All is well here in Colorado. We're really enjoying our time with Rebecca's family. Life is so simple without work or a cell phone. And Rebs' dad and stepmom have been so gracious as to let us use their cars during the day by dropping them off at work. Two nights ago, we went to the Bonefish Grill for dinner, had some amazing food, but it was especially special because we were all together: us, Rebs' dad and stepmom, stepbrother Brandon who is in the Marines, his fiancee Kim, and Rebs' brother Josh, who flew to Canada the next day to meet his fiancee. Everyone's schedule (except ours) is somewhat complicated, so the fact that we were all able to be together was nice. Afterwards, we came back and had an early Christmas, opening a couple gifts at first, but Santa's helper (Gail) kept finding new gifts that should be opened at that very moment. So about half the presents got opened. We had some fun with doing one-legged squats (no alcohol necessary), and finished the night with some warm apple pie and ice cream.

Two things I've been enjoying a lot lately: working out and eating! If you know me well, you know that I really like eating. And the one thing for me that makes food even better is having earned it through a good workout. It tastes better and is always guilt free. I also like being in good health, so that doesn't hurt either. So yesterday, Rebs and I went swimming for about an hour. I think it was about my senior year of college that I actually fell in love with the sport. Before that, it had been a means to an end-- a scholarship. But I knew I needed a better attitude about it because of how much time we spent training. So I prayed about it and really set my mind to change. That last season was my best ever. I loved the way I felt gliding through the water with ease due to a finely trained body. I think that feeling has stuck with me. So now, even though I'm not in peak performance shape like in college, I love getting a good workout in every now and then.

I've been having trouble adjusting to the time change from Korea to here. Korea is 16 hours ahead of Denver time, so when I'm going to bed here, it's about when I was getting up a week ago. So I wake up around 3,4, or 5 in the morning and am wide awake. It's happened every day I've been here so far. But Gail usually gets up early to work out and she invited me to come with her. So this morning, when I woke up at 4:30, rather than trying to force myself back to sleep, I was excited to get up and have a workout buddy. We did a CV circuit that Gail's trainer made for us, which is basically a mix of arms, abs, and legs, rotating through each station usually with less than a minute rest. His name is Chris and seems like a nice guy. Very perky for 5 a.m., but I guess that could be good for motivating the unmotivated. After a half hour, he had to go with his next client, but that was fine with me because I was already pretty fatigued. It's amazing the difference you feel at high altitude. I get winded so much easier up here near the mile high city. I believe Westminster is around 7000 feet in altitude. So during my lifting and running, I feel like my heart is burning a bit, hard to get air, but at the same time, fine tuning itself to be stronger. C'mon red blood cells, multiply!

So here I am at 7:30 in the morning, having already had a good workout for the day, a nice Fa La Latte (God bless the eggnog), and written a blog. I kind of like getting up early, but will probably need a nap later.

Arrived

After a ride from our friend to the airport, a flight from Busan to Tokyo, then Tokyo to LA, and LA to Denver for a total of 28 hours of traveling door to door, we are safe and sound at Rebs' dad's house. But for the 1 hour wait on the tarmac in LA, and then waiting for our luggage to arrive on the flight after us, it was a very smooth trip. It was a great feeling when we came up the escalator to see Brent waiting for us, to see the smile on both his and Rebs' face, the pure joy from a long-awaited embrace. It has been over 2 years since we were last in Colorado. So much has gone on while we were gone, it's hard to catch up sometimes. But the people we love are still here.

I woke up at 5 a.m. this morning, my usual jet lag wake up time. We were slightly delirious upon arriving, having only slept a few hours at different times on different airplanes. But we still managed some good conversation with all of the family. And now that the camera isn't packed anymore, you will hopefully get to see some pictures as we travel.

America

It's 11:00 at night here in Daegu. Rebs' stuff is sitting in 3 open suitcases as she gets one last good chat with our friend Narina before we head home for two months. My stuff is mostly packed in one bag in the bedroom. I've been slowly adopting the minimalist attitude over the past few months, one of the reasons we've chosen not to carry a cell phone when we're home. Feeling like my world is cluttered, I've been seeking a solution. Now that the school semester is over (if you're unaware, we teach English in Korea), I am really looking forward to the time away, the chance to step out of the picture and look at my life in Korea from a distance.

It feels a little weird going back to the States after being gone for two years, and having not lived there for three. Rebs and I were talking about the reverse culture shock we expect to feel--noticing things we had forgotten about when we first left. In a sense, we've become weird. We now know and (as much as is possible) understand the Korean way, and have somewhat adopted most of those methods for ourselves. But in doing that, have we lost some of our western logic? A more tangible example for people who haven't lived in another country, specifically Korea, is personal space. In Korea, the larger the city, the smaller the proximity of personal space available. This is why it's not uncommon to have your nose in someone's armpit on the subway, or get shoved aside by a halmonee (grandmother) with her purse as a battering ram on the bus. I just imagine myself going home and bumping into someone in a packed store and continuing to walk on without noticing, then having that person turn around and call me names. Rebs also says I need to work on my driving skills. And we're not sure what's going to happen with driving because when we got our Korean driving licenses, we had to turn in our American ones. So we're going to the DMV when we get back and see what they say. I can only imagine the look on the lady's face when she sees my license all in Hangul.

But it's all worth it to get some much needed time with family and friends. If you're in Colorado, Oklahoma, Arkansas, or Kansas, drop us a line because we'll be around!

PS - this is Dusty writing, not Rebs.

Happy Late Thanksgiving

It's been several months since I last wrote. I believe it was just before my summer camp started. Well, there is good reason for my absence. It somewhat represents my feeling of life for a while. I was the absentminded professor. Basically, I worked 12-13 hour days 6 days a week for 4 weeks, then went straight into school. This semester was extremely busy for me because I was teaching 5 different kinds of classes: Basic English 1, Basic English 1A, Basic English 2, Restaurant English, and Hair Design English. Yes, hair design. Rebs does say that I care too much about my hair, so maybe it fits me. All these classes meant I had much more to prep for. So I've basically just been keeping my head afloat with school for the past 4 months. On the weekends, I abandoned responsibility and headed to one of our many crags. My love for rock climbing made everything else not matter so much. It was the most enjoyment I got out of life, so that's what I did the most.

So there. Now you're caught up on bullet points. Now that school is winding down, I hope to have more time for blogging and keeping up with people better. Last year we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving. So this year, we made up for it with two! Two turkeys, double the casserole, double the belly ache. It was actually lots of fun. There is definitely a different feeling when you do Thanksgiving with friends. But we laughed a lot, and enjoyed our family away from home.

We head to the U.S. in just under 3 weeks! The majority of that time will be spent with family and friends, catching up after not having been in America for 2 years. I imagine that we will have somewhat of a reverse culture shock upon returning. Since we last left, my sister (and about everyone back home we know) had a baby. He is walking and starting to talk and we've never met him. So it will be really exciting to get to know him as well as her other two kids that are growing up fast. Also, my parents bought a piece of land with a cabin on it. They have been renovating it with hopes of having it as a future home someday. Well, that's at least one of the dreams. We are excited to see it and possibly help with some of the renovation.

Epic Weekend

One to write home about, literally. This past weekend was our bi-annual weekend get-together for our nearest and dearest climbing friends in South Korea. It is one of the few times a year we gather together in the same place at the same time to celebrate our unique family-like friendships and create new memories. True to form, the festivities commenced Friday evening and the next 36 hours or so was full of excited energy and laughter. Sunday afternoon we were exhausted from it all but full of joy and satisfaction. Here is a brief rundown of the weekend shenanigans.

We kicked off the weekend with a delicious barbecue at our place followed by a Saturday morning breakfast of homemade cinnamon rolls (thanks Dusty), eggs, fruit, and lots of coffee. It was a slow morning to get around and make decisions due to the drizzle outside but eventually it dried out and we all made our way to Shinban for some yoga and climbing. Shauna led a bunch of us in a super amazing practice which prepared our minds and bodies for some fun and exciting afternoon climbing. The newest addition to our family, Epic, had a ball running around in circles, chasing dragon flies, and chewing on sticks. Saturday evening we all headed to Bryan and Shauna's for some delicious South St philly cheese-steaks. Then Dusty posed the next challenge for us all, a dance competition. We were all divided into teams and had only a few hours to pick a song and choreograph a dance to perform in front of everyone. Let's just say it was a MEMORABLE competition and we got it all on video. Finally, we all headed back to our place so the girls could do some clothing/book exchanges. It's always so much fun sharing and trading with each other. We finally all headed to bed around 3am. Those that slept at our house were lucky enough to sleep in Sunday morning. Shortly after a light breakfast we headed back over to Bryan and Shauna's to celebrate Hana's birthday (she's 3). The party was hopping. We partook in appetizers, games, and cupcakes followed by our own parade outside. Everyone gathered musical instruments and played them in unison as we all walked to the park together to let the kids get their energy out. It was a crazy and chaotic blast of fun. The adults took turns resting and playing with the kids and by the end of it all, we were exhausted! One by one we all said our goodbyes and Dusty and I headed home for some much needed rest.

We're always so humbled and amazed at how God has blessed us with such amazing friendships. We are so thankful to have such wonderful people in our lives. Thanks to everyone who made it. To Bryan, we will never look at you the same after seeing you dressed in Shauna's bikini-top and tube dress (falling off) and dancing like a girl (followed by the security guard knocking on the door). Shauna, for the amazing yoga session and the delicious elmo cupcakes. Hana for your sweetness and love of dogs. Jess and Charlie, cuz you guys are just such a fun couple to be around. Terra (Harriet) for listening, for being my trusty belayer and inspiring me to climb hard. I love climbing with you, girl. Zen, for your joy, zest, and butter. Heidi, for your laughter and sharing your new experiences. Hanna, for your hilarious dance moves. Louise, for your gentle sweetness. Josh, for your genuine personality. Tom and Kate, for all the tasty pastries. Madeleine, for crawling around on the floor and making us all laugh. And Will, for your hilarious rap poem about poo. Indeed, it was a weekend to remember.

Fellowship - The Underlying Theme to My Summer Vacation

Seeing that my summer vacation will stop abruptly Saturday morning, I thought I'd reflect a bit about the summer. I leave for camp tomorrow, taking an hour and a half train ride south to the town of Jinju. I've never been there, so I have no idea what to expect. I also, in classic Korean style, have received very little information about the 4 week camp I am scheduled to work Starting Sunday/Monday. I think the kids are upper elementary and will be the same kids the whole time. But other than that, I know little. I guess I can write more about this when I know more.

So over the past couple of weeks, I've noticed the re-occurring theme of relationships/fellowship, or any other word you'd like to insert there. To me, it means connecting with other people in a way that goes beyond the surface. I believe we were made to be in relationships with each other. And I have found that there is little that can compare to the joy found in close people.

Last weekend, I got to go climbing with the owner of my climbing gym and some of the members. It had been a really long time since I was the sole foreigner in the group, and I kind of enjoyed it. There was a loneliness at times when I wasn't able to speak, but I also noticed how much my Korean has improved from 2 years ago. The weather pretty much rained us out, but our spirits were kept high. Maybe it was the lack of people around this summer that made me thirst for fellowship, but it was exactly what I needed. We ended up hiking to the top of the mountain, only to climb one route in the wind and rain, and then hike 30 minutes down to the shelter we'd camped at, make some ramen noodles, then hike another 30 minutes down to the artificial wall at the base, where it was partly sunny. In the evening, I got to meet the gym owner's family over dinner. His older sister actually owns the restaurant and had it open just to us, with a delicious dinner of pulled chicken, water kimche, and chicken soup. There is a word in Korean that means "refreshing" but I don't remember what it is right now. But they taught it to me that night.

I've had a double dose of fellowship, I guess, because our Tuesday night Bible Study has been really awesome. There are 7 of us who have been coming regularly, and that really is a magic number. Over the course of several months, we've come to know and understand each other on levels that good friendships are based on. If you know me well, you know that when I get comfortable, I'm not ashamed to ask tough or touchy questions, because I feel comfortable only when I think my company is too. So it's been really nice to open up with a group that I know and trust, sharing our faith with each other, something that is so dear to us. it's awesome.

Family Fun

It's been about a week since Mom and Dad came to visit. It was short and sweet, packed full of wonderful experiences with two people we love dearly. It had been over a year since we had last seen each other. Rebs went via KTX train and Seoul subway to eventually pick them up at the Incheon Airport. They bussed back and then taxi'd here. Their arrival date was June 18th, my mom's birthday. So while Rebs was in transit picking them up, I was home getting good food from Costco and making the ugliest, but most delicious carrot cake known to man, finishing just in time for their arrival.

Over the following week, we did all sorts of fun and active things to give them a glimpse into our lifestyles across the sea, as well as experience a country and culture that was equally foreign. It was fun to watch them shed their timidity slowly, but surely. My dad and I took a bike ride on the riverside path near our house. We took them to the local farmer's market and tried some new foods (no silk worm larvae though). We went swimming together at a local indoor pool that I frequent. We took them to the climbing gym to meet our local climbing community. We also went to Gyeongju (경주), Korea's old capital, to meet our friend Chris who acted as our tour guide as we biked around the city. They got to see some Buddhist temples and old carvings in the granite rocks around the mountainside. And they also got their first experience of Korean food, bibimbab (mixed veggies, rice, and an egg in a hot bowl).

While we were around the apartment, Rebs and Mom bought some pots and dirt to plant the seeds Mom brought over to help Rebs start her herb garden up on the rooftop. (We already have basil, oregano, and cilantro already sprouting after just a week!) We went together as a family to get acupuncture. And we had our friends over for a barbeque on the rooftop, so they could all meet Mom and Dad. We played a Korean version of "Catch Phrase" that I made up using different words and phrases you use and hear as a foreigner in Korea. The girls won (of course), and their prize was hugs from Mom and Dad.

The most important thing about my parents' trip, in my eyes, was that we just got to spend some quality time with them. Living over here, we only see our families on Skype every so often. You don't realize how much a hug is worth until you have to go without. We got to catch up with them. And even though we went all over the place and showed them many things, we made sure to savor our time in relaxing in each other's company, reveling in the depth of conversation. There is sometimes this imaginary barrier to a Skype call that keeps you from getting beyond the surface. So getting to spend so much time with Mom and Dad helped us to break past that barrier. It meant a lot for my parents to spend the time and money to come to the other side of the world just to see us. Now I feel like they know us better, and how to relate to us more. Thanks Mom and Dad!