God Made Dirt, and Dirt Don't Hurt!

I guess that old saying we used to say when we were kids actually has some truth to it!

Take a look at this article from the NY Times I just read online.

I found this rather interesting, especially since it mentions my disease (U.C.) and uses it as an example! I had recently read that U.C. is only found in developed countries and is more prevalent in urban areas as opposed to rural areas. This makes sense, because we are less exposed to germs that can actually help our immune systems. I have just a few thoughts after reading this article.

1. When I become a mother, I am not going to be a germ-a-phobe! That is such a relief!! I've thought that kids who were not around other kids or exposed to germs did not develop a healthy immune system, and I am glad to know that it is true. Bring on the church nurseries with the runny noses on the toys! :)

2. I guess I need to go find myself some worms?

3. Mom, I'm blaming my disease on you, because you never let me have a dog or cat when I was growing up, let alone 2 dogs and 1 cat! I knew that would harm me in some way. :) I still love you, though.

~Leslie

"Happy"nings

Last Sunday after church, there was a volleyball tournament for charity held at GSIS (the int'l school that our church meets at).  Michael played, but if you know me at all, you know how much I despise playing volleyball.  It takes me back to jr. high P.E.  Just horrible memories that no one wants to re-live.  So, I opted not to play, and instead went to eat with some friends at a restaurant in Suwon that serves Sam-gae-tang.  This is something I have been wanting to try ever since I arrived in Korea, but haven't been successful at finding a place in Suji that makes it well.  So, my lovely friend Inhwa took us to a restaurant that she knew of, and I finally got to experience sam-gae-tang.  The hangul (Korean writing) for sam-gae-tang is the first item on the sign--it says Gimseng chicken broth below it.  You've gotta love how Koreans translate words into English sometimes.

Anyway, I thought I would like this because I love chicken and I love soup, and I love rice.  Basically, they take an entire small chicken, stuff it with rice, ginseng, jujubes, chestnuts, green onions, etc. and put it in broth and simmer it for a while and make soup.  You have to pick out the bones, but they give you some salt to dip the chicken in which is quite tasty.  I really enjoyed it and was thoroughly satisfied. 

Here are Tamara and Inhwa.

Jee Yeon and I being silly.  I have a hot pepper and she has cider.

Okay, that's cuter.

Here's a steaming bowl of soup!

Mmm, mmm, mmm!

Then on Wednesday, we had the pleasure of meeting up with one of Michael's best friends/roomates from college and his wife, Mark and MySan.  They live in Singapore where they both work in ministry.  I think the last time we saw them was in 2005--Mark was one of Michael's groomsmen in our wedding in June, and then Michael was a groomsman in Mark's wedding in Canada in December.  MySan was in Korea for a work conference, and Mark met up with her at the end of her conference to spend a few days in Seoul, since neither of them had ever been to Korea before.  We went out for a dinner of Shabu Shabu (I guess you could call it Korean hot pot--it's actually kind of like fondue! You start out with a broth base and cook different vegetables in it as well as meat, and eat it, then at the end you add noodles and finally rice.  Not the best explanation, but it's good!  Come to Korea and we'll go have some. ;) in Myeong-dong, walked around the shopping area for a few minutes, got some Cold Stone, and went back to their hotel to chat for a while/reminisce.  It was great to see them.  They are going to have their first baby, a little girl, in April!  They will be wonderful parents.  Hopefully one day we will get to make a trip to Singapore and visit with them some more!

I took a few photos of some lights in Seoul while we waited for 30 minutes to catch a bus back to Suji.  I believe that big blue building is the Lotte Hotel, or Lotte Dept. Store...I can't remember which one.

If you read my last blog post, I mentioned that during my colonoscopy, the doctor did a biopsy because he was afraid I had a virus in my colon.  Well, good news, I got the results back last week and there is no virus!  Praise the Lord!  Still not really sure what then has caused my flare-up for the last two months, but hopefully it will be taken care of soon.  I go back to Seoul to see my new doctor next Friday (Feb. 6th) and he is going to put me on some new medication.  He feels like the meds I have been taking for the past year just aren't working well enough for me to keep my disease in remission, and he said there is a new medicine out that will hopefully work better, and is cheaper, so that sounds promising!  I am praying that this will work better.  Please keep me in your prayers as well when you think of it.  It's been pretty painful lately and just sometimes hard to go about with a "normal" life when I often have to keep running to the bathroom.  I am too young for this!!  hahah

We did go snowboarding last weekend for our long weekend, and the next blog post will be about that!  It was tons of fun.

Tomorrow is our last day of working Winter Intensives, which means starting next Monday we will resume our regular schedule of working afternoons/evenings.  It's been nice to have the evenings free and get to go places for dinner, hang out with some friends, etc.  but I think we are both definitely looking forward to not having to set an alarm in the mornings!  I also cannot believe that January is just about over!  What a quick month!!

I joined a gym this month and have been a few times, but I am hoping to start going daily in the mornings starting next week.  They offer some group classes as well, such as yoga, pilates, abs, etc. so I am thinking about trying some of those.  Maybe I will do yoga!  I don't know if I could do it, but I think that doing some relaxation exercises like this will be helpful for my health.

Tonight, I'm sitting at home enjoying my last free weekday evening, and Michael is gone to Mosaic Cafe.  He has been leading a men's bible study for about 4 months now, and they have had a growing, steady group of guys.  I am proud of him for getting this going.  I know that so many of the guys are really thankful to have this group to go to and to have other men to talk to and share struggles and triumphs with, and I know that the Lord is blessing it.  Michael is such a gifted teacher, and it makes me happy to see that his talents are being used here in Korea.  

Well, I don't think there's really anything else pressing for now.  One last observation: I was riding the bus tonight back from an area that I went shopping in to find a gift for a friend, and

it was taking a while so I of course fell asleep.  I woke up a little while later when I heard a man on the phone saying, "Larry, I am on a bus now, I will probably be there in about 8 minutes."  This woke me up because I understood what he was saying.  haha He was Asian, but I am not sure if he was Korean or not, and he actually had a buddy with him and for the rest of the ride I listened to their whole conversation about looking for a job here, how to make their resumes look longer, etc.  It was just funny to me, because I have gotten so used to tuning people out and not listening to them talk because I don't understand it, that I just sleep through tons of noisy conversation.  However, as soon as I hear someone speaking English I wake up.  I also felt a little rude, like I was eavesdropping.  haha oh well.  They were talking rather loud for being on a bus!

Hope your year is off to a great start!  Enjoy the upcoming weekend. :)

~Leslie

When was the last time you...

Today I had to go to Samsung Hospital in Seoul for my yearly colonoscopy (this was the 2nd one I've had now).  Yes, I know most people don't have to do this until they are in their 50's, but unfortunately, I have the privilege of experiencing it much earlier in life.  This is to check to see how my colon is doing with my ulcerative colitis, and to make sure that nothing else more serious has developed (polyps, cancer, etc.).  So, while it is a really un-fun experience, I know it is necessary and would rather be aware of what is going on than not know anything.  For those of you who have never experienced one, pray you don't have to!!   Actually, the procedure itself is not that bad but it is the prep that is the worst.  Here is how my day started:

I woke up at 5:30 am to shower because I had to begin drinking the oh-so-delicious (NOT) concoction to "flush" my colon at 6 am.  My procedure was not scheduled until 4:30 p.m. because my work made me teach my one class from 9:45-11, even though I was having to take an entire sick day to leave early.  Ugh.  Here in Korea they act like people are never sick or something, and they don't know what to do if you have to be gone.  They couldn't figure out how to get someone else to cover my class, because the other 3 foreign teachers at my campus all have a class at the same time.  The funny thing is, Michael was able to actually take a vacation day from his work today so that he could come with me, even though we aren't supposed to take days during intensives, and so he didn't even have to go to work at all today--other teachers just covered his classes.  So, I was the one having the colonoscopy AND I had to go to work.  How lame.  Anyway, back to the prep.

Last time I did this, the doctor told me to buy a bottle of stuff called Miralax, and pour the entire bottle into 64 oz of gatorade or something and drink it.  Here, they gave me a different solution, called Colonlyte.  It was a bottle that held 500 ml and 8 packets of electrolyte powder stuff that you are supposed to mix into each 500 ml serving.  Basically, I had to start drinking 500 ml of the stuff at 6 am and every 10 minutes, drink another 500 ml.  This is half a liter (1/4 of a two liter bottle), every ten minutes, for those of you unfamiliar with the metric system.  So basically in 80 minutes I had to down 4 liters of the nastiest concoction that you can imagine.  Basically, the water tasted like salty seawater mixed with plastic, gelatin, and sweat.  It was seriously so digusting, I had to gag several times.  Just when I would swallow one batch it seemed like it was time for the next.  I tried it one time with cider (like sprite or seven-up) and it still made me gag.  I just can't explain to you how incredibly nasty it was.  Seriously, they need to come up with a better way to do this.  I would almost rather eat nothing but chicken broth for a week than to have to drink that stuff again.  Come on, the least they could do would be to add some strawberry or cherry flavoring, you know?  I was researching online later and someone recommended adding a packet of Crystal Light to the stuff just to make it a little less gagworthy.  Wish I had some of that!!   Anyhow, it ended up taking me longer than 80 minutes, more like almost 2 hrs to completely down the stuff, but finally I had finished AND the work was being done within.  haha I will spare the lovely details, but suffice to say that my digestive system emptied itself out pretty quickly after that.  The good thing was that it had pretty much finished by the time I got to work at 9, and I only had to run to the restroom ONCE during my class.  What a relief! 

Anyway, you probably didn't want to know all of those details, but I am a "prefacer" and I cannot tell a story without giving all of the background information.  I've got to "set the scene": that way you can actually feel like a part of the story!! :)  So, fast forward a couple of hours until we arrive at the subway station nearest to the hospital.  I was planning on hailing a taxi from the station to the hospital because I didn't want to have to walk in the freezing cold.  But lo and behold, a bus pulls up and all of these people get off of it while there is a huge line to get on.  I looked closer and the sign and realized it was like a shuttle bus to take people to the hospital, and it was free!  So, we hopped aboard this very nice bus and rode in style to the hospital.

If my wonderful friend Ji Yun had not gone with me to my initial appointment last week I would have been so lost in the place, but praise the Lord she was able to go with me to translate and so I pretty much knew where I needed to go for everything I had to do today.  I also have to say now, thank you to everyone who prayed for me.  God definitely graced my visit today.  I had been pretty nervous since last week, but once we got there everything ran perfectly smooth!  I had to have a blood test, which turned out that I am slightly anemic, but I think that is to be expected considering the amount of blood I lose when my colon is flared up.  

When I got to the place to have the colonoscopy (I had to go to the Cancer Center, which of course is a bit unsettling) they were very nice and one of the nurses spoke English pretty well so she helped me get ready for the procedure.  The first thing I had to do was to take off my pants and undergarments and put on these special hospital pants (no gown).  This part was hilarious to me, though, because these pants have a hole in the backside with a flap that covers it up so you don't have to walk around exposed.  It was hilarious to see people walking around with flaps over their butts (myself included).  I couldn't stop laughing.  Too bad, no camera.  Then, when the nurse came over to help me fill out the paperwork, she started asking me some questions, such as what kind of medicines do I take, do I know I can't drive after the procedure, etc.  Then she said in a very sweet voice, "When was the last time you...(here I thought she was going to ask about my time of the month as they usually do ask women, but no, even better)  When was the last time you...poo poo?"   Now I am a grown adult and have had to control myself when kids have said funny things, but I was not expecting the words "poo poo" to come out of this sweet Korean nurse's mouth.  I hesitated for a minute, and then I just had to laugh, even though I felt extremely juvenile.  It was so funny.  I quickly composed myself and answered her--basically she just wanted to make sure I had followed the prep procedures and had nothing solid left in my body.  But then she left and I just started cracking up for like 5 minutes.  That was really what I needed to make me laugh and put me at ease, so from then on things went fine.

The procedure took 30 minutes, of which I remember nothing.  I definitely opted for the sedation, there is no way I would be able to handle being awake while a long tubular camera is poking and prodding through my innards.  I can't even handle seeing the needle that takes my  blood, or the needle being inserted for an IV.  I get very woosy at the sight of blood and needles.  Anyway, afterwards Michael got to come back and talk to the doctor with me.  The doctor did tell him that he had to give me twice the amount of sedative as they usually give people, and he had to give me something to wake up as well.  Not really sure why?  Maybe I was talking too much and driving them all nuts.  HAHA  So then, he showed us some photos of my colon, which was kind of nice to see because my doctor in Little Rock did not show me any last time.  The results showed that the colitis is now limited to my (get ready for the yucky words) rectum and just the left side of the colon.  Last year at this time, it was affecting my entire colon, from one end to another.  So, to us, this was really good news.  There were also no polyps or growths, which was also good news.  He did, however, have to do a biopsy, because he thinks that I may have some kind of virus in my colon, which is causing it to flare up.  He said that he feels my disease is somewhat steroid-dependent, which he wants to get away from (and I completely am happy to hear that--I LOATHE steroids!), and since being on steroids lowers your immune system, he feels that could be a reason why I may have gotten a virus.  I have a follow-up appointment scheduled for Feb. 6th (the funny thing about Korea is they just schedule you an appt. without even asking if you are available that day and time--I guess they figure you can work it in somehow) and I think at that point we are going to discuss possibly changing my daily medications, since what I am taking does not seem to be working well enough to keep me in remission for long enough.  Dr. Kim also gave me his card with his email address and a phone number and told me to contact him in 5 days about the results of the biopsy, so that makes me feel good knowing that I have a way to contact him directly.  This man was so nice.  He told me last week that he was booked up with colonoscopies for the next 3 months but he would work me in.  When I got there today there were already 5 other patients waiting to go, and they took me back first.  What service!  Koreans really are so good to foreigners, especially in the hospitals I have heard.  

So, all in all, the experience was MUCH better than I expected it to be and I am so thankful and relieved about it.  I think this has been the most difficult part of living in a foreign country and not speaking the language, but praise the Lord that He always takes care of us!  Please do keep me in your prayers when you think about it in the future as well.  Most of the time I try to kind of play it down, like the disease is not that big of a deal, but it is pretty serious and can be very scary at times.  I am blessed that it is minor compared to what so many other people have to deal with, but it is still not always easy to live with, especially considering the risks it can cause with pregnancy and the possibility of developing cancer later on down the road.  I just have to remind myself that my life is in God's hands and He has a plan for my life, no matter what that may involve.

Thanks for reading this far if you have.  Sorry it may have been too much info. for some.  I just feel like this is an easier way to get things out to people so I don't have to repeat myself over and over.  Plus, I know that EVERYONE has been dying to hear all about it!  HAHA

In other news...it looks like we will be going on a ski/snowboarding trip over Lunar New Year with some friends from church.  That would be the 2nd to last weekend of January.  This is our biggest holiday of the year--we get Monday and Tuesday off because it is Chinese New Year!  We had originally wanted to take a 4 day trip to Beijing or the Philippines, but that ended up being too expensive, and we are trying to save money here.  So, we are opting to stay in Korea, but next year, hopefully, we can make a trip somewhere warm for Lunar New Year!!

I am really trying to keep updating the blog more often this year.  It was not my New Year's Resolution (I have decided never to make any again), but it is just something I want to get better at.  I have never been good at keeping a journal, so why did I think I would be good at blogging??  I am also trying to convince Michael to blog more.  Maybe you will see a post from him sometime soon.

~Leslie

P.S. No good blog is complete without a couple of photos.  Take a gander. 

Let the Texting Begin!

I just recently discovered that you can text message people's cell phones from AIM (Aol Instant Messenger) online.  This is so cool, because now I can text people from work!  So, if you live in Miguk (the United States of America) AND you have unlimited text messaging, let me know and I can text you now any time I want!! :)  I don't want to text you if you have to pay for them, though.

I love technology!!

~Leslie

I skate, you skate, we all hate, I mean LOVE to ice skate!

This past weekend we decided to join some friends to go ice skating in Seoul.  There are several skating rinks set up in different areas of the city, but we went to the skating rink that was at City Hall, in the middle of downtown Seoul I guess you would say.  We got there at 4:30 but tickets were selling out fast so we couldn't skate until 7 pm.  The tickets were outrageously cheap, 1,000 won per person (which is equivalent to about 73 cents US right now), and included skate rentals and skating for an hour.  If you did not have gloves, they made you buy them for 500 won (half the price of skating)--they were ADAMANT that everyone wear gloves.  haha they were really cheap gloves but of course Michael had to buy some because he left his own at work...they had all these strings hanging off of them and closely resembled gardening gloves.  haha  Anyway, it was really cold when we first got there, so we went to sit in a Starbucks and chat with people until it got closer to time to skate.  When we finally got to go get in line, the temperature had dropped even more, because of course now it was dark.  It was SOOOOO cold!  I think they said it was the coldest day of the year maybe?  Anyway, we froze our toes off but that didn't stop us.  What almost did stop me, though, was the extremely horrible excuse for ice skates that we had to wear.  The blade on the skates was just a blunt piece of metal, there were pieces of plastic sticking into your feet and digging in on some of them, and they gave no ankle support.  But, what do you expect when you spend cheon won?!  So, I skated a little and then took some time to take some photos of people skating in action.  There are more photos posted on my Facebook page.  Anyway, it was a fun experience, though a little chaotic.  There were SOO many people, and they don't smooth over the ice at all, so there were bumps and holes in the ice, and the workers would go around with a pitcher of water and pour it into the holes and then put little orange cones around the area.  It was quite amusing.  Also, my right skate would not stay straight and kept slipping out from beneath me, I felt like a moron!   I had to keep asking Michael if he remembered that I could skate decently when on normal skates!!  He did reassure me.  :)  My feet were killing me after the hour, but it was worth the pain (I think).  It also made my knees hurt, randomly.  I never fell, so I don't know why.  

Here are some photos from the night:

Me and Becky with a random blue guy that all the kids were having their picture taken with.

I guess it is still considered "Seasons" here in Korea.

Me and Amanda (she is crouching down to reach me).

Michael, Travis, and Shawn.

Shannon, Josue, Becky, Abbey, and Jessica.

Hehe, here is the little guy fixing the ice.

I really like this photo of us!

Near the end--right about the time that we started our own little waegukin (foreigner) dance party on the ice. 

And here is a video for your enjoyment!  I guess this was right after they made an announcement saying that it was time to get off the ice...you can see the chaos of people trying to shove their way out of the rink.  haha That is Korea for you!!

Ringing in the New Year (literally)

This is New Year's Eve, Korean style.  No big ball dropping to signal the new year, but instead, ringing a huge bell!  It actually seems to make more sense if you think of the saying.  I mean, come on, does anyone ever say "let's drop a ball on the new year!" ?  From my memory, dropping the ball on something signifies messing it up!  Come on, people!  Think about your traditions!! :)  This is all said in jest, of course.  It was a little strange not to be able to turn on the t.v. and see the countdown in Times Square along with Dick Clark rockin' it on New Year's Eve...but it is always fun to see how the rest of the world celebrates!  Here's a video clip of what we watched on the t.v. last night when we were waiting for the new year to hit.

So, we have finished another year!  This year was especially significant for us as we spent over half of it in South Korea.  We've now been here just about 7 months and still can't believe how quickly the time passes here!  Besides moving to Korea, this year has had its ups and downs--some of the ups being getting to take a break from an extremely stressful job, getting to be in Houston for the birth of our niece Phoebe, being in Denver for my brother Karl's wedding (with most of my dad's family there), and the engagement of my dear friend Heidi; some of the downs being my diagnosis with ulcerative colitis and Michael having to deal with me on steroids for several weeks at a time, having to give up our beloved dogs while we live overseas, and being so far from our family and dear friends.  

But the Lord has proven Himself faithful over and over again.  He never ceases to amaze me.  We are working jobs that for the most part, we enjoy, and are relatively easy and rewarding at the same time.  We are able to save up more money than we ever have in our lives.  We have time to sit and read for fun!  But even more importantly, we have been placed in a community of believers that seems to be just what we need at this point in our walks.  The Lord is strengthening us, using us, stretching us and teaching us to rely on Him in ways that we might not have imagined, even just a few months ago!  I feel like right now is a really good time in our lives.  And God is good, but not just in the good times.  I know that too often I thank Him during the good times and proclaim His greatness, but when things are going tough it is a different story.  I pray that this year I will be more full of praise, even when the world would say not to be.

The Holy Spirit reminded me of this passage from Philippians 3 (as did our pastor in last night's worship service), and I feel it is very fitting going into a new year.  I did a little cutting here and there but it's basically verses 1-14.

________________________________________________________

Philippians 3
(The Goal of Life)

Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord... put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. 

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.  

Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.  Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

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No matter where we are, what we are doing, or how successful in life we may be, it is all rubbish compared to our salvation in Christ, and knowing Him.  I hope and pray that this year we will remember this in all that we do.  I pray that if you do not know Christ, you will seek to know Him and receive His abundant free gift of life and salvation.  Let us keep reaching for the goal and grow closer to our Lord and His purpose for us.

Happy New Year!!

~Leslie (and Michael:)

Videos from the Nutcracker!

So, Michael thinks it is illegal for me to upload these videos and says his wife is a criminal--they had told us not to take any photos at the show, but I just had to sneak a few videos (no flash involved!).  I just had to have a little sound to remind me of The Nutcracker and our first Christmas in Korea! :)  Enjoy.

~Leslie

Merry Christmas! (a few days late)

 Merry Christmas from Korea!

No, that is not our Christmas tree.  It would have been lovely if it was!!  However, our Christmas tree is pictured below:

Ha ha.  It is a little table-top tree that the guy who lived in the apartment before us left here, and we decided we could just use it instead of buying a better one.  Our apartment is tiny, and there was really no point in decorating, as it was just us and we only had one day off of work to celebrate the Christmas holiday.  Christmas in Korea is just not a big deal.  Michael says it's kind of like Valentine's Day in the U.S. (except it is a National holiday so most people have the day off).  Honestly, people here really don't exchange gifts for Christmas--most people just spend the day with their significant other and enjoy a day off of work.  Since it isn't a big deal here, it made it less difficult for us to be away from family, since it's not like everyone around us was!

We did receive some packages from our parents with some goodies inside.  Here is me opening up the package from my parents.

My mom sent us some of her homemade pecan balls and spiced nuts.  They were so yummy!  I took them to work and shared them with my co-workers and some students, and they were all impressed that they came all the way from California! :)

I also was very excited to get a whole pint of vanilla extract!  I bought a 2 oz bottle of vanilla extract a few weeks ago from an import grocery store, and it cost me 11,000 won (over $8 US)!  So, now I should have enough to satisfy my baking habits for a little while!  I am loving being able to bake things in my toaster oven!!

Here is a collection of all sorts of goodies combined from both of our parents' packages.  It seems silly to get excited about Pasta Roni and Jambalaya mixes for Christmas presents, but honestly, it made us happy!  We really don't need anything, and as we have such a tiny apartment, we don't have room for much either.  We figure it is better to not accumulate a lot of stuff that we will just have to move later.

On Christmas morning we got up and went to eat brunch with some of our friends from church, Brad and Belle.  We went to an American style diner in Jeongja called Butterfinger Pancakes.  I had been there once before, but it was everyone else's first time.  This place serves breakfast/brunch foods all day long.  It is a bit pricey, but mashisoyo (delicious)!

Mmm!  I had Pecan gingerbread pancakes, with honey butter and apple compote, scrambled eggs with cheese, and rosemary seasoned potatoes.  What a great meal!

Here are Brad and Belle.  They are a great couple from Australia who are living here in Korea on their second go-around.  They both teach and are really involved with our church and head up the missions team--they are taking a group to the China/N. Korea border in February for a week.  They are actually the couple that picked us up and gave us a ride to church our first weekend here!

Then we came home for a quick chat with my family on Skype.  It was Christmas Eve in the U.S. still so my mom and dad and brother Andy were over at my grandparents' house.  Usually there is a houseful, but this year was the year for everyone to visit the in-laws, so they were the only ones there!  Kind of sad when you are used to having 30-40 people around.  Anyway, they all fit on the couch and we video chatted with them for a few minutes.  It was nice for my grandparents to get to see us, and I had Michael take a photo of me with them on the couch. :)  Papa is wearing his cap that we sent him that says Korea on it.

Then we had to rush back out because we were meeting some friends in Bundang to go see The Nutcracker ballet.  It was playing at a place called the Seongnam Arts Center.

The venue was very nice, but the lady told us we couldn't take photos.  We continued to sneak a few though, without the flash on.  Oh well!  Here are a few of us--there were three others that went and didn't make it into this photo.  In the front row are Brad (Michael's co-worker), Michael and me, and in the back row are Darrick &  Krista (some friends from church who just recently got engaged!) and Belle & Brad.

I really liked the backdrop that was up before the show started.

With the Nutcracker guy.

We got a photo of the ladies, but somehow the guys managed to avoid having one taken of them.  Here are me, Krista, Belle, Shannon, and Inhwa.  They are all friends from LifeChurch.

The show was great.  The funny thing was, though, all of the ladies seemed to fall asleep at times during the show (myself included) while the guys were all awake and really enjoying it!  We ladies enjoyed it too--we were just all really tired from preparing for Christmas!! :)

After the show, we walked around a shopping center and ate Vietnamese food with some of the people that went to the Nutcracker.  We love Vietnamese food!  I also managed to get a photo taken with the signature Korean headdress of winter.  haha As soon as it starts getting cold, all of the kids walk around with these animal hats on their heads.  They are cute, and some of them are so awesome that they are a hat, scarf, and mittens all in one!  That's what this one is, I just didn't take the time to wrap it around my neck.  If we stay in Korea long enough to have some kids, we are definitely buying these for our children.  They are hilarous!  Korean's love cheesy things, and I love that about Korea!  

Where's the waegukin (foreigner)?

It kind of cracks me up how they go all out and decorate for Christmas, but then no one really celebrates it.  They did the same thing for Halloween.  Kind of odd.  

All in all, our first Christmas in Korea was a good one.  It was very strange working every day except Christmas, especially for me, since I've always had nearly 2 weeks of vacation from teaching.  However, I have decided that very few other jobs require the time and energy of a teacher in an American public school, and therefore don't require the vacation that an American school teacher needs.  Teaching at a hagwon here in Korea is nothing like the amount of time and energy and stress that went into teaching in the U.S.--I've been basically working 7 months straight, and I don't feel like I am going to go insane!  I could barely make it more than a month without a day off in the past!  It's kind of nice to see how the rest of the world lives, and to be out of that bubble of an American teacher's life for a little bit.  I'm sure all the teachers out there can probably relate to that.

We hope and pray that you all had a wonderful holiday season.  We love and miss you all very much, but we do feel blessed to be where we are right now (even though we are so far from family and loved ones).  The wonderful thing is that God is the same no matter where in this world we are, and we are still able to serve Him and trust in Him even when we miss our families and friends!  Praise God for sending His son to the earth to save us.

I always thought I was a good teacher...

and here's evidence!!

Look who we saw!!

So, we were walking down the streets of Itaewon yesterday in Seoul (some girlfriends and I went shopping) and we saw this guy basically mobbed by Koreans, getting photos taken with him.  Okay, I am not going lie...when I first saw him I was thinking, is that Evander Holyfield or Mike Tyson?  He was a HUGE guy!  I realized when I got close that he wasn't either of those two guys, but he was obviously famous, so my brave friends (yes, we acted like lame tourists) and I decided to get our photo taken with him.  Does anyone know who he is???

Okay, if you guessed Bob Sapp, you are right.  He is a mixed martial arts and K1 fighter.  Click here to read about him.  Of course, as soon as I showed Michael the photo later he knew who he was.  Anyway, we were pretty excited!  That's Nicole (my Kiwi friend), me, Bob, and Jee Yeon (my Korean friend).  Notice he is sporting his Big Black shirt (the guy from the show Rob & Big).  Poor guy, though.  We walked back by about 30 minutes later and he was still being mobbed.  Oh well, I guess that's what you've got to be willing to put up with to be a star!! :)

~Leslie

Wedding Bells

Okay, so I am trying to catch up on blogging for the past two months...

Many of you know that my "big" brother, Karl, married his wife Amy on September 21st in the mountains of Lyons, CO just outside of Denver, where they live.  Michael and I were fortunately able to take 3 vacation days from our jobs and make the whirlwind trip from Seoul to Denver in a span of 5 days to see them, attend the wedding, and spend a short time with some family and friends.  We left Seoul early on Saturday morning and returned late Wednesday evening.  We felt like we were walking in a fog most of the time while we were there because of the extreme jet lag, but it was well worth the trip.  It was great to be able to witness Karl & Amy's marriage ceremony and the love that they have for each other, as well as to get to meet many of their friends who mean so much to them in Denver.  If any of you know the Kukta family very well, you know that we three siblings may look strikingly similar, but we each have our own unique personalities and interests (Michael says we are the three most unlikely siblings he has ever met--of course, he is the master of hyperbole).  Karl is definitely the hippie, philosophical, intellectual sibling.  He has a degree in English, loves to play the drums of any sort, and enjoys sharing obscure music with people (he and Michael are similar in that respect).  We are two years apart and most of my life I was known as "Karl's sister"--he was pretty outgoing and was friends with everyone and I was very shy and reserved (haha, I know, many of you did not know me in those days).  I think my love for baseball and musical knowledge can be attributed to Karl--I grew up watching him play Little League and later high school baseball, and he knows all about pretty much every single musical artist or band known to man (I know my fair share, but I pale in comparison).  We went to high school together for a year, attended and graduated from the same university, and even took a class together in college (his hair was longer and mine was short and our professor first asked us if we were twins--kind of strange).  Anyway, we've had our share of ups and downs over the years as most siblings do (especially girls who are beaten up by their older brothers :), but we've always for the most part been able to enjoy each other's company, which of course is rare these days seeing as we've lived in different states/countries for about 5 years now.  So, it made me very happy to be able to take part in his special day and to see him so happy and content with Amy, my new sister-in-law.  I first met Amy about 3 years ago when she came to San Diego with him for Christmas, and liked her immediately.  Now, I don't know her as well as I would like to because of the distance factor, but what I do know is that she is a very kind, caring person who gives so much of herself to help others.  She is very artistic and creative and has a huge heart for people (and animals!).  They are similar, yet different, which makes them complement each other.  I look forward to maybe one day living closer to them so that we can spend more time together and develop a deeper relationship.

So, I am going to post just a few photos from the day (I don't have as many as I wanted to because my camera batteries died just as I started to take photos--argh!  That seems to be a trend these days). 

Here is Karl waiting patiently for the wedding to begin.  I was sooo happy that he finally cut his long hair off.  It looks great. :)

Amy and Karl with their friend, Mark (?), the officiant, during the ceremony.

Their dog, Osso, the "ring bearer," along with Rogelio and Mikey (?)  Obviously I am not remembering names so well...I think it has to do with the fact that we were in an airplane for the same amount of time that we were on American soil.

Amy and Karl.

Andy, our little brother, whispering sweet nothings in Karl's ear. :)  That's also Ben Ebert next to Andy, an old friend of Karl's from our youth group days.  It was great to see Ben again.

 A kiss!

Both of my dad's siblings made it to the wedding, from CT and CA, and here they are with their spouses, sitting around and laughing.  This was the first time the three of them had all been together in a long time.  It was good to see my aunts and uncles.  We did miss Gramma Kukta, though, as well as the cousins on the Kukta side.  This is Uncle John & Aunt Sue, Uncle Dickie & Aunt Barbara, and Dad & Mom.

We also missed most of the Wilson clan, Papa and Grammy, and most of the aunts, uncles and cousins. Cousins David, Sarah, and Jenny were able to make it and so did Aunt Kathy.  It was great to see them!  Here's a photo of me and my beautiful cousin Jenny!

Here are the two cakes.  They not only looked great, but they tasted delicious (and believe me, I had plenty of each--its hard to find delicious cakes in Korea).

Cutting the cake.

Andy, little brother, giving his "best man" toast.

First dance.

Here's a photo of our family, not the best quality.

Here's another one (I copied it off of the wedding photographer's website, but I am citing it right here so I don't get in trouble).

Here's a photo from the day after the wedding as we headed out.  Me, Karl, and Andy.

We headed to Denver to meet up with some of my best girlfriends from college, and former roommates!  We shopped a little, ate a great dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, went to Starbucks, and then headed to Heidi's house to crash for a few short hours before we flew home to Korea.

Here are Jenny, me, Michael, Anne, Dustin (Heidi's boyfriend), and Heidi.  What a great time to see them and to get to meet Dustin!

So, that concludes our long-weekend trip to the U.S.  Wish it could have been longer, but we were able to do what we needed to do!  More catching up to come soon...

~Leslie