Notes from the Homefront, part 2010

Have been home for a bit over a week and it's been a blast.  Two snow days, a trip to Minagic, and a visit to upstate NY.  What more could a girl ask for?   

Right now, am visiting the lil' sis in Nashville with momma and our aunt Merry.   We've gone on a "thrift shop tour" of the city, visited the puppy park, Centennial Park, (including the Parthenon).  We ate dinner at the Rainforest Cafe, which was campy over the top tropical fun complete with simulated thunderstorms, chattering monkeys, prism rainbows and aquarium walls.  We swung by the Gaylord Opryland hotel for a quick walk-through, just to say we'd seen it.  Caught a water-light show, and almost got lost in the epic vast-ness of the place, with its glass ceilings and winding portico walkways.  

We're planning on church tomorrow, then driving home super early on Monday morning, starting out around 3AM.  It's a 14 hour drive and I have a phone interview scheduled for Tuesday at 8AM.  It'll be tight but I'll be there, standing up and smiling, with my resume taped to the wall.

As I prepare to transition home within the next six months,  ("home" -- how I love the sound of that word....) am actively searching for my next landing pad. I know that my preference is to stay in the northeastern US and I am also thinking that the "love of childhood" bug has bitten me and I might also want to stay in education.

We'll see how it all pans out.

Korea is forever a part of me... but home is where I belong.    

    

  

(Y)our Girl, heading home...

6 days to go 'till I get on a plane bound for home.  (Vancouver, actually, but eventually home bound... you get the point.) 

Feelings? 

Lots. 

Excited to be going home, terrified that I haven't "done enough", overwhelmed, relieved, excited, scared, hopeful.... all in one big ball. I have re-signed for another six months out in SoKo, which puts me looking to transition home again at the end of September, hopefully into a more permanent position.   

Trying to accept all my feelings as part of the experience and not let them stop me from doing what I know to be the next right thing. 

Looking forward to some home time, seeing the family/friends.  Will be visiting Nashville and hopefully DC.  Looking forward to that as well.  

Just looking forward in general, while still trying to live in the "right now" as well as possible.   Look back, but don't stare.  Let it fuel your journey forward. 

Almost Christmas

The good-lady-mother has requested an update, and so I oblige.  This one isn't going to be as comprehensive as I would like, but will hopefully be something quick to let you know that I'm thriving and jiving out here in South Korea. 

The Christmas season is upon us and I've put up my tiny little-shrub-with-lights-on from last year and strung fairy lights around my window.  Have been in the workship ("workshop" but I'm watching TNG) of late producing delightful holiday knicknacks that may appear a bit rudimentary, but keep me out of trouble, at least.  The season is a bit quieter out here in SoKo, no Santas on motorcycles or massive light displays, but I'm finding that really, I secretly miss it all.  I miss the Macy's windows and the tree at Rockafeller Center, I miss the tackiness and the over the top and the gosh-darn-it-why-not-it's Christmas kind of thing.  I miss people and places and home.        

But in spite of that missing, there is a kind of satisfaction and peace that rests on me now. Joseph Addison has said: "The grand essentials to happiness are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for." This morning, while I was brushing my teeth I realized that socks on the floor, felt "joy" stocking on my wardrobe, world maps and dream boards on the wall, I've never been happier.  The grace of God has brought me safe thus far and I trust that His grace will lead me home.  

If it's been awhile since I've seen you, I miss you.  Know that I think of you often and thoughts of coming home-- coming home well-- keep me going.  Until then, I will continue to work, live and love the Lord my God with all my heart, with all my soul, and with all my strength.  I am hoping and praying that you will do the same.  

Merry Christmas!  

"Blog Slapped"

So when I was younger (like, er, two years ago...) I used to do this thing where I would totally write a blog with a certain person in mind, hope that they'd read it, and be appropriately emotionally afflicted.  I totally don't do that kind of thing (much) anymore, mostly because it's something a 2-year-old would do and I'm trying very hard to put childish things aside.  

This morning finds me about to engage in the (very grown up) act of visiting the dentist, which is actually quite cheap and effective here in SoKo.  I discovered this out of necessity (a that I got in the States fell out crown fell out and I needed it repaired) but once I struck up a friendship with the dentist, who works on our company's CEO and gives us all 10% discounts, I started not being opposed to the idea of making those regular (very grown up) visits to the dentist a habit. 

So here I am in my very grown up apartment, drinking coffee, about to go to my very grown up appointment, feeling very grown up.  It's exhausting, but really, this whole "pretending to be a grown-up" thing isn't all that bad. 

~OGID     

Seasons

TGIF (Thank God It's Fall)

Yesterday was the first official day of fall.  Hurray!

While the temperature isn't showing it, (still 80+ degrees out here) there's a definite shift in the air.  The nights are coming sooner (getting dark after my second class, as opposed to my third) and the air is crisping up.  The kids are going back to school with new uniforms, backpacks, and notebooks.    

I look forward to this new season partially because I'm eager to leave summer behind, but also because I just love fall.  In Korea, it has enormous hubcap-sized leaves and streets filled with roasting chestnuts and fresh-baked waffles.  It also brings a host of endings and new beginnings.   

The good-byes this year were the sweetest yet and happened peacefully with forethought and celebration.  I'm ridiculously proud of the awesome people (one young women in particular ;) ) that have come into my life and can't wait to see where we'll meet again.  I'm getting ready to watch out the window.    

Until then, it's nose to the grindstone season where I'll be sending myself back to school, as it were, and preparing for the next chapter in my life.  This is a coming hibernation with the promise of rebirth.  We're lucky the streetlights come on earlier so we can see clearly on the way back home.     

   

"Departure's a simple act..." or is it?

These next three months (July, August, September) find me saying good-bye to several very dear friends.  I know beyond a shadow that I will most certainly see them all again, but I'm concerned with their physical location in that it thwarts my ability to call them up for a coffee dates.  That's going to be a drag.  

Such is the life of an expat, but as my friend remarked, "It comes in waves."  This is just one of the swells, but I haven't decided if it's an upsurge or downturn.  I suppose it depends on your perspective.  The same wave that terrifies the novice swimmer produces sheer delight in the experienced surfer (thank you Oswald, for that one).

Either way, it's a season of change and I'm determined to face it deliberately, with my eyes open and senses ready to feel, whatever that may entail.  

(Only I might just put on sunglasses first ;)

At the K2 Airbase (top secret!) for a church picnic.

I'm the one in the middle wearing sunglasses.

Serious, Non-Life Threatening Conditions, Part 7

Dear Friends and Family in Michigan, Florida, Calicalifornia, and beyond:

(Mom, Mezza, Aunt Dianne &Uncle Art, Aunt Rosi &Uncle Ed, Aunt Merry & Uncle Brandt, Aunt Kathi & Uncle Jerry, coolest cousins in the world Eddie, Julie, Josh and Jess) 

I am absolutely fine. 

Kim Jong-Il and his various incarnations are beating the war drums, but I feel like that's really all they're bringing to the table right now.  

Nothing wrong over here except a serious (but non-life threatening) case of The Lazies.  

Prescription Cure: A good, swift kick in the backside.   

Prognosis: Good, as long as said cure is received.  

Am loving the new location and job.  Co-workers are smashing good fun and church is faith incarnate.  

Hoping you all are well!

~ChrisTIanna