Thank `1q (Nim chose the title)

Thankful

Lately, I've really been trying to notice the little things I'm grateful for that might normally slip my mind. The flannel sheets Mom sent are a God-send. Nimbus and I cozy up in them every night and they  are wonderful. Nim likes to snuggle up under the covers (because I haven't turned the heat on yet), but I think he likes cuddling too (when he's not biting me). 

Pleasant bus drivers are a day-changer. This week Tuesday on the way to school and from school we had the awesome bus driver who greets every single one of his passengers. And he says goodbye. He is so joyful. Seeing his joy makes me want to be that way. Even when you do the same thing every day all day, you can still be joyful and it's infectious. Reminder: kindness is always free. 

And through these thoughts, I started thinking about why I needed to get away from Michigan. Michigan held everything I loved: dear ones, fall, Lake Michigan, Tumbleweed, family, everything. Leaving was about defining myself away from things that I had previously been defined by my entire life. I had to start with a clean slate here, no one knew me, no one knew what Michigan was like (although I talk about it enough), or how my friends and I were. I had to think a lot about what was going to define me to these people I was meeting for the first time. Ever. But being so far away and so alone, I realized (and am still realizing) just how much my identity is found completely in God. 

It is He who defines me and my every action. It is because of Him I am able to go about my day with a cheerful and grateful and joyful heart (kind of like the bus driver). 

Aunt Christy bops over from Japan

Last Friday, I met Aunt Christy (visitor #2!) at our hotel in Gangnam. We ate dinner there and had an early night because we'd both had a day of travel. We woke up early (5:30) the next morning and took a taxi to the U.S.O. for our trip to the DMZ!! 

The DMZ is a 2km wide and 241km long stretch that is a no-man's-land between North and South Korea. It is very fortified and the wildlife has flourished there. It is an active war zone. There are two villages within the boundaries, one belongs to the North and one to the South. They are called Freedom village and Propaganda village. Freedom village, which belongs to the South, has actual inhabitants and they farm the land within the DMZ. Propaganda village belongs to the North and is fake. We went to the joint security area (JSA) first and saw North Korea and a soldier across the line that defines where North Korea ends and South Korea begins. We went into the conference room that belongs to South Korea (it's bright blue, while North Korea's buildings are grey). I actually stood in North Korea. I had been so excited and actually being there was crazy. I got nervous after they told us about all the instances in the past (80's) when N.K. has launched surprise attacks or Russians try to defect. Put it into perspective a lot more than I had before when preparing to go. These soldiers stand face-to-face with their enemies every day. We heard gunfire in the distance but apparently it was at a North Korean firing range and they were "out of range." Uhhh.. yeah. 

We went from there to Dorasan, the last train stop before North Korea. We ate bimimbap for lunch there. Bimimbap is a bowl with rice, egg, and vegetables all mixed together with a red pepper paste on top. Next, we went to the Dora observatory where we could look through platform binoculars into North Korea. Absolutely no pictures passed the yellow line (which was ten yards from the view finders), in case our troops were on patrol. Finally, we went to the third tunnel (of four) that N.K. has dug. This one actually reached the south side of the DMZ that belongs to S. Korea. We walked down the 11deg decline into the tunnel, it was long and hard work to come back up. Seoul is not that far away from North Korea.. only about 50km. 

We took the bus back to the U.S.O. and posted up in a coffee shop to regain energy . It was decorated for Christmas and I felt like I was home. We then took the subway to city hall and wandered around the lantern fest eating street food again. We found a book store and I bought a book because I needed it. 

The next morning, we had breakfast at Tom N Toms then went to Yoido, the biggest church in the world. 12 services a week. 12 orchestras. 12 choirs. 12,000 in my service alone. I was in awe (an orchestra!!). And I had nice big headphones for a translation. If you give them 24 hours notice, they can have any language translation for you. And they have a haven called Prayer Mountain that I'm going to have to try. I took Aunt Christy back to the airport via the train and we said our goodbyes.

I met K at Seoul station on the way back, we got some Christmas lattes from Starbucks and went on a walk catching up. Somehow we walked all the way to Namsan tower (almost 2 miles). The road was perfectly fall and I thank God for his artistic hand. The tower itself was cool, too. You could see so far in every direction and they told you how far it was to other cities on the windows (ex. Anchorage, AK). Then we walked back, said goodbye and I ate a tuna salad rice ball for dinner before taking the KTX home. We had our first rain-slush-snow that night.

Monday: went to Cheonan and met some (awesome) new girls at a coffee shop (we planned to meet there, I didn't just run into them). We got ear piercings and I laughed so much. They know a girl in my complex and go to the international church I go to. We're seeing Hunger Games 2 on Monday! 

Thank you, Jesus. I needed community.
ALSO - IT SNOWED MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18.

What I figured out: South Koreans are not allowed to go to the DMZ unless they are very special. And Chinese tourists can visit from both sides (in theory, at least).

Aunt Carolyn comes calling

The Saturday after Halloween, November 2nd. I walked to the subway station in Shinchang, took the nuriro to Seoul station, and took the airport train to Incheon. I left my apartment at 2pm and made it to the actual airport around 7pm. I sat in the airport train station for 30 minutes before I realized I was basically the only one there waiting... I don't know why I didn't recognize that it didn't look familiar... Eventually I made it, right as Auntie C was coming out of international arrivals after her 14 hour flight. Perfect timing in my book. She brought with her a 50-pound monster full of things I had wanted/needed. It was like Christmas. 

I thought I was really smart and had our whole trip to the hotel planned back to the subway transfer, but apparently I had looked up the wrong hotel. 9:30pm found us wandering the dark streets of Seoul with a suitcase and two backpacks. A kind man helped us get a taxi and explain to the taxi driver where we actually wanted to go (about 20 minutes away, whoops). Sorry, Auntie C! As if you weren't exhausted already. 

Our hotel was fabulous and located right by City Hall in downtown Seoul within walking distance of everything we needed to walk to, luckily. We were quite hungry by the time we'd settled into our top floor room and so we took to the streets. Seeing as it was already 10pm by this point, most restaurants were closed, but we perservered. Eventually we saw a large crowd and thought there must be food. Instead, it was the Seoul Lantern Fest! This turned out to be even better. We wandered along a stream looking at fantastic paper lanterns in the shape of ships, people, and animals while eating street food we couldn't always identify. It turned from being a horrible, exhausting night wandering around dark streets to finding yummy food and bright lanterns. 

We then woke up at 4:30am to listen to the Michigan v. Michigan State game on the radio. I don't want to talk about it and I went back to bed at halftime because I was so discouraged.

We got up Sunday morning and had breakfast around the corner at a coffee shop (one of practically fifteen on our block). During the early hours, we explored a palace located right across the street from City Hall. The grounds were beautiful and the leaves were changing colors. Then we spent the afternoon wandering around the tiny streets of Insadong, one of the oldest (the oldest?) part of traditional Seoul. We found a back-corner restaurant where I recognized one picture on the menu: bosom. So, we ate that. 

Later, we took the KTX (bullet train), back to my area. We went and took care of little Nimbus (he was happy to see us), and then went to the hotel in Onyang for the night. I walked to school the next morning and Aunt C worked in a coffee shop all day. That night, we had dinner with my co-teachers at a delicious shabu shabu restaurant. Shabu shabu is life-changing. Have it at least once in your life. 

Tuesday: Aunt C came and visited at school before she left and brought goodies! An electric kettle, a plant, a pear mug, and some wall decals for my hideously pink bathroom. They were all put to good use. We said our goodbyes, but I saw her again on Thursday when I took the train up to return the monster suitcase before she left Seoul. We met at her hotel and ate Outback because I was craving a salad and a beer. 

It was such a blessing to have her here. My first visitor.

Halloween in Korea

Last week, we taught the third graders about Halloween. While the actual classes weren't exciting enough to post about, the pictures the kids drew of what they wanted to dress up as were definitely cute enough. 

[Disclaimer - this culture revolves firmly around "selfies," or taking a picture of you and/or you and your friend and posing at different angles so that your face looks oddly skinny. Because of this, the kids don't like having their pictures taken by someone else, so I had to make them, which is why they aren't smiling... but I get a kick out of them anyway]

Without further ado (because I know you just want to see the kiddos), here they are: