Typing at last!

So I am lazy. BUT there is another reason for my recent negligence in updating my blog and or contacting/replying to emails. In short, my duh-duh-duh-Dell is on its last leg. The top row of keys mysteriously stopped working around the middle of July and have failed to revive themselves. This leaves me without crucial letters, and though I tried copying and pasting, that will erode your sanity over time.

So finally today I just went out and bought an external keyboard. It was only 10,000 won (approx. $10) and it has all the Korean letters on the keys as well as English, so its definitely unique. Maybe it'll help me remember how to read Hanguel (Korean writing). Prooooobably not though.

I've been teaching at an English camp for two weeks now and its been a blast. I'm teaching at a neighboring school, and it hosts kids from 5 different elementary schools in our area. So, I've gotten to know a lot of new kids and gotten to spend some extra quality time with the kids from my school I taught all year. One of my favorite kids calls himself "genius", though he spelled it wrong on his camp application, so his English name tag says "Jenius". Oh the irony. He's a cutie.

Today we took them to Seoul Land, which is an amusement park south of the city. Seoul Land reminded a lot of Fun Spot Amusement Park and Zoo back in Angola, IN...though maybe slightly bigger, a lot safer, and WAY more hyperactive children. The kids got to ride the rides for a couple hours, we went on a 3D movie adventure ride where there were 3D butterflies, asteroids, and sharks (during the shark part I screamed like a girl and hid behind Heejin, one of my 5th grade students). In 3D, there is nowhere to run. Or swim.

I ate lunch with my coteachers - they're all terrific people. I've had limited meaningful interactions with Koreans because my school is nearly devoid of English-speakers (though you quickly find out that a lot can be said through warm gestures and smiling...my nickname at school was "Miss Smile", or "Mee-suh Suh-mah-eel" as they would say). At this camp, there are some wonderful people I can actually communicate with. We were all lamenting today about the fact that I'm leaving and we won't have enough time to get to know each other better.

God is changing my heart regarding how I feel about Koreans. Granted, there are still things at the societal level that really bug me, but when you look at just one Korean, instead of the whole mass of them, you get a much clearer picture. On the whole I'm very glad to be going home, but there are very specific things I will miss, including the chance to invest more time into these women.

In other news, Hil and the Crews are leaving in 2 days. Hil will be taking her month-long vacation in America before returning to Korea on the 23rd of August. I'm leaving the 26th (tentatively - the school system I work for...yeah...we'll leave it at that) so I'll see her before I leave. The Crews however, will not be back until September, so I must say goodbye to 2 people who mean a lot to me on Saturday. This is an excerpt from a blog I wrote back last August:

"Yesterday I went to church and it was really neat to worship in a different country. We went to an English speaking service and the worship was so...genuine. Everyone seemed so sincere. It was a breath of fresh air. Hil and I decided we want to start a Bible study, and there are a fair amount of other Christians here, so we might meet up with them. There's one really nice couple, Nate and Jessica, who seem really interested."

God is so amazing. What I didn't know then was that this mere idea of starting something to fill our spiritual needs would grow and grow into a community of believers learning to lean on the faithfulness of God together as one body, in the midst of struggling to survive in a foreign nation. We started with 6; we've ended up with 20+, with about an equal number who have moved on throughout the year. We never asked or claimed to be shepherds, but nonetheless the sheep started coming. And the ministry has not been easy; it has been attacked multiple times and has experienced setbacks because we listened to people and not to God.

But He has been so faithful. In ways that our lack faith could not predict. In ways our nearsightedness could not foresee.

God's will is a beautiful thing. Amen.

Infinite Challenge

Here's a bit of Korean culture for you...this clip is from the extremely popular Korean game show/comedy "Muhan Dojeon" ("Infinite Challenge" in English) featuring my favorite soccer player, Thierry Henry.

"Infinite Challenge has been reported as the first "Real-Variety" show in Korean television history. The program is largely unscripted, and takes a similar form to challenge based Reality Television programs familiar in the West, but the challenges are often silly, absurd, or impossible to achieve, so that the program takes on the aspect of a satirical comedy variety show, rather than a more standard reality or contest program. To do that, as the 6 hosts and their staff continuously proclaim, the elements of this show are the 3-Ds(Dirty, Dangerous, Difficult), which is the greatest on Korean television program." - Wikipedia

Good day to all of you readers out there

It’s hot. Like reeeally hot. Its days like this where I do believe that in fact global warming is a true phenomenon. Either that or some spaceman turned up the sun, in which case he should turn it back down again.

Air-conditioning in Korea (or “Air-con” as they like to call it) is…haphazard. Most places have it, but its like no one explained to these people how to use it. First thing in the morning in our classroom, my co-teacher throws open the windows, throws open the doors, and turns on the AC full blast, as the words of my father echo through my head:

“You’re air-conditioning the outside!!!”

And its not just her…everyone here runs the AC with at least one window/door open. I think it might have something to do with their fear of dust. Also, fan death might be related to this phenomenon. What is fan death, you ask? Well, let me enlighten you…

Before I tell you about fan death, I must warn you that this theory has been accepted by almost all Koreans without hesitation, including medical doctors and physicists alike. It has never been questioned by popular media, and in fact every fan made and/or sold in Korea bears a warning label.

Koreans believe that if you fall asleep with a fan on in a closed room, there is a great possibility that you will, in fact, die in your sleep. Why? My first guesses were along the lines of perhaps an accidental electrical fire due to faulty engineering, maybe spontaneous fan combustion, who knows.

I have heard many reasons why Koreans believe this, and all of them are, in fact, silly. Here are some reasons (as confirmed by Wikipedia):

1. That an electric fan creates a vortex, which sucks the oxygen from the enclosed and sealed room and creates a partial vacuum inside.

2. That an electric fan chops up all the oxygen particles in the air leaving none to breathe.

3. The fan uses up the oxygen in the room and creates fatal levels of carbon dioxide.

4. That if the fan is put directly in front of the face of the sleeping person, it will suck all the air away, preventing one from breathing.

5. That fans contribute to hypothermia, or abnormally low body temperature. As the metabolism slows down at night, one becomes more sensitive to temperature, and thus supposedly more prone to hypothermia. If the fan is left on all night in a sealed and enclosed room, believers in fan death suppose that it will lower the temperature of the room to the point that it can cause hypothermia.

Modern science including the laws of physics and pure common sense will tell you that any Joe Dirt out there could figure out that the mere notion fan death is utterly ridiculous. As it turns out, most fan-death cases can be explained by other medical conditions. But I’d like to see you try to convince a Korean of that.

Remember: for 99% of all Koreans, fan death is real. So the next time you switch off the light with the fan running, think about the consequences. Or just check to make sure your fan wasn’t made in Korea.

Birthday Photo Shoot

~Happy 25th, 23rd, and 24th Birthday!~

This post is dedicated to Hilary, who is incessantly bothering me about updating my blog. So I thought I'd honor her request by promptly posting the pictures I stole from her Facebook album before she gets the chance to. Here's to you, Hi Lary!! <3 <3 <3!!!

On Wednesday during Bible Study, us birthday girls (Jess Crew, Hil and I) decided to have a birthday photo shoot after study had finished. Once we got going, we started having so much fun that it was hard to stop! We were definitely rolling on the floor laughing for most of the shoot. So, without further ado, here are some of the more notable shots!

~Emotion: Hunger? Rage? Nostril flaring?~

~Plotting world domination~

~Gangstas~

~I keep spare change in my collarbone~

~We're so giggly!~

~I love how we're never exactly on the same page...eclectic~

~Something hilarious happened...I think I told a joke about Canada~

~Birthday girls - Saranghae - Korean love~

Happy Canada Day, eh!

This year, a lot of my friends happen to be Canadians (who'duh thunk??) and today they're all celebrating this thing called "Canada Day" which is apparently a holiday marking a significant event in Canadian history. Perhaps independence, perhaps the invention of maple syrup, perhaps the creation of their national ice hockey league - the world may never know. All I know is that it's pretty brazen to stamp your country's name on a day of the year and claim it as your own. Pish posh. We don't call July 4th "America Day".

Oh the art of satire. You hosers know I love yah, eh! Now somebody get me a brusky...

This week marks a "Perfect Storm" of sorts here in Korea: in one week's time, we have Canada Day (July 1), Hilary's birthday (July 1), Jess Crew's birthday (July 2), my birthday (July 2), and AMERICA DAY (July 4). Ordinarily, any one of these events would cause a celebration including but not limited to noraebanging (karaoke), dance parties, youtube karaoke, fireworks, cake, minigolf, bowling, etc. But we have a PENTA-BIRTHDAY, and I have a feeling things are gonna get outta control - fast.

So we're all going up to Jen and Cory's place in Ilsan for a BBQ on Saturday. Phe-NOM- enal.

I can't wait to sing "Alone" by Heart again. I think it was the song I was born to sing.

Next topic - I don't want to jinx things...but I may have my tentative post-Korea vacation and home arrival date scheduled. Drumroll, please:

D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D--D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D-D

August 26 - Leaving Korea (Annyoung suckas!!), traveling to Auckland

3 weeks in New Zealand (everywhere)

1 week in Australia (either based in Sydney or Melbourne, not sure yet)

2 weeks in Indonesia/Bali/Lombok/Gili Air
October 13 - Arriving in Chicago, jetlagged outta my mind

Now this is all dependent on whether the company who employs me (the Korean government) can successfully manage to do what they said they'd do. Korea excels in many things, but organization and/or efficiency are not two of them. My mind is boggled every 34 seconds. I'm pretty sure the IRS works more smoothly than the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education. There are some things I will miss about Korea; there are some things I DEFINITELY won't.

After all, this is coming from the girl who alphabetizes assembly line ingredients for omelet parties and calculates weekly pancake-per-hour consumption rates in order to maximize ease of service and minimize waste. And that's just BREAKFAST.

So, God-willing, those are my travel plans. I'll be traveling with Trev and Rach, so I know I'll be in good company.

Better get to bed soon - I have an open classroom lesson tomorrow - fun way to celebrate turning 23, eh? Wah waaaaaaaaaah.

Love you - miss you - thinking of you - praying for you.