The end is near!

I'm finally close to the end of my Fall Semester. I can't believe how much I have gone through with my family, and roommates. I can't even explain how God has changed me this past semester. This has definitely been the hardest year of my life, in many ways that I cannot even share. There have been a lot of hurts, a lot of tears, a lot of kleenex, and a lot of questions asked of God. He has been faithful to provide me with a few people who really care, and are there for me along the way. My family, my best friends, my counselor, and my coworkers are just a few of those who have helped to keep me sane these past few months. It feels like its been forever since Marisa's accident, but it also seems like it was just yesterday. Its crazy that its been almost four months! I'm so so so proud of my little sister, my parents, and my brother. Its been amazing to see how everyone has handled this situation, how we have relied on one another, and encouraged one another. Our favorite phrase to say to each other has been "I am not the enemy!" and its very true. There is a spiritual battle going on for souls, and God has already won this battle in the hearts of my family. I am very thankful for that. I'm also glad that I have been able to see my sister as she grows, gains back her strength, and influences others. Her heart is very big, and so many people have been able to witness this. While there has been a lot of sadness since August, there has been a lot to be thankful for, and I know that we can all say that this whole experience has been worth it. I'm definitely ready for Christmas break so that we can all spend time together and yet again, be thankful that we are ALL here. We are so so so blessed beyond words.

Too many things going through my mind makes for a lazy Sunday (:

Do you ever have one of those days where you're really happy, and content, but also just want to go on an adventure? Today is one of those days for me. I don't have too much studying or homework to do, although there are those little projects that I could get started on. Instead my mind is filled with what I could do after graduation. There are so many options and I just don't know what God wants me to do! And I have so many interests or places I want to see, cultures that I find intriguing,etc.

1) I would really really love to go to Europe. Somewhere like Germany, Austria, or Ireland. I don't know what I would do there. Maybe get my Masters? The rich history and beautiful land just calls to me. Also, many of the people are just honestly so lost,and I would be more than happy to sit down with a cup of coffee and talk about Jesus!

2) Ohhhh The Philippines. I've always wanted to go. I love the food, the language, the people, the islands. I've always been curious about where my dad grew up, and where my grandparents served for so many years.

3) Africa. My heart is there, and has been for a while. I want to go back so badly, but sometimes where you want to be isn't where you are SUPPOSED to be.

4) The Middle East. AHHHHH the culture which is so complicated yet I would really like to understand, the religion which is so so so interesting, yet very wrong and offbase, the people who are so welcoming, and friendly, yet also cautious and suspicious. I would love to just BE here, and it would be very easy to do so.

5)Korea. I didn't really like Korea...but for some reason I kind of sort of might want to go back. Its weird. I think the fact that I DIDN'T like it, makes me want to go back and give it another try. Maybe I could be a little more open, a little more understanding, and a little more relaxed.

Basically, I know what I want to do with my life. But there are so many ways to go about doing it. Nobody is saying "DO IT THIS WAY" or "you'll fail unless you do this first". I get to CHOOSE. And that's what scares me and also excites me. Its almost like there is no wrong choice.

There are really two different ways to think about it. The first way is that God has a specific plan, and you should figure out what that is. The second way is that God has a plan, but that He will honor what you choose to do to follow that plan. For example, God wants me to preach His name to the nations. Maybe He will use me in whichever nation I choose to go to. Its hard to decide because I feel like there are some people saying "you better make the right choice!" and there are others saying, "God will use you no matter what". I guess what it comes down to is if I feel like its right or not. God will tell ME what to do, not some random person. Now I just have to seek wisdom from the right people, pray a lot, and block out the opinions of those who don't really matter! Its going to be hard...but I have a while to figure it out, and even make some mistakes :)

The craziness that is my senior year!

AHHHHH LIFE IS SO BUSYYYYY!
1) I'm taking 19 units this semester. I love most of my classes, and most of my professors. Score! Its just really time consuming, but I'm loving what I'm learning so its worth it. AND IM GRADUATING A YEAR EARLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2) Hanging out/helping my sister. Its been an interesting challenge having Marisa here, and helping her with so much. I'm so glad that we do go to the same school so that I have the ability to help her with day to day life, as well as try to have some fun and adventures! Its been a rough road, but our whole family is learning a lot and I'm sure we will have grown from this whole situation by the time its all over.

3) Work :) I love the people that I work for, and with. I also love what I get to do every day, and everything that I am learning. Its just great. They have helped so much with Marisa and myself as we're adjusting to this new life of ours. They're also here to just listen when I need someone to talk to!

4) My lovely roommate Emily. She's awesome. She knows me, and when I'm sad or happy, and when I need to talk or just sit or have some fun and be random. She always helps out more than anyone else with Marisa which is so sweet of her and I know is a huge sacrifice. She's just so great, I don't really know what to say!

5) Free time...yeah...don't have much, but when I do its SUPER AWESOME that I have a car down here now. Her name is Lucy, and I love her to death.

These Hilarious Old People!

SO...
Marisa has been too sleepy to have me update her blog, but I just had to share some stories about these people in the rehab center!

So Marisa's roommate here is named Nanay which just means mother in Tagalog. She's Chinese Filipino..but her Tagalog is kind of broken according to most of the nurses here, and she can't speak English (A lot of them are Filipino which my dad has just loved since he can speak Tagalog to them and we get some free Filipino food!)

So anyways, everyone here calls her the Queen...for a few obvious reasons.
1) She assumes everyone here is her servant. For example: my dad made eye contact with her the other day and she called him servant boy and asked him to clean up the water on the floor. Then today I said "Kamusta po?" which is how are you to an elder, and then she said "Ayaw ko" which is like I don't want this or I don't like this and she was referring to her food, and asked me to get her something else!
2) She has to have her light on at night..gets super mad if you turn it off...and if you turn her tv volume down she freaks out!
3) she has this hilarious huge smile and kind of tilts her head back like she's a queen...its kind of cute actually.

Anyways, we're not that annoyed with her, its just really funny to us since every time we're nice or friendly, she assumes we want to do something for her..which i don't mind, but I do draw the line at changing her diaper! ;) And I'm enjoying practicing some Tagalog! Its so funny because when we ask the nurses to do something that she's asked us to do, a lot of the time they just take her out of the room since she might be trying to be difficult and not cooperate like with the TV and light.

There's this other lady who is just awesome. She has hearing problems and alzheimers. So she uses this wheelchair type thing and just roams the halls all day yelling "hi hi!" and she always wears pink and is super tiny. One day she yelled "hi hi!" to me because Marisa's door was open and I was sitting there. Well, Marisa was asleep so I put my fingers to my lips and said "shh!" and smiled at her. THEN (and this is the best part..dont think ill forget this face for the rest of my life) she got this evil scary movie look on her face and yelled "BYE BYE!" and it literally woke Marisa up and we both just started dying of laughter. it was awesome. and now we tell everyone about it when they come to visit and happen to see that lady. she's my favorite :)

Everyone is really nice here. A lot of the nurses say that Marisa is their favorite patient! For some reason, maybe its because of the angle with Marisa laying down or maybe its the boot that makes her taller, but they all think she's the oldest! And most of the Filipina women say how beautiful we are, and try to feed us everything under the sun (but it is a nursing home so the food isnt that great!) just because they think we're all too skinny. Overall, this is definitely an interesting experience and I think I'm going to miss these ladies! We might need to visit often :)

The End...A Little Sooner Than Expected

Well everyone, I am headed home on Friday. The parents of my students come tomorrow for an Ending Celebration, and then the kiddos leave. I had planned to stay until August 18, but due to family circumstances we all decided I should return home earlier. Yesterday my sister was in a three vehicle crash on her way to training camp for Cross Country down at CBU. Here's a link that explains some of it http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/08/10/california.collision/index.html

She is now in the hospital in Riverside, had surgery today on her broken femur, and a fracture in her fibula or tibia (I just know it was her "lower leg". She has a metal rod from right below her hip to right above her knee, but didn't need any pins in her ankle which is aweosme. She will probably be in the hospital for two or three more days. My parents are both down there with her, along with a bunch of my friends, coworkers, and people from my church in Riverside who have all been visiting on and off. You guys can be praying for her and everyone else involved in the situation. Obviously it was a big enough deal to make the news on CNN.

Today my students all wrote letters to my sister. It was so amazing to see a different side of them, and it was definitely something that I needed to see. One class spent thirty minutes of their time, were all completely silent, and had their American dictionaries and Bibles open. They handed me pieces of paper filled with words of encouragement, love, humor, wisdom, and a little info about Korea. The next class spent almost an hour and they filled their letters with the same things, but also wrote me letters as well. They requested that I waited and read the letters to my sister, and corrected any grammar so they wouldn't feel embarrassed. Some kids even bought Korean snacks to give to her at the hospital since "she must miss real food"...although I don't know how comforting Korean food will be, I'm sure its the thought that counts :) One of my girls, named Kate had some positive words to make me feel better. She said "Teacher, I know you're sad you can't go to Lotte World (Korean theme park) but your sister really needs you right now. And when she's all better, you can take her to Disneyland which is better than Lotte World! But teacher?" and i said "what kate (while kinda crying)" "Can you bring your sister to Korea when she's well again? I want to meet the girl we all prayed for...the girl that you love so much that it made you cry really loud and made you not smile for a long time. You smile so much usually so this is serious isn't it?" I told her "yeah Kate this is kind of serious" and she goes "Well, at least she's not dead right? Because when you cried so much, I thought she was dead."...there's not really much else I wanted to say. Except that God is awesome, and He has a great plan that none of us can see yet. pray pray pray!

Unexpected Diet

FOOD FOOD FOOD FOOD.

This is something that we are all constantly thinking about here. When I wake up in the morning, starving, I dread going to breakfast. Why? Because I'm about to eat white rice (I calculated, and I eat rice 21 times a week. Awesome.), chicken broth, kim chi, and maybe chocolate cereal.

Then for lunch I'm going to have white rice, some sort of soup, sometimes with fish, some sort of meat: fish or chicken, kim chi, and then other things that I cannot even possibly describe. At least one thing will be so spicy that your nose will run, or sometimes make your eyes water.

For dinner I'll have the same type of thing that I had for lunch. The biggest problem here is that you can't drink water during the meal, so if it tastes gross, too bad. The other problem is that the fish tastes like it just jumped out of the ocean. There is a cafe and a store on campus, but thats like going into a land mine. Our students, whose parents are sometimes twice as rich as my own parents, always ask for us to buy them candy, ice cream, and drinks. I've told them over and over that I'm a poor college student, but they don't seem to get it!

I'm really not trying to complain, or dwell on the whole food issue. Its just that my students spend their day asking me about food such as pizza, mcdonalds, macaroni and cheese, cheese in general, pasta, and taco bell. In the classroom sometimes I joke and say "what did you say? crunch wrap supreme?" "Huh? Cheese? Where?" and while I'm joking, I really do randomly think I hear them talking about food. And sometimes they are. At the dinner table they will say, "is this as good as a hamburger?" and I just can't lie to them, so I say "Well, they are good in different ways...." and for different people...Koreans really really love Korean food, and really really don't! Besides ramen :)

Jesus was in the room tonight!

Tonight we had a worship service instead of the usual study hall. It was definitely a welcomed change, and we prayed that the students would feel closer to God, and to us as well. We had the opportunity to pray over each student individually. It took about an hour to pray over each of my 39 students, but it was worth it in so many ways. First of all, God gave me a deeper love as I prayed for each kid, even the ones I have had conflict with. Secondly, the kids could see how much we love them, but more importantly how much God loves them. There were quite a few tears, which is VERY unlike the Korean culture. Even a few boys were crying. Since this school is an expensive school, many of the students are not actually Christians. While I prayed rapidly in English (Koreans pray quickly and loudly), I hoped that they would somehow understand what I was saying. For most of them I just prayed that God would protect them from evil, make them leaders, use their talents, and just guide them. I kept praying over and over for protection. I don't really know why, but many people have mentioned that they feel like there is a lot of spiritual warfare here at GVCS. I have seen it in the way my students fall asleep every day, constantly get hurt or ill, and more. After the service was over, two boys accepted Christ which was seriously so amazing to see. I've led people to Christ before, but there is nothing like spending 8 hours a day with a kid for three weeks, praying for him every day, and then seeing God work miracles in him all in one hour. I am still in awe of what God has done here tonight. Please be praying for strength and wisdom and steadfastness for these two students who made public confessions of faith, and for other students who are either still thinking about it, or just need a little spiritual encouragement.

LOVE

I've been trying to teach my students about love lately. They are very good at saying "I love you" whenever they want something, or whenever they are trying to apologize. I had a talk with them about how much I love them, but how they are not showing love in return by their actions. They keep being really disrespectful, and then saying sorry...and...I can't believe I'm saying this, but I told them "Sorry doesn't always cut it." Yeah, I definitely have been quoting my mother! :) Last week I even cried in class and told them that I'm saddened by their actions toward me and each other. It was kind of funny because that day they learned the word "weep" and so a few of the boys came up to me after class and said "Teachah weep?". I have been told that Korean teachers only show anger, never sadness, so although to me it was a sign of weakness, to them it shows them how much I really care about them.

Its now halfway through the third week and some of the girls are finally holding my hand and hugging me. One girl even gave me a back massage on the weekend. We only have one week left of class and I am already thinking about the end, and how much I am going to miss them. They keep asking me to be their teacher during the school year.

Something that is very interesting is how obsessed they all are with couples, yet they do not understand what love it. They focus on money, and education, rather than true love, between a husband and a wife, but more importantly with God. As I've talked to them about love and acceptance of others, I've been stressing that only God's love is perfect and pure. I found out that however many rings you wear on your fingers, is how many boyfriends you have. So they keep guessing who my three boyfriends are! And when I tell them that I don't have a boyfriend, they mention a cousin or uncle of theirs that might be available.

You can be praying for my girls here. As we've gotten closer they have opened up about how they think that I am beautiful. Every day I hear how they would love to have my curly brown hair, my green eyes, my nose, and the shape of my eyes. I keep reminding them that God created us all different for a reason and this world would be boring if we all looked the same. I have also been mentioning their features that I think are beautiful. I know this is the age where girls and boys are insecure, but this is like nothing I have ever seen. It is so sad to see that they want to change EVERYTHING about how they look. I've come to the point where I'm going to start copying my mom again and say that it hurts God feelings when I say I don't like how I look, since He made me to be beautiful and in His Image.

Also, my feelings have been hurt a little bit by the Korean bluntness. Kids have said that they think my freckles are ugly...so again I repeated a family member (my grandma I think) and said my freckles are angels kisses...but they didn't go for that. They asked if I could get them removed, and when I said no, they asked how many I have, and proceeded to count over 75. Then they estimated how many were on the parts of my body that they couldn't see! The girls also say "Oh teachah, no makeups today?" It feels like I am being constantly watched and scrutinized, even judged. Pray that I will not take it personally or close off my heart because I am being hurt by their comments about my appearance, and their actions related to school issues.

Lastly, please pray for my leaders, and that we would continue to have respect for them. They have been making some decisions that many of us do not agree with, and it makes it even more difficult having my peers be my leaders. One has been really selfish, and left us to fend for ourselves and find our way home from the city on the weekend, simply because she wanted to stay and shop longer. Also, some disciplinary things such as certain teachers, not even in my camp, going against the rules and giving kids candy when they are being punished or something. In that area, I'm really afraid of it showing my students that they do not need to respect authority, or even that what they did really wasn't that bad. Pray that I could be patient and keep my mouth shut when I need to :)

Troublemakers

For some reason my students have begun to be too comfortable with us! This weekend we spent a lot of time playing soccer, eating together, and going to the store together. When Monday morning came around, my students were going crazy! They are not obeying at all. So we are separating them even more and instead of having two classes of 19 and 20 we're going to have three classes of 13. Also, three of my boys have been literally terrorizing the younger boys in the dorms. I cannot really go into the extent of what they are doing, but it is like nothing I have heard of before. It is pretty scary how they are treating the younger kids. They now have to spend hours every day on the soccer field reciting bible verses, doing exercises, and standing in the rain. It breaks my heart that they are acting up so much, and by the extent of what they are doing, it makes me wonder where they learned this from. Please be praying that they would understand that their actions have consequences, and that they can change the way that they are treating others. Its so sad to see how they are wasting their time to learn English and get closer to God. Pray that I will know how to show them extra love while still showing them that they cannot keep terrorizing the other kids.

So many gifts!

Now that my students are getting to know me better, they are constantly bringing me gifts, or letting me borrow things. First a girl named Kylee gave me eyedrops because I had really dry eyes in study hall! Second two of my students named Kevin and JJ gave us their umbrella's when it was raining really hard, and just said we could keep them as long as it rains. Then today a girl named Jina bought me my favorite candy in the store when we were shopping together! I am so glad to see that by trying to love on them, they are returning that love as well. I've been attending their soccer games, eating with them at meals, hanging out with them in between classes, and more. At first they were very nervous, and would sometimes get up and leave. This is because usually it is very segregated between the teachers and the students. The teachers do not show love to their students, but when they live here most of the year, those are the only ones who can be showing them love!

Another thing I have been constantly bombarded with is how much the girls want to look like me, and how much they want to date an American boy. They never stop talking about my light colored hair, my wide eyes, the bridge on my nose, my thinness, and my darker skin. They stare at the American boy teachers and say that they are their "dream guys". I keep trying to affirm the way that they look by saying they are beautiful and God created us all differently, and that they shouldn't be so hard on the Korean boys. Just be praying that they will grow to love themselves and not want to change everything.

It has been kind of difficult with all of the new teachers here, and now their kids as well. There are 45 new teachers and 80 elementary school students. Because of this I have seen setbacks in my students confidence levels. They are so shy because of the new Americans, and the new Americans keep trying to talk to them, and force them to do things with them, instead of being patient which is only making it worse. Be praying that me and my students will get used to the changes, and that everyone else will adapt to the way that this school is run, and the culture as well.

Today all of the teachers had to perform in front of the whole church. We practiced for hours, which actually made us more nervous! We are probably going to perform every Sunday. We used body worship which is similar to praise dance, so even if they could not understand our words, our motions could explain it all. It really reminded me of all of those years singing VBS songs! We sang Lord I Life Your Name on High, which is a REALLY old song, but imagine how long worship songs take to get over to Korea!! (the answer is a very long time.) I could see my students laughing, but afterwards they said we did a good job and asked if I could teach them how to do that! I think that by all of that hard work, I was able to gain some more respect from them, and they could see that I was willing to look ridiculous for them!

Study Hall

We have study hall every night for two hours. The kids are required to go, so that means that the teachers are also required to give out a lot of homework! They always whine when I do that and say "ohh teacher, you don't want us to have any fun? you don't love us?", but I'll get in trouble if I don't give them very much, so I try to think of a lot of things for them to do. Last night it was my turn to oversee study hall, and they were not completely silent, but they were fairly quiet. I only had to talk to a couple of kids about being quiet. About 2/3 of the way through the class some of the Korean male helpers came in. They started taking the boys in the hall one by one. I peaked out and saw that they were making them exercise. They made them do pushups, sit ups, squats, and jumping jacks. A lot of our helpers have been in the army because every Korean male is required to do two years. I was so confused as to why they were in trouble, and it was making me very upset. Then after class was over, I had them organize the desks and pick up papers. After they left the room I started sweeping, but the men came in again and said "no teacher you need to leave!" very loudly. Then they brought in all of my students to clean the room. So I waited outside the building and thanked each of them as they came outside. They looked so tired because they are in class from 9am to 9pm. Please be praying that I will find a way to show my students love in the midst of all of this. Also pray that I can understand their form of discipline and get used to it. I know that this is because they are trying to get them to show me respect, and help prepare them for the army, but it still is so so different from what I am used to in a classroom.

I now know how all of my teachers felt...

I am officially finished with Day 2 of teaching! I only have two more days this week, and the I am attending a conference this weekend as well as resting up because the rest of the team (40 people) are getting here this weekend. So far it has been very quiet with only 40 students and 4 teachers. I love everyone that I am working with, and we have a lot of fun with each other as well as being able to help each other get better at teaching.

Orientation went really well. I was in Class B which is the lower level English class. It was really interesting to talk with the kids and learn a little bit more about the Korean culture. They get to choose their own American/ English names, and apparently get to change them constantly as well! All day long the boys and girls ask everyone else if they like their name, and ask for ideas of what to change their name to. One kid is named Pooh after Winnie the Pooh...He's obviously been to Disneyland! Another kid asked me if he could change his name from Rio to Edward. When I asked if it was because of Twilight, he blushed, and totally avoided the question. It's hilarious to me that they can do this!! So I pretty much have to memorize at least one new name almost daily. Another thing the kids are great at is sucking up. If they don't want to do something, they will say "OHHH teacher you are so beautiful!!!" Even the boys do this. They are also amazed by the tall and big footed teacher who teaches with me. They keep sneakily putting their feet next to his to see how long his feet are.

The first day was very interesting. Most of the kids are very very quiet in the beginning. If I ask for volunteers to answer a question, not even one will volunteer, even when I threatened to take away points! And when I called on students they literally whispered! It is getting better now. Also, one of my students named Julie kept falling asleep. This is like really really bad in Korean culture so I had to kick her out of class and tell her not to come back. Next time, I will have to make her stand during the entire class (1 hour). That will be interesting! Overall, they are very good at learning English and are eager to learn it as well. While they do try to be manipulative, it is apparently because Korean parents do not discipline, so the teachers are the only ones who do. I'm trying really hard to show them love as well as being strict. They even ask me if I hate them when I give them a homework assignment or make them switch seats. Hopefully they will see that I love them as well as want them to succeed in learning English!

My second day was much more smoothly run, and the students are soaking up the English. They are now more comfortable with asking me questions, and joking around with me as well. I am starting to see all of their different personalities, and love each of them for the individuality. I'm excited to see how God uses me, and them to teach me as well!

FINALLY HERE!

So I'm officially in Korea! Got here Saturday night which was Friday night for you guys. It was a long but great flight. I really wanted to sleep, but there were a lot of good movies so that didn't happen until the end. This was seriously luxury flying! We were given slippers, toothbrushes, and the worst part-wine. For dinner that was all you could have! I asked for water and they said no water for dinner, so I was really thirsty instead. Apparently there is something about it being bad to drink water while you eat. This makes it difficult when I'm eating food I don't really like, and I can't even wash it down with water! Haha. We had a short layover in Tokyo which was fun since I've had Japanese exchange students before and got to see some of the souvenirs that they've bought for me and my family in the past.

When we got to Seoul we still had to drive two hours to the camp. It was raining since it is monsoon season, but also since it is Korea it was SOOOOO humid! I think Korea looks a lot like Oregon with all of the green trees and hills. There are quite a few big bugs, and I dont know what they are which only makes it worse. Often we find them dead on the ground randomly, not even squished so I don't know what happened...creepy. We are out in the country surrounded by a graveyard, and fields of rice, and even a few cows and chickens. It is really peaceful though. Apparently, most people who live in the country are well off, but they are still looked down upon. The campus is very big and beautiful with even a turf soccer field, a cafe, a fitness center, and more. We are staying in the newest dorm building, with air conditioning and WiFi! We have people to do our laundry several times a week which is great since its so warm here that I'll go through my clothes pretty quickly. The food here isn't my favorite; there is a lot of fish, and vegetables that I do not recognize. I pretty much eat rice at every meal, and the broth from soups with spinach and seaweed.

Today is orientation for camp. Our students get here at 4:30pm and we will play some games and get to know each other. Yesterday we had to clean classrooms, organize everything, and meet the other teachers. It is interesting to be teaching English with Korean college students who can barely speak English themselves! They are all very nice though, and helpful as well. It will be fun getting to know them during the next four weeks of school. I have 39 students that are separated into three different classes. So I have three periods each day with breaks in between. These are students who have been accepted to the school in the fall, but cannot speak English well enough to survive in their classes.

So I decided something this morning. And don't take it personally...but America might not be as smart or advanced as Korea. I keep seeing these really cool cars that we don't have-even Samsung and LG have cars here. Also, MP3 players are wayyy better. I saw one where the headphones were the mp3 player, and there was nothing attached so it was a lot smaller than what we have. I am constantly amazed by what I see and I keep thinking "why didn't we think of that?"

WELL, I need to go to some meetings and stuff like that so I'm going to go now, but again thank you for your prayers, and check my facebook if you want to see some pictures!

The night before the big day!!!

Today I flew to Ontario where my roommates Emily and Katrina picked me up. We spent the day shopping for the trip, and eating good ol' American food at Panera, and Yardhouse. We loved having roommate time since I haven't seen either one of them in over two months! Tomorrow morning Katrina and I are getting up around 5:30am to leave for LAX. Yay for rush hour traffic in LA!! We will have a layover in Tokyo which should be fun, and yes, I did spend some time brushing up on my Japanese :) We get to Korea on Saturday, have orientation on Sunday, the kids have orientation on Monday, and we start teaching our 7th and 8th graders on Tuesday!!! Our camp is four weeks long, but the camps for younger kids are shorter, so only five of us are leaving now, while the rest of the team is not coming until the 22nd of July. I have gotten my teachers manuel, and finally feel a lot more prepared, and even excited for my journey to begin! Thanks for all of your prayers and support!

A little info on South Korea

Soo I realized a few days ago that I do not know much about South Korea! I remember researching Africa and Jordan for hours and days on end, and I really think Korea deserves just as much time and energy! So I started doing a little research, and here are some interesting facts that I hope you will enjoy!

1) Baseball is their #1 watched sport

2) South Korea has gotten more medals than any other Asian country, in the winter olympics

3) About 50% of the population is Atheist, 30% Christian, and 22% Buddhist. I bet you thought they were mostly Buddhist right? They also have the largest Christian church in the world (830,000 members)

4) South Korea and North Korea are not buddies. :/ Especially after this March (Korean warship)

5) Its really really hot in the summer, and humid, and there are monsoons...BUT it can get down to -20 in the winter!

6) Over 90% of the population owns a cell phone

7) Incheon International Airport has been rated the best airport in the world for four consecutive years. I'm pretty excited to see this!

8) They have a very high population density-487 per square kilometer, which is 10 times the global average. Also, the Seoul National Capital Area is the world's second largest metropolitan area (24.5 million people)

9) Chungcheongbuk-do is the only land-locked province in South Korea, and it is where I am going!

10) Their cuisine consists of a ton of fish, vegetables, meat, rice, noodles, and tofu. Kinda nervous about this, but I'll survive!

The beginning, and ending of my summer!

So I've been home for about two months now, and I have been crazy busy, but some amazing things have happened! I just finished my 9 units of summer school yesterday, and I am soooo glad to be done! It was really difficult, but also worth it, and I learned a lot that will even help me when I am teaching in Korea! (that is why my summer is beginning)

This next week is VBS so that is going to be really awesome, but really tiring as well! I am excited since this is what I've been preparing for at work for the past two months, and now its finally about to happen! After that, I'll just do a little clean up, and reorganizing, and then I'll be off to Korea! ...and this is the ending of my summer, since I'll be working from here on out! Its a good kind of work though :)

I leave for Korea on July 16th from LAX, and return to LA on August 18th. I'll be teaching English, and sharing the gospel. It will also be an interview of sorts to see if I want to return after I graduate for a full time teaching job. It would be a huge change, but also a great way to pay off those college loans!! After my Korea trip this summer, I'm going to stay down in Riverside, move into my apartment early, and also start work. It will be good to enjoy some of that California sunshine that I've been missing, and I'll get to see my family when they bring mine and Marisa's stuff down, so I will not miss home too much!!

Here's a link to the website of the school that I will be working for in Cheung Buk, South Korea. Also, I've given you a picture of some of my team members from CBU, although there are at least forty more members of my team :) http://www.gemgem.org/?menu_no=14

Prayer requests:

That God will use the staff and Christian kids at VBS to reach the unchurched.

That God would give me rest and strength so that I'll be ready for South Korea

That God will give me clarity and discernment to help decide if I want to return to Korea for two years to teach after I graduate.

Spring Break, Easter...and SUMMER!

Hey everybody :)

Since the last time I posted I've had several breaks from school and will be done with my sophomore year in less than a week!

1) SPRING BREAK-I decided to come home and surprise everyone! Only my dad, aunt, and a few close friends knew that I was coming home so it was really exciting to surprise my mom, brother, and sister! It was nice to have the short break and I was able to go to my brothers choir concert, their first track meet, go to a Blazers game with my dad, and spend time with my best friend :) It was a looooong drive though, and my friend and I drove straight through. It was my first time actually driving on a road trip, and I was sooo lucky to have the chance to drive through snow!! We made it there and back safely so I am glad for the experience and am also glad that I don't have to make that drive again for a while!

2) Easter break (which was only a week and a half later than spring break). Just like last year (if you even remember) I went home with my friend Trevor who lives in the Bay Area and we took my friend Holly as well. It was fun to relax, do tons of homework, and we even go to go up to the Sierra Nevadas and snowtube for a day!

3) Last week I went snowboarding for the very first time!!! I went with one of my close friends Melissa and it was so much fun. I was sore for three or four days afterwards, and still have a couple of bruises, but it was well worth the experience!

4) I have some pretty exciting news that you may have seen on facebook. I am going to South Korea for a month this summer to teach English at a camp for underprivileged kids. I am going with 11 students from Cal Baptist, and 40 students from Azusa Pacific which is one of our rivals down here. The awesome thing about this "mission trip" is that the government is completely paying for everything! So we will be teaching English which is what they are wanting us to do, but also sharing Christ with our campers. I am so excited to have this experience especially because I have been thinking about possibly teaching English overseas for a while after I graduate. In my opinion, it is exactly what I want to do with my life-live intentionally for Christ and reach people for Him, while at the same time being able to pay off my debt from CBU! So you can all be praying for me as I travel over there, and that I might gain some insight as to whether this is an option for me later on or not!

5) Im coming home May 3rd for summer break! I am so excited to get back into the Children's Ministry at Greater Gresham. VBS is earlier this year, so I will definitely have plenty to get started on as soon as I get back! I cant wait to get back into SEADS, and being with my kiddos at home. I also definitely miss my family and friends!! Marisa graduates in June so that is exciting, and Morgan is preparing to go to Africa this summer. I am basically really excited for what this summer holds for me, and my family!! See you all soon!

Love, Andrea

OOPS :)

I can't believe I haven't been on here in four months!! I am so sorry everyone!! I read my last blog and I am amazed at how much has changed in my life since then. So...here is my lame attempt at updating you all!

1) I have a job! I got it a few days after that post I think...I work in the Student Services office for the Dean of Students and the Vice President. I help with Study Abroad, the graduation planning and website, disciplinary issues, health insurance, and other things that I cant even remember right now. I am the only student worker so it has been really fun learning from my bosses, and doing new things!

2) I love my Sandals, my church that I have been attending this year. The church meets on campus, and while there are a lot of college students, there is still a good mix of all ages. I have been attending the college group on Wednesday nights since mid October. My small group only has one student from CBU so it has been really awesome to make friends that go to other colleges in the area! I have become close friends with a few of them, and love all of them dearly.

3) I am currently running a lot, in preparation for running several half marathons this summer! I love running, but with the risk of injuring my knee, and the constant pain, I have to have a goal to reach rather than just running for the sake of running!

4) If you haven't seen the news....RAIN!!!!!!!!!! My friend Holly from Seattle, and I were discussing today how we should get our money back from CBU, or sue California. Basically, we did not come to Southern California for rain!! So we have decided to go somewhere warmer, and sunnier than Riverside for Spring Break. We don't know where that is, but it needs to happen.

This is really all I can think of right now...I'll try to stay more on top of my blog so that I'm not trying to update you on four months of my life all at once!!