Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I should really stop writing these when I'm tired, but this post has been building in my head for awhile, and I suppose there's no time like the present... 'cause there may or may not be a good point in the near future for writing. Carpe momentum, I suppose.

I'm leaving next Wednesday.

It's still surreal to say and think that in a little over one week, my life is going to dramatically change.

I was cutting out pretty pictures to use for decorating in Korea, and thought, 'I think I like these pictures because I really want to travel. No, duh. You're going to be using these in KOREA. That IS travelling!' It was mildly amusing to a. be talking with myself (which kinda happens often, not gonna lie...) and b. realize that I was still thinking about travelling when I am about to travel.

One of the things on my 'to do' list is to sort my things and either
a. get rid of
b. pack away
c. pack to take along
everything I own... pretty much. It's not an intimidating task, not at all, certainly not intimidating enough for me to put it off for a good 2 months... of course not... Okay, so I just really got started today. I've decided that I need more sleep and more iron because I was definitely doing caffeine today to keep working. (If you know my caffeine habit, you'd know that it's pretty much nonexistent - I try to avoid caffeine dependence as best as I can.) Of course, all the sleep in the world won't help much if you're low in iron, which I often am - Iron deficiency is often responsible for why girls feel tired easily, and often attributed to lack of sleep (according to a website produced by some branch of the British government). I guess I'll be popping some iron pills tonight, 'cause we're cleaning the garage tomorrow. Whoopee... About as fun as cleaning my own room, but Mom wants to get it done while J and I are still in town/in the country/on the continent of North America. I will also be given the opportunity to mow the lawn one more time before I leave (Read: Mowing the lawn is not something I particularly enjoy and something I avoid if I can.)

Madeline's version of an advertisement/product plug:
This is the part of the blog post where I throw in the fact that I love this stuff called cooling powder. Yeah. I discovered it because of my thing for the Korean band Super Junior, who were part of a funny commercial to promote/endorse a particular brand (naturally the brand I use now ^_^). Watch the commercial here. ^_^ When I watched it, I thought, 'If that stuff really works, I could use it in China! Wait a minute, I live in Florida, for Heaven's sake! I'm in the perfect place to be using cooling powder.' To make a story short(er), I found an ebay seller in Thailand who carried the right brand, etc, and bought a bottle. I was in l.o.v.e. It works, no lie. When I mow the lawn (sometimes I really can't avoid it) in the Florida heat, a cold shower really won't cool me down all the way, but once I put on the cooling powder after drying off most of the way, I am coooool. Like I said, I love the stuff, and if you live in a warm climate (or something... it's nice for summer, too), I would encourage you to check it out.
[End of advertisement/product plug. Note: I am not sponsored or paid in any way by the company 12 Plus. I just think that if you find something that works, you should share it.]

I visited Atlanta last week - I was required by the Korean Consulate for the Southeast to appear in person for an interview with the Consul to get my teaching visa. It was really something God was working in, of course. I took Greyhound to get there - the cheapest short-notice flights I could find were about 300 round trip (And the little bank account said "Ouch!"), Greyhound was 145 round trip (And the little bank account said, "That isn't as painful!"). I stayed with the Hildebrand family, who are connected with CCC (I actually stayed with them as part of a group en route to the Student Global Impact conference in Detroit). Now, I don't really like asking people I don't know very well for favors (although my sisters have called me 'demanding' on occasion. Ouch.), but I think God was using this trip to say, 'Madeline, your pride really doesn't matter. You need to be willing to ask people for help, even if you don't feel like you're in a position to ask.' It turned out really well. The Hildebrands are super hospitable, and I was pretty much absorbed into the action. Because I stayed with them, I also got to help out some with the soccer camp at Killian Hill Baptist Church (the Hildebrands home church, also the home church of several others who go to CCC), and I got to know the ladies who prepare the delicious food for the staff meal every night - I re-learned how to play Hand and Foot (it had been 7 years since I last played it), and enjoyed the fellowship. (I also had to grin whenever they said, "If you can move to Korea in two weeks, you can _____." :-D) The visa was obtained without difficulty (Praise God!), and I returned safely to Clearwater via Greyhound (And MARTA, Atlanta's rail transit system). During the last three hours of the through-the-night trip, I talked with a fellow by the name of Max. Pray for him.

It was weird to get home and be so close to leaving and not have Dad home. He returns from Cambridge a few days before D-Day (I suppose here D-Day is Departure Day). It'll be good to see him. Yeah, I'm a Daddy's girl.

I mentioned my 'to-do' list earlier, and another job on it is 'write thank you cards'. I'm not an ingrate... I just haven't sat down to finish writing the cards. Sorry that it's taken me so long, but they ARE coming! Scout's honor. (not that I ever was a scout...)

Pray for me
- that I won't be overwhelmed in preparing to go
- that I will enjoy and value the remaining time with my family
- that I won't forget something important
- that I won't pack things I really won't need
- that my family won't take our (myself and J) leaving too hard
- that I won't be overwhelmed when I arrive

Thank you, all for your prayers. (and for making it to the end of the post)

MJ

1 comment:

win-win said...

I hope u brought some small gifts to give to ur co teachers. They really like that!