Friendship & Extravagant Love

School's out, but I've got plenty to keep me occupied! Twice a week, I go to the neighbor's house (Sun-ju unni) and teach English to three young boys. Gi-hwan and Ju-hwan are Sun-ju unni's sons, and Yae-sun is my Korean tutor's son. So we have a nice language exchange worked out. :-) And it's much easier--and I daresay more enjoyable--than teaching at the elementary school, because both moms are there to take care of discipline issues... and provide snacks afterwards! :-) The kids love playing Go Fish with alphabet cards and clothing pictures, and I recently introduced them to a new Jenga game I found online--you label the blocks with numbers that correspond to questions. But the biggest excitement is the addition of the new BABY! She was born nearly 2 weeks ago but doesn't have a name yet. If I understood Sun-ju unni correctly, she will go to the nearby temple and inquire (either by prayer or to a monk) about what to name her daughter. Anyway, I love these kids! They're so sharp and full of life.



Sun-ju unni and her daughter at one-week old




Middle photo L-R: Yae-sun, Ju-hwan, Gi-hwan


In other news, the rainy season is over! It stopped abruptly on Saturday night, after one month of successively rainy days. I was actually a little sad to see it go. I enjoyed the cooler days and whisper of rain outside my window. But although the heat and humidity are back, it's sure nice to hang the laundry outside and have it dry in a few hours rather than a few days. We've entered a nice season of few mosquitoes and lots of butterflies!



Tutoring, social activities, and wasteful internet surfing take up a fair share of my free time, but most of it is spent reading this Korean book that is WAY above my level. Aunt Hannah gave it to me when I was home at Christmas, in hopes that I could help her translate it into English someday (help edit her translation, that is). Anyway, it is 250 pages of hard vocabulary, but the content is really inspiring. It's the story of Yan Bian University of Science and Technology, a school established in China in the late 1980's and early 90's, mostly by Korean Christians with a vision to love people to Christ through great acts of service and mercy. If the story wasn't so good, it would be hard to keep plowing through the field of untilled vocabulary. It took 7 hours for me to get through 14 pages today, but it felt good to reach the 200-page milestone! I'm determined to finish it before I go home. (Aunt Hannah's promised to buy me another book for every one I finish, hehe.)




"Easy" page on top; hard page on bottom. :-/

 

This week I have been really blessed by friendship. I think I got together with Sungmi, my next-door neighbor and Korean "mom," every other day! On Monday, we met at the National Museum in Seoul to see an exhibition from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. I didn't know how exciting a "Princely Treasures" exhibit could be, but it was fabulous! The museum link doesn't do it justice, but maybe it's better than no pictures at all. I really felt like I'd spent the afternoon in Europe! Then we enjoyed a too-brief chat over grapefruit juice and an orange muffin at a cafe afterwards. Although the time was cut too short, we agreed it would be one of our favorite memories together. Yesterday afternoon I went over for our weekly language exchange and ended up baking oatmeal raisin cookies and staying for dinner. What a treat! After the sun went down we went for a 3-mile walk around the village. She sent me home with fresh green beans from her garden, a bag full of potatoes, and a big jar of homemade tomato sauce. :-) I am blessed, no doubt about it.



Sungmi's green-bean, fresh basil, olive, mushroom, and salami pizza from our dinner last Friday. Creative and delicious!


And now, I've gotta tell you one last story from today, because this lady boggles my mind. I first met Jin-su and Jin-su's oma, or mom, in March at the middle school's opening program. When they introduced themselves as a missionary family that had spent time in the U.S. and most recently in Russia, I made sure to make a beeline for them after the service. I don't know why, but ever since I was a little kid I've been really interested in missionaries. (And now that I'm in Korea I think I feel a foreigner kinship with them.) When I rushed over to meet Jin-su's mom, I expected a friendly smile and hello but certainly not a huge bear hug! (Koreans just don't do that!) She acted like she was my long-lost relative come from afar just to see me. And ever since that day she has surprised me more and more with her loving generosity. We've only seen each other randomly at church dinners or school events, and yet she usually seeks me out to give me gifts. At first it was snacks from Russia from when her husband came back for a visit. (It's not uncommon for Korean missionary families to live in separate countries like that). Then it was a pretty, Korean-style cosmetics bag she picked up at the airport because it "looked like" me. But today I was stunned to find her at my door with a bag of baked goods and a lovely, floral-print blouse! I tried it on for her to see that it fit and then she was out the door as quickly as she'd come.

Pretty shirt from Jin-su's oma

Later I sat at my desk puzzling over what kind of crazy love would make her do that. Why would she care about me so much? We don't know each other very well nor see each other very often and yet she thinks of me and shows her love in such tangible ways. I've heard it said that our Christian life should be so radical that people have to ask "Why?" and that there would be no plausible answer except Christ in us.

When's the last time I was such a blessing to someone that after I left they sat down in bewilderment, as I did today, and wondered, "Why on earth does she love me so much?"

I'm thankful to God for the ways He shows His love for me through people like Jin-su's oma. Who can you and I show extravagant love to today?