Happiness From Austin

I know, I know, I just posted about two days ago, but these last couple days have been full of stuff. I promise the play-by-play of my life will stop once things become a bit more regular.
Two days ago I went to my school for the very first time. I met Coraline, another Rotary student from France. I was so happy to finally meet an English speaker. She was a lot of fun. Once the Rotary people arrived we met with my principle and talked about classes. My high school is a technical school, so it doesn't have normal classes. It has a bog focus on computers. There were six majors that Coraline and I could chose from. Four of them had to do solely with computers, so I threw those out the window immediately. One was a bio-chem sort of thing, which I find interesting, but it's not my best subject and I probably couldn't do it in Korean. So, I went with the last one, design. Some of the design is on the computer, but it has nothing to do with the inner workings of those blasted machines, so it's all good.
Yesterday I went back to the school with Coraline again. This time we got a tour of the school from the VP. There were a number of classes we were introduced to. It was honestly pretty embarrassing. Everyone stared at us while we stood there, not understanding what the teachers were saying to us. But, when we were taken to our home room it was a bit different. We got to introduce ourselves. After the class stopped clapping, Coraline went first, in English. No one could say her name very well. Then it was my turn. It was very strange for me because everyone here calls me Amy. So when I introduced myself I said Amy the first time not Emmy. But I did introduce myself in Korean. All I said was a simple "Hello, I'm Amy" but the whole class let a huge "OOOOHHHHH". It was really funny. We also met the schools English teacher, who is actually American. But of course, his last day is Friday and I start on Monday.......
The rest of yesterday was jam-packed with activities, so brace yourselves for a few more paragraphs. As soon as I got home Oppa, Unni, and I headed out. All I knew about where we were going was that it was a beach. Oppa told me that I shouldn't expect it to be pretty like American beaches, but I thought it was gorgeous, in it's own way. We went to Daebudo island. First we went to restaurant and ate some noodles and what Oppa called "traditional Korean pizza" which was absolutely nothing like pizza. It was vegetables and breading and little octopus tentacles.

 

This is the beach we went to. The brown part looks like it's dry, but it most definitely was not. It was muddy and rocky with lots of shells. There were little crabs scuttling all over the place. Unni and I both ended up taking our shoes off and squelching through the mud. It felt so nice and cool on my feet. Oppa caught a couple crabs for us, but I didn't want to hold one. I find them mildly disgusting. Unni also caught a little tiny fish before we decided to head back. As we were driving away Oppa explained that that area is tidal water, so it washes in and out periodically. He promised we would go back when the water was high. Next we went to Oido Island. Unni and I walked along a path on the edge of the sea up to a red lighthouse. We also walked inside a navy boat, like in the Mississippi River Museum (for those of you who know it). At the lighthouse there was a group of people lined up at the railing feeding the seagulls that flew in circles over and over again. So Oppa bought a bag of these weird shrimp cracker type things that everyone was feeding the gulls with. It was really fun to throw them is weird directions and watch the gulls twist and turn and dive to get them.


At this point we had been out for about 4 hours and you would think that I would be tired and want to go home and just relax. But, in fact, I could've gone on much longer. I drew energy from the beautiful landscape and all the new things I saw. So when we headed home and Oppa told me we would be heading right back out again I was quite excited. Oppa picked up a couple things and then we got back in the car to go and see Halmuhni (Grandma) and Hahrebuhji (Grandpa). For a while I just sat with Unni and Halmuhni and listened to them talk while a really weird English movie about killer bats played in the background. Then we ate dinner and everyone oohhed and aahhed over my chopstick skills yet again. I just sat contentedly and listened. After dinner there was of course more food (fruit) brought out, which, of course, I ate despite my full stomach. Oppa then told me that Hahrebuhji is very good at making names. He makes names from your birthday and the palm of your hand. It was a bit strange to me. But I was very honored that he agreed to give me a Korean name. After about 20 minutes he came up with 효정 (hyojung). It was a night full of lots of food, laughs, misunderstandings and bad translations. It was wonderful.
Now, of course, by this time I actually was tired. But in the car Oppa asked me if I wanted to see a movie. I, naturally, said of course (in a sleepy voice). So, we headed to the theater, situated in the middle of a big store akin to a multi-leveled Walmart, but with more variety. We waited about half and hour in a big lit up café area, during which time Unni and Oppa looked at posters for new movies while I told them whether they were good or not, since they came out a couple months ago in the US. Then we went in and saw Now You See Me (in assigned seats). That really is the last thing we did that day.
Today was also interesting. I woke up at about noon (hehehe). Then Oppa and I went to the little market just around the corner to get ice cream after lunch because it was 70 percent off. After we ate some we went to get an adapter so that I can plug in my tablet (very much needed). Then at about six Umma and I went to have 삼겹살 (basically huge, thick bacon) with a group of her friends. For the first half of dinner I sat with Umma trying to figure out the proper way to eat the food and only said a couple things in response to questions, but after a bit her friends from the other end of the table called me over and we attempted conversation for about 20 minutes. I think I actually did pretty well, as far as understanding goes (maybe not speaking). It also made me happy to discover that when not in a formal setting, Koreans really aren't against the whole touchy-feely things. We sat pretty close together and it was a lot of fun. After we left Umma and I stopped by a bakery and got some blessedly American food, like sweet bread and donuts. We also stopped and bought some fruit, including this really cool yellow and white stripped little melon that I tried for the first time when we got home (it was quite tasty).
All in all, I am very happy. I know that this whole year will not be as easy as the last few days, but that's ok, because “Happiness is something that comes from our own hearts, not from other people.”. I know that I can have joy, if not happiness, in any situation if I choose to.  (Lynn Austin).

Contentment From Paul

I have arrived.
I got up around 4 to catch my flight from Dubuque in time. It was only 50 minutes long and then I sat in Chicago for quite a while. But the waiting was made better for the company I had. Right when I entered the international section of the airport I found a fellow Rotarian who flew to Korea at the same time as me, but through a different airline. So we chatted for a bit and then found a third Rotarian and had lunch together. Neither of them live in my city, but they are in my district so I should see them this coming Saturday at our orientation.
The flight here was incredibly long (14 hours) and I didn't get up once. Surprisingly, I didn't have to use the bathroom at all, so I just never thought to stand. For the first half I either read or slept or just sat there doing nothing. The second half I wasted the time away and watched 4 movies. I finally saw Iron Man 3 and Les Mis. I also watched The Host and almost finished Perks of Being a Wallflower. The couple who sat next to me were very surprised to hear me order my food in Korean. The lady was adorable and made me laugh.
Thankfully when I arrived going through customs was very quick and easy. It took my suitcase about 25 minutes to finally show up, though. When I went through the exit there were so many signs for me to look at that my family found me first. As soon as my Umma saw me she gave me a hug. Knowing that my family isn't anti-touchy-feely totally made up for the flight. My Unni (older sister) and Oppa (older brother)  were also there waiting for me (remember those terms, they're what I'm going to use in referring to my family). They were all super nice and gave me drinks and took all my luggage for me. I was honestly still in a daze at that point and wasn't even attempting to understand what my family was saying to each other. I only paid attention when they were talking to me. And even then I think that all I ever said in Korean was 힘들었어요 (It was very tiring).
The drive home was nice and relaxing. As we drove through Incheon (where I landed) it was cool to see how all the flat parts of the land were filled up with tightly packed tall buildings, but the hills/mountains lacked anything to suggest a human presence. They were just covered in trees. We also drove over the longest bridge in Korea. We were on for about 15-20 minutes I think. The whole drive was maybe 45 minutes long.
On our way home we stopped by where my Appa works, a little Lotto shop on a cute cramped street. I just gave him a hug and then we left and I haven't seen him since. I went to bed early and got up late, so I missed him.
When we got home I climbed up four flights of stairs. I live in a nice sized apartment with three bedrooms, one bathroom, a big living room and an average kitchen (with no dishwasher I might add).

This is my bedroom. This angle makes it look like it's tiny and that the bed takes up all the space, but it doesn't. I have a ton of closet space and desk space. The bed is interesting. It's not like in America with a mattress, sheets and blankets. It's a mattress, then a thin futon, two blankets to sleep on, and then one blanket to cover up with (not that I need that one yet, It's incredibly warm in this house. My room has a fan and there is one small portable air conditioner; that's the only cooling we got.) The pillow is a bit strange too. It's much firmer than pillows in the US.
As far as food goes, everything has been amazing. The first night we had Chinese delivered (nothing like American Chinese). I had 자장면, noodles with black bean paste. It was really good, but one of those foods that you can only eat so much of before your taste buds can't take it anymore. There was also some good breaded pork. We ate at one of the cute low tables where you sit on the floor in my parents room while we watched TV that I didn't understand any of. The next morning I was very happy to learn that my family eats cereal! Score! Not Reese's Puffs, but any cereal is enough for me. Not too much later we ate lunch. We had some spicy tofu soup, grilled fish, some beef, and a few various vegetables. I found the most interesting to be the sesame leaves that were soaked in something strange. It was pretty good though.
So, about my family. Oppa is 23, very nice and my main translator so far. Not sure that's a good thing seeing as he's leaving for college in a few days, but oh well. He's really easy to get along with and laugh with. Unni, 20, isn't someone I think I would normally befriend, but I think that over time we can be close. Umma is very sweet and does everything for me. She also very pretty. Hopefully I can start cooking with her soon. I just haven't asked yet.
One of the coolest things so far happened just about 20 minutes ago. I've been trying to figure out the easiest time and way to ask if I can go to church (what with the language barrier and everything) because I know that my family is Buddhist. But as it turns out my time spent thinking about it was wasted. Oppa came to my room and asked me if I go to church! There is a church just about 3-5 minutes walking distance from my house and my mother has a couple Christians friends nearby as well. The first couple weeks Umma is going with me until I can find my way on my own. Hopefully I can convince her to keep coming. ;)
Looking to the future, this afternoon I will be getting a phone. Tomorrow I am going with another Rotary student to see my school. I'm starting school on September 2nd I believe. Then on Saturday I have an orientation with the club. Other than that I have no idea what is to come, which makes it all the more exciting.
Though it has been hard to leave everyone behind I think that I'm going to learn a lot about myself this year. I'm simply going to be content with where God has put me, know that He is still protecting everyone at home and be overjoyed when I return. Until then I will remember to "Focus on what's ahead. Use what is behind." - Donita K. Paul.

Patience From Rowling

This past weekend my family and I went to Sanibel Island in Fort Meyers. The picture is of the sunset on the way home. It is a beach known for it's plethora of shells all over the place. It definitely lived up to that reputation. There were shells absolutely everywhere. Which was, of course, the reason we went there instead of any other beach. We wanted to collect shells to make into pins to take to our host country. In case you don't know, the Rotary Club has a tradition of exchanging and collecting pins from other countries and places you've been. So we picked up a little over 100 shells to draw American flags on.



This is the beautiful sky that we got to enjoy the whole day. We were there from 8 am until 3 pm and it felt like just a couple hours. We didn't do much besides sit in shallow waters and sift through the sand to find the right kind of shell. But, of course sometimes we got surprises. We saw a stingray at one point. And after about half an hour of sitting and gathering shells John said to me, "Would you believe me if I told you I just found the coolest shell ever?" Me and Dominic automatically said no. John fools around too much and says way too many things to throw us off every day for us to believe something like that. But then he pulls his hand out of the water and has a huge beautiful shell in his hands. Something like "I'll never doubt him again" should probably have popped into my head, but let's face it: I'll have every reason to doubt him all the time.

I also had the opportunity of finding a sand dollar. Sadly, though, it was still alive, so we couldn't keep it. And, of course, we had to take group pictures at the end before we left and I don't think we actually got a good one. Maria was too intent on making silly faces. But it was a very successful day. We found lots of shells perfect for pins. And that big huge black shell, that's the coolest shell ever.

So, although Maria missed out on a lot while she was watching the baby, we had a wonderful time swimming, gathering and laughing and enjoyed a delicious dinner at Cracker Barrel afterwards after eating almost nothing the whole day besides a hotel breakfast.

The next day we had a very long shopping trip to pick up the things we needed to make out pins. We picked up markers and pins at Micheals, along with Zoe's Hello Kitty mug and her shirts from Rue 21 for her birthday. We got some ribbons to make different pins as well. We also stopped at Joanne's to get the last of the fabric I need to finish my Nurse Joy dress and some buttons for Maria.

So, when we got home we plugged in the hot glue gun and got started. Maria didn't put flags on any of her shells. She just glued the metal pin on each one. I grabbed the sharpies and spent quite a while putting flags on my shells. And just like me, by the time I got two thirds of the way through I decided that that was enough flags and I could just leave the rest as they were.

So, Including the ribbon pins we made, this was the result. We put pennies on a lot of the ribbon pins. All except the bows. To us, it seemed a little strange, but people from other countries love foreign money. As do we, I guess. We get excited about coins from other places. I guess I'll just never wear my own pins, 'cause I don't find pennies all that cool. Even though I love the ribbons that we found, the shell pins are my favorite. It's probably because they took so much effort to make and because they're different than most people's typical pins.

So, I've sent all my papers in and my visa has been applied for, but I still don't have it and we still haven't made air arrangements. In the mean time I'll just wait and trust that the Lord will work it all out the way He wants it. I'll just keep the mindset of Harry. "There was no point in worrying yet.... what would come, would come... and he would have to meet it when it did." (J.K Rowling)