today micah and I went to Dunddemun to do some shopping (yes david we got your jersey!).. and while we were on the subway home we were looking at my cell phone, and i noticed on my countdown that i have 265 days left here... that means that I have been here 100 days already.. and if you think about that.. its a long time.
OH! and happy new years everyone!
I guess i should talk about that first!
My new years was a calm celebration.. we went out for dinner, and then off to a bar where there was a lot of other foreigners, and we counted down, and then headed home. There was a celebration in Hwarang park, but my dear friends from the southern hemisphere, whose summer it is right now, found it too cold to be outside. So I did not experience the tradition of ringing the big bell, or the fireworks... but it did happen.. and we had a really nice taxi driver on our way home.
So its 2009.... I am considered 24 now in Korea... so instead of making a new years resolution.. i thought i would look back a bit at what i have achieved in 24 years of life.. i think i'll start from the most recent..
- moved to korea and become a teacher
- see close friends get married (sorry i miss Jelma and Fritz
- live in Hamilton in an apartment, and get more self-sufficent
- graduated from University with a Bachelor of Arts in Religion and Theology... 4 long years, filled with education, in and out of class....
- attempted moving out to Alberta for a summer.. that was a challenge... but even failing in that helped me be who i am today
- worked 3 summers at Circle Square Ranch, and one summer running my own day camp.. so being a part of so many youths lives.. and growing up there myself and gaining a solid experience in my youth...
- dealing with moving away in right before my grade 12 year... that was crappy as all get out.. but a lot of stuff, good and bad, came from it.. its another thing that has shaped me.
- getting to go to Redeemer Christian High School for 3 years.. meeting my best friend ever there... God had that planned out for sure.. remember mom and dad, how it looked like I would have gone to North Dundas..... i don't think i would be where i am today, if we hadn't had the help we got....
- being blessed enough to also go to Christian grade school... mom and dad you sacrificed a lot to do that for us.. sure it might have been expected because we were the pastors family... but it still was a lot of work..
- being born into the family I was born into. We never went without.. Mom and Dad always made sure that we had things, and a great childhood.. sure we missed out on family trips to far places :P... and sure, sometimes being a pastors kid was a pain.. but who else got to go to Florida to see a church, or be the only white kid in her pre-school, or to live in so many different places before settling in the third grade... and you dont notice that till you sit down when you are "24" and look back at how it all shaped you.
Now reviewing 100 days in Korea.. what have I achieved?
- made great friends.. korean and english. They are willing to help me, and answer my stupid questions, and they dealt with me being so, umm, freaked out, in the beginning
- i can pay my bills, go to the post office, all by myself, (remember its in Korean)
- i can generally find my way around the city... wether it be by taxi, bus , or even the subway to seoul... and only get sorta lost (and even Koreans get lost on the subways.. right Micah?)
- i can say 3 words :P, but i can usually understand conversations that do go on in korean.. by reading the tone, and facial expressions, and looking at the situation that the conversation is in...
- I can recognize some of my students on the street.. i dont know their names, BUT you try remembering the names of 640 students (yes, i see 40 students in 16 classes in one week), and most of my students look similar... and have the same last name.. there are like 4 common last names
- I can teach a class all by myself, and actually get what I mean across.. that was my advanced class.. i was very thankful for them.. even if it made my days very long...
- i have grown in so many ways that i would not have expected. my faith has been challenged , my personality has been challenged, my perspective has been challenged... pretty much all of me has been challenged AND will continue to be challenged while I am here..
- i have a better understand of friendships and how fragile they can be.. and how they fade in and out in life...
- I have never been so homesick in my life :P (its gotten a lot better.. but i still miss home)
- My relationship with my family has changed in so many ways too... heck, i can tell my brothers i love them now.. and I think my parents are seeing me as a grown up now.. since I have stopped freaking out so much
Theres so many other things... but i am running out of thoughts....
All I know is that I am thankful for each day of my 24 years on this earth... and for each of the 100 days that i have been here. i might still have bad days.. but even the bad days shape me.
I guess what I can pray for this year is that I can be joyful on all of the days.. and keep this view of being shaped...
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