don't vacations go by fast?

I can't believe it's already Thursday night! I still have the first two days of next week before I start class, but it's going quickly! Well, my goal of studying everyday four hours like I do when I'm taking class has been a little harder than expected. Tuesday, I studied for an hour then met a friend then went into Seoul to meet another friend. We went to a worship service (in Korean). I really need to practice listening to Korean, especially church words, and singing worship songs in Korean is a great way to practice too. Plus, the auditorium is full of people really glad to be worshipping. Worshipping with people who are passionate about worship is just good. So, I'm thinking that counts as Korean study time, because real experience is worth a lot more than acutal study time anyhow.

Yesterday and today, I spent five hours each afternoon in the library. I was pretty productive during the time. I just divided it between reading the things we didn't get to in our reading book from level 2, reviewing grammar I should have down by now, and reviewing vocabulary. I don't see any real results from it, but I'll just keep reviewing and reviewing and sooner or later it will sink in and make its way into the real world of speaking.

This morning before my library time, I went to pick up my alien registration card (remember the one that I look like a deer in the headlights? yeah, that one) and my new text books for level 3. Tomorrow, I'll finish reviewing level 2 and start getting ahead a little for level 3.

Had a pretty good but too expensive sushi dinner with my friend Olivia tonight, then spent a few hours chatting with her. Oh, on Tuesday I went to the big English bookstore in Seoul to look for more Chaim Potok books and bought four. That was a splurge, but I'm already more than halfway through one of them: My Name is Asher Lev. It's brilliant. They were all out of The Promise (the sequel to The Chosen), but I'll find it later.

I just realized I've posted a lot lately about just normal stuff...what I've been filling my days with. Maybe I'll try to post some more meaningful thoughts soon. Lots of stuff goes through my head at times about possibly significant things to write about, but then when I sit down to post, it's just easier to write this stuff. Now, back to Asher Lev...

Inah, Laura, Youngju, and Irang on Easter. 

For Easter, we had a choir and a drama. It was good to have a bit of a change of the norm. One girl who came for the first time said she was so touched by the drama that she went up to kneel in front of the cross before the end of the service. It's often pretty hard to get people to come out of their shells and be expressive in worship, but on Easter, God brought us some new life! 

day one of vacation

Well, I didn't get any Korean studying done today for a few reasons. At 10:30, I hopped on a bus to meet a friend that I used to work with for lunch. I took a book with me that I just bought at a used bookstore in Itaewon. I took it with me as an alternative to the Korean flashcards I intended on studying on the bus. Instead, I opened up the book first and was drawn in. Check out this author if you haven't yet: Chaim Potok. The book I got of his is The Chosen. I'm gonna have to see if the English bookstores here have his other books.

Lunch with my friend was lovely...the reconnecting and the food. She took me to a place where the main dish was a stone bowl of rice that you scoop out into another bowl, then you pour some kind of watery broth into the crispy rice that's stuck to the edges of the stone bowl and it makes a rice soup. The table was full of many, many side dishes in their little bowls to make the rest of the meal. Afterwards, I went to my old hagwon - where I taught English last year, and saw my youngest kids who are now not the youngest anymore. They have already grown up a lot. I was really happy that they remembered my name and were happy to see me. Aww.

I took the bus back to Suji and went to the library to study, but it was closed, so I came back home and read more of my book. I couldn't put it down, except for a long walk before it got dark. I finished the book about an hour ago. I haven't finished a book in a day in a long while.

So, until I get my hands on another one of these books, I will study, yes I will.

the view from my window...across the creek, there is this shopping center with a dentist office, multiple real estate offices, a kimbap shop, a cleaners, and a tae kwon do place, to name a few. 

This is the guy making fried rice at the student cafeteria at Ajou University, where my Korean classes are. Julie and I were very impressed with how big the pot was and how hard this guy was working to stir it. I wanted a better action shot, but this is all I got before I had to move on.

There's my bus, #720, that I take to school everyday. Yesterday, I wasn't at the bus stop yet when it came, but the driver stopped for me anyway, without me having to run or flag him down. I was shocked, because generally bus drivers are sticklers about stopping at the bus stop, but this guy recognized me and was nice enough to not make me wait another 15 minutes.  

first 10 weeks finished!

I took my final test this morning, and I think it went pretty well. It felt easier than the midterm test, probably because I knew the format better. There was only one word I didn't know that I was supposed to make a sentence with, and a few "find the mistake" questions where I couldn't figure out what was wrong on the grammar section. The reading and the listening parts were pretty easy, though. Anyhow, now I have a sort of spring break for the next week and a half. My plan is to try to get four hours of studying in every week day like I do in class. I'll let you know how I do...that way, I'm accountable. :)

After the test, I took my tuition receipt for next semester to the Suwon immigration office, because I needed to change my visa to a student visa so I wouldn't have to leave the country. That place is like heaven compared to the one in Seoul. It's much less crowded and the people were much nicer. The only frustrating thing was that I had to get my picture taken for the application, so I went upstairs to the photo machine and paid my 5,000won (about 5 bucks). It said I had to move the stool to make sure my face was inside the red circle on the mirror, and then as I was doing that, it took the picture! I wish I had a scanner so I could show you how goofy I am. I actually thought it would wait for me to get it adjusted, so I have a set of six passport sized pictures of my left shoulder and the back of my head. After I paid my second 5,ooo won, I was so ready for the picture that I look like a deer caught in headlights. (I'm glad I don't have a scanner to show you that, but unfortunately I will have that picture on my foreigner registration card!)

If I didn't know better, I would promise you guys that winter is on its way. It snowed today! It was really beautiful. With the wind blowing and the huge flakes, it felt like the inside of a just shaken snowglobe, and it ended just about as fast, too. I'm glad I was outside to see it. Hopefully, though, the next week that I have off will bring some more spring like weather. I'm ready to spend some time outside without shivering.

small things

I guess my decision is made. I just paid the fee for the next 10 weeks of classes at the Korean language school I'm at. We have our final this Thursday, then a week off, then school starts again. Sometime this week I need to get my visa changed to a student visa so I don't have to leave the country, and I need my registration fee receipt to do that. A small thing to be excited about: I just had the entire phone conversation with the secretary at the language school in Korean. It really is a small thing considering all I said was "Hi, it's Lela." "I just paid the money for the next semester." "Is it possible to get the receipt tomorrow?" I did understand what she said in between, too, and responded, so that's an extra few points. Talking on the phone is way harder than face to face. I wouldn't be excited at all if I had said those things in person to my teacher.

Well, thought all you (whoever you are ;) who read this blog might want to share that bit of excitement with me. Now back to my regularly scheduled program....

learning Korean: my current obsession

Last night, I stayed up too late working on putting together some video clips to send to my church at home as they requested. I tried to get some other people to do it for me, because I didn't realize how easy it was and I generally don't like to spend time on techie stuff. Anyway, Jason was really nice and said he would actually do it if I gave him the clips. Then, I sat down to cue up the tapes and ended up making a little video myself. Window Media Maker is really easy! Anyhow, I just have to make it prettier with some transitions and maybe some music or words to explain a few things and I'll be done. I bought this camera so I could send videos home, but haven't been motivated to edit anything yet. Thanks, Community Fellowship, for motivating me!

This morning I didn't want to get up, but was awakened by a wrong number and decided I needed to. I made some frothed milk for my coffee to make the morning a little more fun. I've had a lot of thoughts floating around in my head to blog about, but because I've been trying to get caught up studying for my final Korean test on Thursday, I haven't made much time to do other stuff.

I've been trying to decide what I should do about learning Korean. My level of speaking isn't where I feel comfortable or competent to carry on a good conversation, although under the right circumstances (a person who speaks to my level), I have good moments. I toyed with the idea of finding another school that focused on conversation more, but it would likely be pretty far from where I live now and it would be a lot of hassle to find that school, check it out, take a level test, etc. So, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna stay at my current school for another 10 weeks at level 3. I am also pretty seriously thinking about moving into a Korean speaking household so I can get everyday conversation. I haven't asked anyone yet, but am gonna ask someone at our church to see if they would consider it or if they know anyone else who would. It's a pretty scary thing, because I like living in my own place so much, but I think it's necessary for my Korean ability.

jesus videos

When I was home for Christmas, my cousin Erin and her husband Nate showed us these old Jesus videos that have been dubbed over. They're so funny. They said they were made to use as clips at youth conferences as a lead in to how Jesus really is. Oh my. I just found a link to them online. So glad I got to watch em again!

million dollar thoughts

I saw Million Dollar Baby last night and was totally unprepared for how hard it would be to watch. I don't like it when stories are too good to be true, but I also don't like it when they end without hope! Anyway, I cried. A lot. I held myself back from sobbing, but only because I was in a theater. I kept asking what I could take away from it (sometimes I'm good at over analyzing things to find meaning) and I decided that since, to me, it ended so hopelessly, I could look at the opposite and find what there is meaning and hope in. Meaning is found in relationship, not necessarily religion. There is hope to live even though all meaning in life is taken away, Jesus is enough, while we long for fulfillment of that hope eternally.

After the movie, I went to a friends house to chat. We talked about waiting on answers from God, about how to pass on the knowledge that Jesus is real, about faith. I had so much on my mind and heart from the movie and just from my prayers lately. When I left, the bus had long since stopped running for the night, so I walked home in the mist. I continued to unfold my heart to the Lord as I walked, and I had the sense of Him being there, as close as the mist on my face. I thanked Him for how He's teaching me to wait, even as I continued to ask for answers to my prayers. I remembered that my life is like a vapor, so short. I thanked Him for the depths that He's creating in me, the emotions He's given me, and asked for more love for Him, more dependence on Him.

"For your love is better than wine...draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers." - Song of Solomon 1:2,4

michu fulfilling her job as greeter today 

michu waiting anxiously to greet more people at church today 

kids singing on stage today as part of the childrens service 

Laura greeting Inah as she comes to church.  

our amazing children's teacher did the lesson in front of the whole church today. she paints as she tells...it's so cool!

prayer over the kids at the end of our childrens service today 

snow pictures!

It snowed yesterday (Wednesday) and more is expected for tomorrow! I love snow. It didn't stick, though, which makes it a little less fun. I left a little early for school so I wouldn't be late, because I knew the traffic would be a little worse, and because I wanted to take some pictures. Well, I took a few pictures just around the bus stop and then hopped on the bus. Oh my goodness, the bus was so crowded and the traffic was terrible. What usually takes less than 30 minutes took almost an hour and a half. It was crazy. Needless to say, I didn't leave early enough and was late to class. Our teacher was late too, though, so it turned out OK. So, enjoy a few of the pictures I took below. Maybe I can get some better ones if it does snow again. Laura took some too, I know, so you can check out her site later and see if she posts em (hint, hint Laura!)

I'm not sure why I've been posting so many pictures lately, but it kinda livens up the blog, eh?

walking to school (the first day of the university semester) after it took me more than twice as long to get there because of the crazy snow traffic! 

the park across the street from our apartments 

the view from my window...a little creek and some apartments, plus cool suncatchers from my beautiful cousin Audra! 

two links

A visual history of Korea from 1-1000.

Why you should plant a church.

Okay, now I'm really gonna study some Korean before my evening melts away like my afternoon did.

after climbing the mountain today, we came back to my house and had dduk bokki, then cake for donghee's (in the yellow sweater) birthday 

our group on the benches at a snack area on the mountain 

today was a holiday, so there were a lot of people lined up to get fresh mountain water from the spring halfway up the mountain