Arrivals and Departures

Arrivals are great. People are excited to see you. There are lots of hugs and stories to share. Arriving is coming together. But you can’t have arrivals without departures, and departures are not so fun. They mean goodbyes and tears. Departures are separation. In order to say “hello” to something new we must first say “goodbye” to something else.

Saturday the 11^th I flew home to Oregon so that I could be in my dear friend Michelle (Howden) Saffeels’ wedding. I had nine days at home then flew out in the wee dark hours of the morning on the 20^th. It was a whirlwind trip, but I had a great time with friends and family. Saying goodbye Tuesday morning was harder than I expected – Family is so comfortable (as is my marshmallow bed at my parent’s house).

Now I’m back in Korea and thinking about another goodbye that I’m going to have to say soon. I have LOVED living in Korea this year. It has been a wonderful time of growth for me in many ways. I have made great friends, taught adorable students, seen amazing things, tasted interesting foods – all of them fantastic experiences. But in the beginning of March I’ll be heading back to Oregon. I know this is going to be a hard goodbye. I am excited for the next stage of life and whatever God may have planned, but I wish saying hello didn’t mean first saying goodbye. The arrival will be great; I just have to endure the departure first.

*On a happier note, I vow to make these last couple months in Korea some of the best yet! And for more pictures from my American Vacation check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/scribbledjourneys/

Applesuace

What do you do when someone gives you a box of about a million over-ripe apples and your kitchen consists of a single burner? Applesauce – obviously – and lots of it…

(Note, these are the apples left after several batches had already been made)

Three stages of the process - with only one burner, this multi-tasking is vital.

Wanna try it yourself? Okay! Place about 4 chopped apples into you pot and mix with ½ cup water, ¼ cup brown sugar, and ½ tsp cinnamon. Cover and cook on med for 15-20 minutes… (I let them cook the last 5 mins uncovered if there seems to be too much liquid)

Once they’re all beautiful soft and brown, let them cool…

Then mash the living daylights out of them! Enjoy!

Chuseok

This week was Chuseok, the Korean Thanksgiving. It’s one of two main Korean holidays, so my school actually gave me three whole days off (although we have to work Saturday to make up for it…). Anyway, it was nice having off three days in a row and I got to meet some great people, do some fun things, and eat some delicious food. Now here are some pictures to sum it all up. (I know that’s super corny, but I really can’t help myself.)

I spent Tuesday and Wednesday with Anny's extended family. If I look tired in this picture, it's because I was - this was taken at the end of two really great, but exhausting days.

Rice cakes covered in pine needles (which we picked off before serving) Oh, and they were actually very good, they just look like they fell on the ground somewhere in Oregon.

Hard at work making spicy Korean pancakes.

Mmm, Don't you want some of that?

The family take 1... Anny looked at the picture and said, "No one smiled! Do it again!"

So we did. ^_^

Wed night I met up with some girlfriends for a soccer game at Suwon World Cup Stadium. We didn't know who they were playing, just that it was free for foreigners...

We got there and realized they were playing Seongnam - the team from our hometown! Which was cool, but we were all dressed in blue for Suwon instead of our team's yellow. Oops...

After the game, Leslie came over for a last minute slumber party. I may or may not have lured her with bacon, cheese, and bagels from CostCo... We also painted our nails with super cool glow-in-the-dark nail polish that my super cool mom sent. Unfortunately, the pictures of them acutally glowing in the dark didn't turn out, so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Thursday I slept about half the day away and loved every moment of it. Then June and I met a friend and checked out this great cafe in what must have originally been a greenhouse/nursery. The murky pond behind us probably would have been a lot prettier if there had not been torrential rain and flooding two days before.

As always, more pictures at http://www.flickr.com/photos/scribbledjourneys/ if you're interested.

~Melina

Bits and Pieces

I have not written for a while… well, no, that’s not quite true. I have written a lot, I just haven’t finished anything - story of my life. Apparently my first report card said something to the effect of: Melina does a wonderful job on everything we do in class… she just never finishes anything. (Interestingly enough, my mother’s first report card said something quite similar.)

So I have a few blog ideas that I have started writing (not going to tell you what they are – spoilers) and hopefully those will get finished in the nearish future. Until then, here are some bits and pieces, some of which were originally supposed to be entire blogs, and others of which are random scribblings from blank pages in my planner. It’s a lot. I won’t be hurt if you don’t read it all… Well, actually I might be, so just don’t tell me.

Children’s Camp: July 31^st – August 1^st I went with a group from

my church to a retreat site where we held a weekend camp for the children that are part of my church’s English ministry. I had NO idea what I was getting into… The Children’s pastor had decided to do an abbreviated VBS and I was in charge of leading three of the crafts. Sounds easy enough. The problem – basic craft supplies that are readily available in the US are unheard of in Korea… alternate craft supplies that I thought might be easier to find are ALSO unavailable in Korea – something I found out AFTER getting to the retreat site. So my dear friend Stephanie (who unwittingly got placed in charge of the entire VBS) and I spent hours reworking the crafts, figuring out each just in time for me to present it to 75 elementary students. It was crazy. It was stressful. BUT, it was wonderful. Because really, WHO CARES ABOUT THE CRAFTS??? The kids had a blast coloring, taping, gluing…trying, failing, moving on. I learned so much that weekend. It’s not about me – I don’t have to be in control (reality check – I never really am) because God’s got it covered. I need to chill and not worry. It’s gonna be alright. I also got to meet some really great kids and watch them learn about and praise God. Beautiful.

Random Scribblings:

I bought new shoes the other day that I thought would be very practical. As it turns out they were neither comfortable, nor easy to walk in. So much for practical! I’m wearing them again today though – I refuse to let them be a waste of money! (You should be happy to know, after that day I kept wearing them and now find them quite comfortable and practical. In fact, I’m wearing them right now. Haha! I win!)

I grabbed my book, stuffed it in my purse, and headed down to the river. As I walked I was looking at the tall grasses along the bank. Suddenly, I saw coming toward me, an older man dressed in hot pink, riding a unicycle, and holding a bright green umbrella over his head (it was neither raining, nor particularly sunny). I laughed and he laughed back, then he was gone – another day in Korea… A little further on I saw a little girl learning to ride her bike. Her dad had one hand on the handles and the other on her back. They were approaching a drop in the path and I could see the girl’s fear mounting as they got closer. When they reached the crest her dad stopped the bike to reassure her and she immediately took the opportunity to jump off the bike. Nothing in the world was going to convince her that this was safe. I didn’t need to understand a single word to know exactly what she was saying. She reminded me a lot of myself. If I am not in control, I won’t do it. Trust is not something I’m very good at. (This happened not long before the Children’s Camp… Think God’s trying to teach me something?)

I was supposed to meet a friend in Insadong today. She got lost, so I’m here alone. I don’t mind really. It’s a good opportunity to explore things and areas I might not otherwise see. I’ve wandered into a traditional tea shop where all the tables seat a minimum of four. But there are only a few other people here, so I don’t feel bad taking up an entire table. I ordered iced Jujubee tea and have found that I don’t like it. Maybe by the time I get to the bottom of this large mug I will have developed a taste for it. Just before I came in here I was stopped by a group of High School girls who wanted to interview me for a class. They asked my name, where I was from, and why I was at Insadong. Then they took a picture with me. They said it was for geography – I wonder what the assignment was exactly… Oh, and I finished my tea – I wouldn’t order it again, but the last sip wasn’t as vile as the first… (By the time I left, the place had gotten much busier and I was starting to feel awkward at my large empty table.)

Reflection: This term is almost over and I will soon have new classes and new students. There are some I am sad to say goodbye to, but one class in particular that I cannot wait to be rid of: my Mon/Wed Mega class (I know that means nothing to you, but whatever). They are horrible. Give me a headache and make me wanna cry kind of horrible. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do, NOTHING works with this class. This evening I was reading my Bible and a passage from Zechariah 11:7-9 really stood out to me. The prophet says, “I took two staffs and called one Favor and the other Union, and I pastured the flock… The flock detested me, and I grew weary of them and said, ‘I will not be your shepherd. Let the dying die, and the perishing perish. Let those who are left eat one another’s flesh.’” Tomorrow’s my last day with those kids. I kinda want to quote this verse to them! Haha. But really, what a great example to me of God’s frustration with us. He tries to lead us with Favor and Union, but we detest him, so he says ‘fine, have it your way.’ Good thing he’s more patient with us than I am with my class!

Ok, that's enough for now.

Later!

The Nice Girl's Dilemma

*Note, this post has nothing to do with Korea, but everything to do with my life.*

I consider myself amongst the ranks of the “nice girls”. We try to show kindness to others, we want them to feel welcome and happy, we say friendly things, and when we think mean things, we (usually) keep them to ourselves. We’re not perfect, we’re just pretty nice.

Well, we nice girls have a dilemma. If you are one of these nice girls then you probably already know what’s coming next because it’s happened to you at least once, likely more. You see, as mentioned above, we like people to feel welcome, so we talk to the outsiders and the shy people, the ones who don’t have many friends or aren’t sure where they fit in. At a social gathering, we’re the ones who go talk to the person who’s sitting alone. It’s part of who we are – we’re being nice. Most of the time this works out well… when it’s aimed at another girl… However, when we’re nice to boys, well, that’s where we get into trouble.

We like to be nice to everyone – that is, after all, what makes us nice girls – and so we’re nice to lonely boys too. Unfortunately, sometimes they misread our niceness as interest, or they become infatuated with us because, well, no one else talks to them. They make advances and we try to tell them we’re not interested (in a nice way, of course). This usually doesn’t work so we have to take more drastic measures… and we end up feeling not so nice. In the end, we back off and leave them lonely again… just waiting for the next nice girl. (We could also call this the lonely boy paradox)

So what is a nice girl to do? After a situation like this we still see lonely boys and want to be nice, but we’re scared to talk to them. We know that if we don’t talk to them, it is likely that no one will. We are torn between going against our nature and putting ourselves in a potentially… awkward situation. This is our dilemma. What do we end up doing? Take a guess – we ARE nice girls after all.

*Sigh*

Leonard and Lucy - Forgetful

Do you remember the movie Memento? Leonard can’t make new memories so he relies on Polaroid pictures and tattoos all over his body to help him keep track of people and clues to solving his wife’s murder. Or how about, on the lighter side, 50 First Dates where Lucy falls for Harry over and over, but forgets him each day. Committed to pursuing her, he reminds her repeatedly of their love and works with her dad and brother to help give her a normal life.

In some ways I’m an awful lot like poor Leonard and Lucy – God shows his faithfulness to me again and again, but I can’t seem to remember it for very long. Each time something in my life does not go as planned (and let’s face it, that’s pretty darn often) my first instinct is to panic and cry, “God! Why aren’t you taking care of me?!” I yell at him for a while and tell him how disappointed I am. Eventually I calm down, but I let him know that this is still a problem and he needs to fix it… and you know what – he does. Then my prayers switch to, “God! You’re so good! How could I have doubted you? Never again!”… until the next time something goes wrong…

Is there something wrong with my head?! Why is it that when things don’t go my way I automatically doubt God’s faithfulness? It’s embarrassing! Unlike Leonard and Lucy, I don’t have some traumatic experience to explain my poor memory – just the opposite – I have every reason to remember. And like Harry, in 50 First Dates, God keeps showing me how much he loves me even though I forget him and question his goodness. Wow. If someone treated me the way I treat God, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t still be sticking around. But thankfully, he’s God and I am not! *Whew*

In my life right now I can think of several situations that are not playing out the way I anticipated. Some of them are being resolved before my eyes, but with others I’m still waiting. So rather than fall back into my bad habit, I am reminding myself of God’s faithfulness. I may not see how this could possibly resolve, but I do know he’s always taken care of me in the past so I have every reason to believe that he will do it again. I may be forgetful, but he certainly is not.

4th of July (I'm American, no matter where I live)

For the 4^th of July weekend June, Natalie, and I decided to go to the beach at Gangneun. June went early to meet a friend, but for Natalie and myself, like the trip to the Butterfly festival, this required getting tickets for the last bus out at 10:30 and a mad dash after work Friday to get to the bus station in time. The three hour bus ride was not bad and they even showed the Brazil vs. Netherlands game. Once there, we walked down the strip of restaurants and motels along the beach until we came to the Star Beach Motel, decided that was a good name, and went in to find it decently priced. (I stole some of Natalie's pic's so hers are marked with an *)

*

We settled in, then went for a 2am snack before going to bed (the snack consisted of “point and order” food at a local café/bar… always an adventure).

*

View from our motel window.

Saturday was rainy… all day. We went to a BBQ hosted by some other Americans in the area and most people joined teams to play dodge ball (I happily sat that one out). It was fun meeting some other people (Kim!) and enjoying the beach. By late afternoon we were drenched so we went back to the hotel to dry off and change before enjoying a wonderful crab and assorted seafood dinner.

* The raw squid (right) was pretty good, but that red and orange stuff - NASTY.*

*Shrimp and Snails - both pretty good.*

*Our crab we picked from the tank. Sorry Mr. Crab!*

*

*Mmmm, fish head soup.*

*Kim and June*

*Natalie and Me*

Sunday started a little overcast, but the clouds burned off and it turned into a beautiful sunshiny day. Natalie had to leave early, but June and I spent the day walking the beach, sunbathing, and getting hit on by strange men – June by an older Korean man and me by a South Asian man with a thick accent.

Man: Hello. Where are you from? Me: Umm, (looking to June for help, but getting nothing) Seoul. Man: Where are you from? Me: (realizing June has moved behind me) um, USA… Man: Are you from Transylvania? (ok, so he probably didn’t actually say ‘Transylvania’ but that’s what it sounded like) Me: It was nice to meet you (walk away). Thanks a lot June!

June and my feet - can you guess whose are whose?

Star spangled me.

All in all, it was a good weekend with good friends both old and new. Happy Independence Day all!

They call me "Melina Teacher"

“Teacher, what’s your name?” If one of my students had asked that question today I would not have been surprised, after all, this is only week 2 of our term. However, a girl asked me that a couple weeks ago… in week 13 of last term. Back in the States, students referred to me as ‘Miss Lawson’. Here, I am officially ‘Melina Teacher’, however some call me ‘Melina’ and one calls me ‘Melly Jelly’, but to most I am simply ‘Teacher’. And so it came to pass that after 13 weeks in which I memorized approximately 70 names, this darling girl still didn’t know the name of her teacher. *Sigh*

I'm bringing this one home with me in my suitcase.

This job has its ups and downs like any job, but I do love my students (even the ones who forget my name). Sometimes they drive me crazy, but they also make me laugh a lot and I enjoy working with them.

Would you just look at those hard workers?

Here are some things I think are funny: Whenever a student asks where I’m from and respond, “America,” they seem surprised. I’m not quite sure what they were expecting me to say… They love to abbreviate words, but it doesn’t always turn out quite right – It took me forever to figure out that “Aypuh” is short for “A+”, and I cringe whenever they call the “Thinking Project” “Think Puh” (Half the time it sounds like they’re saying “Think Poo”) I get asked almost weekly if I’m married or have a boyfriend (they obviously don’t listen to the answer to someone else’s question) and when I answer “no” I am repeatedly told to “Marry a Korean and stay forever” – I guess that means they like me?

Good team work.

Working at an academy can be difficult for several reasons, one of them being that a lot of what I do is teaching test taking skills rather than English, but it can also be very rewarding. I love letting them be creative during story prediction and the Thinking Project. Some of them give very normal answers, but others get really excited when they realize there’s no wrong answer and they can say whatever they want.

Got to love his octopus flying machine.

I also love watching students who have to repeat a level start to take leadership as they now find themselves a little ahead of most of the other students. They are familiar with classroom protocol and the methods used in class so they feel more confident volunteering answers.

The first picture was all straight-faced, so I told them I'd give them F's if they didn't smile... don't they look happy? ;)

Presenting their "flying machine" sandals.

I had to be quick to get even this good of a shot of his face! It might be the only photo of him in existence!

One of my favorite things is getting the quiet students to talk. I had a boy last term named Jetal. He was the kind of kid that, as one teacher said, when you asked him what he did last weekend you expected him to say, “Teacher, I killed someone.” He was very quiet, frowny, and just seemed generally unhappy and unengaged. So, in week 1 I decided that my goal for each class with him was to get him to laugh. I spent the next 12 weeks trying different tactics. At first, I counted it a victory when I caught a grin involuntarily flit across his face, but by the end of the term he was actually laughing and joking with me and other students. Success.

Birthday

I’m a 5 kind of girl. I’m 5 feet tall and was born on 5/15/85. This year I turned 25 and here are the 5 things I did on my birthday weekend:

1. Saturday began with brunch at Butterfinger Pancakes. I was joined by Muang, Lizze, June, and Natalie, making it a party of 5. I had delicious pancakes, French toast, eggs, potatoes, hash browns, bacon, and sausage and washed it all down with a banana milkshake. ^_^ They had to roll me out of the place, but it was worth it.

June, Me, and Muang.

Lizze and Natalie

2. Next, Muang, Lizze, and I met up with Pajai and went to the Seoul Museum of Art for the August Rodin exhibit where we saw 113 of his sculptures, including The Hand of God, The Thinker, and The Kiss. It was amazing. Lizze and I had fun making up our own interpretations of the works as well as listening to the audio guide.

(This is obviously NOT Rodin, but while pictures weren't aloud inside, there were some fun things outside.)

3. Getting home from the museum was an adventure in and of itself complete with getting separated, wrong turns, and dying cell phones. Once back in Bundang Muang and one of her friends, Lizze, and I watched movies until about 3am.

4. Sunday I went with Muang, Virginia, and a few of their friends to the Lantern Festival in celebration of Buddha’s birthday. There were booths for face painting, crafts, and to show how Buddhism looks in different Asian countries. I enjoyed seeing variations in culture and how each people group has taken the same ideas and made them distinctly their own, but despite the festive atmosphere I found myself saddened as I looked around and saw crowds of people embracing a false hope. I know for many the festival was about as ‘religious’ as Santa is on Christmas, but for many others, Buddhism is a stumbling block keeping them caught in a life of trying to earn what has been freely given.

Muang getting in touch with her roots.

At the Cambodia booth (In honor of Sudea).

These boys sang and danced then tumbled off the stage waving and smiling for all the cameras.

5. In the evening Muang and I met up with Lizze and Steven to watch the Lantern Parade (technically this is part of the festival, but I’m counting it as a separate event because it was so different from the rest of the day and because it just wouldn’t be as cool if I only had 4 events). The parade was beautiful and though the crowd was enormous, I think there were even more participants than spectators. I took lots of pictures, but most didn’t turn out very well. Though I love my little camera, night shots of moving objects are not her specialty. I also took a few videos which turned out better. At one point, a man from the parade came over and handed me his large yellow lantern illumined by a small candle. Birthday present?

All in all it was a great weekend with great friends, and, as Steven would say, it was “5-tastic”!

Pictures:http://www.flickr.com/photos/scribbledjourneys/

Videos:http://www.youtube.com/user/scribbledjourneys