Friends!
Family! I can’t believe it’s been ONE MONTH today since I’ve been here.
Obviously I’m the worst blogger ever…but I’ve been busy! I’m now in the midst
of the third week of classes and feeling right in the swing of things. Most of
you are probably somewhere on the East Coast reading this, or not too far away.
Isn’t it amazing how I can be almost 6,000 away and communicate with you?
Where to begin? My 14 hour+ flight was long, boring, and thankfully—uneventful.
I arrived and had no problem getting through customs and was greeted at the
gate by my boss and two new co-teachers (a married couple from Liberty). I had
hardly slept or ate at all on the plane (the food was delightful…;), and was
famished and tired. We ate in the airport Korean style and it was delicious. We
drove to the restaurant which my boss also owns, and I was greeted
enthusiastically by several former and current students of the school. When I
saw all of them I must admit I teared up in gratitude and also sheer exhaustion.
This is it. This is now home.
Next we visited my apartment and dropped my luggage off there. It’s so
cute! It fits me perfectly. We then visited “emart” (think=Walmart) and I got
some essentials. I had a short orientation of the curriculum and school that
night, and I fell asleep, extremely jetlagged, at 3am. The rest of the week was
really chill because school was out and it was the New Year.
Dave and Christina, my co-teachers, were especially helpful in showing
me around and how to get to certain places. We did some shopping and exploring
that week, and the next week was Bible camp! The camp went great and it was
moving to see the students’ worship and prayers. The Word of God was read out
loud in English and Korean. (I helped read out loud in English.)
The
first week of classes was an exciting one: filled with meeting lots of new
faces, adjusting to the school schedule, and balancing 6 different classes each
day. I must confess that adjusting to Korean culture has been difficult for me.
Praise God the Gospel transcends culture and language! He has been breaking me
of some idols…but every time He breaks me He puts more joy into my life. It’s
often as simple as conversing with a friendly Korean in their broken English,
or seeing a beautiful Korean baby look into my eyes. A dear friend sent me this
video and I have made it my prayer:
My
phone plan allows me unlimited texting internationally but NO phone calls
($1.00 a minute! Eeek!). Skype me instead: mary.graves999
Holla at your girl! :D
Please pray for:
- · The church’s upcoming retreat
- · The students/teachers/student workers
- · Our school’s health—some of us are sick or nearly sick! L
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