Just a glimpse

Baby its been way too long...

I had a really good hair day today. Why is this significant enough to make the blog? Well, my last good hair day (ie. I wake up and it looks good) was July 14, 2007 (yes, I actually made a note of it in my journal). My co-teacher said my hair looked "cool" today when I walked in...I wasn't sure how to take that coming from a 40 year old Korean woman, but she's just so cute...so a compliment it shall be.

I had my lower level after school class this afternoon. It is populated with 3rd graders and low-level 4th graders. They can't spell. They can't read very well. There are some who don't even know the ABC's. But man - we have so much fun! They picked English names at the beginning of the session, so they will now and forever be known as Mark, John, Steven, Andy, Kenny, Kevin, Chloe, Susie, Ann and Tony. Some quick facts about them:

• Mark is cute, well-behaved, and a baby genius...he would follow me to the ends of the Earth
• John is quite mature (for being 8 years old), and very wise...not quite as naive as Mark
• Steven is very smart, and yet...if I had a dollar for every time that kid fell out of his chair...
• Andy is a jerk. So much so that I have kind of forgotten his English name because I use his Korean name (Eun Chan) when I yell at him. He is older, and I think he feels outsmarted by the younger kids.
• Kenny is hilarious and has Chia Pet hair
• Kevin is sweet and uber-cute...he wears a glasses strap every day!
• Chloe is TINY! It's like Honey I Shrunk the Korean.
• Susie chooses to tell me everything in Korean (in detail) and then just keeps barreling on even when I give her the "I'm clueless" look. She then proceeds to repeat everything, only slightly slower. Kinda sounds like what I do all day every day.
• Ann is neither here nor there.
• Tony is adorable, and my only wish is that he could fit in my pocket so I could carry him around with me all the time.

In other news, the Olympic Torch made its way through Seoul on Sunday. After church a few of us went down to City Hall to get a glimpse of the madness. To read all about it and see some pictures, feel free to check out Hil's blog.

I'm not sure how I feel about the whole China/Olympics situation. I mean, Asian pride (represent), but in Sunday school this week we talked about martyrdom and read a story about a woman imprisoned for her Christian activities in China. I'm curious to hear what your guys' takes on it are.

So...many of you have been asking...just when exactly is Jessica coming back to the grand ol' US of A?

Well, the short, uncomplicated story is I don't know exactly. My contract ends on August 24th (4 months away!!!) so I will obviously remain in Korea until then. By law, I am required to leave Korea on that day. But, as our good friends of Semisonic once told us, "Closing time - you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here." So, at this point, I am leaning toward not coming home right away, and just taking some time to travel around so I have some good stories to tell my grandkids someday.

So...when? Well, I can say that I'll be back before November 4th. There's no way I'm gonna miss that chaos.

Asia is lovely, but America certainly is home. So with that said, barring any heavenly revelation, in the words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "I'll be back."

Enjoy your Tuesday - I've already had mine, so I can tell you its gonna be awesome :)

Since when is this ordinary?

I sat down tonight to blog and I went blank. I knew I should blog...its been awhile after all. But for the life of me I could not think of what to write. And for someone who usually lacks the ability to shut up, I found myself in an interesting quandary.

Somewhere along the line, all of this became ordinary to me. Normal, everyday occurrences. Nothing to write home about, so to speak. I mean, I still see and experience really obnoxiously strange things almost everyday. Like on Saturday, Rachel and I were getting on the subway and as we were walking into the car this girl runs up from I don't know where and smacks both of us on the butts. And that is sadly not the first time that has happened.

But instead of getting angry, feeling patronized and objectified, or punching her in the face, I had this thought:

"Whatever."

I don't know if I've become disillusioned or just used to this madness. Or maybe those things are the same. Anyway, Rach and I had a good laugh about it.

For me, Korea has been a mix of things I absolutely love mixed in with things that drive me absolutely bonkers. There has been very little middle ground. I think it would do me some good at this stage to show you some of the things I've become passionate about here:

THINGS ABOUT KOREA THAT JESSICA ABSOLUTELY LOVES:

• My kids!!!

This is a picture of the kids that Ruda and I teach on Sunday afternoons for Sunday School. They are a keen combination of baby geniuses and comedians-in-training. All these kids are from abroad and speak English fluently. Its so nice to teach content instead of always fighting to just be understood. We've got some awesome rugrats!!

I also love my school kids. I started up Teacher Mail again last week for the new 6th-graders, and I got some priceless letters. One girl went on for 2 pages about the boy that she liked...she never did tell me his name though. My favorite letter was from the "coolest" 6th-grade boy in our school (all the girls have a crush on him) which said, and I quote, "I am so happy teacher is from USA!! I want a relationship with my teacher. I love you, teacher!" So...you know this makes me cool by association, right? :)

• My friends!!!
  

Well, I should clarify. These people are not merely my friends. Here in Seoul, we are family. We rely on each other probably more than we should, we fight, we play, we sing Toto's "Africa" in noraebangs, we feed, we eat, we laugh, we worship, we pray, we dance, we live - and we have grown to love each other more than we thought was possible.


We're all so different, from different countries, different backgrounds, different families, different hobbies, different everything - and yet...

"Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith." Galations 6:2, 9-10

I can't imagine my life here without them.

I'll blog next time about the things that drive me nuts...but as for right now...they don't seem as important :)

Whoa.

My how the time flies.

I would like to blame my absence on Korea and its terrible, terrible homicidal germs. I've been 3 different kinds of sick for the last 3 weeks; just as I start feeling better from one, another one kicks me in the face. Viral flu, an allergic reaction to "yellow dust" (clouds of dust and pollution from China that invade Korea's airspace each spring), and another episode of my stomach rejecting random food. I'm so sick and tired of being sick and tired!!!

I guess its partly my fault too - my schedule isn't helping things. I've picked up four extra classes during the week, so I'm currently teaching 26 classes a week. I travel into the city 3/5 weeknights (1 hr travel time both ways) and the weekends are booked solid between meetings, Sunday School planning, and the inevitable socializing with amazing people I don't get to see during the week because of my insane schedule.

As my co-teacher pointed out, I don't really know how to take care of myself. I prefer to think of it as not babying myself, using all of my resources wisely and making the most of my time in Seoul. But I might also be killing myself slowly...must find the elusive dividing line between the two...

But enough whining for now, eh? Lots of things have happened since I last updated, namely:

1) It's spring!
Ah - Korean heart-hands poses - these are all the rage. All cheesy Korean couples do cheesy Korean poses in and amongst the beautiful cherry blossoms that come around every spring. Let me show you a few notable poses:

Pose #1 - The Sniff

Rachel executes "The Sniff" perfectly in a grove of cherry trees, showing a pure expression of joy at the arrival of spring, and perhaps a renewed sense of meaning in the world. Tremendous.

Pose #2 - The Individual Heart

As you can see, Trevor has this pose down to an art. By fashioning a hand-made heart (get it???), Trevor conveys his love for not only spring and cherry blossoms, but also for the woman behind the camera, his lovely wife Rachel. Such emotion.

Pose #3 - The Couple's Heart

This is my favorite pose of the bunch. It takes not only individual artistic skill, but also teamwork in order to execute the perfect couple's heart. You can tell Jeff and Trev have been practicing in the mirror for this one. The look so content in their expression of love toward one another. One can only wonder what their wives are thinking...

*Note: This post serves as partial payback for Trevor and Rachel's shenanigans on my blog a few weeks ago, though I apologize for getting Jeff mixed up in this mess.