To Japan!

Well I ended up having a fantastic time in Japan! It turned into somewhat of a mini-vacation. I headed to the Korean consulate directly after landing. I somehow was able to find the Korean Consulate without getting lost once, all the way from the airport. I tell you what, if there's any moments I have an extremely "feel good moment" about myself, haha - it's when I find something on my own in a foreign country without getting lost once!

So as I got to the consulate (glowing of course) I realized it was closed... it's exactly what I had feared since my flight was arriving so close to their lunch time. So thankfully, there was a shopping mall directly across the street, and of course, you can't go wrong with the ubiquitous McDonalds. So I sat around for about an hour and a half and studied my Korean.

As I walked into the consulate I saw a familiar face.... I couldn't quite put my finger on which one (because I meet so many people all the time) but it was a guy named Jordan who was actually in the same training group I was in. He had actually traveled with one of his co-workers, Kyle, and when I was filling out my paper work another guy had asked me how to get somewhere. Yeah, out of all the people asks ME of how to get somewhere. After I told him I had no idea, I asked him where he was headed. He (Mark is his name) was headed to the same hotel as me and the other two guys hadn't found a hotel yet.

I (with all the boys in tow) picked up another guy named Joshua along the way, and we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe to hang out for a little bit. Here's a picture of all of us. They all paid like 10 or 11 bucks each for their beer.... Japan is a bit expensive.

We headed out on the adventure of finding our hotel. We were doing a pretty good job and then we ran into a girl who was actually staying there too - except she was getting ready to leave. She kept telling me about how amazing everything was and she told us where to go and what to do. And she led us right to our hotel. We checked in and then about 15 minutes later we met up to head out on the town and go exploring. We had a good time. Mark was set on finding this one particular place he had heard about. So we pretty much spent our entire night trying to find it but definitely had a lot of fun along the way.

I was quite thrilled because in Japan they actually know quite a bit more english than in Korea. Meaning.... in Japan they knew we wanted beef steak for dinner and knew I wanted a tea and a water. They of course got all the boys a beer. Haha - but it was good considering I know NOTHING in Japanese. Except for this: the name of a subway stop! It's the name of my supposed thyroid disorder I was diagnosed with a few years ago - Hashimoto's Thyroiditis.

We returned after a fun night and headed to the consulate the next morning to pick up our passports and once we did that, we had A LOT of time to kill before our flight. So we headed to the beach, walked around, shopped, and also went to a really cool looking Chinese park of some sort? Then we finally headed to the airport.

Side note: I really dispise the whole "liquids" restrictions on your carryon. Instead of allowing them to take out my American toothpaste and my really great facewash I went through the hassle of checking my nice tiny little 10 pound bag of goods. Rediculous. And I honestly wasn't angry at any of the employees, I mean, praise the Lord they do their job, right? But seriously whoever set this whole restriction on the liquids into the bag.... I had a very strong anger toward them that day heading home. : ) But after a nap in the airport I was over it. haha.

Here's a picture of all of us: L to R: Kyle (USA), Jordan (Canada), Me, Mark (South Africa)

I actually woke up that day with a really bad cold, so I've been sick ever since which makes me a little less motivated - but I haven't let it stop me from exploring this amazing city! I'm taking some Korean drugs, and so far, I think they're helping?

Anyhow this past weekend was great - I met Michelle Mountes (not co-worker Michelle) for coffee before heading to Korean class again on Saturday. I seem to be moving along quite well. I can actually read the characters now. Still don't always know what everything means, but it's coming slowly but surely. I headed off with Michelle, Jenn, and Sarah to Insadong. We stopped by COEX (a major shopping attraction) at Marche. Then just me, Sarah, and Michelle headed to Insadong. It was amazing!

We went to this tea house which was absolutely fabulous. Definitely puts my favorite coffee shops to shame. I mean, c'mon - this place has birds flying around. So authentic it was amazing. We had some time to have some amazing conversations about life and our passions - I loved getting to know these women. They are so intelligent and it was fun to be goofy and just hang out together. We had dinner at one of the best authentic Indian food restaurants I've ever had. Indian and Nepali food... yum.

I never realized how much of a nerd I am I think until now. It's interesting to see how much time I have to read now that I'm here. We approached a bookstore and spent about an hour (or close to) until they kicked us out because they were closing. Haha. We loved it though.

We made it home at about midnight and I realized I had been out all day long! It's so easy to be out and to enjoy everything going on around me.

Sunday I went to a Bible study before church and had the opportunity to meet more people at Onurri. This is when I had another dose of reality, I guess you can say. I'm fully turning into a teacher. I've only been teaching for a few weeks, but after our lesson, we broke off into our small groups. I was excited to be in a group with all Koreans - it was so great to get their perspective on things and hear about when they first began to trust Jesus. But I led the group and it was like I was teaching. I found myself teaching! Even when I didn't have to teach! It came over me so fast and I was seriously so filled with joy at the moment I realized how important teaching is and how I'm really beginning to have a love for it. It's so rewarding to be able to guide someone to help them understand or think about something... especially about the gospel of Jesus. Here's a picture of me and a few of my students from one of my classes.

Here's a piture of me and my new friend Sung Joo. She's an absolute sweetheart. The thing I really appreciated about this church was that even though it was so big, I was recognized again, remembered, and I absolutely can't wait to continue to fellowship.

Next weekend will be full of Christmas parties and gift exchanges. I decided to take on the task of organizing a Christmas party for our school and although I'm away during the holidays, I am excited for Christmas in Korea. I really hope and pray that each of you would embrace the joy, hope and strength we have in our Lord Jesus Christ and would give up religion, pick up the cross daily and embrace relationship with our Maker.

Blessings to you all - I love hearing from you guys - so please keep emailing and responding to the blogs!