Three Month Update

I am just a week shy of my three month marker.  I cannot believe time has passed this quickly!  On one hand, I knew that two years would fly by rather quickly.  In context, two years is just half of high school and half of university. As I age I find that time passes quickly... two years isn't half my life or even a quarter of my life or even an eighth of my life.  But on the other hand, I thought the two years would drag out... living in a foreign land, far from my family, missing important events back home, having to make a new circle of friends, a new job... I envisioned the first year to be very difficult and one that would require a lot of hard work, the results of which I would reap in my second year.  However, that has not been the case and I have been so extremely blessed in the job I have, the place I live, the people I am fortunate enough to know, and the church I am thrilled to attend.  I definitely did not expect my life here to be this easy by month three.

The best thing about being here is knowing that I am exactly where I am supposed to be.  Yes, I know that statement isn't specific to South Korea...  My joy would be complete if God had placed me in Mongolia or Kiribati or South Africa or Spain or Argentina.  However, I am glad that God made a place for me here in Seoul. I really love living in the city and capital cities are so interesting.  Aside from the ubiquitous hustle-and-bustle that identifies any large city, I am able to see the streets decorated for foreign heads of state, walk past the President of South Korea's official residence on a weekly basis, and meet a number of truly interesting people with diverse life experiences.  I think living in Seoul helps put the globe into perspective for me and that causes a paradigm shift which fascinates me.

The worst part about living here is not knowing Korean.  I loved living in Spain and visiting Costa Rica, Honduras, and France because I had a general to really good idea of what was going on.  I like being bilingual (though definitely more so in Spanish as compared to French) and I really enjoyed discovering that other side of my personality and identity when I had the opportunity to interact with someone in a different language.  While living overseas is extremely rewarding, I feel limited by my lack of ability to communicate in Korean.  I also don't really have the opportunity to learn Korean at the present time due to my schedule.  Hopefully that will change in the future!

More concisely (because there is so much more to speak of than the aforementioned two points but I absolutely do not feel like sitting here typing for the next several hours), here is a list of the top ten best things about South Korea and following is a list of the top five frustrations that come from living here...

My South Korean Top Ten
1. Being in the middle of God's Will
2. My church
3. My rewarding (yet challenging) job
4. My co-workers & boss
5. Mama's (my favorite restaurant in Seoul)
6. Seeing mountains every day!!!
7. Exploring Seoul and walking along the Cheonggyecheon
8. The view of the city from the 1020 route as it crests the mountain
9. Going over the Han River
10. Eating jimdak and shabu shabu

My Top Frustrations
1. Not being fluent (or even communicative) in Korean
2. Not having my gym or workout classes
3. Being so far from my family and friends
4. No IKEAs here (yet??)
5. Having to wire money to pay student loans and having a bad exchange rate when doing so

Next up is four more weeks of teaching before summer break.  I do have something going on every weekend until break and that is a welcome change.  Expect some posts on Wicked, my Montessori course, MudFest, and my first Korean wedding!