Kristin

Kristin is the little ray of sunshine in my week.  She's got a Korean name, too, but she generally goes by her English one, and, as always, I'm quite keen to protect the privacy of the younger people in my life.

I met Kristin through her brother.  He was a student at my school last year.  I met him during sports (read: field) day when he flipped over the handlebars of a bike, landing on another student.  I was the first teacher on the scene.  He was fine, but the next day he tracked me to my classroom.  I thought for sure I was being sued.  But no, he just wanted me to tutor his younger sister.  I agreed, very warily.  You see, I cannot accept money for any job I do here outside of working for the public schools.  To do so gives Korea grounds for my expulsion.  So I made it clear repeatedly: I will not be accepting money for what I was doing.  Her parents were uncomfortable with this, but they found ways to make up for it, mostly by way of food.

Kristin and I started meeting weekly, quickly going well over our allotted hour of study time.  I found myself thoroughly enjoying our time together, especially since she didn't really need much tutoring.  She had gone to an international school in Prague, where she had learned English.  Somehow, she'd managed to retain it, despite living in Korea for the vast majority of her life.  (Don't you wish you could learn languages the way kids do?)

One day, I don't really remember how it came up, we started talking about religion.  She had no idea what I was talking about, despite my attempting to incorporate the Korean words I knew on the topic.  To make my point, I told the story of my religion and my faith in Christ.  Halfway through, she understood what I meant by the word "religion," but, having had the opportunity to witness to her opened, I wasn't about to stop; I continued my story.  At the end, she looked me in the face and said,

"Is it okay for me to love [Jesus] if my family loves [Buddha]?"

I told her it was, and she told me that she wanted to follow Christ.  We prayed, and, from that week on, our English lessons turned into lessons about Christ and His teachings with the help of the Korean-English Bible my church had given me.  The Bible daunted her, but she was eager to learn the stories from me.

To be honest, I didn't expect her decision to stick.  I fervently prayed that her fear of her family finding out wouldn't overwhelm her (as she was terrified).  I found myself on my face, begging G-d to guide me on the right path and keep me from saying something wrong to her.  I asked Him to teach her Himself, and lock her into His love.

Weeks went by, and never once did she waver.  But she was scared.  Oh, she was scared.  So I made a bold move.  I invited her to church.

It was Shrove Tuesday, and the English church was having a pancake supper.  The pastor's daughter was the same age as Kristin, and I thought they would get along.  Figuring I could sell it on the English angle, I asked her parents.  I'm sure my face voiced all of my surprise when they agreed she could go. Even up to the last moment, I kept expecting a call to say she was cancelling, but it never came.  Her father even drove us to the church, promising to pick us up afterward.  I was confused, but I was happy, and even happier when Kristin and the pastor's daughter disappeared to go play computer games together.  Kristin had such a wonderful time that she ran up to her father when he reappeared and told him that she was planning to go to church every week from then on.  He was shocked, but he wasn't discouraging.

Her mom, however, was not in that same boat.  Her mom was clearly uncomfortable with what was happening, but she never showed me anything but the utmost friendliness and respect.  I feel bad about that, but I know that in the grand scheme of things, it's more important for me to make her uncomfortable at this point.

Then, things started to make me realize how entirely in G-d's hands the whole situation was:

• I bought Kristin a children's Bible story book in Korean.  She read it cover to cover every week without any prompting.
• I tried to explain simplified versions of things like the Trinity.  She corrected me.
• I found a pack of tarot cards in her room, and briefly explained what they were and what the Bible says about them.  She asked me to destroy them.
• Her mom consulted with a fortune teller about the situation.  The fortune teller said "it would be bad for [Kristin] to be allowed to keep her Bible in her room," so the Bible was moved.  The story book, however, was allowed to stay.

I asked G-d for help, and slowly started feeling like I should have her memorizing scripture.  So we made that move, and I couldn't believe the results.  Suddenly, her Bible had moved back into her room. She told me that her dad was helping her to memorize them.  At first, I felt like he was off-put by it, but within a couple weeks, she was telling me how much he liked the assignment.  In fact, he was trying to memorize them too.  I don't know if there's anything to read into that aside from the fact that memorizing English scripture resonates with the way that most Korean people like to learn English (memorizing phrases and conversations), but I'm hopeful, I'm amazed, and I'm excited to be part of this journey.

Vietnam: Mekong Delta

While in Vietnam, I mostly hung out with Danielle and her expat friends, but we arranged for me to take a couple of tours and do some things on my own while she was at work.  After my first tour, I was a little nervous for what I would see in the Mekong Delta, but, based on Danielle's instructions ("Make sure you bring me back some coconut candy!"), I felt confident that it wasn't going to be more war remnants.  I'm happy to report, I was very right!  This trip was much more relaxed, my only concern being my poor balance and my proximity to the Mekong River.  It isn't really the best thing for you to touch, so I was a bit worried about getting another parasite.  (The one I got in Nicaragua was quite enough for my, thank you very much.) I had a better time than I was expecting to, and I was really surprised to find how much I liked the coconut candy, so I think we can chalk this one up to a fun day.

On the Mekong.  I was super nervous the whole time, because I was at the very front of our low-sitting boat.  Every time I moved, the whole thing moved.

Looking out over the Mekong

A young woman wrapping the individual coconut candy pieces

We got to taste honey, fresh from the comb

Lunch was an adventure!  I must have looked nervous or something, because my waitress just went ahead and cut up my fish for me.  I get uncomfortable when my food looks at me while I eat it.

The last stop on our trip was to a pagoda with three giant Buddhas: The Buddha of the Furture and the Buddha of the Present, then the Buddha of the Past.

So, there you have it: a MUCH more mild day of touring in Vietnam.  Like I said before, I mostly just hung out with Danielle and her friends, so there wasn't much that seemed like a picture sort of occasion.  Therefore, this is the end of the Vietnam portion of my blog updates, but I did more than enough photo-taking in Indonesia to make up for it.  No worries. :)

Vietnam: Cao Dai Temple

For part of my vacation in January, I got to go visit my friend Danielle, who is now living in Vietnam.  Unfortunately, she and I did not end up taking any photos together, partially because the crime rate in Ho Chi Minh (where we were) is such that carrying a camera around wasn't the best of ideas, but mostly because that's the sort of thing that she and I frequently forget to do.  Nonetheless, I got plenty of other photos from while I was doing tourist-y things, so I have plenty to share with you.

Today, I want to spend an entire blog post on a stop that probably only took 30 minutes.  Outside of Saigon (AKA Ho Chi Minh) there is The Great Temple of the Cao Dai religion.  Cao Dai is one of the more interesting religions that I've come across in my travels.  It combines elements of Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism and even Catholicism, melding together to form a uniquely Vietnamese experience.  Central to the religion is the presence of vibrant colors, which you will see from my pictures.

Having studied the basics of all of the religions involved, it was fascinating to watch the Cao Dai service unfold, picking out the contributions from each, but, as a religion rather than an intelectual exercise, I found Cao Dai to be a bit hard to wrap my mind around.  I couldn't (and still can't) fully fathom how people could be so devoted to a religion that was willing to glean what it liked from any religion that came into contact with it.  I can understand a lifestyle that would do that, but a religion?  If the point of religion is to acknowledge something higher than the worshiper, wouldn't bringing in elements of the worshiper's own design be counter-productive?  Can you be fully devoted to a religion that isn't fully devoted to its own traditions?  I'm not sure; but these things were all on my mind as I photographed the temple.

 

Just a little life update... for once.

I don't think I've given you an actual life update since I got to Korea... maybe some snarky pretend life updates, but I'm going to buckle down and give you an actual one.  Why?  Because my other option is lesson planning.

My trip to Thailand really opened my eyes to
how mixed  Buddhism and Hinduism have become.

We kicked off this week with Buddha's birthday.  Now, a lot of my Christian friends have been pretty fired up about this, justifying celebrations as not being about Buddha and so forth.  Here's the thing, though.  Plenty of people who couldn't care less about Christ have no problem celebrating Christmas and Easter.  Not to mention, Buddhism had absolutely nothing to do with religion until it mixed with Hinduism.  Before then, it was just a lifestyle about peace and unity with the world and yourself.  This does not in any way, shape, or form negate Christianity.  Buddhism now?  Yes, it does.  What Buddhism was meant to be? No it doesn't.  And if you really want me to ruffle your feathers, I can take that a step further and say that Christianity now negates what Christianity was meant to be, too, so there's a whole lot of negation going on here.  Like I mentioned before, I didn't spend the holiday doing much of anything special.  I took the bunny to the animal hospital, then laid around on Monday, working on some editing for my story.  Pre-bunny adventures, the bun and I attended a cookout on the roof of our apartment building, which ended with a not-so-happy manager kicking us off the roof.  The general consensus is that, yes, fireworks are legal in Korea, but perhaps we should have taken them to a beach or something.

Writing writing, writing...
Also... I'd like to paint my nails that color again.

Tuesday was the usual post-long-weekend duldrum of wanting more vacation.  I need to hurry and get this "being a writer" thing moving... I think I'd really like that, to be honest.  It wouldn't matter where I lived or what else I did, so long as I met my deadlines.  How can you help me? (Because I KNOW you all want to help me... haha.)  Tell people about the blog, and watch for my name on a fiction series a couple years from now.  When you see it, buy it.  :) hahah.

Tuesday was also a flurry of preparations for the series of Skype calls that my 6th graders are doing.  Right now, they're studying how to hold phone calls in English, so I figured that this was a wonderful way to let them practice.  I had to make sure Skype was installed on all the computers, cameras and mics were working, and my callers were up-to-date and ready to go on info.  Even though I knew things would still glitch, I wanted it to be as glitch-free as possible.  What I didn't bank on were thunderstorms on the East Coast AND in Korea (no-thunderstorm central).  I guess that's how these things work, right?

The project that started it all: my fourth graders Skyping
with Jaimi and Sam.  (No, you didn't miss it.  I've just been bad
about keeping you updated.)

Today was the big kick off of the Skype calls.  It was definitely interesting.  The 6th grade girls couldn't get over having an American young man on the screen, so I'm a little tentative about how tomorrow is going to turn out on that front.  Of course, the men tomorrow won't have blonde hair, so it'll probably be a bit easier to handle.  Either way, I'm seriously considering a women-only policy for my higher grades.  I don't think that'll cause any stirs, since the boys aren't hormonally mature enough for that issue.  All-in-all, I think the kids did okay.  They certainly had some room for improvement, but my Thursday classes tend to be better than my Wednesday classes, so we'll see how that goes.  (Hopefully, I'll remember to snag some pictures on the sly tomorrow, too.  Maybe I'll ask someone to do some screen shots on their end for me?  We'll see.)

Today, lunch was incredibly good (and even came with cheese sticks!), except for this rice ball that made me nervous.

I ate this with my lunch today.  Look carefully.  Those little black dots are eyes...
apparently of fish that look exactly like worms.   I had to close my eyes to do it,
which one of my co-teachers noticed and may or may not be offended?
I don't know.  Either way, the fish/worms show up enough at school
that I should probably learn to eat them wide-eyed.

Today, I also got done at work early.  Apparently, on any month that has a fifth Wednesday, the teachers take off early to go hiking.  I was all set to go, but it was drizzling, so they opted against it, and everyone just went home.  Wouldn't you know it?  As soon as I got dropped off, the rain stopped.  Personally, I would have enjoyed either one, but they probably made the better call.  I'm too used to non-acidic rain.  But, I'll count it as a win for the home team.  You know what else I found out?  We don't have school on Friday; it's my school's "birthday."  I'll take it.

Day 01. Selfie.  No mirrors... just a fancy iPhone4.

Finally, I have opted to start the Summer of Blimey Cow Photo Challenge.  I'll be posting my shots on here, but I would love to see yours, too if you opt to do it, so find me on Twitter, where I will also be posting my shots.  (Or you can ALWAYS post links and things in my comments!)  We'll see how long I stay dedicated to this... and/or I'll just have some days that I'm posting a bunch of catch-up pictures. It is my blog, after all, so I can really just do whatever I want.

Have a lovely week, enjoy working on Friday, and pretend like I'm not actually mean enough to have just rubbed that in your face. ;)

Vacation: Natthida (Taeng)

My whole reason for this vacation, and especially for going to The-Middle-of-Nowhere, Thailand was to see this lovely lady:

My sponsor child - Taeng - and me, outside her home

I've been sponsoring Natthida (Taeng) for about five years now, and the story of how we got started is definitely one near to my heart.  Before Taeng, I had been sponsoring Raquel of Honduras for quite some time.  I had been wanting to sponsor another child, but I wasn't sure I could afford it, so I started hosting Compassion events, when I presented Compassion to churches or even concerts and festivals, trying to get children sponsored that way.  At the start of every event, I made it a habit of picking up every child packet and praying over them.  At smaller events, I'd try to get to know something about each child.  It made things feel more personal, and, as a result, it got more children sponsored.  But still, I couldn't shake the desire to sponsor more.  So I prayed:

 G-d, if there ever comes a child across my table who shares my birthday, I'll sponsor him or her.

And then I continued my habits.  I can't tell you the number of April 22nds and April 24ths that crossed my table, entered my hands, almost had my name on them, but then I'd think of my bank account and my deal with G-d, and I'd wait.

Then, once day, it happened - the packet was there.  Terrified, I put the packet on the table, and prayed a new prayer:

G-d, if this is what you want, confirm it for me: don't let anyone sponsor her.

A copy of the first letter I ever sent Natthida,
which was found in a binder, holding copies of all
of our communications.

But halfway through, I new I was being foolish and cowardly, and I picked up the packet, wrote my information on the form, stapled my money to it, and added it to the stack.  Never before and never since have I encountered a Compassion child packet that shared my birthday.  For some reason, G-d specifically paired Natthida and me.  In meeting her, I began to realize the magnitude of the amount of responsibility He has placed on me and the amount of trust He must have in me, because I am now one of the maybe 6 Christian adults with whom she has contact.

Me and Taeng

For a while, Taeng was attending church and writing to me about what she was learning, but that has stopped.  Her community being mostly Hindu and Buddhist, her family began to fear neighbors' reactions to her church attendance and have had her stop.  She now sells (delicious) deep fried pancakes on Saturdays (which is when her church met) instead.  She does not believe in Jesus' salvation.  For a while, I know she was ripe to believe, but now, I know I must redouble my efforts.  I hope you will join me in praying for her and her family as well as for me - that G-d will give me the right words to write to her to lead her in the correct direction.

Taeng's house.  There are two beds in the house.  Taeng and her sister share one bed, their mother sleeps on another, and their father sleeps on the floor.  If you look to the left of the blue present on the shelf, you will see that the only framed picture in their home is of me and my father.  (I won't lie, I started crying.) 

We went to the zoo, which turned out to be Taeng's favorite spot in town.  I really liked finding that commonality: we both really enjoy zoos!  We also found another commonality: we are both the fast-museum kind of people (unlike my father, who likes to read every word on every sign).

Feeding the MASSIVE fish in the lake near the zoo

Next, we made a quick trip Natthida's grandmother's house, where Natthida helps to make these delicious, deep-fried pancakes and walks around selling them.  She wanted to make some for me, a request to which my taste buds were more than obliging. 

Trying to find more common ground, I noted how this was similar to my job making omelets in college, which was answered with an invitation to give the pancakes a try.  Natthida was giving me instructions over my shoulder.  Apparently, she was impressed with my results. :)

Natthida's little sister kept trying to sneak into pictures, so we just welcomed her in.  I never figured out how the boys were related, but I'm assuming they're cousins.

with Natthida and her mom

Then, we went to the Big Pagoda (I told you the better pictures would make sense here).  The Compassion people seemed very uncomfortable, as they kept insisting that they were Christians, so they knew very little about it, but it's a huge landmark in Nakhon Si Thammarat, and they wanted me to be able to see it and be impressed with it.

It was right about here that Taeng looked over at me and said, "You skin is so pretty!  My skin just absorbs the sun, but yours reflects it.  You're kind of hard to look at."  I laughed and reassured her that in a couple of hours it would be bright red.  This intrigued her a lot, so she asked me to lie down in the sun and show her.  I politely declined and attempted to distract her by buying her things. hahah.  I'm so American.

Exploring the pagoda

Saying goodbye was definitely the hardest part of the trip - having to release this beautiful girl (who's already sick) back into the care of people who, although well meaning, cannot provide all the medical treatment/advice she needs.  She cannot get all the religious encouragement I would want for her.  By no means do I think I could provide a better home for her, but I'm so used to being the kid who takes over the project when I feel like it's not being done to the absolute best of it's potential.  I'm a micro-manager, and I can't micro-manage this.  I have to trust G-d.  I CANNOT be in control on this one, and that's so scary for me.

One thing I will always take with me, though, is the memory of the sound of this sweet child's voice as she called out her classroom window to me, halting my progression to my ride back to the hotel.  I looked up, and there she was, leaning out the window for a third goodbye.  Maybe she didn't specifically mouth the words, "I love you, too, and I want you to be safe, too," but I feel like they were implied.

선운산

This past weekend, I went on a retreat with many of the teachers from my school, including the principal and vice principal.  Needless to say, I was intimidated.  I had a suspicion of how things would go down, but I tried not to let my pre-conceived notions of Asian relaxation activities get the best of me.  Unfortunately, my pre-conceived notions, in this case, were waaaaay below the mark.  I had no idea what was coming for me.  In case you are unfamiliar with these rumors, there was a lot of drinking on this trip, and I will leave it at that.  But, not to worry, I stuck to my scruples and maintained my morals (how's that for alliteration... I've got to prove my worth as an English teacher somehow, especially since my spelling is not cutting it today).

Unfortunately, it was this weekend that my mind chose to alert me to the severely introverted side of me that likes to come out on the weekends.  (If you already knew that, feel free to gloat now.)  I'm still hesitant to fully label myself introverted, but I'm definitely seeing the tendencies.  So, the Friday night 2-hour dinner and 노래방 (Which is very nicely defined on this page after hitting control/apple-F and searching "norebang') proved to be my definition of stress.  However, the Saturday morning hike up 선운산 (산 means mountain, 선운 is its proper name) was almost perfect.  I would have preferred it to involve a lot less chatter, but I'm finding that my Korean friends have a lot to say.  I'm debating if that's a cultural thing or if it's a my-friends thing.  I'll get back to you on that if I come up with a decision.

As with many mountains here in Korea, the hike ended at a Buddhist temple, and I found my friends to be correct: once you've seen one Buddhist temple, you've seen them all.  This one was not nearly as peaceful as the other, though, and I was struck by how many Hindu symbols were all around.  I'm beginning to think that the two have gotten mixed here, as Buddhism was turned from a lifestyle into a religion.  But I'm no Buddhism expert; I'm just making an observation.


All that being said, I think my photos (which will enlarge when you click on them) can speak for themselves from here. ;)