GET IN MY BELLLY!!

Last week, I was teaching my kids how to learn to tell time. It's a difficult task to teach English speaking children time, but can you imagine how hard it was for me to teach time to children who only understand a third of what I'm saying? Yeah, not easy. 

The best thing I could think of was to draw a time line on the board. We started with the simple phrase "wake up," to discuss morning. To teach afternoon, we began speaking about lunch and I couldn't help put point to my stomach and in the weirdest voice I know, yelled, "GET IN MY BELLLY!" At first the kids looked at me like I was crazy (A look I get often), but soon they all started mocking my behavior and were pointing to their stomachs and yelling. It was a sight to see for sure. I'm sure their parents don't appreciate it but I think it's hilarious. 

This past Thursday, I met with some ladies for a bible study I've started to lead. The study is for women who are also struggling with body image and/or weight issues. As I prepared for our first meeting, I laughed out loud thinking about my recent experience with my kids. In our study, we are going through a book I've mentioned in my blog before called Made to Crave. Lysa TerKeurst argues that God intended for us to crave. She explains how we are to replace our cravings for food with cravings for God. 

One thing that has really stuck with me lately are the following words. "We crave what we consume." I know many of you reading this don't struggle with weight but stay with me, I promise this blog is applicable to you as well. 

I have had my fair share of cutting things out. No sugar, no fast food, no this no that, all in an attempt to lose weight. But one thing is true each time, whenever I am not eating something specific, like chocolate or fast food, my body, once rid of whatever I was previously consuming, no longer craves it. BUT, the first time I eat a piece of cake or a tiny Hershey's kiss after I've gone so long without sugar, suddenly, my body wants and desires more. 

Lysa talks about how the same thing applies to our spiritual life. She calls it spiritual malnutrition. For example, if you aren't reading your bible daily, if it isn't part of your daily routine, you may not even think twice about pulling it out to read it in the morning before you go to work. But that first time you pull it out and dig in, the Holy Spirit is going to speak to you and you will definitely want more. 

My prayer is that anyone reading this who is suffering from spiritual malnutrition will pray asking the Lord to give you a desire to crave more and more of Him. I pray that you will always be hungry for what His word has to offer. It is good, so good and I hope you will dig in and take a taste. After all, it's the one thing you can eat and eat and eat that won't cause you to get fat! So, eat it up y'all!

Psalm 34:8 Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him. 

Little bit o' Texas in Korea

Today was my first Saturday in Daejeon in a few weeks, I've traveled to Busan and biked through Gyeongju and next weekend I will head back to Seoul. I decided since I was going to be in Daejeon, I would take in some of the views the city has to offer. 

Daejeon is home to Daejeon National Cemetery, built in 1979 to be a sacred place for Veterans of the military to be buried. The National cemetery in Seoul reached capacity in in 1976 after soldiers from the Japanese invasion, Korean War and Vietnam War were buried so they built the one in Daejeon. I can't describe the beauty of the cemetery and the photo's I took definitely don't do it justice. It's definitely worth seeing if you ever find yourself in Korea. 

After we finished walking through the cemetery, 
we hoped on the Subway, umbrella's in hand to go to 
the entrance of Gyeryong Mountain. I have already

attempted to brave hiking this mountain once and I definitely wasn't in the mood to do it again. Especially not in the rain, but I was hopeful I would get a glimpse of the beautiful cherry blossoms before they disappeared. I wasn't so lucky. Most of the blossoms had already fallen and I found only 1 tree in full white bloom. 

Shortly after entering the mountain, Leslie and I were greeted by a man singing who shouted out to us "Hello, nice to meet you." 

He motioned for us to sit and listen to him sing. We saw two Ahjussi's gladly clearing the rain off the seat and motioning for us to sit next to them so we did just that. We sat and we listened. We hadn't even been sitting for 1 minute when the man next to us put his arm around Leslie and pulled out his camera to take a close up of her face. We sat and listened to two songs but the discomfort mounted as the men next to us continued to cross personal and social boundaries. Just as we were ready to leave, we were thanked for watching the show and given a "present" by the singer. He told us it was Korean "chocolate" which I'm pretty sure was some kind of tofu candy. We thanked him only to see him point to the Ahjussi and tell him to pay for the candy. We couldn't help but laugh.

After walking through the mountain we made our way to the bus stop where we were approached by another group of men and this time it was my turn to be harassed. This poor man pulled every trick he had out of his bag in an attempt to get me to go have drinks with him. He repeated over and over again "I good man, I English teacher, good man, good man." Quite entertaining to say the least. He finally got the hint (after many "no's" "ani's" and "goodbye's"). 

We left the bus and made our way back into the city. Leslie and I ended our night in "Texas." I've been dying to go ever since I saw the sign but it was such a treat to go with a fellow Texan. Made me feel a little closer to home. We ate "Pure meat chicken," exchanged laughter and stories, y'all's, ain't's and fixin to's and had a wonderful time. 

In the eyes of a child...

On a weekly basis, I get called Grandma teacher, fat, ugly and still get the occasional Korean curse word thrown my way. My new kids are far from angels. Lately, I feel like I spend most of my days yelling at the kids both in English, and sometimes in the little bit of Korean I have learned. "Sit down," "Be quiet," "Focus," "Get off the table!" "Put the umbrella down," "Stop hitting him!" I could go on but I think you get the point. Most of the time, I feel like my title should be glorified babysitter instead of teacher. I try my best to make sure something, anything, is sticking but it doesn't seem like they are listening to anything I am saying. 

Today, one of my students proved that to be the furthest thing from the truth. 

I have a class of 10 year olds, 4 boys and 2 girls. One of the kids is so smart and so respectful, but he's the only one who doesn't talk over me and continually interrupt me in class. Unlike most of my classes these kids actually understand me and speak pretty good English. Today, we learned about past hero's and discussed the word biography. To keep the kids quiet and give myself a little bit of a break, I gave the kids an assignment to write their own biography.  

One of my kids, Dean, didn't want to write his own biography. He told me he didn't want the other children to know the brilliant invention he would one day be known for. Dean asked if he could write my biography instead. Super hesitant, and fully prepared for a violent death and/or lots of insults, I told him yes. 

Here is what Dean wrote about me. 

"Brandy teacher was very young when she died. She was a great teacher, 

kind to her students and kids like her. She liked to play tennis, 

she was good but not good enough to be on TV. She made a lot of 

money and gave her money to the poor, then she was poor. 

Then the poor got rich and gave her money and she was rich again. 

Brandy teacher prayed to God and she went upstairs when she died."

I was completely blown away and taken aback that this child who I thought never listened to me, listens to everything I say, even the minor details of my life like the fact that I play tennis and I pray to God. It's good to know that even when you can't tell how you are impacting people or in my case, children, your words and actions are making a difference. 

B Team Bikers

Bomun lake, the cherry blossoms were not in bloom but
usually the trees behind me are covered in beautiful white flowers. 

A lot has been happening lately, I met some wonderful girls from Tokyo who visited our church for a visa run. We spent a Saturday afternoon volunteering together to serve at a home for the handicapped. Hopped on a train to Busan with some girls I've met in Daejeon to participate in a traditional Indian festival where we splashed each other with different colored paint and danced our tushy's off to all the latest Bollywood hits, and this weekend I spent some time cycling around the "Rome of Korea." I've sat down to update the blog many times only to find myself with writers block and no motivation.  

I have been working on a book lately and have been spending countless hours note taking, reading, meditating on scripture and writing and editing the book and my brain has been fried. Today I am taking a break from prepping for the book to update you on the fun we had this weekend. 

The scene for the Korean show we watched

Most that know me, know I am no stranger to meeting strangers :) I've signed up for countless trips with nothing but a backpack and an open mind to explore different towns, with soon to be new friends. I have met most of the people I know through random trips or other online resources to connect with new people. I love the adventure of travelling and the anticipation of the unknown. It gives me a rush that cannot be explained. 

This weekend I signed up to go on a trip with an organization here known as Adventure Korea. I was planning on going by myself, but lucky enough to have one of the girls I've met in Daejeon join me on the fun. We hailed a taxi around midnight to meet at the location where we would soon be hoping on a bus and heading to Gyeongju. Gyeongju is known for it's historical attractions and has been referred to as "a museum without walls."   

After an hour of waiting for the bus to pick us up and a 3 hour bus ride, we arrived in Gyeongju around 5 in the morning to catch a few hours of sleep before we would head out and cycle through the city. 

Burial mounds of past Korean Kings.
*Note, this picture does not do it justice. 

When we arrived at the hostel the organizers shouted to us to team up in groups of 4 or 5. There were about 90 people in the lobby and I anxiously looked around as I realized the traditional church camp rules of no boys in the girls cabin didn't apply here. My eyes quickly found the girls Ber and I met on the bus and I immediately ran over to ask if they wanted to "bunk" with us. They agreed, and as we unlocked the door to our room we realized we would not be sharing sets of top and bottom bunks but one giant bed... THE FLOOR! I should have known, really, I should have, but I've already visited Seoul and Busan and both hostels I stayed at were amazing. So honestly, the thought didn't even cross my mind. 

Inside the Bulguksa Temple

With a map in hand, a list of possible places to visit and no plan, we hopped on our bikes with 3 other girls and started cycling through the city. We got the short end of the stick being on the 3rd bus and landed ourselves the "B team" bikes. Locked in a shed and hesitant to give them to us, the bike shop owner slowly pulled them out. It didn't take long into the ride before I realized the breaks on my bike were shot and I took a nose dive into the side of the road falling down into the ditch. There was a marathon going on that weekend and 3 Korean men stopped to ask in English if I was okay. Not wanting them to waste any of their marathon time on me, I told them I was fine, brushed the blood and dirt off my legs and arms and quickly paddled to catch up to the group. 

Bunhwangsa, built in 634, used by the people
to ask Buddah to bless the  Kingdom

We biked aimlessly through the city, unable to find any of the marked destinations for hours until we found the lake and got lucky enough to witness a traditional Korean show. We sat and enjoyed the show, grabbed some lunch and rested before hopping back on the bikes to begin our search again. We biked around the city for hours, I'm not exactly sure how far we traveled but my body suggests I got a week's worth of workouts :) 

Here are some of the sites we did manage to find. Not nearly close to what I was hoping to see so I will definitely be making a trip back that way while I am here. 

10 years old and hating life...

My first week of school in Korea, I was introduced to two boys who quickly became my favorite class. They are Korean age 12, actually age 10 and they are the most intelligent children I've met. Kevin, studied in Canada and his English is great. He is super sarcastic and a lot of fun to banter with. The other boy, David, is also fluent and has an extensive vocabulary. He pulls words that make me feel inferior to him. He is so incredibly bright and honestly, I wonder how much more I could be teaching him.  

David, the boy I once labelled as my favorite student is now what I consider punishment for all the teenage mood swings I had as a child. Sorry mom! Really, I'm sorry!! If I knew then I would be paying for it the way I am now I would have tried harder to think before I spoke.  

I can't blame David for his Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde behavior. It's not his fault. There are many things I can blame though. Adolescent hormone changes, the pressures of Korean culture or his super strict and crazy obsessive, possibly bi-polar mother to name a few. 

I show up to work every Tuesday and Thursday not knowing which David I will get. The one who laughs with me and is so eager to learn (and by learn I mean show me up and prove he is much smarter than I am) or the boy who will bring me to tears as I cry out to the Lord praying for David's heart. I pray for David often. On his off days, he has yelled at me and told me I was a bad teacher for playing a game in class. He has written to me telling me to never talk to him again. He gives me the silent treatment and stares at the paper for 40 minutes while I try to get him to say something. I feel so bad for the other child in the class with me. Kevin is so great and is so patient through David's tantrums. I'm really proud of how mature he is at such a young age. 

At 10 years old, David has a huge bald patch in the back of his head. I would like to tell you it is genetic, but that is far from the truth. The truth is, it is caused by the mounting stress he faces as each day passes. While the other children in Korea are outside playing on their winter, spring and summer breaks, David is sitting behind a computer screen completing an online internet course his mother is forcing him to do because there is no break from studying. Before he can eat breakfast, David has to read first. He gets an insane amount of homework from the Hagwon and I'm sure from his elementary school but his mother makes him write extra essays. David has told my Korean co-teacher he hates his mother and father and thinks his grandfather is "disgusting."

Last week, Kevin was late  to class and David and I were alone. He went from smiling and laughing with me to giving me the silent treatment yet again. I soon realized the bald spot I once thought was being caused by the stress of studying was actually being self inflicted as I saw David twirl and pull out his own hair. I desperately tried to connect with him, console him with my words and nothing worked. 

David never lets me hug him, he has made it perfectly clear he doesn't like when people touch him but I decided to try again. I was fully prepared to have him yell at me, hit me or push me away but instead as I grabbed his hand, he immediately responded by rubbing my hand and letting me know he felt safe. He didn't speak a word but we sat for 15 minutes and I just held his hand and tried my best to show him I care. 

David is the only thing on my mind lately as I try to find ways to show him every moment that I get how much I care about him. I pray for David continually and I am sharing his story with you to get you to pray as well. With suicide being the leading cause of death in Korea for those under 40, my heart breaks every day for David. I fear this is the path he is headed down if something doesn't change. In my experience so far, Korea seems to brush these things under the rug and they don't try to deal with them. I've tried to explain to David there is more to life than what he is experiencing right now but he can't see it yet. I've tried to share the gospel with David to which his 10 year old brain responds saying "I don't feel like debating religion with you right now." I realize now the only thing I can do is keep loving on David every chance I get and praying for his heart. Will you please join me in praying for my precious David.