III. Chuseok (Korea's Thanksgiving)

Dear loves,

Much has happened so I'm going to split my blogs up into two. First, I'll tell you about my first vacayyy (woooo!). 

Chuseok  occurred this year on Sunday, September 14th. My friend Grace and I hopped on a bus on Saturday morning to Kimjae, which is where my mom's whole family lives (as I side note I almost missed the bus) (as another side note I bought boiled eggs from a market- it's a traditional road-trip snack- you'll see ladies cracking the eggs on their heads.). I hadn't been there since I was 8 so I told culture shock to bring it on. Definitely brought it. 

So, Grace and I arrived to the apartment on the fifth floor, with no elevator (I feel sorry for the 8th floorers), immediately greeted by my two uncles, their wives, and their kids. Also immediately came the food and strange Korean snacks that I vaguely remembered eating when I was young. Everything was said in Korean so their was a LOT of translating going on. Then, the women and children made traditional rice cakes called songpyeon. Afterwards, we ate dinners and by the way, ALL meals look like this. You always have a main dish, rice, a soup, and a ton of side dishes (and one of them of course has to be kimchi). 

The next day was the actual holiday, the whole family went to my grandparents' graves to pray and pay our respects. Then church and then another feast. My aunt, her husband and kids, and my mom's cousins also joined us. Everyone is loud, funny, and full of life. Too bad I can't understand them.

At night came the best part. The tide had gotten low, so (also traditional) we went out to pick snails, 

among other things. The best part was picking the things out of the ocean knowing someone was going to eat them (not me). You could hear family members yelling at each other, "I caught something!", of course in Korean, throughout the night. 

At night, my mom, Grace and I and my cousin all had a little slumber party in one little room. Precious. My cousin and I were able to bond by showing pictures. Precious. I really need to learn Korean. 

The next day my mom said that I need American food in my system otherwise I would get sick so we went to Lotteria, which is Korea's version of McDonald's (yea yea). Didn't come close. Then we did some shopping (I wanted to buy my cousin a present) and we left. Definitely a great experience. 

Overall, I definitely enjoyed myself and had an amazing time with family. It was crazy to see them and semi-connect with them. Now, does that mean I won't miss turkey on Thanksgiving. Heck NO. But, like I said, I had an amazing time :)

II. Week One

Dear loves,

I'm sorry for the delay in posts. Everything was in Korean and I couldn't figure out how to get around the site. Such is the story of my life here in Bundang, S. Korea. Since this city is brand new there are little to no foreigners which means little to no English, and sadly, no classes that teach Korean! I decided to buy Rosetta Stone which has been fun, but the process doesn't take me directly to conversational Korean. I'm going to try to find a tutor, but we'll see!


Tips of the week:

1. Guys wear purses. Not just bags and totes, but purses. It's normal and it's been around a whiiile.
2. Make sure you know exactly what you are ordering. Otherwise, you'll walk outside, see something swimming in a tank, and wonder what ojinga was...
3. Don't tip at ALL. Everything is included in the check. On top of that, everything's a set price- no tax. It's fairly cheap here, hence a lot of shopping*
4. Be careful when you walk on a street- Koreans are crazy drivers and there's pretty much no such thing as pedestrian right-of-way. If you're not careful you'll die.


Schedule:

Day 1: Arrival and greetings with the staff. Tour of the apartment as well as the drawing of diagrams to explain various buttons and knobs which, of course, are in Korean. The school provided everything from transportation to breakfast for the next morning. Incredible.

Day 2:
Orientation, pictures.
Meeting of other teachers at other campuses. Found out the curriculum is a bit more difficult than expected, but was very well prepared with materials and a personal counselor. The staff are well-equipped and very helpful. Shopping*.


Day 3: Doctor's check-ups. School and class tour. More preparation for classes. Shopping*.

Day 4: Mother arrives. We eat. Bankzone= sweet card. We shop*. I buy a RICE COOKER! Ha, yeayyy :) and other various Asian necessities. Mom cooks dindins.

Day 5: Mom peaces. Seoul, capital of S. Korea with my new friend Grace. Shopped* some more (common theme, eh?) and toured around. Had dinner at home and then when to a bar two stops away from our digs. The clubs aren't dancing clubs, so we grouped with some Westerners and started a dance party. The Koreans were dancing, we were dancing, it was awesome. The owner of the bar gave Grace and I a special invitation to come back. Funfun.

Day 6: Church! At this place called Jubilee. It was amaaazing. Joshua 1:1-6. I can't wait to go back. Then more shopping* and rest. And now to planning for tomorrow some more. So much work! But oh so great.

Yes. I am having a great time :)

I love and miss you all SO much.

<3,
LP

I. Invitation to the Voyage

"THERE IS a majestic country.. they say, which I dream of visiting with an old friend..."

The clock seems to be ticking faster, or maybe it's just my heartbeat, and yet the things that I need to get done grow exponentially. I have a week till I leave for S. Korea for a year (or more) and I'm just now figuring out that, wow, I have a week till I leave for S. Korea for a year. (Or more.)

So many ties are loose and I can't help the feeling that I'm entering into something bigger than I know unprepared. But what is prepared? Most of us are terrrible at planning things perfectly. We can't read into the future. All you can do is do what you can (pretty sure I made that up) and let the Good Lord fill in the rest...

Hm. I'm not sure if I'm at peace quite yet, but everything is just a season.

I know what I need to do and I AM excited about living and teaching English in a foreign country. In a week, the next blog will either be one of excitement, or well, no blog at all. Who'd want to hear a sob story?

Don't worry about tomorrow, let tomorrow worry about itself. 

Ps. If I haven't seen you or talked with you yet, crack the whip!