"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.