A Proud Moment

This summer while home in the states I hosted a fund raiser for the water well that I am raising money for this year. God gave me the idea of BBQ and provided the perfect place for it at Rusty and Pam Fulling's home/farmstead in. They generously opened their home to 50 0f us who had a wonderful time catching up and chowing down on great food. At the end of it all we raised $1700! I am so proud to be a partner with others who want to make a difference in people's lives around the world.

Culture differences

Today is one of those days when cultural differences were so obvious to me I had to write them down. I think being here for as long as we have I just don't notice them as often. It's become part of me to ignore them or if I do notice it, to not really pay attention. The first difference happended morning I went for a bike ride around our neighborhood "dong" about 9:30am and was surprised to see the streets deserted. A few shops were open but most were still closed, including our local grocery store which doesn't open till 10am. It's just part of the culture that people do more at night then in the morning. I recall the first day we arrived in Cheonan and being surprised at the many people on the street at 11pm including children. I also remember the shocked look on my Korean friends face when I told her my children went to bed at 7:30pm.

This summer when we first got back to the US and were adjusting to the time change, we had jet lag and napped all afternoon, so in the evening I took the boys to the grocery store. It was probably 8:30pm, the store was empty and the few people who were there seemed to be looking at me like "why in the world are you at the grocery store, with your children at 8:30pm?" I felt like I should hang a sign around my neck saying "we are jet lagged, and slept all afternoon" to explain why we were there.

The other cultural difference happened this evening. I had just finished putting the boys to bed when the door bell rang. First of all not many people just randomly stop by our apt, especially at 8:45pm, and so I was surprised to hear the doorbell, then knocking, then the doorbell and knocking again, all within maybe a minute. Thinking something was wrong I hurried and opened the door. Two Korean men were standing there and by their motions I realized they wanted to come in. I am home alone. NO way, I'm thinking! My face must have showed that and my annoyance because they finally showed me why they wanted to come in. To change my gas meter! Now at 8:45pm?! I was here all day long, somebody couldn't have come earlier?

This was just another reminder to me that we operate differently in my culture and theirs.
Most working Koreans don't get home till after 8pm or later. In their culture it makes sense why the service men are going around at this time and why the grocery store would stay open till 12am. In the US we get up earlier, and go to bed earlier. Here they stay up late. Is one way right? No, just different.

A New Favorite

My favorite season has always been the fall. I love the change of colors and the briskness of the air. But since living in Korea I think my mind has chosen a new favorite. My feelings of anticipation are so great here in Korea while awaiting spring. Maybe it's because it's so brown and dull in the winter with everything dead and all I can see are concrete buildings. Or because it was the first season we experienced when arriving here 3 years ago and I was living in a honeymoon of cultural bliss so in my mind every spring is wonderful. It is just beautiful seeing all the flowers all over the campus and on the streets.

Today is one those days I have been wishing for all winter. A balmy 65 and perfect for throwing open the windows. It was so inspiring Joe and I did most of our spring cleaning! I love the feeling of putting away the snow boots and heavy jackets, of cleaning out all the spaces that were left to gather dust throughout the winter. Ah, a breath of fresh spring air throughout the house can do a soul good.

Memories

How is it that certain food or smells can just whisk you away into memory land? Recently a friend here taught me how to make home made bread. Mmmmm :) 9 years ago I fought a battle with the bread maker and oven. Admitting defeat after many disappointing concoctions, I gave up attempting to make my own bread and have been store buying since. Well after 9 years I thought it was worth giving it a try again. And oh, how wonderful it came out. It was while I was enjoying a little slice of whole wheat heaven, when I was whisked away to the good ol' college days when Sarah (Witters) Houk and I would travel to her hometown, Lawrence. There is special bread shop, The Great Bread Harvest Co. where I experienced what true home made goodness is made of. And the choices! Spinach feta (my absolute fave), cinnamon, cheese and chive, honey whole wheat, red, white and blue. The best part about it was they give you free samples of any kind they are making that day. Now there are "samples" a tiny two bites. And then there is The Great Harvest SAMPLE. A huge slice that could fill you up and the best part was you could have more than one! I guess for broke college kids this was just too good to pass up. Almost every time we went to her hometown we'd make a stop and get our fill of carb heaven, and buy a loaf to share with her folks. This summer the boys and I traveled to Lawrence to see Sara and her girls and on the way I just couldn't resist a stop to the bread shop to pick up a loaf to share. I have many wonderful memories of my trips home with Sara. I have to add that her mom made a great loaf of bread too and so does she. And now I hope to join the ranks of great bread makers. No more store bought loaves for me!

Culture differences

Last week Brett and I had a day together. Joe and I try and do this with the boys a couple times a month, when we each spend individual time with one boy. They are so different when you get them one on one. Brett had asked that the next time I make the trip to our beloved Costco, if he could go along. I prefer to go alone because it usually costs less money! The more of us that go the more opinions are voiced about what to buy. But I made sure he knew ahead of time that the only things going to be bought were the items on my list. Our trip was enjoyable as we dined on the lovely cuisine of hot dogs and pizza, made our way through the rows of American food items we so dearly miss and picked up our items to take home. On our train ride home we were seated across from 4 teenage boys, probably between the ages of 15-17 years old. In this particular train you can turn the seats around to face one another, which they had done. I noticed myself trying not to stare as they interacted. They were seated facing each other, with their legs up and feet underneath each other's bottoms. One boys had his hand casually laying on the boy's leg next to him. I thought to myself this is one thing I have never seen in America! In Korea they call this skinship. When you are friends with someone, one way to show your friendship is by touching. It is not uncommon to see girl friends holding hands and guys walking with their arms around each other. This happens with every age group. I have seen men is their 50's with their arms intertwined. It was very surprising to me the first time one of my girl friends held my hand. I realized how culturally different this struck me. I think the longer I've lived here the more I've become calloused to the differences and then at times like these when I feel caught off gaurd, I remember just how culturally different we think.

What to write?

I'm a wanna be blogger. I dream of writing more, of composing beautiful posts but the reality is I sit down and most of the time my mind goes blank. I read other people's blog and enjoy hearing their thoughts, wanderings and insights and then think, I should be better about blogging. I should write down the things that strike me as amusing or ridiculous, but I wonder how many of you actually want to read about it anyways. It also takes time that I just don't make. I know I have it, I just don't do it. So I'm fessing up....I'm a wanna be, and I'm ok with that. For those of you who cruise by here sometimes to check up on us, sorry it takes so long.

Finally an answer!

Hello Everyone. I finally got an answer from Firstgiving and they were able to extend my web page until December 2009. If you were waiting to make a donation it is now possible! Thanks again to everyone helping raise funds!

Water fund: Important info on dontations

Hello, if you were trying to donate on www.firstgiving.com/elenawilley, they have closed the page as of 31st. I'm not sure what happened, maybe my mistake but the set end date for the fund raiser was listed as Dec. 31st, 2008 instead of 2009. I have contacted them about extending the date and opening the fund raising page again. I hope to hear from them on Jan 2nd and will post again once I know what to do. For those of you who were trying to donate, hold on! And check back again in a day! Sorry for the mishap.

Also, thank you so much for all of you who have contacted me about wanting to help with the fund raiser! I am so encouraged that this has captured the hearts of other people too. There are some great fund raisers in the works and others who have contacted me about donating at different times in the year. Change will happen when we work together!

Two proud boys

Yesterday the boys changed their Tae kwon do belts from yellow to green. As far as I understand, to move to the next belt they need to turn in the cards that they receive for participation and knowing most of the current moves. They were so proud and excited. Brett wanted to make sure Joe and I were both there to see them receive there new belts. I have never seen another parent there, the children either get picked up by the bus/teacher or walk themselves. The other children love to talk to us when we are there. They are trying to speak to us in English and I'm trying to speak to them in Korean! They boys thoroughly enjoy going to class. Ian asks every weekend when they don't have class why they can't go. The classes not only involve the Tae kwon do moves but also running, stretching, jumping rope, tumbeling, and respect/etiquette.