Pictures and blogs typically never tell the full story. I know mine barely brushed the surface. I decided to write this post, not to complain, but to give you a better understanding of my year.
Before you begin, just know that if I were given this opportunity again, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Moving abroad you're bound and determined, whether you like it or not, to face challenges. Boy were challenges met this year. Some were expected,
<cough> working with children
<cough>, and some were strange, fiery trials.
Let's start with the expected. For a girl that's never worked with kids, nor really cared for kids much, it was one brave move to sign up for a year of teaching them. I taught 5 kindergarten classes, 1 hour of preschool, and 2 classes of beginners in the afternoon. Every day I went home feeling like I got ran over by a bus.
Every single day. It was so exhausting. The first hour after work, I was pretty much useless. I have a whole new, amplified level of respect for teachers, especially teachers of young children.
Communication was hard. The owners of our school don't know much English, therefore our fluent vice principal translated everything for us and them. Well as you could guess, words and intentions sometimes get lost in translation, and not always by accident. It was very frustrating at times.
The Bible tells us that the love of money is the root of all evil (1 Timothy 6:10), and I am well aware that is very true. I had never really experienced it first hand, until this year. I had never known anyone to worship money like the owners of my school do. It caused a lot of strife, friction, and eventually lead to theft. Overtime pay? Not happening. Retirement money? (Which I might add, they're to pay by law.) First, they lied to us about it. Three months later when we brought it up, they blew up and refused to pay the first three months worth. I constantly felt like we were walking through a minefield waiting for the next bomb to explode. The worst of all though was how they treated Beka. When family tragedy strikes the last thing you need is for your employers to make it worse. They turned a terrible situation into a dreadful one, and in the process essentially stole nearly two grand from her. Thankfully she serves a living, active God, and not money and handled the situation very well.
School was a true test everyday. In the end I think we're (Beka, Ethan, and I) all stronger and better people than we were before. I learned a lot about patience, anger, the tongue and forgiveness. I tried and prayed to live and walk in step with the Spirit, no matter how hard it was. Of course I failed, 'but He gives more grace.' James 4:6
Although this was one of the hardest years of my life, it was also one of the best. I'm incredibly thankful for my church and all the women that encouraged me in my walk with Christ. It was a blessing to be forced to slow down in life. Partially because I moved to a new country, and partially because I was so beat after work I couldn't do anything!
*Life Update*
I'm back in my hometown! So far it's been great. I'm applying to do international missions, and in the meantime I'm looking for a job here and living with my grandma. I'm hoping to be better at blogging. I've had this ridiculous mindset that I can only blog in order of my life. So now that I've completed my Korea posts, I can move on! Hope you enjoy the new look, and stay tuned for my new regular, Marvelous Mondays!
DMZ photos courtesy of Amanda Grove!
