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.

Catching Up.

Do you ever have that moment where you realize how behind you are? I feel like I've let this blog fall to the wayside perhaps because so much is happening in life right now and I have a million things I could post about: another Kinder student, top Korea sites, an epic photo scavenger hunt, a goodbye to Dawna Diamon, God answering prayers, and a million more things that are part of this thing I call life. I spent the last few days trying to figure out what people would want to hear about most, how do I pick one thing out of the thirty that are happening? Then I had to remind myself this blog isn't ultimately for anyone but for me...if were for you, I'd have quit when I realized I'm lucky to get one comment :). And so I'm gonna post about what I want to post about: life. And if I get no comments I'll be okay because in 20 years when I'm trying to tell my daughter a bit about Korea I'll have this blog to point her to and she can comment then ;).

So to summarize it all up:

Dawna Diamon Leaves Seoul
So I'm not sure how to adequately explain how much I'm going to miss having this girl in my Korea life. She was the first friend I made in this new country, the first person I habitually teased, the first person to invite me to an activity, the first person to invite me to a weekend away, the first person to force me to try new food, and the first person to let me just be me. I so enjoyed getting to know her the last few months and am going to miss all of the late night chats, diners out, crazy group gatherings, and even the noreabang sessions. This girl is a legit person and I know that God is going to do some crazy good things with her and through her and I'm pretty excited to hear all about them in our Skype life :). I honestly believe that if I hadn't met Dawna Diamon I might not have stayed in Korea or even worse I'd have stayed and hated it. Plus, the girls got gorgeous eyes!



Photo Scavenger Hunt
Well Heidi Stromberg had a birthday and then Dawna Diamon left Seoul so we had to have two different epic photo scavenger hunts in honor of both those events. For Heidi's birthday; Dawna, Heidi, and I went to Sadang and Sukdea to check tasks of our lists. We found ourselves some epic Korean girl earrings, kimbapchunguks galore, a bench to fall off, and an awkward Korean man to hug.

For Dawna's Goodbye Hunt we had three different teams and roamed all over Seoul for hours completing a list of 53 items. I'm honored to have been on a team with Lauren, Holly, and Jennifer. Together we jumped on an off a subway car 13 times before the car left, stripped a Korean man, got fed oysters, ate live octopus, drank soju with ajuchis, bought team sweatshirts, touched a Korean man's bum, and a million more insane things. We managed to finish all but 8 on the lists and by unanimous vote were declared the winners.



Eating New Foods
For as long as I can remember I have been picky. My mom used to say all the time that when I was an adult my eating habits would finally change...she was wrong. I'm still just as picky, in fact, because I don't have a mom forcing me to take five bites I'm probably even more picky. I just don't like the way things taste sometimes or more importantly the way the feel when I eat them. And I've given up on trying foods because really what's the point when I could just be eating chicken tenders and ranch? In fact, last night I told someone I hated pudding to which they asked have you tried it? I of course had to answer no. Alas, coming to Korea has forced me to be a little different and having new friends who find my eating habits sad has also forced me to be a little different. I've started to trying things....and to my surprise even like some! I now can say I eat strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, oranges, tangerines, seaweed, lettuce, pineapple, cereal WITH milk, and maybe a few other things I'm forgetting. I've also tried and HATED live octopus (pictured), mussels (both for the scavenger hunt), cabbage, kimchi, fish, raddish, and again maybe a few more things I'm forgetting. There's also a few things I haven't fully decided on for example I'm eating a banana solely because a student gave it to me right now but I don't actually like it at all...maybe by the time I'm finished? Seems maybe I didn't need to just be an adult but an adult living overseas!



Cherry Blossoms
And here I thought they were only in D.C. but it turns out seeing them from at least the continent they came from is so much better. There's actually cherry blossoms growing all over Korea, including one four steps from my house BUT seeing them by the river is just what you do. I braved and shoved my way through the overcrowded subway station with Heidi and Ben to get a look at these beauties. We even took lots of pretty pictures...okay maybe mine weren't so pretty. Heidi and I competed in a Rock, Paper, Scissors contest which we lost in the first round. AND best of all a group of girls asked Heidi and I for a picture AND then two ajuchis asked for one as well. I'm not sure that I'll ever get used to being "famous" just for being white but gosh it does great things for self-esteem.




Hairbands are Still Great
Seriously, I realized at the beginning of this month how much money I had spent last month and was beyond surprised. These little things are pricey but they are worth every dime. I swear I get complimented by someone every time I wear one. And they just look awesome. And jewelry here is also great. But now I'm going to have to learn how to budget a bit better...it was so much easier when I made an intern salary and had to pinch every penny...having money is way too much fun to want to pinch it!



Kinder Class Rocks
Okay I know it's a photo of only Minseo--but seriously isn't she cute. I'll take time hopefully soon to introduce you to the other three, but let me just tell you they're great. Lately, I've noticed how hard they all work to talk with me or in Minseo's case to play charades with me. They've also gotten super protective and get pretty upset when other classes are "scaring" me (granted I'm pretending to be scared but all of the kids believe it to be true.) Eric even got bitten recently when he was defending me from the Libe class kids--yes, the other boy got in lots of trouble. All four--especially Eric--have also gotten very possessive of my time and hate when I interact with other classes too much. They'll usually work together to find a way to bring me back to the Kinder room. Finally, they all always want to talk with me and show me what they are doing or making. Whenever we play K-nex after lunch, I'm guaranteed to have to tell them all several times how great they're items are! But most of all, I love all the kisses. These four have completely captured my heart. And to be honest I don't even have a favorite...they're all that great.




Making the Better Story
I've been introduced to Donald Miller lately and he talks about how it's your decision to make your life a better story or to make it a boring one. I think I'm definitely learning to chose the better story. I've seen God answer so many prayers since I've been in Korea and I'm definitely learning to trust in Him so much more. I know with out a doubt that my time here has changed me and there's no doubt that the longer I'm here, the more I'll grow. I'm so glad that I came to Korea and that God always works in our lives. I never thought I'd work with little kids, I never thought I'd read the Bible everyday, I never thought I'd eat live octopus, I never thought I'd be patient, I never thought I'd go somewhere where I know no one, and I never thought I'd be who I am right now...but I am and that's all God. And I'm sure to become even more different as I let him be the maker and myself the clay.