A Mr Collins Moment

Tonight was a farewell dinner for the Bible study I have attended almost since arriving in Korea. The two founding couples and another member will be returning to their home countries within a month and a half. This leaves the Bible study with no place to meet, so it is cancelled for now.

The dinner was an amazing multi-course (I kinda lost count...) Korean meal which we were treated to by the four Korean men who regularly attend (and 3 have attended for years) the study. I had a Mr Collins (from Pride and Prejudice) moment in one of the last courses, when I really wanted to say, "What excellent kimchi." Which triggered my memory of the scene in the (newer) movie where Mr Collins awkwardly compliments, "What excellent potatoes..." I changed my phrasing, but the kimchi was really very good. And, wow, am I becoming Korean or what, thinking about the excellence of the kimchi...?

It was a lovely dinner, with a time of fellowship and farewells. One observed that all the continents were represented (which works if you view N and S America as one continent, which I've heard some do... and if you ignore Australia...) - one couple leaving is from Singapore, one from Holland, the lady who is also leaving is from South Africa, and I'm from the US. I think our Bible studies were vaguely like what Heaven will be like - people from every tribe, tongue, and nation united in the cross.

Living the Dream

Today's post title is ripped from the Jonas Brothers, (I was, in fact, a fan of theirs once...) who are living their dream, to be big-name performers. I am living the dream of many Korean drama/Korean pop fans around the world - actually living in Korea. I'll insert here that I'm still loving it!

Korea has changed me/is changing me. Exhibit A: I have a really sweet new(ish) haircut with very Korean-style bangs (since getting my haircut, I have been approached by more people who think that I am Korean... until I look up and they see my blue eyes.) - to keep my bangs looking the way they should, I *gasp* use hair curlers. 'Unheard of!' you say. Too true, my friend, too true. Exhibit B: I take an hour to get ready in the morning. 'Proof right there!' you crow. Friend, 10-15 minutes of that time is spent putting on make-up! *Everyone is stunned silent.* Like I said, Korea is changing me.

Korea is also challenging me. I attend two very different churches with exceedingly different worship styles, services, etc. I am challenged regularly to discern what is culture and what is Christ - should I insist on a particular style of worship? Or protest certain things I have never before seen in previous churches? Or are those things subjective, and non-essential? (Answers in order: No, I don't think so, and yes.)

Today, I sang with my Korean praise team. In the course of the service, I sang the Korean national anthem, in song asked God to remember the Korean people, and to bring revival again to Korea, and I waved a small Korean flag. At practice yesterday, I resisted the idea of singing the Korean national anthem, until I reminded myself that I sing other national anthems (I went through a national anthem phase once...), and that my citizenship is in Heaven. Later, I remembered that I came to Korea to reach out to the people around me, and to live out a witness for God before them, and the Korea-centric songs I was singing reflected my desire to see the people of Korea won to Christ. I am certainly being challenged and stretched on a regular basis.

How important are the particular 'Christian-ese' words that we use? I was thinking about that yesterday as my friend was translating the songs that our praise team was to sing. There are certain phrases and terms which we use exclusively for certain references. (Ie, I was uncomfortable with my friend's translation of a phrase about Christ's land/nation until I hit on 'kingdom' as the 'correct' word.) Why do we use those certain phrases? They don't always translate into other languages or naturally translate from other languages. Or is it that 'church language' is its own vocabulary which must be learned even by native speakers in every language?

Today some of my friends were baptized. I was excited to see them publicly declaring that they would follow God, even though the treatment of the ceremony seemed somewhat more perfunctory than what I am accustomed to. There was a moment of amusement when one friend's carefully arranged fauxhawk got wet and made the sprinkled water run straight off in front of his face.

I taught another friend to shine his shoes today. He was in shock at the wonder of shoe polish and its magic on scuffed and worn-looking shoes. Props go to my dad, who taught me how to shine shoes at an early age. ^_^

Life is good. There have been some serious challenges since my last post (like my job being threatened... A word of advice, if you're coming to Korea - never, ever work at a hagwon.), but God has used every instance to show me how much He cares for me, and how He has ordained my life even here in Korea to provide for me in every way. He is good.

Happy New Year!!

Saehae bok manhee badayo! (Which is Korean for Happy Lunar New Year! Literally, it translates to: Many blessings to you in the new year, which also applies.) It's been awhile, friends, but here I am, back again, for an update! (And yes, it is, in fact, several days after Lunar New Year, but I'd rather go with that than Happy Early Valentine's Day! I'm not expecting chocolates this year, anyway... unless the moms of my favorite little boys decide to send me something via their sons... ^_^)

Today, I went with a friend to Yongsan Electronics Market (pretty much the one place in Korea to get anything related to electronics... like, anything.), where I got H's hard drive with my music restored, and regained my music! (And, to prove how flimsy emotional happiness is, my high from having my music back crashed when I realized that one of the 2 folders which wouldn't copy onto my external hard drive was filled with several gigs of my favorite music... Including the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack!!! ㅜ.ㅜ <- Korean emoticon for crying. Anyway, I'm going to have my tech-savvy student take another look at it, and hope that the partial restoration will enable him to retrieve something from the big folder... Please Lord, may it be!) I also acquired a humidifier (which looks like an Easter egg, no lie), an oven (the size of a large rotisserie oven... not a regular US oven) (which came with 3 really cute little cake pans - a teddy bear, a heart, and a seashell, as well as another pan, rotisserie skewer, and a couple of other gadgets) (I am really excited about making cookies, biscuits, etc, now!!), and a few (really, really expensive, but good smelling) Yankee Candle votives (the glass jar ones were just WAY too expensive... Next time, I'll probably just go for the Korean brand, unless someone wants to send me some?? ^_^) (I have a lovely Lavender Vanilla aroma floating around now!).

Working backwards... A couple weeks ago, I decided to join one of the choir groups/praise teams/whatever you want to call them at my Korean church, our group is called Promise, and we sing in rotation with 6 other teams (which include names like Ecclesia, Amaze, and Pistos. Hooray for Greek!!) Last Sunday was Promise's turn to sing (and a certain member of a certain Korean boy band came that day, which was also the day that the Pastor decided to capitalize on the uniqueness of me being the only white person there, and spoke to me during the sermon... plus one for the number of Korean celebrities who know who I am, bringing the total to... 3, I think... ^_^), and I joined a special choir group that performed yesterday for a special Seollnal (Lunar New Year) service in front of a huge crowd... (upwards of 1,000 people, no lie.) So lately I've been busy with choir practices (for reals, some (for the Seollnal service) didn't end until like 1 AM!!!), and I've enjoyed singing again. However, I don't think I'll sing for special services any more... there was just too much emphasis on the performance aspect for me, not to mention, I really do need my rest. It did give me a good opportunity to get to know more and different people in my Korean church. I'm strongly considering joining the choir for my English church, too, which is more 'choral' than the Korean church...

In the middle of January, I had 3 special guests in my home: H was able to come for a week at the beginning of her vacation (she's now globe-trotting with J...), and C was able to come for a very short (>24 hrs) visit (which was plagued with poor communication, and was something of a tragedy of errors... C was spared from being forked to death by H and I because we did not want to leave his children fatherless.), and, as Shakespeare said, (at least, I'm pretty sure that was him) "All's well that ends well," and it ended well, so it's all good. (Speaking of C's children, #2 is coming soon!!!! YAY!!! Now, to see him... and T... and M, and everyone else...) Oh, guest #3 was C's friend from the ship, in case you were wondering.

I had a lovely Christmas: I spent the day with friends from both churches, and Skyped with the family in FL when I got home. I didn't even mind having far fewer presents than usual, especially since one of my 3 presents was a Lincoln logs set. SCORE!!!)

I've taken up origami. I enjoy learning new patterns and trying different paper patterns with them, too. This is definitely a good place to enjoy origami - you can get a wide variety of origami paper in stationary/school supply stores (which they have here, they're pretty cool to browse). I'm working on making 1,000 paper cranes (Korean lesson: Crane - Hak)... I have 40 down, and a lot to go. You supposedly get one wish if you make 1,000 paper cranes, and I'm not sharing my wish, but I'm not honestly putting faith in paper cranes to make my wish come true... it's just something kind of fun to do... and if I do happen to get my wish (whenever that may be), I certainly won't object! (Besides, H pointed out that making 1,000 paper cranes will give me time to improve my Korean, in the event that my wish does come true... in which case, I will surely need improved Korean.) I'm also able to make frogs, cute little hearts with wings (learned that one yesterday!), really sweet paper airplanes, and a few other things, in addition to the cranes. (Actually, I went to a White Elephant exchange in mid-December, and my gift was "1,000 Paper Cranes: Some assembly required." Yes, I think it was clever.

My teaching schedule has lightened for the month of February, for which reason I thank my God. I think, tho, that someone noticed just how light my schedule was looking and so I've been getting several additional classes, so it's not quite so light as I thought it was... but it's still lighter than it was...

I'm evidently a bad Kindergarten teacher... as I was told in December (Yeah, that brought some dark days, which made me turn to my Bible, which brought some painful, but necessary revelations which were good for me... It was cathartic. And I know that God is still at work in me and in my life.) by my not super-sympathetic supervisor (and on her last day, I finally figured out why: she thought my English degree meant an English Education degree, as in, she thought I had already learned how to teach. No wonder she was frustrated and exasperated with me, but that really didn't help our relationship...). I was told that again on Tuesday by my new supervisor, who is much more sympathetic and supportive, at least, she seems like it... It's still a bitter pill to swallow, but she's made some suggestions (some of which the other supervisor made, too), and hopefully, maybe (especially when we tack on those books that helpful folks back home are sending, thanks again Aunt Lee!!) I can become a good Kindergarten teacher.

Thankfully, my other classes seem to be going well! I have about 3 favorite classes right now (since #4 was reassigned to the new foreign teacher *sad face*) - one class with 2 preschool boys, whom I love like my own sons... or at least close to it (mostly I teach them nouns, read stories to them, and sing songs with them - I love it that their favorite songs are Bible songs that I'm teaching them!!!) (Their moms are GREAT!! Especially when compared to the moms of my Kindergarten students, who pretty much only complain about me and how awful I am... yeah... but these moms give me Christmas presents (including a cake!!! Which is basically a Korean mom's stamp of approval on a teacher.), and notes of appreciation. If North Korea ever invades, I will volunteer to get those boys and their little sisters out of the country with me. Yes, I love them that much.), the next favorite is a class of two advanced English students, one of them being my "techie student", they're pretty good kids, we have good discussions, and I have a good relationship with both, and now I have them for two sections - 2 classes in a row, 2 times a week; the last is a class of 2 boys around 4th/5th grade, this might be confusing, but I have each of them one time per week in a one-on-one class, and when it isn't their turn with me, they're in a one-on-one class with another foreign teacher... Still with me? Anyway, these classes are pretty much conversation classes, so we mostly chat and build science projects left over from the Kindergarten science classes; both boys are Christians, so I get a great opportunity to strengthen and encourage them in their faith, and to live out my testimony before them.

So teaching isn't all bad, and is actually pretty cool sometimes. I know that right now I am exactly where God wants me to be, and I'm content. He is good to me.

Signing off for now,

Miss Chatters

PS Check out cute pictures of my little students dressed up for Lunar New Year here!

PPS I'm also now writing for a Korean pop news blog, Seoulbeats, which is fun and challenging.

Give Thanks

It was Thanksgiving Day today, except they don't celebrate that here in Korea... It felt strangely (?) lonely today, despite being surrounded by children and co-teachers... I think it's pathetic/ironic, perhaps? that Halloween has carried over to Korea and is celebrated with enthusiasm and special activities, but one of my co-teachers was surprised to learn that we still really celebrate Thanksgiving in the States... Sheesh. In college, we got a whole week (+) off for Thanksgiving, but I have never once gotten a school day off for Halloween! (Not to mention, my family doesn't really celebrate Halloween... it's really Reformation Day, y'all!) So, to me, to have Thanksgiving sooooo under-celebrated is a poor reflection on the States...

Anyway, I hope you all have had/will have/are having an excellent Thanksgiving meal with loads of friends and family to share it with - I anticipate my version of it on Saturday, when my English church is having Thanksgiving dinner (I'm making mashed potatoes and applesauce! Kudos to Dad, who taught us kids that when life gives you apples that have gone soft/are going bad, make applesauce. Literally.). However, tonight's Thanksgiving Day dinner... well... it was probably the least great (yeah, go ahead and read: worst) Thanksgiving dinner so far... I went to Outback Steakhouse, which was tasty (except for the canned mango chunks... just not quite right), but dinner was kinda soured when I sighted (the hostess thought I was part of the group) my school supervisor and the other foreign teachers already there (they didn't see me)... I had not been invited. *hums* "One is the loneliest number..." Yeah. It was kinda depressing. Thankfully, I was able to Skype video chat with Josi, and she tipped me off to listening to Tampa's Christmas station online and making your own Advent calendar to celebrate the season alllll month long! (I've come up with my 24 things, hopefully there's enough balance that I'll be able to do them at a one-a-day pace, instead of cramming them all into my weekends.

I've still got a hectic schedule, but there's hope, which I'll reveal in a moment... Katrina posted on facebook to give thanks for as many things as you are years old, so I'll give thanks for 23 things, since I've been claiming my Korean age (years since you were born, counting the year you were born... I'll be 24 in January!) quite freely...

So here it is - I'm thankful for/because...

1. My plants are showing signs of producing fruit, including a tiny pea pod growing away. Hurrah! My care has not been in vain!

2. I have internet. Nothing like the internet to not feel quite so far away.

3. I have a warm and dry place to sleep.

4. I have food to eat. (and it IS edible (usually even tasty!), even the occasional tentacle in the lunchtime soup...)

5. I have money to spend.

6. I have warm clothing to wear as the weather cools.

7. God loves me. (Actually, that one could pretty much be #1-23 all by itself, but there's sooo much He's given me!!)

8. My family loves me. (and I love them, too!)

9. Many others love me, including my different church families, the college family, and more!

10. There are a LOT of people praying for me. Thank you.

11. I have money to save.

12. I have a good relationship with my family. God is good.

13. I have 2(!) loving church families here in Korea. God is generous.

14. My Korean is improving.

15. I have a good relationship with my co-teachers. (On second thought, pray for my relationship with my Kindergarten co-teacher... there's recently been some tension there, and I don't really know why, and it bothers me, but I've been trying to not take it personally...)

16. I should get snow this winter. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SNOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I've missed it. A LOT!)

17. I'm living in Korea. And I still love it!

18. Christmas music. There's nothing like it to make you feel cheery... unless you play it in July... then it's just weird... sort of.

19. I like kimchi. (even when it brings tears to my eyes... IT BURRRNNNNSSSS!!!) This is a good thing, because a. I am served kimchi nearly every day, and b. it's evidently VERY healthy for you... hey, even c. spicy foods are supposed to help you lose weight!

20. I have good friends.

21. I am forgiven.

22. Heaven. It's coming, and I'm going to belong there. Hallelujah!!!!

23. God. He IS that great. and good. and .... well, it would take a little too long to try to put it into words, but most of you know what I'm talking about.

Don't forget to give thanks for your own blessings.

Thaaaanks be to God! He reviveth the thirsty land! (gotta love Elijah!)

Signing off for now,

Miss Chatters.

PS Oh! 24. There's a new foreign teacher coming!!! He'll arrive to teach in January, but now I have hope that my crazy schedule will ease up eventually!

Another Update

Wow. Has it really been over a month since I've updated?? Sorry, folks... life and laziness are my excuses. Thanks to the parentals, who have been lately nudging me to hurry it up and post something.

Let's start off with a little list, just for fun.

Signs I am becoming Korean:

1. I frequently enjoy a supper (or breakfast...) of rice with seaweed, often there's a slice of melty "cheddar" (American with cheddar flavoring added (I assume), sold as cheddar here) and/or tuna mixed in for a 'fusion' twist and also to help balance the diet out.

2. Tonight, when I looked in my rice cooker (which is really cute, for a rice cooker), I thought that my rice looked "luscious."

3. I am able to somewhat follow certain Korean conversations (when I know the context and recognize a few key words).

4. I semi-automatically speak in Korean to ahjummas, and ahjusshis (Korean for older women and older men), basically anyone who looks to be 20-30+ years older than me.

5. I can almost read the lyrics well enough to sing along in Korean church (I may not know what I'm singing, but their songs have pretty solid lyrics, when I've seen the subtitles).

6. My Korean-accented English sounds pretty Korean... accented... (Don't worry, I only speak it on purpose!!)

7. I can spell some Korean words well enough to use my cell-phone dictionary to look up the English meaning after hearing the word (several times... and it still doesn't work sometimes...).

8. I'm getting pretty good at texting Korean words. (Still run into the spelling problem on occasion, but still...)

9. I am learning (and remembering!) new Korean words almost every day! (okay, that might be a bit of an exaggeration, but then again, maybe not...)

10. I am coming to terms with the fact that (at least here) I am remarkably beautiful, and am even starting to take second glances in stride. (Is it because I'm white or because I'm beautiful that they look again? I don't know, I'll just chalk it up to being astonishingly pretty. :-D)

I began my 3rd month of teaching 2 Fridays ago, and this month is pretty grueling. Instead of teaching all the Kindergarten classes occasionally, I am now one of the primary teachers of the youngest Kindergarten class, called Harvard. (All the classes/classrooms are named after famous universities, so I have now taught at Yale, Harvard, Stanford, Brown, Oxford, Columbia, Berkley, and Duke. Pretty impressive-sounding, even if I do say it myself. I'm still waiting to be assigned a class in Cambridge. ^_^) Let me just say, teaching Kindergarten is not easy, especially when there is CCTV in every classroom, and it is on display for anyone in the lobby to watch, including my boss. Add to that the fact that the classroom is to look orderly and controlled, and you have about 10-15 minutes of every (40 min) class taken up with making sure that the children are sitting nicely and listening quietly and not playing across the table with their friends. Throw in an out of control kid with several who are willing to be distracted, and four little girls who have their own little clique and love to socialize as long as you allow when they're simply supposed to be getting a book from their backpack or cupboard, and you pretty much have my 10 Harvard kids. Some of them are really sweet and sometimes well-behaved, but they love to play more than they love to listen or behave really well. Oh, there's also a little boy who is very... touchy... it's a little creepy sometimes, I'm not gonna lie, but he really does not get the whole "Keep your hands to yourself" thing, and rarely does he pass up an opportunity for 'skinship' (an Asian term based in English, basically meaning skin contact...). It's not that he's cuddly, he's just... touchy. He's had a couple run-ins with the out of control boy, who is a whole 'nother writhing can of worms.

On the upside, I still get to teach science to two of the other classes, which makes for a nice break (even though it's in addition to, not instead of, my Harvard classes). Still, students from the other classes, (as in, non-Harvard students) will ask, "Madeline Teacher, why no art? or why no science?" (It's a habit I'm trying to help them out of, but they call their teachers "Madeline Teacher" or "Nick Teacher" or "Pink Teacher" (yes, that is the chosen English name of one of my co-workers... I'm thinking of gently nudging her to change it sometime... we're close, so it wouldn't be rude of me...), so I try to refer to my co-teachers as Miss Pink or Mr Nick. Hopefully it'll eventually rub off... It doesn't help that the other teachers use the "So-and-so Teacher" format, but one can hope...) So, anyway, I am at least missed by the other Kinder students, and I really miss the one class that I don't have at all anymore...

My afternoon and evening classes are going quite well, overall. My 'bad class' is improving with the promise/threat of wasabi peanuts - each boy starts with 5, and the number can go down, and if they're really good, it can go up. They love wasabi peanuts. There is also a new addition to the class, a quiet boy who is a real encouragement to me, in that he actually tries to do his work and answer questions.

My preschool boys have gotten even cuter and sweeter, and we now have a really good relationship. They love me like an extra mother or a little boy crush... not sure which, maybe both, but I love them both dearly.

I'm feeling more and more comfortable as a teacher and also as a resident of Korea. It was bunches of fun to have Mom and H here and show them around and introduce them to friends... and to tip them off about the sentinel robots disguised as apartment buildings which I can see through the office window (Mom took it much better than Heidi, who scoffed, but just watch! If someday they're missing, I'll KNOW something's about to happen.) I also have good reason to believe that they enjoyed their time here. ^_^

I visited China during my break from school - Chuseok, kind of a Korean Thanksgiving... except traditionally (and still today) Koreans thank their ancestors, not God... Anyway, I was able to visit China for a few days in late September, and really enjoyed my time there. I was glad to return to Korea, though. I'm exceedingly thankful that God has placed me here... and, I get to open my home to my sisters as a retreat from the pressures of living in China.

I can definitely see myself here for a long time. Not that I don't miss my family and friends, but I am content and comfortable here. (Not only that, but my skin is doing rather well and I'm losing weight here - I'm going to need my belts for several pairs of pants which used to fit snugly. ^_^)

Well, that's all for now.

Signing off,

Miss Chatters

Short (?) Update

Dear Everyone,

I'm not going to do a play-by-play... Sorry, I know you were reeeeaaaally looking forward to a couple hours worth of reading, but I think it would also require several hours worth of writing... so I'm just going to give a sketch.

Firstly, I am still loving living in Korea! I could see myself here for a long time, if God permits. (I know, I'm still in the 'honeymoon phase'.) I have now been teaching for four weeks - one full month of classes. Wow. It still doesn't seem quite real, but eso, si que es (or, as I like to think it: S-O-C-K-S) (Spanish meaning - Yes, that is the way it is. Not that I know Spanish, but I do know this one phrase... and gracias and hamburgesa and other random words ^_^)

I am teaching students from Kindergarten through 9(?)th grade (at least, I'm guessing that student is in 9th grade... I don't know for sure. Oh, and two pre-schoolers, too! (I love them, they're so cute and well-behaved.) For Kindergarten, I mostly teach Science and Art and Crafts, with a few Phonics classes thrown in for good measure. I especially like the Science and Art and Crafts part - it's a good fit for me. ^_^ The rest of my classes are English - which I happen to know very well! The students are fairly good, except for a few classes which are giving me white hairs (Seriously, I keep finding white hairs. I'm only 22!!!! At least I have a lot of hair, and it's fine-textured, so the whites don't show up so easily...) - I definitely need to work on my classroom management techniques for them. Of course, the Kindergarten tricks don't work quite so well for the middle-schoolers... So I'm being challenged as a teacher, and it's good for me, just like brussels sprouts. Speaking of food, I get a free lunch with the Kindergarteners, so I eat kimchi every weekday, and most Sundays, I think. I've decided that I like kimchi, especially when there's rice on hand in case it gets too hot (I also like pretty much all Korean food that I've tried, unless it's too hot...). Spicy hot is a big thing here in Korea - they sell tubs of chili paste in every grocery store... and it's a big display, not just some little end-cap. In my opinion - chili is harder than wasabi or horseradish to deal with, because it leaves a lasting, burning heat, unlike wasabi and horseradish, which is like - POW! then it's done. However, I think my spicy tolerance is inching up, and I've been told that Sprite/Sierra Mist (or, as they call it here, ci-da (cider)) is a lot of help

I've been looking for a church, which has been going... interestingly... So I'd appreciate your prayers for me regarding that.

It's been rather rainy lately, which I am perfectly fine with for two reasons - a. rainy = cooler (Some locals have said that this summer, Seoul has been feeling more like Bangkok than Seoul) and b. rain gives me a reason to use my umbrella! (If you recall, it was one of my first purchases, but I went at least 2 weeks without using it!) I can hardly tell you how excited I am about having fall!!! And winter, and spring!! Florida just doesn't do seasons well... except for, and I quote "In Florida, we have two seasons, Paradise and Hades, right now it's ________." (I guess it's still Hades for you FL folks.) So I am delighted at the prospect of breaking out (some of) my warmer clothing within a scant month! The fact that I am rotating between only about 6 'nice' tops for work only adds to the delight of that prospect.

Me at my wardrobe on Mondays: Okay, which shirt am I *not* going to wear this week?

I will probably do some clothes shopping after my first payday, which is coming up in about 1 week!

Well, this has been rather short, but it has been an update, of sorts, and I hope you've enjoyed it!

Signing off,

MJ/Miss Chatters

PS If you happen to know any nifty tricks for getting middle school boys to behave well, please share!

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)