I pray all is well. :) Well everyone, I have officially been in Korea for 6 weeks...1.5 months. Wow, how time flies. Sorry I haven't updated my blog in a couple weeks...Life has been crazy busy! At work, I am thankful though for the strength God has given me each day. To catch everyone up, we just got done with our end of month report cards for the Kindergartners and Monthly tests for all the students...a lot of testing, but the kiddos rocked them! Very proud of them.
Christie (she's in the picture) has introduced me to some more Korean cuisine...it is SOOOO GOOD. We had what's called Kimja Hang. Very tasty! In this restaurant, we had to take our shoes off at the door and sit on the floor. It was a very cultural experience...My long legs were asleep the whole time...haha
Before
Cooking
Finished...ready to eat!
We also had Shabu Shabu. (Sun, Christie's fiance just said that Shabu Shabu is Japanese...so not a Korean dish, but still delicious nonetheless.) It comes in a huge pot like the one shown above with broth. Vegetables and uncooked beef comes on the side. It's similar to meat fondue. You place the vegetables and meat in the broth and let it cook. Then you take rice paper, dip it in hot water so it softens and then lay it flat on your plate. You place the beef, vegetables, and sauce in the rice paper and roll it up like a mini burrito. It is very good! However, due to my small intolerance to beef, my tummy didn't like me very much for the next couple days...but it was still worth tasting. I really liked it.
Yesterday, Saturday (Oct. 1) I went to the Cheonan World Dance Festival with a few people from church. Unfortunately, we missed the International Folk Dances, but we got to see them in costume which was cool. It was very fun and also we got to see many booths from all over the world with the country's famous foods and goods.
This is for you Hailey, Justin, and Elvi
This weekend was a 3 day weekend--Foundation Day is Monday. I am planning to go to Seoul with one of my friends, Jaclyn! I get to take the KTX (the fast train here in Korea) She along with Christie (pictured above), Rosemary and Loriann (both coworkers), and Loriann's husband Emmanuel have been amazing! They have helped me so much!! I've also made many friends at the church I attend; Korean Nazarene University International English Church. They are very sweet, God- loving people. They have been so helpful as well! I am hoping to have coffee with the Pastor's wife, Debbie here in the next couple weeks. She is such a great listener with a kind heart. Yet again, God has provided such a wonderful community for me to be apart of. I am so thankful! I also heard from my friend Seo from UW. Some of you may know him. He's from South Korea and lives near Busan. I'm excited to see him again!
Also, I am very excited about my church's outreach group I have become apart of. We go to an orphanage twice a month and play with the kids, teach little English lessons, do fun crafts, and also have the chance to play with the little babies...guess where I wanted to be?? Yes, you guessed correctly! I was with the babies...At the beginning, they did not like having a giant stranger in the room. I heard that the babies usually cry for months when there are new people in the room. It takes a long time for them to be comfortable with you. I was kind of sad at first, but then I got to feed the littlest one and after I fed him and cleaned him up, he wanted to be held the entire time, so I rocked him and bounced him and eventually with time he got comfortable enough with me to fall asleep in my arms...my heart melted. I didn't want to let him go. It was worth the time and effort for him to warm up to me. The Korean "mom" in the room, looked at me and smiled as I was motioning to the door that I had to leave. She looked at me and said, "You have leave now?" "Ne," I replied. (Ne is 'yes' in Korean). I thanked her and left but I wanted to take that little one with me...This orphanage is home to many children from small babies to high school. Some of these children were put in what's called a "dropbox" when they were very little or babies because the parents didn't want them and just left them there. I believe some of these children may have one parent but they can't take care of them on their own, so they are in this orphanage. A couple weeks ago, I was really debating whether I should commit to this because these kids start to expect us and are disappointed when some never come again...they have so much hope and then are crushed when they don't see the volunteer they connected with. Then God laid it on my heart that I had to do this. He would provide the time and energy to do so. One of my constant prayers that I have been praying has been, "God, how can I join you in what you're doing here?" Well He laid this orphanage on my heart. He also laid the Bible verse James 1:27. It says "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself polluted by the world." These children help turn one's mind, heart, and perspective from the world. God is good. I am thankful for this opportunity.
Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I'm still praying for God's purpose in this and I trust, in His perfect timing, He will show me the reason Korea was in His plan for me.
I miss and love you all and am praying that the LORD protects each of you!
God bless,
Jena :)
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