Monday, August 16, 2010

My Virus

I have a virus. It's not dangerous. It's not life-threatening. And it isn't contagious. However, it causes other people to react to me in a certain way. It's called Foreignokorean-itis. It causes me to be an object of great curiousity. It even makes me relatively exotic, in some cases. But it shows its negative symptoms in certain contexts. You see, though some people barely acknowledge the virus and try to fight past the language barrier and usually wind up managing to communicate. However, some people find it very challenging to be around a person with my condition and are greatly relieved, even if they show it unintentionally, when they don't feel a burden of communication. The thing is, I think people misunderstand. I don't mind not knowing exactly what's going on. I mean, a full sermon where I don't get a lick from it is kind of frustrating, but a 15-20 min block of time is okay. I'm also misdiagnosed in many cases. To be specific, I have Foreignlittlekorean-itis, but most assume that I have Foreignokorean-itis, so they're scared that I can't muddle along at least some, and they're scared that they can't use any Korean around me. It's quite discouraging when I come in contact with people who fear Foreignokorean-itis. The funny thing is, they're usually able to communicate, but are highly self-conscious about their English. So whereas I think things are going fairly well, they're greatly taxed when they're around Foreignokorean-itis.

Apart from that, things are going fairly well - I just ran into a situation where they were scared or intimidated (I'll give them the benefit of doubt) of Foreignokorean-itis last night, and it was discouraging, to say the least... I felt pretty down last evening afterwards. However, there are bunches of things going well, I juuuust might get my ARC on Tuesday, and I have a God who doesn't care one whit about Foreignokorea-itis, or any language disease whatsoever. So I'm going to be just fine.

Pray for me as I'm continuing in my church search - it's a challenging task, but, I trust, rewarding at the end.

I must needs go and get ready for classes.

Signing off,
MJ (aka Miss Chatters)

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maid Line,

Ahn yoh hah say oh (from Florida).

In your previous post, you wrote "C'est la vie." Est-ce que tu parles francais? Si oui, ou est-ce tu as appris la langue franciase, a la Ecole Superieure de Clearwater? Et est-ce que tu a l'intention d' apprendre la langue koreenne?

I was intrigued by your Biblical theology, as in "God ordains our decisions...." Well said!

As for last week's "lunch for royalty", don't forget Daniel 1:8: it's good to avoid the king's dainty foods. Mankind's basic diet is still based on Genesis 1:29: fresh, un-heated salads, preferably without salad dressing, are loaded with enzymes, vitamins (i.e., "vital amines") and minerals (aka, co-factors) in a highly usable form. One problem today is how to get our fresh vegetables and fruits in a non-GMO form. I hope that Korea does not have that problem!

I will pray for you and your church search.

As for your building your blog: Kam sah ham nee dah!

Mr. James
Deacon at Suncoast BPC

Unknown said...

Hi Madeline,

I've been thinking about you and praying for you every day. I enjoy reading your blog.

Mary N.
SBPC