Flash Mob

Yesterday, I was downtown with a friend and as we were walking, I got experience something that has been on my bucket list! We were walking and heard a bunch of people yelling and saw them running and dancing towards the plaza area... Music started playing really loud and this is what we saw:

It was amazing. I'm really glad that I got to see this. :)

Surprises

This week in good old Cheonan, has been full of surprises. On Monday, one of the Korean teachers that I work with was proposed to. Our boss had told us about a week ago that we were having a very important meeting that night with the foundation directors of our school. We were all really nervous about the meeting, but about 5 minutes before we headed out the door, our boss informed us of what was going on. We stayed quiet so that Jessica wouldn't figure out the surprise. We went to a cafe on the KNU campus. When we walked in there were candles on all the tables and a guy playing a guitar. He started singing Jason Mraz "I'm yours." After that song, he started playing a song and Jessica's boyfriend walked out from behind the projection screen with some flowers. He picked up a microphone and started singing a song that he had composed. It was beautiful. After the song, we watched a slideshow and then he got on one knee and proposed to her. It was adorable and I am so happy that I got the opportunity to share that evening with them.

The second thing to happen this week occurred on Tuesday. A couple that I work with have been expecting a baby and yesterday they welcomed Ella Renee into the world. I got the chance to go and see them today at the hospital. She is beautiful and I am so happy for this amazing couple! They are going to be great parents. I will soon post pictures of this adorable little girl. Not only did Michael and Elizabeth have a baby yesterday, but Joe, another teacher that I work with, welcomed a little baby boy into the world. Apparently this is baby season and I love it!

Other than that, things have been pretty normal. In a couple weeks I am going to get the privilege to lead a bible study about women of the bible. I am extremely nervous to take this on, but I know that God is going to use this opportunity to help me grow spiritually. I am very excited for it! 

Essence

Well this past week I had the privilege of having my very first surgery. Not only was it my first, but it was in Korea. I can say that it was really nerve racking... I woke up a little over a week ago with a really bad toothache. I never have toothaches so I decided to head to the dentist last Monday. Of course the dentist did not speak and English except for a couple words, so that made me a little nervous. They took X-rays and found out that the wisdom tooth on the bottom right was causing some damage. It had entwined itself into the nerves of another tooth and that was causing all my pain. They quickly told me that I needed surgery and we scheduled it for Friday, the 12th. I had to wait for 4 1/2 days, and that made me even more nervous. The part that bothered me the most is that it was hard to ask questions. I wanted to know if they were just going to numb my mouth or if they were going to sedate me. I did not get this answer until walking into the office on Friday. There I saw two huge needles that would make my mouth numb... The whole process took about 15 minutes and I only paid about $220. That was for everything including my appointment on Monday. I believe that is a pretty good deal right there. Korea's healthcare system is awesome. Well I got home on Friday and just went to bed. I woke up on Saturday with barely any swelling at all. Today there is little pain, which is great! I still have about 2 days until the pain is completely gone, but I am okay with that. This was definitely an experience that I will not be forgetting any time soon. I have to go back this Friday to get my stitches taken out, but other than that, I am okay with never having to have another tooth cut out.

Also on Friday, the summer intensive courses ended!!!! That may have been the greatest thing to happen since I got here... haha. BUT, I still have one more full week before we return to regular work schedule. This week is going to include about 4 hours of VBS every morning before going to work and then not getting off until about 12 hours after we started the day. I'm not really looking forward to the long hours, but I am looking forward to seeing God work in the lives of some children. I am the spokesperson the Movie room. I am kind of worried because I don't know how it all will go. I will have a translator, but that just worries me more. I know that it is all going to be fine, but it still makes me nervous.

So basically, this next Friday will top this past Friday.. which will be AMAZING! I cannot wait until I actually have time to do other things besides work here. I will have time to actually blog about things, which I know that I have been slacking on lately.

Intense...

In 10 days, it will officially be 3 months since I got here... WOW! I can remember sitting on my front porch in Texas, the day before I left, and was so worried about everything. God had me in his hands the entire time, and I am thankful to be a child of the King. I am surrounded by amazing people that are slowly becoming just like family to me.

My vacation ended on Monday and we started intensives (which is summer courses for the students that are summer vacation right now). So, I start teaching at 10:00 am instead of 2:00 pm... That is just a little bit of an adjustment. AND... I teach three more classes than normal, so it has been a little stressful, but I have enjoyed this week so much. God once again has placed some amazing people in my life and I am so blessed. I can't help but think that in 9 short months I am going to have to leave this place... That is already making me sad. This is becoming home to me right now and I am so glad to have the feeling of home in a distant country... It makes this so much easy.

So I walked into work this morning and there was a box for me... FROM CAMP BOND!!! It brought a few tears to my eyes... Everything in the box reminded me of my 2nd home and 2nd family. I get reminded everyday of all the people that are at home in the states that are thinking and praying for me. I never realized how much I was loved until I get here and feel the support of people half a world away... I can't even begin to express how thankful I am for that. In my box, I had everything from a woo woo, candy galore, a t-shirt, a camp bond lanyard, peanut butter, paintballs, band-aids, a cd, a few letters, shampoo, a golf ball, a rubber ducky, a ping-pong ball, two water bottles, and a fancy camp bond pen... It made me miss the summers that I spent at camp, but then again I know that God wants me here, and that they all will be waiting when I get home.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you not forsake you!!" Deuteronomy 13:6

Reality kicks in...

The time that I have been here has really made me think about things. I know that God has brought me here and that it is part of his plan. Without a doubt, I am aware of this. There are sometimes that I wished that everyone in my life could fully understand this. I've always been the person that has never pushed my way of thinking onto someone else or I have never not accepted someone for who they are... This is how I am and I hope to always be. I consider myself a good friend that can be approached with everything. Because of this, I have begun to realize that everyone is not like me and that they are not going to accept me for who I am and the decisions that I make. I am blessed to be surrounded mostly by those who are standing behind me in whatever it is that I choose to do with my life. It is really hard to understand how anyone could not see how God has blessed me. That is the only reason that I am where I am and doing what I am doing. The world is full of different people and it has always been my goal to love everyone and accept them no matter what they believe. Is that wrong? Lately, it seems to be hurting me more than helping me... I want to be able to show compassion to those who don't understand compassion. I want to be there for the fallen who have no where else to go and I want to give them hope. Every decision that I make from this day on has nothing to do with what I want but what God wants. I am no longer going to justify my actions, but going to put complete faith in God that he will use me as a earthly example of what he can do in someone's life. I biggest prayer is that God will be shown through me and that others will begin to understand why I do what I do. I know that obstacles like this are always going to be thrown my way, but with God I can do anything...

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.    Romans 8:28

Vacation

I haven't written on here in quite awhile, but I have been super busy with work and I recently just got back from my vacation.

The first place that I had the opportunity to visit was the DMZ. I can't explain how this made me feel. I have always heard about the conflict in Korea, but to actually see it up close, really makes it more a reality. While we were standing at the JSA, which is the part of the DMZ that has the meeting room where both sides meet. At one point, I walked to the other side of the meeting room and was officially in North Korea. That was a lot to take in. Here are my photos from the DMZ tour.






We were also told that these two countries are the only ones that have to stand face to face with their enemies for many hours a day. I could not even imagine how they can do that. There is a 5cm x 50 cm slab of concrete that separate the two sides, but being there it could have just have been a 500 ft wall. It was an experience that I am thankful that I got to see.


The second trip that I took was to Busan, Korea. It is basically the Florida of South Korea. It was so beautiful. The first thing that we did was find a hotel, and of course we looked for the coolest looking hotel... we ended up at one that looked like a castle.. haha... It was pretty great. Well after settling, we made our way to the beach, which was sooooo cold... so we didn't stay too long. We got to go to a few markets in the area. We also met a guy that was from New York and had been in Korea since 1994. He showed us some places in Busan that we probably wouldn't have found on our own. I have learned that in Korea, if you see someone that speaks English, it is necessary to talk to them. Well, we left Busan the next day on a Ferry to Japan... Here are my pictures of Busan...



The trip to Japan was an experience I will definitely never forget. Our trip was 100 % Korean Style. There are many things that I learned on this trip:

1. Koreans don't slow down. Once they start walking, you have to power walk to stay up.
2. Korean is not a language that is easy to pick up on.
3. Being on a ship with about 300 Koreans and being 1 or 2 foreigners, makes you stand out just a little bit.
4. Sleeping arrangements for Koreans include a mat on the floor, a blanket, and a rock hard pillow. Oh.. and sleeping with about 10 other people in the same room.
5. Showering the Korean way includes being in one big room with a whole bunch of naked women... and I already mentioned being the only foreigner and standing out... yeah...
6. Squat-a-potties take a true skill to use.
7. Koreans eat REALLY quickly.
8. Being the only foreigners getting off the boat in Japan = the only two people to get our bags completely searched.
9. Don't leave the water on when you're brushing your teeth, they don't like that.
10. Japan has the greatest spas... even if they are nude spas...
11. After only 2 days with Koreans, I was more than happy to get home... they are exhausting.
12. This trip was probably one of the greatest trips I have ever been on.

So we took a ferry, and I got a little sea sick... We woke up in Japan. We went to a couple palaces, villages, Fukuoka, Volcanos and stayed at the most awesome resort. Our resort consisted of every room being a dome like building. It was pretty interesting. I would love to go back. I want to see more of the world and I know that these trips are just a small start to the journeys that I will take in the future. I can help but keep thinking about the creator of this world. I was walking down from the volcano in the middle of the Japanese country side, and it was absolutely amazing. I walked down alone, so I had some time to think and pray. Seeing the world just shows me more and more everyday how big my God is and how amazing he is. One experience that really touched me happened the last night. I was laying on the floor in the room reading my bible. There were 3 older Korean men in the room watching baseball. One of them knew English pretty well because he had lived in California for 10 years. Well as I was sitting there, the men started pulling out some beers and drinking them. One of the men asked me what I was reading and I told them. They all smiled and one of them picked up his beer and moved closer to me and asked me if it offended me. I told him no and just kept reading. The room that we stayed in was connected to two other rooms in a way, so when one room shut off the lights, all the lights went out. Well I was reading still and someone in the other rooms shut the lights off. I just closed my bible and started putting it up, but the old man told me no and he stood up to turn on the light, so I started reading again. Well the other room turned the light off again and it made the man angry so he yelled something, but all I could understand was bible and turned the light back on... Well, needless to say, no one turned out the light for awhile after that. It just made me smile that he was standing there trying to keep the light on for me. I really thank God for every opportunity that I am granted with to minister to others. Here are my pictures from Japan.

A Palace and Pizza

On Saturday, I got the privilege to spend the day in Seoul with an awesome friend that I met at SNU. I worked with her for a year in the commons and she now lives in Seoul. We first went to the Changdeok Palace, which was amazing. She told me a lot of the history, which of course I did not know. She was a great guide and I love that I got to see Seoul the way that she showed it to me. We ate at a little pizza place, which may have been the greatest pizza that I had ever had... maybe. Thanks Katie for everything!