this little guy kept peeking into the window where shannon and i were talking. he was too shy to let me take a picture until he got too involved in playing with this balloon to notice me. he won the cute boy award in my book.

a hula hoop contest at the open house for the new school on saturday 

I went to the fabric and flower market at the Express Bus Terminal on Saturday. I absolutely love that place...I would have taken more people pictures, but the flower sellers didn't like it. 

at the flower market 

Umm, another food post. This time, we got burritos from a guy who used to live in LA, and now has a restaurant at Migeum (that even has sour cream and jalapenos!) Oh my, they are tasty to those of us who long for Mexican food!  

JiYeon and her mom made us a great meal with dduk guk, the traditional rice cake soup for new years, and lots of other good stuff, for lunar new year. Yum! 

boy on the bus

I was coming home from a little shopping trip to E-mart today when I heard the cute little boy standing next to me on the bus whispering "bus-uh duh-ribuh" (bus driver) over and over. I got the sense that he was getting up the courage to talk to me in English, so I glanced at him. He looked at me and in a slow, careful voice asked me where I was from. I told him America. He said "Canada?" I said "No, United States...Miguk." He understood, then told me his name. I told him mine. I asked him how old he was, then it was time for him to get off the bus. I should have so much gumption to practice my Korean every chance I get. Too bad there's not a chance I can be as cute as that little 11 year old, though.

Tomorrow's a holiday! The first of March commemorates the day that there was an uprising against the Japanese occupation. My friend today was explaining it to me and I compared it to the Alamo for Texans. A lot of people were killed and it became a rally point for the Koreans' independence.

studying, etc.

Another week already over! It went by fast. I am trying to spend my time this afternoon (now evening, I guess) studying. I have done a few pages in my practice book, looked up a few words, etc, and that's about it. I rediscovered a Korean language study site this week, after looking at the stats available on my new counter (that I installed on the occassion of my year anniversary.) It's a really interesting site for me. The author lived in Korea and now doesn't, but still wants to speak Korean fluently someday. It has a list of a bunch of Korea blogs and other stuff on the links page, and I am one of the blogs. Didn't know that until I saw the stats on my site (one of the things you can see is if someone found your site through a link from another.) So, I pretended I was actually studying while looking around on that site for a while, too.

I've been meaning to start a prayer group for North Korea, and it finally happened this week. I really just wanted to keep myself accountable to at least one concentrated time of prayer per week (more than just a few prayers here and there). So, now there's a time for anyone who wants to come 30 minutes before our normal Wednesday night prayer time. Hopefully we can grow as a church into more awareness for the persecuted church there and develop more of a heart for the situation there. We're so close, and so connected to North Korea as a country that it's a shame not to. I started going a few weeks ago to a group that meets in Seoul to pray and talk about North Korea related stuff. The discussion varies, depending on who shows up. There's usually someone there who wants to share a testimony (sometimes from a NK defector) or about the work they're doing related to North Korea. It's becoming a great way for me to stay aware of what work is going on in and around there and to stay open to what God might want to do through me.

We were supposed to have some snow this week, but barely got any. I was hoping for a really nice snowfall before winter was over, but now we probably won't get one. I'm jealous of hearing from friends in England and New York who are getting beautiful snows. Here, it's just cold. Our heater has been out the past two days at school. Today I came home, made a cup of tea, turned the heat up, and laid down on the floor to study. I love floor heating!

it's been a year!

I guess Blogger and I are still newlyweds, but I'm celebrating the year mark today. Celebrate with me and let me know who you lovely people are who read my blog. Come on, just this once, leave me a comment. (Blogger just made it easier to leave comments! You don' t have to have a blogger ID anymore! Yes, Mom, you too can leave me a comment!) Here, I'll give you a good question to answer....Umm, okay, maybe I don't have a good question, but here are some ideas of what you could share with us:

a link to a good recipe
a silly joke
just where you're from
a link to (another) great blog
what you love about winter
what you want to do when you come visit me in South Korea

See, the possibilities of thoughts you can comment on are almost endless, so come on, if you're reading this, leave me a comment to celebrate my year of blogging!

argh...

I just typed out a long weekend update and then I pressed publish (at least I think that's what I pressed) and it only published the title. That's no fun. Now, do I want to write it again? Maybe a shorter version.

Friday, we had a combined guy/girl life group party. It started at JimBob's, then we split up. Some came to my apt. to play games. We had a good time, but I think the whole switching apartment thing was a little confusing. JB has the biggest place, but it's still not big enough for a party of any size. When it gets warmer, maybe we'll plan another party on our newly renovated roof!

Saturday, I went with Laura, JiYeon, and Julie to give blood. JiYeon had made a lot of phone calls to make sure us foreigners could give, but it ended up that we couldn't. So, just JiYeon gave. They apologized up one side and down the other, but we weren't actually that disappointed. We really went to support JiYeon anyhow. After giving blood, we came back to my apartment and made leftover pizza on crusts that I had made for the party on Friday, then we watched Val's "A Beautiful Mind." I love that movie. I've seen it three times and cried every time.

Today, we had our team meeting, then lunch, then church. We had our first drama at church, planned and directed by Alina! It was great. Afterwards, we had tak-kalbi, one of my favorite Korean dishes, then went bowling. I scored something like 119, 76, 134. I don't know what happened in that middle game. Well, actually, I don't know what happened in the first and last games. Normally, I don't get above a hundred, but with JimBob and Jason's coaching :), I'm gettin' better. Actually, in the States, I went bowling maybe once a year. Here, we go a lot more often than that, so maybe it's just more practice.

It got a lot colder today, so I came home, made a big mug of milk tea, and finished my Korean homework for tomorrow. Now, I'm finishing typing this for the second time and it's time for bed!

sunny day

After two drizzly, rainy days, today is sunny and WARM! It's so nice outside, I changed into some 운동복 (exercise clothes) and am going outside for a little jog. Yay! I checked the weather online, though, and it's expected to turn cold again for the weekend. That's OK. I'm in no hurry for hot weather to come.

I changed my phone from English language to Korean language today (the menus and display). We were talking about phones, messages, answering machines, etc. today in class, so I figured I'd get more practice if I had to figure my phone out in Korean. Even though I'm used to using it in English, it makes me think when I see the Korean words there. I'm understanding a lot more of what I hear and read, but still have a long way to go. When I'm not busy on the bus, I read signs and ads as I pass and on the inside of the bus. It used to just give me practice sounding things out, but now, since I understand more, I can get practice spelling things, and can figure out what unknown words mean from the context clues. (Context clues - that word takes me back to elementary school reading class!) It's pretty exciting stuff to be able to use a foreign language, but still frustrating when I can't say what I want.

Now...off to enjoy this sun!

beans

After school today, I went to the lady who sits on the corner in downtown Suji and sells vegetables, beans, and tofu. Today, though, she didn't have beans, which I needed to make chicken chili. I was at a loss, because the supermarkets don't sell beans. I asked her, just to make sure, if she had any. She looked at the person standing next to me, as if she couldn't understand me. So, I asked her again, a little louder, and slower. She understood, and told me she was all out, but to be sure and come back tomorrow. I thanked her and began wandering the streets in search of another bean seller. I found a woman who had dry beans, but I wanted fresh ones so I could cook my soup soon! I went into a little market and asked if she had beans. Again, this lady looked at the other person at the register as if she didn't understand me. (I swear, there's a preconceived notion that if the speaker of Korean is white, that person will be hard to understand!) So, again, I repeated and enunciated more clearly. She understood, and showed me some bean milk. No, not what I need. I asked her where a store would be that sold beans, and she told me there wasn't one in the neighborhood. I decided I had to go back and get some dry beans. As I was buying them, a little lady was watching me. She then crossed the street with me, and once across, she asked me which country I came from. I answered her and she said, "Don't you want to go back to America?" I told her I like it there, but that I also like Korea. I have been lamenting the fact that I don't get enough practice speaking the language, but today, just in the process of wandering around looking for beans, I was able to have a few decent real world conversations. Now, my soup is on the stove and "Drops of Jupiter" just came on launchcast. Love that song.

Napoleon Dynamite

Have you seen this movie? JB brought the DVD back with him from the states in January. We've been quoting it lately, which makes me want to watch it again. It's such a funny movie, and clean, too! I just watched the trailer and some scenes with comments here. I'm laughing again.

More fun with Napoleon and Pedro.

the gondola i took up to get a view of the hard slopes i didn't have the nerve to ski...that's our condo building at the bottom (the tallest one) - what a great location! 

Adrielle and me, the beginners, on our first night of skiing. 

ski trip

Today's the last day of the three day lunar new year vacation, the biggest holiday in Korea. A group of us went to a ski resort where one of our friend's family has a condo. We spent two nights there. Most of us skiied two half days. I hadn't skiied for about eight years, so it was a bit of a challenge, but I enjoyed it. We thought the traffic was going to be crazy, because millions of people leave Seoul at the same time to go to their hometown, or to go on vacation, but we didn't have too much traffic either way. Yay!

The place we stayed at was great. The basement floor of the condo building had so much stuff to do - a PC bang (computer room), a bath house, a supermarket, a game room, a small amusement park, a bowling alley, a pool and ping pong room, a nore bang (karaoke room), and more! It was a lot of fun.

It's interesting how cultures come together sometimes. A few of us have been on road trips with our Korean friends before, and I think we're kind of used to doing things the Korean way. We planned to take up money for groceries and cook and eat together in the condo. One of the things I love about the Korean culture is that they are so used to sharing and doing things as a group. I guess westerners are used to being more independent and do-what-you-wanna-do people. We planned on eating Korean style food, so it turned out that some of the non-Korean members of the group (who don't hang out with Koreans as much as the people on our team do), just decided to do their own thing. Everything turned out fine, it just reminds me that being culture-sensitive and culturally aware is such an important part of our ministry!

After we got the what's for dinner and who's going where stuff worked out last night, we decided to go bowling. The plan, to make the game a little more interesting, was to have the losers (of the best two out of three) pay for everything. We tried to make the teams fair, so I volunteered that I was probably the worst of the group. I was on a team with Jason and Joe, and Jim Bob, Adrielle, and Angie were on the other team. It turned out that I had the best night of bowling of my life and scored over a 100 on the first game and then 152 on the second game. I was only one point away from getting a turkey in the second game! The people who had never bowled with me before told me I must not have been telling the truth when I said I was the worst. Jim Bob and Jason vouched for me, though, and confirmed that for sure this was the best they'd ever seen me bowl. I guess a little competition (involving money) can up my performance!

Well, now I'm home in my apartment, listening to the "country valentine" station on yahoo launchcast and enjoying some pizza from the local delivery place. Home sweet home.

Exodus and Leviticus

I'm still trucking through the Bible, and enjoying it for the most part. I have to admit, though that some of that nasty stuff on leprosy made me read a little faster. I started Numbers today, but I thought I'd post some thoughts on Exodus and Leviticus (very general) here just to help me summarize and process.
Exodus 13- I would love to get a look at those pillars of cloud and fire. I bet the Israelites thought they were pretty cool at first, but then they got used to them. How does God lead me in my journey? Maybe I'm taking for granted what I once thought was amazing.

Exodus 14- The Red Sea. Some great verses here: vs. 13, 14"Fear not and see the salvation of the Lord, which He will work for you today...The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent."
vs.15 - "Why are you crying to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward!" Sometimes we have a clear word from God, but we're still crying about it instead of being obedient. Just go forward in faith!
I was also struck by the fact that it seems like the Egyptians were very close for a while, but the amazing protective hand of God kept them safe with the pillar of cloud that came between them. (verses 19-20)

Exodus 15 - Wow, what a beautiful praise filled song from Moses. I'm so glad his song is included in this book.

Exodus 24:9-11 - I remember a sunday school teacher telling me that Moses was the only one who ever got to see God(later in Chapter 33), but here it says that Moses, Aaron, and Nadab all "saw the God of Israel" (vs.10). A beautiful picture...under his feet was a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. They even "beheld God and ate and drank." (vs. 11)!

Exodus 33:11 "Thus the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend." Amazing. We have that same opportunity every day today. I want that kind of relationship with God!

Exodus 33:12-23 - Because of Moses' intimate relationship with the Lord, his intercession for his people is effective. Wow.

Then, there's the rest of Exodus and on to Leviticus. All the preparation for the temple, all the rules for sacrifices. A lot of stuff there. My summary is this...God is holy. We only have access to Him through Jesus. All of these descriptions are illustrative of how far short we would fall without faith in the one who bridges the gap for us. We're still called to obedience, of course. Obedience out of love for Jesus. The core of my prayer is simple: Increase my love!

pictures

Just a plug for Laura's picture site. She takes great pictures, and she takes them a lot more often than I do, so go visit her site and check out the crowd we hang out with!

another chance

I love living in Asia, because you get two chances at a fresh start on the year. They celebrate the solar new year when Westerners do, but their big new year celebration is 설날, the lunar new year. Since I didn't make much time to reflect on the past year on January first ( I was traveling back and then had a million things to do once I got back to Korea on the third), I am glad to have this week off school to take some reflection time. I'm going skiing with a group from church, but I'll probably just ski one day. I am having to make myself do that, actually, because I'm a little scared of skiing. The last time I went was my freshman year of college...umm, about 10 years ago? Ouch. I was really bad then, so I don't have high hopes for this time. Anyhow, it'll be fun to stay at the condo with friends and get in some good reading time in if nothing else. I have a stack of books I want to read that I haven't had a chance to pick up since I got back. I also need to get a little ahead on my Korean studies so I'll be ready to go again next week.

feelin' fine

I'm feeling mighty fine now that my mid-term exam is finished. It took three hours to finish it this morning (listening, reading, grammar, and an interview). I finished before most of the people, but I think that's probably because I was antsy to get out of there. I think I did okay, though.

I treated myself to a well-being burger for lunch (veggie patty and pineapple inside - so tasty!) and then a 450 won (50 cent) ice cream bar from the convenience store on the way home. All the way through the test, I was thinking how I just wanted to go home and take a nap, but then when I got home, I had the urge to get the place clean. While I was cleaning, I listened to a great sermon online from the church that sent and supports our team here (the church that planted the one I call home). I'm a little behind in listening since I didn't have internet for a while, and then went to Texas, so I listened to Jim's message at the bottom of the list about joy. It'll probably only be there a few more days since I was late listening to it. It was a great reminder that God wants to give us abundant joy in all situations. (There's even a cameo appearance by CCC Korea's own Donnie!)

I feel so good (after a few weeks of putting off cleaning to study) now that my apartment is clean again. I still have some organizing to do, but the floor is clean, the dishes are washed, and the laundry is in the washing machine. I put some barley tea on the stove to brew, and some sweet potatoes in the toaster oven to make some soup with later. Mmmm. Maybe now it's time for a short nap before life group tonight.

is the time coming?

I read an article this week reporting some indicators that Kim Jong Il's regime is possibly coming to an end sooner rather than later. (Link to whole article here.)

As we shivered in the frontier post the portraits of Kim and his late father, Kim Il-sung, stared down from the wall as if nothing had changed. But the cult of the Kim dynasty, its “perfect” theory of Juche — patriotic self-reliance — and the utopian society of which the official guides boast are visibly breaking down.
Word has spread like wildfire of the Christian underground that helps fugitives to reach South Korea. People who lived in silent fear now dare to speak about escape. The regime has almost given up trying to stop them going, although it can savagely punish those caught and sent back.
“Everybody knows there is a way out,” said a woman, who for obvious reasons cannot be identified but who spoke in front of several witnesses. “They know there is a Christian network to put them in contact with the underground, to break into embassies in Beijing or to get into Vietnam. They know, but you have to pay a lot of money to middlemen who have the Christian contacts.”
Her knowledge was remarkable.
North Korean newspapers are stifled by state control. Televisions receive only one channel which is devoted to the Dear Leader’s deeds. Radios are fixed to a single frequency. For most citizens the internet is just a word. Yet North Koreans confirmed that they knew that escapers to China should look for buildings displaying a Christian cross and should ask among Korean speakers for people who knew the word of Jesus.

Wow. Nobody knows when or how it will happen, but signs are encouraging! God is working even in that closed country!

too hot and too cold

This morning when I got up, I turned on the shower. It usually takes a second for the water to get past freezing coming out of the spout, so I put some water on the stove to heat up for coffee while I'm in the shower. I went back to the shower and it was already steaming up the bathroom. I tried to get it to a normal temperature, but I soon realized that it wasn't gonna happen. I only had BURNING hot water coming out. I tried both sinks, too, and no cold water. I hoped by the time I got home after school it'd be fixed without me doing anything. Surely I'm not the only apartment with this problem. Well, it's midnight now and still not fixed. I know how to say "there's only hot water coming out," but past that, I probably won't be able to answer many questions when I tell the security man what the deal is. Ironic that on the coldest day of the year so far, I can't take a shower because my water is too hot!

Maybe this water problem is God giving me a chance to practice my Korean. (He knows I need the practice, and I started praying tonight for more chances to practice conversational Korean.) On Monday, I went to a movie and dinner with a girl who has started coming to our lifegroup on Saturdays. Her English is more limited than most of the people I hang out with. We spoke only Korean (with the exception of a few words) on Monday. It was great, but our conversation sure was limited. I ended up saying "yes" a lot. Now I understand more of why Koreans will often act like they understand when they really don't. I did that a lot on Monday. Pray for me to learn this language well, and faster too!