Sunday

Since getting to Korea, I keep having the recurring thought that God so purposefully places people in my life. I spent some time with an older brother and sister in Christ tonight and pretty much just listened to their experiences and thoughts on life and ministry. I felt like such a baby - not necessarily in a bad way.. but just realizing that I have so much more to experience and grow through.

I have some thinking to do.. I hope that these thoughts turn into deeper convictions that will encourage growth and strengthening of my character.. It's a good start to a new week.

Redbox

Got a thoughtful email today. It was from Redbox.

I miss watching American movies! Excited for Harry Potter to come out soon. :)

My Kids

This past week was pretty tough.. Been facing a lot of homesickness. I think it was worse because of the gloomy morning weather.. plus I've been just going straight home after work instead of really exploring Korea; trying to really save some money for school debt (ㅠ..ㅠ) But I realized that one thing that really cheered me up was my students. I know that some of them live really stressful lives. Most of them have full schedules and probably feel a lot of pressure to excel in school from their parents and even themselves. Even so, when I see them at school, they give me a bright smile and shout "Hello!" as if they haven't seen me in forever. It really helps me, even if for just a short moment, to forget myself and my worries about home.

One of my first grade students came to my office, said, "This is for you," and handed me this drawing. Before I could even react, she turned and ran out of the office. Sooo cute. <3

Shopping was stressful today.

I went shopping at Myeongdong today with Mary. We went to a shoe vendor; I wanted to buy a pair of white sneakers. I know for a fact that some vendors sell this particular sneaker for 10,000 won, but the vendor must have overheard us talking in English because he told me it was 20,000 won. I asked him to cut the price and he said no; people don't do that in Myeongdong lately and business is hard. I said that other places were selling the same shoe for 10,000 won. His face changed. He turned his back towards me and threw the shoe away from me, implying that it wasn't worth my business. At that moment, I was able to brush it off, and I didn't think I cared; I was able to buy the same sneaker at the vendor next door for a cheaper price anyway. But when I got home, this feeling swept over me. I wasn't able to defend myself with even a single word and I felt really helpless and belittled, as if I was trampled over. My cousin called me to check how I was doing and that helped me calm down a bit.. Still thinking about why I was so upset.