Goodbye Cheese Balls, Hello Milk

Umm... so yesterday... I kinda, sorta finished off the cheese balls. Yes, I finished that big huge bucket all by myself while sitting in front of the TV. Dusty helped a little along the way, but not much. Now I have gas. "Dusty, I'm sorry that I'm so stinky." Just goes to show how little self-control I have. Although those cheese balls were really good, I'm glad they're gone. I told Dusty not to buy them anymore. He agreed. Also, he asked me yesterday if I could lay off the milk. That made me angry and defensive because I'm a bit possessive of my milk. Anyone who knows me well, knows this about me. The thing is, I've just gotten over being sick for three weeks. During this time I literally drank zero milk which was incredibly difficult for me. So now that I'm healthy again, I'm kinda into my milk. However, in my defense, I'm still drinking much less milk than I used to back home. The reason? Well, there are two reasons. One is that the gallon of milk doesn't exist in Korea. We buy 1000mL cartons which is the equivalent of maybe 1/3 of a gallon of milk. Also, we have no car, so anytime we go to the store and get milk, we have to carry it home. Usually Dusty carries it in his backpack.

So yes, we actually got into an argument over milk of all things. After we talked through things and resolved the conflict, I went to the fridge to get some water (even though I really wanted some milk). And what do I find? Dusty has hidden the milk behind a bunch of stuff in the fridge. Are you serious? You think that hiding the milk from me is going to stop me from finding it and drinking it? No way, Jose. Today, I went to 7-11 all by myself and bought three 1000mL cartons of milk. That should last us a few days. Ah, married life.

Also, this was published by Rebs... not Dusty

Funny Moment

So yesterday I had a funny thing happen. I was doing an activity called "Domino" with about 8 teams of 15 kids in our auditorium. Each team gets a bucket full of differently colored plastic rectangles about the size of dominoes. We give them different shapes to make in about 5-10 minutes each for about 45 minutes. It's a teamwork activity.
They have speakers set up all around, and during the group activities, we usually play from a plethora of cd's that are by the sound board. I had asked Kyle, our supervisor, to put some music on in the beginning, and he happened to pick a cd that I'd made for a while back. I had forgotten what was on it, but it was a good one. Then, about half way through the class, my brother-in-law's song came on the speakers.
So here I am, surrounded by 75 Korean children frantically scavenging dominoes to build the tallest tower, and one of the most peaceful songs comes on. It's called "If I had an Old Guitar". It has somewhat of a country/folk-like rhythm to it. A good blend of rustic and melodic. I smiled and then started laughing to myself. The song is about being sick and tired, and using the rhythm of the guitar to cure yourself. So there I was surrounded by chaos, but I wasn't really focused on any of it. It was just what I needed, in the most ironic of places. Maybe you get it. Maybe you just had to be there.

Coincidence... I Think Not

So today was another amazing, blessed day for us. We went to church and Dusty got to share his testimony in front of the congregation. I was full of joy and tears filled my eyes as I listened to him speak. After the service, an American couple our age came up to introduce themselves. As we talked, we learned that they are from Arkansas, have been married about as long as us, and are avid rock climbers. What?!?! How crazy that we meet them on the other side of the world. Similar to us, their home away from home was climbing at Horseshoe Canyon Ranch. So as we learned more about each other, we all started to grow more excited as we realized how amazing an opportunity we have to become friends and share our greatest passions... God and climbing. Like us, they are English teachers however, they live about two hours south of us in a rural area of Korea. They teach in the public schools mostly to children whose parents are farmers. They have been here about 1.5 years so they know all the good climbing areas and know a lot of people in the climbing community. I'm just so amazed at the fact that we met them. They try to come up to Seoul about once a month to go to our church, stock up at Costco, and run errands. They also have a car which means they can come visit us anytime.

When we first got to Seoul and began making some unlikely connections with people I'd think to myself, "What a coincidence, and what a small world it is." But you know, as stuff like this continues to happen time and again, I'm convinced it's more than just a coincidence. I'm beginning to think that God is fulfilling one of His many promises. God says in Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you... plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Dusty and I came to Korea because we felt called by God. We came here on faith and God gave us the courage to leave all that was familiar and comfortable. Knowing that God promises to prepare our way, we chose to trust Him and follow where He was leading. Man, am I glad we took that leap of faith. Slowly, God continues to reveal His master plan for our lives one step at a time. What an incredible journey He's had in store for us all along. I guess when God says He prepares our way, He's not messing around. When He says I have plans to give you hope and a future, He means it. "God, You're simply amazing!"

On a lighter note, on the subway ride home we ran across a little fluffy lap dog that was wearing a sweater and shoes. Yes, shoes... on all four feet. Then I came home and took a great nap for about two hours. I had a really weird dream about my dog, Legend. Dusty's parents are taking care of her for us while we're gone. In my dream, we were meeting up with Dusty's parents for dinner and when I met them at the booth in the restaurant, I was shocked to see Legend sitting at the table with her two front paws crossed on the table and little purple bootie shoes on her feet. The first thought to cross my mind is that she'll never want to come back home because Dusty's parents spoiled her so much. I have weird dreams.

Oh, Happy Day!

This will be random but sometimes I'm just a weird random girl.

1. I think I'm addicted to the cheese balls that Dusty bought at Costco yesterday. I like to walk around the apartment carrying the huge plastic container with me. Dusty just laughs. I think my mouth is getting a little raw from the cheese so I might have to take a break from eating them for a few days. It's okay though, I could stand to gain a little weight. My pants are getting too big for me and I don't want to buy new pants. I like my pants.

2. I've decided to stop shaving my legs until we go to Thailand for several reasons... (1) I have very thin, blonde, soft, leg hair (2) Dusty doesn't care if I shave or not (3) I'm curious to see how long my leg hair gets (4) I'm wondering if it will help keep my legs warmer (5) I wear pants all the time and nobody sees my hairy legs anyway. That's a lot of reasons.

3. Just one of the many reasons my husband is amazing... He made me french toast, maple bacon, and fresh strawberries for breakfast. They were the sweetest strawberries I've ever eaten. I'm wondering where those delicious strawberries came from since it's winter here in Korea.

4. I got to sleep in until 11am today. Ahh, I love being all snuggly under the warm covers.

5. Highlight of my day: I got to talk to my dad over skype for the first time since I've been here. He could see me but he's gonna have to figure out his webcam because I couldn't see him. That's okay, I know what he looks like. We talked for 1.5 hours. It was so nice to hear his voice. I love my dad.

6. I got my hair cut on Tuesday and although I just asked for a trim and a few layers I think my hairstyle is a little Koreanized now. They gave me many, many layers. All my Korean girlfriends tell me it looks more sophisticated.

7. We get the next two days off to rest and play.

8. Tonight the second ten day winter camp ends with a graduation ceremony. It will conclude with a very entertaining dance party followed by hundreds of Korean kids asking for my autograph and crying because they have to say goodbye to all their new friends. It's kinda sad and funny at the same time.

9. Tomorrow, Dusty gets to share his testimony with the congregation at our church. After hearing his testimony our pastor asked Dusty if he would speak to everyone because he thought it would be a great introduction to his sermon. Dusty was a little shocked because he's always thought his testimony is somewhat uneventful. I'm excited to hear him speak and so proud of the man of God that he is. Also, in a month or so, Dusty and I are starting a young adults group at our church. We're really looking forward to the leadership opportunity.

10. Yesterday in my newspaper class, I had four kids fall asleep. They're so exhausted after 10 days of camp. They have structured class and activities from 9am-9pm everyday. No wonder. Anyhoo, two of the boys (teenagers) fell asleep with their arms around each other. It's refreshing to witness a culture so affectionate with each other. Even the men and boys. It's not uncommon to see them walking together holding hands or linking arms. No, they're not gay. It's just their culture. My Korean friends are the same way with me. They love to hug me and walk with me arm and arm. I like how expressive they are.

That is all. Oh, happy day!

Tired Bears

Hello friends. I'll try to keep this short because Brandi likes our short blogs. Just home from work. We are in our second (of three) ten day winter camps. The winter sessions offer three majors for the students. They have to pick between science, art, or theater. Something different for us is that we are assigned to one group of students in a particular major for the entire session. This means we really get to develop relationships with the kids. It's been so much fun and really rewarding but also really taxing and draining. The last night of the majors is a chance for the students to display what they've learned. The science students have an egg drop contest, theater students perform a play, and the art students have an art show/contest. Dusty has been teaching theater and I've been teaching art. Tonight was the final night for the majors. I've really been investing into my kids and it sure takes a lot of energy but I'm so proud of them and how hard they've worked these past several days. I had such a great, well-behaved group of students. It will be harder to say goodbye to them tomorrow because I'm more attached to this specific group than I usually am when we just have regular camp. At the same time, I'm a little relieved to have a few days off from teaching majors. I really love my job. It's so much fun and I also really love the family atmosphere that exists around here. All the teachers get along so well. It reminds me so much of my college swim team. We spend so much time together that we become like brothers and sisters.

I'm finally starting to feel like I'm not sick anymore. I still have a slight cough but it's nothing compared to how I was feeling. I've got more energy and a better attitude. Although, I can still sleep like crazy. It's the time of year when my body likes to hibernate I guess. It snowed all night last night and most of the day today. We probably have at least six inches of snow on the ground. It makes our campus look so beautiful and peaceful. The kids have enjoyed having snow fights with each other. I'm lucky that I haven't been pegged yet. Other than that, not much else is new. We pretty much work, eat, sleep, repeat. With me being sick so much combined with the cold weather and working a lot, we haven't ventured out too much in the past couple of weeks. It will be so nice when things slow down in a couple more weeks. I'm really looking forward to our vacation in Thailand. Okay, bye.

Entering a New World

So I decided to start taking Korean lessons on Monday. I had been pondering the idea ever since we got here, but they cost about $180 a month, which averages out to about $20 per hour, which isn't that bad. But that's still alot of money to me. It was a bit spontaneous: We were sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch with Karla (a Korean who also teaches English, whom I had spoken with previously about getting lessons, but was waiting because of the cost) and another couple who work here. Luke had asked me about lessons before and I had told him that Karla is supposed to be a good teacher. So he asked her if she had any time open, which she did, and found out that the cost was cheaper to do it with a partner, rather than alone ($180 is the cheaper price!). I was sitting across the table watching this all go down and before I knew it, I had also committed to joining in and learning.
Our first lesson was yesterday and I realize now that Hangul is pretty easy to pick up when you're determined. My determination is to not get left behind by Luke, who already knows English and French (he's English), so I'd consider him somewhat of a linguist. I can pronounce well, but it's hard for me to remember stuff initially. It takes me a few repetitions to get it, and the pace of the course is very fast. So I've found myself pumped full of all this knowledge, but if I don't practice, I lose it.
So today, I took my book with me everywhere I went and was amazed at how willing all the Koreans were to help me out. They were so interested to know that I was studying Korean. Everyone was grabbing my book and quizzing me. It was really cool, the prime environment to learn in. I have these pipe dreams of being able to have a decent conversation with any Korean, but we'll see how it goes. I'll have to update everyone after a month is over. But if it does work out, this could be opening a new world to me. I'm so thankful that it's as easy as it is. I know it will take some time, but I'm psyched to try and figure it out. It's like in life, when someone tells you you can't do something, you want to prove them wrong. Well, no one has said I can't do it, but it's proved to me daily when I don't understand what people are saying. It's so frustrating! Good motivation though.

Boogers, and mucus, and snot

"Oh, dang it!" I just burned my grilled cheese sandwich. I hate it when that happens. I haven't blogged in so long. Not because of lack of stories (because there are many) but more due to lack of time (because we've been working our tails off) and getting sick yet again. I'm currently interrupted from typing because I'm about to hack up a lung. This is actually the tale end of my cold and flu. Yes, that's right... both cold and flu. I've had just about every imaginable symptom of both in the last two weeks. Aches and pains, congestion, chunky green boogers mixed with blood, lost of snot and mucus and loogies, puking, diarrhea, headache, dehydration, chills, fever, rash... yes rash, loss of voice (which doesn't bode well for teaching), and last... the cough. However, I know my body and I know the last symptom before I'm finally healthy again is that stubborn cough that just doesn't want to leave. I'm just hoping and praying that I'm done being sick for awhile. This is my third run of sickness in two months. I'm convinced it's the pollution and the fact that there are too many freakin' people crammed in too small a space. But I just wanted all our loyal blogging friends to know... I'm still alive. And though I've been sick a lot, this big city called Seoul that is on the other side of the world which does things so differently from what I'm used to... has won my heart. I'm loving every moment here.

Currently, I have two funny and interesting experiences to share. One about my first encounter with a bu day and the other having to do with Dr. Fish. I'm leaving you with the cliffhangers because my burnt grilled cheese is hot off the burner and ready to eat. Okay, bye.