Foreigner Crossing

You know that awkward feeling you sometimes get when walking toward someone in an empty hall or on a deserted street? Those thoughts of ‘Where should I look,’ or ‘Should I say hi’? Well multiply that by about 57 and you have what I like to call “Foreigner Crossing”.

In Korea there are two groups of people: Korean, and Waygook – Foreign. And of the foreigners in Korea, most of those belong to two groups: Military, and English teachers. So when you walk down the street and spot another foreigner there is an immediate affinity – it’s like being members of the same secret club (minus the handshake). This can be kind of cool. I know that as I look around, any foreigner in my view probably has the same job as I do and experiences many of the same things I do.

But it can also be really awkward. When passing a random foreigner on the street, do I smile? Say hello? Just because I can? I don’t know this person at all, but there’s an unspoken connection that creates a sense of obligation. Being the friendly person that I am, I usually opt for the “Look-away-and-pretend-you-didn’t-see-them” strategy.

The worst is when you’re alone in an elevator with another foreigner. Hard to pretend you don’t see them then… (headphones are really handy in these situations). And living in Seoul, the buildings can get pretty tall. You could be riding up to the 50^th floor together. And as each number passes and the other person doesn’t get off you start to wonder things like, “What if we’re going to the same place? It’s going to be really awkward if we both walk up to the same door after ignoring each other for 50 floors.” I’ve had a few painful elevator conversations that I am sure where initiated by the other person simply to avoid this prospect. (“So… how long have you been in Korea?”… Seriously?!)

Now as I start thinking about going back to the US soon a thought crosses my mind – Will I feel an awkward obligation to greet every Korean I pass in the States?

A year at a glance

Almost exactly one year ago, January 2^nd 2010, I arrived in Korea for the first time. I walked into my little white box of an apartment and though, “THIS is where I’m going to live for a year?”

I’ve come a long way since then, and though I still have two months left, I thought it would be fun to briefly reflect on the past 12 months. So here are the highlights:

January: Arrive in Korea, SNOW, Deoksugung Palace, Festival of Lights, first “adventure in cooking” – Kimchi soup, discover GEM church.

Seoul Festival of Lights - carriage ride.

February: Changgyeonggung Palace, second “adventure in cooking” – Tres Leches, overcome by the ridiculous love of God.

I think I'm getting the hang of this Korea place...

March: Discover Insadong art galleries, first FC Seoul game, dumpster-diving, purchase an electric keyboard.

Toto Gallery - We had a really good tour guide.

April: Take the plunge with Korean bangs, take Lizze to ER, become proud mother of two hamsters, Easter – Korean style, Suwon Hwaseong Fortress.

The boys - so sweet... when they're sleeping...

May: Butterfly festival, paper festival, birthday – Butterfinger Pancakes and Rodin exhibit, lantern festival.

Butterfly Festival.

June: Cook American meal for Koreans, say goodbye to Muang, World Cup, another palace.

Watching the Korea game on the big screen at the Seoul WC stadium.

July: 4^th of July at the beach, Single cell at book theme park, learning to remember God’s faithfulness.

Does this really need a caption? All the others have one...

August: Children’s camp with church – I am NOT in control, but GOD is!, Namsan tower, try live octopus.

My favorites at the Children's Camp. Shh, don't tell.

September: Chuseok with Anny’s family, start Truth Project with some girls from church.

My Korean family for Chuseok.

October: Applesauce, trip with June’s kids from church, Autumn fortress, hike and clam digging.

After we got tired of digging for clams.

November: Apple festival, Sudeok-sa temple, try bundegi for first and last time, C&C park day, first Thai food in Korea – fork for the White girl, North Korea fires on South Korea.

Playing in the leaves at the Sudeok-sa temple. We're not very reverent...

December: American vacation and Michelle’s wedding, Christmas norebang, “gingerbread” houses, Christmas and New Year’s Eve with church family.

Christmas celebration with Truth Project Bible study girls.

God has been so faithful to me this year, bringing me through difficult times and providing me with great friends. I think 2010 will always remain one of the most memorable years of my life. I can’t wait to see what he has next!

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*