The Honeymoon's Over

A year and a half ago, another foreign teacher I had met told me she was leaving Korea 'while the going was good'. She didn't want to wait until after the glow had worn off, for the rust to show. I was confounded by her opinion - What did she mean, that life in Korea would someday sour? Despite my previous challenges, I still loved being in Korea, and couldn't imagine living elsewhere. Now, I know.

Korea certainly has lost its glossy finish for me - one too many ahjummas (pushy middle-aged women), one too many times being battered by an unforgiving language barrier (after a certain amount of Korean, my brain can and will shut off its 'foreign language function'), one too many differences of opinion with those I need to cooperate with (acting like a grown-up takes a ridiculous amount of effort), one too many plates of food that just doesn't quite appeal to me, one too many bouts of aphasia or Konglish. Yes, the gloss is gone. The honeymoon is over.

Now for the waking up with Korea, and continuing with Korea, and the loving it despite its myriad flaws. Now for the choosing to love Korea for affectionate little children who marvel that other countries have books and can read (no lie, that happened today), for caring bigger children who will devour massive amounts of ice cream while playing card games with me, for providential grandfathers who tell me, whether the weather is growing too hot or too cold, to "take care of your health", for new friends who think I'm fascinating, for fresh chances to bridge chasms between me and old friends, for foreign friends who know exactly what I'm going through, for a dad who proudly tells strangers that I live in Korea, though it seems an unremarkable feat, for little ones who beg for a big, tight hug, then wiggle and cry out, then ask for another.

Yes, the honeymoon is over, but my time here is not. And so, for every time a student compares me to an elephant (today, and, yes, she was old enough to know better), I have the opportunity to slough it off, remember I am ultimately here to serve God, and keep going.

Christ is Risen!

Another memorable Easter is coming to a close in Seoul. Today was early, to be sure, but enjoyable. My alarm rang at a rare 5:45, since I needed to catch the train that left at 6:45. I even arrived early for the 7:30 Sunrise Service, though the sun (blessedly) rose over an hour earlier. (I'm so thankful for the lengthening days. It's more cheerful to not wake up to darkness, and to enjoy the extended evenings.) Why, though, would I make the extra effort at least this one Sunday out of the year? I started thinking about it, and wanted to share what I realized...

Easters have always been special for me. As a girl growing up in a parsonage (or manse, as others call it), Sunday School, Morning Services, and Evening Services (Don't forget Wednesday night prayer meeting!) were the norm. Easter, however, we would be woken and ready to go in the dark to go to the Sunrise Service. Every other year, our church traded off with our sister church across town for Sunrise Services. This meant that not only did we get to be out of bed super early (which was fun, back then), but we also got to see people we sort of knew, but didn't see regularly, and certainly not every week, like the folks at our own church. There was also breakfast, far more substantial than the usual coffee and doughnuts, and the whole experience (kudos to Mom and Dad for making it so) was nearly magical. I don't know if we fully understood why, exactly, we met at sunrise on Easter until later, but it was special, nonetheless. One extra-memorable Easter Sunday, some in our family were devastated to learn that they couldn't go to the Sunrise Service - Mom found chicken pox. Those of us without were relieved that we'd escaped... Until the telltale signs appeared on us 2 weeks later.

I don't recall that we had Sunrise Services at our next church, but as I grew older, I was better able to understand and appreciate the significance of Easter, including sunrise at Easter, the time when Jesus returned to life, complete with an earthquake and a stone that angels rolled away. (There were also other dead people who left their graves at the earthquake and walked around the city. Bet you didn't notice that in Sunday School... I sure didn't notice that until later, but how crazy-awesome is that?!?!?)

Another memorable Easter was in my freshman year of college - I'd visited New York City with a school trip over Spring Break, and was fascinated by the place. It didn't take too much work to convince my older brother that we should go back at the next possible chance - Easter Break. That Easter, we were with a pastor's family that we knew by various ways and means. (Okay, my dad was friends with their dad, and we knew the family from summer camp.) We went to their 8:30ish chilly outdoor sunrise service, long after sunrise, and enjoyed breakfast afterward with a variety of New Yorkers. Other things happened that day, including spending time with good friends and making memories, but that was a trip to remember, for certain.

Easter in Paris was exceptional. My older sister and I escaped our unsatisfying tour group (with permission!) to meet up with missionary friends for their Easter services in the Parisian suburbs. (We didn't make it to their Sunrise Service, but 3 church plants were together for a joint service.) Worshiping and fellowshipping with the missionary family and with French brothers and sisters in Christ was thrilling. Couple the morning fellowship with an afternoon and evening of the Louvre, L'Arc de Triumphe, et Le Tour d'Eiffel, and it was one of the best days of my life. (Apart from that run-in with the weird older guy trying to proposition us... I'd rather forget that part.)

And that brings us to Korea. My first Easter here was spent at a Korean church where I was meeting up with the guest speaker, a pastor who knew my dad from England (Why, yes, pastors' kids do have pretty impressive networks, especially when their dad is as impressive as mine. ^_^). We had a nice time meeting and conversing about life in Korea, and other diverse and sundry subjects.

While I don't have particular memories about last Easter, this Easter was pretty neat. The Sunrise Service (my attendance, I realized, was inspired by memories of childhood Sunrise Services) was good, and the following breakfast was delicious and filling, with plenty of food and fellowship. I may have been drinking more coffee than usual today, but it's been a good day of fellowship, learning, and resting.

May your Easters also be filled with awareness of the great gift, sacrifice, and miracle that is Christ's death and resurrection.

He is risen, indeed.

-Miss Chatters

Life Imitating Art

If you have known me in the past 4 years, you likely know that I enjoy watching Korean (And Taiwanese, and Japanese) tv shows, often called 'dramas'. No, they're not soap operas, at least, not the ones I watch, and they sometimes have great stories. Now, while I enjoy watching somewhat dramatic things on my tv/computer screen, I don't enjoy when they happen to me in real life.

Two years ago, my brother came to visit me in Seoul. Now, sometimes you watch a drama and see people go through sooo many near misses that you scoff, saying "That never happens in real life." Nope. It really happens. And let me tell you, it's frustrating and irritating when it does happen. (It all worked out, so it was a comedy, not a tragedy, but it has gone down in the family annals.)

Now, if I tell you a story about a vital, lively widower who found a second chance for love with a widow who was his student many years past, you might sigh and smile at the sweetness of the story. But if I throw in a wrench and tell you that the widower tragically dies less than a year after their wedding, you might tell me that I'm being melodramatic and unrealistic or unfair and overly tragic. I wish. That vital, lively widower was a man I've known for nearly a decade as "Uncle Ed." I knew his first wife, and all who knew them were shocked when she died 3 years ago, within a week of contracting pneumonia. We were happy for him when he introduced a beautiful, gracious lady at church, and married her last June.

When we heard that he'd contracted pneumonia early this year, our hearts twinged, remembering the death of his first wife. It was a serious battle, but when I was home in February, he seemed to be on the mend. Just this week, I started to realize that he was not going to make it. He passed away only a few days ago. He had lived a full, productive life, but it still seemed unfair to him and his new bride, that their time together was cut off abruptly, that their happiness in their new love would be washed with the trial of a long, losing battle with death.

I know that I'll see Uncle Ed again. He was a staunch believer in Christ, and spent much of his life teaching others to know Him, too. Knowing this doesn't mean that I won't miss him, though, and, thousands of miles away, I deal with the pain of knowing that a man that I loved like a grandfather, who loved me and prayed for me regularly, is no longer in this world.

Maranatha.

What's in a Name?

March marked the beginning of a new school year for me, and boy, am I loving it! My students are precious and my co-teachers are, overall, very helpful. That's not to say there are never problems, but I love my job.

With the beginning of the new school year came a funny sort of challenge - giving my students English names. As I arrived late in the last school year, there wasn't much I could do at the time about 'Potato', 'Tomato', 'Lady Gaga', and 'Blue Kimchi', to give you a taste of some of the 'English names' I was told. I'm aware that naming is hard - 10-15 names in, and you're resorting to re-using that one name you kind of like, and then you realize, wait, I have 500 students to go... So I came up with an idea - I combed through BabyNames.com to find names I could endorse, and made lists of Boys and Girls names. Then I whittled each list down to 200 of each. I wrote each name (and a Korean pronunciation guide - by yours truly) on a separate Post-It, giving me a total of 4 blocks of 100-name Post-Its (color-coded, even! Blue for Boys, Pink for Girls). Then I put up a 5x6 square(rectangle) of Pink and Blue names (so 2 rectangles) for the children to pick from when they came in. I greeted them at the door with a handshake and 'What is your English name?' A number were re-routed to the board as they answered with 'Um...' or an outlandish name... Bunny, the boy, is now Abraham (and boy, does he have a talent for drawing!), Tomato is Jonah, and he's still a lively chap. (I used up about 150 of each kind of name.)

In the intro class, I also had the students fill out an index card with their English and Korean names, as well as a few facts about them. I keep these cards filed by class, and whip them out every class to call on the students (I make them read and answer questions... the horror!), which is helping me pair names and faces.

I had a lot of fun choosing my lists of names. I'm still enjoying that Reuben and Levi are in the same class, that there's a class with Jacob, Isaac, and Samson, and that if Clark and Kent took on Alexei and Luther, I'd have Superman battling his arch nemesis. Oh, and there's Royal, who's family name is Wang (King). I love that one.

What's in a name? A Korean child by any other name is yet Korean, but that other name sure does help this teacher have fun and get to know each individual student.

Signing off,
Miss Chatters

PS I'll hopefully get back to the travelogue in my next post...

Globe Trotting

Yesterday morning, I returned home from the last leg of my amazing holiday! In 18 days, I spent a week each in Japan and the Philippines, with a couple short visits to Macau and a few days at home in between. Now, it's back to work, but I'm feeling refreshed, if not completely rested.

My first trip took me to Okinawa, where a college friend lives with his wife (they're practically family). He's stationed there with the USMC (Which does not stand for US Military, as the Japanese immigration authorities thought, but United States Marine Corps.). Although Oki is a subtropical island, it was definitely their winter weather, with chilly temps and drizzle for most of the visit. We did get one blessedly sunny morning/afternoon, which was providentially the day we went to the beach, for which I was thankful. The couple I was visiting is expecting a baby, and I was privileged to be present at an ultrasound. Wow. It was amazing to hear the baby's heartbeat and see it moving on the screen.

I ate a lot of delicious Japanese food, and one of my favorite things was the ramen egg - a marinated boiled egg with a luscious, jelly-like yolk. Yum!!! I also enjoyed soba, udon, donburi, and some sushi! I came to the conclusion that Japanese food is great. Yep. Pretty much.

Unfortunately for my adventurous palate, the won-to-yen rate wasn't terribly friendly... I've had to learn the hard lesson that the won, no matter how stable and trustworthy, isn't respected in other countries... So sad.

I did a lot of shopping in Japan, mostly looking around in touristy stores at nearly-identical contents... the best shops, I think, are the ones with candy - lots and lots of different candy! One store my friend showed me had a wide variety of salts, which was very cool!! I brought home some green tea, hibiscus, and melon salts, as well as some coarse salt. At that store, I also tried salty ice cream. It was good!! You were able to add different flavor salts to create unique creamy tastes. I also got to do a bit of shopping at a commissary, and picked up some great American favorites, including grits, nutty buddies, and pork rinds! At the Japanese grocery store, I picked up rice seasonings, instant ramen, and amazing pink ginger (closer to scarlet than pink...). I also found some cute stationery (a must in every Asian country, seriously!), and now I need to purpose to do something with all the stationery I'm stockpiling... (One of my primary ideas is to make birthday notes for all my students... We'll see if I follow through with it...)

Next time, I will write about the Philippines and Macau, perhaps Macau will get its own post!

Signing off until then!
Miss Chatters

Brief Update

It's been awhile since I've been here, as you can tell. The last post was over 6 months ago!! And, gracious me, much has happened in those 6 months. I'll give you the highly abbreviated, yet not textspeak version... so it's not as abbreviated as it could be.

June - birthday, looked into a new job, learned that I missed the deadline for the job I wanted...
July - invited to extend at the old workplace, with a month off in August
August - completed my first 1-year contract, had to pack up my belongings on short notice, left for a lovely month with family and friends in the States. Niggling in the back of my mind the whole time - what happened to my belongings??
September - returned to Korea to learn that all was not well regarding my belongings, but none were lost or discarded... Then learned that my workplace was being closed by headquarters, began looking for a new job.
October - followed a friend's wise advice and returned home to wait for a new job, since the jobs open were not the jobs I wanted. God provided a place for me to store my belongings in the interim.
November - gained a job and traveled back to Korea over Thanksgiving and Black Friday
December - finally getting settled in at my new job and home.

Toldja a lot happened. Wonderfully, I could see God's hand working in every step of each new and challenging situation. He is faithful!! And good. And this new job was EXACTLY the one I was looking for (public middle school in Seoul). My new apartment - in a very cool part of Seoul. My new students - so. cute. (okay, not all of them, but seriously, some of them are cheek-pinching worthy in their adorableness!!!) My new co-teachers - quite good. My new foreigner ID card - super awesome, with lots of impressive features... seriously, I geeked out over them last night... (and the picture is better than last year!)

Looking back over the year, I have become a better teacher, become a more confident person, lost weight, learned over and over again to trust God, and reveled in my family and friends and in the amazing and challenging situations God has placed me in.

Signing off for now (It does say 'brief' update, after all...),
Miss Chatters

PS MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

My Thorn

I have this problem... It crops up every now an again, sometimes as a twinge, sometimes as a nearly crippling pain. It often deals its worst blows when I'm spending time with my friends from Korean church. What is this problem? you ask. Self pity.

I've always been rather capable of pitying myself, but in the past few months, I've been pummeled by staggering pity parties. Today, for example, during practice for my Korean praise team (We're singing next Sunday, and my proposal, which I mentioned in my last post, appears to have been completely chucked out the window.), I was haunted by insidious, self-pitying barbs like, 'It's days like this that makes having Korean friends feel too much like work.' or 'How can I contribute here? They don't care about my efforts, even my baked goods got a rather cool reception the other week.' or 'I don't get it. What's the use of trying to be their friend? No one ever really talks to me, anyway.' while enviously eyeing the girls whispering together. I was close to letting myself cry, but for the fact that doing so would just bewilder them and I really wouldn't be able to explain without looking/sounding pathetic/needy. I am pathetic and needy, let's be honest, but what I need isn't to get attention from my Korean acquaintances. I need to focus my attention on God. Sounds simple enough, right? Maybe? It isn't. I did eventually cry a few tears during the closing prayer time, but these were tears of repentance, not of frustration, pride, or pity. I remembered that Christ lived among people who didn't understand Him, who felt uncomfortable around Him, who were intimidated by His being different, who thought differently from Him. Who am I, that I should not have to endure what my Lord did? I recalled a quote, "God is all you need, but until God is all you have, you will never know that God is all you need." Is this my lesson? I feel much too young to learn this, though I should be thankful that I'm learning it at such a young age, at least to some degree. Now, to actually learn and apply the lesson...

I've begun reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. It was recommended by WORLD magazine (which I highly recommend, btw), and it has been challenging and encouraging. The author tells of her journey to give thanks for all things, in all things, in a specific, particular manner, not simply a blanket 'thank you for everything.' Reading it has also made me realize/recognize/remember (and I'm sure many of you will shake your heads, 'My, she's so young.' when you read this, but I'm a willing admitter.) that life does not magically become wonderful and everything beautiful and all problems resolved when one marries and has children. (And here you nod wisely.) However, if I now learn and practice these things which the author learns while married with 6 growing children, I will be in much better stead when, Lord willing, I am married with children. And so, here are some things I gave thanks for today:
- Rare root beer and summer making a perfect combination
- Dongsaengs (younger siblings/friends) who polish their shoes (Remember that friend I taught to polish his shoes? Those shoes were looking very nice today.)
- Friends who make an effort to translate songs for me
- Family that is dear, even miles away.
- God's family, which is close at hand, if not as emotionally close as my natural family
- Brightly colored shirts which proclaim God
- Brightly colored eyeliner and eyeshadow to match the shirt

Well, it's a start.

Pray for me.

Signing off,
Miss Chatters