First Asian Race

So I ran my first 1/2 marathon this past weekend. I wasn't too nervous about it. I ran 10 miles the week before so I figured I could do the last 3 miles on adrenaline. Lots of people were "suppose" to run it, but only about 7 of us ended up going through with it. So it started in Sincheon (where I live) on the Han River & we ran all the way to Mapo & turned back to finish where we started.
I woke up at 6am to ran. But turned out not to be so bad, it was a cool day, perfect for running. There were about 9 foreigners total, the rest Korean. Donna, who ran with us, said that asians are really fast! So I was a bit intimidated at first. Joel & Julie showed up, what a sight! Julie was in a bumble bee suit & Joel was in, well, some type of bunny outfit. Hilarious! People LOVED him! They were practically lining up to take pictures with him!
So the race started. I ran my normal pace the first half. Then, this older Korean guy came up running beside me. I recognized him because I had passed him earlier. He started talking to me in Korean. It was crazy. He wouldn't let me slow down. He kept talking to me in Korean, I think he was telling me to keep going, great job, how much time we had left, etc. If I started to slow down a bit he would look over at me, slow down a bit, then make me catch up to him & run fast. We were HAULING!!! We went over 5 miles at the pace I usually sprint at the end of my run! If he wouldn't have been there pushing me, there's no way I would have run that fast! It wasn't too comfortable.
So, we finished, I wasn't sure my exact time or how good/bad it was. Before I knew it, they slapped something around my neck & ushered me up on stage. Turns out I got 5th place for the women! Jeff & Joel finished & spotted me up on stage getting my awards & they were like what are you doing?? I got a trophy, plaque, & ceramic dishes! heheh...it was hilarious!
My favorite part of the race was the post-race food. It was...tofu! It was a fun run! I think we're gonna run another 1/2 in Busan in October!










(ya see the #5...yep, that's right;)

Jordan & Tiner's Summer Visit

So Jordan & Christina booked a random flight to Tokyo & decided since they were going to be all the way over here in Asia they might as well book another flight to Korea, pop in & say hello! They came on a Thurs & left on Sun, short but sweet trip. It was SOOOOO good seeing them! I took them to Shabu Shabu when they got in. I had to work on Friday but sent them off with plenty of things to see in Seoul. We went out for Korean BBQ Friday night (they LOVED IT!) & met up with some of my friends in Gangnam. Saturday, let's see, we went to Gyeongbok Palace, Insadong, Samcheong-dong, & Namdaemun Market. By this time, Jordan started feeling sick. We went home. Jordan was going to stay in but Megan, Tiner & I were going to go to Hongdae. We got out there then Christina started feeling sick. Poor girls, they both got something. I'm still not sure what it was. The next day Jordan felt better so we went to Dr. Fish. Since I had done it before I thought I'd be a pro & show here how it was done. Yeah right! I totally freaked out! The fish were HUGE this time! But it was AWESOME! Then they had to catch a flight back to Tokyo. They weren't 100% when they left. Even though they didn't feel well in the end, it was still SOOOOOO great seeing them! I love those girls. Even though we aren't able to see or talk to each other that much, they are still my girls! And they always will be! I'd do anything for them & I know it's the same for them. I'm SOOOOO happy they came & can't wait to see them when I get home....whenever that is!

Summer Vacation With Mommy Bear

Grrrrr...summer break is over, back to the grind tomorrow:( My mom came here for the break. Was awesome. We packed a TON of stuff in. Perhaps too much. By the end of each day we were so exhausted. But I LOVE spending time with my mommy bear. Let's see, what all did we do? We did TONS of shopping. I took her to markets, malls, you name it. I drug her all over Seoul, poor thing. We went to Dragon Hill's jimjilbang. I thought she might be 'weirded out' by all of the naked people, but nope, she was fine. We got a body scrub & an oil massage! NICE! I had her try ALL kinds of Korean food. SHE DIDN'T LIKE RICE CAKES!!! She said she didn't like the "texture"...what the heck? We went bike riding along the Han River. We got a 2 seater bike! Was sweet! We went to Jeju for a couple of days. I had no idea Jeju was so big! It was hard getting around because everything was so far away! We didn't get to do a couple of things because we ran out of time. The people were SOOOO friendly & helpful! We did, however, manage to get fried at the beach, see some beautiful waterfalls, do a TON of walking, go through a maze garden, eat some of the local delicious food & see practically the entire island by bus.
We also got to go to our first Korean wedding. My boss got married. Was "interesting" to say the least. We were in & out in 1.5 hours. I found it odd that we were eating while they were walking down the aisle & saying their vows. But it was an extremely nice wedding. She got to eat some Korean BBQ. We went to the Seoul Tower & Lee & I took her out on her last night out on the town! We went to Hongdae & had a great time. I'm pretty sure I have the best mom in the entire world. Yep, even better than your's;) She is an incredible woman & I'm so blessed to have her as my mom. She is the most selfless person I know. I can only think of 1 flaw...she can't use chopsticks for the life of her. I've been trying to teach her for YEARS! I don't understand how she can't use them. It's like it's physically impossible for her to use them. Oh yeah, & she doesn't like rice cakes. Other than that, she's pretty amazing. I think this trip opened her eyes up to what asia is like. She found Koreans to be very friendly & respectful. I miss her already.

iSponge Kids

World's Best Birthday Cake. It's an actual rice cake 'cake.' Heavenly. It's ALL made out of rice! Guilt free cake! Can you say delicious??!! Unfortunately that was still during lent, so I couldn't have any. But a couple weeks later I got one for Dianne for her birthday & I got to induldge on hers:)

Dorothy's Birthday Party

Sandy, Angie & Lion...precious.

Easter/Pajama Party
Don't ask me how the 2 fit together, but for some reason, we made a day of it. Celebrated easter in our pajamas...nice.

St. Patty's Day
Morning Kindergarten

Cancer Kids

Pisces Kids

Parting of the Sea Festival in Jindo

Sounds pretty incredible, huh? And it was! The sea 'actually parted.' And we were able to walk through for like 1.8 km. But you have to make it back in time before the tide comes & the sea closes. A group of us headed to Jindo, the very southwestern tip of Korea on a weekend at the end of April. It was about 4 hours or so by bus. We took a midnight bus & arrived SUPER early the next day...in fact too early, about 4am. The bus that would take us in to Jindo wasn't for another 2.5 hours. We thought about trying to sleep at the bus station, but ended up taking a cab to where the festival was. We totally lucked out & found a hostel right smack dab in the middle of the festival. So the peeps that went were Rueben, Megan, Tara, Lee, Ashley & Bonnie & we ended up seeing people we knew so they stayed with us too. The hostel consists of one big empty room for the 9 of us...& we sleep on mats. Not too comfy, but grateful for a place to sleep!

So we were right on the coast, overlooking the water, beautiful view! The festival was a bunch of tents with all kinds of activities, foods, craft type things, etc.

The sea parted Sat & Sun, we went to it on Sunday. Basically there's this gap, where the water parts & you get to walk through. It was really crowded, but it was really cool. Everyone was in good spirits. You put on these really high rubber boots & start treking through.

Good times! I'm so glad spring is here, tons of trips & festivals to attend!!

Jubilee Spring Retreat

So this past weekend was our church's Spring Retreat. I've been attending Jubilee Church for a couple of months now. I love it. Pastor David is absolutely brilliant...and hilarious, radical "normal", and very charismatic. He brings so much energy to the church. His little bro leads worship & it's incredibly amazing. So the retreat this past weekend was awesome. I'm still not exactly sure where it was (I'm not sure if anyone knows where we were exactly). I really didn't have any expectations about the retreat mostly because of the lack of info. I didn't know what to expect. I just knew God wanted me to go. The theme would be on missions, so of course, I was in! So the campus was beautiful! It was in the mountains, surrounded by trees & hiking trails (which Megan & I totally took advantage of!). The speaker was Michael Oh, he's Korean, raised in America & he's a missionary to Japan. I had no idea that Japan was the least evanglized nation in the world! When I think about Japan, I think of expensive & highly intelligent people! The thought of praying for Japan really hasn't crossed my mind (I'm embarrassed to say). But it's true! The Christian population in Japan is .02%!!! That is NOTHING!!! Wow! He also talked a lot about the 10/40 window and that we basically have 3 choices (2 really): Go, Send, or Disobey. Going is not hard for me. I've felt called to missions for many years now. I committed to going on a short-term mission trip & also to go for at least 1 year. I'm pumped! But it wasn't a hard commitment for me, I've know I was going to the mission field for long-term anyway! The hard part for me was the sending. I've always thought that since I feel called to missions that I would just 'go.'....but I was really convicted this past weekend, I need to also 'send' others to 'go'! So I made that commitment to God this past weekend. Now I just need to be faithful & trust that God will provide.
But it really got me pumped about going to school after Korea to study Islamic Studies & then to 'go'!!!

Spring Time in Korea

Well hello there. Long time no blog. How the heck are you?? Why am I so bad at blogging? I think about blogging every day, but when it comes down to it, I don't do it. I know why...it's because my laptop is painfully slow these days. Dell is getting old, not running like he used to. It may be time to put him down soon. He's had a good full life though. We've been through a lot together. I'm actually surpised he's lasted this long. All of the airports, countries, mission trips (not to mention the many times I've dropped him). Yep...he's been good to me. Am I still talking about my laptop? Anyway...
let's see, what's been going on? A lot actually. Been super busy. Now that it's spring time. There's so many trips, festivals, activities, etc. I LOVE spring in asia! I just got back from a trip to Taiwan (will post picts soon), a group of us went to Jinhae for the Cherry Blossom Festival (picts coming soon), & another group went a couple of weekends ago to Jindo for the Parting of the Sea Festival (pics soon). I'm finally getting a chance to get outside of Seoul & explore Korea. Get out of the pollution, crowds, hustle & bustle. It's been nice to actually see green grass & flowers.
I'm pumped for this weekend. Our church is having a spring retreat. I'm not really sure exactly what all is going to take place, but it's suppose to be amazing. The theme is 'missions', so it should be GOOOOOOOOD!
I have some bad news...Reuben has left us. Yep, he went back to the states to work with YouthWorks. He'll only be gone for the summer, he's coming back to Korea. It'll be a sad 3 months though. Meg & I will miss him dearly.
Hmmmm....what else....not much...just working, running, hanging with friends, weekend trips, church, etc. Can't believe I've been almost 1/2 a year!! CRAZY! I can't wait....when my contract is over in Nov, Megan & I are traveling southeast asia for 6 weeks!!!! We're going to Vietnam, Cambodia, Loas, Thailand, Malaysia & Indonesia. If I can squeeze it in I'd LOVE to stop by the middle east & drop in to Dubai & Lebanon!! Probably won't have time though since I should be back in time for Christmas. I absolutely can't wait though!!
Work is going much better now. I was kinda in a rut for awhile. But I asked for the girls in my small group (oh yeah!!...I joined a women's bible study from church!!). I asked them to pray that I would find joy & motivation in my job. And seriously, the very next day was like I did a total 180! Praise God for answered prayers! And it's been good since! So the girls in my study are Megan, Tara, Maria & Joy. We've only met a couple of times. We're going through the book Having a Mary heart in a Martah World. Really good so far. I love the group though, it's very laid back & open. Feels like you can share anything & won't be judged. Girls going through real things....talking it out....love it.
So, that's about it for now. Going on a picnic field trip to the park tomorrow with school! YIPPIEE!!!!!!!!! Oh the joy of teaching kindergarten!!! Peace out!