There are those people in your life who you'll grow apart with over time. Then there are those people who you know you'll always be able to be real with regardless of where you are or how much life has happened.

As I'm starting my morning today, I'm thanking God for someone who I call my brother, my family. 

Happy birthday Daniel!

I miss you man. 2 more months!

Blessed.

What I'm thankful for this week...

my family group. 

for their prayers, encouraging notes, and our blessed conversations during and after the retreat. 

my parents. 

for being so supportive and encouraging after a bad first chemistry test.

my second family back at home. took a stroll through memory lane today. miss you guys so much.

my latest music obssession:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23vkW-hCabk&ob=av2n

new home.

It's definitely hard to pick up blogging again after so much life has happened..so I'll just fast-forward through all the nit-picky happenings during the first three weeks of college and give some overall glimpses of life so far in Atlanta.

My sociology professor is Russian, talks slowly with a thick accent, and always pronounces 'processes' as 'per-owe-sesses.' My Psychobiology and Cognition course with Dr. Edwards is by far my favorite class but also one of the most challenging. We cover so much material each day that I started recording class. I have to say that my  newest pet peeve is how the three guys behind me manage to cough at the most important moments during each lecture, without fail. I'm also taking Chemistry, my freshman seminar on social influence psychology, and Ballet III. The first week of school, I woke up super early to try and look somewhat nice. Now I roll out of bed ten minutes before and book it to class.

Aside from the ballet class that I'm taking (which I love), I also joined the Emory Dance Company! The movement and style of dancing is so different to what I'm used to but I love it. The piece I'm in is still in the making; the choreographer is all about being inspired by spontaneous ideas and running with those ideas to piece things together. It's cool.

On a side note, Jimmy Carter came to talk to the 2015 freshman class yesterday. He's a fan of Harry Potter books. Jimmy Carter knows what's up.

These are some of the girls I've met who live in my hall/dorm. This is us post-songfest where we were repping Dobbs, aka the best dorm at Emory.

Some shots of what happens at our late-night "studying" sessions.

After being so used to seeing the same thirty familiar faces and closest friends each Sunday, it's been hard but also a huge blessing to now be at Journey Church of Atlanta! The people I've met are great and the girls in my family group who meet every Wednesday are awesome. Friday worship nights or what we call Quest, is honestly one of the things I look forward to the most each week.

These are some of the girls in my family group! We went out to dinner together for Korean food (which I was craving SO BAD) and then had bubble tea afterwards. Yay for fg!

I guess I could go on and give you the details of every day since I've been here. But overall, college is exactly what I expected and everything I didn't expect. I won't lie and say everything's been perfect, but I love it more each day..

I'm learning that trying to smuggle five bananas and six apples into my backpack won't fly with the kitchen staff, that I should plan on getting out of bed two minutes earlier so I don't pee my pants running to the bathroom down the hall, that the library's seventh floor is where I actually get things done, that I'm still just as directionally challenged as ever, that there actually comes a day when you'll miss Corvallis rain, and that bugs in Atlanta are BIG.

I'm reminded that friendships take time to build, that being alone sometimes isn't always a bad thing, that my parents are really cool for always telling me that they're praying for me, that it's okay to embrace the awkward and not take myself so seriously, and that I've been incredibly blessed with a second family who is the same encouragement to me whether I'm in Oregon or Georgia.

And most importantly, I'm reminded everyday that God is God 

and I am not.

A best friend from home encouraged me to write down one thing I am thankful for each day. It's brought me through those moments of feeling homesick and humbled me in those moments of college excitement, when everything is going great. Even the little things I can be thankful for always remind me of what has been done for me. 

The beauty of grace is that it makes life not fair.

So today, I am thankful for my roommate. Even though she likes the room uncomfortably hot and started spraying weird smelling foot febreeze on her shoes today, she always brings me back apples and bananas from the dining hall because she knows I like to hoard fruit in the room. 

Reunion Time

Yesterday marked a great reunion for our Corvallis Oneighty family! Can you believe it? I never knew when I would see some of these friends again and it was awesome to spend a day with them in Korea!

This is Yul, Ronnie, Michael, me, and Chris right before the night ended. (Jay was also there but had to leave earlier) It was one of the best times I've had in Korea--lots of catching up about life, good food, college advice and stories from the boys, and recalling back on old memories.

I missed these boys! 

Michael, on the right, attends Syracuse University and goes back to Korea for most of the breaks so it sucks for people like me back in Corvallis who miss all the people who go off to college. It was so fun to see him again. I guess if these people wont visit us in Corvallis, we just have to go to Korea to see them! Once I'm at college this next fall, I'll be a little closer..in the same time zone at least.

Me and Ronnie together sharing ice cream. Ronnie home-stayed with my family her freshman year in high school and I missed her so much when she left! If there's anything I love about being in Korea, it's not the shopping or the food that I love a lot..it's being able to see old friends again like her. Seriously so much fun. I tried convincing her to come back to Oregon for college so I can see her all the time when I come home for breaks. I have my fingers crossed!

Our dinner with our nice little aprons.

You can tell we were excited. We didn't eat the whole thing by ourselves, don't worry.

Oh Jay...how I missed this guy. We have some epic memories from spending study halls together at school and late nights with Jessica and Daryl at the OSU library, not to mention all the youth group events and the mission trip we went on together to Arizona. He helped me with more chemistry problems than I can remember and was famous for always telling me to "use my brain"--a line that Jessica and I still remember and laugh about. It was more than awesome to see him again and to hear the cool things he's a part of now. He had to leave us early because he had to go to a meeting for his mission trip to Cambodia. How awesome is that! It's so encouraging to see how people who used to attend Corvallis Korean Church are branching out and doing incredible things elsewhere. 

Speaking of which, Chris actually just got back from Russia where he was also on a mission trip with his church in Korea. It was fun hearing about the work his team did over there with street ministry and how God still worked despite a huge language barrier. This is him singing his heart away at a nolehbang for a classic karaoke session. I still remember being on the worship team with him back when I was a little 8th grader..time flies! He's going back to Wisconsin Madison this next fall and he said he's hoping to visit Corvallis in the summer.

Gotta love Korean karaoke time. We sang and played a card game called something I forget, but it was a lot like Egyptian Ratscrew. Ronnie dominated and I sucked really bad. It was all part of a great night!

embracing fobness

I've accomplished a lot in the past two days.

I rode the subway by myself for the first time and managed to get off at the right stop, change subway lines, and navigate the way from the subway to my grandma's house--all in one piece, with nothing stolen, and without getting frazzled or brownie! I will say that all those fridays at Korean school paid off because being able to read the names of each stop helped me not get lost, and you guys know how directionally challenged I am. It gets pretty cozy in the subway when it's packed..I was in one guy's armpit for a good five minutes.

The past two days have been so much fun! Yesterday, I got to see Jessica, who I hadn't seen in two years! I missed this girl and I've always thought how awesome it would have been if we could have been seniors together at CV and at Oneighty.

With my strawberry smoothie and her latte, we spent time catching up on the past years and laughing about how we're nervous, excited, and complete noobs when it comes to college. Good thing we're both going to Georgia and we'll only be 15 minutes away! We already have plans to take the buses that go from Georgia Tech and Emory to local churches together when we get to Atlanta. It's awesome that after two years, and of all the places and colleges we could have ended up at, we're going to be so close to each other. God is so good!

Yul joined us later and we had dinner together, ate dessert, took some fobby pictures, and ended the night with kareoke! These two are so much fun.

These are our fob-stye pictures that we took in a booth. Unlike the lame-o photo booths in America, the ones in Korea let you choose your own background and afterwards you can decorate the pictures with even more fobby designs! It was all so exciting. See, this is me embracing my inner fob. As a side note, I'll say that Yul was such a good sport about doing this. As a junior boy in high school, he never complained even when Jessica and I made him wear funky girly ears for the pictures. Yay Yul! 

Embracing our fobness.

Our dessert.

Today I met Lauren! I was more than excited to see her because I didn't think I would see her until Winter Break. Even though it's just been 2 months, there was lots to talk about. We ate of course, walked around the mall and outside, and shopped (shopping in Korea is amazing) even though most of it was just eye shopping.

We also took pictures! More fob pictures! 

Busan

I'm back in Seoul again! I came up from Busan yesterday and then spent the rest of the day with my cousin, Soojin. It had been seven years since I last saw her when she visited Corvallis and we had a good time catching up, talking about college, and checking out a famous outside shopping area that attracts lots of tourists. The stores sell a number of things from clothes, jewelry, pottery, to random accessories. My cousin and I both love shopping and had fun roaming around to each store, even though it was super hot and crowded.

After a long day of shopping, she took me to a cute coffee and dessert shop..this was our dessert after our huge dinner. 

Back when I was in Busan, I spent a day with Gabe! My mom and I met him, his mom, and his sister for lunch and then went shopping at one of the biggest malls in Korea (I know, lots of shopping). We also went by the beach and walked along the shore. After all this speaking Korean and meeting a ton of family, I was more than excited to hang out with a friend! 

With mom at the beach. Below is the view of the city from the beach. It looks super cloudy but the weather was perfect for walking on the beach, even at night!

After lunch and the beach, we went to a chimgeelbang, a Korean sauna. There were at least six different rooms as hot as 160 degrees, and you go in, lay down, try to endure as long as you can, and sweat buckets. The picture above is me and Gabe in the salt room which was about 110 degrees--one of the less hotter rooms, but still scorching for me! Right after sitting in one of the rooms, you step into the ice room, which feels amazing after roasting in the sauna. We repeated the process about five times and I got better at enduring the heat. It sounds weird, but it was so fun and one of the things my mom insisted I  experience in Korea.

With my mom in the ice room. Please appreciate the lamb ears we made, also a Korean tradition in the saunas! For people in Oneighty, don't they remind you of Min? He was that little boy who was amazing at guitar and wore the ears around while we were at the sand dunes. I saw an older kid at the sauna wearing the same ears who looked just like him!

While I was staying at my grandma's in Busan, my mom also took me to a fish market where people sell fish, crabs, and other random creatures (some still swimming around in tanks) that didn't look too appetizing at all. I watched one lady catch a eel, snake looking thing and cut it up while it kept squirming around..it kept moving around in the bowl after it was all cut up too. It stunk like fish hardcore.

It was definitely a different, smelly experience but its cool to see parts of Korea that are the opposite of the city.

Me with the umbrella my grandma told me to use to keep from getting tanner. More later! I'm going to see Jessica soon and I'm excited to see her after two years!

Gangneung Adventures

An update on the last two days..

We made a stop at the Pyongchang ski resort. It's obviously not used for skiing during the summer but we rode a cable car that's open year round and went sight seeing. This place apparently attracts lots of people because the lodge at the top of the ride is one of the famous settings from the popular korean drama, Winter Sonata (one that my mom and I were addicted to)!

In the cable car..

We also went to a water park! There were lots of rides with inner tubes, wave pools, and one ride in particular called the Tornado that made steep drops and twists--my personal favorite. So much fun! It reminded me of you guys back at home and I kept thinking that it would be so much fun coming here with the youth group. But speaking of water parks, Wild Waves is soon!

My aunt treated my mom and I to a massage and facial at a day spa today. It was my first time doing anything like it and I loved it! My mom practically wanted to live there. The lady kept massaging my neck though and I had to use all of my self-control to keep from laughing.

Here are some pictures of my aunt's art. She's an art professor at Kwandong University and we got to check out some of her work displayed at the school..she's obviously the only one who got the artistic genes in the family.

I feel like I've been talking about eating a lot since I got here..but this is me and my mom eating lunch at a famous spot in Gangneung.

This was tonight's dinner that my aunt's friend treated us to. Not meat! I was super excited.

Just Peachy

Who ever knew I'd spend time at a peach farm in Korea? Random, but true. My aunt took us to a friend's place out in the country where we BBQ'd and ate peaches all day long. Her friend had built several houses for people to stay there and we hung out with her friends watching movies, hiking, watching movies, and taking Korean yoga classes. I got to catch up on some sleep too and I finally feel like I'm not functioning nocturnally.

This is me, my mom, aunt, my cousin Jay, and my aunt's friend's daughter named Julia in front of the house we stayed at the peach farm.

But this is all yesterday news!

Today we drove to Pyungchang, the place where the 2018 Olympics will take place! On our way here, we stopped for lunch to have what is apparently the classic Korean soup to treat hangovers. Don't worry, it wasn't because I've been going crazy over here. But if you guys thought the cow stomach and intestines sounded gross..today's soup's specialty was cow blood. Cooked cow blood is what I would describe as flavorless, melt-in-your-mouth, dark, squarish chunks floating around in the soup. I wish I had stopped to take a picture! I wouldn't go as far as to say I loved it but I did enjoy it! I would have liked it a lot more if I hadn't been thinking the whole time..is there any part of cows Koreans don't eat?

A quick note about eating here..since I'm only staying for two weeks, my family wants me to experience all the best restaurants in each town so even if I'm not fully recovered and digested from the last meal, we sit down for another feast. For tonight's dinner, I ate my weight in meat. Everyone's literally trying to stuff me until it's physically impossible for me to pick up my chopsticks. Bryan, if you're reading this, I'm really hoping you'll be up for another couple days of raw food/detox dieting with me when I get back.

Not that it's related at all, but did you know that Koreans have heated toilet seats? It's a pleasant surprise and makes for quite a different experience! :)

I'll be in Pyungchang for another couple nights then I'm off to Gangneung!

Off to the Motherland

After eleven slow hours of watching movies, eating airplane food, and sleeping uncomfortably, I've made it to Korea! I'm obviously a noob at flying internationally because the blanket, pillow, and slippers welcoming me to my isle seat at 51D were luxuries I did not expect that literally made my day.

I'm currently staying at my grandma's house in Seoul with my uncle and his family. As a warm welcoming, they took me out to dinner to what is apparently my uncle's favorite place to eat. When they served cow intestines and stomach as the main course, something that I can promise did not look very appetizing, I thought of all you guys at home who would be really turned off by this Korean delicacy. I can already picture some of your faces who think tofu, seaweed, and weirdly textured food is gross. But I'll have you know that I gave it a go and I loved it! It tastes a lot like chewy chicken!

Driving here is not a joke. For those of you who make fun of my driving in Corvallis, I can guarantee that pedestrians would be in serious danger if someone put me behind a wheel here. The streets on the way to the restaurant were lined with bakeries, food shops, boutiques, other stores worthy of window shopping, and tons and tons of people walking around at 10pm going about their business. They definitely do not know the meaning of crosswalks.

I do feel slightly out of place here, like a fob wannabe. This trip was definitely not on my original things-to-do list the summer before college but i'm ready to make the most of it. Other than having my own TV to watch unlimited movies on the plane, seeing my mom again and part of my dad's side of the family was definitely the highlight of my trip so far. One day down, 17 more to go! Tomorrow I'm going to my aunt's house in Gangnung to stay for a couple days and I'll get to see some of my cousins.
More later!