Kimchi, not for me

In the past two weeks I have been to the doctor four times, have had chest x-rays taken twice, have been given five different prescriptions, and at least three diagnoses. First, it was stress. Second, it was asthma related. Third, it's either asthma related WITH a lung infection or it's pneumonia. Only time will tell. I did tell the doctor about the most unusual symptom, which is a bizarre and disturbing crackling noise that happens when I breathe out, and he said that is associated with pneumonia. When he prescribed me the latest round of antibiotics, his words were, "If these don't do the trick, you've got something else." It made me laugh, but it made a lot more sense in the context of our discussion than it does when I just typed it here.

In other news, I won't be coming home for Christmas. The issue with my reservation being nullified with the airline changing some sort of date line of theirs is to blame. Well, that and now the cheapest ticket I can find is about $2200 (US dollars) rather than $1300. Either way, it's a freakin LOT of money. The plan (I will say tenative plan, because I have learned Prov. 16:9 is quite true) is to stop working at my current school mid-February, go to the States for 2 weeks, and then come back and start at a new school in March. Again, we'll see. I'm going to sleep now. Night all.

My home

Look in the middle of the map, and you should see two small blue spots (Seokchon lake east and west, respectively) and then an inch-ish below that is a very small green area. My home is between the left blue spot and the green area. It's interesting if you zoom out to see just how many bridges are in Seoul to span the Han river. There's quite a few of them. Anyway...that's all. If you squint hard and see a spot inside the left blue spot (Seokchon lake) that would be the mini-amusement park very very close to my apartment. It's the outside part of the amusement park, anyway. That's really all.

Last night was amazing. It was just incredible. I know there's a fair amount of controversy surrounding this man, but most of it is from unreliable sources, and I tell you, I've seen few men as obviously humble and insistent on giving God the glory.

I was an usher, and assigned the main entrance to the sanctuary where the event was being held. It was to start at 7:30, and when I went to take up my post at 6:30 there were already a ton of people there. There was a Korean service just ending in the room we were using, so I was told to keep people out until 7:20. And so I spent the next 55 minutes being tougher than I've ever been before. I was holding onto both doors, with one leg and arm blocking the entrance. Koreans still tried to push past me (the culture is known for being pretty pushy). I was joking with the pastor about being Onnuri's bouncer. I nearly took it too far, when I almost didn't let in members of the worship team. Just shows my dedication to the task at hand. When they finally said we could open the doors, the crowd of pushing and shuffling people was so big that by the time they all filed past into the sanctuary I was dizzy (from the swaying motion of everyone pushing past me in this solid mass of people). All the seats in the sanctuary filled up fast - then we started putting out chairs. We put chairs all along the back, and down each aisle, and more people still came. There ended up being people sitting on the floor (myself included). I was actually still manning the door when Brother Yun came in and I got to shake his hand. That was exciting for me.

There was a time of worship, and then Brother Yun's translator spoke alone for a few minutes to give some of the background of China for those who had been hiding under a rock and hadn't read his book yet. Then Brother Yun spoke, and the most striking thing about it was the simplicity of his message. I'm not sure what I had been expecting, but his message was about living water, and the Holy Spirit, and true freedom. One of his big points is that true freedom has little to do with location, as he found out during the many times he was in prison, but has to do with the work of God in our lives. It was extremely convicting. He spoke of the church in China and the unbelievable way that it has multiplied over the last fifty years. He spoke of the miracles that happen there. I'm extremely skeptical of healing and miracles, but for some reason I'm not at all skeptical of the miracles that happen in China. And not just the ones related to Brother Yun. I think the church in China right now is remarkably similar to the church seen in the book of Acts. Theologically, I'm not sure what my position on miracles is. I know that all things are possible with God. I don't know. I probably shouldn't get into this right now. The point is that Brother Yun's message was overwhelmingly biblical and God-centered. I found that to be a relief. I read up on what his critics say, and I was a little scared that he might end up being Benny Hinn-ish.

It's got me thinking a lot about China lately. One of the links on the right is for China Aid, and I signed up to receive email alerts from them. Just keeping up with the persecution through them has continued to open my eyes to the reality that many believers face. I have zero desire or pull to go to China (other than the obvious sentimental/emotional one that appears when I read about such things), but it makes me realize that I have a lot to learn from Chinese believers. They really do give up everything, suffer extreme physical, emotional, and financial penalties for their faith in Christ.

Anyway, that's all for now. The Thanksgiving banquet is today. I had planned on spending the afternoon around church to avoid the pointless commute from church to home and back to church, but the fancy lock that was installed on my apartment door before I lived here malfunctioned, so I was forced to come back and pay money to fix the fact that I was locked out. All is well now though, and I need to go get ready for the banquet.

Happy Thanksgiving!

No turkey today...am looking forward to the Thanksgiving banquet through my church on Sunday. Went to Outback tonight with Kylie (it just seemed wrong to eat Korean food on Thanksgiving). Our waiter could barely speak English and had a strange habit of sticking out his tongue (really far, not like the short concetrating look) when he was searching for a word. When he gave me the receipt, it had a post-it note attached with a note written in Korean from him. Of course neither of us have any idea what it says. I'll have someone at work translate it tomorrow and let you know.

Still very sick.

More examples of Korean tact - my boss asked if she could record some of one of my kindergarten classes (as if saying no were an option...haha). They had turned on the floor heaters for some reason, and there was NO air circulating, so the room was just boiling. I told her that she could record (again, haha) but that I was hot and sweaty. And she said, "Oh no, I don't want you to be in it. I have video of Kylie to show the parents. I just want the kids." Okay...taking it in stride. Not surprising. Then this morning she pulls me into the office and says she wants to show me the video, I say, "Oh, dear." She gushes, "Oh, no, it's VERY good! I was so surprising and Mrs. Kim was so surprising too!" (Surprising = surprised...English isn't so great) Mrs. Kim is her mother and the owner of the school. She showed me the video, and just as promised, there was only accidental pictures of me on it. That's fine with me, but the point is still there...I'd elaborate more on that point, but I have this paranoid fear of someone from my work finding and reading my blog. So I won't. That is all.

I don't get it. From a Western perspective, the phrase "Korean Tact" is somewhat of an oxymoron. I'm sure there is tact within the culture, perhaps it's just that I'm on the receiving end of Korean people speaking English (their second language) poorly (sad but true). Point in case: last week I was sick. The Korean people I work with, of the six or seven Korean staff members, at least four or five of them said basically the same thing to me...it went something like this with (I swear!) NO exaggeration at all: "You're just too stressed, living in a foreign country all ALONE, by yourself, with NO ONE to help you *deep sigh* it must be hard for you." Each one of them that tried to offer their sympathy literally said "alone" in at least three different ways. Then there was stuff like, "When I was in (insert foreign country here) for a few months, I got two colds." (knowing nod) Change the number of colds, change it to a flu, it's basically the same. I don't get how a Korean person can get sick and just be sick, whereas when one of us native teachers gets sick, there MUST be a reason. It couldn't be just because everyone in the office and most of our kids are sick, right? Certainly not.

And lately, I've had lots of people telling me that I look pale. First off, I've been/am currently sick, so it's entirely possible. Second (this is a biggie) I'M WHITE. Of course I'm pale. I'm white AND I'm fair-skinned. In fact, I had the privilege to take part in a conversation in which my boss told Kylie and I that she wasn't sure if Kylie and Donovan were white because the pictures that sent were after the summer and they were tanned. HUGE stigma here...I don't know how any non-White American/Canadian finds jobs here, the discrimination is just above and beyond anything I've ever experienced. One of the teachers that was here when I started but has since left wasn't even dark-skinned enough to say he had an olive complexion. Maybe way back in his family heritage there is some middle eastern blood or some such thing, but the kids and parents and school thought he wasn't white enough. So bizarre. Anyway, that aside was just to say that if I am in fact pale, you should be happy, because in effect, you pay me to be that way! So long as I'm not pale and mute, you're still getting your money's worth - because in reality being white and a non-British-native-speaker-of-English is what you pay me for. (They want "American English" not British English. *shrug*)

Yesterday I went to pay for my plane ticket home, only to find upon arriving at the travel agent that there was some kind of problem - the airline had changed the date...I don't actually understand. Long story short: at this point I have no plane ticket. I have no reservation. I am close to having no clue. Some people at church today directed me towards some other travel agents though, so I hope to have the issue resolved by next weekend.

Kylie bought me a Christmas tree. It was absolutely amazing of her, and it was exactly what I needed. It isn't a full sized tree, of course, it's a small one that's on my desk right behind my laptop at the moment blinking it's lights at me rather cheerfully. That is, after all, what Christmas trees do. The Christmas tree inspired me to go on a cleaning spree, and I made a playlist of (what else?) Christmas music to listen to while I cleaned. When "Feliz Navidad" came on, I was transported back to that one BCM night when Joe Brown led the praise band, and they did that song. Even on that night, I knew that was one of the moments I would snapshot and file away in my memory. There's lots of moments like that, not to say that moment was perfect - it wasn't. But it was really really nice. I remember Bethany was there, singing more than likely, and it was just a really special night. Good memories are nice.

I am really excited about next weekend. Saturday night Brother Yun (AKA, The Heavenly Man) will be speaking at my church. I'm going to be an usher that night, though I'm not entirely sure what responsibilities that will entail. Then Sunday is church, and Sunday afternoon is the Thanksgiving banquet through my church. It's going to be on the army base here in Seoul, and have all the traditional Thanksgiving goods. I'm thrilled, to say the least.

Speaking of things that thrill me, Kylie introduced me to this store that sells Western food. (Basically they have an inside person on the base that buys food and sells it to the store, then the store sells it to all the stupid saps like me willing to pay $5 for a box of pop-tarts.) And I really did pay $5 for a box of pop tarts. I also paid $5 for a bag of marshmallows, $3 for a small thing of carmex, a whopping $9 for a bottle of Sea Breeze astringent, and I dunno how much for a can of A&W root beer (of which I drank approximately four swallows before I was done with it). They had Cool Ranch doritoes there, and I almost bought them, but I think my sister said she was going to put some in the package that is currently on it's way to me. Seriously though, this store had Aunt Jemima syrup, taco seasoning, ranch dressing mix (oops Jen, but even with shipping, I'm sure the stuff you sent cost less), those french fried onion thingys to go on green bean casserole, pepto bismol, chex mix...all of this being stuff I haven't seen in over a year. I was like a kid in a candy store really...looking around all wide-eyed and exclaiming, "OH MY GOSH, they have _________!" It was exciting. But as the root beer proved, not everything I think I miss is worth missing. I haven't even opened the marshmallows (not sure why I even bought them, as I'm not particularly fond of them except that they remind me of the time Val and I spent about 20 minutes throwing them into each other's mouths while across the room from each other in Grandma Morton's living room...another good memory). I DID have Pop-Tarts for breakfast this morning on my way to church and they were quite delicious. The carmex is being put to good use too. If only they had Nyquil...I don't like Korean cold medicine.

Anyway, this is long enough. Off to something more productive for me.

My sixth grade class is reading a story written from the perspective of ants (much like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids). Today their assignment was to draw a picture of either their room at home or the classroom from the perspective of an ant. It didn't work so well for them, but it worked out nicely for me. While they were drawing, I decided to write about mine (as I have the artistic ability of a rock). It's about two ants climbing up my building and coming to my apartment, where they happen to see my cat and dog. It's very short and painfully dramatic, but it was written in about ten minutes for eleven-year olds. Here it is:

The ants made their way up the mountain. They felt as if they had been climbing for years. They were forced to seek shelter when they were partway up the mountain due to the cold. They saw a huge open cave and entered it. What sights they saw there! They climbed down another (smaller) mountain and found that the ground was hot. It was strange to them, but a welcome relief after their long upward trek in the bitter cold. They were very happy with their cave. That is, until they heard the booming noise and saw the terrifying giant monster. The monster was covered with fur and had teeth bigger than both ants put together. The monster thundered towards them and the ants thought they were done for. Then suddenly, another monster appeared from out of nowhere and jumped on the first monster, thwarting it's attempt on the ants' lives. The two monsters rolled around on the floor wrestling. The ants were captivated by the frightening and bizarre scene before them, but decided that their safety was more important than their entertainment. They ran as fast as their legs could carry them to what appeared to be a cave within the cave. All the ants knew was that it was dark and looked safe.

A new template, and a whole heap of new links...how productive I have been tonight! As I'm rather an idiot when it comes to HTML, many thanks to my sister for giving me some insight into the process and helping me out some.

Do check out the new links...both my sisters have a blog now, though they don't blog nearly as often as me (but who really does?). Awhile ago I added a link to Alex's site (who I'm glad to have a foolproof way to keep up with, if only he'd blog more often!), Wendy's site (who has the most delightful sense of humor), Megan's site (we have quite a few things in common) both my sisters (Jen and Val, respectively) of course, and now Ryan G. who I knew from BCF and found his blog through Mike. I guess that's about it.

Ache all over.... if this is the flu it's gonna be a doozy. First I thought it was from lugging a 20-lb bag of dog food home on my right shoulder (only about six or seven blocks, but it got heavy and awkward after about one block), but now that all of my limbs hurt I'm realizing that it's probably not the dog food.

*groan*

I don't want to be sick again. It seems I've been sick a lot lately...what's up with that.

I have some pictures to upload but not the energy. Will do it later.

PS - I am coming home for Christmas. It's a sure thing.

I bit one of my students today. On accident, of course, but it didn't make the experience any less traumatizing for either of us. He cried and I almost did. To make matters worse, it was one of my favorite students. Go figure. We were sitting on the floor reading the storybook, and he jokingly pointed his finger in my face and said something (probably "Teresa, lose star!") and I, jokingly, bit at the air near his finger. This made him laugh, of course, and he did it again. (Not to mention that I pretended to bite all my students when we were doing long I words last month.) Well, it was one of those things, we both moved forward at the same time, and he actually stuck his finger in my mouth and I didn't see what he was doing fast enough...and so I bit him. We both looked very surprised for a minute, then he put his head down and started to cry. I told the Korean teacher in my room that I had bit him, and she was (understandably) confused. Anyway, needless to say I felt not only entirely stupid but also REALLY bad. He got five candies at the end of class (everyone else got three). I told everyone in the office, and was completely horrified, but they just found it funny. Donovan made a really rather witty comment about Hannibal Lecter. My favorite joke though was later, when I was asking Kylie why she thought the roof of my mouth was so raw (a problem I had mentioned to her in the morning) and Donovan said, "It's probably the fingernails...they can scratch, you know." It made me laugh pretty hard, and I'm still chuckling just thinking about it.

Over the past month there were over 70 English teachers arrested/deported because their degrees were fake, or they had forged some kind of documents. So the government is cracking down, particularly in Seoul and a nearby province. All foreign teachers have to fill out this form and take themselves, their degree, and the form down to the immigration office. So the four of us from my school had to go this morning - we had to leave our building at 7:30 this morning. I cannot even begin to tell you how rare it is that I am even awake at 7:30, let alone coherent, dressed, and going somewhere. The subway ride took about 90 minutes each way, which was frustrating given that our time in the immigration office was less than 20 minutes. I did get to walk home by myself through the park and kick around some dead leaves. I really reall love autumn. It's so beautiful here.

I might be coming to the States for Christmas. I'm not entirely decided yet, and it's depending on a few more things still...but I just wanted to let you know, so you can make plans to come visit me if you really want to. :) Gonna go read for a bit now...night all.

I spend WAY too much time on my computer. W-A-Y too much time.

I cannot stand people who are so obsessed with themselves that everything is always about them. The kind of people who are allergic to seeing the world NOT revolving around them, the kind of people who think this post could be about them. Those kinds of people. The kind of people with a total lack of perspective on life and the ability to interpret the actions of everyone around them and everyone they know as an affront to their very personhood. With them, everything is personal. It’s a very childlike perspective to have on life, and were it coming from a child, I could tolerate it. But when it oozes out of every pore of someone who is supposed to be an adult, it’s really quite irritating. Makes me mad enough to spit. Or something

My wonderful friend Nate came over tonight and we talked and had pizza. I love Nate. I call him Superman...because of some joke I cannot currently remember. And because he's always helping me with something...figuring out that I've been sending text messages on my cell phone wrong (the phone is in Korean, in my defense).I told him tonight that he has officially been adopted as my younger Korean brother. That's that. His English is just AMAZING - I thought he had lived abroad but I found out tonight that he hasn't. And he likes country music - and he said he's the only Korean person he knows that does (and he knows lots more Korean people than I do, seeing as he is Korean and all). It was a delightful time.

Today was just a good day. I'm still behind at work, but today was a great day regardless. I like days like these.

Did I mention that Brother Yun (The Heavenly Man) will be speaking at my church in November? I'm VERY excited about it...they mentioned it Sunday at church so I got down the book and re-read it. And I bought another Piper book last Sunday at church. (When I Don't Desire God, for those of you who are interested in the title.) I'm going to go to bed now. Night all!