here we go again...

just registered for the half marathon...

gah! not sure if i'm gonna regret this...

somehow...

even when i have literally 8 hours to do it, i manage to get NOTHING done. that is what happened today... i could have planned weeks of lessons. but instead i did nothing at all. i'm a procrastinator... it's just who i am. it works for me.
so, with 15 minutes before i leave school... here is a bullet point list of things i should tell you about:

• sport day at school. it is the reason i had 8 hours of nothing today.
• chuseok.
• climbing hallasan.
• how good i'm getting at using chopsticks.
• decorating my apartment!
• the people i encounter...
• running. on hills.
• something that hasn't happened yet but will happen in the very near future. i'll tell you about this one FOR SURE when it happens.
  

there's more i'm sure... things here have become just everyday life, so it's easy to forget that i should tell someone about them. sorry. but in the next few weeks i'm hoping to go on some adventures that will come with stories and pictures...

but until then, i'll just tell you this: God is so good. He is teaching me so much! i can't wait to see what else He has in store for me.

and i will leave you with this gem from my mom that i just thought about today:
before i left we were looking at my contract. part of the contract is that you get 90 days of maternity leave if you get pregnant while you're here with epik.

my mom's response to this (accompanied by an eager smile): "wouldn't it be funny if you got pregnant while you were in korea?"

no, mom. that would not be funny. who says that?
i love her :)

oh and also my dad and uncle are headed to uganda tomorrow! please keep them (and musana overall) in your prayers! i'm so excited to hear about their time there!!!

1.5 hours

so... it's almost chuseok time. chuseok is like korean thanksgiving, and i'm so excited. mostly because i get 4 days off, plus the weekend. gah! i should be making big plans to explore while the weather's nice and i have the time, but if i'm being honest, i'll probably just spend my days running errands and decorating my apartment (which, actually, i'm really excited about). i am going to hike mt. halla tomorrow though, which will be good. and i'm *hopefully* going to a friend's grandparents' house for a traditional chuseok dinner with lots of traditional korean food! that will be wonderful.
it's funny... before i came (and the first couple weeks i was here), if someone would have told me i would be eating a lot of traditional korean food, i would have acted excited while really cringing on the inside and worrying about starving. but now when i hear that, i get so happy! because people... let me just tell you--this food is SO GOOD. honestly. you all know what a picky eater i used to be (especially when i was young). and you probably know that i hate all things sea food. and you also might know that i'm just not that adventurous when it comes to food... i like the things i like.
so before i came, i had never had korean food in my life. ever. i had no idea what to expect. all i knew was that, being on an island, there would probably be lots of fish. so i honestly *prayed* that i would be able to find something to eat. and God delivered. seriously... i don't know what happened. but i've eaten squid, some sort of tentacles, all kinds of fish, eel, duck... all kinds of stuff. and it's all so good! for real. delicious. koreans know how to cook. it's awesome. i'm sure it's not all delicious and i will find something that i don't like, but for now i'm just enjoying everything i've been eating! and i thank God every time i like something different, because i really think He answered my prayer.
He's so good! i'm seeing that over and over... i could write all the stories, but that would be really long.
maybe i'll write them over the break. that's not a promise... just a maybe.
ok... miss you all.
love you!

welp...

so... i know i fail at blogging. sorry about that. i honestly haven't really done anything too exciting... i've just been working and running errands. last weekend i played in an ultimate frisbee tournament (actually i only played one of the two days... i literally have blisters on my feet from the burning sand and i wanted to go to church. also i got a ridiculous sunburn, so i figured another full day in the sun would not be a good idea). turns out i am absolutely terrible at ultimate frisbee. i guess i'm not that bad... as long as i don't have to throw it. i used to be able to throw a frisbee, but on saturday i realized that i just can't. really. like whenever i try to throw it forward it somehow magically ALWAYS goes way off to the right. not even kidding. BUT i did learn that running at high altitude has prepared me to run forever at sea level. i was the only person on my team who never had to sub for any of the games! and i wasn't even dying by the end (except in the last game because my feet were burning off, but my breathing was perfectly fine). also i can catch, so i scored some points. it was fun...
let's see... what else? nothing. i know i should write about all the different things i've learned about korea so far, but there's too much! and, to be honest, i still feel like i know nothing. i'm always messing up and doing things that are actually considered really rude here. and i can't speak more than like 8 words. but if koreans are anything, it is forgiving. especially if you are a foreigner. they know it's different and it's hard and they're always willing to help out or let it slide when you make a ridiculous mistake, because they realize that you are, indeed, not korean. this has been really nice.
probably the thing i've had the most trouble adjusting to (and still always forget) is giving and receiving with 2 hands. here, it is respectful, when you hand someone something, to give it with 2 hands, or with your right hand and your left hand placed somewhere on the right arm. and receiving is always done with 2 hands, and especially never with just the left hand. i think i have remembered this rule a total of 10 times since i've been here. every other time i forget and then remember right after i've taken something with my left hand or just handed someone something. it's the little things that you don't think about, but they are actually pretty important. i'm working on it, and hopefully it will just become a habit.
aaannnddd... that's all i have for now. lunch is almost over and it's time to go teach some kids about how "normal" americans talk :)
praise the Lord for grace and learning!
love you all!

**aaaa***

i just discovered something wonderful. i am excited.
so at jocheon i have been going to the different classrooms to teach the different classes. they are fine... nothing fancy. i hadn't taught the 3rd graders (9th grade... middle school grade 3) yet, so i hadn't been on the 3rd floor. so imagine my shock and awe when i was led to the *english room* that is right at the top of the stairs! it is definitely the nicest room in the school... which is kinda sad but whatever i'll take it. i'm not really sure why i didn't know about it. i think she mentioned it on my first day but then she didn't show me so i just figured it was not a big deal. but it is. it has all kinds of sweet materials i can use, and it's air conditioned! and i opened a cabinet and found like 30 movies... good ones! like harry potter and mean girls! i need to think of a way to use those... and i could actually probably have my own office up here, but i'll stick with my little desk in the teachers' room so they don't think i'm antisocial. AND i just found out that i can have all my english classes in here if i want. my head co-teacher said it echos a lot, which is why they haven't been doing it. but she said that i can try it out and if it works then i can do it! yay! i'll just have to think of a way to get the kids to be quiet... hmmmm. anyway... i'm excited.
praise the Lord for the english room!

life as i know it right now...

so it's official... i have made an unbreakable vow with korea.

i got a phone today! and i signed a year long contract! my phone number is 010.8902.7432. probably you won't ever use that... but just so you know. anyway... it's bright pink and white... my co-teacher was shocked when i said i wanted the black one. then she said, "i prefer this one" and held up the pink and white one. so i went with it because she gave me a ride and stayed late away from her kids to help me. she's precious and i love her. haha everyone likes cutesy stuff here... it's pretty funny. actually only 2 of my 6 options for a *free* phone were anything but pink. but it does have an antenna on it that i can attach and watch tv... there are only 3 channels, but that perk just comes standard. i don't even have to pay extra for it... haha! some people have tv's in their cars here... just chillin on the dashboard. which is really foolish considering the way people drive. anyway... none of that is what i meant to talk about.

right now i'm in the middle of planning lessons. i'm actually really excited about this part... not so much the planning, but the execution. it's hard right now, though, because i'm not sure where all the kids are at in their books. but once i figure that out, i'm really excited to start playing fun games and hopefully making them love english class :) this week is pretty much just introductions... i'm introducing myself then filling the rest of the time with the kids drawing pictures and introducing themselves to me. it's fine, but i'm actually more excited to start teaching them real things. the "easy" things like i'm doing now are actually a lot harder than you'd think because the kids don't understand what i'm telling them. that's why i just have to use a lot of pictures and hope that they at least enjoy those. i'm really excited to get into a routine and start getting to know each class individually... i think then i will really be able to have fun and hopefully teach the kids a lot!

my apartment is slowly but surely coming along... this weekend i'm hoping to get some picture frames and stuff to decorate it and make it feel like home... then i promise i'll put pictures up. right now it's just kinda lame...

also when i have my own internet it will help. there is one spot in my room where i get some pretty reliable free internet, but my experience living in narnia made me realize how important it is to actually have internet of my own. sometimes i can actually pick up caleb's signal, but that's pretty sketchy too. anyway... once i have that i will be firmly established, and my next step will be to get a scooter! that won't be until i have a couple paychecks though...

anyway... i have stories and other funny things to share, but now i'm tired and i have to get up early.

one of these days i will have time to do a long series of catch up posts, with pictures, and it will be grand.

but until then... enjoy the little snippets.

love you all!

praise God for ways to stay connected!

still no phone or internet...

BUT i got a yoga mat.

so it's okay :)

here it is...

ok... so this is ridiculously long. pictures are at the end if you want to skip over the writing...

so… i’m in lax right now. actually, by the time you read this i will be in korea already. but i have some time to kill, so i’m going to go ahead and write about uganda.it’s hard to know where to begin… so i guess i’ll just start at the beginning (what a concept!) just know that there is a lot that is not included, because there was just too much to write about!

on the way there, we had about 7 hours to kill in london. even though heathrow claims to have lots of shopping and things to do… there’s really not. so we jumped on a bus and headed to windsor castle (because… you know… the tudors). we only ended up having like an hour there, and it was actually closed, but it was still fun to get out and see a little bit of the pretty countryside.

when we got to Uganda, we had to wait for a long time because we had eight bags. that was a lot for my tiny mom and me to carry, but we managed to get them on the carts and out to bryan… who, within about 30 seconds, already seemed older and more mature than when he left (and it wasn’t just because of the sick beard…). it was really exciting to see him, especially how he interacted with everyone and took charge. on the way to iganga (which is about 3 hours from the airport), we stopped in kampala to give pipih (musana’s volunteer coordinator and bryan’s friend) the chipotle he had requested before we left. (i forgot to mention that we had bag solely reserved for the 6 burritos we took, and we carried it with us everywhere… also there was a fun incident at London security regarding it… i’ll just let you imagine what 6 foil-wrapped burritos stacked in a bag all by themselves must look like on an xray monitor to someone who doesn’t have chipotle).

when we finally got to iganga, we were taken straight to musana, where we were greeted by all the kids singing and hugging us and dragging us around to tour the place. it was just a little bit overwhelming, but also really awesome. after a day of just hanging out, we walked back to the volunteer house where bryan lives. this was one of the most exciting times, because this was when we got to see the babies. and by babies, i mean the 20 or so kids living in a compound between musana and the house. bryan had told us about these kids (mostly just 2 of them actually), so i was excited to finally see them. and when we actually did it was even more awesome than i ever would have imagined. basically, these kids worship bryan. the second they saw him coming they all just dropped what they were doing and ran down the road to meet him, screaming “BLYAN! BLYAN!” the whole way. i can’t even describe the feeling i got when i saw it, but it was one of the most precious things i’ve ever seen in my life, and it made me proud to be the sister of blyan. and that reaction was basically the same every single morning and afternoon for the rest of the trip… (i actually got it on video but i forgot to put the videos on my computer and now they are in a different country than me, so that’s unfortunate.)

the next day i woke up feeling really sick, which was just from jet lag. so most of the morning was spent trying to get a little bit of food in my stomach and getting up the strength for the long walk to musana. once we got going i was fine, and the walk was awesome, but once we got there i started feeling sick again and had to take a nap in the volunteer room. so i don’t know what happened the rest of that day, but it was basically just hanging out.

then next day was Sunday, so we got to go to church. simply put: it was long and hard to understand, but the kids were awesome at paying attention and letting me know what was going on!

the next day was monday, and we got to go to the farm where bryan works a few days a week. we took a boda there (which is a motorcycle that you ride on the back of… pretty much the funnest thing ever), and when we got there we were greeted by Isaac (who runs the farm and is wonderful), some of the other farm workers, and a little girl named Brenda who didn’t so much greet us as just stand and stare. we gave her some stickers and then made our way down to the fields to harvest some corn. after about 20 minutes, we looked over to see a group of 4 kids, including Brenda, just staring at us and smiling. they all had the stickers stuck on their foreheads! it was awesome. so we gave them some more, and they all got so excited and took the stickers off their foreheads and handed them to Brenda, then ran away with the new ones. it was so funny… don’t worry we gave her some new ones too. after the farm we went back and hung out at musana some more.

the next day we went to musana, then in the afternoon we drove to jinja (a town about 40 minutes away) to go BUNGEE JUMPING! it was scary and fun, and i will probably never do it again. just sayin…

that night we stayed in jinja to go rafting down the nile the next day. it was so FUN! the nile is deep and doesn’t have a bunch of rocks that you have to worry about running into, so when your raft flips it’s just like being in a giant wave that eventually spits you out. and it’s warm. on our first flip i got whacked in the nose with a paddle and it was bleeding everywhere. they took a picture, but then they didn’t put it with the pictures we bought, so i haven’t seen it. i hear it looked good though. rafting was a long day, but it was totally worth it. that night we got dinner through the rafting company then took a taxi back to iganga.

**side note… the cutest little Korean baby is toddling around the gate right now, and i want to steal her.**

anyways… taxis in Uganda are absolutely ridiculous. they are set up with 4 rows of 3 seats, but really they will cram as many people as they actually can in there. also chickens. and i hear goats too, but we never had any. it’s pretty ridiculous, but it was an adventure.

the next day we taxied back to jinja to pick up our pictures and video and do some shopping… it was pretty uneventful. then we went back to iganga and hung out at musana for the rest of the day.

the next day we were pretty exhausted, so we kinda just lazed around before making the walk to musana (with an extra long stop to visit the babies). that night we got dinner at the café with all the other volunteers, which was fun.

on Saturday we hung out at musana some more and helped to put some new nets on the soccer goals. bryan had asked my dad to send the net with us, and the kids absolutely loved it! the little kids loved just hanging on the goals, which terrified me. we also learned how to roll beads, which is fun but hurts my fingers! my mom failed at bead-rolling, but i am good at it. in my mom’s (not well-thought-out) words, i am a “master beader.” HA!

on Sunday we went to musana for just a little bit before we got on a really long taxi ride to sipi falls. we had to switch taxis in a city called mballe, and the one that we got on was terrifying. seriously… it broke down twice on the way up the steep, windy mountain roads. but we made it, and it was completely worth it! sipi was absolutely beautiful, and we stayed in a really cool place called sipi river lodge. after a delicious lunch, we went on a short hike to 2 of the 3 waterfalls (we didn’t have time for all of them). we had a guide, a 15 year old Ugandan kid named paul(?), who knew everything about the area and picked passionfruit for us. the waterfalls were gorgeous and we got really wet! then on the way back, paul asked us if we wanted to try some of his grandma’s local brew. of course we said yes, and he took us to a little hut in the middle of nowhere that had a bunch of old Ugandans sipping warm beer through really long straws. we got to try some… it tasted like corn and yeast (because that’s basically all it was). it wasn’t as bad as you might think, and it was a sweet adventure. after we got back we had some tea and relaxed for a little bit before going back up to the first waterfall to watch the sunset. it was one of the most beautiful sunsets i’ve ever seen (and that’s saying a lot!). that night we had some good dinner and played some games, then went to bed so we could wake up early the next day to make our way back to iganga. it was a quick trip, but really cool.

when we got back to iganga, we had to hurry and get our stuff together before we went over to musana to say goodbye to everyone. it was really sad leaving and saying goodbye, and i really wish we had been able to stay longer and get to know them better! that night we got a private hire to take us on the long trip to Entebbe to stay in a surprisingly nice guest house! then the next day we had to get up super early to go to the airport.

it was really sad saying goodbye to bryan, but for me it was ok after seeing what he is doing and how important he is to everyone there (and how important they are to him!) my mom might have something else to say about that… but i am seriously so proud of him, and i got little bursts of extra pride throughout the trip. i’m really excited to see what else God has in store for him and musana!

so after the long plane ride, we had an overnight layover in London. even though we were both exhausted, i really wanted to try and see as much as i could since i had never been there. so as soon as we got there we went straight to our hotel to shower and change and head off to see les miserables! we had planned the time in London before we went, and i was really excited to see nick jonas in les mis, but then, sadly, i realized a few days before we left that he was leaving just 3 days before we got there. but, even without the best jonas brother, it was still an awesome show. we had every intention of going to a pub afterwards, but, considering my mom fell asleep multiple times during the show and i was ready to pass out, we decided it would be best to just go to bed. the next morning we woke up bright and early for a cheesy double-decker bus tour, which was great! we got to just sit there and see all the major sites! and the weather was really beautiful, which was great. after the bus part, we got on a river cruise that was included when we paid for the tour, which was also sweet. we went under the millennium bridge (the sweet one that gets blown up by death eaters in harry potter!), which i was excited about. after the cruise we had to hurry and get on the train so we could stop at king’s cross (of course!) before heading back to the airport. it was quite the whirlwind, but it was fun!

chips in windsor :)

mom and bryan pushed the giant carts of stuff... i took pictures.

pipih and bryan eating some chipotle... mmmm! bryan looks pissed but he really wasn't. i don't think.

our little hotel room with all the crap we brought! this picture does not show the full extent of either.

it's blurry... but these are all the kids waiting for us at the entrance to musana. they were all singing and it was awesome!

solomoni... sorry the picture is blurry. he's precious.

getting ready to go to church

these kids are awesome at drumming! seriously... so good.

haha they made these logs into motorcycles

haha the sticker kids at the farm! brenda is the one on the left.

all of us on the boda... and arafet with his sweet goggles that bryan gave him

just us with some kids... damali is the little one right in front of my mom. she's stinkin adorable

so the kids love to take pictures... and they are good at it. i love this one.

haha more of the kids taking pictures. this is dorothea... there are so many of her in different poses. she cracks me up. i'll put the rest on facebook...

bonding...

bryan bungee jumping!

haha my mom's arms were straight out like that until they pulled her into the boat. silly

me on the bounce

haha the boat guy took this picture...

mom all bruised up after rafting

naked kids love me...

mom and martha

this is the girl at the compound who loved me the most.

seriously... beautiful children.

yay! so while bryan was fixing the soccer nets the kids were scaring me by hanging on them and making them rock back and forth. don't worry... no one was hurt.

one of the kids took this one

haha... on the hike at sipi falls. it was beautiful

enjoying some home brew

watching the sunset from behind the waterfall... so pretty!

i love them.

some of the compound kids and one of the moms. notice that bryan is holding angela and andrew... his favorites.

bryan and angel. i love it.

haha this is bella... she was definitely asleep.

bescha in a tree

saying goodbye... mom was sad. they wouldn't let bryan sit inside with us

yay les mis! no nick jonas... but still awesome!

the tower of london, where anne boleyn was beheaded. our tudors obsession made this very exciting. haha... notice my mom's feet. she's short

no explanation needed.

i had a bunch of videos, but i never put them on my computer before i left home :(

anyway... overall, it was an awesome trip. i was so glad i got to go with my mom before i left, and i was really excited to see bryan so much sooner than i thought i would be able to! i can’t wait to go back and spend some more time with him and with the kids at musana!

quality...

so... korea has a national curriculum. that means that every single school teaches from the same books and uses the same cd-roms to go with them.
sometimes they are okay. but most of the time they are like this:
**these are actual videos that i watched on the discs before i found them on youtube. this is why i'm allowed to change the curriculum around if i want to...**
this is jinho... and that is his uncle with "a long hair":


here we have ann and her dad:


and this is my personal favorite... joon's lost sock.


i hope you enjoyed these as much as i do...