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!!

My prayer

As I've been through my first month of school I've learned some things.
1) I have gotten a lot better at communication skills! It makes it easier to live with roommates, thats for sure!
2) I love my classes so so much. Most of them are right up my alley and are truly going to help me with my future career which is exciting. My two favorite classes are Comparative Religions, and Epistemology and Worldview. Obviously I love them because I love people, and I love to learn about people!
3) I love Jesus a lot and am content with Him as my best friend. There have been transitions this year with living in an apartment and not living right next to a lot of my friends. Its also been busier this year. I'm really trying to just focus on God and friends come second. I'm not hanging out with a lot of my friends from last year, but am instead spending a lot more time with God, and I'm loving it.
4) For some reason, I have missed Africa a ton. And here's where the prayer part comes in- I am praying that God will help me love my friends and fellow students as much as I love the people of Africa. There are days (probably about once a week right now) where I just want to jump on a plane and head to Africa! But I know that God has bigger plans than me, and if He wants me to jump on a plane, He will provide.
5) God blesses you if you bless Him. Sounds kinda weird but its true. If you are putting Him first, giving Him your best, and loving Him with all of your heart, He will bless you back. I don't have a job right now, yet I'm not broke and I'm not worried (I was for a while, but now I'm not). As long as I am putting God first, He will provide for me. I've switched to a different church this year, and the pastor has been preaching sermon after sermon about giving your All to God and seeing His blessings. People have given testimonies about how they have given up buying a house to give the money to God, or sold an expensive car to give the money to God...and I don't have that stuff or a job, but what I do have is time. So I'm giving my time to God by leading a biblestudy for freshman girls, and hanging out with international students. I figure, since I don't have a job, I've definitely got extra time on my hands, so why not give it to God? He has truly been blessing me through this. God is so great! Thats all I wanted to share with you guys :) Thanks for your prayers!!