Back Home Again

Safe and sound. Why do I have so much stuff?

Cold Quesadilla

I am sitting in my apartment eating my dinner of cold quesadilla while a group of Korean workmen knock a hole through the outside wall of my kitchen/entryway. I asked Mr. Lee (a very wonderful man who works at Like) if they couldn't wait until I was gone, and he assured me they had to do it today. I leave in a day and a half.

I'm also getting a new student today. I reminded Mrs. Kim that I'll only be here today and tomorrow, and she just said she knew. [Here I shrug my shoulders and remind myself that the way to make it in Korea is to be the river and not the rock.]

*Sigh*

December 27, 2008

This is what I wrote in my journal on the way to Korea. I read through the whole thing tonight and was blessed to find that it is mostly full of me telling Jesus that I love him. Anyway, I just thought I'd share.

"I noted the snow still covering the ground everywhere here. Fog lay thick over the Columbia River as we drove to the airport this morning. What more is there to say? Maybe going forever isn't for me, at least not by myself, but I am glad to be doing this, because a lifetime of wondering if I have what it takes would be awful. Mostly all I can do is gaze up at my Lord and say, "I love you." (c: Not a bad place to be in reality. *Sigh* We'll see if I really am built for adventure."

Apparently, yes.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this discovery and who supports me to make this truth possible.

*Sigh* Korea is a nice place

Okay, so last night we went out for Korean barbecue. It was really fun. When we were almost done eating these two guys came up to our table holding a pen and a piece of paper. They started talking to Leslie, who was sitting across from me, and I figured they were playing some kind of party game or that one of their friends dared them to come and talk to the foreigners. Yeah, no. They thought Leslie and I were Korean television stars. When I told them that I wasn't Catherine they just said, "REALLY???" incredulously. They then said that I was so beautiful they still wanted to get my picture and autograph.

I have no idea how much soju these guys had last night, but it totally made my day. Their friend Hodong took a picture and came back as we were leaving to get my email address so he could send me the picture.

Hehe.

"There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it."
-Mary Wilson Little

Six days left . . .

Pleading of life

"With the aurora borealis flaming coldly overhead, or the stars leaping in the frost dance, and the land numb and frozen under its pall of snow, this song of the huskies might have been the defiance of life, only it was pitched in minor key, with long-drawn wailings and half-sobs, and was more the pleading of life, the articulate travail of existence. It was an old song, old as the breed itself -- one of the first songs of the younger world in a day when songs were sad."
-Jack London, The Call of the Wild

God is gracious

The Lord is so gracious with me. Last week I was sick (for really the first time in Korea). It was so wonderful to be gently reminded that I need to be kind to my body. I spent the week (and weekend) mostly laying in bed watching movies and napping. My friend Steve, who is now in Seoul, pointed Jesse and I to this really cool coffee shop where they have Dr. Fish. What is that? It's fish that eat the dead skin from your feet. It tickles SO MUCH!!! Don't worry, no one was injured. Anyway, Jesse, Leslie and I ended up going a couple of times last week, it was pretty sweet. I am very blessed in my friends here.

Things I realized in this time for reflection:
I'm not scared anymore. Whatever God has for me, it is what it is, I'm ready.
I am different. I've always felt like the fat girl in any group, and I don't think I am anymore. I realized this when I wimped out on hiking on Sunday because it was too cold. This is the first time I've been the one to wimp out, usually it's someone (or everyone) else, and I just go without them. I am thankful for the freedom of Korea - for the distance from all the conceptions I had built around myself, and a rotating social group that has helped me keep moving.
I'm not a bad teacher. I know I'm not the best, but I can tell some of my students have improved. And they like me, for whatever reason, and I like them! God has definitely used my students to love, encourage and challenge me this year.
I will be sad to leave, and the change will be stressful for me. I even thought (for a split second) about staying. (c: And then I stared working on my grad school application essays! They're almost done, so I will be meeting the "before December" deadline God set for me.
Hospitality is not important to me, it's part of me - I can't help it, I invite people over. And I love it.
More than anything else, I was left with the overwhelming realization that God is enough for me. In and through anything, Jesus keeps me all the way.

By the end of the week I was sick of laying around (and, fortunately, feeling much better). So, I've been loving pilates and going for long walks everyday since then! It has been very good; I was starting to feel like the sluggard in Proverbs 26:14.

Also, as most of you know, it's Thanksgiving. Mrs. Kim provided a lovely Thanksgiving meal this morning, if somewhat unexpected and impromptu. Tomorrow Jesse and Leslie and I are going to have fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy and a big salad with lots of vegetables. The best part is that I don't have to do all the cooking! Yay!!! (Or, more importantly, all the dishes. (c:)

I love you all and am looking forward to seeing you soon.