"You don't get the same moment twice in life!"

It has been quite some time since I've sat down and put my thoughts together for other people to read. Many things have happened, I've learned a lot, decisions have been made and the "relaxing fall" that I was truly hoping for has morphed somehow into planning three months of fun and chaos. Here's what's happened since I last wrote...

At the end of July, I went home for 6 days and spent over 48 hours traveling to and from Korea.
----->MY SISTER GOT MARRIED!

Normally, a trip that fast would be kind of ridiculous, but given that the occasion was incredibly legitimate, it couldn't have been better! At first it was strange to be back in the land of the giants, but I really had no choice but to adapt to culture shock/jet lag and enjoy my week. In the Seattle airport I was starring at everyone who was walking, talking, working or just standing. It was amazing to be able to understand everyone and I felt like everyone was huge! It was better than a good book, TV, or pretty much anything! I'm sure my face looked stunned but I didn't even care. It was a little awkward at first when saying things like "I'm sorry" or ordering coffee and being able to say more than "ice coffee please" or  just making dumb small talk with people. In Korea, people don't expect that from us because they don't want to speak English. I blended in...*sigh...welcome back to america.

I saw my mom, my dad, my sister, josh, and thepeoplewhoweremyfamilybeforebutarenowofficiallymyfamily, the Phelps. I was able to see all kinds of other family including meeting two cousins i've never seen before and family I hadn't been around in ages! My grandma and Aunt have always been so supportive of everything I've done and it was great to be able to see them and thank them in person. I was also able to see my Aunt and Uncle who lived in Minnesota while i was going to University. I've been so close to them and not just geographically, and so it was nice to get to visit and see their baby girl, Raelyn one more time. My long-time best friend Lauren came from LA to hang out with me during the wedding festivities and whatnot. I don't know what i'd do without her...I felt very blessed to be around such great people even though some friends I was only able to see for a short time.

On to the wedding...the whole reason I touched foot in the great USofA. It was incredible. You meet people who get married and you just think "they are going to struggle...but i will pray for you". Then, you meet people like Shelby and Josh and you think, "They are going to love each other until the day they die...i'm so glad I know these people". The wedding was beautiful in more ways than one. The atmosphere was perfect for them, it was a beautiful union, a celebration and, in my eyes, the day my sister grew up. She's not my "little" sister anymore and now I also have a brother. Fantastic. There were plenty of shenanigans to be had that week, but all in all, I was amazed how the Lord led the last year for our family and there, in those moments, I saw good...beauty even. He is good. It was good. I'm so thankful to have been a part of it.

The next morning I got on an airplane at 6am and had the LONGEST traveling experience of my life. I thought it would.never.end. ugh...but i made it home...to south korea.

One week ago, September 1, was my six month anniversary of living in this foreign country. There's literally a mental switch that happens when you hit six months. It sounds crazy but things just feel different. They say that the first six months of living in a new country are the hardest and the following six months are the best. To celebrate (more ironically than literally), I signed a contract with my school agreeing to teach through April 2015. So, i signed up for another year! It was a big decision but  I really think it's the right one. Staying in one place for a little while is appealing especially since I feel like I'm just really starting to get my bearings here. In Korea, once you have lived here for six months, you're like the elderly haha people expect you to know everything about everything and if you don't know, you should know how to find out. The foreigner network here is actually astounding once you're a prt of it. You know where to shop, how to get things you need like light bulbs and bleach, and where to go for the best food. The truth is, I discover new things everyday living in Korea, but what's changed is that I don't hesitate to try something new. It's an adjustment to a new normal. I have seen people go and now i'm seeing a new group of people come. I'm on the other side, showing people around and explaining what I know about Korean culture. I see the "deer in the headlights look" from the new foreign teachers and it seems all too familiar. We actually have two new teachers coming to our school in October so we're gearing up to meet them and make sure they can ease into their new jobs and their new lives easily. It's very exciting to have so much change happening all at once!

We said goodbye to our friend Daniel (Birthday Hat) at the end of August. 

My students feel the switch too and that's obvious with how they act in the classroom. Trust is being built and it's apparent in their attitudes and obedience. Some students seek me out in the office at work just to say hi and some even brought me birthday presents which was a great surprise.

Here are some fun things that have happened in the past couple of months:

1. I TURNED 23!!!!!!!!!

My amazing co-workers!

Pororo Cake! Happy Birthday to Me!

Asha's the best. She decorated the apartment for my birthday and planned a weekend of celebration. The last hour of being 22, i listened to taylor swift's song, "22" and I started off my 23rd year with a dance party. I had three birthday cakes between friends and co-workers. Saturday was spent with a long bike ride in the rain which I loved, an english breakfast, the best coffee in the world, a visit from my friend lindsay, and my first pedicure (from a woman who didn't speak any english and i'm pretty sure wanted nothing more than for us to stop laughing and leave her shop haha). The planning was excellent and the company was even better.

Breakfast place!

The gang...out celebrating my birthday!

Lindsay Came to Visit!

2. We have a dog. It was a bad idea. We're trying to get rid of the dog. Many Koreans are afraid of dogs.

3. I started running. yes, yes i know. I'm crazy and to be honest, i feel crazy. i NEVER. EVER. thought i would be a runner, but asha and i signed up to run a 5k which happened this weekend so i spent three weeks training for it and had a mental breakthrough.Yes, 'breakthrough', not 'breakdown'.  I was running and thought, "I could keep going. i'm having a breakthrough that runners talk about where they can just keep going. oh no. this is enjoyable. oh no....". So, there's that. We ran the Color-me-rad race in Incheon. We traveled eight hours in total on a bus to run this thing and it was totally worth it...one big party with color, a sick DJ, and a boy-band performance by a Korean-American where my inner-12-year-old, 90s kid was living the dream. It was also my first jimjabong (a spa of completely shameless naked women) experience in Korea. We only stayed the night, but let's just say, "you can't unsee some things".

People kept asking to take pictures with us (you never get used to it) ...this is just one that I caught with my camera!

one.big.amazing.party.

4. I know my way around our city...I feel confident to go anywhere I would need to. It's such a great feeling.

5. I'm going to be applying for grad school to start in the winter semester. *sigh...i've been dragging my feet the whole way and I have made this decision but haven't decided where or what to study. It's a lot of money while i'm here to pay off debt as it is. It also unofficially means that I'll be staying a third year in korea because it doesn't make sense to move in the middle of completing a degree and still have the debt from said degree to pay off. I think that in the long run, it's worth it to have my grad degree but it's a lot of decisions to make at once...it's been a slow process but it's happening.
This quote has really stood out to me. I've said this same idea but in different words for years. I love how Francis Chan puts it:
"It is true that God may have called you to be exactly where you are. But, it is absolutely vital to grasp that he didn't call you there so you could settle in and live your life in comfortable and superficial peace"

Even in a foreign country, it's easy to do this. At this point in my life, I need to be preparing for what God has for me after this....even if i don't know exactly what it is. There will never be a better time in my life to pursue a degree than right now especially since I have the means to pay it off quickly, so I need to intentionally be using my days here in Korea. So, any advice, encouragement, or input, send it my waaaay! Please and thank you.

6. I'm going to Thailand for Christmas. Yup...beachin' it up for Christmas holiday!

7. My friends Taylor and Shana Molenda got married and I was able to skype-in for their big day! It was something I would never want to miss. thank you modern technology.

 There are so many small things that I've gotten used to here in Korea that it's hard to communicate how commonplace they actually are. For example:
-I know how to interpret the confusion between the letters 'r' and 'l' when people speak Engrish.
-The Gimbop 365 restaurant by our school knows us and I think they cry a little when they see three foreigners walk into their shop for lunch.
-The taxi drivers always roll down their window because they don't like the smell of our perfume
-The double takes when people see my riding a bike
-The looks as we rolled through the bus station covered in paint...
-The waiters and waitresses doing rock/paper/scissors to decide who will have to help us in a restaurant because they get nervous and don't want to use English.
-The 'ajumas' (old women) who sit outside at night and cheer me on as i run.
-I'm known at literally 3 or 4 different coffee shops.

It's the little things. Life in Korea is shaping up nicely! The fall is brining in some changes and I'm really excited for them. So, please keep me in our prayers as decisions are made, friendships are built, and kiddos are taught.

"COMe oN KiD, tHis IS yOUr DreAm"

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer both, back home and in different parts of the world! Summer is such a fun time of the year no matter how old you are! This is the first summer of my life that I have worked straight through the days all summer long. Every other year, even if I worked full time, I had time for vacation or had daylight to burn. My kids here go to school all day long in the summer and even on their month of break from public school, they go to their academies. So, I have a new-found appreciation for my American summers that I spent both in the States and abroad. The time I had to be a kid, a teenager, and a college student is something I won't ever take for granted.

July 4th was last week!!! Also known as "AMERICA DAY"! Obviously, this holiday is only celebrated in the States so we were working on Thursday but I took the opportunity to teach all of my classes about America's Independence Day and it was interesting. It's always fun to see what people think and know about America. The USA has played a huge part in helping Korea become an economically stable democracy and our presence here is undeniable so it's actually pretty important to the foundation of the Republic of Korea that America became free 237 years ago. The new Korea is about 67-ish years old and so they think America is a very old nation which is counter what we are taught because we compare ourselves to countries like England, France and Russia. Depending on the level of my classes, my speech went something like this: "On July 4th, 1776 (which i wrote on the board) brave men in America signed a paper that said there would be no more fighting between America and England. After that, America was free and there was no more fighting. Today is our birthday!!"

These are our friends: Daniel wore the Eagle Costume for July 4th and Emma is experiencing her first 4th!

After class, we invited our friends over and the night was filled with pizza, RANCH, soda, fireworks, and good conversation. We even had a couple South Africans with us who experienced their first 4th of July celebration! Of course, when we started to light off fireworks, it started to rain, but whatareyagonnado in the middle of Korean monsoon season. Overall it was a great holiday.

There are a couple of people here who have become our good friends over the past few months and they are heading home at the end of August. So, their "lasts" are beginning as they prepare to move on from this life-changing year (or two) they've had in this country. There's no doubt in my mind that I'll miss them and I'm behind them 100% in the next adventures the Lord is taking them on. After moving around so much in the last year, I can definitely relate to this process and it feels weird to not be the one preparing to move on to a different place. I feel like that as much as it sucks to move on and say goodbye, I have it down to a science. However, this time it is not me who is having to move on or start over. Instead, I'm here for awhile. I'm about 85% sure I'll be staying a second year in Korea and so I have 19 more months to put down roots, meet new people, talk with my students, and see what Korea has to offer. One year is the longest I've stayed anywhere since my senior year of high school. So, my internal clock is telling me that it's time to start packing. As much as I'm ready to tackle a new country, I'm also thankful that I get to feel settled for awhile to catch my bearings before I take my suitcase and jump on a plane to create a new home.

All of that being said, I'm leaving for America in less than three weeks. haha I guess they can't keep me anywhere for too long no matter how hard they try! :) I'll only be there for about 6 days which is a very fast trip considering I'll be traveling over 24 hours each way. My sister's gettin' married!! Obviously, that warrants a trip back home. I'm really thankful I get to be there for this big day and stand next to her as she makes the most important decision of her life next to her salvation. It's weird to think about going home. I'm sooo excited to see people and my dog...and to eat food..and chipotle....and to drive my car...and to be around people I haven't seen in awhile. However, to be honest, if feels too soon to be going home because this is just starting to feel like the place that I live. Going home is like a tease because I know that I'll have to leave again in 6 days. There is no doubt in my mind that reverse culture shock will be written all over my face the minute I land and the words "Everything is so big" will keep uttering from my mouth (in perfect pronunciation of course). I want to eat so many different kinds of food but at the same time, my stomach cannot handle those foods anymore. I'll get to drive my car for the last time before it's sold and the last bit of my stuff will come back with me to Korea....and of course, i'll get to join in the wedding festivities and wreak havoc all over the place with nothing to lose seeing as I'll be getting on a plane at 6am the next day. :) Going home is going to be really, really great, but for real this time, when I get on the airplane to come back to Korea, I won't know the next time i'll step foot in the states and for some reason, that's a final cap to "starting my life", "Moving out of the country", "being obedient to the lord", "leaving things I love behind to live my calling" and if that isn't beautiful and daunting at the same time, i don't know what is.

A few weeks ago, I started feeling like Korea was my only option for awhile. When you move out of college life, resources start to dwindle...or so it feels. I started thinking that working in Korea was going to be the next three years of my life and there were no other options. That may sound really stupid, but nothing had come up recently to suggest otherwise. One of my best friends and roommate always says, "The world is your oyster" and there was a day recently when so many countries became options for teaching that my desire to travel, dream, be spontaneous, and figure out where all of those things lead to became real again. THE WORLD IS MY OYSTER! Spain, England, Thailand, Brazil, Turkey, Italy, Germany..so many places that I could go and I get to choose. There's life back into planning what's next again.

 I get to dream...wow. what a freeing feeling that is. the world is my oyster. The world is YOUR oyster too. dream. for real.

I've mentioned that I like quotes a lot and so here are some that have stood out to me lately:

"Some people never go crazy. What terrible lives they must lead"-Charles Bukowski

"It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things."-Leonardo da vinci

 "Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone" -Pablo Picasso

This was right before we almost got a dog...ya that's another story

We're in a band now...

I play one-handed...

yaa...no we're not... 

We're posing for the foreigner church banner.... 

That's all folks! Enjoy your week!

"dress in drag and do the hula" -Timon

-One of my friends who lives here reminded me the other day of the part in Lion King where they need a distraction so Simba and Nala can sneak back to Pride Rock. Timon looks at them and says "what do you want me to do...dress in drag and do the hula!??!" Then they proceed to do it...shamelessly. <---this is how I feel most days. It's the best description i've heard so far of living in Korea

You're always on display here in korea nad it pretty much provides entertainment for the Koreans and ourselves. We're learning korean, but when we don't understand what people are saying, they just start yelling louder at us haha like suddenly that will help us learn to understand it better haha!


 I have been working quite a bit over the last month or so. I teach 35 classes between two schools (kindergarten-middle school) in one week with the school that I signed my contract with. I also teach six classes on Tuesday morning at a different kindergarten . On top of that, I privately tutor one of my students for two hours a week. I tutor conversation and science. So, altogether I work about 45-47 hours a week. Clearly, i'm a workaholic. ehh...that's not the point of this blog.

I also intentionally use large words to prove to myself that my vocabulary is not rapidly deteriorating.

I really like chomchee Keembop= tuna california spring rolls, but healthier for you.

I've had some funny moments with my students in the past couple of months. One of my good friends told me that it takes about six months for the students to really trust me as their teacher and be accustomed to the routine of our class. I'm really starting to see that happen as time goes on.

-One of my 6th grade students calls me "meghandi" because he thinks it's funny. Well, this has caught on with the whole class and even some other classes in the school. So, the nickname has leaked. He also talks about osama bin laden, and obama all the time. He has asked me questions about terrorists and this class and i have had deep discussions about 9/11 and what happened. So, this student is writing an essay entitled "Why Meghandi is Better Than Osama Bin Laden".  I need to steal a copy of this paper.

-One of my fourth graders left the class to make a copy of our book because he forgot his. He came back with a copy of his face perfectly smooshed against the copier. His eyes were squinty and his lips were in an "O". It was so funny, but in those moments I have to remember that I'm the teacher and not the student. I tried taking it from it so i could keep it, but he shoved it in his backpack.

-One of my sixth grade students broke his arm a few weeks ago and had a huge cast on his arm. He's one of the boys with a mouth on him, but he understands sarcasm so I pick on him a lot in class. Today, i made fun of his cast and cracked myself up. I couldn't stop laughing...he realized what happened and just put his head down laughing too. ha!

-I have three classes that have been absolute disasters. One class is sixth grade and mostly boys. When they first started, they were completely disrespectful to me and literally would not listen. They are a beginning level class but they understand enough to know how to act in a class. Something that might be hard for people to imagine is that when you're teaching a foreign language, all of your students can talk to each other and you have no idea what they are saying. So, these boys definitely used that against me. However, after embracing the act of "strict teacher", I can say that I almost look forward to this class every week. Although it feels more like an unstable bomb than anything else, I think I can consider this class a success.
      I also have a middle school class that is the same story. They were out of control and now I look forward to teaching them. I'm not sure if they like me or just fear their korean teacher, but either way something is working!

-Yesterday we finished up "open demonstration classes" in the kindergarten for all the parents. The kindergarten we work at is very expensive and the parents have high expectations. When students leave this academy at the age of 7, they are more fluent than some of my sixth graders. So, the education is effective but there is also a lot of other things to be said of putting so much pressure on five year olds. Essentially, during these class, we (the foreigners) teach class to our students but their mommies are sitting behind them observing everything we say and do and everything their kid says and does. It's literally like putting on a show. We were prepared for an act  and we knew it because our bosses would give us names of kids whose moms were straight crazy. We were supposed to ask those kids more questions and give them more opportunities to talk while asking fewer and easier questions to the "dumber" kids. At the end of the 30 minute demonstration where the mommies would obviously have a completely accurate understanding of a normal day in class, they filled out evaluations and had conversation with our boss.  We figuratively dress in drag and do the hula...

There are some other things going on besides work and school.

-I've decided that I want to officially pursue a Master's degree. I miss learning. I'm tossing around the idea of a Linguistics degree which would be a loooooot of work. It's a very universal degree that could be used almost anywhere that I travel. I still have to do research and apply to schools, but that's starting to make it's way to the front of my mind.

-It's weird for me to not be in leadership of any kind within a church or discipleship-style setting. For those of you who know me well know that i've been working in churches, teaching, leading, and been passionate about discipleship for the last ten years or longer. I've been leading and learning leadership in one capacity or another literally for the last ten years and now, i'm not. It's as simple as that. It's possible that people think i'm a missionary while living over here in korea and at the core of it, yes, yes i am. however, for the traditional style of "missions" or "doing ministry", no, no i'm not. It looks different and I don't have the resources available like I used to. In a sense, i'm learning how to relive life with a different focus that is somehow the same as before but with less encouragement, mentorship, and the need for more intentionality on my end. It's been a challenge, but it proves the good of the lord and his faithfulness.

summer is the time to travel here in korea. We've been to the beach, two baseball games, the second largest city in the world (Seoul), been on a field trip to ride horse with our kids and we have even sought out real-tasting Mexican food!

Here are some photos of our group!

The birthday Kids!

This is a bike path in our city!

Busan: beach city!

Climbing rocks...learned that from Oregon! 

Also, Busan. The Gold Towers in the middle are famous in the area!

horse back riding...they told me this was a big horse! horses are really rare in korea!

Gyeupyongdong crew...or G-Squad as we call ourselves! This was after a water fight on our day off.

Lions won...notice the koreans in the back who are not as excited

Cooking Bipinbop after church!

MEXICAN FOOD!!!!!!

Seoul at night...the view from the roof of our hostel!

Seoul again...

Itaewon in Seoul: a place for foreigners...really weird to be around so many of them.

The sidewalk had greetings from other cultures there...I found the US

Korean War memorial...this honors the beginning of  The Republic of Korea which is only about 60 years old.

The US flag is hanging closest to the Korean flag. This memorial is right next to the US military base and it really brings out feelings of patriotism as you live in a country that is so united with USA and has really gained it's economic growth and independence because of the influence.

That's all folks! I won't take so long to post next time! :)