Only in Korea . . .

Hehe, I taught a high school class on Sunday. It was pretty fun, I'd never had those students before. One of the students showed me this picture and told me I look like a TV star. Only in Korea!

In other news, life here continues to be chaotic. On Monday one of the guys from school showed up at my door and told me that I needed to come to work early (in about 30 minutes). And when I got there the receptionist said, "Sorry," in her special, indescribable way and told me they needed me to work late as well. So, long story short, they found the point where I was done, and I told them I had to leave at 7:30pm as scheduled.

The students have had testing this week, so they're even more tightly strung than normal, but classes have still been going well. I have a conversation class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, this weeks topic was "Free Time," so I told them to try and imagine what they would do with three months of vacation with no school and no academy. They only came up with five things! I laughed at them and told them three months was a long time and you can't sleep all of it away. We had a pretty good time for the rest of the class filling up the white board with activities and filling everything in with sleep and, a special new word I taught them, "naps!" Seo-Jung (a really sweet girl I have in several classes who is always tired) was delighted.

It's so much better to be tired than weary.

I am tired. Yesterday several of us went out to the arboretum. There are trails all around it and we wandered through the hills, saw a few grave sites and found rice paddies at the end. It was nice. Then today I thought my computer had a virus and skipped out on Korean class to freak out about it. I'm not sure what's going on, but my instant messenger keeps sending links to people . . . if you're one of them - DON'T OPEN IT!

This afternoon was so lovely, Luke and I simultaneously had the idea of walking down the river, we ended up walking about 5 miles along the river trail and then taking a taxi back. There are fountains coming out of the river in the middle (which Luke speculates are powered by pipes bringing water from further up, so as to create pressure without consuming electricity). Anyway, at one point some of the spray washed over us and I couldn't help thinking, "Skin is an amazing thing, it's amazing that I can feel thousands of little droplets individually come in contact with me." Not profound, but that's what I thought. It was a lazy day for inconsequential meditations. Oh! We also met this really cute group of middle aged men who were riding around together on their mopeds. I thought, "Wild Hogs." Hehe (Though Luke didn't look as impressed.) They were really nice.

It's so funny to have people gawk at you wherever you go. One group of young women we passed actually turned to stare at us and started laughing. In the end, the area of town we wound up at was definitely not used to seeing foreigners wander through it. We got lots of looks, and all I had to do to get a cab was look expectantly off the sidewalk. Apparently there's another way to do it, but this has worked for me so far. Sometimes when I'm out somewhere if I'm not walking very fast they just kind of scoot up beside me and slow down, when I keep going they just drive off. I am SO distinguishable. *sigh* But there are perks.

Smitten

I went out with some of the other teachers tonight to this really cute Italian place that's a block from where we live. (c: They also have toasted bagels. I have yet to do any sampling, but am keenly looking forward to it. I didn't eat because I wasn't hungry yet, but we went and walked downtown and got ice cream, and I bought myself flowers. I've been thinking about it for awhile, but finally decided it was worth it.

We walked back through the park and I stopped next to my favorite magnolia tree. The blossoms are deep purple, and just . . . beautiful. I came home and was writing a friend when it just hit me how grateful I am for everything Jesus has done for me. Romans 1:20 comes to mind, "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." I think back over my life, the people that I've met, the experiences I've had, the things I've seen and read, known and understood. I am thankful not to have been converted into a belief, but to have been captured by Love. I pray it captures you as well.

God keep you. (Isaiah 26:3-4)