Celebrity Status

Here's one thing living in Korea has taught me:

I have no desire to become a celebrity.

Let me explain. As you know, Teaven and I live in a small city, where there are only about 70-100 foreigners. The population of the city is about equal to Killeen, so that gives you some idea of how small that number is.

In our town, foreigners are a spectacle, a sight to see or rather say, "Hello. Nice to meet you." (I could write a whole other blog on how many people have told me it was nice to meet me when they don't even know my name.) And, I think Teaven and I are the only white people who live in our apartment complex, which is not small by any means. We are practically celebrities here. Ok, maybe that's too strong of a word, but that's what I feel like sometimes. Everybody knows us. Everybody knows that we live on the fifth floor. Everybody knows that we have a beagle.

And, frankly, I'm tired of everybody involving themselves in my life. It's nice when they just say hello and keep walking. But when they decide it's their business to tell me what to do with my dog or what not to do with my dog, I get a little peeved. Last night, as I was taking Sader out, a lady started talking to me.

"Dog (points to Sader). Pee." Then she proceeds to make a motion like she's picking something up. Naturally, I was a little confused because nobody picks up pee. So, I just said "Neh." But she persisted, and I finally, in my broken Korean, told her that Sader was not going to poop outside. This seemed to satisfy her, and we both went on our way, me a little annoyed that she thought I needed to know I have to pick up after my dog. Then, Teaven comes in this morning after taking Sader out and said the same thing happened to him.

It's not the first time something like that has happened. People always ask if I'm going running with Sader or where we are going. Sometimes, we'll get in the elevator, and they will have already selected the fifth floor for us.

Another prime example is the other night, Teaven and I were at a pub not far from our school. We were there with some of our friends, and a man sent a note on a napkin to one of our Korean friends saying that he knew who we were and was wondering if he could talk to us. When he came over, he told us he knew we had a Beagle and what floor we lived on. I'm pretty sure he used us as an excuse to talk to our pretty Korean friend, but still it's pretty creepy.

It's also not unheard of for us to be out at a restaurant or something and see people with their phones out taking pictures of us. Yeah, we're just that cool.

Then again, sometimes I'm thankful when people remember me, but that's only usually when I go to order pizza or something that we regularly eat. And, I'm happy that I don't have to stumble over my Korean words while trying to order correctly.

I guess that's just Chungju for you. Here we are living the lives of rock stars.

Tidbits

To say that Teaven and I are ready to go home is a slight understatement. We are more than ready to hug all of our family and friends. To sit around and chat. To go to church and worship with other believers. To go to Walmart and blend in to the crowd, nobody caring who we are. To be able to communicate with a random stranger without a problem.

But in all that readiness, I don't want to forget that my time here is still important. We are down to the 6 month mark now, and it's easy to let my thoughts drift to what I will do and who I will see when I get back.

But I don't want to forget this place. I think once we leave, we will love and appreciate it even more than we do now. We will look back in fondness of the first home we made together, of the lessons we have learned.

I have no doubt that God brought us here for a reason, and one of those reasons is being able to focus on our marriage. There has been a lot that has happened back home that, if we were there, would naturally pull us in all kinds of different directions. Here, however, it's just us. No interference, no crazy schedules that cause us to barely see each other. Just me and him. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.

Coming here, I was sure that living and working with my husband would cause some friction, some irritation of being with the same person day in and day out. I'm so thankful that isn't true. If anything, Teaven and I have learned that we can spend every single moment together and still enjoy being with each other. That's not to say there aren't times when we need some space, but it's nice reassurance knowing that we aren't sick of each other. That we still love every moment we have together. And I really think we will miss this time together when we get back to America and have crazy schedules.

God knew what he was doing, and I want to remember that every day I am here. Every moment I feel that discontent rising up in me. Every time I wish for the day I can go home instead of enjoying the here and now. I want to remember that where we are is where he wants us to be and where we go will be where he wants us to go.

Pajama Party and Freckle Juice

Yesterday was one of those days when I felt like a fun teacher, the kind of teacher I always dreamed about becoming. I wish I put forth the effort to be this kind of teacher more often, but it's just so hard sometimes when so much is demanded of you and things change constantly. Ah, well, such is the life of a teacher.

So, let me tell you about my first 3 hours of teaching. I'm not sure if I've ever enlightened you all to Teaven and my teaching schedule. I guess that's an idea for the next blog post (a year late, right?). Anyways, on Thursdays, I teach a beginning phonics class for 2 hours.

We are currently finishing with the letter P, so I decided it would be fun to have a pajama party. The kids loved the idea, as did my boss, apparently, because she had someone in my class taking pictures and video for the entire 2 hours. 

We played musical chairs, but we used pillows instead of chairs.

We made princes and princesses.

They got to choose the name of their prince or princess. I believe we had a Prince Pancho, Prince Patrick, Princess Penelope, and Princess Patsy.

Then, we had a pillow fight. I think this was their favorite part.

They were allowed to bring a stuffed animal that started with the letter P. We had a penguin and puppy.   We also had pretzels and punch as a snack while we watched a short episode on WordWorld.

My next class is one of our lower levels made up of elementary and middle school students. We are reading the book Freckle Juice this session. If any of you are familiar with this book, you know that the main character really wants freckles, so he gets a recipe for freckle juice drinks it, thinking it will give him freckles.

So, of course, we had to make freckle juice in class. 

Because I have them every other day, I told them I would make it and drink it on the day before this lesson so they could see what would happen. So, before class, I had Teaven face paint some freckles on my face. When the students saw me, they were shocked that it actually worked, but weren't completely convinced. I took them to Teaven, who told them that I tried to wash my face, but they wouldn't come off. That worked. Some of the students refused to drink it because they thought they would get freckles. Hilarious.

Here are the ingredients:

-grape juice

-vinegar

-mustard

-mayonnaise

-mustard

-ketchup

-salt and pepper

-juice from one lemon

-a speck of onion

Sounds delicious, right? The students worked in 3 groups to create their own recipe because the recipe in the book does not give specific measurements for each ingredient.

Looks pretty nasty, huh?

 I'm pretty sure theirs tasted like pure pepper because they added at least 1/2 cup of pepper.

According to the girls, theirs was actually pretty good. 

As you can see, it was a pretty fun day. The only negative part was the nasty stench that lingered in my room for the next 3 classes. 

Running

Last night, I went running for (I'm ashamed to admit it) the first time in a long time... probably close to a month. tsk tsk. Anyways, I decided to listen to a podcast during my run. There was one from The Village Church that I wanted to listen to, so I thought "what the heck." Before I started, I was almost positive that I would get bored and wind up changing to music halfway through. However, I was presently surprised. I really enjoyed it and felt it made it slightly easier to run.

You see, I don't know about you but I am the type of person who will constantly look at the clock or wonder how much farther to go.

Ok, only 2 more minutes. I can do it. 

Half a mile to go. Don't stop.

Last night, though, I started the podcast and told myself to keep running until it was over. I found it nice to be able to focus my mind on something other than the same songs I always play or how much farther I have to go. It was a breeze (read: slightly less difficult than usual). Although I had my moments where I wondered how much time was left, they did not come as often, and it was refreshing to use that time to learn and glorify God.

So, I highly recommend you try it. You might find you like it. I ran tonight with my same old mix of Justin Bieber, NSYNC, and Lady Gaga, and let me tell you, it wasn't as fun. I think I wanted to check the clock every 2 minutes.

Maybe I should run more.

Sader's Birthday

This weekend we had summer vacation for our academy, which means we have Friday and Monday off! So, on Friday, we decided to have a special day to celebrate Sader's 1st birthday.

We took Sader hiking on a local mountain called Namsan. Let me tell you, he LOVED it so much.

His little nose was going crazy with all the new smells. He loves to play in the grass.

He was always in front of us, but every once in a while, he'd turn around to make sure we were still there. He's the best dog. Seriously. Can you tell how happy he was?

Then, we decided to take him to Star Dogs Pet Cafe, a local coffee shop that is for dogs too! We thought it would be a good idea because he's so playful and needs to be socialized with other dogs.

Well, as you can see from this picture, he was completely terrified. He's practically hugging Teaven, seeking some type of protection. 

I'm almost embarrassed for him to post this picture, but as you can see, at first they made him wear this diaper, which I think took away some of his coolness factor. I mean, you're the new kid, and if you want to make friends, the last thing you want to do is look like that. Absolutely pitiful.

Another thing I feel I should tell you, is Sader has serious butt issues. You get anywhere close to his butt and he flips out. Of course, I'm sure you know that when dogs greet each other, they tend to head straight for that area. So, I'm sure he about had a heart attack.

There were so many dogs! I'd say at least 15. Kind of intimidating for your first time. 

Towards the end, he started to warm up, especially since I took that silly diaper off him. Let's just say, I think our dog is a little socially awkward. Boy, is he in for a surprise when we move back to America.

Overall, I'd say it was a good day. 

Korea Bucket List

I suppose it's time for an update since my last post left everyone on the edge of their seats. hah.

Teaven and I did not get the jobs back in Texas. It was a little disappointing at first but not entirely surprising since we live on a different continent. We are at peace knowing that God is in control and trusting in his plan for us to stay here for about eight more months. No matter what, we are thankful to have jobs.

So, since we've set our final departure date, I decided to make a bucket list for Korea.

Korea Bucket List

Learn how to make Korean food 

Fireworks festival (in October)

Go to the beach

Reach goal weight

Chinchin fish (Somehow, I've got to convince Teaven to do this with me. They are little fish that eat the dead skin off of your feet)

Go to a Korean church service

Star Dogs Pet Cafe (hopefully taking Sader tomorrow)

Take Sader to Namsan

Chungju Lake Ferry

Dangyang Caves

Take a picture with a Chungju Apple

Learn more Korean

Here is a list of some of the things we've already done:

Chungju Martial Arts Festival

Japan

Namsan Tower, Seoul

Nutcracker

Wicked

Baseball Game

Buy a dog

Love Motel

First Race

Beondegi

Learn to read Korean

I'm looking forward to our last months here. Sure, it's hard to be away from family, but it's been really nice to have so much quality time with each other. Plus, I'm going to appreciate the fact that I can sleep in every day of the week. That's right. Every. Single. Day. mmm, what a luxury!

Transition

This week, Teaven and I celebrated our one year anniversary!

I can't believe it's already been a year since that wonderful June day. I've been so blessed to have such a wonderful man by my side and can't wait to spend the rest of forever with him!

Although our actual anniversary was this week, we actually celebrated a couple weeks ago. We went to Seoul to see Wicked, which was SO amazing! If you haven't seen it, go. right now. We also ate some delicious Mexican food (of course!) and just had a great time spending the day together.

In case you didn't know, my entire family is going through a time of transition. My older sister, Carissa,  and brother-in-law, Eric, are visiting Texas this week to spend time with my little sister, and low and behold, he gets an interview for a position in San Antonio! We'll find out at the end of July if they'll be making the big move back to Texas. They've lived in Illinois for the past 10 years, so it will be really nice to only have them 2 hours away from us instead of 14 (well, that is whenever Teaven and I get back to Texas).

I miss these kids.

Speaking of Teaven and I getting back to Texas, I guess it's no secret anymore that we're trying to come home. There's been a lot going on with my family, and we just feel that it's time to head back to good ol' Texas. Eric wasn't the only one with an interview. Teaven and I both interviewed for jobs in central Texas this week. We are trusting God to lead us in the right direction. It would be so exciting for us both to get jobs and be able to move back in a month. However, if we don't get these jobs, we are planning on moving back in March of 2013, which is so far away compared to a month!

So, you can be praying with us as we are trusting God with our future plans. We should be hearing back about the positions sometime next week. 

"We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps." Proverbs 16:9