Cherry Blossoms of Blessings!

Midterms are coming up, international student clubs are beginning, and little stressors keep pulling at me from every direction. Today I register for my fall classes, and this week I will attend my final day of my classes until midterm week. I am nearly half-way through my time here and I can barely believe it. 

Yet with all that is going on, as I look around me, flowers are blooming, relationships are deepening, and upcoming future decisions are becoming more and more clear as days go by. With each morning comes new joys!

~~Joys and blessings from this week~~

The Colorado Girls: These girls give me life. I cannot express how incredibly blessed I have been by Stephanie, Clara and Susanna this semester. They traveled from UNC with me and we have become such close friends in a short amount of time. They have been my listening ears to me so many times and I have loved getting to know them each. We've traveled foreign cities together, laughed together, explored together, cried together, studied together, and of course, eaten ice cream together. I love you girls. Thanks for experiencing Korea with me! <3

CCC: This community has been such an encouragement to me! Our times together have been filled with much laughter and much joy! They welcome me like one of them and love me even though they do not know me. Despite the language barrier, it is wonderful to be surrounded by like-minded people who love God and love people! I look forward to getting to know these people even better over the next few months!

New Friends: I meet new people almost daily, but sometimes I meet people for the first time who capture my heart with the joy that they radiate to everyone around them. This girl, Asra is one of those girls. :) And Susanna too! Oh, she is such a joy! I can't wait to be her roommate in the fall!

Cherry Blossoms: Flowers! Bees! Asian Culture! Springtime! Loving families and people each with a story. <3

"It's always like springtime with You, 

Making all things new,

Your light is breaking through the dark.

This love it is sweeter than wine,

Bringing joy, bringing life,

Your hope is rising like the dawn."

Listen to "This Is What You Do" by Bethel Music here:

Take a moment to think about what blessings you can be thankful for today.

:)

So, Will You?

~~ Thoughts from a foreign exchange student ~~

Above everything, don't expect me to remember your name. Yes, I see you every morning and evening at mealtime in the dining hall. Yes, I have asked you for your name over 20 times. Yes, I will probably remember your face and your personality. But when I meet over 70 people in the first week who all have foreign names, no matter how many times I will ask you, I won't remember. And after the first few weeks, I will stop asking. Love me and forgive me, and remind me of your name, but please don't expect me to remember it.

It is not the people who know my name and say hello to me daily who mean the most to me here. Everyone knows my name. I am "the foreigner", "the tall girl", "the Christian girl", "the ITS student", "the one that smiles", or simply, "조앤나". Yes, I am aware of my names and that you know me. I appreciate how you say hi to me in the hallway, but I don't know who you are. It's the people who initiate with me who mean everything. It's those who ask me to coffee or lunch, who go out of their way to walk me to class under their umbrella, who ask me how I am really adjusting, and who speak to me in Korean because they know I want to learn but don't get any practice. It's the ones who take time out of their day to get to know me who I remember.

International students are seeking life! We have time on our hands, money to spend (some), nowhere to be, and a life we're searching for. We are outside our comfort zone, outside our home, outside our boundaries, and willing to get to know you. Live life with me. Invite me to things. Speak to me despite the language barrier. Ask me how I am. We need to be loved on and shown who God is, especially while we are away from all we've ever known.

You already have your friend group. You know who you can go to when you need to cry, or who to talk to when you need help. We don't. Be my friend and invite me into your friend group. Thank you for inviting me to a birthday party for someone I don't know and for inviting me to lunch with your friends even though they don't speak my language. It is the things like that that remind me that life here is normal for you. You never know, I could become your next best friend. (One of the international students I met in Colorado became mine!)

I don't get cultural cues or pop references. What is so funny? Why did you cover your face when he said something? Why is she acting like that? Though you have continued on in conversation, I am still trying to figure out what you were saying 5 minutes ago. Please stop and explain things to me. I want to learn. Language barriers and cultural differences create tension and can promote isolation, but if you take a moment to explain something, I will catch on much quicker.

I love your country. I spent money and flew all the way here to get to know your culture and experience life with you. I would love to learn about your culture from you personally. Take me to a local coffee shop. Show me a local historical sight. Invite me to your home. Offer me your favorite traditional food. If you don't, I will end up learning about the culture from a foreign perspective, and so much of it's beauty will be missed.

Of course, I would love to do the same with you. Do not be shy to ask me about America, or Turkey, or wherever you think I am from. Ask me questions on how to say things in my language. Ask me what I do on Easter with my family. Ask me about what my high school was like. More than likely you have misunderstandings about my country, my religion, or my culture, just I had/have the same about yours. I am willing to share and teach, but I won't unless you are interested. 

Lastly, let me serve you. As crazy as it seems, I love you. I loved you before I met you and came all this way to meet you. Let me buy you ice cream. Let me help you with your homework assignment. Let me listen to you rant all night about your boyfriend. I am here and I want to get to know you. Though we have different backgrounds and cultures, I understand. I get pain. I get joy. I get confusion. And I want to get to know you. I love you.

I have stepped out of my comfort zone to come here. 

Will you step out of yours?

Hiraeth

For four years, I have dreamed of visiting South Korea. It is a joy and a blessing to finally be here, visiting the homeland of so many of my dearest friends, and experiencing Asian soil beneath my feet. Here I am next to Korea University Sejong Campus with the city of Jochiwon behind me.

Today I thought I would write about home. Home of course, is the theme of my blog and is on my heart often. I haven't written for a few days, mainly because my thoughts have been focused on "hiraeth" and I am not exactly sure how to form them all into words. Hiraeth is a Welsh word that does not translate directly into English. It conveys a longing for a home of long ago; a kind of homesickness; eagerness for something undiscovered; nostalgia; grief of past and future goodbyes; a yearning for home.

As a third culture kid, so much of my longings for home are represented by that word. It is a place unknown, long past, distant and vast. I cannot quite reach it, and yet in so many ways it is so tangible and is rooted deep inside of me.

Here in Korea sometimes I feel at home but other times I feel as far from home as possible. My heart is in Asia. My heart is in Turkey. My heart is in Colorado. My home is everywhere: the places I've been, and the places I have not been, with the people I love and with the people I have yet to meet. 

My home seems very far away, 

Exactly where I cannot say. 

Sometimes it hides in countries afar, 

But other times within my heart. 

I cannot tell you where it lies,

No one knows except the wise. 

You'll find it here, you'll find it there,

You'll find pieces of it everywhere.

To know my place is all I seek,

To be where my heart feels complete,

To have this wisdom is my goal:

To make each place 'home' within my soul,

To set my feet firm on this ground,

Where joy and life spring all around,

Where bonds of love grow and spread,

And to have a place to rest my head.

Oh take me home! To where I'm from,

To where I've been. To where I've run. 

Take me to places I've never known,

For maybe there I'll find my home.

Where family is, where friendships thrive,

Where culture holds and hugs me tight,

It's nowhere and anywhere, for all of my days.

My home will be everywhere, always.

A view of Seoul from the top of Namsan Tower. 10 million people, each with a home.

While the city life prospers, the village life thrives! New high-rises and electrical lines create an interesting backdrop as locals next door continue planting crops year after year. I LOVE views like this - seeing the difference of lifestyles & the differences of homes. <3

The other Colorado girls, Stephanie, Susanna and Clara, in Jochiwon, Korea. They have become some of my best friends in such a short amount of time, and I'm so thankful that I was blessed to travel with girls from my Colorado home. I love them so much!

Me in CheongJu, by a resting pagoda at the top of SangDangSanSeong Fortress. :) I am in love with Asia. <3

Numbers

2382349283618238523491037503782245234965728351082834346822174603782056273338963162530719453826354283462038746252637461023564379235278192636373951236792754734825987523476828379492563478365289187623534392753746827382462018723642378253647352529346510102837658372556102835454639276859237642538273012738453903030364038872168725768023888326791555567920463234760178324387026346827538102867139345277522456101492019248191239164556374620347279165839273460348203923657832345578364822936220263945 :)

I love numbers. So much. With pi day being about a week ago (3/14/15 9:26 am), I thought it necessary to write a post about how beautifully complex numbers are. Did you ever realize how perplexing numbers can be when you move overseas?

Take the number 1,234,567,000.89 for example!

In Turkey it is written like this: 1.234.567.000,89

And, even better, in Korea, like this: 12,3456,7000.89

This is an accounting major's nightmare. 

During my finance internship in Istanbul over Christmas break, I worked with import and export numbers to and from foreign vendors. When transferring numbers between spreadsheets, I had to make sure I changed the decimal points and commas used to accommodate for the changes in numbering systems between countries.

Here in Korea, I have different problems. Sometimes my accounting and management classes get confusing when the teacher writes numbers on the board, using commas every four digits instead of every three.

But it's not just the way numbers are written that is difficult. I grew up knowing the Chinese numbers (I learned from high school friends), and last summer I completed a finance internship in Thailand, where I learned the Thai numbers very well. Take a look at the some of the similarities between the three sets of numbers below:

                               1          2       3         4      5      6        7        8       9         10
Chinese Numbers: yī,        èr,     sān,     sì,    wǔ,  liù,     qī,      bā,     jiǔ,     shí

Thai Numbers:      nueng,  song, sam,   si,    ha,   hok,   chet,   paet,  kao,   sip

Korean Numbers:  il,         i,       sam,    sa,   o,     yuk,   chil,   pal,    gu,     sip

And to make things even more fascinating, Korea has two sets of numbers. The one above is called "Sino-Korean" numbers, and has a Chinese origin. The set below are "Native-Korean" numbers:

1        2     3    4     5          6            7         8            9        10

hana, dul, set, net, daseot, yeoseot, ilgob, yeodeol, ahop, yeol

Sino-Korean numbers are used for "reading":

• Floor numbers, "Floor 7"
• Room numbers, "Room 5410"
• Amounts of money, "800 won"
• "This is page 11."

Native-Korean numbers are used for "counting":

• "There are 11 pages."
• "I want 3 apples."
• "I am 22 years old."

Don't even try to think about which numbers you would use when you're "counting" the number of money bills you have, or when you're "reading" about a boy counting apples. Just when you have it straight, you'll be baffled again when they mix the Native-Korean and Sino-Korean numbers for telling time. I have been here a month, and I am still trying to learn the numbers and when to use each system!

I love it all so very much though! Numbers are absolutely wonderful. :)

Green Change

Flowers beginning to bud outside of my dorm, JinRi Gwan (Truth Hall). :)

If there is one Korean word I've said every day while being here, it's 추워! Translation: I'm coooold!

Yet today is an absolutely stunning day! At the moment, I am sitting outside on a bench outside my dorm, in the shade, without a coat on. I had a headache all day yesterday, I've sneezed four times in the last 24 hours, and the dorm maintenance decided to finally turn down the incredible amount of heat in our rooms.

The trees are budding!

In a nutshell: something is happening with the weather, and I like it. 

It is mid-March, Saint Patrick's Day, and I am sitting here in Korea feeling thankful for a hint of warm weather amidst the dreary winter we have been having. The trees are budding, the birds are chirping, a bee just flew by me, and the grass, although still brown, will begin turning green soon. On an American holiday like today, it seems only right to celebrate things becoming green!

I'm reminded of change again today, and how change can be such a good thing. Change is a chance for new beginnings, an encouragement for transformation to becoming something better, an opportunity to experience redemption from being lost and hopeless to found and loved.

My flower shoes make me smile. (A.K.A. My "Asian" shoes.)
I cannot wait to see flowers around campus!

"And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you." 1 Peter 5:10

With change, all things are made new - the grass, the flowers, me, you.

Click to listen to "Beautiful Things" by Gungor :)

It is a good thing I learned how to say "I'm feeling warm" in Korean class yesterday. With this change in weather, I will have to start using a new daily phrase!

Entrance to the residence area, with my dorm pictured in the center. The grass will soon be green! :)

Nongshim Hall, the International Building: Holds the English Cafe (where I work), the International Office, English Language Classes, and Korean Language Classes for Foreigners (me!) The tents are set up for advertising campus clubs. I can't wait until this tree is covered in flowers and green leaves. I pass it almost daily. :)

There's No Place I'd Rather Be

There's no place I'd rather be,
There's no place I'd rather be,
There's no place I'd rather be,

Than here in your love, here in your love.

So set a fire down in my soul,

That I can't contain and I can't control,
I want more of You God, 
I want more of You God.

Set A Fire - Will Reagan & United Pursuit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcJ8s4dVaiQ

I was listening to this song today during my devotional time and discovered how powerful it really is. To say "There's no place I'd rather be" is a very strong statement and one that I think we say too often with too little sincerity.

"There's no place I'd rather be but hanging out with friends 'till dawn.. There's no place I'd rather be than home with family for the holidays.. There's no place I'd rather be than resting on the beaches of the Mediterranean."

But what if God wants us to be elsewhere, out of our comfort zone, into the unknown? What if he wants us to say: "There's no place I'd rather be than with YOU God, doing Your work, wherever that may be."

Often I wonder why He has put me in certain situations or specific places. My time here is Korea has been a constant battle of emotions that change almost every hour - I'M SO HAPPY I'M HERE, what am I doing in Korea, I'M IN ASIAAAAAA, I miss my family in Turkey, HANGING OUT OVERSEAS IS THE BEST, why can't I be in Greeley right now, THESE NEXT FOUR MONTHS ARE GONNA BE GREAT, why doesn't this place feel like home yet.

Four years ago I decided to study abroad in Korea and began telling people of my plans. Now that I'm here, it is almost unbelievable, and amazing. It's 신기하다 (sheen-gee-ha-da), as my new friend JiHye would say.

To me, JiHye is one of those people that you run into incidentally, have a brief conversation with, and automatically know that you are going to be wonderful friends in the future. I met her about a week after being here and have been blessed and encouraged by her often since.

She, as well has many other people, is the reason why I can look at my situation here and know without a doubt that this is where God wants me to be. I see the great influence that she has had on me in such a short amount of time, and the impact that I have had on her and it makes my heart cry out there's no place I'd rather be than here, God.

Of course, I don't always feel like saying that. Adjusting to a new country and new culture takes time. There are the hilarious joys - like having three Korean guys you just met who speak very little English take you to lunch off-campus and order you something unknown. (How I ended up in that situation is an entirely different story; sometimes you just have to roll with it..especially if you're hungry!) Then there are the excitements of seeing new sites and visiting new places with rich history and cultural ties, and getting there and back without a Korean.

But there are also the pains of mis-communication between two languages and cultures, the friends who left home to try to erase memories only to find more hardships here, and then the heart-tearing confusion of wanting to be in some place familiar and yet still wanting to experience a new place.

All I can say is this - I know I'm meant to be here. Though I don't always feel like it, I can look around and know that this is where I'm supposed to be right now. I am eager to see how I am going to fall in love with this country, and how it will become another place I can call home. Set a fire in my soul, God, and teach me how to say that there is no place I'd rather be but HERE in your love.

A Day in Seoul

Saturday, March 7th, 2015 at 8:41 am:

Hey Susanna, so what are we doing right now?

Going to Seoul.

How're we gonna get there?

We think we're going by a bus.

Do we know where the bus stop is?

No!

Do you know how much it costs?

Uhhhh...nope!

~~ Travel Guide: A Day in Seoul ~~

Morning Transportation Tips:

• If you Naver (Korean version of Google Maps) the bus station, it won't be too difficult to find, but I don't suggest trying to find it while you are running to catch a bus. 
• Even if you get to the bus station on time, it won't necessarily have the buses it advertised running that day.
• Trains are cheaper than buses anyway, so go to the train station if the bus station tells you the next bus is in an hour.
• "Standing" tickets for a train actually mean sitting on the floor in a very crowded train car between a very old Korean woman and a middle-aged Korean man who likes to stare at you.
• It takes 1 hr 30 mins and 7100 Korean Won to get from Jochiwon, Sejong City to Seoul by train.

Immediately After Arrival:

1.  Find a bathroom in the train station. Even if you don't need to use one, the soap is really cool. Instead of liquid soap, they have bars of soap on metal rods that you rub your hands on.
2. After exiting the station, notice the Seoul tower. If you don't see it, look up again. It can be found between the skyscrapers. Even if in the morning you hadn't planned on going there, you will probably end up visiting it if it is a beautiful day.
3. Eat lunch. When you leave your town early in the morning, you will arrive in Seoul in the afternoon and it will be time to eat. Obviously, eat lunch at a Japanese restaurant that sells Indian curry Korean style. If you're not a spicy-food lover, get "spice 0". If you are, get "spice 2 or 3". If you're crazy, get "spice 6". The restaurant can be found near Meong-Dong shopping street.

Afternoon Ideas:

• Take selfie videos everywhere you go. You only get to be a foreigner sometimes, so you might as well document your crazy touring around Seoul. (Yes, a video will be posted on Facebook shortly.)
• Visit the Tower. You don't need to go up the tower, because the base is beautiful enough, but I'm sure going up is even grander. You can walk up the mountain if you want, but taking the cable car up is worth your money. Walking down is nice - there is a perfect proposal spot on the way down too.
• Visit Gwanghwamun Square. There is a statue of Admiral Yi Sun-Shin and Sejong the Great, two of Korea's highest esteemed historical figures. Literally beneath their statues is a giant underground museum about them. Don't miss the small staircase behind the statue of Sejong leading down - I almost did!
• There is also a beautiful palace at the Square. Apparently, the palace closes at 5 in March. But its still beautiful to visit the outer courtyard if you get there late. The sun is setting around then and it is pleasant to walk in the courtyard imagining the rich history that took place there

Getting Home:

1. Get a subway card at a nearby convenience store. Even if you speak no Korean, most likely all you have to do it walk in and forward to the counter and the lady working will know exactly what you need. :)
2. Take a subway from Gwanhwamun to Jongno3-ga (line 5) and then transfer to Seoul Station (line 1). The subway stations are fairly self explanatory. One thing to be aware of is that you will swipe your subway card at the beginning, and at the end, but not during a transfer, so don't exit until you are at your final destination. (Different than in Istanbul.)
3. Get off at the Seoul Station if you plan on taking a train home. Considering the name "Seoul Station", probably other great things are there too, but all I know of there is the train. :)
4. There are many different kinds of trains; some fast, some slow, some that go where you're going and some that don't. If you say the type of train you want (most likely "Mugunghwa") and the place you're going ("Jochiwon"), the kind Korean lady working behind the counter will help you and give you a ticket in exchange for some Won.
5. If you buy "standing" tickets on the way home and there is more space in the "sit-on-the-floor-car" then don't choose to sit next to the heaters. Your back will become VERY hot, VERY quickly. Also, you will be staring at food the whole time since it is right next to the cafe counter.

When you arrive home, your legs will be sore, your camera battery will be dead, and your wallet will be empty, but your heart will be full! I hope you enjoy your day in Seoul! :) Plan or no plan, if you laugh, take pictures, eat food, and choose to explore and have fun, you'll have a blast! Susanna and I definitely did! :)