It's a wonderful life.

"I'd rather have 15 minutes of wonderful then a lifetime of nothing special" -Steel Magnolias

The rumors are true. I love Korea. It's kind of blowing my mind that I've almost been here for a month. I think I'll be ready to come home in a year, but the thought currently makes me sad to think about. No need to entertain my thoughts with such ideas yet though. Things have been going exceptionally well with my living situation. I love my neighborhood. Almost every day I discover a new area to explore and random shops to indulge myself in. The above picture is of some delish takeout I got last week after work one night. It is really amazing how everything is so up and happening late at restaurants/food venders no matter what day. It makes me feel like I didn't miss anything being at work until 8:30.
In one of my "after-work explorations" I came across this cupcake place. Oh man, I slowly browsed the window. Then turned around for a second browse. ...And then a third. Finally I was lured in. I only wanted to look. The only problem with looking at cupcakes is the fact that they have these "stares" like puppies that want you to buy them. So I put a red velvet one out of its misery and adopted it. The picture above is the adorable box the place put it in. It comes complete with a wee little wooden fork (I'm thankful for any kind of fork these days). I was pretty excited about the fork...and the cream cheese icing. And while I'm at it, the red velvet as well. Quite the combination.

So, I've actually become fairly competent at Hangul (Korean). For all those that wrote me off (referring to my post earlier last month), when I decide to do something, I generally try to actually do it. Anyway, I've memorized the alphabet and I feel like trying to figure out my "washer/dryer" was like some sort of intensive language course. I definitely didn't get an A+ in that course. You should have seen me sitting on the floor tonight in front of that beast of a machine with google opened, my dictionary exploding with different possible symbols for "dryer", and my focus completely captivated by the thought that if I can figure it out I won't have crinkled socks, stretched out jeans, and mildewed towels. If that doesn't motivate you to take on another language, I don't know what will.

Now onto the most recent adventure. Last night I went to dinner with my coworkers and had some gogi gui (Korean bbq). It was really fun. I am excited because there is a new Korean teacher (English name - Sean) and she is so sweet. It's nice to have another new girl who doesn't really know what's going on. I really enjoyed getting to talk to her last night. My boss, Leo, is really awesome. He bought all of us this immaculate dinner and made sure we were stuffed to the max. I really love posing for pictures with all of them and my kids because we get to drop the deuces all the time. If you know me at all, you know I've been sticking with the peace sign for ages...like jam on toast, folks, and no, I do not intend on changing my ways (thank you very much).

Anyway, after that dinner, it was time for the next activity. My friend Jay suggested going on a night hike up the mountain behind his apartment. So naturally I jumped on board. There are some things you just don't say no to. Especially when you are living in Korea. Duh.

So at 11 we met up and headed up the hill from sea level. All I have to say is that I'm glad I was well-nourished. It was straight up in the pitch dark there for a long while. But good conversation, burning legs, and water breaks in the smelly forest are some of the kinds of things that make it wonderful. Plus there were all of these really magnificent mobile coffee/liquor shops on "Lovers Lane" (yes, Koreans go parking too). Stiles, it made me think of you so much. I miss you brother bear. There was one coffee shop called "Starbus". Yes, it was a bus and yes, it had the Starbucks logo and everything. And finally: yes, I am [fairly] positive corporate Starbucks has no idea.

When we made it to the top, this is the view that was waiting for us:

Boom! How amazing!! Gosh, I forget I live in a city like this and then I hike for an hour to remind myself I am one of many living in Busan, South Korea. Pretty crazy. I love that Busan is settled right next to the sea and all of these really amazing hills and mountains. I love that it was the only place not taken over by North Korea before the US came during the Korean war. And I love that it's my home for the year.

So we started down where that bridge is on the left of this page. From sea level to a mountain top. Pretty amazing. Here's another great part: After we walked down (took the road down), we went for a 3am swim in the Sea of Japan. We couldn't see anything so Jess was a little antsy about the possibility of more jellyfish friends. But I reminded her that we had a nice little discussion about the Korean who mentioned that jellyfish here are friendly and harmless creatures. Yeah right. But don't worry Jess, we already had that pee plan in order. Gender specific. Although Jason was the only guy...We'd just have to tell him tough luck.

By the time we got done with the swim, the subway opened in about an hour so we warmed up at Jay's and looked through some pictures like a bunch of zombies not wanting to pay for taxies. Don't hold it against us, Jess and I are still waiting for payday numero uno. Start the countdown! Approximately: 6 DAYS!

I got back to my apartment at 6:45 this morning...so I went to dreamland until this afternoon. Mmmm lazy Saturdays. I love them. I've appreciated all of the free time here so much. It's really a great deal to live and work here as an English teacher. Because I'm at a hagwon, a private after-school English school, I work from 1:30-8:30. So I have all morning and time after work. It's a great schedule. I'm becoming quite the night owl though. This is most surprising. You see, I love to go to bed early. I have been called an "old lady" on multiple occasions because of this previous habit of mine (and for other reasons...). But my life in Busan has been very night-oriented. The current problem is that I also love my mornings so I don't like to sleep in. I'd rather explore than sleep! I wouldn't have found "Kim's English Books" or all of these fun little shops in my area without these mornings. I also get to see Jessica in the mornings a few days a week as well. We went to the beach again last week, the day before a storm, so it was extra wavy and wonderful at Haeundae beach. Snap, I'm just living the life.

The best part of all of this so far is the fact that God has continued to make himself more and more evident. 7000 miles from home is a crazy concept, but God is way bigger than a tiny little ocean. I love that I've had so much time to dive into the Word and have a community of believers who are real about their faith and about life surrounding me. I also have had so many opportunities to love on and encourage a couple of my coworkers. Is it possible that Christ is communicated through my actions? I hope so. That's all I want to leave here, Jesus. His sweet aroma. Please continue to pray for opportunities. There are doors to be opened!

Anyway, I will leave you now. Please have a wonderful week. Live for today. And live for Him.