Kimchi, not for me

Last Friday, the kindergarten went on a field trip to a vineyard about an hour and a half outside of Seoul. It wasn't quite what I expected when I thought of a vineyard, but the phrase the Koreans used to explain it to us "grape field" did convey a more appropriate image. The grapes, as you can see, were quite purple and delicious looking. This is YeJeen, a student at the kindergarten and also a daughter of one of the teachers. She is one of the cutest and most wonderful students...always pleasant and delightful (though on occasion moody, but less than most of the other girls).

This is Raymond. If I were 7 years old, I would totally have a crush on Raymond. He's giving me a flower here, which is cute. He's a very intelligent little boy, and all the girls in his class like him. He's forever being chased by them, it's pretty funny to watch.

A few Saturdays ago I was taken on THE most amazing date ever. It started at 8 AM, when I was picked up by the boy in question driving a very nice car and wearing a nice white suit. He wanted to show me Seoul. We drove around Seoul a bit, I got to see the president's house, a few important neighborhoods, and learned some interesting (but overall useless) facts about some parts of Seoul. Then he drove me out to the country, to a city called ChoonChan, where the Han river (the river that runs through Seoul) either starts or stops, I can't remember which. Anyway, we rode a bus up to the top of the dam, where I took these pictures. The other pictures were taken on our ride back to Seoul.




I am such a Florida girl. Mountains still absolutely astound me.

Haley really doesn't like having her picture taken, but she was kind enough to allow me to take ONE. She looks really cute, too.We didn't actually go to the beach. We just found a place where we pulled off the road and took these pictures from there.

I got to see my dear and wonderful friend Haley, also for far too little time. She drove down from Birmingham with her dog Lottie (who was Daive's best friend), picked me up in Pensacola, and we went to Destin for a night. We stayed at a hotel there, and had every intention of sneaking Lottie onto the beach with us. It never quite worked out, except when we walked onto the beach around 9 PM when it was still sprinkling. It was a bit disorienting, actually, since I had left my glasses in the car since it was raining (and w/o my glasses I have slight double vision).

I love this action shot of Lottie. There was this huge sand pit behind our hotel,

and Lottie was able to run here. I absolutley LOVE this picture. We ate at Fudpucker's. Their slogan is "Ya ain't been pucked till ya been fudpucked." I know it's juvenille, but it still makes me laugh. Anyway, it was an awesome restaurant, and I was able to get a few souveniers from there so I can't ever forget it. It was overwhelmingly tacky, but like Haley and I said, both people, buildings, and businesses can get away with stuff if you're on/near the beach that wouldn't work anywhere else.

restaurant. And their fried pickles were inexpressibly delicious.

I'm quite proud to say that my niece and nephew are two of the cutest children in existence. Cameron is 7, and hilarious. He's SO 7 years old, and I love that about him. We amused each other endlessly with various disgusting jokes and/or imitating Cheese (from that cartoon I can't currently remember the name of). And Cam, this is just for you: I LIKE CHOCOLATE MILK! Jacelyn is just adorable. I got to spend far too little time with her, but don't plan on being gone for another two years this go around. Anyway, they're delightful and extremely cute.

Here we are...one big happy family. This does, unfortunately, capture a bit of the essence of the roles we fall into, as Jen said on her blog. Valerie wasn't smiling, and I told her she should smile. I'm hissing at her, she's rolling her eyes at me, Dad's smiling and hoping it'll all blow over, and Jen's ignoring it all. :) We are truly, one big happy family.

Take two...this one looks much nicer. But the one above this one is still probably more Christmas card-worthy.

My most wonderful Grandpa Morton. It looks like I'm smothering him with my hair, but I'm not. It was the second picture we had tried to take together, and it just wasn't working out, so I think we both over-leaned.
My delightful over-concerned Grandma Morton.
Dad and Phyllis at Cinnabon

(just typing the name of the store makes me salivate)

Hibernating under the covers did just kinda pickle me. The past few days have been quite blah. But there's been a dramatic turn around in the past 24 hours.

I'm sure most of you know there's been a lot of...uncertainty about my housing situation. (I use the word uncertainty though a few others could be used there, but they are all remarkably less positive than "uncertainty.") They said they might move me again, that Lis would be moving upstairs when Beth and Adam move out, and then that Lis wouldn't be moving out. It's just been chaotic, which I feel like I should at least be used to, but I was just feeling overwhelmed. Overwhelmed and not settled, and feeling the intense desire to unpack and settle. Providentially, everything has been worked out - at least for now - and tonight Lis and I switched bedrooms. I had been staying in the smaller one, which just didn't make sense because I have loads more stuff than her (I've been here a lot longer and she only just came), not to mention that the bigger room makes it more possible and likely that the animals can be contained. So we did lots of moving, arranging, and organizing tonight. Right now I am just exhausted. But I feel worlds better than I did even just this afternoon. Having a place of your own...there's just such comfort and some unspeakable quality to be found in it.

Ahh...I have more to share, but I can barely type. I overslept this morning and feel like I've been rushing and hectic ever since (even though the day beyond the first hour was neither rushed nor hectic). So I'm beat. Off to bed with me. I'll blog again tomorrow and share more. Night all.

And GA Mom, thanks for your wisdom. :) It was witty and totally on the mark. Thanks for being such a wonderful part of my life. I love you!

The door to my new apartment is a bit wonky. It's got the number code that unlocks the door, but it locks back funny. Sometimes it works fine, sometimes it sounds like it has locked, but it hasn't. Sometimes it locks before the door gets closed. It's confusing, and I thought I understood the problems it had. But I was wrong.

After a night so horrible it deserves a blog of its own, I arrived home around 2:30 AM. I had planned on spending the night out, and had told my roommate as much. So she had flipped the switch that makes it impossible to unlock the door from outside. So I had to wake up my poor roommate. Anyway, came in, and shut the door (or so I thought). This morning I found out that I had not, actually, closed the door. It had made the normal "I'm locked and all is well" sound, but the door was not shut. So when my roommate woke up this morning, she saw that the door was open, and realized also that my cat was gone. She was just getting dressed to go look for him when he came back, considerably traumatized. He has spent the time since then burrowing under various blankets in the house. Poor guy. His little kitty instincts tell him to venture out into the wild, and it looks appealing from the patio window he spends most of his time looking out. But when he gets out there, he remembers that all his experiences with the outside have been overwhelmingly traumatizing (neutered/declawed, shaved, various vet visits).

I can identify. My evening last night was bad due to a whole series of events that can, in a very strange way, parallel my cat's experience. Interestingly enough, I've spent most of the time since arriving home at 2:30 AM burrowed under my own blanket. We aren't too different, me and this cat - in our coping mechanisms. We are extremely different in a whole variety of ways, for those of you prepared to offer sarcastic responses to that comment.

I'm going to repeat a comment I made earlier in the week, as applicable now as it was then, but for different reasons: I am in a positively rancid mood.

"For the peace of the barnyard, I am grateful to the dangers and jaws of the jungle. For the belonging that is home, I can thank, in part, the exile that is travel."

I can now say that I know what it's like to be on a date with someone, be discussing something and seriously say, "Oh....you didn't bring your bilingual electronic dictionary? I wish you had."

It's not as funny now as when I said it to Lis earlier, but the humor from that moment compelled me to share it here. Trust me, it was funny.

I got less than four hours of sleep last night.

Got up, showered, went to toast a bagel for breakfast. Couldn't figure out which bag of bagels were mine and which were my roommate's. Guessed. Sliced. Realized I had guessed wrong. Put her (now sliced) bagel back, and got one of mine. Started to slice...right through the bagel and put a shallow but decent length slice on my hand. Niiiiice.

Got to work, got on the bus to go to the kindergarten. Went to the back row, as is semi-usual. I was trying to look to make sure all the kids in the immediate vicinity were buckled up, and turned around (rather quickly) to sit down in my seat and whacked my head on the corner of the bag-shelf-thingy. Hit it hard enough to see a few stars, and get the attention of two of the girls nearby, who sat there looking at me horrified with wide eyes, probably wondering if I was going to cry (which I considered doing briefly, then decided against).

Made it to work without further incident (except for the knot on my head and headache from whacking my temple so hard), taught my classes, and was going to fill out my daily paperwork - managed to slide a pointy metal thing up under the cuticle of one of my nails.

So far, the day has not been too promising. Do-over, please?

Well it's changed slightly. But the realization that I alluded to in my last post, I had it on the long plane ride back to Korea. It was simply this: I do not want to be in Korea. Well, since I was already about halfway across the Pacific when I had this realization it was too late to do anything about it at the moment. I cried and cried, and then cried some more. Thankfully the plane was about half full at the most, and so I had two seats to myself, so I could cry without really bothering anyone else.

This is just so awful. When I was in Japan waiting to catch my plane to Seoul, I looked around, saw that I was (yet again) surrounded by Asian people speaking a language not my own, it took everything within me not to burst into tears and set out to find a way back to the good ol' USA.

Needless to say, my first few days back in Seoul were difficult. My boss graciously gave me those days off so my body could deal with the jet-lag (which was, BTW, nowhere near as bad coming here as it was going to the States). I totally needed that time to sleep, but I spent a fair portion of it thinking/dwelling on how very much I did not want to be here.

That was the first realization. The second realization was simply this: I don't have to stay here.

But before anyone calls my Grandma Morton and gets her worked up in a lather, I'm not leaving. The earliest I would/could possibly leave is about March, and honestly, that is doubtful. July is more possible, but at the moment, only a possibility. After going back to work and getting into something of a schedule, the urgency has faded considerably...but not completely.

Right now just seems to be a time of transition/turning point. That's why the decision to stay in Korea or go back to the States is so big - because it says an awful lot about what I understand God's direction for my life to be. And going back to the States would be taking a direction much different than what I have understood God's will for my life to be for some time now.

I've been listening to Carrie Underwood's song "Starts with Goodbye" on repeat, which is slightly embarrassing, but it really is an awesome song, and applicable to my life in a few ways. One of the lines (cannot believe I'm about to quote a country/pop song) "It's sad but sometimes moving on with the rest of your life starts with goodbye." And that much is true. It's one reason why I think airports and hospitals have so much in common besides the horrible disinfectant smell. And it's also why I've come to love taking pictures of something from a side mirror - for reasons related to Philippians 3:13-14. I can't get Blogger to post a picture like that right now, but I'll do it later.

Anyway, I'm saying goodbye to a few things - my heart is letting go of something it has held onto for too long, and I'm trying to figure out where I'll be in a year...all the while trying to hold it together in the here and now. Anyway, that's enough for now. Thanks for reading.

These pictures are from inside my job, but this is basically what I saw from outside when I passed by on a bus earlier today. It's some kind of drill...I dunno what, but it's intense. Freakily intense.




This last picture made me laugh the worst. Well, this image together with my boss walking into the office a few minutes ago and saying, "Smells like gas in here...." (the natural kind, FYI). The power of suggestion from that statement (and it really does smell like gas in here) gave me an immediate headache, which I laughed off. But now I have a for-real headache, and Lis does too (and she's totally even-keel and not impressionable like me). But really...I'm sure there's nothing to worry about. :)

There...I said it.

Do you have any idea how long it has taken me to be able to say that? (How long have I been in this country? So about a year and 9 months.) It was such a pride thing...as if admitting it meant I was less spiritual, less cool, less travel-savvy.

But we had a teacher's meeting last night and went out to eat afterwards. There were some things I liked, but overall, I abstained from most of the food. And don't get the wrong idea... there's quite a few Korean dishes I like. But overall, it's really not my favorite food (to say the least).

And I had another realization, but if I share it now it will be out of order. I first have to blog about my journey back to this side of the world. After that blog, I can share my latest realization. But trust me, it's worth waiting for. It's a good one.

Today is my first day teaching since I've been back. I'm glad to have something to do, though I spent the past two days since coming back trying to conquer jet-lag. When I wasn't sleeping though, I was trying hard to think of all the reasons I came back...and not having an excessive lot of luck doing so. Last night was the first good night of sleep I had, so here's hoping I don't glaze over and start swaying with exhaustion and time-zone confusion in the middle of the day.

Anyway, gotta go catch the bus to the kindergarten. I'll try to blog again either this afternoon or tonight. Night!

It's easy to think pictures like these are cheesy or lame when it's not you and your best friend in them. And that's just it. Bethany is my best friend. And even though the above three pictures are only slightly different, each one is exceptionally precious to me. They capture a moment of time, the very brief time that we got to spend together, and as such, are extremely important and special to me.

It's crazy how things were so...normal. They were much like I hadn't been gone at all, let alone gone for two years. We rode in the car, driving from Orlando to Jacksonville and back, sometimes talking, sometimes not. And it was very good. We laughed until we cried, about stuff that would sound ridiculously stupid if I tried to explain it. And it was even better. We got pedicures together, watched movies together, ate together, and shopped together. The best part of it all? Not the pedicure (though my toes do look great), or the movies, the shopping, or even the food. The best part was the together part.

Seriously though, when she dropped me off at the airport, it was torture. I'm not trying to be dramatic or anything, but it was actually quite unpleasant. And I have yet another airport scene awaiting me. I hate goodbyes.

While I'm on the topic of friends though, I had the same "never been gone" experience with Neil and Mike Smith. It's a statement of the exceptional kind of guys they are and the kind of friendship I have with each of them. So allow me to echo what I already said - the thing that is going to make it the most difficult to leave isn't what I thought I had been missing the most. It's the people. It's the together parts.

And tomorrow I get to see Haley - something I had to keep as only tenative in my mind, since she is driving down all the way from Birmingham just for me. That's why I didn't mention it as a reunion time - I was trying not to get my hopes up in case something happened and she couldn't come. But in less than 12 hours, she should be here! I am excessively excited to see her, and her dog Lottie. Lottie and Daive were best friends. I only wish Daive could take part in the reunion fun. We're going to stay at a hotel on/near the beach in Destin. It should be a great time - not to mention allow me the opportunity to get some good beach pics before I go back. Anyway, I'm exhausted. I'm gonna go to bed now. Night all.

My sister and I are getting ready to go spend the morning, or at least a hefty chunk of the morning, with my dad and Phyllis. In preparation for this event, I have taken a literal chill pill and am loading up on the good diet coke (fountain drink). It has more potential to be icky than usual, because of money.

And that brings me to my stupid moment to trump all stupid moments. When I went and bought US currency before leaving Korea, I got brand new bills. Brand new bills stick together. That's right. That's the only thing I can think happened. And it's not one of those, "Where did all my money go????" It's, "Okay, I know I've done a heap of shopping and eating out, but there is still at least $100 unaccounted for." And of course I have money in my account in Korea, I just access it from here. So I'm going to borrow some money from my Dad and wire him the money back when I get back to Korea. Makes me feel stupid and irresponsible. It's an icky feeling.

In other news, I started reading the book "Marley and Me," which I got from WalMart before I went down to Orlando. I put it down at first, because I realize the ending of most books involving dogs is that the dog dies. But last night I was overcome...missing my Wubby (Daive, for you that don't know). So I started reading this book. It is HILARIOUS. I think Beth (in Korea) with appreciate it about as much as I do. It's funny because I got a Larry the Cable Guy book in the Orlando airport, because I wanted something light-hearted as I was most sad about leaving Bethany. The Larry the Cable Guy book is not at all funny, but this dog book...I was reading it, and just howling out loud with laughter. I tried reading some parts out loud to my sister, but it was one of those "You had to be there" things.

Okay, I'm gonna go now. By the way, the cartoon "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends" is like THE most hilarious cartoon ever. I watched it with Jen and Cam and all of them, and I've spent the time since then quoting this one character with Cameron. Our particular favorites are, "I like chocolate milk!" and "I like cereal." You'd have to see the cartoon to really understand. Anyway, that's all.

Those are the first words to one of the songs from the movie "Muppets Take Manhattan." I watched that movie so many times growing up that, to this day, my older sisters can quote it. I could write the song, but I'm not going to. To put down a song about how difficult goodbyes are is cheesy enough, once you add in that the song was sang by a bunch of Muppets...just enters a realm of cheesiness even I am uncomfortable with. But anyway, I leave in the morning to fly back to Pensacola. And that means I will be, yet again, saying goodbye to my best friend. I had been gone for so long that I never even began to fathom how difficult it would be to spend a few days with her and have to leave again. I had gotten used to not seeing her.

In addition to spending time with Bethany, I was able to spend time with two other extremely close and wonderful friends from college (Neil and Mike Smith), and Bethany's family. I cannot even put into words how refreshing the past four days have been. Yet at the same time, I feel like I am now in a very difficult spot. I had every intention of staying in Korea another year (that year starting in March once my current contract is finished). Now I'm not so sure. And you know what? It's not the food, or the language, or the familiarity, or any of the comforts - it's none of the things I thought I missed the most. It's the people - not all the people (and I'll leave it to you to read between the lines about who might be left out), but some of the people.

I suppose the good news is that my flights to Pensacola (via Memphis, a fact I still can't believe) will probably go by quickly, as all the major reunions have already happened.

I have some thoughts I want to share about a specific idol in my life, but I'm quite sure it would make this post far too long. I'll wait...another night. Or around 3 AM. I don't know if I've mentioned this or not, but I have woken up every morning between 2:45 and 3:00 AM since I got here. I don't know why that is. Also, I usually have a difficult time waking up. I set my alarm early so I can snooze it and at least make myself think I'm sleeping in. But since I've been here (in the States, that is, not just Orlando), around 7-ish, I go from a dead sleep to wide awake. It's strange. I'm hoping to avoid the whole 3:00 AM thing since that time is only two hours away right now. We'll see how that goes. Until later all...

I got into Orlando last night. Strange how a total flying time of 4.5 hours can seem to take longer than a flying time of like 16 hours. I was just so hyped up to finally see Bethany again. She brought me balloons and flowers to the airport, which was super sweet of her. It's so funny though, we're both entirely about the sentiment. As we were walking out to her car, she was like, "Can we just let these go? Cause they're really annoying in the car." I think she might have been kidding. But then once we got out to the parking garage, I told her to go ahead and let them go. She did, and then they started popping (which echoed in the parking garage and sounded slightly gunshot-like). We were just laughing and laughing...it was just such an US moment.

So we came home, got Taco Bell, changed into our pajamas, ate, and then talked for awhile. And then, no lie, we went to bed at 8:30. We just both happened to be exhausted. I woke up this morning around 5:45 - my body has done this strange wide-awake thing since I've been here, which is quite unusual for me. The switch today is that it is usually a bad thing, since I have gone to sleep about midnight. Since we went to bed so embarrassingly early last night, waking up so early this morning was fine. I just vegged in bed until about 6:30, when I got up. Beth got up shortly after me, and we got breakfast and watched the Shadowlands. It was a good movie. Then we went and got our eyebrows waxed and pedicures. Good, good times.

And then! Claude's picture was posted on the Stuff on My Cat website! Rock on!!! That makes me super happy! And finally I have found an audience who appreicates all the subtleties of my picture. All along I said that pic reminded me of Napoleon, but some commenters said it was more like Hitler, which I can see. Funny stuff.

Anyway, Neil is coming over today. I'm really excited and having such a great time! The only slight bummers have been that the airline bumped a hole in my suitcase. (My precious pink suitcase! Oh the horror!) AND one of Bethany's presents was broken. Sad, but it's okay. So that's all for now. Until later!