Settled

I'm not sure how long it's suppose to take to settle down. I think it usually takes a month or so for a normal situation, sometimes even less depending on where you move to. But we moved to a different country with a different language and nothing in our apartment except for a comforter, couch, and a table. The first month I worked at the other church and never saw my family. The second month we finally got the bulk of the furniture we needed and I started to teach. I really started to feel connected to the church through all of the people I am teaching and the bible studies I am leading. I see a lot of people in church that I know through my classes and it makes me happy to feel connected again. I'm taking a one-on-one Korean class now so I can try to communicate a little better. It's one of my students from my conversation class. So far I can say: "What's this?, Is this a ____?, What's your name?" and the answers to these questions as well. I'm learning from the book that I'm teaching English with to my kids. She translates the English part to Korean so I have something to reference to and hopefully I can teach better, knowing the Korean and English words. Of course, since it's from a kids book, the form of the words are "impolite". So everytime I try to practice, which is usually on my students who are older than me, they correct me with some other conjugation saying that what I said is fine because I know them, but it's impolite to say the other to an older person without knowing them. I thought, "I'm pretty sure I won't be practicing my English on someone I don't know who's older than me." But I didn't say that because it's impolite. So, now we're in the third month and starting to feel a little more settled. Which I think brings on more homesickness. The food we miss a lot, but the comfort of home we're starting to miss more. I feel like we're settled here but it's uncomfortable to start to settle in a place that's not home. We moved to Tenn but we still came home to visit every now and then. Plus we had friends who speak English and we could hang out with. This little apartment is only so big, and we seem to stay here a lot. I really miss going out and doing things with other people, or just going out would be nice. My time to go out is walking to Lotte Mart or the local grocery store and taking a taxi back. Or I play basketball every Saturday night in a gym that I can see from my porch. It's nice to think of the money we save not having to go far to do anything, but we don't even travel 2 miles to go somewhere. We are going to Seoul this Thursday but it's for filming. We go there to work and then we come back. I think I just need to get my Driver's License here and start to drive again. At least I can get out of here every now and then. We are so constricted by Taxi and train, that we can't see everything we want to see. I don't know, I'm not really complaining but expression my thoughts. Only a few people read this anyways, thanks by the way. I can't wait for June, but I feel extremely guilty that Brandy and Chloe aren't going. I mean if Brandy wasn't having the baby, only one of us could go anyways because we can barely afford one ticket. But if I didn't have a wedding and Brandy wasn't having the baby, I would give my ticket to her because she's the one with a huge family who really wants to see her. I have a small family that wants to see me and a lot of friends who want to see me. That's why I feel guilty, because Brandy should be the one going back to America this time. She rarely gets out of the apartment because she takes care of it and there's no reason to get out except to get out. I walk everywhere but Brandy takes a taxi everywhere and since we're trying to save money, she doesn't use the taxi that much. I don't know, we need prayers. Pray our duplexes rent out and it all works out, pray for us and our homesickness, and pray for my travels; that everything will work out.
P.S. We're not extremely homesick, it's just that Chloe misses her grandparents, I miss food, friends, and family, and Brandy misses all of the above. But we're not crying about it or anything, Chloe might be actually, but Brandy and I are fine and we're glad we're finally settled.

Hangul Concerto in Deutsch

Well, if you love concerts then you should have come to our night service this past Sunday. We had a wonderful performance by one of the top organists in Germany, pastor Yi Sun's daughter. I actually don't know if she's one of the top organists in Germany but I know she's pretty good because I just saw her perform. I'm not a big fan of organs actually, but everyone in the church seemed to enjoy the performance. I really enjoyed the performances by the pianists. I like the piano a lot and she really rocked the house with some intricate pieces. They also had a string accompaniment with the organ that actually complimented each other to give you the feeling you were listening to a choir of angels. Maybe not a whole choir, but maybe a quartet of angels. All in all it was good and long. It gave me and Brandy enough time to read a couple of chapters from our books. We read books during services because we don't understand the language and it's better than playing games on our phones. I already finished The Five People You Meet in Heaven and now I'm half way through with Blue like Jazz. I would recommend the first book to about anybody. It's a short read and great story that you can really relate to. The book I'm in now started off a little groggy, like stumbling through a jungle of political caucus and complaints about the church. That was only the first 15 pages or so, and is now answering questions that I haven't even thought about asking yet. There's one chapter that just blew me away about the idea of a confession booth. Anyways, we're still doing good and still staying busy. Oh, I added another video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkL8u7fLosA

TP

Who gives a crap? Well, Koreans do. They use toilet paper for everything! Need a tissue? Here's some TP. Need a napkin? Here's some TP. Need to make a counterweight for the elevator? Here's some TP. I find it funny that they seem to use this simple commodity for about anything. I think they're trying to save the environment or something. Crazy idea, right? But it seems they've put a limit on the things they have here. Cars are regulated on their emissions, you pay as you trash, and you can use the ditch for a port-a-potty to save on water. We're not supposed to flush TP down the toilet, but we do (don't tell anybody though). I just think it's stinky enough using the toilet, let alone leaving the odor in your trash can. But it's a good thought on saving the whales and stuff. I just wish they would put their thoughts of how to save the environment and focus it on how to lower grocery cost. I know this is new idea and all, but I was thinking that we should open our borders and trade a little. We could start with the small fish like China and Japan, then move our way to Hong Kong where all of the good stuff really is. It's a simple idea, I know, but I really think it will work. That reminds me, have you ever had a street lamp in your window while you sleep? Try a 300 ft metal Christmas tower with a lit cross on top. I think the view from the 4th floor is marvelous, but you have to have some pretty thick shades to keep out the light of Jesus. Corny, I know. Enjoy the movie and remember to give a crap.

Cell Phones and Independence

We finally got our cell phones! Everyone knows that already but I just wanted to say that again because we're so excited about them, especially Brandy. The church wants us to see something about Korea every Thursday this month so we went to Independence Hall this past Thursday for about an hour and a half. We got a guide who speaks English, even though I didn't want one because most things are written in English and I've already been here so I wanted to be the guide for Brandy. But Evangelist Yu insisted on a guide, who happened to not know so much English and the tour was probably one of the most boring experiences that Brandy has had since we've been here. She mostly dealt with an exhausted Chloe or talked about how hungry her and Yu's wife were. I, on the other hand, was very interested in what the guide was saying even though she would ask me many times what the English word was that she wanted to say; so it was more of a joint English tour guide. We help her with English and she helps us with the history. Anyways, the museum is government sponsored so it's about $2 to go there but it's huge! There are six museums, each with their own part of history. We only had time to go to 2 museums because the ladies were hungry and the kids were tired. We then went to a restaurant that served bibimbop. The restaurants work like this: the restaurant owner finds a food they are good at, then that's all they fix. So most restaurants have a short menu because they only serve one main dish and some small side dishes that taste delicious. Although Brandy and I weren't too impressed with the bibimbop, but I think it's because we're not impressed with rice, vegetables, mushrooms, and that's it. Brandy's first taste of Korea in a Korean restaurant and it was so bland. But, we had fun with Evangelist Yu and his wife. We then ventured to E-Mart and got Brandy a table, dishes, and a lot of other things that I had to dig deep into my pocket to pay out. You should have seen how happy she was when I let her buy the dishes she wanted though(1950's yellow, green, 7 red on all of the dishes. I'll try to put pics next time). I also bought the furniture for the apartment that we needed and it should arrive today. Brandy is ecstatic about all of that arriving today. She even slept in this morning so she would have enough energy to tell the movers where everything should go and finally arrange the house the way she wants it. Of course when I get home I expect the movers didn't put it "in the right spot" and I'll have to arrange it the way she wants it this month. Next month Carol can rearrange it for March. Now all we need for this month is lamps and that should do it. We will buy more stuff next month, but for now, she's happy (Brandy that is). One interesting note before I go; Pastor Kim said it's not custom for children as young as Chloe to have their own room. He'll be really surprised when we put the baby in her own room after a few months. :-)

Seoul

We went to Seoul yesterday with Pastor Kim. First we went to the Cancer Treatment Hospital so he could visit someone in his cell group. We just waited in the car while Chloe slept. Then we went to a large bookstore in Seoul called Kyobo. This is a popular bookstore which are throughout Korea. We even have one in Cheonan, but it isn't as big as the one in Seoul. So I got some books to use for teaching English and also some books to read while I'm here. We also got some books in English for Pastor Kim so he can practice his English: The Shack, Heroes, and The Giver. He is excited to read these books because he doesn't have any like these yet because he didn't know which ones to buy. Chloe also got another book, I'll give you one guess at what it is. That's right, another Princess book. This one is in English as well. We already have a Korean book dealing with Fairy Princesses. I hope she doesn't grow out of this stage anytime soon because everything we have is princess. Maybe she'll grow out of it just as the other little girl is growing into it so there won't be any fighting over whose princess is whose. We also saw the Blue House which is the equivalent to our White House. It is very big and traditional looking. We went to the top of a high mountain (bookachsan, north mountain) and you could see Seoul for miles, although it was a little cloudy. The city looks like a little Lego set. Every building stacking higher than the next. We ate at Subway, which is so not Korean. We asked for Korean but Pastor Kim was tired of Korean I think and really wanted American, so we ate at Subway. I think it was a good idea because Chloe was starving and ate a whole 6-inch sub by herself. Wow! She's beginning to be more like her daddy everyday. Today, Brandy said she wants to venture out on her own and actually go to the grocery store by herself. I hope everything goes well with that. We still don't have our cell phones yet, but maybe tomorrow. We tried to get one last night but we couldn't figure out what an internet phone was so we decided to wait. We had a fun time walking around this BIG city, but it was a little too crowded for me.

Seoul Visit

A video of Chloe

Here is the video for the grandparents. I hope you enjoy. We got snow on Saturday and Sunday. When we woke up everything was white. The mountains look glorious with the white covering the trees like blankets. The sun looked like it was coming in from every direction because the snow was like a mirror. The people here in Cheonan said they have not seen snow like this for sometime. It even snowed while it was sunny.

Holiday

We've been out of commission for a little bit because Korea just celebrated their New Year, which means I don't go to the church and get internet access. The church took Monday and Tuesday off but most people took Saturday through Tuesday off. This is their big holiday where they actually take a break and visit their families (kind of like our Christmas). So, Brandy and I had absolutely nothing to do. Since Chloe had a mild cold and somehow Brandy got it, they stayed in the home. I wanted to do something so I walked to a part of our town to look around and stretch my legs. This video is just pictures I took on my journey through the town and that day. Today we're back on schedule and working a little. Really I'm just planning for my curriculum for English teaching that I must present to the Senior Pastor at some time. Brandy is staying at the house still, meeting all of the wives of the pastors and taking care of the house and Chloe. Sooner or later she'll get up the strength to actually go out on the town on her own. She's still a little timid when it comes to that kind of stuff. I've gone out on the town twice by myself but I want to do a little more journeying soon. I've only visited a part of our town and I want to visit the rest. This is the fun part of being here and being foreign. As I walk down the street people stop and look or whisper to each other about me. I feel famous sometimes and at other times infamous. Either one I'll take because I'm a celebrity. The only person who steals the show is Chloe. The Korean people here are fascinated with her. She is so cute and white and little. People, young and old, flock to her and touch her (she doesn't seem to like that part), and they give her things like balloons. She is treated like a true princess. The next post will probably be mostly for the grandparents because it is Brandy's Flipvideo stuff that is only about Chloe's daily process of things and the messes she gets into.
Don't play this through the YouTube page because the music is copyrighted and it won't play.

A little excited and stressed

This is about how my wife looked tonight as we did the finishing touches on packing for our trip to Korea. We have 6 luggages to pack and 4 of them are over the 50 lb limit. I felt like we weren't taking that much but now I feel like Americans who take everything with them. It's hard because they don't have anything our size so we have to take everything we think we will use because we can't buy anything over there that's in our size. They don't even have shoes in our size. The good thing is that our daughter is still small enough to fit in their children clothes so we don't have to take a hundred outfits for her like we are for us. Hopefully we can sleep tomorrow on the plane because we're going to need it or we might remain to look like this -->. We have a 15 hour flight to look forward to. A long flight where we leave here at noon and arrive there at their time of 5:00 pm. It's like we lose a whole day on a plane. The problem I'm going to have is trying to not watch all the movies they have and actually catch a little shut eye. And we have to get our little girl to go to sleep twice, one for her nap and the other for her night sleep. All of this is going to be challenge but we have to do it because we can't just jump out of the plane, can we? I'm going to miss a lot of stuff when I leave: family, friends, and UGA. I'm really going to miss Frisbee. Well, I'll keep you up to date later, got to go to sleep so I can get up bright and early at 6:00 am.

What's going on? Is this how it works? I'm moving to Korea and I can't wait to play basketball because I'm the Korean Shaq of Korea.