From one place to another

It's monsoon season in Korea.  Now, I am from Edmonton where it doesn't really rain very often, just a bit in the spring time (though I've heard there's been a lot of rain this year...).  And rain in Edmonton is a time to drink tea, snuggle up with a good book, and get cozy.  Rain in Korea still means incredibly hot temperatures and the only way you can snuggle up and drink tea is by turning your air conditioner on.

And yes, I have turned my air on.  I just am not one of those people that thinks "I'll just save the air conditioning until it gets really hot."  I think anything over 27 degrees Celsius is hot!  I mean, that is a really hot summer day where I'm from!

Needless to say... I might die in the next couple weeks, just due to the weather!

In other news, I have moved apartments!  You have no idea how much happier I am to not be in the old apartment.  Of course, I definitely think it would have been better to move back in January when the heating costs were astronomical, or really at any point in the spring when I found roaches and other random bugs all throughout my place.  But better late than never I guess!  I now live a bit further from my school and in a smaller place, yet the benefits definitely outweigh those two facts.  It's a brand new apartment (never has anyone lived here before), the building is clean, I really like the location (I'm close to the river and really close to the gym), everything in the apartment is new and works and just looks nice!  And the size doesn't really bother me because I do not have very much stuff/furniture to begin with and I found I only used a fraction of space in my old place anyway.

I have taken photos of all four corners of my place, plus the side room and the bathroom.

 First corner view, at the moment I'm standing in the doorway.  In a way I guess the couch is in an awkward spot... but it's too far from the TV to watch from my bed and I kind of like it here.

 Standing in the bathroom entrance.  A good view of my guitar!  One of the best purchases I have made in Korea!  That and my bike.  And, of course, watching an episode of Friends...

 I'm so happy that I can hook up my laptop to the TV!  And that the TV works... another benefit of this place as opposed to the last place...

 A good view of the couch... which also doubles as a futon.  The arm rests go down.  So if anyone wants to visit, I would gladly take the couch!!!  And you can see the air conditioning unit up on the wall.

 The side room that has the washing machine and where I moved the fridge and microwave/microwave stand.  It was nice to free a bit more space in the main room.  The green field out of the river is actually a rice field (I think...).  If you take a photo of the outside of my building it kind of looks like it's randomly placed in the middle of a rice field.  And just beyond that apartment building you can see there, is the river.  Which I can actually see from my window as well.

 And the bathroom.  Though using my hair straightener is kind of fruitless right now.  With something like 90% humidity, it's not like my hair is ever going to stay straight anyway.

And my shower sink!  I can't tell you how much I miss having a bath tub and a shower curtain...

Another benefit of this place is that the water heats continuously when using the shower.  At the last apartment, I would wait for the water to heat up and then have the fastest shower known to man, while turning the water off in between rinses to shampoo and soap up or else the hot water would run out and it would be freezing cold.  Not so great during the winter.  It's nice to just have a continuous stream of hot water.  I'm happy!  The building itself is four floors (though the first is just for cars), and has about 6 apartments on each floor.  Right now there are not too many people living here, but I'm sure more will move in as time goes on.

So that is the biggest change that has happened as of late.  It was one of the more interesting experiences I have had in Korea, having the school move me.  A bunch of men from the school came to help move, as well as a few English teachers, and I appreciated everyone's help so much!  Though, of course, I had several awkward moments not understanding what everyone was saying around me in Korean while they were moving my stuff around.  It's definitely a challenge to just accept that you might never fully know what is happening until you are fluent in Korean, which is not happening anytime soon.  Though I can order food to be delivered to my house in Korean like a pro!

Earlier in May, Laura, Betty and I went on a little shopping trip to Seoul!  I hadn't updated the blog about it because it was in my time of delinquent blogging, so I thought I'd share a few photos.  Though looking at photos of Betty being in Korea makes me sad because her and Chris have officially moved far, far away... to Hawaii!  Needless to say, I am going to visit them!  And in the meantime, I just miss my neighbours!

 Our hotel room, with three beds.  See... they are excited!

 The view from our balcony.  Seoul is a huge city.  Like... massive!  It's so large I just can't comprehend it.  I was just looking at a list of cities, ranked in order of population, and Seoul was ranked as the third largest in the world.  Edmonton, 403rd.  Boeun... not even on the list.

 We went for Mexican food... and it was awesome.  Yes, I've been here before, but it was still awesome!

 I'm happy to be here too!

And the next day was for shopping in MyeoungDong in Seoul.  It was so much fun!  There are some things you just have to venture out of Boeun for...

So that is the most recent update on life in Korea.  Time is simply flying by!  I cannot believe I have been here for about nine months already.  Thanks again for all the support, prayers, emails, good thoughts, and carrier pigeons! 

Where has the time gone?!

Right now it is June 13th.  The fact that it is June is shocking enough, not to mention the fact that June is almost halfway gone!

It has been way way way way way too long since I have written anything in a blog.  Way too long.  And the unfortunate thing is that so many things have happened that I could share about.  I went on a church outing to this cool mountain, I've been to Seoul twice, there have been goodbye parties for people leaving Korea for good, I participated in the first leg of a Korean singing competition (where I actually memorized a song in KOREAN), a school wide Sports Day happened, as well as many other things.

Unfortunately, this blog isn't going to give you any photos of those things (mostly because I left my camera at home and I'm currently at school).  Moreover, I'm not going to go into any details at the moment.

More than anything I just wanted to do a brief update and say that life right now is good.  I feel so blessed by the experiences I have had and the friendships I have made while being in Korea.  Lately I feel like so many things are happening.  If it's not preparing to lead worship on Sunday morning, it's preparing to move to a new apartment or saying goodbye to my next door neighbours or wondering about the coming months. And although "things" can be overwhelming, I have a lot of joy.  I'd love to tell you that I've mastered teaching ESL or have finally gotten my 6-3 class to listen to me or that I can speak fluent Korean... but although none of these things have happened, what has happened is just a renewed sense that I am where I'm supposed to be right now.  I always thought that when I look back at my time in Korea it would finally be made clear to me why God opened the door to Korea so wide when so many other doors closed.  And I think some of that is coming to light for me already. 

When I came out to Korea, I came struggling a lot with so many questions in my life.  I was struggling with my faith and struggling to figure out my next steps.  And while I do not necessarily have answers, I have a lot more peace. 

So on the one hand I apologize for my dreadful blogging habits.  But on the other hand, I guess you can take my lack of blogging communication as a sign that I'm just enjoying life right now.

Kate, me, Juhui, Jenny, and Dahye at the Sports Day (even though I'm not even looking at the camera I still like this picture... thanks for the photo Angela!)