Ode to Jenny

I had a moment of reflection the other day as I was hanging out with my kimbap loving friend and thinking how neat it has been to watch these guys go through the process of helpless and brand spanking new in Korea to quite competent and independent. I'm so proud of their progress!

I remember with clarity the first day they arrived in Korea. We knocked on their apartment door and a sleep deprived Jenn answered saying something like, 'What the heck are we doing?!" They gave us such big hugs that afternoon- I'm guessing it was good to see a familiar face. :) Blake and I made special mental note to really treasure those first few days/weeks as we witnessed them adjust. As we showed them the subway and experienced the Korean version of 'packed with people,' sweet Canadian Jenny asked with innocent politeness, "how can I say excuse me in Korean?" (For those unaware...you just push) Ah yes...those were the days of sweet, polite Jenn.

For friends and family back home, I am happy to report that these two are doing well and are enjoying the Korea experience, but there has been a subtle change in Jenn that became painfully obvious to me last week. Jenny and I were on a Wednesday night date while our men met with the guys for Bible study. We decided to splurge on Starbucks because it was a super cold night and Starbucks has really comfy couches. We arrived and despite the huge restaurant, there was not a seat to be found. We strategically split up bettering our chances of landing a spot, but it seemed as though there were some other people who came in way after us who had the same idea. Out of the corner of my eye (closer to Jenn's strategic location) a couple started to clear their glasses and move. I alerted Jenn, but the girls behind us (need I mention again they came in WAY after us?) saw the opening as well. The one girl started to gain ground on Jenn and it almost looked as if we had lost (again), but one too many elbows and shoves and seats taken from under her nose on the bus had finally gotten the better of Jenny. With a look of determination in her eye she made a run for it, leapt through the air and landed on the couch, triumphantly declaring with satisfaction in my direction, 'I got it!". I think the rest of us were all a little shocked, especially coming from the sweet Canadian girl who used to ask how to say 'excuse me.'
'Able to adjust to a new environment' and 'adaptable' are resume worthy qualities and by-golly, Jenn's got them! We're all hoping that she's just as adjustable and adaptable when going home to Canada again.

She promises to stop before becoming the old grandmother in this video at her granddaughter's wedding. We love you Jenny! Pushy and all! :)

January 2009

Wow- I have been really horrible these days with updating the blog.

It's definitely beginning to look a lot like winter these days...actually, it's more just feeling like winter here and it's been feeling like winter for awhile. We don't have any snow aside from the random falls where it melts almost instantly, but it's still stupid cold.
Blake and I made the decision to go home for the holidays this year and it was a pretty eventful trip home. We found ourselves in the middle of what was termed 'snowmageddon' and we almost thought we weren't going to make it to Toronto. We had 3 flights, 2 transfers to get home and after 35 hours of travel, we found out that our last flight from Detroit to Toronto was cancelled with no hope of rebooking for days. We made the decision to take a bus home from Detroit and had to navigate in the scary city of Detroit to find the bus station. The area of Detroit we saw was such a stark contrast to our home in Seoul. We had to wait about 7 hours in the bus station in Detroit and there were homeless people trying to break into lockers beside us and cornering us for money in the bathrooms and calling us on if you made eye contact. Wow was all we could say. We rode the bus all night long and my dear father-in-law drove to Toronto to pick us up. We were so happy to see a familiar face after almost 2 days of travel with hardly any sleep. I have never gone to sleep so fast when my head finally hit the pillow!

Our luggage was extremely delayed and we didn't actually have it for the majority of the time that we were home. Northwest gave us some money back for clothes so that was pretty exciting.
It was such a blessing to be home for the holidays and re-connect with our loved ones. It felt like such a short time and we didn't visit everyone we wanted to visit, but it was so great to just take a break.
We made a few discoveries about ourselves amidst all our travels. The less you eat, the better your body adjusts to time change. I adjust much faster than Blake. Poor Blake was completely switched around and would find himself exhausted in the day and wide awake and on the computer at night. Funny enough, he's still having a bit of a hard time now that we're back. Aside from feeling a little tired, I think I've pretty much adjusted and back on track.
We are full throttle at work and running what they call 'winter camp.' It's an intensive program and we really gave ourselves no time to adjust to the jet lag or anything before starting work. This past week has felt like we're in survival mode and we're trying to take measures so we don't get sick. Yay for Ginseng- it's worked so far!
Our trusty travel buddies Jenn and Jord decided to embark on an adventure of their very own this Christmas and went to the Philippines. This was Jenn's first trip to a tropical area and they said they had a blast.
That's about all that's new with us. We are looking forward to the weekend here so we can clean and make some sense of the apartment.