너무 너무 아파요~~neo-mu neo-mu a-pa-yo~~

너무 너무 아파요~~neo-mu neo-mu a-pa-yo~~very very sick. T.T

...So for the last 3 weeks and counting, I have had this running cold. The first couple weeks it was just a little cough and congestion....then, after 2 weeks, it turned into a REALLY sore throat, fever, SUPER congestion and sinus problems, coughing, blowing my nose constantly, losing my voice, and not being able to breathe well. Sounds great, I know. Just when I thought it should be over, it just got WORSE. I finally went to the doctor Monday. I figured it was just a cold, and 'what could a doctor do for me, really?'...but I went anyway because after feelings REALLLLY bad on Monday AND being at school teaching all day (while my CT and I BOTH didn't have voices too!~~Interesting lessons, needless-to-say), I decided that if I was going to get through the rest of the week and still teach, maybe going to a doctor couldn't hurt...and here is my experience at a Korean doctor's office:

Walk right in. Hand them my "insurance notecard thing I got from the school" (just a piece of cardstock paper that I only have to show once. It is not like in the US where you must carry around an insurance card. My CT told me that those are even just for foreigners. Koreans don't even need to show anything. They just show up at a hospital, and the information is there. Man, Korea has it down!) Anyway, after they check it and my ARC, I am told to go to the actual office of the doctor. It's not like a US office where you sit on your hospital bed of crinkly paper and wait for them to check your vitals. In Korea, it is like walking into a business office. I sit down across from the doctor's desk, and he asks me questions. I tried by best to get across what was going on (being as though I had no voice). He thankfully spoke some English and tried to help. He was very kind, at least. One of the first questions was to ask what's wrong. Then, why am I here. I thought to myself, well, hmmm, did my coughing and lack of a voice, fever, and congestion NOT give that reason away? Um, because I'm sick?? I wasn't sure what answer he was wanting so I simply tried to say that my friend told me to go there. The only "medical check" he did was to take my temperature. Other than that, he didn't check my heart/lungs/ears/nose/troat.....nothing. And then he said, "Ok, I will give you this paper to get some medicine."

Ok...how do you even know what is wrong without checking? How am IIIII supposed to be my own doctor, and you just trust what I say and believe me? So different, let me tell you. Ohhhh....but it gets better. I walk back out to get the paper and pay. In Korean, he tells me 500 Won (~45 cents!). I knew exactly what he said, but I said, "What?!??" (in Korean) with a confused look and my mouth hanging open (I mean really??!!~~~How can it only cost 45 cents to see the doctor??? CENTS??!?!?!) So they proceeded to say it in English. I responded in Korean how yeah, yeah, I understand~~it is just really, really cheap!

I take my Rx to the pharmacy and pay a mere 5,000 W (less than $5.00) for my medicine. I was given the typical Korean packets of meds (picture to come) to take 3x/day for 5 days, along with cough medicine. I proceeded to go home, take the meds, and go to sleep.

It was not until the next day that I thought to myself, 'Oh, that's weird...they never asked me if I was allergic to anything. ...and I have absolutely NO idea what this random pills are in these packets. That's weird.' (This was after taking 2 doses of it already.) I was so sick Monday night and loopy off of the decongestant I had gotten over the past weekend in Seoul that I had not really thought about that little problem until AFTER taking the meds. ...and taking these meds didn't help either. They make me drowsy and a little out of it. ...but when it was all said and done, when I got to school, I asked my other CT if she knew what the pills were. She called the pharmacy for me to find out what was in them. Turns out I WAS allergic to the Codeine in the cough syrup, so I quit taking that. Thank goodness I had not had enough to do anything. If it had been Sulfa, I MAY have had a little problem. Thankfully, it was not.

...And so here I am~~it is Friday, and I am still not feeling well. I am definitely feeling better than Monday, but still sick. The doctor told me that if I didn't get better after these 5 days of meds, I had to go to a bigger hospital. (Oh, I should stop here and explain: in Korea, going to a doctor's office is called "going to the hospital." There is not the distinction we make about just a doctor's visit and a hospital visit.) I wonder if I will go to a bigger hospital. Maybe if they are open Sunday evening, but I am so busy this weekend toO! Saturday I will leave early to get a train to Daegu to go to an Asian Pop Song Festival!! Woo hoo!! ~~~And my "boyfriend's" band, Beast 비스트, will even be there!!! Ahhhh!! Too bad I can't scream! But I am so excited nonetheless! This is a Pop Festival of Asian Pop Stars from Korea, Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, China, and Hong Kong. It is sure to be awesome! And best of all~~it is FREEEEEE!!!!!!  (As a side note, I was super sad yesterday that T-ara and MBLAQ and Everland all came to Indong (my neighborhood in Gumi), OF ALL PLACES, and gave a FREEEEE CONCERT LAST NIGHT!!!! The one time something cool ACTUALLY happens in Indong, and I am in Daegu for Korean classes. Oh well, maybe sometime something cool will happen again....maybe.

Address!

Hi all! I don't have much time to write because I am actually about to head to my Saturday classes. This will be my first time teaching 1st/2nd graders on Saturdays...AND it's by myself! Goodness, gracious! These kids are so young they're still working on their Korean, muchless knowing ANY English. This will be fun. I guess I'll have to cave in and whip out some Korean for these kids. ^^ Oh, and did I mention, I also found out yesterday that a guy from the POE (Provincial Office of Education) is coming to check out the Saturday classes at our school???? If I wasn't already nervous about just teaching 1-2 by myself for the first time, I get that lovely surprise! >.<  But I know God is good, and He will be merciful to me. He is good in so many ways. He has provided me with a loving Church family, as well as other believers to encourage me/for me to encourage. I will also have to share in another blog post soon about God's amazing work with opening the door for me to go to the Philippines to work at an orphanage there over the Christmas holiday. I really have been blessed with one of the best schools in Korea, let me tell you. You just wait until I tell you the amazing work that happened there to allow me to reach these people in the Philippines. ^^


Well, before I head off to class (which will be ending with an ice cream social after they sum it up with practicing colors and numbers on ice cream scoops to make one big ice cream cone to display), I will be heading to Busan for a weekend of relaxing on the beach and hitting up a jjimjilbang and trying out the famous Fish Market. Ohhhh....and our first experience meeting up with fellow CSers (Couch Surfers). Can't wait! 


Final point, and the main point I wrote this post was to finally remember to post my ADDRESS!!! I posted it in my profile's About Me section. Also, if you want mail sent to you (and I would LOVE to send mail!)....PLEASE EMAIL ME YOUR ADDRESS (use the email on my profile!)!!! ^^


I will also post my address here: 




Indong Elementary School
#400 Inui-dong
Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do 730-320
South Korea

I don't know a stranger

Can you believe it?? Two posts in a week?! Maybe it will be a trend??? Lol, keep crossing your fingers on that one. ^.~  I have a little extra time before I have to head to school, so I thought I would share a little from my last night's adventures...


So, my friend, Erin, who teaches in Sang-mo dong (in Gumi, too) was going to try and come out to Indong again. As we had somewhat figured out the bus schedule/system (thanks to some help from both our co-teachers (CTs)), she made it here! We were on a hunt to get her a cell phone. A lot of people have been having a hard time getting one yet since we don't have our actual Alien Registration Cards (ARCs) yet. We have all applied for them now, but it will take some time to process...until then, most cell phone stores (from what I have heard) will not issue cell phones. I, for one, found this strange since so many of us got pre-paid phones in Seoul (some of my friends only staying for 5 weeks).  It might have been because it was Seoul and they have more "global" stores/get it a lot more? Either way, I was DETERMINED to get her a phone, no matter what KIND (even if it was just a pre-paid one and not a smart phone), by the end of the evening. I was armed with my minimal Korean and my cell phone dad's number in case we needed reinforcement lol. 


First store I pick out, I walk in and start attempting my Korean, and the next thing you know, we walk out of the store with some new friends (teehee, I'll be back for my iphone 5 from him in October! Weeeeee!!!! yay!!!!) AND a new smart phone for her! SUCCESS!!!


And theeeeeeeen~~~~~


By this point, it's after 7pm, and I didn't want her to have to make the trip back to Sang-mo without eating, so we decide to walk around downtown Indong in search for a good restaurant. We both decide we want noodles (yay!!! I've been DYING to have mul naeng myeon~~cold noodles~~since the last time I had it in Seoul. Seriously, I thought Bi bim bap was my favorite food (and I told all my students this too), but now I am reminded that there is NO WAY naeng myeon can be second place. Bi bim bap doesn't hold a CHANCE against naeng myeon~~it's just sooooooo good! My FAVORITE!). Sooooo....I figure~ I don't really know any restaurants around here, so what better way to find the best place than ask a local, so I walk up to some guy in the street and ask for where the best naeng myeon is, and he proceeds to walk us around to find one. Find out he works for LG (Gumi is the city of factories~~Samsung, LG, and some others are all here...just to let ya know since I haven't made the post about my city yet), and he has only been here for 5 months, so he is not too sure of the best place, but he says he is determined to help us, and since Gumi downtown is not too big, it is certain he can find a good one. Woo hoo! Another new friend. ^^ And he DOES find us one and we are SOOOOO happy! And the food was ABSOLUTELY delicious! I'm pretty sure I could have been drooling all over myself at this point. haha


And you know, I really don't think I know a stranger. .... because there I go again~~ Start talking to the store owners there and make some new friends. They knew a little English, so pairing that with our basic Korean, we had a simply wonderful evening. Great food (they even gave us some yummy free mandu and then my yummy favorite Maxim Mocha Gold coffee to end it off), great conversation, and great new friends. It was so cute, the owner even offered to make us some hamburgers hahaha I didn't get why, but it was cute nonetheless (Oh, I should preface this by saying this is naeng myeon shop, and they literally only serve 3 dishes~~mul naeng myeon, bi bim naeng myeon, and the mandu...so I didn't even understand what he was saying when he said he could make hamburgers lol).  my new FAVORITE restaurant in Indong...will be back to visit again, for sure. ^^  (I will have to add pictures for sure sometime~~next time I'll take some. ^^) 

A Tale of God's Faithfulness

Ok~~so I have not updated in so long, and I have soooooooo much to tell~~from my trip to Japan to EPIK Orientation in Jeonju to my first week as a teacher. I do hope to get to these things soon (except for Japan~~those notes are on my ipod, and it is unfortunately broken at the moment).....BUTTTTT.....I HAD to interrupt and write this post about God's faithfulness.


I have had one of the most wonderful and merciful days today, and it is completely due to the Lord's guidance, mercy, and blessing. I started off by going to an English service at a Korean church in downtown Gumi (about 15 min drive away from where I am in downtown In dong). Another foreign teacher and I were going together, and we did not even know how to get there, and it was quite a feat trying to get the information on the church from her co-teacher. We were not even sure the name of it until about 30 min before it started. Buuuuut~~~trusting in the Lord's faithfulness, we took a taxi (and he knew where it was, thankfully, even after trying to get us to call our friend for more information, with no response). Satan would have liked us to just go back home and "try" again next week when we had more details such as a bus to take, service time, etc. Honestly, neither of us had been given our entrance allowance of 300,000 W (a little under $300.oo) yet, so we did not even have the money to spend on a taxi. BUT, trusting in the Lord and realizing that He would bless and honor our obedience and provide for us ("I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want."~Phil. 4:12), we spent the money for a taxi and made it there. It was a blessing to be in the house of the Lord. Although it was much smaller and different from the worship style of the service I attended in Seoul, it was still a blessing to be able to worship God and be surrounded by fellow believers.


After this English service, my friend went home, and I stayed for the Korean service as well. I made a couple new Korean friends there. And get this....once again, I met a Music Major!~~this time a Vocal Music Ed major. God is so good! It was hard to sit through such a long service while they were speaking SOOOOO fast in Korean~~although it was cool that I could understand some of it -.~ There were four new people to the service today, and we all had to stand up in the front and introduce ourselves. I was the only foreigner (go figure haha), but every was kind as I tried to speak in Korean, telling them who I was and what I did/where I taught. After our introductions, the whole church sang a song of blessing and welcoming over us. It was sooo cute and heart-warming! <3 Then, I met a few more people after service, and I cannot wait until I go back in two weeks (because they don't have service next week because of Chuseok (like a Korean form of Thanksgiving. I'll do a later post on that for you all)~~why they don't have Church because of that, I am still uncertain about, but I guess I'll go with it. 


Anyway, after church service, one of my new friends, Gloria (the Vocal Ed friend) and her boyfriend drove me back to In dong. Her bf is also a Vocal Major and even has his own Academy~~how cool! Can't wait to hear the two of them sing! I tried to get them to sing in the car, but they wouldn't do it. Next time lol -.~


On my short walk down my street back to my apartment, I ran into a foreigner! First one I had seen in In dong besides my friend, Brittany (who went to church with me and is a teacher through EPIK at the Middle School). Come to find out this girl's name is Bianca, and she is from South Africa, having lived in In dong for 6 months now. She is sooooo kind and welcoming and offers to show me around sometime and help me with the bus system and show me the best coffee shops, etc etc. WOW am I so lucky! God is soooooo faithful! Someone who has been here for awhile to help show me the ropes. .....And it GETS BETTER!!! She asks me if I live nearby, and I say yes, and then she asks me where I was coming from, and I told her how I was just getting back from church. Turns out, she goes to the other English church service in Gumi and is on her way to meet up with some of them for a little BBQ (shoot, I forgot the name for it in South Africa haha~~something with a rolled "r" lol), and she invites me to come along. Ok, wow! Only in Korea~~I LOVE IT!! So I hop in a taxi with her, and we go over to another couple's apt. There were five of us there in total, and it was some of the most encouraging, BEST fellowship I have had. I really cannot even BEGIN to describe how wonderful these people are~~and with such hearts after the Lord. I absolutely do not deserve this, and yet, God is sooooo completely faithful. (OHHHHH and I forgot to mention, I was asked if I would play my flute at church for an earlier service in the Korean church~~GOD, you are SO FAITHFUL!! Ohhhhh, AND it was MISSIONS SUNDAY at the Korean service. I mean, really~~~)

Kyle and Jade (is that spelled right?) with the rooftop BBQ

Jade, Haley, and Bianca~~check out this BEAUTIFUL view they have from up here! ^^

Yummmmmmmy!!!

My heart has been so completely filled today, I feel like it is going to BURST!


On top of everything, this group of new friends I made tonight does a Wednesday prayer meeting in their apartment each week. Wow, another answer to prayers. And really, here is another instance in God's divine appointments. If I had not gone to the Korean church and come back at that EXACT time, and if Bianca had not been running a little late for the BBQ, NONE of this would have happened. GOD IS SO GOOD!!! PRAISES TO HIS HOLY NAME!! Can I get an AMEN!! And get this~~at their last prayer meeting, they were praying for all the new foreigners coming into Gumi. We were an answer to each others prayers. Now you CANNOT tell me there isn't a God out there! 



"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

As God’s fellow workers we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain. For he says,

   'In the time of my favor I heard you,
   and in the day of salvation I helped you.'
   I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation."

~2 Cor. 5:17-6:2

my very own lotus flowers ~~~<@

Nothing much to write on today's post~~~just wanted to upload a couple photos (untouched) I took of my own lotus flowers~~~from outside the Jamsil Stadium, of all places...But oh so beautiful! I'm proud of these photos ^^  

Stay tuned tomorrow for my adventures with Yurika to the Hello Kitty Cafe!!! ^.^

A Special Gift for You!!!

Alright!!! So, as my semester here is about to end, I had to put together a final project for my culture class. I, of course, went far above and beyond the amount of time/effort I ACTUALLY needed to put into it, but I was just have WAY too much fun messing around on a couple new programs! I used some new photo editing software, which was REALLY fun to play with, and I spent so many hours playing around to make different photos....and then, this was also my first time using iMovie (thank you to Destiny for telling me what this program on my computer even is~~~I LOVE IT!!!!) I will DEFINITELY be making more of these in the future!


Unfortunately, as many of you know, I was having major camera problems, but praise the Lord, it is fixed now, right before I leave for Japan/Orientation/my new hometown! Many pictures are sure to follow! 


But as for now, I wanted to share this special treat with you~~~a little glimpse into just a FEW of the MANNNNNNY things I have had the blessing of experiencing here in Seoul. Enjoy!!! ^_^




(cool~~I like the thumbnail~~shout out to What's Up Korea! This is the best group to be a part of!!!)

(almost) faux pas of the day~

Ok, so I had such a great weekend volunteering with HOPE, teaching English in Suncheon, and I have had many things happen last week to talk about, but unfortunately (or fortunately, if I decide to blog in order to procrastinate? lol), I have finals this week, and need to take my time to hang out with my friends before I leave Seoul AND study, study, study. 


BuTTTTTTT~~~~ I didn't want to leave you completely empty-handed, so I thought I'd add another (almost) faux pas of the day, since it's always funny for you all to imagine these things happening to me because you know how goofy I am already hahaha~~~so here goes~~~I dedicate this one to my dear imos, Evelyn and Clara. ㅋㅋㅋ


During Culture class last week, this came up...don't ask me how~~honestly, I have NO idea, but somehow, in KOREAN, we got on the topic of diarrhea??? (Yeah, who knows~~if you know the people in my class, you may not be surprised lol). But annnnnnyways, I hear the word from across the room (설사, pronounced like: "Sawlsa"), not knowing what it ACTUALLY meant, and proclaim: "Oh, I do Salsa (살사, pronounced like: "Salsa"~~very similar!) dancing! Someone else (over there) does it too? Cool!" 


bahahahahaahaha HAHAHAHAHAHA


Hahaha, ooooops!!!! Yeah, I'm pretty sure "설사" dancing looks a LITTLE different from "살사" dancing >.< hhahahahaha Needless to say, I went and double-checked my writing assignment for day (where I wrote a paragraph on things I had done in Korea so far) to make sure my teacher knew which kind of dancing I had done. Hahaha


Ok, that is all for today~~I hope to post soon before I leave for my Japan visa run next week. Love you all! <3 


((((((P.S. This is also a special shout-out to Melody and Madison (because anyone else reading this P.S. will have NO idea what is going on hahaha)~~~as I typed this post out about thinking I heard one things and then proclaiming something else NOT related hahaha, I thought of the time in the dorm room~~yeah, you know what I'm talking about hahaha~~~"Man, Laura is so ADD."   Laura:" WHAt?!?? I'm Asian????" HAHAHAHAHA love you guys!!!!))))))