South Korea to the beach town of Busan.



Heidi and I began the trip on Friday night by packing at my apartment and going to bed early in preparation for the early wake up time in the morning. We had to catch the train, you see. And not the bullet train that gets you to Busan in two hours but the slow train that is half the price and takes over double the time.

We were stoked though because the saved money meant extra things for our Thailand trip in a little over a month.

Maybe Heidi anticipated how annoying a five hour train ride would be...I didn't. I was tired, it was cramped, and it got pretty hot. Needless to say, I complained. As a result, I supplied Heidi with a candy for each complaint...she got a few.

Highlight of the train trip was indeed the scrabble game, in which, Heidi should have won but the words "forky" and "weeny" earned me over a 100 points and I took the win.

Other highlight, my Korean is BEAST. This little girl stared at us half the ride. Eventually we started talking. We managed to ask the 5 or so Korean questions I know and then used our phone for a few more translations. We were so cool we were supplied milk: Heidi's allergic and I don't like it. But we managed to fake drink it well :)



Sunday, we got up early to hit up the Taejondae cliffs. The girls--Anna, Heidi, and I--were running quite late and feeling guilty because we knew Duncan would be on time. He was..just at the wrong stop, which was a considerable distance from the right stop. It got us girls out of feeling bad and became a good laugh. Upon arrival, Anna tripped off a giant tiki-like statue and messed up her ankle (that's 1 accident).

Taejondae was awesome. Beautiful cliffs, Red-pointy statues, pebble beaches, blue water, views of Busan, catch-em-and-eat-em fish restaurants, and an imagined view of Japan. We had a blast. And it was just great to spend it together.

Perhaps, the best part. We swam in the freezing cold water at the pebble beach and jumped off a rock. I got bit, Anna scraped her thigh. (count 'em that's 3 accidents now).

We headed to Haeundae Beach next. Not necessarily my scene. I definitely outgrew the stupid-drunk-college-student scene back in fifth grade...oh, wait I never really entered it. It was interesting to observe and to be thankful I was not part of it. Heidi and I enjoyed tanning and chatting. Later, she also enjoyed watching me hurt my hand (see other blog). That would now be 4 accidents FYI.

We ended the night at Fuzzy Navel for dinner. The group of us hadn't eaten pretty much all day, so this dinner was legit. We filled ourselves on cheese fries, nachos, quesadillas, burritos, and more. It was great conversation with great people. I'm pretty glad to have befriended this crew.

We then joined up with some other ladies--Lauren and Kayse--and had some fun at Gwangalli beach at night. It was absolutely beautiful. And it was lots of fun to get to spend some time with Lauren and Kayse as we hadn't gotten to see them much.



Monday, we said goodbye to Duncan. That was sad but I'm sure it was infinitely more sad for him. After all, his compliments to me include "pretty smart girl" and a group "awesome". In my mind there's commas between it all: awesome, pretty, smart, girl.

We then went to a Buddhist temple. But before we saw the temple...we shopped. That was awesome. Heidi got these cool pig statues, Anna got Buddhist bracelets, and I got flower pots. We were happy. It was set on these beautiful cliffs overlooking the ocean. Gorgeous. It was filled with beautiful rock formations and brilliantly blue water. We were all amazed. I mean talk about pretty.

As beautiful as the views and the temple were, it still hits you while you are standing there that this place is a place of worship for many: worship to a false god. I think we all made that realization while we were there and found ourselves a little heartbroken despite the beauty.

After enjoying the views and discussing our heartbreak a bit, we moved onto a lighter activity in the form of Gwangalli beach. We'd had our fill of the over-populated foreigner beach and moved to the not-such-a-typical-tourist beach we saw last night. It was great. We laid out in the sun, Anna and I swam the length of the beach (well the length of the buoys), we played Frisbee in the water, and we got annoyed with stereotypical douche bag foreigner guy (another story for a more anti-foreigners post).

During a game of ultimate Frisbee with said douche bag, I may have injured my finger even further...that's now five accidents.

We spent most of the afternoon there with a few others--Lauren and Kayse again!--and then headed to lunch. It was this great little restaurant where we chowed down on burgers and chicken sandwiches. We did a terrible job on this trip at eating regular meals so the few we did have were absolute heaven! And we got to spend our time laughing about the trip and re-quoting are favorite moments!

Then we journeyed home. Another 5 hour journey home. 5 hour journeys with tired people are awesome. This journey was awesome. We laughed, we cried, we slept...we cherished our friendship. We ate peanut butter sandwiches that Heidi had been hiding all weekend.

Trip Summary: AWESOME!

Trip Quotes:
1. "I'm going to be angry at you for 30 seconds."
2. "You're a pretty smart girl."
3. "You can prevent accidents if you are cautious."
4. "Nailed it."
5. "The average person needs 13 hugs a day."
6. "Chemical compound boy."
7. "I feel like a thousand lightening bolts are hitting my back."
8. "You've had peanut butter and bread this whole freakin time?"

Favorite Trip Memories:
1. Anna falling off a tiki statue in front of loads of Koreans.
2. Being the only ones swimming in the pebble beach.
3. Punching Duncan.
4. Frisbee, frisbee, and frisbee.
5. Heidi making us late to meet up with Duncan.
6. Spending time with awesome people.

Sadly, in finally finishing this I realize why I wish I journalled or blogged quicker. I know I'm forgetting some top moments and quotes...but let's just say it was awesome. And let's just hope someone in the crew remembers.

Funny Stories TWO

I promise I'm in the process of writing an epic post about a Busan trip a group of us took but the picture formats are proving difficult. So to appease the masses--read the two people that asked when I'd post again--I give you more funny stories that have recently occurred.

One
Sung-Joo is a new boy in our class. He is also a baby. A big baby. In fact, his constant temper tantrums make me completely reevaluate my love of small children. Every day he cries at least ten times. He also doesn't speak a drop of English nor is he learning it well. Therefore, when he cries in my classes it goes on and on and on and on and on and on. Usually, I ignore him completely in hopes that he'll realize that his tantrums do nothing to get my attention. Today, he took it further ad fell to the floor and screamed louder. In an effort to save my ear drum, I imitated him. Hoping he'd see how ridiculous he looked. I also repeatedly said, "I'm a baby, I'm a baby." Now, whenever Sung-Joo cries the class points at him and yells "baby." I'm sure in America I'd be fired, here it's working and we're keeping it. BABY!

Two
While teaching the five year olds to count to ten and recognize the written numbers we played a game where fish had the numbers written on them and they fed them to a cardboard shark I made. I had my hand through the shark (sort of like a puppet) and would grab their hand while they fed the number fish. It was love for all the kids, they found it hilarious and tried to earn more fish (by correctly identifying the number). When it was Ho-Chun's turn to feed the shark, before the shark could "bite" him...Ho-Chun bit the shark. Seriously, my shark has teeth marks.

Three
Also, while teaching the five-year-olds their numbers, I realized how much "six" sounds like "sex" when Ji-Ho started screaming "I have sex now" over and over in the hallway at me during parent pick-up. Apparently, "sex" is a universal word because every Korean in the room stared at him and then at me. I didn't realize my face could get so red.

Four
While riding the subway the train often stops suddenly and people are jerked around. One morning, while getting off at the super posh Apgujon stop, it also stopped suddenly. A woman dressed to the nines in high heels,a business suit, subtle Korean make-up, and probably five different types of plastic surgery was not prepared for this stop and she completely fell. When she fell she gave a typical Korean scream. And collectively the subway car returned this scream. She laid there, people literally stepped over her to get of at the stop (the subway car was overflowing with people), I didn't see or hear anyone offer help, and I being the typical obnoxious foreigner laughed: laughed quite audibly too. I'm sure I'm hated, but HECK that was hilarious!

Five
Minseo used to say "no I love Kara." In an effort to teach her the correct English I taught her to say, "I don't love Kara." She still thoroughly enjoys saying it correctly and I still laugh. While standing next to Minseo's homeroom teacher from last year (who still says Minseo is her favorite student), Minseo decided to use this new English ability differently than normal: "I don't love gym teacher, I love Kara." Maybe I should teach them only nice things?

Sex
While in Busan, I was on a beach talking with Duncan. Duncan likes to be mean--read he likes to pick on people which is why I like him. And he started proclaiming girls can't punch. Knowing I was more than capable of such a feet, I asked if I could punch him. He agreed. As I prepared for the punch, Duncan inserted metal rods into his shirt--read, I'm lying. And when I punched him he curled over in pain--read, didn't even flinch. I immediately withdrew my hand in pain. And dealt with it hurting the rest of the weekend. When I went to the doctor three days later, not only was the finger broken but the knuckle was dislocated (or rather knocked out of alignment). After, I cried like a baby in front of the doctor and nurse (hey now, three shots and a popped in to place manuever hurts). The doctor also wouldn't let me leave before he taught me how to punch.


Yeah, not only did I go on a rock climbing -ish escapade and knock it out of alignment again less than a week after getting it fixed, I went bowling the day I got that second fix. Only hours, after promising my doctor I'd be careful so I didn't have to get a plaster cast...I don't think he understands my desire to fully embrace ever moment I get in Korea.

What a Funk.

I've been in a funk.

I'm not sure completely why but I know it's there.

Sure there's a few things that have been hitting my heart hard but really they aren't hard enough.

I've been going through the motions of this thing called life instead of living life.

Making the better story.

And it seems that I just kept getting more funkified rather than finding some joy.

So not typically me.

Today, though that all changed.

I wish I had a video to show you, to explain how great today was.

Or I wish someone had taken some photos so you could see the frozen moments.

Alas, none of those exist.

But Just trust me it was good.

In Bible study Tuesday, we talked about being humble. This section is not going to be humble. I'm a sinner and forgiven, so sue me.

Minseo
Honestly, I share the most stories about this girl and I know that leads people to think she's my favorite. To be honest, I really enjoy most of my other students too and don't know that I could choose from amongst them a number one (now if you're letting me name the top four I could do it...). But the fact is Minseo was the child I had to work the hardest for and because of that I get quite a bit of joy out of how much she enjoys me now.

Today, we went to a children's museum. Minseo is usually pretty independent but at this museum--like the last museum--she just wanted to be with me. She wanted to show me things she found and see what I was looking at too. She wanted to hold my hand when we walked anywhere; in fact, she wanted to hold it bad enough she fought with whoever was holding it to get it. On the bus ride home she finally mastered the ability to say, "I don't love Kara." Now everyone at Haba thinks I'm weird for letting this happen but honestly, I know it's not true and I don't mind her learning the English for it instead of "no I love Kara." In fact, she even learned the idea of "I don't love" and spent some time telling me what she did and didn't love. She always ends the day with an "I love Kara" so my feelings can't be hurt.

I've noticed Minseo doesn't like the other teachers at Haba. In fact, they often try to get her to say in Korean that they are her favorite (I think they do this because they think I can't understand...I can). They offer her sweets in exchange for her saying "I love you" and they kidnap her for hugs and kisses. I've never had to do any of that. Minseo tells me all that time--and in the middle of crowded places--that she loves me. She kisses my cheek several times a day. She runs to greet me with a hug each morning. She says, "hug please" countless times throughout the day. It's a great feeling to know that a child knows you love them, but maybe even better, is knowing they love you. It's great to be loved.

I recognized that today.

Samuel
Samuel is autistic. Samuel is violent. Samuel tries my patience. Today, Samuel and I became friends. Today, I fell in love with Samuel.

Perhaps, that's ultimately why my day was so awesome. And to be honest I can't think of how it happened. At the museum I was showing all of the kids things and they were all listening and following me around until we got to a play kitchen. After that Simon, Minseo, Samuel, and I went places together. Samuel found everything so great and he got so excited about everything we saw. We found a mirror and had a good time talking to "Kara 2" and "Samuel 2." He learned the word giant and embarrassed me by calling me one in crowded places.

Maybe it was the fact that I realized he liked me today. Any time we got separated, he didn't call for the other girls as he usually did but he shouted my name until I came. He just wanted to be with me. And like Minseo, he wanted to hold my hand. And while we played great walking games, sometimes, we just walked and held hands.

Again, it's nice to be loved.

Finally, we ended our day with K-nex. Samuel and I had fun. He laughed so hard and that makes me laugh so hard. I'm not even sure what we were doing. It started out with a dinosaur on my head and ended with K-nex bombs being thrown. It was great and it made me enjoy Samuel. I finally had fun with him. And when all the other kids saw our fun and wanted to join in and thus made Samuel hit them. I took his side. Seriously, they messed with him first. And for me to defend Samuel is a big thing. Because usually I let it all be his fault.

Now that I love him, I think it will better. You work for someone you love. And I'm going to work for Samuel now.

Waygooken
In Korean, "waygooken" means foreigner. We went to a park/museum today filled with school children. Probably hundreds of them. And I was the only foreigner. I felt like a celebrity. Like Brad Pitt. Like Jennifer Aniston. Like Jeff Probst (okay, well how I would respond to Jeff). It does great things for the self esteem.

Waiting Games
I know they embarrassed Grace teacher. But honestly, that's stupid and I don't care. I thoroughly entertained my students yet again with activities while we waited for forever for the activities to being. I like this. I like that I can think of games on the spot and make them happy. I like that walking is more than walking.

I don't feel like I adequately explained.

Maybe because it's a feeling.

A feeling only I can feel.

Ultimately, I fell in love again today.

Or rather, I was reminded how much I loved.

And am loved.

Goodbye funk.

Best of Times

I've been thinking a lot about my return to the states lately. It needs to happen because I've already spent money on graduate school and I should just finish, but the idea of living in the states again with the same lifestyle I had before makes me want to cry.

Why, you ask?

Because, I love the adventures I experience here, the people I've befriended, the things I'm learning about myself, the kisses from Kinder kids, and even the challenges. It's just so great. And I honestly believe these last few months have been some of the best ever.

Why, you ask?

Let me show you:

I've laughed my way through Tandem Bike Rides
A group of us went to Yeoudio Park one Sunday afternoon. We started with a picnic lunch from pita time, I talked my way through a Frisbee game, and then we all went on a tandem bike ride. Heidi and I chose each other as partners, perhaps, sure that the other would be capable. Turns out, neither of us were capable. We spent the entire hour laughing hysterically at our ineptitude. We couldn't master the art of steering, it took us ten countdowns to ever start, we couldn't pedal ourselves up the smallest hills, we were wearing skirts not conducive to modesty on a bike ride, we got stuck on a path that ended, rode through a large concert, we're passed by babies using training wheels. An oh yeah, we ran into a woman. But the fact is we laughed. We laughed hard. And perhaps we laughed the hardest or longest I've laughed in Korea yet.



I've been placed on a fat person's boat
Again a group of us ventured to Yeoudio Park but this time for a boat ride in the swan boats. We split into three groups of four people and were eager to begin our journey. The first two groups got in their boats: one a swan, one a duck. And then our time came. My group--Reuben, Heidi, Duncan, and I--got in a swan boat and watched the man grimace the whole time. As soon as we were all settled, the boat must have looked unstable because we were moved to what became affectionately known as "the fat people's boat." It was a grand time after the duck boat became ours to traverse the river in. We beat another boat in a race by a landslide, Duncan ran over a buoy (or in his South African accent, a boy), we threw sticks and made splashes at boat number 2, Reuben and Heidi serenaded us with "I'm on a boat," and the whole time our flag--in the form of a yellow umbrella--was held high.



I've beaten people up at Suwon Folk Village
Days off are limited in Korea, so when you get them you embrace them. And embrace them we did. Reuben, Heidi, and I headed to Suwon Folk Village to look a bit at what old time Korea was like: you know commoners' houses, nobleman's houses, other houses that I didn't really look to closely at. There was also the wishing tree where Reuben and I wished for significant others and Heidi wished for new friends. Oh and one couldn't forget the contraption that was used to stop bed wetting or the manure spreading buckets. We also watched a tight rope show and a death-defying horse show. Oh and of course in the nobleman's house (I believe) there was a court yard filled with torture devices for those that were...well...being tortured. I of course had to take the opportunity to try one and Reuben became the unwilling participant...bliss.



I've joined an impromptu dance party to celebrate Buddha
Well Buddha's birthday is a big deal here. Lanterns line the streets, parades are announced, and a vacation day is given. We journeyed to the final ceremonies in Insadong one Sunday night to watch what was a spectacular parade followed by performances from the parade participants. Some of the things they could do were astounding but after a time it got old. We went to a coffee shop to watch the finale from a window and were impressed by the dance party that began breaking out in the street. Ashley, Ben, and I ran to join in and spent the next twenty minutes sweating in the streets as we were grabbed by Koreans for dance sessions, paraded through countless congo lines, had soju poured on us, were filmed or photographed by an abundance of Koreans, and laughed our heads off! At one point, I even got to be the rope in a tug of war session between two old Korean men..if only the knew how bad my dancing skills really were. At the end of the night, Ashley and I had two new--and drunk--friends (pictured). Sure, it was Buddha's Birthday and you could accuse us of worshiping him as our non-dancing friends did, but nothing about dancing in a street with soju flying makes me think Budhha and furthermore my heart is trained on God's.



I've went white water rafting with awesome friends
A band of four gals travelled down to Youngwol (remember the bus story) to go white water rafting. The rapids were small which bothered me little, but the view was astounding. Heidi pointed out that there were seven different shades of mountains to be seen. The boat guide--we dubbed Pablo--was a riot (and may have lost a shoe). And the Korean boys that joined us were good for some kicks and giggles too. Plus, it was a first day with Anna...and now there will be thousands more.



I've had lunch with an ambassador
Okay so maybe I didn't even talk to him at this lunch but that doesn't stop the fact that the ambassador for Papua New Guinea took a photo with our group and treated us to food galore. He and another friend--Holly--were leaving Korea for new adventures and our church celebrated with a group lunch. While I'm sure many are sad to see the ambassador leave, I'm much sadder to know that Holly and her ceramic cat Judy have had to leave our midst. Goodbyes are hard but the moments before are more than worth it.



I've been embarrassed at 고래벙
Noreabang seems to be the thing to do when people leave, or there is a night without plans, or a group gets together, or really anytime at all. However, my musical abilities are sadly lacking and my bravado fails in these private rooms with giant TVs telling us the words to songs. My goal in life is to completely rock out at one of these sessions before I leave, but for now I turn red when I'm forced into singing some song and others point out that I'm doing it. Maybe I'd be so much better if I could rock out to High School Musical...but alas they're not available. Despite my embarrassment, I still enjoy seeing the other rock out: Reuben and his air guitar, Holly and her hair whips, Anna and her rapping skills, and Heidi's raspy voice crooning. Oh and who could forget Dawna and her bellowing of all songs, rocking dance moves, encouragement to sing, Korean song choices, and a thousand other things that just remembering make me miss her more.

Seriously after seeing these photos and hearing small bits of the story, how could you doubt that Korea is filled with epic adventures and great friends to share them with?

Thankfully, I've got some time left and there aren't any goodbyes for another 20 days, meaning there's plenty of memories to make.

Moments.

The following is a collection of things that have happened recently. All worthy of being retold and hopefully some of you were living them with me.

ONE

Heidi, Holly, Anna, and I took a journey to Yeoungwol to go white water rafting. The trip started at 8am with us riding in the row of four elevated seats at the very back of the bus. We were excited, sharing life, and laughing with joy. At one point the bus pulls over to which Anna says, "Oh wait, why's the bus pulling over?" All of our attention seemed to shift to the shoulder we were pulling onto and then we watched as the bus driver got out of his seat, walked halfway back, pointed at us, through hand gestures told us to be quiet, got back in his seat, and re-began the journey. In the words of Heidi Stromberg, "It's been 15 years since a vehicles been pulled over for my behavior."


TWO
At a crowded museum with the kinder kids and all of Haba in one room, Minseo walked over to me and started saying, "Kara, shit bad. Shit bad. Shit bad." My reaction was to look at the teacher Grace and say, "I promise I didn't teach her that." Unfortunately, my plan to constantly annoy Minseo backfired on me because normally when I don't respond to her it's on purpose so she gets louder and louder. Because I was looking at Grace instead of doing whatever she wanted she started screaming, "KARA, SHIT BAD, SHIT BAD!" I hurriedly tried to hush her and figure out what in the world her problem was. Grace through some Korean conversation with Minseo found out that she was attempting to say, "my shirt won't button will you help me." Unfortunately, for me she knows little English and can't pronounce her 'r's.


THREE
It was Grace's birthday and the kinder kids and I were treating her to the delux party. For her birthday, I had to carry on the subway that morning a cake, four balloons, and a bouquet of flowers. For the school day plans and my after school coffee shop plans I was also carrying my computer, tennis shoes, and an enormously packed purse. At Yaksu station, I know the prime car to ride on to put me right by the only exit escalators. I got off this car and walked to the escalators and had to take up both sides with all my stuff but in my mind I was walking and one of the first on so it shouldn't have been a problem. However, a young Korean guy had other ideas as he ran past and while doing so my long dangling purse strap caught on something of his and I was pulled into an ungraceful fall. Unfortunately, I had the cake box tugged on to my wrist and therefore my hand smashed the cake in the fall and I got to have some Oreo cheesecake covering my hand. One of the four balloons also met an untimely death when in my surprised I opened my hand a bit. I could hear a Korean screaming at the runner--who did not stop--and I felt an ajuma (old Korean) wearing hiking gear help me get up and then she--along with nine others--walked me to a bench. Once I was seated three of the ladies pulled out first aid kids and bandaged up my knees. While the first aid was occurring, one woman was cleaning my cake hand with a wipe. Perhaps, the best lady was wiping my brow in a caressing move in an attempt to comfort me I assume. After all was finished, this lady then escorted me to my subway train (which she did not get on).

FOUR
While at a Korean folk museum in Lotte World, our school hired a tour director to explain to us the museum. I found the whole situation boring as I could understand nothing and had just gone to Suwon folk village which is the same thing but life-size instead of replicas. Minseo and a 3-year-old boy also found the time boring and so they became my responsibility. I was holding the 3-year-old as he refused to walk and I don't speak enough Korean to force him to do so and Minseo was holding my hand (completely by choice which is more surprising than anything else in this story). The 3-year-old was teary-eyed and saying something in Korean to me and since I wasn't understanding Minseo was trying to help by also speaking Korean to me. I was getting frustrated (already in this day the "shit bad" and escalator spill had happened) so I began to smart off in English to both the children as I knew they'd never understand. I believe my responses were to the tune of, "I don't have a clue what's going on this is utterly stupid. Yes, there were naked men with penis' and that was the best part. Shut it children, I'm not understanding you." After my tirade (which I must say I said all with a nice voice so the kiddos wouldn't think I was being mean), I heard a voice from behind: "I know just how you feel." Turns out there was a foreigner behind me the whole time.

Sometimes I wonder....

For the past several years, this idea of the "will of God" has been thrust upon my life. In fact, some of my friends have shared with me stories about hearing God's voice on the metro train, or having a dream/vision, or praying and knowing without a doubt the answer. Some of these friends had exactly what they said happen, others have been waiting for months, and others still had the opposite happen. Yet, no matter the outcome they all at one point said those things revealed the will of God on their lives.

Now, I've never heard God's voice, or had a dream/vision, and maybe once or twice I've prayed and known without a doubt what the answer was...but it's not common. Yet, I feel like these people I'm discussing have it happen to them daily. It's like one morning they wake up, God says audibly, "you should be a doctor," and two hours later they're enrolled in med school. Am I being factitious (man if you knew how long the spelling of this word took, you'd mock)? Yes. But sometimes that's what I envision it being like for them and I am so dang jealous.

Do I think God could do all of these things and more? Oh, heck yes. But do I think it's common? Oh, heck no. Now I'm sure I'll have people debate me on this but a huge part of me just can't understand why God would regularly chose to speak to Joe, Bill, and Ted but leave little 'ol me out of the conversation. I don't believe God's like that...in fact, I'm pretty sure 1 Peter talks about God not having favourites. And yet, that is the stories I'm hearing. And really who am I to doubt that God told you through a cheese sandwich that looked like him--maybe named Cheesus--that you were going to get married in the next year? Because honestly if those things happen to you...could you give God my number next time?

My point? To be honest, I'm not sure. Maybe to tell you that I don't understand this whole concept. Maybe to ask your opinion. Maybe to hear your stories. Maybe to have you tell me I'm completely wrong and that God gave you a vision about me and I'm supposed to be the next Rhianna (to which I would probably laugh and ask if you got your channels crossed with satan).

Maybe I'm wondering what to do with all this "will of God stuff." I've been praying and praying about my next steps and yet I'm not getting any postcards in the mail signed the Holy Spirit. I feel like if I wait much longer there won't be options left. In fact, I had to make a decision about contract renewal and I prayed and prayed and prayed and I definitely didn't hear anything from God on the topic. Yes, you could debate that I wasn't listening but I think that God would just get louder...or maybe I really was listening. The deadline for my decision came and I made one. Do I think my decision isn't in God's plan? No. Actually, I'm pretty sure whichever way I went God would have been satisfied.

I mean if God had decided every step I should take...would I have free will?

And more importantly is it really being in God's will to be sitting and doing nothing while I wait for him to tell me?

It's a touchy subject, isn't it?

A confusing one too.

I say all of this to say, I'm not sure where God has me going next. Perhaps, it's my free will choice and God's satisfied with wherever I go as long as it's to glorify Him. Or perhaps, God wants me to be the next Rhianna in which case God may not be glorified because my singing is atrocious!

All I know is this: I love my job. I love my kids. I love my friends. I love Survivor. I love strawberries. I love laser hair removal. I love headbands. I love Jesus.

And all of that's in Korea...so I'm staying an extra few months at least (March 2012, baby!)

And after that, I think I'll probably move on UNLESS God sends me a postcard saying something different because as much as I love everything I said above, this isn't my heart/my passion/my dream. And one of these days you'll be reading a blog post about a missionary's journey...because that's where I want to be...and I think it's where God wants me to be too.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions? Concerns? It's okay if you do...it's okay if you don't.