Update!

So, I'm cheating a little bit. I'm not posting a completely-new blog today. This is an excerpt from an email that I just sent to a friend. But it's such a good update of us that I knew that I just had to blog it:



"Did you have a good time with all of your people for New Year's? John and I both got the cold that's going around here so we just stayed in and relaxed, which turned out to be really fun and just what we needed.

Christmas was also wonderful and simple. We had a Christmas brunch with our American friends (french toast and fresh fruit) and played games and such. We relaxed in the afternoon and then in the evening our "big boss" took us out for Christmas dinner with some of the other Center staff. It was great! We had bulgogi at this fancy place and I loved it.

We had decided to go easy on Christmas gifts this year (meaning we were only going to do simple stuff for each other and nothing for anyone else =) ), but John broke the rules and bought me a Nintendo DS! I can't deny that I love it. It feels so Korean to get on the subway and play Super Mario!

Teaching is also going well. A little hectic right now because our English department is undergoing a lot of schedule changes, but going well. I definitely know now that teaching is NOT my calling, but I really do love my little Koreans and I am so grateful for this experience. We have such a good workplace--our managers and co-workers are fantastic and they have provided so much for us.

Life is very simple here. I really believe that God brought us here for many more reasons than just to pay off debt, and He has been teaching us many lessons in living simply and being content. These lessons have been hard and wonderful all at the same time. We've been here 6 months now and life has become "normal" again. We have routines, we know our way around the block as teachers, we can speak and understand enough of the language to get around (I taught myself to read Hangul!), and we have a great group of friends. Now that all of the excitement, the newness, and the honeymoon feelings have dissipated however, the homesickness has kicked in with a fierceness. Korea is SO different from the US in so many ways. It's funny how leaving the US can make you love it in ways that you never thought possible. I don't just miss the conveniences (the Targets, the Starbucks on every corner, the wide range of deodorants and toothpastes)--I miss the mentalities, the diversity, the politics, the music, the issues, and the people the most. I think I needed to leave, and to "love the leave" (as a friend of mine says) in order to really embrace being an American."