Seoul Searching

The Lost Writings

2009-03-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

September 27, 2008 – Gili Air, Indonesia

The sea breathes here. And in a boat perched atop her chest, we go up and down, up and down. There are geckos everywhere. They talk, too. Not to me, per say, but maybe to each other. I can’t be sure after all. Rachel says the chickens talk, too. But I’m not sure who has more to say.

The Lost Writings

2009-03-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

September 20, 2008 – North Stradbroke Island, Australia (Adder Rock)

Climbing slowly, barefoot with sandals in hand. The rocks are sharp sloped and sandy. How far should I go? Just up and over, close to the spray but yet out of her salty reach. A flat spot for sitting is found as I pick shells off the rocks and send them flying to the sea. The tide is coming ever closer – will I be trapped? Stranded on Adder Rock with nothing but my sandals? To Hell with it. The tide and I are friends, and I am confident that it will not sacrifice me to the sea.

What to do on a rock, floating just above the waves? Sing songs, of course. Songs I haven’t sung for ages are whipped by the wind, carried off to no one in particular. I am alone, just me and the tide and my sandals – perched atop Adder Rock – quite simply, the only place in the world I want to be.

The Lost Writings

2009-03-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

September 15, 2008 – Surfer’s Paradise, Gold Coast, Australia

I want a dream. I want a reckless desire to do something radically out of the ordinary. I’ve never stuck with a dream for very long. It has always been, sooner or later, forfeited in favor of a reality. My head in the clouds with 2 feet firmly planted on the ground. Hope and I have never gotten along. We are fair-weather friends at best, coexisting when it’s easy; no sooner the tumult of emotion comes and we throw each other to the wolves. I cannot hold onto it and it cannot carry me. We must part ways.

I wish it was different. I wish I could live in the hopeful expectation of future desires, but I can’t. My 2 firmly planted feet won’t allow me to fly. I’m stuck between knowing and hoping; between the promise of the freedom and the reality of the chains. And when my dreams fade, it is because I let them go, like a yellow balloon from a child’s hand floating up and up into a cloudless sky.

The Lost Writings

2009-03-14T21:06:00.000-07:00

September 7, 2008 - Christchurch, New Zealand

The last few days have felt so cold. I can’t tell if it’s because of my sudden departure from a sweltering Seoul summer or the fact that I haven’t packed properly for this weather, or a combination of the two. We left Kaikoura yesterday afternoon; it rained all day Friday and it was miserably cold. I took 2 hot showers in an attempt to warm up, but neither worked very well for very long.

It was funny just how miserable I was all day. All my clothes were wet which added to the cold misery. It rained all day which made the 2K walk back to the city an impossibility. And so there I was, stranded – wet, cold and hungry.

Out the windows was the harbor, a surprisingly aqua color in the midst of the bleak rain. It was one of those days where houses, roads and people alike appeared grey and dismal. And yet – the sea. Her color could not be dulled.

It’s on days like this that I get the urge to fly. Not because I want to escape the miserable weather, but because I know that somewhere up there, it’s a beautiful day, and I’m aching to go find it. When I was younger (and I must admit that I still do now), I felt superhuman, escaping the confines of atmospheric sadness to sail high above to a place where the sun was always shining. The sun is always shining, you know, whether or not you can perceive it.

The next day I got up early in the morning to schedule my bus ticket. I happened to glance out the window as I walked into the dining room.

Overnight the rain and clouds had lifted, and across the harbor were the most beautifully majestic mountains I had ever seen. In a matter of hours they had appeared, and yet – they had always been there.

The Lost Writings

2009-03-14T20:57:00.000-07:00

September 1st, 2008 – Wellington, New Zealand

Today we visited the Botanical Gardens. It’s August here, and that means winter. Though not as spectacular as a summer day perhaps, the walk was beautiful nonetheless.

It’s amazing to me how nature never really dies. Granted, in individual cases, yes, but think on a larger scale. Though it was winter, though the conditions seemed inhospitable, there was life. I could smell it all around – new, untouched air.

I once heard a sermon while I was in Seoul about how nature is still serving the purpose that it was created for – to glorify God, to reflect His beauty and His character; to call people to see and to know and to believe. Humans, of course, God’s prized possessions, fell from that top shelf long ago, and we no longer fulfill the purpose to which we were called. But nature remains. It still calls; it still draws out an admiration for a beauty we are unable to replicate no matter how hard we try. And even in a photograph it dulls, and falls flat.

Living in Seoul gave me a new appreciation for beauty, simply because there was none around me. I lived in the middle of a concrete wasteland, devoid of grass, lush trees and really any wildlife to speak of (save for pigeons). Next to God’s creation, our fumbling is filth. And we are filling our world with it. Slowly we are chipping away at the God-ridden gift of nature. Not only have we fallen, but we are determined to take creation down with us. In Seoul I had dreams about beautiful mountains, rivers and lakes only to wake up aching to experience that same beauty again. God is so alive there, in nature, present in every painted petal and oozing out of the trees like sap.

Maybe this is so clear to me now because I was without it for so long. I feel like there’s a meter inside of me, a rain gauge of sorts that fills with beauty of Creation. Last year I experience a drought. And now, with the small amount of rain I’m experiencing, it awakens and renews the part of me that before Seoul, I never knew was there.

While walking through the gardens today, I noticed a few things. There were some flowers in bloom that looked perfectly beautiful, as though they were not at all hindered by their hostile surroundings. There were some that looked to be on the verge of blooming, very much alive and full of potential. There were blooms that were wilting, that had perhaps seen better and easier days. And then there were the dormant creatures; not dead, but not blooming either.

I couldn’t help but think of my spiritual walk as I physically walked through this garden. I thought of my year, and how Korea had been my winter, my hostile environment, my season of discipline and learning. And I wondered which of those plants I was. Did I bloom fully in spite of my circumstances? Did I show potential and readiness to spring to life at a moment’s notice? Did I start out strong but ultimately wither and begin to show signs of defeat? Or did I go dormant altogether, not dead, but unwilling to do anything but wait out the storm?

To be completely honest, I fell into all of those stages at multiple times in Korea. There were moments I felt alive and blooming, but there were also days when all I wanted to do was close everyone out and hide from the pain. There were days I sought God’s will and there were times I wanted nothing to do with it. And there were moments I felt beautiful, but there were hours and days when I felt completely empty.

The achievement...of a lifetime.

2008-11-04T12:36:00.000-08:00

Today, I conquered Mt. Nostalgia.

What is Mt. Nostalgia, you ask? Well, it is the aptly named teetering towering mountain of crap accumulated from various move-outs (college, DC, Korea) that made its large and in charge presence known to anyone foolish enough to set foot in my room.

When my mom went in my room yesterday, she screamed. Literally - screamed.

You see, Mt. Nostalgia was growing so tall, mostly from debris accumulation (ie. I kept throwing stuff on it) that parts of the exterior were starting to sheer off in giant erosive landslides. Fearing yet another disastrous avalanche, this afternoon I decided that it was time to conquer the beast.

Now, most people (I'm talking about women here - when's the last time you saw a man sorting anything?), when faced with the task of sorting through items of sentimental value, will get about a quarter of the way into the sorting process only to get swept up in the sweet, sweet memories of years and times gone by.

This reminiscing is DISASTROUS to the sorting process and will not only lead to a decrease in sorting efficiency, an increase in time spent, but ultimately it could derail the sorting process altogether, because she decides that 'memories are too precious to just throw away' so back in the closet go the wedding programs, the heartfelt cards from people she hasn't talked to in 21 years and the stub from the first movie a boy took her to.

I, however, think these women are crazy.

With a few exceptions, I take ruthless pleasure in discarding mementos of my past. Now, please - don't get me wrong. If you have been one of the people who sent me a card or made me a handmade woven potholder featuring a picture of you and me holding hands, I want to say that I do, indeed, treasure these artifacts. I sincerely do. Thank you so much for giving them to me, and when I read them or gazed upon them I truly felt loved, and they may have even brought a tear to my eye. And I'm sure I re-experienced that emotion today when I re-read or re-gazed upon your gift right before I re-cycled it with the rest of the paper products in my closet.

Its just that I hate - I HATE - being weighed down by things. I like my possessions to constantly be whittled down so that if I needed to flee the country in 24 hours, I could. Call me crazy, but this thought enters my mind many times as I drift off to sleep: "Could I pack everything I own into 3 suitcases?" "What would I leave behind?" "Did I leave my hair straightener on?" "Do I even need a hair straightener?" "What if I had to leave but it was still hot?"

So that's why I throw your stuff away. I'm really sorry. I don't throw everything away - I usually keep one card or note (the most poignant and touching, of course) from each of my friends as to have physical proof of your love for me. These help on the lonely days.

So, in conclusion, you guys are the best. And please don't refrain from telling me how you truly feel about me in card or letter form. I promise I will treasure your words, just as long as they're more touching and/or poignant than the other card I have from you, which will be dis"card"ed immediately upon receiving the new one.

Saranghaeyo~ <3 <3 <3

PS. I included a picture because a couple great bloggers once told me that my blogs tend to have a lot of "words" and that people tend to enjoy blogs with pictures as to keep their visual interest...so I hope you enjoy my selection.

PPS. I think writing satire is quite possibly my favorite thing to do...

Home

2008-10-23T19:09:00.000-07:00

I have been home for 16 days now.

And now I will tell you why being at home is AWESOME.

1) There are people here who STILL REMEMBER ME!!! (Praise God!). It may seem silly and irrational, but in my worst moments I couldn't imagine why anyone would want to maintain a friendship with me - I literally came back expecting to re-connect with about 4 people. I have been floored at the awesome talks and lunches and coffee chats I've had with friends since I've been back. God has been very generous in giving me so many meaningful friendships...I could talk with you guys for days!

2) My family has been WONDERFUL in allowing me time to decompress and readjust to my surroundings. And they've all been so patient when I slide into my "Well, in Korea" this and that, and even though they don't understand fully what it was like, they humor me by listening to my strange and foreign tales of the Orient. I was very worried that I wouldn't feel comfortable sharing my experiences with people because the second I mentioned something they couldn't relate to, their eyes would glaze over and I'd be left feeling stupid I'd brought it up. That hasn't happened at all (Praise God!).

3) We have a stocked pantry, so I have been fully able to exercise my culinary freedom! So far I have made oatmeal butterscotch cookies, steak and bleu cheese salad (with fresh tomatoes and basil from the garden), and Korean sigumchi namul (wilted spinach with sesame seeds), amongst other things. I also went to the Oriental supermarket to buy chunky juice and made my family try it. It tasted like sweet subway memories...

4) I HAVE SHOPPED SO MUCH!!!! Hilary warned me of this phenomenon...but after not being able to shop for 14 months, what's a girl to do? Plus, its good for the economy, so...you can thank me later.

5) I have never appreciated this before (maybe I'm dense), but Indiana is beautiful in the fall. Yeah yeah I know the billboards, the strip malls, the suburban sprawl...complain all you want. The Indiana I see is full of trees that explode with color, pumpkin stands along the side of the road, the smell of bales of straw and bonfires in the country and the crunching sound of me tossing my cousins into piles of freshly-raked leaves.

6) Two words: Taco Bell.

And I could go on and on...brevity is not my forte, you know. But I shall stop here.

Who knows how long I'll be here. But that's a statement all of us can make. No matter how firmly we plant our feet in this world, our existence here is temporary. No matter how closely we cling to people, to places, to traditions - they will all disintigrate as dust in our hands.

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever."

~ 1 John 2:15-17

I'm afraid of tricking myself into thinking I don't need God.

I'm afraid I will cause Him to manifest (in my mind) into a "conceptual" deity, rather than the fully real and honest Presence I experienced in Seoul.

I want my journey to be experiential, not just intellectual or emotional.

I don't want to get stuck in the mud of complacency.

So...I love being home. And its good for me to be here now. But I must keep my eyes on my real home. And I must not refuse Him who is speaking.

The Long Road Home

2008-10-05T06:02:00.000-07:00

After a year in Korea and 6 weeks traveling the world, I am officially packed and ready to go home.

Feels weird, but good. I am ready.

I'll post my Bali and Lombok pics when I get home - I had a great, relaxing time! If only every day could be filled with beautiful snorkeling, picturesque sunsets and dinners on the beach...

But I'd trade 'em in any day for a trip home.

So here I come! See y'all when I get there :)

Nothin like a Straddie Vacay

2008-09-20T02:26:00.000-07:00

Yikes - it's been a few days since the last update! That's because I spent the last 3 days here:

~North Gorge at North Stradbroke Island, Australia~

And their internet cost $8 an hour! But the good news is that the beaches were FREE!

After getting back from the Gold Coast, I had noticed a blurb about an island just across the bay from Brisbane that was remote, peaceful and beautiful - North Stradbroke Island - so we decided to try it out for a few days. They had a lovely backpackers hostel called Manta Lodge where we stayed with in the good company of a few locals and a kind Canadian named Paul who ran the place.

~Our lovely accomodation - YHA Manta Lodge at North Stradbroke Island, Australia~

The hostel also featured a dive shop (as seen in the picture above) where you can take day trip to snorkel or scuba dive around the island. Usually the waters around the island are host to some exciting species of fish and marine life, such as sea turtles, manta rays and grey nurse sharks. Also in the early spring, you can see dolphins and humpback whales as they make their annual migration from Antarctica to warmer waters.

~Manta ray & diver~

North Stradbroke Island - or 'Straddie', as the locals call it - is host to several unspoiled, fairly deserted beaches that look like something out of a pirate movie. The waters are crystal clear and the waves are HUGE! We went swimming Friday afternoon and it was exhausting just keeping up with the waves pounding the snot out of you every few seconds. We were in water up to our waists and the incoming waves towered well over our heads!

~Surfer at Cylinder Beach~

After we got back from the beach, Paul told us about a surfer who had been surfing over at Main Beach around the same time we were swimming at Cylinder Beach (about 2 km apart). The surfer noticed a shark tailing him, so he went in and told the lifeguards, who hopped on their jetskis to chase the shark away. Apparently, the shark came back later and made himself known to the surfers, so they had to close the beach. Paul said the unusual thing about the shark was it was much more aggressive than the usual sharks around the area - and that it was much larger too. The lifeguards speculated it was either a tiger shark or a great white - neither of which are common in the area, except during the month of the whale migration.

~Main Beach at North Stradbroke Island, Australia~

I'm just glad I heard about it after I had been swimming...I wouldn't have gotten NEAR that water if I'd heard about it before!

Now we're centered in Brisbane city for a few days. I head off to Bali on Wednesday morning, and there will be no updates from Indonesia through the rest of my trip because there's only sporadic internet on the islands. Maybe I'll sneak one update in somewhere, or maybe at one of the many airports (Bali, Taipei, San Francisco or Detroit!) I'll be traveling through on my way home.

Until next time, cheers mate!

Summer again!

2008-09-16T04:15:00.000-07:00

Hey y'all -

We arrived in Brisbane yesterday morning, and in a spontaneous move decided that we didn't want to really be in Brisbane - we'd rather be at the BEACH! So right now, and for the next few days, we are stationed at Surfer's Paradise (that's the town's actual name) right in the middle of Australia's famed Gold Coast, where the beaches are extensive and the sand is white as snow.

The weather has been perfect so far, and we're looking forward to a few days of sitting in the sand and playing in the waves.

I don't have time to leave an extensive report, but hopefully I will later on this week. Before I forget though, I'll give you the answer to last week's puzzler. The question was:

"What does the following phrase mean in Aussie English: I've chucked a sickie and I've got my budgie smugglers, now I'm ready to hang ten, mate!"

The equivalent phrase is:

"I've called in sick to work ('chucked a sickie') and I have my Speedo ('budgie smugglers' eeeeeewwwwwww), now I'm ready to go surfing (hang ten), my good friend (mate)."

Thanks to all of you who played along :) Until next time!

American

2008-09-12T02:31:00.000-07:00

Lately, this fact has come to my attention:

I am an American.

As obvious as this statement sounds, it has only been brought to my attention in the last year or so. Before then, it didn't matter. When I was at Purdue, in a group I identified myself by what I studied. And then in DC, I identified myself with where I went to college. And then in Korea (amongst friends), it was by my home state. Amongst my colleagues and students, it was by saying I was from "near Chicago" (because they had no idea where Indiana was). And finally here, circling the globe amidst travellers from every corner of the world, I have simply become "American".

This makes me uneasy. Am I proud to be American? I'm still figuring it out.

I would venture to say that almost everyone in the world (who has access to the global news) cares about America. They care about the President. They care about the election. They care about the war. I can't escape it. The mere mention of my nationality brings up heated debates among people who haven't lived there, can't vote and generally have no voice to be heard in the situation.

And I'm expected to defend my country and my people. My label is "American", and it represents something that 95% of the world either disagrees with or finds fault with. Some of the time, I agree with their complaints. Some of the time I laugh it off. After all, there's not much I can do but listen to them.

But I can't seem to find the line between between loving my country and loving "being American". Other citizens can love their countries; if an Italian man is proud to be Italian and defends such a right, he is patriotic, perhaps even noble. If an American is proud to be as such and defends America, many times he ends up looking like a jerk.

I love my rights. I love my freedoms. I love my opportunities and my big, American dreams. I love that literally, anything is possible. I love that I belong somewhere. I love that I have a home. I love that there are people who stand beside me and defend me. I love that I have a voice and that I am heard.

And I appreciate the people I meet and the people I call friends who have grace for America and its sons and daughters.

So, after all of this processing, I still don't know if I'm proud to represent all that America stands for.

But I am certainly not ashamed to call myself "an American".

Down Undah

2008-09-10T03:55:00.000-07:00

So far we've spent 3 days in Sydney, and its been a whirlwind. I literally cannot believe how fast this vacation has gone! Next Monday marks the halfway point, and by then we'll already be in Brisbane!

Australia is not what I expected it to be. Granted, my expectations were along the lines of Crocodile Hunter meets Crocodile Dundee meets kangaroos and wallabies. There are much fewer crocs in Sydney than I had anticipated :)

On one hand, being in Sydney is really like being in any other city. There are lots of people (LOTS of non-natives here), big buildings and touristy things. However, Sydney is impressively green. There are SO MANY parks and a HUMUNGOUS Botanical Gardens area. It makes walking through the city a relaxing experience. Not to mention such impressive sights as the Sydney Opera House and the Harbour Bridge.

Another thing I've noticed that sets Sydney apart is that these people LOVE to exercise. All the time. Day and night. I tried to count the runners I saw when I was walking through the park to get downtown today and I stopped at 150 after walking about 20 minutes. People also kickbox in the park and bike everywhere. I was (and still am) highly impressed with their disciplined regimens, however, I often wonder to myself:

"Do these people ever work?"

Yes, of course they work. At least I'm pretty sure...

And now, a short Aussie vocabulary quiz:

Take a guess at what the following Aussie phrase refers to. NO CHEATING! (No cunning either, for all you Koreanites)

"I've chucked a sickie and I've got my budgie smugglers, now I'm ready to hang ten, mate!"

I'll post the answer when I get 5 guesses. If you guess right, I'll buy you a wombat. Or a boomerang. Or some budgie smugglers.

Cheers, mate!

The Christ in Christchurch

2008-09-07T00:45:00.000-07:00

Today was our last day in Christchurch; tomorrow we'll be leaving (at 4:15 AM - YIKES) to fly to Sydney. We'll be spending a week there, and then we're off to Brisbane. JCrew and I used to sing "The Prayer" by Josh Groban and Charlotte Church in the noraebang in Seoul, so I've got some good experience under my belt. I hope it wows the people at the Sydney Opera House :)

Today was (and still is) Sunday. Its the first Sunday we've had on this trip where we've actually been able to attend church. We did some research and found an evangelical-ish church in the center of the city. The message was interesting (I'm still chewing on it) and the church seemed really community-focused. Overall I think it was a good experience, though it reminded me that church is about community, family - and I'm still missing my Seoul church family.

More than wanting to hear a moving speech, more than wanting to sing good songs, I want to worship amongst people I hold dear. I want to surround myself with family and with one voice worship the Creator. So the service today didn't exactly fill what I expected it to. As it turns out, the empty "church" slot in my week yearns to be filled with people, not a place.

After church, I walked to the grocery store to buy food to cook with tonight. As I passed the main square I saw a man holding a sign. The sign was ranting about the church and about Christians and next to him on the ground was a Bible. He was encouraging passers-by to literally stomp on the Bible. And there was a group of about 4 teenage girls around him who seemed all the happier to oblige.

As I walked past the scene, I was surprised to find that I wasn't angry. Granted, what they were doing was quite offensive, but my reaction was not anger. I wasn't stirred with a "How dare they!" attitude. I was surprised to find myself quite sad for them.

If I took a copy of "Green Eggs and Ham" and stomped on it, I don't think Dr. Seuss would give a hoot. Even if I wrote a book, which someday I hope to do, and someone spat on it, ripped it to shreds, poured gasoline on it and lit it, I don't even think I would be that upset. This is because their action cannot destroy my work, just as my proposed offense could not destroy Dr. Seuss by simply destroying his words on paper.

I thought of the verse: "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12

The Word of God is. It has been for thousands of years. If I write the word "Hello" on a piece of paper and you rip it up, the word "hello" still exists. I was (and still am quite frankly) perplexed of the motives of the whole incident.

And that's what brought the sadness, wondering what they've experienced in their lives to make them so determined to spite God and all the believers who witnessed their act. Is their anger against Christians? Probably. Our seemingly "hypocritical" natures often deserve that. Is their anger against the Church? Maybe. Against parents who pushed their beliefs onto them? Or is it against their own feelings of guilt that come as a result of their rebellion?

What a heart-breaking sight.

And while the pages crumple and tear, the azure blue sky simply exists, and brings more glory to God that they could ever take away.

Kaikoura musings

2008-09-04T20:56:00.000-07:00

Hello!

We have successfully navigated our way down the east coast of New Zealand and have arrived in Kaikoura, a beautiful beachside town about halfway down the south island. I can't help but imagine how much more beautiful this place is in the summertime - its cold (about 50) and rainy today and the sea is still strikingly aqua in color and stunning to gaze at from inside our nicely heated backpackers' residence.

Kaikoura is typically known for its seal colonies and whale watching tours. For awhile this morning there was a seal perched on a rock not too far from the front window of the kitchen. As Trevor bundled up in preparation to go capture this cute pup on film, he promptly swam away (the seal, not Trevor). Perhaps he had a lunch date.

In addition to seals and whales, there are large numbers of dusky dolphins and a variety of birds here as well. Though Kaikoura is, in numbers, so much smaller than Seoul or any other place I've lived in, I can't help but feel that it is so much more alive. I can't explain it, but there is a harmony here that resonates into a soft, peaceful atmosphere. I'm reading The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, and at one point he says:

If you take nature as a teacher she will teach you exactly the lessons you had already decided to learn; this is only another way of saying that nature does not teach. The tendency to take her as a teacher is obviously very easily grafted on to the experience we call ‘love of nature’. But it is only a graft. While we are actually subjected to them, the ‘moods’ and ‘spirits’ of nature point no morals. Overwhelming gaiety, insupportable grandeur, somber desolation are flung at you. Make what you can of them, if you must make at all. The only imperative that nature utters is, “Look. Listen. Attend.”

There is comfort existing in a place that says to you, "I am bigger than you. I have existed longer than you. And I will continue to exist even after you have gone."

Kia Ora!

2008-09-01T00:58:00.000-07:00

'Allo from New Zealand, mate!

We are currently in Wellington, NZ. We flew into Auckland last week, and from there made our way to Rotorua (the Maori cultural center/geothermal hub of NZ) where we spent a couple days, and then yesterday we hopped on a bus and cruised 7 hours south to Wellington, a pleasant harbor-side city full of history and fun free things to do!

Some of the most impressive things so far:

1) Waiheke Island (Auckland, NZ) - Stonyridge Winery

~Leaving Auckland by high-speed ferry for a day trip to Waiheke Island~

~A view of the vineyard - this is the greenest place I've ever seen!~

~Unfortunately, August in NZ is winter...so there were no grapes :( ~

2) Wai-O-Tapu Geothermal Zone (Taupo, NZ)

~This area is the most active geothermal zone on the planet~

~The flora of this area was so unique, due to the generally inhospitable environment produced by the mineral-rich geothermal pools~

~All of these pools were near boiling temperature - and brightly colored due to the various mineral deposits present~

We're currently in the process of exploring Wellington City; today we visited the Botanical Gardens and the world-famous Te Papa Museum, an AWESOME interactive museum covering everything from the driving geological forces behind the formation of New Zealand to the rich cultural history of the indigenous Maori tribes that once lived an isolated life on these remote islands. We learned so much today!

So far Wellington is my favorite place we've visited. Its got a blend of visible, preserved history and a modern attitude, where the people are friendly and there are lots of places to explore.

We're slated to take a ferry on Thursday morning to the South Island, where we'll finish our trek through NZ with stops in Kaikoura and Christchurch before heading to Sydney on the 8th. In Auckland, the temps hovered in the 55-65 range during the day, and about 50 at night. As we head farther south, it gets colder and colder! Right now its about 45 outside and its 8:30 PM. By the time we get to Christchurch, it'll be even colder...quite the shock coming from a Seoul summer to a New Zealand winter in only 12 hours!

Please pray for our safety and our relationships with each other - so far we're having a blast! 1 week down, 5 to go!

Kiwi Travels

2008-08-27T00:28:00.000-07:00

We officially made it to Auckland bright and early this morning! Its about 60 degrees here...quite the change from Seoul summer weather. So far I've noticed some differences:

1) People here dress normally
2) People here are uber-friendly
3) People here speak English (PTL!)
4) People here eat a lot of Kebabs (there are Kebab restaurants EVERYWHERE)
5) Though bigger than Koreans, people here are generally still smaller than North Americans
6) People here don't stare at me

Also in the Incheon Airport as we were getting ready to leave Seoul, we saw:

1) Japanese Olympic Sumo Wrestling Team
2) The one - the only - BOBBY KNIGHT (probably coming back from the Olympics...he was carrying golf clubs with his buddies); I wanted to ask for a picture but there were a lot of chairs in the vicinity and I was fearful

So far, so good here in NZ. We'll be traveling around here until the 8th of September, when we fly to Sydney.

Before I close, I would like to mention that our Backpackers Hostel is smack dab in the middle of the "Korean" district of downtown and that this Internet Cafe is also a Noraebang. Oh Korea - I tried to escape you, and yet you follow me even here.

Hope all is well - miss you guys!

Oh what a year...

2008-08-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

I'll be leaving Korea on Tuesday! I can't believe as of Sunday I've been here for a WHOLE YEAR! How did I survive?

ONLY (and I mean ONLY) by the GRACE of my LORD and SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST.

This experience wouldn't make sense any other way...and it would be completely devoid of the life-altering meaning that it now carries. This year wasn't a job, it wasn't a trip and it CERTAINLY wasn't a vacation (haha).

It was a MISSION.

Korea refuses to leave you unchanged; it demands adaptation, perseverance, flexibility and humility. I feel so different than when I started. As much as I came to carve out a life for myself here in the big city, it was God who carved me into someone who is more me than I've ever been.

Whereas I used to brace myself, panic-stricken, in the back of the cab for the inevitable result of my driver's seeming "recklessness", I now shout at him "Ajoshi! Ka juseyo! Bali bali!" which means "Old man (polite term)! Drive! Hurry hurry!"

Whereas I used to go white with fear at the mere prospect of having to communicate with someone who most certainly didn't speak English, I now understand that, just like spiders, they're probably just as scared of me as I am of them. And I realized that a little humility goes a long way.

Whereas I used to turn up my nose at the mere idea of "fermented cabbage", I now eat kimchi like its going out of style, and seriously fear for my digestive system's health without it.

Whereas I used to "know" that God was with me, I have spent the last year learning that He is always there.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." ~ James 1:2-4

To my new Seoul family, to my church, to my students, to my fellow teachers and co-workers, to those who have helped me, encouraged me, taught me, corrected me, loved me -

I will miss you so much. I love you and I'll see you again, perhaps in more beautiful world than this one.

To Korea -

Kamsa hamnida ^.^ Jeonun chamchi kimbap eol joa hamnida. Mashi sseumnida.

Another great spa experience!

2008-08-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

Last week I redeemed my birthday present from Rach (a gift certificate to a spa in Itaewon). I couldn't decide between a massage and a pedicure...so I wound up splitting the difference and getting a foot massage. This experience was interesting, ranking on the interesting scale somewhere between the acupuncture incident and the Hong Kong acupressure massage incident.

First of all, I don't know what to think during a massage. I cannot shake the feeling that this experience is, in fact, weird. I mean, I just met this person. Don't know their name, where they're from, if they're licensed, if they've ever spent time in the clink, nothing.

And if the weirdness isn't enough, I feel uber-pretentious the whole time. Like "I have enough money to pay someone to rub my feet" which to me no amount of money should justify rubbing someone's stinky smelly feet (not that mine are like that...mine are quite nice actually). I just want to apologize the whole time.

So on this particular occasion, the foot massage seemed like a good idea. That is, until I remembered that I am quite ticklish. But of course by that point, it was far too late to do anything about it. On top of that, it HURTS when someone presses on the bottom of your foot! I literally spent an hour trying to stifle the laughter/screaming that was trying to shimmy its way from my brain out my mouth.

For the record, I have never, ever walked out of a massage thinking "Wow - that was so relaxing!" I usually walk out limping and whimpering like an injured animal. Geez - last week my wrists were stabbed repeatedly with needles and it didn't hurt half as much as that.

Also got my travel shots a few days ago - Typhoid and HepA. HepA made my tongue go numb and Typhoid made every muscle in my body feel like I got run over by a bus. The doctor suggested I get malaria pills but I told him that a few years ago I got bitten by a spider and felt this tingling powerful feeling and since then I've kind of felt...superhuman...so I didn't think malaria would be a problem. Actually I've just heard terrible things about them, and I've done research and I don't think I need them. Please pray I don't get malaria.

Leaving Korea in 11 days, God-willing! CRAZY!!

Flying Seoul-o

2008-08-15T05:20:00.000-07:00

I am so proud of myself that I thought of that clever title. As of late, my English is disappearing faster than the Statue of Liberty on a David Copperfield prime-time special. My friend Jung-mi says that Korea brain-damaged me. Other people are starting to notice. I gotta get outta here!!!

I'm in my 2nd week (of 3 total) of vacation. Except for a few days scattered throughout the year, this has been my only real down time. It's nice to have most of my days free. People have been leaving sporadically, and now I'm down to a few precious friends on my speed-dial. Hil is gone, the Crews are gone, Jen and Jeff are gone to Mongolia, Becky, Vanessa, Ali, Will, Ruda moved to Ilsan (so he's basically left the country), and Katrina and Rach were in Hong Kong this week (they're actually stuck in Macau right now...prayer for their safe return before their visas expire on Monday would be greatly appreciated).

My life is like a reality show where one of my friends gets voted off every couple days.

I've had some good times of prayer as of late. I think God is teaching me how to pray...I used to be all intellectual about it. Now that my big words and intellect have taken a holiday, I can't hide behind them anymore.

Something else I discovered is praying out loud. I've always been a proponent of verbalizing thoughts...in your head everything is so nebulous and hard to pin down. Something I learned in DC this summer was how to journal my "self-talk" in moments of anger or pain. If you've never done this, I encourage you to. "Core lies" you believe about yourself will manifest themselves onto the piece of paper where they're much more easily dealt with than when they're swimming around willy-nilly in your head. Don't knock it til you've tried it!

Currently reading "The Reason for God" by Tim Keller. Excellent read.

Gonna continue cleaning/packing/pulling my hair out now! :)

Dinner

2008-08-05T06:58:00.000-07:00

-Whole grain crackers with peanuts and toasted sesame seeds-

-Peach yogurt-

-Special K Red Berries-

-Soy milk-

-Toasted seaweed-

This might be the greatest meal ever...only thing missing is kimchi.

Typing at last!

2008-07-31T04:54:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-15T05:23:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-15T02:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-07-03T07:23:00.000-07:00

~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!

2008-07-01T05:54:00.000-07:00

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.

Okay okay!!!!

2008-06-19T04:14:00.000-07:00

Just received my third email threatening me with bodily harm if I don't update my blog, so I guess its about time!

I haven't blogged in so long because of a myriad of things...being just generally exhausted (I like to call it being "Seoul-Sick"), stressed because of ridiculousness at school, and really just at a loss as to what to blog about I guess. You know, my life is way more interesting to you than it is to me! I've really been in a funk of missing people lately, too. I've always been bad about telling people that I miss them...so if I haven't told you, it doesn't mean I don't miss you! I really miss you I promise!!

Ever since June hit, I've started to look forward to going home more and more. Life here is about endurance, and I feel like I've hit the wall. My body has started rebelling against the stress, and some days I feel like I have to go completely numb to deal with everything. I don't like reverting to that place of numbness. It takes me back to a time in my life when I had to hide from everything...and that's the same feeling I have here a lot. I'm tempted to just curl up into a ball and wait out the storm.

Here's something I'm learning: Sometimes I hear people sharing what's going on in their lives, and its really tough for them, but after they finish sharing, they'll slap on that pained smile and throw a "But I know God is in control" into the mix to round things out. This has really started to get to me here.

Sometimes, life sucks. Legitimately, it sucks. And sometimes, we can't see out of it, we can't see the light, we know in our head that there is hope but it is not tangible; we know we should trust God more, but the fact that we've already doubted His will for our lives only throws us into a guilt-ridden depression. And suddenly, the suffering I'm experiencing is my fault, my doing, my problem for letting myself not rely on God's truth. How can I be this stupid?

I know the Truth. I know God has a plan. But that doesn't change the fact that sometimes, life sucks. And its okay to admit that. It shows vulnerability to admit to others that you don't have things taken care of, that for once in your life your ducks aren't all in a nice row. I've got problems. We all do. And sometimes, I'm not okay. Sometimes I feel like a failure in my relationship with the Lord. A lot of times I feel like the suffering I experience in my own life is my fault because of my failure to live up to the spiritual standard I set before myself. And almost all of the time I wonder why He still comes after me.

But He always does. And though I may doubt, though I may feel a certain way, none of that can change the reality of His mercy, compassion and faithfulness. My lack of faith cannot destroy God or His love for me.

"Answer: Merciless, Insatiable, Awe-Inspiring"

2008-06-01T03:42:00.000-07:00

"What is: 3 adjectives to describe Jessica on the Putt-Putt course, Alex."

So in lieu of our normal Bible Study on Wednesday night, we decided to spend some quality time on the course playing a round of friendly mini-golf. Little did they know that I've spent every summer for the last 6 years honing my skills at Putt-Putt Golf N' Games back in my old 'hood.

Ahh...Putt-Putt Golf N' Games...let's hearken back. There was nary a more rundown miniature golf course in the entire city; situated between an Arby's and perhaps some kind of auto repair shop, the greens hadn't been green in years, the paint was chipping off of all the "realistic-looking" animal statues that were there to intimidate novice golfers, and inevitably the holes were always full of stagnant water even if it had been weeks since the last rain.

**I must note that in recent years the course has undergone a dramatic renovation and now has a fresh coat of paint, new equipment, and la-creme-de-la-creme, a 15-foot propane volcano that fires every 10 minutes and scares the crap out of everyone trying to putt within a quarter-mile radius or so.

So my story is a Cinderella story of sorts...I spent countless hours with high school friends (and especially Nicole and Jarod) practicing my short game and afterwards going inside to the arcade and playing the big rig game (who doesn't love drivin' truck??) and the wordsearch game...yes...the wordsearch game...did I mention that I'm a nerd? Just in case you didn't know...

So when we went to play Putt-Putt this week, I felt pretty confident. Actually our whole team felt confident. This picture can prove it:

~Team ANNIHILATION~

All in all we had a really fun time - we climbed the animal statues, sword-fought with the putters, danced, sang, and actually managed to play a little golf too. I shot a 43, which was 7 over Pro Par, and 2 under Amateur Par. So that puts me somewhere between a pro and an amateur...Hil and I tied for first, and Jess C. came in a close second at 44. That was enough to give Team ANNIHILATION the gold medal for the evening.

Sometimes, I wish I was good at something more important, meaningful or valuable than miniature golf. Like bowling.

But I suppose, you take what God gives you.

Medical Adventures Pt. 87

2008-05-19T03:50:00.000-07:00

I had another visit to the doctor last week. I know it probably seems like I'm under medical supervision quite frequently, but you know if I would just get a clue and stop texting when walking down stairs and eating cheese, I could probably save myself some money.

So this time, I went off the deep end and decided to visit an Oriental Medicine doctor. Every time someone at my school gets sick they go to the Oriental Medicine doctor and get miraculously healed, so I was curious. Korean people are quite robust, and robust-ness is something I could use a bit of, so I headed to the Oriental Medicine doctor to see if he could prescribe me something to fix that.

Actually, a few years ago I snapped my neck around on a rollercoaster (Hi Nicole! Please blame your husband.) and ever since my head has felt annoyingly heavier, so much so that my neck sometimes has trouble holding it up. Some might suppose that emptying some of the useless facts out of my head (my nickname is "Wiki" or "Jess-o-pedia") might make my head lighter, but I'm afraid I might need all this extraneous knowledge someday when playing Trivial Pursuit.

So off I went to visit the only Western-certified Oriental Medicine doctor in all of Korea - and guess what - he's not even from the Orient!! He's Austrian. Like Arnold Schwarzenegger. After talking with him, he wanted to run a gamut of tests, and seeing as my afternoon was free and Korean medical tests are ridiculously cheap, I obliged.

The first thing I was subject to was an MRI. Now, this MRI was not covered by insurance, but you couldn't find a cheaper MRI test on Ebay. For those of you who haven't had one, basically you lay on a bed that slides into this big machine that uses radiation to get pictures of your internal-ness.

Usually people's biggest concern with having an MRI is the fact that the space you have to inhabit inside the machine is ridiculously small and coffin-like. I, on the other hand, am claustrophillic, the opposite of claustrophobic. I loves me some small spaces. I grew up sleeping under the covers and I hope to someday drive an ultra-compact car. To me, being buried alive actually seems like a nice way to spend the afternoon.

No, my particular concern regarding the MRI was given to me by the attendant-man just as he was about to slide me into the machine.

"Two important things for test," he said. "Number one - be still. Number two - only swallow when I tell you to."

Wait...I thought swallowing was a reflex. Like blinking. Don't swallow? That's like telling someone not to think of a pink zebra or their brain will explode.

Kablam.

"Well, what if there's an emergency???" I asked. He laughed and buckled me in. Glad this was funny for him.

Meanwhile I'm strategizing just how exactly I'm going to pull this off. He said there will be eight 2-minute episodes where I'm not allowed to swallow.

I thought about everything good in the world to keep me from swallowing. I thought about lying on the beach with a cold drink and a book before I reminded myself that I don't read and that fantasy was entirely implausible. I then began to panic, because I felt my throat muscles poise themselves for action and I knew the swallowing could only be stopped by my amazing powers of distraction. I ran through happy memories, relived past moments of laughter and contentment, and when things got really bad, I thought of my future children.

I am not trying to be dramatic; all of this actually happened in my busted-up head. I am indeed strange-r than I had previously deduced.

So after the MRI, the doctor decided to twist my limbs around (he called it "manipulation"; I called it "awkward") in an effort to contort my body back to its natural state. Some things popped, so apparently he was successful.

And then, the creme-de-la-creme, was the acupuncture. The acupuncture actually cost about $5. He would ask me (at points, seemingly ridiculous) medical questions and if I said yes, he would stick a tiny needle in some part of my body. TMJ? Two needles in your jaw. Digestive problems? Needles in the foot. Headaches? Two needles in the hands. When he put the needles in my hands, I told him that he had missed, and that my head was up here.

So after laying around for about 15 minutes, needles sticking out of me, looking like Frankenstein, the nurse came in and took the needles out and told me I could go. I started to put my jacket on when I felt a shooting pain in my shoulder. I looked down and saw two needles sticking out of my trapezius. I push the call button.

"Yes?" she says, rounding the corner. I point. She gasps. I smile. She apologizes. I smile. She takes them out. I continue smiling. She goes away.

I go to zip up my coat and feel another stabbing pain in my chest. I look down and see a needle fully jabbed into my sternum. I push the call button.

"Yes?" she says. I point. She gasps. Etc.

So between being zapped with radiation, twisted into a pretzel, and stabbed repeatedly, I actually feel a lot better. And to think I had reservations.

Teacher's Day

2008-05-15T03:54:00.000-07:00

-Rethinking the name of my blog...-

Today here in Korea it was Teacher's Day. Teacher's Day is the holiday where parents usually send extravagant gifts strapped to their tiny child's back to school in order to curry favor with their teachers. It probably started out as a nice way for people to appreciate teachers, and then as Korea grew in economic stature it became more and more of a competition amongst parents as to who could give the most money/biggest gift/largest bouquet of flowers.

I heard a story from my friend Michelle (who works in a private tutoring academy) about how parents were expected to contribute roughly $300 per student in order to get the teachers adequate gifts...thankfully the director of the academy refused to allow this, but in a surprisingly bold move decided that teachers at the academy would not be allowed to accept any gift of any kind on Teacher's Day. Not even so much as a lollipop. Poor poor Michelle.

I didn't expect much at my school, because first of all I'm just a subject teacher (and Teacher's Day is more about honoring and appreciating homeroom teachers), and second of all, most of my kids come from not-so-well-off families, and a lot come from single-parent families. So when I didn't get anything first period, second period, third period, fourth period...it didn't come as much of a surprise.

I was a little disappointed though...my co-teacher got tons of handmade cards (most with a PS at the bottom that said in Korean "Tell Jessica Teacher I'm sorry that I can't write in English"). Heck - I would've loved even having cards written in Korean, but I guess it wasn't in the cards (PUN!!).

I kind of half complained to my co-teacher about the students blatant neglect to appreciate the services I provide to them...and that's when I got my butt kicked. I think God likes to do this to me.

About 10 minutes before my low-level after school class started, a sixth-grade student (Han-su), whom I rarely interact one-on-one with, came into my classroom and gave me a simply yet nicely-wrapped chocolate bar.

-Han-su's gift-

And then my cute-as-all-else 3rd grade boys started to file in for class, and Kevin handed me a beautifully-wrapped package with a hand-written note on the front:

-Kevin's gift-

-Tag: "Seonsaengnim (Teacher), Kamsa Hamnida (Thank you)"-

It was soap! I never quite know what to think getting soap as a gift. Simple gesture...or subtle hint? But it was lovely. And so is Kevin!

-Handmade soap from Kevin-

Then Mark skipped in holding a wrapped package for me and delightfully shouted "Happy Teacher's Day Jessica Teacher!!".

-Wrapping paper on Mark's present...surprisingly grammatically accurate!-

No more had I taken hold of it when he exclaimed "It's CANDY!". So much for the surprise...he just couldn't contain himself! :)

-Coffee candy from Mark-

And THEN to top it all off, Tiny Tony bounces in with a bouquet of carnations and wildflowers, hands them to me, and says in his little munchkin voice "Teacher - thith ith for you!" So precious.

-Tony's gift - carnations!-

This is something I'm learning:

My thought process usually goes like this: I've worked for it - I deserve it, right? But then I don't get it...and don't get it...and don't get it. And then at my breaking point I whine and complain about the fact that I've worked hard and I should get what I want. And God reminds me that the reason I work is NOT for the rewards of this world, not for gifts, not for admiration, not for money, not even for love...and just as I come to accept that, He gives me Tiny Tony with a bouquet of flowers he had to carry around all day to wait until English class at 2:00 just so he could give them to me.

And its in the moments I'm least deserving of anything good, its in those moments I feel His blessings and love, stronger than in the happy moments, in the comfortable moments. I'm almost getting used to feeling like a fool.

Maybe baby's growing up.

I'll leave you with this Matthew Henry quote I happened upon this week:

"We need affliction, to teach us submission."

Prayers,

Jess

PS. Today for lunch, we had mystery-meat nuggets. I can access the lunch menu on my school's website, so I usually try to look up the Korean words and figure out what I'm about to eat before I walk into that arena of the unknown. My first attempt in the online Korean dictionary gave me "earthborn". The second dictionary gave me "nuclear power plant" and "allosaurus" amongst a wide array of other responses. So...I'm still not quite sure what I ate...perhaps organic radioactive dinosaur nuggets...

Adventuring

2008-05-13T03:34:00.000-07:00

-Bulguksa Temple, Namsan Mountain, Gyeongju, Korea-

Last weekend, all of Korea (and probably most of Asia) celebrated Buddha's birthday (AKA Bu-cheo-nim). According to my favorite source (Wikipedia) Korea is about 34% Buddhist (with Christians a close second at 30%).

Even though that number seems high, I would venture to say that most of the "professed" Buddhists here aren't very active, at least from what I've seen. I would definitely NOT call Korea a Buddhist society. In fact, I would go so far as to say that Korea is one of the most materialistic societies I've visited. So I don't see the whole Buddhist connection thing. But I did get the day off work, so chalk one up to Buddha.

So I decided to join some of my friends who were going to hoof it to Gyeongju for the long weekend, just to relax and visit some of Korea's historic-ness. I got up at dawn's early light and made my way to the Express Bus Terminal, arriving around 7 AM. As it turned out we weren't the only zealous adventurers to plan a Gyeongju visit...and the earliest bus we could get was to leave at 10:50 AM. So it was off to McDonald's for a nice leisurely breakfast and coffee.

Gyeongju Trip Realization #1: Korea needs Denny's and IHOPs. Koreans' idea of breakfast is rice, kimchi and side dishes, which also happens to be their idea for lunch and dinner. I just want some PANCAKES!!!!

The bus ride was LOOOONG...like 5 hrs long...and my time was spent alternatively having deep discussions with JCrew, trying to make her laugh and pee her pants (because the bus driver refused to take a rest break until 3 and a half hours into the ride), and trying not to get bus-sick due to the TREMENDOUSLY warm temperatures and stale/smelly air inside the confines of our hot and stinky motorcoach. But I was with good company, and we laughed a lot.

Gyeongju Trip Realization #2: I think Korea has taught me to make the best out of uncomfortable situations...mostly because it has put me in a lot of those situations, and there's nothing to do but get absolutely stressed, irritable and irate or just laugh and laugh and laugh at the complete ridiculousness of what you're experiencing. Just take a deep breath and enjoy the view, mon.

So we got to Gyeongju around 3:30, ate and wandered around after dropping our stuff at a little hotel near the bus terminal. Much to my surprise, Gyeongju looked an awful lot like...Pardeeville, Wisconsin. Just a few lazy streets and a Piggly Wiggly...or in this case a Korean equivalent (it was the first normal-looking grocery store I've seen in months!)

For the first time in a loooong time, I was in a town, surrounded by one-to-two story buildings - no high-rises!! There were farms just outside of the tiny town. The town itself was DOMINATED by infamous "Gyeongju bread" factories and shops. Much to our dismay, all of the bread in Gyeongju is filled with Korean red bean paste.

-Gyeongju Bread shop-

-Red bean paste...YUCK!-

-Finished product-

Gyeongju Trip Realization #3: I will never, ever learn to like red bean paste. I have learned to like seaweed. I have learned to like cucumbers. I have even come to love stinky fermented bean soup that smells like smelly sweaty gym socks. But red bean paste...I just can't do it. I guess I'm not as strong as I thought I was.

We talked for a long time in a nice coffeeshop that took us FOREVER to find...we were wandering the deserted streets screaming "Suh-taaah-bucks isseoyo???" (literally: "Starbucks is there???"). We talked about EVERYTHING. Literally. I think we solved all the world's problems, and it only took about 3 hours. It was cool to just sit back and ponder the incredible goheffity of our world's current situations.

Then we headed back to the motel...I wanted to go to the Shampoo NightClub that was next to our motel, but I was outvoted. Us girls talked for a long time and then finally it was lights out.

Gyeongju Trip Realization #4: I love, love, LOVE sleeping on the floor. I would rather sleep on a Korean sleeping mat, called a "yo", on the floor than in any bed any day of the week. Especially with the heated floors they have here...pa-ra-DISE!

Sunday morning we went for breakfast and by the time we met up with Nate and Erik we found that they had rented scooter-like motorized devices. They were kind of like a hybrid of a kids' scooter mixed with a Hoveround. They were very proud of their new toys. We'd been trying unsuccessfully to rent scooters all weekend and no one would rent them to foreigners...so we were getting desperate. We had some fun in the morning cruising around the city.

-I believe this to be the single greatest picture of Jessica Jo Crew to exist on the planet Earth.-

-Erik taking Alicia for a spin-

Then it was off to Bulguksa, the famous Buddhist temple near Gyeongju where there was supposed to be good hiking and nature-ish things. The bus ride was...interesting. Let's just say that Alicia has the physical bruising to prove it.

-Part of Bulguksa Temple, Namsan Mountain, Gyeongju-

We hiked to the top of Namsan mountain (Note: there is also a Namsan mountain in Seoul...basically the name Namsan in Korean just means "South Mountain"). Its peak is at about 500m (about 1640 ft.). We made it up in about an hour and a half. The hike itself was either uphill or stairs the whole way (it was a mountain after all).

When we finally made it to the top, we looked around and saw about a billion people. We saw babies, women in heels, old ajummas and ajoshis, the elderly, the disabled, and the generally ill-prepared-for-hiking-looking-people. It was then we realized that you can just drive to the peak, and that you still have to pay to get inside to see the famous historic relics.

My exact words when I realized that were: "Ahhh!! BLURG!!!!"

But we did take in the view for awhile at the top - it was beautiful! We could see the Sea of Japan and the other mountains in the area. We could smell the clean sea air, and the sun was shining brightly. For just a second, the billion people sharing my mountain melted away and it was just me and God's beautiful creation. I breathed in and knew that this natural beauty was what I had been missing living in ol' dirty Seoul...it was just what I needed!

-View from the top of Namsan Mountain, Gyeongju, with the Sea of Japan in the distance-

Gyeongju Trip Realization #5: A few weeks ago I had a dream. In this dream I was on vacation in a place that was naturally spectacular and stunning...and I remember waking up craving to see beauty. I took nature for granted in the States...I took for granted the ability to be alone in the woods, walking along a lake, or just reading on the grass. None of these things are generally possible here. I miss solitude. I miss chosen alone-ness. It has been replaced by loneliness, or solitude's jerk of a second-cousin.

After climbing back down, eating dinner, and taking a much less treacherous bus ride back to the town, we hung out in our motel room and played cards for a few hours before Erik and Alicia headed to the train station to make it back to Suwon. After they left, things were pretty quiet...Nate and I played Go Fish, War, and I taught him how to play Manipulation. The next morning, it was off to the bus terminal bright and early to head back to the concrete jungle in which I dwell.

The bus ride back was MUCH nicer, we had seats that reclined and had footrests. We had A/C and a nice and timely rest break. And it took only 3 hours. I actually slept...I think thats the first time I've ever slept for more than 15 minutes on a bus or plane. Nice.

So all in all it was a good time spent with good friends. We laughed a lot. A LOT. It was so nice. Now I just gotta make it to Busan sometime...

Until next time~

JB

PS. Thanks to Eric for taking these pictures and posting them on Facebook so I could mercilessly pillage them and use them as though they were my own.

PPS. Congrats to all you new college grads!!! WELCOME TO LIFE! If you're having trouble finding a job, Korea's always looking for teachers :)

Toothbrushes

2008-05-02T04:15:00.000-07:00

Much to my dismay, I’ve retained the song “All that She Wants” by Ace of Base in my head for going on two weeks now. If I don’t consciously keep it within the confines of my head, I am liable to start singing it at random times (in front of my kids, in front of my Bible Study, in front of my pastor). The strange thing is that I haven’t heard this song in years. I think I saw the name in a noraebang a couple weeks ago, and that’s all it took. Apparently I am highly impressionable, which I thought I grew out of, but no. I think I will be a lump of clay for the rest of my life.

In other news, I bought a new toothbrush. Now, I’ve spent my whole life using toothbrushes given to me for free by my dentist’s office…they even say “Rumbaugh Dentistry” on the handle. But…then I thought about it…how do dentists make enough money to buy you those free toothbrushes? I believe this can be explained in a theory I like to call:

The Colgate Correlation Theory

At least in my case, the toothbrushes that my dentist gives away at the end of his consultations are probably the lowest quality toothbrushes on the market. It would probably be better for me to brush my teeth with my finger (which is so gross…that is NEVER a substitute for real brushing people). The bristles have the tenacity of tall weeds, easily stomped upon by any hiking toddler, or in this case, my teeth. It takes approximately 4 uses for my new toothbrush to be rendered aged beyond its years (not to mention a veritable Petri dish of gross mouth bacteria). In my pervasive naivete, I never knew that toothbrushes could offer more than that.

However, this week I made an investment. Instead of buying the cheapest toothbrush in the aisle, I decided to try one of those designer brushes, the ones designated not by size or color, but by an extraneous model number that causes us to hearken back to years past and feel just how far modern technology has taken us.

Yes - I bought the 2080. Made in Germany. Powerful. Dominating. Unwilling to yield to plaque.

After using this brush for only a week, I am astounded. Its shape and stature have been retained. The bristles show no sign of wear. It does not shrink back on the shelf. It stands tall, because it knows it’s making a difference in today’s world, and because the handle is so big it doesn’t quite fit in the toothbrush holder.

So what does this have to do with my dentist’s toothbrushes? Well, call me crazy, but I believe that my dentist gives out crappy toothbrushes for just that reason – they’re crappy. Low-quality. Glorified toothpicks. Why give your customers cheap toothbrushes? So their teeth will rot in their head, and back back back they’ll come to get more hardware in their mouth just so they can chew their Cocoa Puffs without crying. So, next time your dentist offers you a free piece of dental equipment, think twice about accepting it. It may prove to be your undoing.

Perhaps that’s enough theorizing for now. Go out and buy yourself a nice toothbrush, would ya?

Just a glimpse

2008-04-29T03:59:00.000-07:00

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?

2008-04-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

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.

2008-04-11T03:51:00.000-07:00

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.

Some light reading...

2008-03-31T05:37:00.000-07:00

Here are two really interesting articles published in English newspapers recently here in Seoul:

Married to a Stranger: Wives Build New Lives in South Korea

Resurrection and the Korean Church

Sooooo tired...going to bed...hope to have IWE 10th Anniversary Celebration pictures up soon :)

Blog Hackers!!!

2008-03-24T04:06:00.000-07:00

As I was walking out of my dear friends Trevor and Rachel's lovely flat in the heart of Seoul on Saturday night after spending a relaxing night with Rachel playing Dutch Blitz, eating strawberries and chocolate and teaching their dog, Kimchi, how to roll over on command, I had a fleeting thought:

"Maybe I should've logged out of my Gmail account..."

You see, Trevor and Rachel are undeniably clever. And they mostly use these powers of cleverness to take advantage of unwitting Gmail users who decide to check their email while spending extended evenings at their apartment. Since my blog is part of my Gmail account, I was also left logged into my blog.

Which, in the Olsons' world, is a very dangerous place to be.

I am not the first person to acquire a blog of praises about (and of course written by) Trevor and Rachel. Which means, I should've been more careful. Hence the fleeting thought about logging out. But I drowned that fleeting thought in reassurances of how trustworthy and loyal they are. They are, after all, Canadian.

But not so. So let me take this moment to officially declare war on our maple-syrup making, ice hockey playing, horseback riding neighbors to the north. To Trevor and Rachel:

Life is like a game of chess; one must play with calmly and carefully calculated moves. And I do believe its my turn.

In other news, I'm reading an incredible book. Did she just say "book"? Yes I did. It is a compilation of messages from the 2006 Desiring God conference, featuring such amazing dudes as John Piper, Voddie Baucham, D. A. Carson, Tim Keller, Mark Driscoll, and David Wells. The name of the book is The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World. I actually found it in a bookstore here in Seoul, but the good news for you is that you can read the whole thing online for free! You can click the link above and download it in a PDF file.

Some of the chapters are really academic/theology-oriented, and some are more like sermons or presentations. So far my favorite chapters are Voddie Baucham's and Tim Keller's. I really encourage you to check that out if you're the type to be interested in such things. Doing Sharing in the Union last year gave me a lot of insight into but also frustration regarding postmodern attitudes amongst American youth. The book has shed some light on things for me, which has been helpful.

Anyway, hope all of you had Happy Easters! From me to you~ Sarang Hae (Korean love)!

Jess

When will you learn...

2008-03-22T06:36:00.000-07:00

We'd like to introduce ourselves to you!! We're Rachel and Trevor Olson and we would like to tell you why we are so GREAT! First of all we danced on Broadway, well Rachel did. Trev just posed for the picture.

We are great!! Really! We'll prove it. Let us list the ways in which we are great!

1. We are HOT! Just ask Becker she'll tell you!
2. We have really mad skills...You know, like nun chuck skills, bow hunting skills, computer hacking skills... Girls only want boyfriends who have great skills. Ummm...
3. We have a super cute dog.
4. We are Canadian... and yes, that is a good thing!
5. We don't like to brag but we do have pretty nice teeth!
6. We are exceptionally talented.
7. We are smrt!
8. We're pretty good at drawing, like animals and warriors and stuff. In fact we're probably the best that we know of.
9. Everyone loves us.
10. We have the sweetest pad in Seoul!!

***We just want to give a warm thanks to Jess for leaving herself logged into G-mail on our computer and allowing us the privilege to make a post about how great we are.

Happy Monday

2008-03-17T05:02:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe that I'm entering my 30th week in Korea. It's hard for me to process the journey I've been on as its happening, but as of late my brain has reached full capacity and consequently has begun to summarize and generalize some themes of experiential learning I've been subject to over the past 7 months. Here are some life lessons that are being acquired at this very moment:

1) I crave stability. More than anything else here. I feel like a butterfly (you'll have to forgive me...I've watched "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" DVD in every class since last Wednesday and I've got butterflies on the brain apparently) who has the God-given ability to fly and an intended destination, but also must take the wind into account. The winds are strong here in Korea, and they blow different ways on different days.

I like predictability. I like patterns. I like consistency. Being surrounded by external factors that defy those things has taught me that back home I was finding my stability in my circumstances, in the comfort of relationships and familiar problems and challenges - things that appear stable on the surface but are really only man-made substitutes for a solid foundation. I'm excited - the house of my identity is being rebuilt - but that's another metaphor for another blog.

2) I'm impulsive. If there was one biblical character I could compare myself to as of late, it would be none other than Peter. I totally get him. I'm headstrong and stubborn. I want to fight every battle. I feel like God has given me a very strong passion to see His Word preached accurately and honorably all over the world. However, when I see something being taken out of context or being preached in a way that I don't agree with, I get IRATE. And I'm not the kind of person to get mad. Ever. But its like I become the Hulk or something. People have to hold me back. So yeah...I should figure out why that's happening...get that under control...yikes.

3) I want to know everything. And I mean everything. If I ever have a "wondering" (like..."I wonder why September is called September using the Latin prefix meaning 7 when its the 9th month?") it takes me less than 24 hours to acquire the answer, because I am motivated to be knowledgable. However, I recently noticed that I tend to ask God in prayer a lot that He would reveal His plans to me or give me some indication of knowledge regarding certain issues. Man, I gotta let go of needing to know. I just gotta start doing stuff.

I had this thought the other day: It's as though God tells me that He's got a project for me, and on the morning I'm supposed to start working on it, He gives me a hammer and a some nails, gives me instructions for my day's work, and leaves me be. And I'm like, "Hey God - what am I building? What am I building? What am I building? What's this? What's this piece of wood for? Is this oak? Spruce? What's this for? Can you teach me how to use this again? When's lunch?"

God - I praise you for the patience you have shown me. I would have fired me long ago.

Cute story to leave you with before I go:

Today I was walking home after school and just about to cross a major road when I saw one of my fifth grade students on the other side of the street, also waiting to cross towards me. And as soon as that pedestrian walk signal flashed on she bolted out to me, and in the middle of the intersection yelled "Jessica Teacher!! I looove you!!" and gave me the biggest hug I've ever gotten from someone under 4'6" right there in the middle of the crosswalk. Hilarious and awesomely special.

Also, one of my fifth grade boys told me today that he thought my hair was beautiful. His actual words were something like...

"Teacher! Hair is...you beautiful!"

My whole life is finding meaning in random pieces of language. Its like a giant jigsaw puzzle. My days are like extended brainteasers. I love it! :)

Korea - Still Strange, Still Oddly Endearing

2008-03-08T05:28:00.001-08:00

Our school's second semester started on Monday, which means that I get new 3rd graders. Something that always strikes me about Korean kids is that they're so small! There are two reasons for this: 1) Koreans are generally smaller people than Westerners (Men are generally about 5'6"-5'8", Women are 5'0"-5'4"), and 2) Koreans have a special way of counting age.

When a child is born in Korea, on the day of his or her birth, the child turns one year old. So, a one-day-old child here is called a "one-year-old". All Koreans celebrate turning one year older on the same day (Lunar New Year - Usually sometime in February). So, if you have a kid on the day before Lunar New Year, after the Lunar New Year he/she will be counted as two years old, even if they're only 2 days old. So, though my new third graders are "9 years old" in Korean age, that makes them really about 7.

By the way, in Korean age I'm 24. Soooo weird. Where did 23 go? I was never 23. I turned 22 in July, came to Korea and suddenly I'm counted as 24!

I don't want to be 24 yet :( I think I have a Peter Pan complex or something..."I won't grow up!"

I got a new co-teacher on Monday (a BIG answer to prayer!!!) and she's so nice! Her name is Yu-Sun. Sometimes we just talk and talk about our lives...she is 40 (Korean age...) and just had a baby. She talks to me a lot about how difficult it is to have a baby when you're older; she also has a 14-year old daughter who gives her grief, so she's got a lot to talk about these days. I love it that she feels comfortable enough to talk to me. She is always so surprised that I can understand her even though her English isn't that good. I'm like, "Lady - its my job. I do it everyday."

Some of my former 6th-grade students came to visit me on Friday after school. Emily, Sunny and Anne came to tell me that middle school is NOT fun and that they want to come back to elementary school. I said "Well duh." Sarah came back to get her penpal's email addresses...so, Mom or Christine, if you get an email from your penpal, it is authorized :) I asked them if they have a foreigner English teacher at their middle school, and they said yes, that it was a man with a ponytail from Washington. I asked them if he was as cool as me, they said of course not, so I gave them some candy and then they left...I miss them :(

Today I spent with Hil, Eddy, Ruda, Alicia and her boyfriend Eric. We had lunch at a Japanese place in Yongsan then Ruda and I had to pick up some kids Bibles and other materials from a Christian bookstore for Sunday School. In the midst of everything we decided to try some Korean food that none of us had been brave enough to try on our own: beondegi.

Beondegi is basically roasted silkworm larvae. There are street vendors everywhere that roast the little buggers right up on the street corner. Traditionally its a children's food. Now, here's something about Korean food: 95% of Koreans love all types of Korean food. There really aren't food preferences here; everyone likes everything. However, the main exception I have heard about is beondegi. And when you can find Koreans that strongly dislike a certain Korean food, you know it probably leaves something to be desired. Like a piece of gum.

So we think, why not try it together on a sunny Saturday? We bought a whole cup of it and each ate one. The reactions varied from unpleasant facial expressions to Eddy wretching in the street. "I just lost Fear Factor," he said when he returned. To me, it wasn't too bad. I thought it tasted a bit like roasted soy nuts. Lots of protein. Nice earthy taste. They did kind of explode in your mouth though...and that wasn't at all pleasant.

But it's not like it was the first bug I've eaten. I'm not sure I should be bragging about that.

Hopefully I'll get Hil's video of it up soon. But for now, it is past my bedtime :)

Funny story

2008-02-26T04:06:00.000-08:00

Just a quick amusing story, courtesy of my amazing 4th-graders:

Today I was teaching my 4th grade class about world geography (ie. the English names of major world countries) and I had a powerpoint I made that featured the flags, presidents, and famous landmarks for each individual country.

I got to the Russian slide (which had the word 'Russia' in bold letters at the top), and I had a picture of the Kremlin and St. Basil's Cathedral as the famous landmarks, similar to this picture:

And when I asked the question: "Where is this building?" one of my students in the back shouted:

"DISNEYWORLD!!!"

And I thought about it...and it really does kind of look like Cinderella's castle...

It was also hilarious to watch them try to pronounce the presidents' names...I started fairly easy (Korea, China, Japan, USA) and then slowly moved into more difficult names (Italy - Giorgio Napolitano, Germany - Horst Kohler) and ended with the South African president Thabo Mbeki. Everyone was rolling on the floor laughing by the time we finished.

They also died laughing when I told them that Parliament's clock in England was called "Big Ben" (and then they proceeded to call the big kid in the class Big Ben), when someone pronounced Tony Blair's name as "Tony Bear", and when I told them that one of the presidents in Mount Rushmore's first name was Teddy. It was a funny day :)

FYI

2008-02-24T08:01:00.000-08:00

For those of you with Skype that have made unsuccessful attempts at reaching me, you'll be happy to note that I work half-days this week and will be available to Skype after 1PM Korea time (11 PM Indiana time) each day this week.

If you don't have Skype, its free to download - we can instant message for free and you can make computer-to-computer phone calls for free as well, provided that you have a headset w/microphone.

Oh - and one more thing - I definitely saw David Beckham tonight as his motorcade was pulling into the Westin Chosin parking lot. And in case you're wondering, though I cannot prove it, I have reason to believe that when 8 and 5 are added, the sum will most likely be 13. That last sentence is for Rachel :)

Delightful Adventures of the Orient

2008-02-23T07:44:00.000-08:00

Just got back from Hong Kong a couple of hours ago. And...it...was...AWESOME!

Hong Kong is an amazing blend of western and eastern cultural elements due to the fact that up until 1975, it was a British colony (even though its attached to mainland China). Its got all the flavor of Asia coupled with the efficiency and cleanliness of Europe. I was in heaven.

Hong Kong has the longest skyline of any city on the planet - it was truly beautiful to look at! We stayed with our friend Candice who we met when she was working in Seoul last year. She provided a nice place to stay and lots of advice on what to do with our time in HK. So here's a brief (haha) synopsis of what we did for 5 days!

-Lantau Island (Wednesday)-

Lantau Island is located in the westernmost part of HK. We rode the Ngong Ping 360 cable cars up to the Ngong Ping Village at the top of the mountain. Its an incredible ascent (and descent on the way back down) that takes about 30 minutes, giving you spectacular views of Lantau Island and the South China Sea.

-Mong Kok Ladies Market (Wednesday)-

The Ladies Market is the shopping mecca of HK. Everything is CHEAP! I bought so much I could barely fit all of it in my backpack coming home.

-TST, HK skyline lights show (Wednesday)-

TST (Tsim Sha Tsui) is located just across Victoria Harbour from the HK skyline and most nights they do a coordinated light show highlighting the skyscrapers with lasers and neon lights.

-HK Disneyland (Thursday)-

The happiest place in Asia! Hil and I couldn't pass up the chance to go to Disney on our vacation, could we? We spent the afternoon acting like the kids we are and ran around riding rides, meeting characters and trying to get a tan (it was 75-80 in the sun...perrrfect).

-Causeway Bay (Friday)-

I was on my own on Friday, so I decided to pamper myself in HK's "beauty" district of Causeway Bay. First I got a manicure in a really shady salon on the third floor of some abandoned-looking warehouse (just call me "Captain Street-Smart"). It was actually really cheap and my nails still look nice 2 days later, so we'll put that in the win column.

Second, I was walking along the street looking at an advertisement when an old lady comes up to me and shoves a paper in my face telling me about a salon where I can get the works, and I think I said "okay" and the next thing I know, she's got me by the arm and is dragging me into the building and into the elevator, and then she drops me off at some random office where people in white coats are busy looking very official. I end up getting my eyebrows done (again for very little money) and it turned out well. Shady experience number 2, also a win.

So I'm feeling pretty good about things by the time I pop out of the salon, and I decide to find a place that offers trigger point massage or reflexology (which I had seen signs for). Now this is a major commitment of at least $150HK...actually that's only about $20 US, so I blinked twice before deciding that I needed to get a massage.

I find myself another establishment (this one looking slightly more legit than the last two) and wander up. I decide on the acupressure massage (70 minutes) and expect to spend that time being fully and utterly relaxed.

To more accurately describe the experience, let me share with you an applicable quote from the award-winning sitcom, The Office:

Michael Scott: "The Japanese have this thing called shiatsu massage, where they dig into your body, very hard. And it is very painful. And apparently, some people throw up. But the next day they feel great. I’ve never had one. They sound awful."

I think I may have accidentally ordered that massage. Its been two days, and I feel like someone ran me over with a Pepsi truck. She beat the crap out of me. I think she must have been Bruce Lee's daughter or something. I am bruised. Bruised. Ow.

So apparently the massage was a little too legit for my liking. Should've picked somewhere more sketchy. I live and I learn.

So that's our vacation in a nutshell, save for two days of traveling and side activities. It was nice to breathe clean air for a few days and enjoy warmer temperatures. I will miss the trams, the sea air, the trash-free streets, the correct English grammar/spelling, the general atmosphere of efficiency, and certainly our lovely hostesses, Candice and Angie.

I have to go put a heat pack on my back now.

HK

2008-02-17T06:04:00.000-08:00

Going to Hong Kong for a few days...be back on Saturday.

I'm really excited!!!!

Traveling prayers appreciated :)

Zai jian! (...bye in Chinese...)

Jess

More writing for you

2008-02-12T03:45:00.000-08:00

"Trusting God is an intricate process. We throw those words around so freely that they’ve lost any meaning. How can I trust God if I don’t trust anyone else? How can I trust God if I’ve never fully trusted anyone? What does it mean to trust? We live in a world that tells us that we must be strong enough to fight our own demons.

Everyone’s got problems. Its as though everyone enters this world an unbroken mirror, and from the moment we are born we are shattered, and we will spend the rest of our lives trying to put ourselves back together, inevitably damaging other people in the process. We feel something that tells us that we were once whole, and that somehow everything will be alright if we can just get back to that state. And the sad truth is that we can’t go back. At least not on our own.

We’ve all heard about people striking out to “find themselves”, to learn more about themselves, and to ultimately try to find peace about who they think they are. Our whole life will be a ceaseless quest to try and find out who you were before that mirror hit the ground. We get glimpses every now and then, but something keeps us from ever being able to put it all together.

This is a different idea that the popular notion of today’s post-modern society that advocates “being okay with who you are now”. This idea suggests that we merely accept our state of brokenness, knowing that we’ll never get back to our original state. I wholeheartedly agree that accepting our brokenness is the first step towards healing and being at peace with who you were created to be. But the problem is that for many people, that’s the only step they take. Instead of acknowledging that persistent tugging at the heart that says “You were meant for more than this life”, we give up. We know we can’t do it on our own so we throw in the towel. We’re busted – what’s the use? I might as well enjoy being busted if there’s no hope. And so I keep destroying myself, and the pieces get smaller and smaller, until there is nothing left but dust.

Hello Narcissism!

2008-02-10T05:43:00.000-08:00

Rachel tagged me for a Meme. What's a Meme, you ask?

"Meme asks us to tell you 6 quirky, random or inconsequential facts about ourselves. The rules for meme are: (1) Link to the person that tagged you. (2) Post the rules on your blog. (3) Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourselves. (4) Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs. (5) Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website."

I am usually opposed to these blog shenanigans. However, I will complete this task because of my great love for Rachel. And because she's feeding me dinner on Wednesday. But in general she's just pretty awesome too.

So - here's everything you don't need or want to know about me:

1) I hate Canada. Haha - just kidding Rach!! The first thing/quirk I can tell you about is a product of my photographic memory. According to several sources, I know everything. This statement is, of course, obviously false. However, I do know a lot about a lot of things. I spent my childhood reading world almanacs and encyclopedias (the 'rents can testify to this). I can tell you how shampoo works, what free radicals are and what they do, the capital of any state and of most countries of the world, the origins of most English words, and which wine on the list would probably go best with your entree. I love learning, and that makes me a great big giant nerd.

2) According to many Koreans I know, apparently I love really strange Korean food that no foreigner should ever be able to tolerate. The tastiest meal I can think of is one of sticky rice, kimchi (fermented spicy cabbage), doenjang jjigae (fermented bean paste soup), gim (dried seaweed) and tteok (chewy rice cakes). Quite strange am I.

3) I ALWAYS go to the bathroom right after I brush my teeth at night, so now every time I reach up to put toothpaste on my toothbrush I immediately feel like I need to pee. I also rarely have the urge to use the bathroom when not in a bathroom. I am the boss of my bladder.

4) I have an awesome family filled with awesome cousins - there are 14 of them to be exact - Megs, Brandi, Casey, Ryan, Kenz, Sarah, Colin, Anna, Shawn, Zach, Grace, Erin, Alex, and Holly. They range in age from 19 to 3 months. Most of them are more like my siblings than my cousins. It was hard to leave everyone when I left for Korea, but it was really hard to leave them because I know right now, I'm missing them growing up, and they will be so different by the time I get back. I miss them a lot - they are super kids.

5) I dream vividly almost every night. Some nights I dream so vividly that I feel more tired when I wake up than I did when I went to sleep. Erica calls me a "Thinker Monster", and apparently I can't stop thinking even while unconscious. I've even had dreams about important people I will (...might...) meet in the future. I wish I could TiVo my dreams so I could watch them again and pay more attention.

6) I have a love affair with lilies. My favorite are Oriental lilies, more specifically Stargazer Lilies. There's just something about their beauty - so unique, so striking, so wild. The chocolate vs. flowers contest is no match in my eyes. Lilies are awesome. Plus, they're biblical. You just can't say that about chocolate.

Okay - I'm Meme-ing 6 people, but I'm not doing it publicly. Take that, Meme.

Its late and I'm old. Night!

Jess

FYI

2008-02-01T06:53:00.000-08:00

My Skype username is jessica.lee.becker - in case you're in need of that crucial piece of info I left out previously :)

Annyeonghi kyeseyo ~

Jess

Worth Noting

2008-01-31T05:30:00.000-08:00

A short post to record two interesting occurrences as of late.

1) I received this from one of my 3rd Grade students:

That's right - its a pink box that says "Whip Bear: Whippy little bear whip!! How about taking a walk?"

EVERYTHING in English in Korea is this random. At first I was amused by it, then I was appalled by it, and now I'm just used to it. So Whip Bear now fits in the "normal" category in my brain.

But even more intriguing than the outside of this little box is what is found inside:

Two handcrafted finger puppets (a bear and a pig, both in what appears to be formal wear with their heads slightly resembling upside-down popcorn boxes with the word "LOVE" printed on the front) and glitter/sequins.

Only in Korea. It's definitely the cutest, most randomly awesome present I've ever received.

2) Milk

Milk in Korea just tastes...funny. I've tried almost every brand and they just taste...funny. I can't put my finger on it but it must have something to do with what their cows eat...I keep flashing back to that scene in Napoleon Dynamite where he's identifying defects in milk in a 4-H competition. I'll take a swig and think "This one tastes like the cow wandered into an onion patch". So yesterday, I bought this milk, and I didn't see this until after I bought it and drank a cup that it says:

Premium Bone Milk.

Premium...bone...milk. Is the milk (concerned face)...made from...bones?? (very concerned face) EEEEEWWWWWWW!!!! Yuck yuck yuck yuck yuck!

But then I thought, maybe its just calcium-fortified, you know, to build strong bones. And who knows what the 206 refers to. 206 vitamins and minerals? 206 bones in every carton? 206 calories in every serving? 206 minutes that you will spend TRYING TO FIGURE THIS OUT???

Heck if I know. Oh, Korea. You are a perplexing labyrinth of mysteries.

New Years Resolution #1 - ACHIEVED.

2008-01-29T03:38:00.000-08:00

I just got Skype.

AND IT ONLY TOOK ME 5 MONTHS!! I love procrastinating (Is that how you spell that? I'll look it up later...)

And then I went to HomePlus and bought a headset that makes me look like a cross between an air traffic controller and a magazine telemarketer. There's also a webcam option, but I will not be acquiring one, due to the aforementioned ridiculousness of the headset.

So get Skype. So we can talk. And I can sell you magazines. Using the phrase "Roger that, 10-4".

Also while I was at HomePlus I bought some Philadelphia cream cheese, because I bought bagels at CostCo and they're just getting lonely in my cupboard. So I went to check out and the lady asked me if I wanted a plastic spoon to take with me. My acquired groceries consisted of exactly

1) One headset, and
2) One tub of cream cheese

What could the spoon be for...this was about 4 hours ago and I'm still thinking about it.

Next time I buy laundry detergent I'll make sure and ask for a plastic fork.

Here are some Namsan hike pictures for ya:

I'm too tired to think of a clever title.

2008-01-26T05:20:00.000-08:00

Sorry.

I've got about 8 hrs of sleep in the last 60 hours or so, so if I slur my sentences, that's why.

Today was the longest day of my life. I swear this has been a blog theme before...but today was seriously never-ending. I feel like the last 3 days have melded into one dizzying hallucination and sometimes I get my dreams confused with reality. Mom - I promise I'm not on drugs.

My dreams have been SO VIVID as of late. Its as though I never really fall asleep, but rather am carried away into another world where I witness wonderful and horrific random things that probably mean a lot more than I am capable of understanding. Its like I live two lives, one in the conscious realm and another in the unconscious dream world. Erica was right - I am a thinker monster. And to get a good night's sleep, I must find a way to slay the beast.

Yesterday I went to work expecting the usual routine of Post-Camp planning alone in my classroom, when lo and behold it turned out to be a regular school day (no classes though, thank goodness). I love it when my CT tells me important information like that.

After work, I went home to pack and then headed to Trevor and Rachel's apt for dinner. Now Trevor and Rachel are currently in Bali, but they made the grave error of telling us that we could use/crash at/destroy their place while they were gone. Since they live MUCH closer to downtown Seoul than we do, Nate & Jess C., Hil and I decided to inhabit their apartment on Friday night so we could easily get to church for our leadership meeting on Saturday morning at 8:30 AM.

Now, Trevor and Rachel are from Canada. And their apartment was the temperature of Canada. And it took approximately FOREVER to heat...when we got there it was 12 degrees Celsius (53 Fahrenheit) and by the time we were ready for bed, it had inched up to 16 degrees (61 Fahrenheit) and so there we slept, freezing and shivering all night long. I don't know how the Canadians do it...must be all that ice hockey they play in the winter gets 'em used to it or something.

So I slept for a total of about 2 hours because my body kept waking me up to remind me that it was ridiculously cold.

We had a ministry meeting at church from 8:30-noon. I stayed awake the whole time, and was consequently very proud of myself.

After a light lunch at "the side dish place", as Hil calls it, we changed clothes and headed to Namsan for some hiking.

Namsan is a small mountain right in the middle of Seoul where they built the Seoul tower, as pictured below:

Namsan is the large hill in the distance with the white towers atop it. You can click on this picture to see more clearly.

You can either hike up Namsan or take a cable car up. Its a rather short hike, so we decided to do that. I should have counted the steps...there were probably at least 500. The hike was only 1160 meters (3480 feet - about 3/4 mile), but it was almost completely vertical. It wasn't to difficult - Korea has trained me to have great stamina when it comes to stairs, because there are so many of them in this stinking city. 500? No problem. Call me when you've got a real challenge. I barely broke a sweat.

I was pretty much toast after we got back from that excursion. The whole "not sleeping" thing coupled with the "mountain climbing" thing kind of caught up with me.

Here's your weekly excerpt:

"I am convinced that the essential meaning of true beauty exists in a dimension that is 90% incomprehensible to human beings. Beauty is so complex. And yet, we can all agree that some things are beautiful. Sunsets over the ocean, mountains shrouded in misty fog, flowers – Nature (God’s creation) is beautiful. But why? What is it about the way the wavelengths of sunlight hitting the atmosphere in just a certain way that makes it more beautiful than any other time? We can’t explain it. It’s just beautiful. And I think that’s how beauty is in general – you can’t explain it, but you know it when you see it, when you perceive it, when you experience it. We see beauty in a sunset. We can hear beauty in music. We can smell beauty in freshly cut flowers. Its all around us. Beauty in this way is objective.

When you look at a sunset sky, what do you perceive? Just think about color for a minute. What is color? And would it exist if our eyes weren’t capable of seeing it? Is it something inherent or something perceived? If we saw the whole world in a spectrum of black and white, would some shades of gray be more beautiful to us than others? Is God colorful? Will we be able to perceive it without the rods and cones that are at work in our visual process? Or will it be more than color? Something that exceeds color – something that makes ordinary colors seem dull and flat. We must not forget that we are being prepared for the revelation of another dimension, the dimension that C.S. Lewis describes in “The Great Divorce”, where our surroundings become too “real” for our bodies to handle. We are preparing for an eternity in Heaven."

"The only thing worth holding onto is holding onto me"

2008-01-19T07:51:00.000-08:00

Currently it is 12:54 AM, I am sitting on the floor, eating crackers and peanut butter (Peter Pain) and listening to "The Way You Make Me Feel" by none other than the King of Pop, Mr. Michael Jackson.

I don't care what you say - this song is amazing.

I just realized that my Blogger profile says that I'm currently living in Afghanistan and making my living in the field of Accounting. This information is decidedly inaccurate. Not that there's anything wrong with accounting. There's actually a lot wrong with Afghanistan. But that is neither here nor there.

Tonight we had dinner at Subway. It tasted like home. You guys should eat at Subway - with fresh ingredients and healthy choices - Tasting is Believing. Uncle Glen, you owe me 20 bucks.

I'm trying to cut back on coffee. Ever since that gastritis episode, I'm realizing that stomach lining is important and its integrity is worth maintaining. So I've started drinking other healthier options, like tonight I got a Soy Green Tea Latte. Hope I don't turn into one of those dern hippies.

Although, one of my fourth-graders, Tim, has started bringing me coffee when he comes to English camp class at 11. Every day for the last week, he has paid 500 won (about 50 cents) to buy me a coffee from who knows where, and he carries it to school for me. I think some of his friends razzed him for it one day, so now he opens the door to the classroom, whispers "Teacher!" and waves for me to come and get it from him. He then quietly sneaks into the classroom through the back door as though no coffee exchange happened. I love my Timpy :)

Before I head out, here's a bit more of my serious writing:

"Success is not merely avoiding failure. If you do not fail you have not accomplished anything. And make no mistake – you will fail. Many times. I’m the kind of person that hates learning experientially, that is, by falling on my face. But at the same time I know that God can teach me so much when I’m lying flat, with my face in the mud.

So many times when I ask God to teach me something, or to grow me in some way, I half expect him to pass along some good reading material on the subject, perhaps facilitate some good discussion with trusted friends, and maybe throw in a moment of spiritual enlightenment. God can work in these ways. However, he doesn’t always package things in an easy-to-digest parcel.

Many times when I expect to be taught the easy way, the hands-off way, the way that protects Jessica’s pride, God wallops me with a type of learning that I can only describe as being intensely humbling and incredibly painful. Its not painful because God is hurting me; its painful because of the harm I have already caused myself. The smack on the hand is never as painful as the realization that you’re wrong, that you’ve made a mistake. That’s how pride gets you."

Why talk about the weather when we could very well be selling umbrellas?

2008-01-14T05:36:00.000-08:00

Ever since I got to Korea, I've been writing more and more with each passing month. This blog has served to record the stories from my life's experiences here. I have journals where I write my uber-personal ramblings and prayers. And then I have the project that I started in September, which is a collection of musings about God, growth and life that I haven't actually shared with anyone...

...but I decided to change that. I realized that what I like most about reading other people's blogs is being able to see them learn and grow, and so I've decided to add a couple of paragraphs from my "musings" every once in awhile. Someday, God-willing, maybe I'll get this stuff published...but until then, take it for what its worth. I welcome any and all comments. And don't plagiarize, because Jack Bauer will hunt you down.

INSTALLMENT ONE:

"As a child I hated hiking. I can’t remember how many tantrums I threw at the mere proposition of such an activity. Hiking. To my childhood self hiking was walking around with no TV, no music (this was before mp3 players, gosh do I feel old), in some barren remote area on a designated 4 foot wide path talking about everything grown-up that no little kid cares about in the slightest. And it will take 3 hours, if it is cold it will take 3 hours and if it is warm it may take longer.

I think I can blame most of my distaste for hiking on the environment. Northern Indiana hiking is not something anyone would call “spectacular”. Many times we walked through fields, along a stream, and very occasionally we would find a hill. Everyone is walking straight ahead, just keep walking, keep walking uphill and down, through trees and across bridges, up the stairs and through the mud. I used to think of how ugly nature was, when everything was brown and dead or muddy.

I realize now in my maturity that for a large portion of my childhood hiking experience, I was looking at the path itself at all times to ensure I wasn’t in danger of stepping on a rogue rock, branch, or God-forbid, something very alive. I was always fearful that I would step on something or that I would trip and fall, so in order to avoid this fate my eyes were firmly focused on the path. Looking back, I of course realize that focusing on the path rarely lets you enjoy the scenery. I could have been hiking next to many beautiful things, but I will never know for sure. This I regret.

And yet, I feel like many times I have gone through life the same way, so focused and determined not to fall that I forget to stop looking down and enjoy the view. If you go hiking and solely look at the path and think “left foot right foot left foot right foot” as you trudge along, when you finish, what have you accomplished? Yes you have walked a few, perhaps many miles. You may have even managed to stay upright the whole time. But did you gain any knowledge? Did you appreciate anything? Did you ever wonder why you were hiking in the first place? And most importantly, did you even notice anything but yourself?"

Hello Jack Bauer

2008-01-13T05:58:00.000-08:00

On Friday, I was kidnapped.

Not by the Chinese government, not even by the KGB - but by none other than my co-teacher.

She invited me over to her house for dinner, which was really nice of her. Her place is TRICKED OUT (ie. its very nice) - she has a HUGE flatscreen TV (the kind my brother wants instead of a college education), a whole room to showcase her art, and a screened-in porch overlooking the city. In Korea, space is money, so you learn to appreciate spacious places fairly quickly. And her place was spacious.

She even had a couch. All my Korean peeps just gasped when they read that. You just don't come across comfy furniture here.

So I arrived at her place, took the tour, and she sat me down on the couch and handed me two remotes and told me that I could watch a movie as she made dinner.

She didn't talk to me at all for the next hour and a half. I watched the entire movie of Miss Potter while she was preparing dinner. She didn't want any help, and I guess she really didn't want to talk to me much either. But I was content to watch the movie. And it was SO GOOD! But I am a girl...and it was kind of a girly movie...

So she brings dinner out to the living room, and MAN - did she make a lot of food! We had kimchi soup, regular kimchi, rice, dakgalbi, beef galbi, samgyupsal (pork), sundae (sausage), and all the accompanying side dishes. No wonder it took her an hour and a half.

She turned on the TV throughout dinner and we barely talked at all. After cleaning up after dinner, she asked me if I've ever seen the TV show "24". I said no, but that a lot of my friends watch it, so it must be pretty good. She put in the Season 1 DVD and pressed play. Then her cell phone rang, so she went into her room to talk on the phone.

For 3 hours.

...

I watched 3 and a half episodes of "24" in a row. And though it is both an interesting and suspenseful show, I can't sit still to watch anything for 3 hours.

After she got off the phone she came out to the living room, and I immediately took advantage of her presence to let her know that I should probably get going. So she took me home.

It was so nice of her to have me over and to make me dinner, but I felt strangely like a hostage throughout the night. There is a part of me that is just a bit leery of my co-teacher. I can't really explain why...its just feeling. Scary.

But I made it out alive. Happy ending - yay!

Yesterday was Eddy's birthday, so tonight we took him to a Mexican restaurant in Shinchon. The highlight was when the staff brought us all sombreros and a poncho for Eddy and sang a wonderfully Korean-Mexican rendition of Happy Birthday. Then we went to a noraebang (singing room). We were incredibly disappointed to find out that they didn't have "Ghostbusters", but we sang a bunch of mid-90s alternative and grunge hits instead.

By the way - all songs by Nirvana and Red Hot Chili Peppers have completely unintelligible and ridiculous lyrics. But, we decided that that's what makes them awesome.

I'm out - Korean love!

Jess

Hilary is famous!!

2008-01-10T04:15:00.001-08:00

Guess what - Hil made the newspaper!

No, not the Korean newspaper - the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel!

Here's her interview

2008-01-07T01:30:00.000-08:00

Its been an interesting day.

After rolling around all night, trying everything I could to alleviate the sharp, stabbing pain in my stomach (I rolled to the left, to the right, stood up, sat down, lied down, ran around, took assorted vitamins and painkillers, drank water, drank vinegar, drank juice, ate honey, and did everything else wikipedia told me to do), around 4:30 AM I decided that I couldn't TAKE IT anymore.

So after a series of dead-end phone calls, Hil came over and we trekked to the nearest hospital.

Now, I've got my game face on here. I'm not one to admit I'm in more pain than I can handle. BUT. This was bad.

So off to Boramae Hospital we went, and found ourselves in the Emergency Room, amongst several other sick-looking people. Hil was a trooper and stayed with me until she had to leave to go to work. It took two of us to figure out what they wanted me to do (remember: I'm in Korea) because most of the staff spoke little or no English. The head doctor (who looked like he was a little kid wearing his dad's scrubs and spoke with the cutest lisp) spoke enough English as to where I could answer his questions and follow his commands.

After a gamut of tests, I was informed that I have what's known as a "gastric ulcer", or a weakness in the lining of the stomach. This can be cause by bacteria or an overuse of anti-inflammatory drugs, and can be aggravated by high-caffeine intake (yep), a high-stress lifestyle (uh huh) and a history of being awesome (you know it).

I may have made that last thing up. But in my case, you can clearly see a correlation.

Some things I noted about Korean hospitals:
- There is apparently no "patient-privacy" law - everybody was into everybody's business
- There are "usher-like" gentlemen wearing suits to follow you around and carry your things
- There is always an ajumma mopping the floors, which on one hand is very sanitary and smart, but on the other hand creates infinite opportunities to cause other emergencies due to unusually wet floors.

I am feeling slightly better now, but I have lost all desire to ever eat anything again.

Gonna get some rest, gotta teach tomorrow...grrrr...

Ugh

2008-01-06T07:13:00.001-08:00

We had TGIFriday's for dinner tonight...and I've been writhing in pain for the last 6 hours.

It seems as though I cannot eat "Western" food anymore. Its like my body...rejects it. I can eat food so spicy that my lips swell and my tongue loses all feeling without any adverse effects, but eating a slice of cheese and a potato makes me feel like I'm going to keel over.

I think I'll stick to kimchi and rice for the next week or so.

On a brighter note, while at TGIFriday's, Hil told the waitstaff that it was Cathy's birthday (which it was not) just so they would put an obnoxious hat on her and sing an elaborate birthday song. Cathy has vowed revenge. I can't wait.

Learned the chilluns about Mary and Martha today. I still enjoy reading that story. So much to ponder. The kids got to color some after the lesson and Koji colored Jesus' hair a sort-of tie-dye-rainbow pattern. Koji is...special.

Time for bed. Or more accurately, time for lying awake in bed because my stomach is eating itself. I swear I will never eat cheese again.

Where are the muffins?

2008-01-05T08:09:00.000-08:00

I keep forgetting to post this video...its from when Hil and I went grocery shopping for Christmas Brunch at Costco and then were crushed by our groceries over a 45 minute cab-ride home.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSU30Qvf_Qs&feature=related

Now that's quality entertainment.

English Camp is over. HOORAY! But next week I start the English Camp at my school, which lasts 3 weeks. CRIKEY. But I know all the kids, and its only 3 hours a day, so I don't foresee being medicated any time soon.

Enjoy your last days of vacation! Ah vacation...must be nice...whine whine whine.

Night! (Its actually 11:30 AM where you are, but what the heck)

English Camp is killing me slowly

2008-01-03T02:43:00.000-08:00

I've been teaching at an "English Camp" for the past 2 weeks or so. What's an english camp, you ask? Well, there are no bonfires. And there are no midnight pillow fights. In fact, a more accurate title would be English Labor Camp because that's the kind of camp they're referring to.

The kids come at 9. My class is the third-graders (the youngest with the lowest speaking level). I teach them for 90 minutes straight (no break). Then there's a 30 minute snack/run around/destroy things break. Then I co-teach for 70 minutes straight (no break). Then we have lunch (this is the only break time when the kids are miraculously all sitting down at their desks and quiet) as we watch online episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants (this is the highlight of my day...SpongeBob protects my sanity). Then I teach for 50 minutes. Then another 30 minute snack/shouting/stabbing break. Then I teach a drama class for 60 minutes. Then I give them homework. Then I check their homework. Then they go home.

Sometimes when it gets really bad I run away to the teachers room and pretend to make copies.

I don't blame the kids too much - I mean, if my parents sent me to school during the holiday vacation, I'd feel like stabbing someone with a giant piece of cardboard too.

I have really good kids, kids like Candy who dot their "i"s with hearts, kids like Belity who yell at the kids who don't shut the door when they leave the room, kids like Alex and Kayle who actually try their homework before coming up to my desk, pointing at their paper and saying "Teacher Teacher!! What?"

But I also have bad kids. Kids like Chris who bite their classmates, kids like Brian who look at you when you call them and then just walk out the door, kids like Steven who run around the room with scissors and force you to pry the weapons from their tiny fingers while grabbing them by the scruff of their dandelion-yellow camp hoodie. And its the bad kids that far too often grab all of your attention.

And then there's the co-teacher situation. I could blog about it, but it would take the good part of a year to do so, and 2008's got far too much promise to waste on that task. Long story short - my co-teacher from my school followed me to this english camp (to impress the vice principal) which she is not qualified to teach at, and then specifically requested to teach with me, because she was too embarassed for anyone else to see her English ability.

All personal issues aside - the bottom line is: She is not qualified to teach English. It is detrimental to the students, and it aggravating me BEYOND REASON. To give you an analogy to the situation, let's just say that I can see that some mysterious force is keeping both my feet on the ground, but that doesn't mean I'm qualified to teach physics. Her degree is in teaching science, specifically astrophysics. I'm sure she would make a stellar (no pun intended) astrophysics teacher.

But she can't make a coherent sentence in English about 50% of the time. And that is absolutely unacceptable if you're in the position of imparting your knowledge unto others.

So yeah. If you want to hear more about it, call me and I'll waste your international phone card minutes :)

Tomorrow is the last day of camp, so hopefully I'll be in a better mood soon.

On a happier note, New Years Eve was the greatest night of my life in Korea thus far. We went to dinner, then to coffee and then to a NORAEBANG (singing room) where we sang karaoke for 2 hours (some crowd favorites were Chumbawumba's "Tub-Thumping" (I GET KNOCKED DOWN! BUT I GET UP AGAIN!!) and the "Ghostbusters" theme song which we sang twice). The we went for coffee again and when it turned midnight we ran out into the streets of Myeong-dong screaming at the top of our lungs like a bunch of American/Canadian idiots. It was glorious.

Hope your years' are starting well! Shout-out to Mackenzie who turns 10 today!! Love you and miss you, twin cousin!

And to the rest of you as well - Happy Primary Season!!

Jess

Hello 2008!

2008-01-02T06:48:00.001-08:00

Today I opened a jar of maraschino cherries.

3 people had previously tried unsuccessfully to open the jar of maraschino cherries, including a fairly burly man. But I knew it was no match for me. If there's one thing I do well, it's opening rebellious jars. As I walked home from Bible Study I contemplated how exactly I came to possess this remarkable ability.

I think it all started when I was little, and we would have big family dinners at my Grandma's house. As we all sat down to eat around the big dining room table, we would hold hands and sing:

"Sing thank you to God, joyously sing;
Sing thank you to God, for every good thing."

And then we would proceed to squeeze THE CRAP out of whoevers' hands we were holding at the time. Hopefully you weren't sitting next to Uncle Al. He showed no mercy, even to seven-year-old girls. So as I grew up, and this tradition continued, my grip got progressively stronger and stronger.

Another factor is heredity. My mom can also open any jar you throw at her (but if you do throw a jar at her, be prepared to get beat). She is so strong, in fact, that the neighbor girl is convinced that my mom is the strongest woman in the world. She used to volunteer to beat up any kids that made fun of me in elementary school. And when I told her that I couldn't sleep because I was afraid there were monsters in the house, she put on the mean face and told me, as a matter of fact, that she didn't allow monsters in the house. And I believed her.

So back to the maraschino cherries...I actually think maraschino cherries are quite possibly the grossest thing invented since processed cheese and SPAM. Nothing like taking a terrific fruit and suspending it in some chemically-enhanced fructose solution. Anyway, I was opening them for my co-teacher. She was having the kids make canapes today to teach them about food verbs.

What on earth, you ask, is a "canape" (kah-nah-pay)?? Well she asked me, expecting me to know. I told her it was French. That was my best guess anyway.

So first she told the kids to take a cracker and put in on a plate. Then she told them to put cheese on the cracker.

So far, so good.

And then she told them to put mayonnaise on it. I start wondering exactly where she's going with this.

And then she says "Put the lettuce on top." At this point I am very thankful that I am not making a canape, whatever that is.

But she's not finished. Oh no. And now for the clincher:

"Next, put the cherry on the lettuce."

The kids, though visibly shaken, do as she says. At this point, I have the "What the..." look plastered all over my face, and I'm not making an effort to conceal it. To her credit, the canape did look beautiful.

"Now, you can enjoy the canape!" she exclaims.

What happens next will live on with me forever.

"UUUUUUUUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" all 20 children exclaim in unison, along with me and the assistant teacher. My poor co-teacher just looked confused. I was trying to think of how to explain the opposite of "delicious" without sounding critical...but I just laughed instead. Until, that is, some of my students decided it would be a nice thing to give me their canapes as a gift. So then I had to find a way to discreetly dispose of 5 canapes.

The second canapes she had them make featured crackers, cheese, kiwi, bananas, tomatoes, and mayonnaise. Once again, I had kids spewing half-masticated canapuke into the trashcan. And then 5 minutes later, it was lunchtime. But for some reason, I wasn't hungry.

Gotta go to bed and get my 6 hours...perhaps tomorrow holds more potential canape memories. You can bet I'm looking forward to it.

This may be risky...

2007-12-22T10:10:00.000-08:00

...but here is my phone number (landline) here in Seoul:

When dialing from the US, you have to dial "011" first (its called an "international access code or something)

011-82-2-804-4086

011 is the international access code
82 is South Korea's country code
2 is Seoul's area code
804-4086 is my actual phone number

REMEMBER - Seoul is 14 hours ahead of Indiana time. I will answer the phone at 4AM but I may not be coherent or pleasant to talk to :)

If you want my cell #, shoot me an email and we'll negotiate.

2 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!

6 crazies and a Korean Photo Booth

2007-12-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

Randi - we miss you!!

A beautiful mess...

2007-12-20T02:05:00.000-08:00

About a month or so ago I was able to take a trip with my co-teacher to Mallipo Beach in Taean County on the West coast of the peninsula. We visited a beautiful island that's part of a National Nature preserve called Anmyeon Island. It was one of the most pristine, untouched beaches I had ever seen. I took this video while I was there:

"At about 7:30 am local time on December 7, 2007, a crane barge owned by Samsung Heavy Industries being towed by a tug collided with the anchored Hong Kong registered crude carrier Hebei Spirit, carrying 260,000 tonnes (290,000 ST) of crude oil. The incident occurred near the Port of Daesan on the Yellow Sea coast of Taean county. The barge was floating free after the cable linking it to the tug snapped in the rough seas. Although no casualties were reported, the collision punctured three of the five containers aboard the Hebei Spirit and resulted in the leaking of some 10,800 tonnes (11,900 ST) of oil." (Wikipedia, 2007)

This is the same beach today:

It's a total loss.

"Mallipo, an important stopover for migrating birds including snipe, mallards and great crested grebes, also has an abundant fishing industry.

Choi Kyung-hwan, a 58-year-old fisherman, came to the beach Sunday to help, but despaired for the area where he has lived for 30 years.

"Mallipo is finished," he said.

Choi, wearing a thick winter coat, said the strong odor of oil had sickened his wife.

"But I came here because I have to do something," he said. "I don't know when we can finish. But we have to continue." (USA Today, 2007)

Lunch

2007-12-17T04:18:00.001-08:00

Many of you may have never encountered Korean food before. Its not too popular at least in Indiana...I was fortunate enough to get addicted to kimchee at a tiny Korean restaurant near my Grandma's house before I left for Korea. I thought I'd show you what a typical school lunch looks like for me:

From top left, continuing clockwise around the tray:

1) Kimchee. I listed this first because it is, without a doubt, the most important item on this tray. What is kimchee, you ask? Well, its basically fermented spicy cabbage. Koreans eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Every day. Sometimes they even wake up in the middle of the night and sneak some out of the kimchee refrigerator. Yes - Koreans eat so much of it that they have to buy a separate refrigerator exclusively to store it. I LOVE it.

2) Tiny fried shrimp with a mysterious red sauce. First of all, they eat the shrimp whole (tail and all) and I don't really know what the red sauce was all about. It tasted suspiciously like the red sauce I had on the chicken I ate with Eddy, Ruda, Trev, Cathy and Rachel last night...

3) Namul. There are many kinds of namul in the world, basically it just means "seasoned vegetable". The dark green namul you see on the tray is spinach (shigeumchi) namul with sesame seeds. Its my favorite kind of namul (Hilary is partial to kongnamul, or soybean sprouts). This is by FAR my favorite Korean food. Just call me Popeye.

4) Tofu and egg guk. Guk refers to any broth-based soup, and today's had tofu and egg, as well as some green onions. My favorite soup is turnip greens in fermented bean paste broth. That actually sounds like a joke but its not.

5) Rice. All day, every day, rice rice rice. The Korean word for rice is "bap", or "bop", or "pop", or "bab", or "bob". I've seen it written like all of those. There is no standard English in Korea, just whatever you happen to prefer at the moment. This is why my co-teacher spells "SpongeBob" like "SpongePop".

Actually, its quite funny to hear my kids pronounce "SpongeBob SquarePants" - it sounds like "spongee pop scare panch". I had no idea what they were talking about for WEEKS. A lot of my 6th grade girls have SpongeBob nicknames - Doongie (Squidward), JingJingI (Patrick Star) - its kind of weird. So I asked if I could be "Gary" and they obliged. Which means, I'm officially as cool as the 6th grade cool girls. YES!

Now I must retire...to bed. Enjoy your 3 feet of snow :)

Jess

Christmas in Seoul

2007-12-15T00:44:00.001-08:00

Here are some fun pictures of random occurrences of late:

Susan, Randi and Hil, cold but ready to see some Christmas lights!

Christmas lights display near City Hall - there was an ice rink in the middle!

Randi getting ready to "ruin" Hil's picture...

Randi "ruining" Hil's picture :)

Amazing lights!!!

Light forest near City Hall - they even had fake wildlife covered in lights.

The gang - Susan, me, Randi, Hil, Ruda and Eddy...it looks as though we're standing in front of a blazing inferno...

Best cab ride...EVER. 4 people in the backseat of a Kia. I think that's a Guinness Record...

God is Good

2007-12-14T17:41:00.000-08:00

I spent the morning in tears. But before I tell you why, let me give you a bit of background information:

This week was not fun. On top of my usual tasks (teaching and lesson-planning for 22 classes) I was responsible for coming up with 39 lesson plans for my school's winter camp English class, plus I was responsible for coming up with 12 more lesson plans for the other camp that I'm teaching at over Christmas. Yikes.

And then there's the co-teacher situation. She didn't show up to class on Monday morning. I was seriously concerned - no call, no text - plus its actually illegal for me to teach in a classroom with no supervising teacher (they want to keep an eye on what these foreigners are teaching their youth). And 6-2 is a difficult class anyway to handle by myself when I can't discipline effectively because I DON'T SPEAK KOREAN. Ugh.

So I wandered down to the teacher's room to ask the Vice Principal if he'd heard from her when lo and behold she's just relaxing and drinking coffee in there. She told me she has a cold sore and was "too embarassed" to come to class.

...

Yeah. Moving on.

She's nearly always late to first period and she broke down yesterday during the sixth grade lesson because one of my upper level students asked her a question and she didn't know the answer. This woman is dissolving before my eyes. I don't know what to do anymore. I try to give her as much grace as I can but these thoughts creep in that say:

"You have every right to hate her. She makes your life miserable. You would be a much better teacher if it weren't for her. She ruins everything."

I want sooooo badly to own these thoughts, because that makes me the one in the right. The good one. The one that doesn't screw up. But these thoughts are poison. And I can feel my soul becoming sicker and sicker the more those words run through my mind. And I wonder how can God love so much. Is it hard for Him?

So this has been a monumental struggle - I've never felt this kind of war against my flesh before. Most days I want to scream and pull my hair out. And I want to tell the hateful thoughts to go away but part of me wants to believe them. Every day has been a battle.

So Rach asked if I wanted to do a spa trip this weekend, and I was all up for going until last night, when I got this strange feeling that maybe I shouldn't go. Hil decided to go, and I decided to stay home, because there was nothing I wanted more than to go to sleep and not set my alarm.

My doorbell rings at 9:00 AM. My thoughts: "Uggggggggh...its probably the Jehovah's Witnesses again...I'm not getting it." Doorbell rings again. I roll over. Then a knocking and a man's voice. So I wander over to the door just in case the building's burning down. I open the door. Its the mail dude. And he has a package. For me.

And that's why I spent the morning in tears.

God gives me everything I need. He gave me you. I love you more than you know, more than I could ever say in a blog, or an email, or even in person. I have amazing friends :)

Okay, I'm going back to bed now. Haha.

Love -

Jess

2 things, quickly

2007-12-13T05:01:00.000-08:00

I'm really tired...it's been an interesting week or so on many fronts...but before I go to bed ridiculously early, there are two things that I've been thinking about lately that I need to blog about.

1. Pineapple.

First of all, pineapple in amazing. And I'm not talking about that travesty-to-tropical-fruit canned variety in "syrup" or whatever the heck high fructose insulin shock they're marinating in. I'm talking about freshly hacked up delicious, slightly coconutty, buttery, sweet and sour amazingness. But I've got a bone to pick with pineapple. There's something I don't like about it. In fact, it makes me angry to even think about it for any length of time. What's that, you ask?

The name "pineapple".

First of all, I can see where the "pine" came from, I guess. It kind of looks like a pinecone. Except for the small insignificant fact that it's delicious. And besides, it comes from a tropical tree, not a pine tree. They don't even look alike. Come on.

And second - "apple" - I just don't get that. There is nothing further from an apple. That's like calling a hamster a squirrel. Or vice versa. Apples do grow on trees, yes, but so does money (right, Dad?). And lots of other un-apple-y things.

As it turns out, the word "pineapple" comes from European explorers as they searched the vast new world for adventure and the fountain of youth. They mistook the fruit we know as "pineapple" for the pine cones they had found in the region that we now call Canadia (it figures that the white man screwed this one up). The original native word for "pineapple" was "anana", which is "banana" without the "b". For the life of me, why people have for centuries called this fruit by other fruits names is just something I can't understand.

So you've got this amazing fruit, and its name sucks. Pineapple deserves an awesome name. Something like Passion Fruit. Or Awesome Fruit. I'll think about it this week and let you know what I come up with.

2. My random encounters with strangers

Example A: An old lady walks up to me about once a week on my walk to school, gets right in my way and just stares at me until I smile, and then she smiles back. I don't get this.

Example B: While wearing contacts, I accidentally freak out possibly hundreds of people who nearly swallow their gum at the sight of my freakishly blue eyes. Some people here have never seen a blue-eyed person in person. Sometimes they even yelp a little when you walk around a corner and accidentally surprise them.

Example C: On my way home today, I saw a cute baby, so I smiled at her. She couldn't have been more than 18 months old. She shot back the meanest look I've ever seen on anyone since I got here. I had no idea a baby could scowl like that. I was actually terrified. I'm actually still terrified. Creepy baby.

Okay, that's enough ranting for one day. Tomorrow is Friday!! Yay!! For those of you enduring finals week, hang in there - you're in my prayers. But you should probably stop wasting time reading this blog and get back to studying. To the rest of you - 12 days til Christmas!! Love!!

Jess

Girls rule

2007-12-03T05:19:00.000-08:00

Hey y'all -

Just wanted to announce that I have a new cousin!!! My Uncle Glen and Aunt Jerri now have 4 (!) kids. So now Sarah, Shawn and Erin have a new sister! I haven't gotten verification on the name yet (some speculate as to "Holly Nicole") but she was born on Friday November 30. That makes 2 cousins now that I have that I've never met :( Man, I wanna go home just to see her!! Yeah yeah and the rest of all of you too...but mostly her. Haha. Well, by the time I get home in August, she'll be right around the age that babies get interesting, so I guess I'm not missing much :)

On an unrelated sidenote, if you're in the mood for a good emo Irish musical, you should watch "Once". Actually, its worth renting it just for the first scene. We rewound it and watched it 3 or 4 times. The soundtrack is really good, too...I'm actually listening to it right now :) Also, American Gangster is a fairly good movie though it was a bit violent for my taste. But by far the best chunk of change you could spend would of course be The Office Season 3 Disc Set. Makes a great stocking stuffer.

Speaking of stockings - my Grandma sent me my advent calender!!!! THANKS GRANDMA!!!! I took it to school...the kids have never seen anything like it. It was a good mini-lesson.

Pretty sure I'm going to Thailand in February. One word, two syllables: Awesome.

That's all. Oh wait - this is what we did last night:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=nXPbWNyCHho

"Cat Rescue 911" turns into "Hilary gets stuck in window". Hilarious.

Love you!

Jess

Why is it so COLD in here??

2007-11-29T03:24:00.000-08:00

Gosh darn my heating system. I just haven't figured the blasted thing out yet. Lots of trial. Lots of error.

Most buildings here are heated through an ondol, or an underfloor web of hot water pipes that warm the concrete, thereby causing the heat to rise through the floor. Its a genius system. Apparently it just also takes a genius to figure out how to use it.

No actually it just takes someone that understands Korean.

Had fun last weekend. I went to Insadong (a shopping district where you can find all sorts of traditional Korean items) with Rachel and Jess C. Its basically one narrow street with shops lining both sides. And for some reason that defies all logic, people drive down the street, even though at any given moment there are at least one bagillion people on the street. So they drive very slowly, honking their horn as if they're under the impression that we're the ones posing the problem. Sheesh.

So after some shopping, I met up with Hil, Ruda and Eddy to hang out at a coffeeshop. I'm glad I found friends that like coffee. Coffee friends are quintessential in life, because coffeeshops are such awesome places to get to know people. So, its just difficult to try and get to know someone outside of a coffeeshop. Dinner is too much of a commitment, going to their place or your place can be weird...the world needs coffeeshops.

So after some coffee we took a stroll around town, eating dinner at a hole-in-the-wall and stopping at a couple bookstores. Then off to another coffeeshop to talk more. It was basically the perfect day.

I led Sunday School for the first time on Sunday afternoon with Ruda. It went better than either one of us expected - we're teaching the book of Esther to young elementary kids, and after I read the adaptation of this week's section of the book, the kids were so excited about what happens next that they hurriedly got out their little Bibles and looked it up on their own! Amazing. We can learn a lot from kids, you know.

Sunday night was spent having Thanksgiving dinner at church with my Korean/English teacher family...between Bible Study, church hanging out, and other ministries, I'd say we've got about 20 or so regulars in our little "young people in Seoul" group. I'm so thankful for the friendships here because they were never promised to me - there was no guarantee that I'd find anybody to relate with here. But God put people in my path here that not only seek Him but are also just awesome in general. Its made my time here more valuable than I had previously thought possible.

On Sunday night, Hil, Eddy, Ruda and I went to go see "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" in Myeong-dong. It was a tremendous movie, though I wonder how much creative liberty the director took with some of the historical context...will have to do some research...

School's kicking my butt this week. It seems like teaching is the last thing I have time to concentrate on...there are so many administrative/planning/irrelevant things I have to deal with on a regular basis that teaching gets backburnered. Even though that's why I'm here. Huh. Not to mention the mixed messages - "Don't be stressed. Just relax. Be happy. And I need this document done in an hour. It should take you 3 hours to do." Its just part of Korean custom to do whatever your boss tells you to do, even if its certain you will fail. And then when you do, you beat yourself up for being an incompetent worthless piece of crap, even though there's no way you could've completed the task on time. So interesting.

I don't really function like that. I have no problem saying no. I think this is an admirable quality. However, when the Vice Principal asks my coteacher if I'll do something, and she says yes (because she can't say no) and I say no, that's when she breaks down crying at her desk. And that's when the guilt hits me like a mack truck. AND THAT'S when my rational self overwhelms my guilt-ridden self saying "IT'S ALL AN EMOTIONAL CONSPIRACY TO GET YOU TO DO SOMETHING YOU DON'T WANT TO DO" and that's when my I get angry at the system and wonder why in the WORLD this has to be this difficult. And that's when I break down crying at my desk.

I'm so thankful for my ability to say no confidently. I just wish everyone else were the same way. Honesty is not this culture's strong point.

That's enough ranting for one day. Contrary to what you might think, I'm having a great time here!! Thanks for your prayers, messages and emails - God bless you guys!!

Jess

Ajummacity

2007-11-20T03:14:00.000-08:00

I want to begin by stating that I respect my elders. I love my grandparents. They take me cool places, cook me tasty food, they read me books when I was little, they gave me eggo waffles for breakfast, they played Trouble and Yatzee with me for hours on end, I could go on and on. They're good people. Nice people (when you don't make them mad). Friendly people.

But can I just ask - WHERE HAVE ALL THE FRIENDLY OLD PEOPLE GONE???

In Korea, there is no such thing as a "nice older lady", someone who bakes you cookies or pumpkin bread and makes you hot cocoa. Nope. They simply don't exist here. There are possibly a few exceptions, but not enough to keep me from making sweeping generalizations for the rest of this post.

In Korea, there are: The Ajummas. They are the antithesis of the old lady in the teddy bear sweater vest at the library who helps you find...whatever people look for in libraries...I don't read. Except for the Bible. And people's Facebook profiles.

Ajummas are always armed with two deadly weapons: their left and right elbows. God forbid you ever cross paths with an ajumma in a hurry to get on the subway. It doesn't matter if you're trying to get off first, prepare to be at least clotheslined if not severely disabled by your ajumma opponent. Old ladies here appear to only strengthen with age, as I have personally witnessed an ajumma beating the crap out of a man appearing several years her junior. His cries for mercy simply washed over her grisled and hardened face.

Sometimes ajummas here just shout on the subway for no reason. Their bowed legs cause them to hunch forward just slightly, they squint their eyes and start screaming and feverishly pointing at anyone and everyone, as though the whole of Korea has done this lady some injustice. All I can tell you is that its terrifying.

And the ajumma clothes...you'll want to make sure and wear 3 or 4 not only differing but competing patterns to attract as much attention as possible. Bright colors are a must, and the more, the merrier. Polyester is quintessential. And top it all off with a knock-off Burberry handbag to complete the ensemble. Add an ajumma visor, and you're well on your way.

I found this on some dude's blog...it explains Ajumosis fairly well:
"Ajumma is a state of mind. When women cut their hair and curl it and start pushing and shoving a lot like a wild beast on the subway ... they are an ajumma. When a woman starts wearing a visor of a color and size that would give Darth Vader helmet envy ... they are an ajumma. When a woman gets together with her friends and talks so loud that the decibel level of their conversation rivals that of an above-ground nuclear test ... they are an ajumma."

I hope to get a picture soon. You can google "ajumma" for now.

But when you think over Korea's difficult history, about how until about 30 years ago, this was a third world country, the ajumma begins to make more sense. She comes from an era where you had to be aggressive if you were going to survive. She will work hard to ensure that her children are fed. She will not easily back down in the face of adversity. In fact, she scares the crap out of adversity.

She's been through a lot. She's been through a horrific war. She's seen her country devastated physically, economically and politically. She's given everything to her family to make a future for her children. And she's survived.

Diversity and Ginkgo Berries

2007-11-20T02:12:00.000-08:00

It's cold.

But that's okay, because my mommy sent me my winter coat. She also sent me my running shoes, two white t-shirts, a page of the comics, microwave popcorn, and some baggies of cherry granola from the co-op which I have been craving for exactly 3 years because it tastes how happiness feels. Thanks mumsy :)

AnBerlin is INCREDIBLE. You should check them out. "The Unwinding Cable Car" is the greatest song ever written. And that is a completely objective statement.

I went to the Yellow Sea on Saturday with my co-teacher, Hyun. She picked me up at 10 or so and we motored about 3 hours south to somewhere along the West coast of the Korean peninsula. We went to this island and walked on the beach for awhile. I got some AWESOME shells. Like nothing I've ever seen in the states. I saw tidal pools with tiny forms of life running around and oyster outcroppings on giant rocks. There were ajummas everywhere trying to harvest the oysters (ajummas = old Korean ladies...I guess I have to explain ajummas in my next post...stay tuned, it'll be worth it).

Here's a fun bit for you Purdue people: You know those ginkgo trees along the north side of Memorial Mall directly across from Stanley Coulter hall, the ones that drop those NASTY SMELLING berries that stick to the bottom of your shoe and leave you smelling like vomit for your power hour lecture? Well, apparently in Korea, there's a saying that says that you should eat 5 ginkgo berries everyday and you will be incredibly vibrant and healthy. Old people here shake the ginkgo trees and gather those puke berries like madmen, then remove the outer part of the berry and harvest the inner seed-like things. They look like jellybeans.

So this dude was roasting the seed-like things along the harbor on Saturday and Hyun bought me some. They tasted decent (they had salt on them), but every once in awhile you'd catch a slight whiff of barfberry and that was enough to make you want to toss your berries, so to speak.

Have I used enough vomit euphemisms yet? Probably. I love how diverse the English language is. Oh - speaking of diverse...

On the way home, Hyun and I were in the car and after an extended period of silence (I was reading...or just daydreaming with a book open, which happens about 50% of the time that I appear to be "reading") she said the following to me:

"Jessica (or, more accurately, 'Jeshka'), have I said you that I am...diverse?"

Furrowed brow. My thought process: "Diverse? Diverse? What the heck does she mean by diverse? Like, multi-faceted? Does she have multiple personalities? Am I stuck in the car in bumper to bumper traffic with a crazy person?? Is she only half-Korean? Gosh this is awkward...I have no idea what to say..."

Hyun: "You know, I am diverse. I was married, but now I am diversed."

Me: "OH, DIVORCED! Divorced, right. Got it. Divorced. Yep."

This is how most of our conversations go. No wonder I have migraines.

Before I jet to post about ajummas, funny story from today:
I was teaching class 6-3 after lunch today when I heard a knock at the door. I look over and see a tiny first grade boy open the door. He looks up, sees me, his eyes get huge and he says -

"Oh my God."

And then he runs away.

I AM NOT A FREAK. I LOOK LIKE A NORMAL PERSON. PLEASE EXCUSE ME FOR BEING OF CAUCASIAN HERITAGE. These are the things I must repeat to myself on a daily basis. I actually laughed out loud when that happened though. I thought it was hilarious.

Onto the ajumma post, stay warm!!

Jess

Check it out

2007-11-13T05:12:00.000-08:00

MSNBC slideshow about Korean conflict through the years:

http://www.msnbc.com/modules/interactive.aspx?type=ss&launch=15818319,3032507&pg=1

There goes my hero...

2007-11-12T02:34:00.000-08:00

On Sunday at church, I got to meet a man that has had a significant impact in my life in a multitude of ways. He now joins Stephen among the ranks of my personal heroes. Who is this mystery man, you may ask, and what astounding contribution to society is he responsible for?

He was the primary developing force behind Kashi GoLean Crunch cereal.

Now, I know what you're thinking. Cereal? Really? You're personal hero is a cereal developer? People, hear me. Where would you be without cereal? Since the days of fighting with your siblings over who got to fish around for that worthless toy at the bottom of the box, through the Fruit Loop years, the sweet Lucky Charms mornings, the Cap'n Crunch revolution of your youth - cereal is who you've become. Its more than food. Its a sustaining life force, a symbol of our ever-evolving yet nostalgic generation. Its more than just a part of who we are - it represents who we've always desired to become.

Funny sidenote/cereal story: One time my mom bought 10 boxes of a cereal called "Golden Goals" because I think each box cost about $0.35. I still to this day remember how awful that cereal was and how it was the worst month of my life trying to work through 10 boxes of it. And we always had that rule, the one that stated "No one may open a new box of cereal until the previous box has been emptied". I still remember that. Vividly. Cereal is important.

And so as I was carrying around my gigantic box of cereal on Sunday (that Hilary bought for me at CostCo), I was stopped by a middle-aged Indian man, who exclaimed upon meeting me that he had been one of the key developers of Kashi in the late 1990s and that he personally helped the marketing team come up with the name "GoLean". He is now the CEO of Kellogg's in Asia, which means that he is CEREAL ROYALTY.

Now, this summer I saw important people everyday. I said "Hi" to Senators on a fairly regular basis. I had my picture taken with Newt Gingrich. I went to The President's Dinner. But all of that pales in comparison to meeting Cap'n Crunch himself. I can imagine his birthday parties...he probably fills the swimming pool with Frosted Flakes...Tony the Tiger gives the toast ("What can I say about these people? They're grrrrrreat!")...Snap, Crackle and Pop are making balloon animals for the kids...what a life.

Thank you, Mr. Kellogg's Man, for making my mornings so wholesome, for providing me with the most important meal of the day, and most importantly - for making my childhood just a little brighter. Thank you, Mr. Kellogg's Man, for being a hero to children everywhere. Thank you, Mr. Kellogg's man, for being my hero.

Feel free to leave any personal messages of gratitude, and I will pass them along.

3 things

2007-11-07T06:46:00.000-08:00

3 things made my day extraordinary today:

1) One of my 5th grade students dropped by my classroom after lunch and gave me a small packet full of a powdery substance. She told me it was for my voice (I sort of lost my voice yesterday, you know, screaming at all the children) and so I thought it was one of those vitamin C powder packets that my students have given me before (they're all about the gifts in Korea). I opened it, dumped it in my mouth, and suddenly I felt a strange sensation on my tongue and loud popping noises erupted from my mouth.

Yes - it was Vitamin C Pop Rocks.

For the record, I find this to be the best invention since the wheel. If it were up to me, I would personally award the Nobel Peace Prize to the inventor of such a monumental asset to society. They should make all vitamins in Pop Rocks form; I mean, how healthy would our kids be?!? Moving on...

2) I purchased a drink out of a vending machine at the subway station as I was heading home from Bible Study, as is customary for me. I studied the vending machine, trying to make out just what exactly it contained. There were the regulars - cans of coffee, Chilsung Cider (think Sprite, but better), Coke, assorted juices, aloe vera juice (GROSS), something called "Nostalgia Juice" (which I can only imagine tastes like warm, fuzzy memories of chestnuts roasting on an open fire) - and then I spotted a bottle with a peach picture on it. Now, peach juice sounded really good at the time, so I put my coins in and retrieved the beverage. I took a sip and suddenly realized -

There were chunks in it. Now, when you crack open a bottle of juice, I don't care what kind of juice, you may expect pulp, you may expect a thick, fresh fruity consistency, but my friend, you do not expect chunks. These chunks were righteously-sized too, and I was thankful I hadn't choked on them before I knew what hit me. They were just chunks of peaches, and actually the drink turned out to be quite refreshing, after the initial shock wore off, of course. And finally...

3) As some of you know, ever since I took listening tests in Spanish I in middle school, it has been my lifelong dream to be the voice of narration on foreign language audio tapes. Now, this may seem like a strange dream to have, but you wouldn't believe how many times I was told that I'd be perfect for this job. And today, I got my chance.

Hyun asked me if I would help her make a listening test for the 3rd graders ("I like apples. Do you like apples? No, I like grapes."). So we made an entire unit review test for them, and just as I had imagined for so many years, I rocked. I mean, the tone, the inflection, the rhythm - it was all there, flowing in an intricate pattern of nouns and verbs so poetic that Lord Byron himself wept from beyond the grave.

Okay, that's it. Quite a notable day, wouldn't you say? :)

Jess

My apartment

2007-11-05T02:32:00.001-08:00

In other news, I cleaned my apartment this week. So now you can see pictures of where I live! Prepare to be impressed:

Well, this is it. And I actually had to step out into the hallway to take this picture.

This is the laundry area/kitchen. As you can see, my countertop space is extensive.

This is...the bedroom...actually its just the right half of my apartment.

This is my desk. Notice the pom-pom covered jar in the back - my cousin Kenzie ran around her house collecting "Indiana air" for me to take with me to Korea.

Here's the bathroom. Wait - where's the shower, you ask?

It's right there, silly - can't you see the hose attached to the wall? Its nice though, you clean the bathroom every time you shower.

The utility closet; I prefer to call it the "Bonus Room" or "Extra Bedroom without heat" or even "Room full of useless things".

The pantry: chips, ramen, crackers, peanut butter, tea, cookies, bread, vitamins - that's well-balanced, right?

I'm killing the plant.

Howdy!

2007-11-05T01:12:00.000-08:00

Hey -

I apologize for the extended absence, for some reason, Blogger locked me out of my own account ("How rude!" as Stephanie Tanner would say). Not only was I unable to view, update or edit my own blog, but I was unable to read anyone else's...so I've got some reading to do. But first, let me tell you about my latest adventures here on the peninsula known as Korea.

Bible Study has been going really well. We're studying Romans and its INTENSE! We're each doing it chapter-by-chapter and preparing in our own unique ways. I think I've been Nav-brainwashed because I can't seem to do anything other than inductive studies - I just LOVE THEM! We're actually using NavPress studies for the next round which starts in January (we'll be going through Hebrews). God has been revealing things to me lately about His Word and has allowed me to view things in a new and exciting way...sometimes its so intense that I for an instant get a glimpse of understanding, and then have to try to get back to it and can actually feel my brain doubling back on itself trying to understand, and I have to stop whatever I'm doing to concentrate really hard. Its really awesome, and I don't know how to really explain this phenomenon accurately, but yeah...anyway... :)

I got a Korean cell phone (with my friend Ruda's help) on Saturday...now I just have to figure out how to use it...

Yesterday I did something I never in a million years would've thought I could do. And why I ever wanted to do it is beyond my comprehension, but I did it. And I'm very proud of myself. So what earth-shattering, mind-boggling event did I participate in yesterday?

I went to the "Doctor Fish".

If you're not Korean or familiar with Korea, you probably have no idea what Doctor Fish are. Well, buckle up, because here we go:

The Doctor Fish cafe looks like any other posh Korean cafe - expensive coffees and teas, coffee table books about Leonardo da Vinci, fake fireplaces, comfy chairs, elaborate architecture and so on. But at the Doctor Fish cafe, for a small fee (think about $3), you can go out onto the rooftop terrace overlooking the neon-lit neighborhood, rinse off your feet, wrap yourself in a (fake) Burberry fleece blanket and soak your feet in a nice, big pool of warm water, decorated nicely with ferns and flowers, and let thousands of small fish eat the dead skin off of your feet.

NO. JOKE.

Now, as many of you know, I have had a fish phobia ever since I can remember. I don't like aquariums, I don't like eating fish, I don't like the smell of anything fishy, I don't like fishing, shows about fishing, or talking about shows about fishing. I don't - like - fish. So I really can't explain why exactly I decided to put my feet in a tank full of them. Perhaps peer pressure. I kept thinking of the irony that I spent almost every summer of my life at some lake trying to avoid this very situation, and now I was paying people to let me do it. I think I've officially lost it.

I almost had a panic attack when I got to the tank. Now keep in mind, these fish are very small. Like minnow size. And so slowly, I put my feet in, hoping against hope that having the dead skin eaten off my feet was a pleasant if not a nonexistent feeling. But it wasn't. I don't know exactly how to describe it...it kind of feels like a bunch of cats licking your feet. At first it tickled like you wouldn't believe, and the tickling sensation soon overwhelmed my mental powers of denial that were keeping me calm and cool...my thought process went like this:

"It's okay, just put your feet in slowly, don't squish the fish DON'T SQUISH THE FISH, oh my gosh, how awful would that be to smash one on accident, with its little fishy guts, what would happen to his family - OKAY KEEP IT TOGETHER JESS - right, slowly lowering feet, oh htis isn't so bad, okay they're swarming, it tickles a little...okay it tickles a LOT, calm, collected, I'm fine, everythings fine I - OH MY GOSH MY FOOT IS COVERED IN FIIIIISH!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!". Repeat that cycle 4 or 5 times, and that's roughly what happened.

The good news is that Randi took a video of some of the experience and posted it on YouTube. So, for your enjoyment, I give you this glimpse of Dr. Fish experience - only in Korea!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=sBxamr1HX-8

Apparently there's a place where you can do "whole-body" Dr. Fish. I'll be going there never.

That's about it for now, I'll post some pictures soon. Hope you had a Happy Halloween!!

Jess

My life is amusing...

2007-10-26T06:02:00.000-07:00

Hey there!

I don't even know where to begin honestly. My life is one big Korean blur.

After school classes. They've doubled my workload but are twice as rewarding than regular classes. My sixth-grade girls are chatty and well-behaved, mature ladies. Here are some bios:

From L to R: Kim Hey Won, Emily, and Grace

Grace is the most advanced - she grew up in Hong Kong and went to English kindergarten. Her mom is the pastor of foreign members at the largest church in our area. Some of their doctrine is sketchy...but she knows that I am a Christian and she's invited me to church a couple of times. Her Teacher Mail letters are long and elaborate. She's in love with Justin Timberlake and thought he was a movie star...that is until I showed her old school 'NSYNC photos and blew her mind. She is a quiet girl who thinks before she speaks and is very motivated and intelligent. A true gem.

Emily is a doll. She understands everything I say and is still somewhat shy about speaking up. I think the after school class will be very beneficial to her. She gestures a lot when she talks, and she'll get half a sentence out and panic and run back to her desk with her head in her hands. So funny.

Sarah is bright and personable. She was voted school president this year and therefore has a lot of responsibilities around the school. For the festival, she served as one of the three judges and was also in charge of running the sound board. She writes me long letters about the books she's reading...she reads a lot of books! I told her to read The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. She reminds me of an older version of my 8 year old cousin Sarah.

Kim Hey Won (no English name) is SO FUNNY! She is smarter than she lets on, and she writes me letters about how much she likes English class. Who doesn't love a suck-up? :) She has a face that she makes when she doesn't understand something...not an expressive confused face (think Erica Bush) but more like you can see the light go off in her mind. Its amazing. She thinks its funny that I can tell when she doesn't understand something. She tries to trick me.

And then there are the two boys:

John, pretty much hilarious, is the only sixth-grade boy in the class. He is a little chubby (which gets you called "pig" amongst Korean youth) and when I ask how he's feeling he always says "hungry". We were describing characteristics the other day and I asked them to describe me. Probably a bad idea, but I went with it. Without a second thought John says "You're fat." Now, I've lost some weight since getting here and though I am by no means skinny, I'm fairly well-proportioned. So I said "You know John, in America, if you told someone that they were fat, they might get angry with you." And he says "What? You're fat, I'm fat. Food is good. Delicious." And I thought...he's right.

Danny - my only fifth-grader - is ADORABLE. I call him Danny because he reminds me of how my brother used to look, if my brother were Korean. Now, if you know my brother, you know that he's grown into a very handsome adult. However, when he was little, that kid was funny looking. Ask my mom - she'll tell you the same thing. And Danny is so cute because he's just a scrawny funny-looking adorable sweet little boy. He's kind of trouble-maker in regular class, so I was a bit worried at first, but he's an excellent student.

And along with my 5 sixth-graders and one fifth-grader, I have a class of fourth-graders. Some of the more notable ones:

Sunny (No picture)- Kind of a drama queen in the funniest way. We'll play Jeopardy or Top 5 and she's always the girls team captain and says "Oh my God" and puts her head in her hands when she gets stressed out because they miss a question. She's like a sitcom character.

Mary - Good, smart, and quiet - just how I like 'em. Also, she wears pigtails everyday.

Kari - A know-it-all that knows it, kind of a trouble-maker when she spends break time chasing the boys around. But she's sharp as a tack.

Sarah - I think I've heard her say 3 words. But she's sweet.

Emily (No picture) - Wears glasses and pigtails everyday as well, also good, smart and quiet.

Tony - He doesn't understand a thing and screws around the whole time. Luckily most of the others ignore him when he throws paper wads at them. He spends a large portion of class time sitting in the back doing worksheets because I don't have time to individually tutor him without order dissolving around me.

Steven - T-R-O-U-B-L-E when you don't keep him occupied every second of every minute. But when he's focused, he's brilliant. We did color-by-numbers on Thursday and he ate it up.

Grant - A very good kid when he isn't throwing paper wads with Tony, chasing Steven around the room, or evading Sunny.

Tim - he's my favorite. He's bright and ornery, but extremely focused and dedicated to winning when we play games. He really gets into them and even tells everyone else to shut up when they're being too loud. And when I'm forced to skip the boys team because they're taking too long coming up with an answer during Hangman or Jeopardy, he whines "Teacher! Teacher! Waaaaiiit pleeease waiiit!!" So funny.

Funny story before I wrap things up:

*Caution - this story uses a swear word - so if you are Ryan, Mackenzie, Sarah or anyone under the age of 12 please stop here*

Like that's going to stop them.

Anyway, today in my fourth grade class we were watching a skit involving a boy who drops his toy robot into a lake. A mermaid pops out of the lake and asks the boy "Is this your robot?" and he says "No, my robot is small." And the mermaid goes back in the water, pops out with a smaller robot, and its his, and there is much rejoicing. But when the boy first drops the robot in the lake, he exclaims, "Oh no!" My co-teacher asked the class (after they had watched it once) what the boy said when he dropped his robot into the lake.

And one little fourth-grade boy in the back of the class exclaims, "Oh shit!"

Which is exactly what I'd say if I dropped a piece of electronic equipment into a lake. Fourth-graders - never fail to surprise me. One week they bring their own thermos of coffee to class, the next they're swearing like sailors.

Have a good weekend! Boiler up!!

Love,
Jess

Some more Teacher Mail

2007-10-23T04:07:00.000-07:00

This one's a keeper. If you can't read it, Right-click on it and save it to your computer, then open it and blow it up.

I was in Lotte Mart tonight shopping for a hair straightner and the song from "That Thing You Do" came on over the PA, sandwiched between two horrible Korean pop songs. It was nice to listen to and ever-so-discreetly lip-sync along.

It just took me about a minute and a half to think of the word "discreet". YIKES.

I judged an English speaking contest today at school. Its nice to feel like an expert at something :)

I don't know if I told you this, but I let my 6th graders pick English names at the beginning of the semester, and I populated the list with names of all my friends and family members. So someday I hope to show you pictures of your Korean "mini-me"s. Its funny how some of their personalities remind me of yours.

Of course, a few were creative and came up with their own names. I have a Zidane (famous soccer player) who sits across from an Inzaghi (another famous soccer player), a Monkey who sits across from a Lion, and a Harry who sits across from a Potter. The most popular girls name is Sunny (which I put on the list thinking that I could never get mad at someone named Sunny), followed closely by Keri/Kari. Steven and Tim are the most popular boys names.

I think that's it. LOVE YOU!

BYE!

Jess

Me vs. the Mountain

2007-10-20T04:53:00.000-07:00

Top of the evening to all of you out there in the western hemisphere!

This week was stressful...lots of new things to get used to. My four after school classes and determining their dynamic; co-planning 6th grade with my co-teacher (after she told me that she thinks its "too difficult" for me to do by myself, I disagree); losing most of my planning alone time because of various things...I am very much an introvert, and I need my alone time or else I start to get overwhelmed and snappy. People I have lived with know this well. Which is why I someday hope to marry someone very...content...with being...by themselves? That sounds horrible. I can't think of how to describe it - I've begun a slow but very real process of losing my knowledge of the English language. You think I joke. But its frightening. The other day Hyun asked me what "strict" meant and for the life of me I could not describe it in simple terms. Eventually this is what came out: "You know, its like...mean...no, not really, maybe like severe (she doesn't know what that means)...bad but not really, just like...ahh...whats the freaking word??? (head in hands) aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!"

But the good news is that my Korean is improving daily. Yesterday I learned how to say "Will you please shut the door?" - roughly its "moon ta-da-ju-say-o". Plus I can read hanguel, which is their alphabet, so I can read Korean words. I don't know what most of them mean, but I can read them. My students LOVE IT when I try to speak Korean or write it. Hilarious.

So after a stressful week Hyun invited me to go hiking with some of the teachers and the principal and some parents on Saturday afternoon. She tells me that we will eat before we leave, so I should arrive at school by 12:30. I get to school at 12:25 and they grab my backpack and start filling it with fried chicken and beer...apparently the principal decided that we should have a picnic at the top of the mountain instead of eating before we leave. So we leave, and I have a backpack full...it had to be at least 20lbs...of fried chicken. And a six-pack.

First of all, this trip made me realize that I have been backpacking with some amazing guides and planners. My hat is off to you - Wyatt, Phil, Jared, Tim, Ryan R. - and please come to Korea to teach these people how to hike. Hyun parks the car, and it turns out that everyone else parked about 1/2 a mile away. So we hike for 1/2 a mile up and downhill before the real hike even began. We start and I soon realize a few things: 1) My shoes are woefully inadequate - I had prepared for hiking whereas we had definitely reached the 'mountain climbing' category; 2) I am SOOOO HUNGRY; and 3) That fried chicken smells really good, taunting me over my shoulder with each step.

As we round the first bend, the principal sees this trail leading off to the right with a rope across it and a sign that I'm sure says "Certain Death Awaits". Naturally, he decides that this is the way we should go. So we step across the barbed wire and proceed. Now, I am no stranger to the "let's make our own trail" style of hiking. Last year at the Fall Conference Kelsey and I foraged through the wilderness calling ourselves "Lewis and Clark", boldly going where probably many people have gone before. This was different. We made our way up the face of the mountain. Everybody loves a shortcut, right? At one point we walked across a flat rock no more than 3 inches wide, a giant boulder to our left and nothing but clear blue sky to our right.

Here's the view from about halfway up:

And the pace of these people - you'd think we were being chased by a grizzly bear. We didn't stop once on the way up, and our speed can be best described as "break-neck", literally. I could not stop to take pictures because I was afraid I would lose everyone, and I don't know about you, but lost on a Korean mountain knowing only a handful of phrases, none of which are appropriate ("Can you please shut the door?") was the last place I wanted to be. So I followed. If I were going any faster I would have been jogging.

Maybe this is a good place to remind you of the 40 lbs. of chicken, water and BEER on my back. It really helps your balance tremendously when clinging to the face of a cliff, Spiderman-style.

We made it to our picnic spot (probably 3/4 of the way up the mountain) in just over an hour. These people don't mess around. Here's a view from that spot - if you look far into the distance, you can see the West (Yellow) Sea:

So we spread out blankets for lunch and the ladies start unloading everything. There wasn't much food for the 10 of us - just 12 rolls of kimbap (Korean sushi), 2 large tupperware containers of pork, 3 boxes of chicken, dumplings (mandu), lettuce, oranges, bananas, grapes, 12 cans of beer, 2 bottles of Soju (whiskey), 3 large tupperware boxes of rice cakes (tteok - dessert), instant coffee, instant tea, a giant thermos of hot water, 12 bottles of water, plus all utensils, plates, napkins, cups, etc.

WHAT THE HECK. WHY DID WE HAUL 100 LBS OF CRAP UP THE MOUNTAIN???? WHY MUST WE HAVE A TEN COURSE MEAL???? WHY ARE THEY DRINKING BEER AND WHISKEY WHEN WE STILL HAVE TO DESCEND THIS TREACHEROUS BEAST????

I laughed. And laughed. And laughed. It was inefficient. It was stupid. And it was hilarious.

We finished lunch and packed our 17 containers of leftovers. I tried to eat as much chicken as possible so I wouldn't have to strap it to my back.

I thought we were at the top of the mountain. There was nothing above us but blue sky. But, I was wrong. More Spidey moves. When we finally did get to the top, THEY DIDN'T EVEN STOP. They just started going down again!!! I said "Forget you people, I'm taking a Kodak moment" and took this picture:

You can see Namsan tower in the background - its a famous Seoul landmark.

This is how close we were to outer space:

You don't every day get a clear picture of a 747 grazing your head. And that wasn't zooming in all the way.

The descent took more time than the ascent did - not because we were going any slower - but because we decided to take the road down instead of sliding down the face of the mountain on our butts. Which I thought was a terrific idea. Just to prove how crazy Koreans are, this man is actually running down the hill:

I just don't get it.

Afterwards the principal took us out for dinner. We ate duck in what looked like some farmer's garage (it was seriously a shed in the backyard of someone's house). It was good. I've never eaten more than a bite or two of duck before. I tried not to but I kept thinking of Mr. Quackers, our classroom duck puppet. But its deliciousness overrode any empathy for Mr. Quackers. Mr. Quackers, thank you for being so tasty.

And that was my day. Another Korean experience. Another story to tell. I'm going to wash my backpack now because it still smells like chicken.

Love you!

Jess

The cure for what ails me

2007-10-16T02:18:00.001-07:00

Bonjour mes amis,

Thank you for all the kind words! Sometimes I forget that people across the pond still remember me, thanks for reminding me that I am loved. I'll try not to freak out again :)

Hyun called me last night after I got home from eating dinner with Hil at her place. She wanted to make sure that I was okay. Has your boss ever called to make sure you're emotionally stable? Its kind of nice. People care a lot here, and its nice to have someone concerned. I felt much better after I blogged and told her that indeed I was okay.

So I didn't get to go on the 3rd grade field trip, but the upside was that I got to be alone ALL DAY! I got so much done...all my lesson planning for two 8-week courses, and I got materials for about half of them. I could crank the music up in my classroom, I brought my own coffee press, and was free to concentrate for 8 hours straight. It was everything I needed and more.

When I was done, the vice principal looked at my 9 page lesson plan and asked "You copy from internet?".

Same look. I am going to be known for that look.

Then he laughed. He said he was very impressed and pleased with me. I breathed easy.

So I may have mentioned the project I started with my 6th graders a couple of weeks ago called "Teacher Mail" where I give them stationary and they can earn stickers by writing me letters, plus I write back to them. Its a win-win-win situation (Office inside joke). So far I've received about 40 letters, most of which are only 3 or 4 simple sentences long, but they're getting progressively more advanced. I love it because it gives the beginner-level kids the opportunity to participate in the learning process while giving the advanced kids an opportunity to use advanced english. So I thought I'd share with you some of my Teacher Mail letters :)

This one is actually from a 4th grader who asked me if she could write me a letter.

From Sunny, who is hilarious. She sent me two letters in envelopes that she brought and decorated herself.

From Emily, letting me know that she loves me so much that she promises not to sleep in English class. She wrote this on the day that I taught them "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" by the Beatles.

I'll send some more when I send out my monthly update, because they're pretty much too cute for words. Honestly, I feel like a lot of times, God can speak to me through the broken English sentences of 12 year old Korean children. Through all the bureaucracy, through all the miscommunication and incorrect information, through the language barrier that isolates me from 99% of my co-workers and the rest of the society in which I live, through all of that - my students have loved me and welcomed me. They have told me that they are happy that I am here. They have told me that I am beautiful. They have told me that they love me.

Now, doesn't that sound like Someone else talking?

:) I love you.

Jess

Most frustrating day EVER!

2007-10-15T02:02:00.000-07:00

Let me just say this. UGH.

Okay. I feel marginally better.

It all started after classes this afternoon when 3 fourth graders wandered into my room. I thought to myself, "This is a bit strange...I wonder what they're doing here. Hyun told me that after school classes don't start until next week." Hyun looks up from her desk and says "Oh - here is your fourth grade after school class." I gave her a look that said "Uh, excuse me?" And she explained that their teacher called earlier in the day and said that she wanted after school classes to start today and Hyun just said it was okay. Without asking me. Without even telling me. "You have lesson plan?" she asked. She had given me the lesson plan template on Friday at 4 PM. So, no, I don't have lesson plan. She says, "Oh. I have meeting. Bye bye."

And I'm all alone with 9 4th graders without a plan, a textbook, or a translator. Brilliant.

Things actually worked out better than expected, I gave them English names (Tony, Tim, Steven, Grant, Sunny, Emily, Mary and Kari), they made nametags, we learned the days of the week, we made a paper chain of new words we had learned, and we played hangman. Hyun came back in after that class and semi-apologized, and I told her it wasn't that big of a deal.

AND THEN.

The lesson plan template she had given me was on a Word document, and it was incredibly hard to imput information. I thought to myself, "Self, wouldn't this be 100x easier in Excel?" So I made an Excel document instead. When I showed it to Hyun, you'd have thought I proposed selling the children on the black market. So back to the incredibly inefficient Word document.

I had finished 4 lessons (one week's worth) and asked her when the administration needed the rest (28 more). She said, "Well, adminstration lady not here tomorrow, so...Wednesday, 9 AM." Once again me with the look that says "Excuse me?" It had taken me about an hour to do 4. So, I would need 7 more hours to complete the rest. And I was supposed to go on a 3rd grade field trip tomorrow from 9-4. Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

I felt like Cinderella, when her stepmother told her that she could go to the ball, as long as she did the washing and the mending and the cleaning etc. There would be no 3rd grade field trip in my future.

So I will be at school all day tomorrow, lesson planning my little heart out. All in all, not that big of a deal.

AND THEN.

As I was getting ready to leave, clearly stressed out, Hyun tells me that she added another student to my advanced 6th grade after school class. The five in the class already are brilliant students (all girls of course), very advanced and motivated. Hyun tells me that she added a fifth-grade boy who's english is very low level.

Once again. Me. With the look.

"Why?" I ask her, rather angrily. I know that I cannot teach 5 advanced students and one beginner at the same time. And I will not, I will not cater to the low level student, which is precisely what Hyun wants me to do. That's what class is for. Its not fair for the upper level students to have to sit there for 40 minutes doing worksheets because I have to explain the lesson (without a translator) to a student who should be in the 4th grade class. And if I speak and teach at an advanced level and completely lose the beginner student, its not fair to him either.

So I told her no. I told her that I wouldn't teach him in that class.

You'll recall in a previous post how much Koreans tell their superiors no. But I'd had enough.
It was time to go American, baby. I put my foot down. We had reached the breaking point and enough was enough.

Hyun seemed...stunned. She kept tying to push me but she had my answer. About 5 minutes later, I started to cry. And I ran out of the room. And I continued walking hurriedly until I got to the busstop.

And that was my day.

Please leave an encouraging message if you would :) Love you -

Jess

A few more things:

2007-10-13T00:27:00.000-07:00

1) Thanks to whoever sent me that text message last week! I can receive them but I am unable to see who sent them. Soooo...thanks!

2) My phone number is 82-02-804-4086. You'll need an international calling card if you don't want to pay a billion dollars.

3) I am trying to decide what to purchase upon the arrival of my next paycheck. Here are the options:

1. A new mp3 player (mine has gone schizo on me)
2. Contacts (I always wear glasses and feel like such a NERD)
3. A cell phone and plan to use while I'm here
4. A gym membership
5. A lifetime noraebang membership
6. A La-Z-Boy

...I really want that La-Z-Boy...its kind of like all-purpose furniture, you know? Chair, extra bed, table, etc. You wouldn't believe how many times a week I think about having a La-Z-Boy. Some people might even call it an obsession. I JUST WANT TO BE COMFORTABLE!

Okay, enough randomness for now. Oh - and I hope you guys had fun at the BARN PARTY!! (I still get Nav News, which reminds me...must...email...Wes.)

Bye!

Oh what a night...

2007-10-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a special day in the life of Jessica.

Our school had a "festival day" where each grade had prepared choreographed dances and relay games to show off their school spirit. This meant that I didn't have to teach at all (YAY!) but on Thursday afternoon the Vice Principal asked if I could take pictures during the festival. Of course I said okay (here in Korea, with very few exceptions, you never EVER say no especially to your boss when asked to do something). I think taking pictures turned out to be waaay more exhausting than teaching 5 classes, but it meant that I got to participate in the festival - I had a "role" as my co-teacher put it. So here are some pictures and videos:

Warming up before the festivities

3rd Grade traditional dance - how funny is that hat?!?

First graders lining up for their traditional dance

Second Grade Umbrella Dance

So after the festival, the teachers had about an hour to rest before a meeting to talk about the day's events. I leafed through some sets of curriculum for my after school classes - I'll be teaching one 6th grade class and one 4th grade class. At around 4:30 we convened in the teacher's room where we decided that the day had been a success and that we would celebrate by going out to dinner. We went to a raw seafood buffet (eeeeewwww) where you gathered a plate of raw seafood and threw it into a pot of boiling broth at your table and cook it yourself. Most Korean restaurants are cook-it-yourself interactive eating adventures.

But the good news was that the buffet also had shrimp sushi and a lame Korean attempt at spaghetti, as well as an assortment of side dishes which were tasty. We had beer with dinner (Cass - don't drink it) and the Vice Principal (a normally friendly guy) seems to get exponentially friendlier when alcohol is added. He went around to every table, having a small drink (a shot of beer) with each person (this is traditional Korean behavior). So, by the time he made it around the room, we each had had one small drink, and he had had 25 small drinks. He came over to our table, we were all laughing (he knows a bit of English) and he said (in Korean) that he "loves me very much and hopes me to be happy in Korea" (translated by my co-teacher) which is both sweet and really awkward. Perfect awkward turtle moment.

Everyone was very pleased with the pictures I took, therefore I had won their respect and invited to a bar after dinner with around 15 other teachers, mostly young people. Once again, saying no is not really an option, so to the bar I went. It was a very nice bar, more like a pub atmosphere, and we were the only ones there. I soon found out that more than one other teacher speaks some English, they're usually just too shy to speak it (alcohol fixed this problem). I was surprised to realize that I actually understood what was being said (in Korean) for the most part thanks to context clues and gestures.

One second grade teacher (an older man, probably 60ish) was sitting next to me and would say every English word he knew (all token English like "Oh yeah!", "Yeah baby!" and various other random phrases) to try to impress me. I of course acted very impressed. The principal was sitting across from me the whole time and knew some English too. Turns out he's a nice guy. So after snacks, drinks, and a few English lessons we decided (as is Korean tradition) to go to the noraebang (singing room) to drink more and de-stress.

At this point I'd had probably two beers total. And that's how it stayed.

So to the singing room we went. They insisted that I sing an English song, and they insisted that it be "My Heart Will Go On" from the award-winning motion picture Titanic. I take it you remember the song? How could we all forget the shrieking courtesy of Celine Dion. Did I oblige? Of course I sang it. And I scored 100 on it. Impressive. The rest of the teachers sang Korean songs for about 2 hours while the rest of us danced, sang along and played tambourines.

After that, it was around 11:30 and I decided it would be wise for me to return home. My co-teacher, three sheets to the wind (At one point in the singing room, she stands up and shouts "I AM A DRUNKEN!!!"), decided the same thing. We walk together back to the school where I can catch a bus. Her English was the best I've ever heard it on the way home. I told her maybe she should drink before class. She thought that was the funniest thing she'd ever heard.

So, once again, Korea is...Korea. There's no other way to describe it. Cultural bumblings can be glossed over as long as you loosen up and have a good time and possibly make a fool out of yourself by singing the theme from Titanic.

To help you understand more about Korean life...

2007-10-09T01:48:00.000-07:00

...I have pilfered this list from my friend's Facebook profile:

"I hope and pray for those of you who read this note that you will gain wisdom and insight that aid you in whatever path you choose to take in life...

- In reference to street vendors: The more unsanitary the conditions the better tasting the food

- A tall size drink at a starbucks coffee is a little over 4 dollars...a venti is about 6-9 depending on the drink.

-The Dunkin' Donuts here are lavishly furnished and are only for people who think starbucks is for poor people.

-There are coffee shops that don't even sell regular coffee..only espresso drinks...

-there is no such thing as decaf

- Mcdonalds serve kiwi sundaes

- There is what is called a "Couples Tee" where a guy and a girl who are dating will wear matching shirts...these shirts will usually be pink with a huge red heart on the chest with "Teenie Weenie" written on it.

- Dogs dress better than their owners

- Korean's are EXTREMELY self-conscious about their age hence the next time a korean asks you how old you think they are always always always answer, "Dude you look 17...no joke...you're definitely 17..." or you will be stabbed.

- The Korean Constitution is roughly 60 years old hence that is why Korean laws and policy pretty much suck

- The subway is the best place to purchase the latest dvd...quality is usually very good and well worth the 4,000 won (or 3 for 10,000 )

-Middle aged Korean Men drink like a freshman college fratboy and have the tolerance of that of a 5 year old.

-According to MULTIPLE eyewitness accounts women in our neighboring Asian countries i.e Taiwan, China, etc are envious of the "Korean Look" (even though we all look the same...snap!) Yet, it is sad since they base the majority of koreans on the soap operas they watch on television and well over half of these actors and actresses are made out of plastic on the outside.

-Medicare is actually pretty amazing here.

-Pringles chips taste like plastic with salt on top

-Korean Gum loses its flavor before you chew it

-Any American candy (twix, skittles, etc) taste a bit stale

-Ice Cream bars are 500 won ( ~.50 cents USD)...Glorious

-A Guinness costs over 9 Dollars...sad sad day

-Locals will yell at you or stare at you funny if you speak english for too long when riding the subway or the bus

-To not ever trust a taxi driver unless you are absolutely fluent in korean is a wise choice.

- Motorcyclists don't believe in helmets...or the law...despite the fact that korean drivers make a New York City Cab driver look like a freakin' poser who tries way too hard to be cool.

- There is one public trash can for every 100 miles...Korea smells delicious

- Samsung makes cars

-Kia's come with leather seats and navigation systems

-anything over 20 minutes is considered "really far"...anything over an hour is a "road trip"

- Korean students (elementary to high school) go to school 12 hours a day...during their semester break they have it easy...they only go 8.

- O my goodness...I'm shocked and a little embarrassed that I forgot the obvious...Boys hold hands...hee hee...

-This country is nearly 50 percent (at least nominally) Christian (pretty cool). Yet the other day I was at a cafe and they were marketing various Jesus paraphernalia. My absolute favorite was a Jesus greeting card with The Son of Man flying on a broom (yes, a broom like Harry Potter) with other children on it. Our Savior was sporting a man-purse and joyfully wearing a crown of thorns (I think there was a little blood on his forehead). If I remember correctly the caption read, "Happy day happy happy day...happy". I will try my best to retrieve a photo confirmation.

- LG and Samsung cell phones use advanced alien technology

-There is a festival literally every other week celebrating everything from Jazz music to Kimchi...."

And my own personal addition:

Question: How do you know when you're in a fancy, upscale Korean establisment?

Answer: There are toilet paper dispensers in the stalls.

I just called...to say...I love you

2007-10-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings!

Its been a fun week here on the Asian continent! Classes went smoothly, Wednesday was another holiday (woohoo no Third Grade Wednesday!!), and so far this weekend has been a BLAST!

Last night (Friday), Leigh, Hil and I met at Yeouido to go out for dinner. We ate at a typical tiny Korean hole-in-the-wall and laughed all the way through dinner. Leigh almost choked quite a few times. Then we stopped at this gelato place...oh my...BEST ICE CREAM EVER! I had a small cone with white chocolate and macadamia nuts, chai tea latte, and panna cotta scoops. Please drop whatever you are doing and go there right now. You will not regret it - I promise!!

After the gelato we took a trip to the Han river, the large main river in downtown Seoul. Every Korean I have talked to pronounces it the "rebar"...you know, "Last Saturday I went to the rebar." And I'm thinking, "Was there construction where they went? Oh - the river. Riiiight." The whole shore was filled with canoodling couples so naturally we tried to be as obnoxious and loud as possible, as to bring much honor to our people. All along the "rebar" there are these permanent blankets that you can rent and sit on, kind of like spaces at a drive in movie, except you sit instead of park and you look at the beautiful "rebar" instead of watching a movie. Sounds like a rip off to me.

We perched ourselves on the bank and took some pictures:

A picture really can't even show how beautiful it was, but I tried anyway.

I think someone said something funny and I fell over laughing. I am not worshipping the rebar.

Hilary and Leigh playing in the grass.

Arrrrrgh - there be PIRATES in Korea, matey!!

Apparently someone has a thing for Colonel Sanders...

This sign answered all my questions about Korean driving.

Today, being Saturday, we went to Yonsei University to play tennis and badminton with some homeys from church. I wore myself out and had a lot of fun whacking that birdie around. I also acted as line judge and ball retriever during the tennis tournament. We played for about 2 hours and then cleaned up and went to dinner. We at "shabu shabu" which was beef in a soup with green onions and noodles. Plus all the kimchi you could eat! WOW! By the way, when you eat at any Korean restaurant here, all the side dishes are free, so if you want more kimchi just ask. Mom, you should try that at Seoul Garden.

After dinner we took a walk to Sinchon station and found a noraebahng along the way. What is a noraebahng, you ask? Well, "Norae" is the Korean word for "sing", and "bahng" is the Korean word for "room". So its a singing room. Its like karaoke except all the groups get their own personal lounge to sing in. They are EVERYWHERE. I think one out of every two establishments here is a noraebahng. We sang some classics like "That thing you do" by the Wonders, "I just called to say I love you" by Stevie Wonder, and of course "Livin on a Prayer" by Bon Jovi. So much fun.

Here are some pictures from tonight's escapades:

I don't know what a "Well-Italian dish" is but MY NAME IS ON THE SIGN!!!

Look closely - it says "Severance Hospital"...I'm wondering what exactly it is that they're severing...

Coffee...flanel??? *sighs and shakes head*

Off to bed so I can wake up at 9 to watch the Purdue/Ohio State game online :) Night!

Jess

Actually, while I'm here...

2007-10-02T04:50:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more notable photos:

Typical, Korea. Typical.

Did I mention I went to the Hansol Korea Open and saw Venus Williams beat the crap out of whoever was unfortunate enough to be competing against her at the time? Did I also mention that "Hansol" is 6/7ths of "Han Solo"???

MY SCHOOL! The main building of Gasan Elementary School.

This is the new building, my room is on the second floor.

This is where I learn the chilluns.

What kind of unorganized slob works here?!?

6th project involving word order/sentence creation that doubles as classroom art.

Infamous Sticker Charts...the sole motivation for 2/3 of my students.

Kind of says it all, doesn't it?

I have internet!!

2007-10-02T04:24:00.000-07:00

So after roughly 5 weeks here in one of the most wired countries on the face of the planet, I am online in the comfort of my own home. Talk about bureaucratic red tape - and I thought that only existed in the States. But compared to what I saw while working for GE and then the federal government, internet in 5 weeks is like a miracle in efficiency.

My co-teacher came over after school and helped me figure it out. Then she took me out to dinner! Gotta love that Korean hospitality. Not only did she buy me dinner, but she's taking me on vacation for a weekend in late October to see the foliage! Now if I can just get her to do my laundry...

Wanna see some retreat pictures??? I hope so! Because here they are!

Hilary being a nerd as usual...actually that's my book...

The East Sea to Koreans, The Sea of Japan to Japan, yeah they don't get along...

Ruda and Hilary, two peas in a pod with those backpacks, short pants and flip flops!

Seorak Mountain and - perhaps more impressive - ACTUAL TREES!

Hil, Eric and Tim building a bridge. From my junior civil engineering standpoint, the whole idea was ridiculous and would most certainly end in disaster.

Only 8000 Won to put your life in jeopardy while riding the cable cars of death! Actually they were quite nice and featured music by none other than the legendary Stevie Wonder.

Descending from the top of Seorak Mountain...or...Heaven???

I have a lot more pictures, but Blogger is SO SLOW in uploading them that you'll just have to check out my Facebook or email me demanding photos. For now, I bid you adieu!

Jess

Yes, I'm still alive...

2007-09-21T21:47:00.000-07:00

So that hiatus proved longer than anticipated. My humblest apologies. My school computer recently blocked the blogger website so I can't blog at school, and I'm still waiting on a replacement power cord for my duh-duh-duh-Dell. But life has been good since you heard from me last...and as of today I've been here just over 4 WEEKS!!! That's a whole month gone! I can hardly believe that I have only 11 more to go!

I'm blogging right now on Hil's new fancy-schmancy HP Pavilion. She blew her first paycheck on a computer, I blew mine on a DIGITAL CAMERA!! So now my blog will be colorful. I haven't taken any pictures of the apartment yet because its not clean :( But someday soon it will be. Probably tomorrow even. Anyway. Here's an excerpt of an email I recently sent to my uncle...it pretty much sums up my thoughts on Korean driving:

"Korea is loud, busy, crazy and dirty! There are so many people and none of them seem to follow any laws/rules/patterns of behavior regarding safe and proper traffic flow (pedestrian or car). I never realized how many expected behavioral norms we have in the States. For example, we stop at red lights. Why do we stop at red lights? Because we're supposed to. Why do people stop at red lights in Asia? Oh wait. They don't. Not conducive to getting them where they need to go. Pedestrians? Oh, you mean targets. They should walk on the sidewalk to avoid getting hit. Wait, there's no sidewalks? Then they'll just have to walk down the side of the very narrow street. And there's a rule about which side of the street you walk down right? With traffic, against traffic...oh, no. You walk whichever way suits your fancy at the time. Maybe right down the middle of the street.

General Rules of Korean behavior:
1) Do whatever you want whenever you want
2) When you are impeded from doing what you want, honk or yell loudly, perhaps shove or push, and just maybe, hit them with your car

ITS CHAOS! CHAOS EVERYWHERE!"

For a country of millions and millions of people, they certainly don't operate very efficiently. And they could use some efficiency. Perhaps a study on Frederick Taylor's theory of scientific management. But I digress..

Tomorrow after church Hil and I (and some people from orientation and church) are going to the east coast for a retreat. It'll be a nice escape.

Okay, here are a few pictures from my first night on the town with my new camera! These are pictures of Leigh and Hil at Yongsan, an electronics market-area in downtown Seoul:

Yes, I realize that some are blurry, and I assure you that it is because of user error :)

More after the retreat! Love you all!

Jess

Nothing like blogging in my very own classroom!

2007-09-10T23:08:00.000-07:00

Hey yo!

Welcome to the latest edition of the Korean Experience. Pull up a comfy chair, a hot cup of coffee, and settle in. I think it's going to be a good one.

I can't believe I'm already in my third week! Life goes fast in Korea! Maybe it's being surrounded by elementary school kids all day - they move at the speed of light. You blink once and suddenly one's been stabbed with an exact-o knife. They don't use scissors here, but every single-digit youngster has an exact-o knife tucked into their Hello Kitty pencil case. God forbid they ever start a revolution.

This is my first week of teaching the sixth-graders (nearly) all by myself. Its still difficult because of the fact that up until now they've had everything translated for them by my co-teacher. In my opinion, its mostly unnecessary. In my experience of learning languages, you're never going to understand every word in a sentence right off the bat. But they don't need to understand every word - in most cases, they just need one or two. I know my co-teacher means well, but these kids are smart, and in my opinion its time to cut some of the apron strings.

For today's lesson, I had them review our unit topic (How was your vacation?) and then make mini-books about their summer vacations. It involved both reading and writing full sentences and also caused them to have to be creative with their thoughts. This is great for Korean children because so often in their schooling there is one "right answer" stressed, and its routine memorization of the right answer. I'm still trying to convince them that when asked "How are you today?", "I feel terrible today" or "I'm great" are just as correct as "I'm fine, thank you" which is the phrase that they teach all Koreans to say all the time. For crying out loud, these people could be having a horrible day and you would have no idea.

But the lesson went well. They were very creative for the most part, and it kept their attention, plus they got to keep it to take home. My 6th-graders are good kids when they pay attention and feel encouraged. My 5th-graders are best when they're challenged and/or involved in competition. The 4th-graders are great when you interact with them personally and play learning games. The 3rd-graders are good at looking cute, but as far as English, you might as well be trying to teach them differential equations - either way, they'll probably spend the lesson picking their noses and giggling/hitting each other.

In other news, I think I'm becoming less of a bumbling Korean culture idiot. I will always be easy to pick out here, I will always be a foreigner - no Westerner will ever be Korean enough. But once you embrace that, it's pretty smooth sailing. If people on the subway or the bus or in the grocery store are talking about me, its not like I'd know anyway. And I've never really been one to care about how others view me (I come from the "If you don't like me, that's your problem" school of social interaction). But I am learning more about everything here...in order to survive, you must adapt.

This weekend was fun - we had our first weekend out on the town. Hil and I are getting braver with regards to riding the subway, so we went to go visit my orientation roommate Leigh who lives near downtown Seoul. She took us out to dinner and then to the Kyobo bookstore (ITS HUGE, and its a good thing, because there are always 5 million people there). Its basically like a Barnes and Noble, except there are no chairs. None. So if you want to sit and read, you pull up a nice spot of carpet in front of the Microeconomics section and just sit in the aisle. I couldn't shake the feeling that I was in the way, but that's just how it works here. And how many people in a given day need an English Microecon book in Seoul?

Saturday we went to Insadong (more people in a small shopping district) and Itaewon (where all the foreigners hang out, and consequently the most dangerous neighborhood in all of Korea). We saw a bunch of other people from orientation and shopped for awhile.

Sunday we went to afternoon church at a place that regularly has an attendance of about 70,000 people for their Korean services on Sunday. Their English service attendance, however, is around 100-150 per service (2 services), so it feels like what I'm used to. I signed up to go on a retreat with the church during Cheosok, Korean thanksgiving (Sept 23-25). It sounds like its going to be a good time - and the people there seem really awesome. One thing I really feel like I need right now is fellowship...I mean, considering the fact that I'm the only fluent English-speaking Westerner in my area of town (not joking), it might be nice to have some friends. Other than the Jehovah's Witnesses that come every Sunday :)

The mosquitos here are voracious. Voracious means 'very hungry'. And apparently they like the taste of American food (ie. me). And the pollution is killing me slowly. But other than that everything is going really well!!!

These verses have been on my mind as of late, and (SURPRISE!) were spoken about at church on Sunday:

"My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, 16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be." ~Psalm 139:15-16

I think of God writing my life in the Book...

"Sept. 11, 2007 - Today Jessica will dodge 5 scooters on her way to school. A kid who calls himself "Bobby" will ask her why she hasn't had a baby yet. And for lunch...well, we'll just keep that a secret, shall we?"

I can feel Him smiling on me all the time. Maybe even laughing, saying, "You asked for it, my dear." I know...I know. :)

That's all for now. I must start coloring...oh the life of an elementary school teacher!

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

Jess

While I'm at it,,,

2007-09-05T22:14:00.001-07:00

Hil's blog is here:

http://www.hilaryinseoul.blogspot.com/

These kids are so cute!!

2007-09-05T21:54:00.000-07:00

Today after class, one of my fourth graders came up to me and started to say something and then apparently panicked and ran away, covering her face laughing. She went up to my co-teacher (who speaks Korean) and then came back and asked me the following question:

"What kind of man do you like?"

This isn't so out of the ordinary because most of my kids know I'm single (thank you, informal Q&A) so I wasn't taken aback or anything. Plus, any interest in asking English questions is welcomed - I definitely don't want to discourage that. So I told her someone tall, someone nice...and she asked "A rich man, yes?" and we laughed for awhile. I said, "No - rich men are too self-absorbed", fully knowing that neither she, nor my co-teacher, would know what that meant. She asked "A handsome man?", smiling and laughing, covering her face once again and my co-teacher and I joined in. It appears as though my kids will be playing matchmaker for me for the next year :)

Yesterday after school, Hil and I went to the immigration office to get an alien registration card (basically an ID card). Its weird to think of myself as an "immigrant". Everything went smoothly (which never happens here) and there were SO MANY WHITE PEOPLE there. Like probably 12 or so. But when you're the only white person in your whole neighborhood, that's a lot to see at one time.

At the grocery store I managed to find cereal, peanut butter (A GODSEND), jam, spaghetti, milk, and wheat bread, which I think is just brown white bread. Maybe slightly burned white bread.

So I'm blogging in my classroom now, and 3 little third-grade boys are in here cleaning up (each kid has a chore to do at school - there are no janitors). They are absolutely adorable when they aren't shooting each other with the water spray bottles. I give them candy once in awhile when they don't get into too much mischief. Right now they're sweeping by spinning in circles in the middle of the room. They're pretty much hilarious.

Well, onto lesson planning. I think I have the 6th graders all to myself next week, we'll see how that goes. Some of them fancy themselves "too kool for skool" if you get my drift.

So if you'll excuse me, I have to go wrestle the spray bottles away from my third graders.

God Bless!

Jess

Finally...a computer that works!

2007-09-02T23:54:00.000-07:00

Good afternoon!

Orientation ended on Friday, so on Friday afternoon we were all sent along with our co-teachers to our schools, which are all scattered around Seoul. None of us knew where we were going exactly (thank you, SMOE), so we couldn't inform others as to how to contact us...no known phone number, no internet access. I didn't know where I was let alone where I was going. Kind of stressful.

I got to my school...very small - smaller than any elementary school I've ever been to. There are only 4 classes of each grade. Its a cute little school and the vice principal speaks some English. He is a fun guy. And, I'm not trying to be stereotypical, but he looks exactly like an older Jackie Chan. Like Jackie Chan's dad. And since you now think I make huge generalizations about a diverse group of people, let me just say that everyone here LOOKS THE SAME. I see another white person maybe once a day. And they usually look just like me - confused.

English here is hilarious. There's no other way to describe it. Its "token" English, it makes no sense and is often spelled very wrong. The other day I was in HomePlus (like Wal-Mart) and I saw a sign for "baby feeling equipment". I think they meant "feeding" but there's no way to be sure. The Korean language is a phonetic language, so Korean words when spelled in English are spelled many different ways. Names of towns differ according to who wrote the sign. Some notable wacky English I've seen so far:

-Donky Fried Chicken (restaurant)
-Hey Nebraska! (t-shirt)
-"Star Funky" (t-shirt)
-Gum Sole Power (t-shirt)

There are so many more...I'll add to the liast as I encounter more. Until then, expect your Christmas presents to be random english word/phrase shirts bought here.

My power cord died for my computer, so my battery is dead until further notice. I just bought another power cord on ebay today so it should get to me in about a week. But that means all my blogging will have to be done at school, so it may be infrequent this week.

Today was my first day teaching, and I'll write more on it later, but I let the kids ask me questions, and some of the more popular ones they asked were:

1) Are you married?
2) Do you have a boyfriend?
3) How old are you?

And my favorite:

1) What's your blood type?

By the way all of the food here has been terrible so far. I think I'm not looking in the right places, but if it continues like this, I may go anorexic. I've already lost about 10 lbs since being here. None of my clothes fit and I look homeless. I am happy though!! Just also very hungry :(

Alright, teacher's meetingin 10, then I get to go home! Actually I'm going to Hil's, but you know what I mean.

As they say in Korean English class, "BYE BYE!!"

Jess

Becoming a teacher: A Metamorphosis

2007-08-28T23:41:00.000-07:00

Greetings from the Orient!

This week we have seminars on preparing lesson plans, acclimating to the teaching environment, relating with our Korean co-teachers, etc. There are people here who have been teachers for years in America, Canada, etc. There are people here who have taught overseas before, in China or Korea, etc. There are newly-graduated Education majors who have student-taught and have some classroom experience.

And then, there's me. No education classes. No professional teaching experience. Never had my own classroom (unless you count Sunday School).

This used to stress me out.

However, I'm beginning to see that all of this may be to my advantage. I don't have any expectations. My only concern is that perhaps, in some kind of sugar-induced craze (EVERYTHING HERE IS LOADED WITH SUGAR), my students might go berzerk and start stabbing each other. This is worst-case scenario, of course. Anything else is minor.

I won't have to test the kids (they're not tested on English, weirdly enough). I won't have to discipline the kids (that's my co-teacher's job). I have a text book. I have a website with over 1,000 powerpoint activities and games. I like children (may feel differently by the time I come back).

And so, I don't have to worry about fitting "my technique" or "my teaching style" into everything. And that's good, because I don't have either one of those things. They keep stressing that our main job is to have fun with the kids, and hopefully they'll retain something. That works. I can be a dancing monkey for 22 hours a week and not feel like I'm wasting my precious professional educator time. Because I'm not a professional educator. Nothing is beneath me. Kind of like being an intern.

My main goal is to survive without embarassing myself (amongst adults) too much, and to just enjoy being with these kids. Hopefully that's attainable :)

By the way, these people try to sneak fish into everything here. I have to be very suspicious about what I eat - the menus are only in Korean. I found a tentacle floating around in what I had judged to be vegetable soup yesterday. Sneaky.

Tomorrow we get to visit the National Korean Museum. I'm sure they'll have a kimchi exhibit, and you know I'm looking forward to it.

Au revoir,

Jess

Daily Menus, etc.

2007-08-26T16:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a smattering of the daily menu offerings at the Hyundai Learning Center:

Breakfast:
-Rice
-Sliced hot dog stir fry
-Mystery meat sausage
-at least 2 kinds of kimchi (spicy cabbage/radishes/greens)
-Milk (1% or strawberry)
-White toast with butter and strawberry jelly (my saving grace)
-Coffee (instead of replacing the grounds every time they just pour more water in, so by the third round, you just have brown water)

Lunch:
-Rice
-Meat stir fry (either fish or pork or beef or combination)
-Mystery soup (one day we had miso, but that's all I've been able to identify)
-At least 2 kinds of kimchi
-Nori packets (dried seaweed)
-Yogurt drink (tastes like melted skittles)

Dinner:
-RICE
-Grilled or sliced meat/fish, sometimes omelet-like things
-Mystery soup
-Last night we had potatoes
-At least 2 kinds of kimchi
-Yogurt drink

As I've said in the past, I would like to try dog while I'm here...but judging by what I've eaten so far, I may have already eaten it and just not known :)

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.

Yesterday we also had a traditional Korean dance lesson. It was like 3 hours of aerobics. Very interesting, though...the guy who was teaching us is a very famous traditional dancer here. He was pretty amusing.

Well, I have a seminar about Korean culture in half an hour, so I better go.

Until next time,

Jess

Seoul Searching

The Lost Writings

The Lost Writings

The Lost Writings

The Lost Writings

The Lost Writings

The achievement...of a lifetime.

Home

The Long Road Home

Nothin like a Straddie Vacay

Summer again!

American

Down Undah

The Christ in Christchurch

Kaikoura musings

Kia Ora!

Kiwi Travels

Oh what a year...

Another great spa experience!

Flying Seoul-o

Dinner

Typing at last!

Infinite Challenge

Good day to all of you readers out there

Birthday Photo Shoot

Happy Canada Day, eh!

Okay okay!!!!

"Answer: Merciless, Insatiable, Awe-Inspiring"

Medical Adventures Pt. 87

Teacher's Day

Adventuring

Toothbrushes

Just a glimpse

Since when is this ordinary?

Whoa.

Some light reading...

Blog Hackers!!!

When will you learn...

Happy Monday

Korea - Still Strange, Still Oddly Endearing

Funny story

FYI

Delightful Adventures of the Orient

HK

More writing for you

Hello Narcissism!

FYI

Worth Noting

New Years Resolution #1 - ACHIEVED.

I'm too tired to think of a clever title.

"The only thing worth holding onto is holding onto me"

Why talk about the weather when we could very well be selling umbrellas?

Hello Jack Bauer

More stories for my grandchildren...

Hilary is famous!!

Ugh

Where are the muffins?

English Camp is killing me slowly

Hello 2008!

This may be risky...

6 crazies and a Korean Photo Booth

A beautiful mess...

Lunch

Christmas in Seoul

God is Good

2 things, quickly

Girls rule

Why is it so COLD in here??

Ajummacity

Diversity and Ginkgo Berries

Check it out

There goes my hero...

3 things

My apartment

Howdy!

My life is amusing...

Some more Teacher Mail

Me vs. the Mountain

The cure for what ails me

Most frustrating day EVER!