Saying Goodbye

There are those faces I will miss.
Of course, there are those I won't.

But Mini, Alice, and Jessica. I will.
Mini is really smart, always coming up with new ways of saying the same old things, which is impressive considering how redundant most of the class can be.
Alice and I laugh together. A lot. I had her for a reading class as well, and she and I would share books, and make jokes. Sometimes mine would go over her head, and sometimes hers would go over mine. I don't know much Korean. Yes sir, Chee-sol, ma-di-ga-sol. Still not sure what that means.
Jessica is so determined. And beautiful. They all are.


Jeff. Won-young. Jeff. Well, Jeff and I have had some problems. Andy was always great. And Alex, he had a slight lisp. It was awesome.

One year complete. It's hard to believe, but great to look back on. It was a great story.

Gap

So, first off, sorry.

I realize I have never written anything pertaining to my future plans after I wrote about decision-making.

And yes, I have made a decision.

I'm packing up my whole life and love and leaving Korea. Please don't ask me why. I know why. But it doesn't make any sense to me right now because I "couldn't wait to get going, but wasn't quite ready to leave".

Looking at what is ahead, I can tell you that I'm excited for the plans that have been made.

First stop: VietnamNow I normally don't like using pictures that I haven't taken, but I couldn't resist. This is Phu Quoc Island, off the coast of Cambodia, but still a part of Vietnam. This is our last stop on our month trek around the southern coast of the country. I'm traveling with Shmeepants and Carry.

Next, onto Bangkok. For the weekend. I've noticed that I have several of these "weekend" trips, as our trip was orchestrated around cheap air tickets, Bangkok to Berlin being one of them. But why not spend more than an hour there?

From there, like I said, it's onto Berlin. Carry has some friends that we'll meet up with, and I'm excited to see Germany, as I missed it on my last time traveling. Train down to Munich, and stay there for a couple days before, tentatively, heading to Switzerland to see an old friend.

Now the whole trip started as a haphazard plan to get to Croatia and Montenegro because Carry's mom owns a kayaking business in the former, and a house in the latter. What?!? I know, right. Call me silly, but I've always wanted to go to Montenegro because, every time I studied WWI, that's the country that I liked the name of most. See, one of those silly, rather whimsical reasons of mine. Kind of like my love of Latvia over Estonia or Lithuania.

Anyways, we'll spend the next three or four weeks hanging out around there. Making trips to northern Croatia, Albania, Serbia, and Kosovo. Unless we do that on the way out. Which takes us to Thessaloniki. The trip gets kind of fuzzy at this point because we don't necessarily have to plan all of it right now since we will have plenty of time in Croatia to do this planning.

So, either fly from Thessaloniki to London, or take a train from there over to Istanbul for a few days (depending on time) and then fly to London. Either way I have to be in London by the 19th.

That way, I'll have "a weekend" in London, a city that I love, before my flight home to Seattle on the 22nd of November.

Whew. Deep breath.

Just in time for Thanksgiving. Huge smile.

A Taste of This Life

My heart. Rooted so deeply in this life.

Howard Shore plays on repeat as I recall this day.

A hike through the woods.
Going slow, of course. I was still concussed.
Happened upon this open space.
Kind of what Korea was. An open space.
We all became ourselves.
Whit kicked a ball around, took a nap on the bench, then talked to Tay.
Tay played with Cha's hair then listened to Whit.
Kel soaked in everyone's presence, then went for a walk.
Cha planted herself firmly on the ground. And read.
Katie and I took over the bench. Took naps, then talked about God.
We all breathed deeply.
It was a good day.
Korea has been a great day.

"It's Up to Joe"

So as many of you know, I've been struggling with a pretty big decision. I've been living in Korea for over 10 months now, which is probably the longest I've lived in one location in a long time. It feels good to have that consistency. I've lived here. I've grown here.

But now I'm coming to that part of the story where I must choose something. I must choose to stay, or choose to go. This decision is hard. I have people I love and care about in either choice. I've been struggling for the last two months with this knowledge. And of course I know that my decision cannot be made solely on people. I can't stay in Korea for people. And I can't go back for people. That can be a huge factor, but not the sole factor - people can also make the choice to stay or leave.

So I came to God one night. Asked Him for an answer. "God, just reveal your will. Whatever you want me to do, wherever you want me to go. Just tell me." And then I waited. And kept waiting. And wondered why He wasn't answering. I would feel absolute certainty for one direction for about 5 minutes, and then everything would change and I'd be completely sure in the other direction. It was painful. And no fun at all.

I'm usually indecisive and generally stay as far away from decisions as I can get. But big things like this - once I make a decision, that's pretty much it. Done deal. Except for now. And all of a sudden I wasn't making a decision about what I was doing in 2 months, rather, I was hinging my whole life's course on the step I took now. Or in other words, I started exaggerating everything in my mind. What was I supposed to do with my life? Where did God want me to do it?

Amidst all of the confusion, anxiety and frustration that this brought, He answered. Clear and simple. But unlike I had expected, as God usually answers.

"My purpose for your life, Mindy, is not a direction. It's you. You following me. Do you think that I am only found at the end of one pathway? That if you walk down a road right now you won't find me there? No. You are seeking me with all your heart. So you will find me, wherever that is. Whichever way you choose to go, I'm going to bless you. Stop being afraid you're going to make the wrong choice. It doesn't exist. You wanted me to tell you what to do? I am - choose."

There's so much freedom in that. To know that my God trusts me.

As for the title of this blog - random movie quote, because I couldn't write a completely serious post.

Hannah Face is 6!!

I really can't believe it.

But as I told Nemmy.... I thought she was turning 7, so this is a lot better.

Love this girl like whoa.

Day 307

Let's just say that today was awesome.

Whit had a soccer game on Yongsan Army Base and I, as a good roommate, naturally went to support and encourage. Little did I realize what this meant.

Yes, I knew it was an army base. An American army base. And I've been to this exact base two times before, all standard and smooth trips. Now, before you get worried, no, I did not get arrested, wreak havoc, or lose my citizenship. Oh no.

We were about two minutes' walk away from Gate 10, where my friend Logan could sign us on, when I realized something very important. It was an American base. With all it's American goodness.



TACO BELL.



I pause for dramatic effect.

Yes. I did, in fact, have a Grilled Stuft Chicken Burrito today with hot sauce (sidenote: I will never admit to how 20 of those little packets ended up in my purse and back to my apartment with me), nachos with nacho cheese, and a Dr. Pepper. What can I say, it's not every day I have access to such as this. What a great day.

Now for my daily run at 7 tomorrow. Perfect.

Heidi Myers, this story was for you.

A Little Story

There once was a girl who wanted so many things in life.

She wanted to run and never stop running.
Through fields and fields of tall grass.
Definitely through a cornfield.
Maybe even a desert.
Just for the challenge.

She wanted to dance all the time.
While walking through crowded streets.
By herself, in a forest with no one around.
Underwater, gasping for air as the song ended.

She wanted to stretch and stretch.
Til her bones were so limber and free she could touch the sky.
Til her feet reached through the ground and stood on the roots of the trees.

She wanted to sing so loud the echo came back to her from around the world.
Sing from a mountain, very quiet so it'd get lost in the fog.
Sing from a bench sitting in the park in the rain.
And yes, sing underwater so that her words became jumbled.

She wanted to tell a joke so funny people cried.
And then peed.
And then cried again.

She wanted to climb a tree so high she couldn't see the bottom from the top.
So high the wind knocked her about and she was terrified.
So big she could stretch her body out on a branch and read a book. And then take a nap.

She wanted to pack a lunch made of tuna fish sandwiches that got soggy by the time she sat down to eat them.

She wanted to see everything.
She wanted to close her eyes.

Once is now. The girl is me.