Week Three

More observations I made or forgot to mention before:

1. Koreans watch a lot of baseball and soccer, much more than any other sports. The baseball teams are the names of car companies such as KIA and Samsung
2. Koreans don't really use house keys because everything is electronic. They have these mini cards they touch to the apartment doors and then the door opens. Then they have pin numbers in front of their apartment doors. 
   
3. All the Korean light switches I have seen are the ones you push to the left or to the right instead of the ones you switch up and down.

I don't know if it's a Korean culture thing or an Asian culture thing, but I was so surprised by how hospitable people were (and still are) when I arrived in Korea. They always make sure you are fed and that is, fed very well. The first two weeks I was in Korea, I ate so much! Eating rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner made me realize that I really don't eat rice for breakfast. I usually ate a croissant, cereal, fruits, or something light for breakfast. This visit to Korea made me realize how Korean I am, but at the same time, it made me realize how American I am. Welcomed warmly by others, it made me think about what I do back at home. Do I joyfully welcome people when they visit? Do I introduce myself and say hi? Or do I just pass them by at church, hoping someone else will acknowledge them? I think being hospitable is a good thing to learn from the Korean culture.

At first I didn't think much of this, but the more I thought about it, I am thankful God answered my prayer! On Wednesday, Sam, Sarah, and I went to Lotte World from Yejee's house. I carried a lot of things with me to Yejee's house - clothes, camera, etc. Since we were going to Lotte World, I didn't want to carry many things with me. So I left a lot of things at Yejee's house, including my house keys to my aunt & uncle's apartment. That day we went to Lotte world and then Luke's dad took us to a Korean museum. Afterward I went to my uncle's house from my mom's side to eat dinner. On my way home from my uncle's house, I realized that I left my keys at Yejee's house. However I trusted that God would make a way for me to enter the apartment. As I stood outside the apartment trying to call my aunt on a dying phone, hoping that someone could come open the door, I heard her say "Ha-eun! What are you doing here." She just came home from church and so I didn't have to wait at all to go home! Praise God. He's always looking out for me. (:

My dad's side of the family. Don't his brothers look like my dad?

A New Calling: Abram to Abraham

Sung-dong UBF, the church I am attending in Korea, have been studying Genesis and more specifically, they are now studying the life of Abraham. On Friday Sarah and I went to Yejee's house for dinner and we attended the Yon-hee UBF's youth group afterwards. Apparently they are studying Genesis as well!They had Bible study I'm not sure to what extend I understood the Bible study (because I don't know biblical terms in Korean) but God's calling on Abraham's life really caught my attention.

When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, The Lord appeared to him and said, "I am God Almighty, walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you will greatly increase your numbers. Abram fell facedown, and God said to him. "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham for I have made you a father of many nations." (Genesis 17: 1-2)

Before God's new covenant with Abraham, how was he living? There is a thirteen year gap between Genesis 16 and 17, which we can figure out from the end of Genesis 16 and the beginning of Gensis 17.

Abram was eighty-six years old when Hagar bore him Ishmael. (Genesis 16:15)

When Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him... (Genesis 17:1)

The Bible does not explicity tell us how Abram was living his day-to-day life, but we can assume. Since Sarai and Abram, did not have a child after years of marriage, Sarai told Abram to go sleep with her slave Hagar so they could have an offspring. And so Hagar bore him Ishmael. In the thirteen year gap between Gensis 16 and 17 as well as with Abram and God, Abram probably spent a lot of time with his son Ishmael, teaching him all kinds of things about life. Abram attempted to live a quiet life with his family without bothering anyone else.

I believe many people live their lives this way as people try to look out for their best interest. There are enough problems in each family that it's easy to just focus on your husband or wife or children. Especially staying in Korea, I see that parents work really hard to provide the best life for their family. The Korean lifestyle is a lot of work. Parents work long hours Monday through Fridays and do not get to see their children often due to their working hours. College students study (or maybe not) and also spend a lot of their times with their friends having fun in attempts to be fulfilled. However, without God, no amount of fun can satisfy you. During the youth group Bible study, the leader said that in college, she tried her best to live her life by studying hard on the weekdays and on the weekends, she had fun with her friends. She said the problem with the pleasure seeking lifestyle is that the world doesn't leave you alone as you do your best to live your life. Your life will clash with other people who are attempting to live their lives as they want to. There are unsolvable problems you will encounter and life eventually becomes miserable.

Although Abram attempted to live a quiet life, God had greater plans for him! God changed his name from Abram, meaning "exalted father" to Abraham, meaning "father of many nations." Abraham accepts this covenant with God and circumcises all the males in his household. After this encounter with God, we can see how greatly God blessed Abraham. Although it was humanly impossible, Sarah bore Isaac and God used Isaac to bless Abraham. Even now everyone knows who Abraham is, at least nominally. In the same way I believe that there is a great calling on each one of our lives - to live beyond a life for ourselves. God has greater plans for ourselves than we can imagine for ourselves. I doubt that Abraham knew the extent of how God would bless him in the beginning. However we must choose to live for God. No matter how difficult it is, choosing God is worth more than everything I have.

Korea Update

More observations I have made these last few days:

1. There are a lot of foreigners in Korea. A lot. I see a bunch of people who do not look Korean in the metro everyday.
2. There are signs that I've seen that use the military time. I thought that was interesting since military time is not really used in America.
3. I used a lot of Konglish back at home that now that I have to speak full Korean sentences, it's kind of hard to remember Korean words to form full sentences.
4. There are shopping places everywhere. It feels like at every major subway station there's a shopping mall. There are also a lot of vendors that sell things like earrings, socks, shoes, fruits, facial products, phone cases, etc.
5. Everyone dresses up in Seoul. Even though they have to walk a lot, girls wear really high heels. And here I am with my tshirt, shorts, and sneakers.
6. Almost everybody on the metro are on their phones texting, watching tv, or listening to music.
7. The proportions at restaurants are much smaller and cheaper too. As my friend described it - "They're just right."

What I've done the last few days:

1. On Monday I saw Superman with my cousin and went to the palace place (pictures on the last post).
2. I watched two movies with my cousins on a rainy day - "Mama," which was supposed to be a scary movie but wasn't at all (well, I fell asleep halfway, haha), and this Japanese movie with Korean subtitles. The second movie was better but harder to follow because as I tried to read the Korean subtitles, I would only get to read it halfway before the words disappeared.
3. I visited my cousins that I have never met before because they were born while I was living in Korea. Their names are "Oo-joo" and "Ha-neul" which means "Universe" and "Sky." Oojoo is five years old, I believe, and he is so adorable! He can talk really well. He reminded me of Samantha in the way that he could talk so well for his age.
4. I got a hair cut yesterday! My hair was getting too long for me.
5. Eating. I've been eating a lot of food and snacks. However every time I get Korean snacks or something I am reminded how I still ate Korean snacks and food back at home, haha.
6. The family I am staying with are Christians (not UBF though) and my aunt goes to church often. So I've been tagging along to Wednesday services, prayer meetings, and fellowship meetings. I've been learning a lot by just listening and watching them such as what it means to pray. Spending time with God is the best!

It's surprising how family still feels like family even though you haven't seen them for a decade. I thought it might have been awkward to meet my cousins after ten years, but it wasn't awkward at all! Being away from home also makes me appreciate home so much. My parents do so much more than I ever realized. I didn't realize this, but my mom cooks variety of foods. Every time someone is like "Did you ever eat this before? You probably haven't." I'm like "Oh, I think my mom made this before." I've eaten all kinds of "banchan" so nothing really shocking here.

Right now I am at Yejee & Luke's dad's doctors office waiting for him to finish working.

Every day is unexpected. I never know what I'm going to do the next day, but it's been fun! I don't know when I'll ever come back to Korea so I want to enjoy it while I can.

Memories

On Sunday I visited the neighborhood where I lived for about two years before I permanently moved to America. It's amazing what the brain can remember because this looks exactly as I remember it. So many memories were at this home. It's a strange feeling because wasn't really nostalgia. The picture above is the driveway where I used to jump rope and hula hoop as my mom, then pregnant with Rebekah, counted how many times I jumped or hula hooped. I remember I got to a thousand hula hooping once, haha. My big accomplishment.

We lived in the basement. Koreans often sleep on the floor as a family and apparently when I was little I told my mom I needed a bed (Someone told me this story. I don't remember it at all!). So my mom put a mattress in the one small room we had and I slept there. I do remember a mattress in a room, but I don't remember making this request!

This was my elementary school for first and second grade! (:

I haven't kept up with any of my classmates but I wonder how they are doing.

I went to church on Sunday and a lot of the scenarios went like this but of course, in Korean.

"Grace! Do you remember me?"

*shaking my head* "No..."

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes."

One weird thing for me is to tell them my age. Korea has a weird age numbering system where you're one the year you're born. Then every January you gain another year. Since I was born in December I was two by the time I was actually less than a month old. So whenever people ask me how old I am, I have to add two years to my age in America (which I think makes a lot more sense). It's weird telling people I'm twenty because I don't feel like I'm twenty, haha.

After my one week stay in Korea, I want to say that God is the same wherever I am - in America, Mexico, or in Korea. He is continuing to work in people's lives all over the world.

On Sunday I was surprised by how much of the message I understood. I thought I would be completely lost. I could assume what some things meant if I didn't quite understand what was being said. The message was on Genesis 21 on how God fulfilled his promises to Sarah and Abraham. It was a reminder that God never fails to fulfill his promises to us!

"Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways. You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours. Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like the olive shoots around your table. Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord." - Psalm 128: 1-4

God is teaching, again, that I have everything in him. When I seek him, he will give me everything I need. When I seek everything else, although it may appear that I will have wealth and happiness, I have nothing.

The pastor told a story during his message that really stuck with me. I couldn't understand exactly what it was, so I'm just going to say it was peanuts.

A boy and his mom was passing by a peanut stand and the boy really wanted peanuts. However his mom couldn't afford to buy him any So the boy decided to stand in front of the peanut stand because he really wanted peanuts. The vendor saw the boy and because his heart was moved, he told the boy to take a handful of peanuts with him. Yet the boy kept standing there. After some time, the vendor took a handful of peanuts and put it in the boy's pocket. When the boy and his mom arrived home, his mom asked him why he didn't take a handful when the vendor told him to. Why didn't he? He answered that his hand was small and the vendor's hand was bigger. Analogously, God's hand is far greater than mine. He has so much more in store for my life than I grab for myself.

 I went to the King's palace with my cousin yesterday. It was interesting meeting her after ten years.

I've also been having good Korean food, but being in Korea has made me realize that I'm not foreign to Korean food at all. I had almost everything I had in Korea back in America because my mom makes all kinds of Korean food.

And the rainy season begins today.

Think Big

I had a lot of time these past few days; a lot of time to sleep, read, and think. I'm still getting used to the time differences (I haven't taken a nap today yet! But I can feel myself about to crash.) Beginning from my wait at Dulles Airport, I began to read Think Big by Ben Carson. I have heard it's very similar to Gifted Hands but it's been a while since I read that so I don't know how different they are from each other. Having finished the book, there were two main messages that I can take from the book.

1. Do your best in everything that you do. He emphasizes doing your best in whatever class you take whether it seems relevant to you at the moment or not. In school, I often heard "How is this going to help me in the future?" or often I thought to myself "Oh, this isn't going to be on the test. I don't need to know this," compromising my learning. However after reading the book, I'm reminded of what I stood by my freshman year in high school. It's kind of silly but my freshman year, I tried to do my best in every single assignment I had from school whether it was something simple or complex. By senior year, I kind of pick and chose and I thought was important and distributed my effort through the level of importance (which is probably not  good). But you never know what knowledge will be relevant or important to you in the future. Ben Carson tells the story of his brother, Curtis, learning geometry. He disliked geometry while learning it, yet persevered with his mother's encouragement and received and A in the class. And now he is an engineer, which math is definitely required for!
2. Read, read, and read. Reading his story on how reading brought him to where he is now makes me want to read more. I haven't read that much in high school asides from required reading from English class.

I really liked his acrostic for THINK BIG.

T = talent

H = honesty

I = insight

N = nice

K = knowledge

B = books

I = in-depth knowledge

G = God

I agree with his principles and I especially liked what he said about being nice.

Be nice to people

- All people -

Even when you don't have to be.

Everybody is important.

God taught me throughout the year about the importance of being nice to people, all people. I believe it goes back to the command that Jesus gave to his disciples when he told them to love each other as he loved them. By this simple act of kindness throughout the day whether it's greeting someone with a smile or by fully giving my attention to someone's story of his or her day, I get to share Jesus' love with them. And this is out of an overflow of the love I have received and continue to receive from Jesus. I want to treat every person I meet with this niceness and kindness Jesus receives me.

By the way guys, I successfully traveled on the Korean metro alone. I went from Children's Park (어린니대공언) to Oksoo (옥수)!

Having stayed in Korea for three days, here are the observations I have made:

1. Everything in the metro is labeled in Korean, English, and Chinese. I guess there are a lot of Chinese people who travel in Korea (I saw some!). There are so many vendors and stores within the metro itself. The metros also have these glass walls that prevent you from falling into the train tracks. The doors to the glass wall only open when the train arrives.
2. It's like half of the Korean people have brown hair. So many brown hairs.
3. All the Korean actors on TV have double eye-lids. All of them. (Since there was nothing for me to do, I watched a bit of TV, mostly American shows, but some Korean).
4. I can understand most of the Korean spoken. I just have difficulty speaking. It's hard speaking, especially since I haven't spoken in a while.
5. I miss the blue sky and the fresh air at home. I guess due to pollution and the rain season, the sky is always cloudy. Apparently it's going to start raining a lot from next week. Ah. Oh yeah, there are plenty of umbrellas in Korea!
6. There are so many cars in these narrow streets (I can't imagine having to drive here) and there are so many people. Well, it is the city. 

I went to my parent's Korean church (center) today and I was surprised by how familiar the building was to me. After ten years I still remember it! The buildings around it have drastically changed, but the center remains the same as I remember it. I have some really random memories within the center. I remember one time someone was using the bathroom and I accidentally turned off the light because I didn't know they were in it and left (oops). 

Blessings

Yesterday I went to one of my friend Lenora's Indian graduation party and ate Indian food (yummy!). It was at her Indian church and there was a whole ceremony that it seemed like she was getting engaged. As I listened to them praise God as they told us of her character, I was thankful to know I got to know her in high school. We sang a hymn and the chorus really stuck to me.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Yes, God has done so much in my life throughout high school and the last month has been a blast! So I want to count my blessings.

1. I am so thankful that God provided me great friends in high school even when I didn't realize it until recently. He was always looking out for me!
2. I am so thankful for the youth group and praise team. I definitely got to know them better throughout senior year and they are so sweet! I'm so excited for them to be going to Grace Retreat this year.
3. I am thankful that God is with me right now through this transition time from high school to college. I went to orientation Thursday & Friday and it was just different than high school. Less diverse. It reminded me of freshman year all over again as I looked across at the sea of unknown faces looking back at me. In hindsight for high school, it were small actions that created friendships between some of my friends and me. And now, I look at all these faces and wonder who I'll become really close with by the end of my senior year in college.   I recently had Bible study on 1 Corinthians 16 and verses 13 and 14 stuck out the most to me. "Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love." After the last month of senior year and orientation, I now see that there are so many temptations in the college life. I need to set my priorities straight before I start college! A lot of decisions people live are all about living in the moment, but I need to be on my guard and fight for people's salvation because that's all that matters in the end. During Bible study, my Bible teacher gave an analogy of an eagle. Apparently eagles can look at the sun while other birds cannot. Whenever they are chased by other birds, what do they do? They fly towards the sun and the other birds cannot follow them. In the same way, when I am in the midst of all these temptations and influences, I need to draw nearer to God.
4. I am thankful for my family! They have been supportive by giving me rides throughout high school as well as paying for everything. My sister has a big heart and tries to cheer me up whenever I'm down.
5. God has bigger plans for me than I have for myself. Right now it's hard for me to see what God's going to teach me in these next four years of my life. Anything can happen. I could just go on missions, take a semester off, etc. I don't know. Sometimes everything is foggy and everything seems uncertain. However I need to remember that what happens in my life are not just random. In all things, God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28).
6. I'm going to Koreeeaaaaa! This all seems so surreal. I haven't been there since I came to America in second grade.
7. God helped me throughout senior year. It's been one crazy year filled with schoolwork as well as exciting things. I loved being part of TLC and NHS and it was in general really fun. In the beginning of the year in my youth group class, I had to write down my goals for the year and one of them was to get more involved in school. Looking back, I would say that I did get more involved by attending all these school events. I went to Coffee House performances, the Poetry Slam, two basketball games, hosted the Color Run, saw a full school play for the first time, hung out with my friends, got my license, and so much more!
8. I love nice days outside and I'm thankful for the weather lately. It has been so beautiful!

God is so good. All the time. Through the rough times and through the enjoyable times in life. I'll be leaving for Korea in two days but I hope to take lots of pictures and keep up with my blog in Korea. Hopefully I'll keep you guys posted in what I'm doing. Send me lots of emails on what's happening around College Park. (:

Graduation Photos

It still feels surreal that I graduated from high school. I already walked across the stage and received my diploma. Roosevelt is no longer my school and I probably won't go there very often unless I decide to visit TLC or teachers. Here are some pictures from Sam and my graduation as well as Sarah's! I actually haven't spent much time at home since school got out, but it has been really fun doing random things. Tomorrow's going to be a chill day at home. Yes. (: