Seoul Searching: December 2008

Less Words...More Pictures: Part 3

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday! There's just something about being mindful of God's neverending faithfulness and HIS overwhelming blessings that puts a smile on my face and a feeling of fullness in my heart. It's great being able to consciously take time to remember all that I have to be thankful for and giving specific thanks to God. I should be focused on HIS wonderful generosity daily, but sometimes, I neglect to talk to Him about it with a grateful heart.

This Thanksgiving, although spent away from family, was an absolute blessing! I had a wonderful time. One of the families from our school had 9 of us staff members over for Thanksgiving. We had turkey and all the fixins! I thank God that HE provided a home away from home at such a special time of the year and surrounded me with men, women, and kids that love HIM. I had a blessed day!

Playing Pictionary! Little Benton (1st grade) decided to join the adults and did an awesome job.

Getting my hair done by my student Hannah! Her family was the host of the day. It's not every day that I get to wear teddy bears in my hair.

Our school's first annual Turkey Bowl---staff vs. Dads Club United soccer game. Staff is in the blue. Dads are in the red. And the daughters of dads (cheerleaders) are in front. This was a great event and a lot of fun. It really got the dads involved, and the daughters had cheerleading practice for weeks in advance. They had jerseys made and cheerleading sweatshirts. It was quite a big deal!

some random display in a coffee shop that I found funny

The special character bench---I felt cheesey being on this hiddeous thing!

Less Words...More Pictures: Part 2

In November, I was able to tour the DMZ (demilitarization zone between North and South Korea). It was a very unique and humbling experience. The day we went was super foggy, so we were unable to go to the viewing decks or even clearly see North Korea's propoganda city. We were able to go into the tunnels that the N. Korean military secretly dug across the 38th parallel line. 4 Tunnels have been found (and at least 17 more suspected) along the 38th parallel line in order for N. Korea to cross over into S. Korea's territory 44 km from Seoul. 30,000 armed troops accompanied by heavy guns and equipment could pass from N. Korea into S. Korea in just 1 hour. US troops who are stationed at the DMZ only have 1 year assignments, b/c of the secluded nature of it and very little contact with the outside world due to strict time schedules. It's very depressing, and those who serve there are hand-selected after psych evaluations and background checks.

Conference Row: Standing on the southern side looking at N. Korean side. Blue building on left is the Military Armistice Commission Building where the UN has conferences with North Korean officials. The blue buildings are UN or neutral buildings. The large building in the back is N. Korea. The first horizontal line on the ground (cement slab) between the 2 blue buildings marks the line between the 2 countries. There were armed guards on the porch of that building. The men in green that you see are S. Koreans. They stand half covered like the one on the right in order to defend the border.

Guard inside the Military Armistice Commision Building: He's in the center of the room at the end of the "conference table." No touchie! There were 3 black rectangles (mics) that record all conversation/sound in that room 24/7. To his right is N. Korea's side of the building and to his left is S. Korea's side.

UN flags in a case above the sound booth/translation booth in the MAC Building. They used to wave freely on a shelf until a surveillance camera caught a N. Korean guard shining his boots with the US flag.

Me and Kate in N. Korea. The guard behind us is S. Korean but is guarding the entrance door into N. Korea.

Me and my friend Kristen standing on the border. N. Korea's about 1,000 meters behind us.

Monument marking the signing of the Armistice that ended the Korean War and gave S. Korea its independence.

N. Korea; There is a guard tower there in the haze. If you look closely through the fog, you can see a N. Korean guard facing us.

Join me in praying for N. Korea and all of the N. Korean refugees who are in other countries. Some have not been reunited with family members in over 60 years. May God change the hearts of those in government positions and shine Truth into the lives of all of those oppressed people.

Less Words...More Pictures: Part 1

Okay, so I realize that I tend to be a "novel" writer when I update my blog. Well, I've decided to share some pictures from over the last few months with quick (as quick as I can be) explanations below them. Hope you enjoy! Here's Part 1...