Pages

Sunday, April 24, 2011

A special gift...

As I was walking to school this morning, I ran into 하나 (Hanna), the 6th grade teacher who I love!  She and her daughter live near me and walk to school as well, but today was the first time we've ever bumped into each other on our ways!  Anyhow, as soon as she saw me, she pulled out a red jewelry box from her purse and said, "Chelsey, this is for you!"  with a huge smile!

Inside was this beautiful starfish necklace to match some earrings I have, and to match HER own starfish necklace!  She said it was "Many thanks, many thanks, for what you have done for me and my students."

Two of my love languages are affirmation and small gifts, so this meant a lot to me! :) I'm wearing it proudly around my neck today, and love that it came from her!

Happy Easter!

Today was a wonderful day filled with laughs, sunshine, yummy food, and awesome fellowship!

The day started with a fantastic skype date with my mom and dad, who are beyond wonderful!  I love those two!!  Then I took a walk from my apartment over to Nampodong where I met Aaron for a lovely Easter brunch at a new restaurant that recently opened!  Yes, this was the best shot I was able to get of him!  He's like a child with ADD when I break the camera out!

This was what we had for Easter brunch, Korean style!  (Actually, this one was Indonesian style!)  Good ole' Nasi Goreng with steak!  Yumm!

I was sooo excited to endulge in such a yummy salad!  Believe it or not, they just don't exist like this in Korea!   It's usually shredded cabbage and yogurt on top.  Weird, I know!  So, this was a big treat for me! 

After brunch, we walked through the market, looking for a fun easter gift for each other... but believe it or not, neither of us could find anything we really wanted or needed!  It's an amazing physical and emotional place to be to feel like you don't need or want anything!
We headed back over to my neighborhood and visited Serry, the neighborhood dog!  I visit Serry everyday on my walk home from work, and so I thought it would be okay if I asked her mom (the store owner) if I could take her for a walk.  I was fairly shocked when she was more than happy for me to walk her!  As we were walking away, she rambled off about 15 sentences in Korean, to which Aaron and I just nodded and said, "Okay" as if we understood!

When we got down the street, Serry automatically stopped in the middle of the road!  She wouldn't go any further, even when I tried to pull her!  We then realized that that's probably what her mom was trying to tell us!  She knows her boundaries!!  :)

So, we all turned around and walked down another street!  Sure enough, we got to a certain point, and she stopped again!  When we tried to pull her further down the street, she laid down, like this!  We couldn't stop laughing!

After saying goodbye to Serry, we hung out on my apartment's rooftop, enjoying the sunny weather and tending to the new herbs and vegetable plants that Aaron recently planted!

Then... I took the bus over to Gwangali Beach to meet my friends Anne and Crystal at Thursday Party for the Easter foreigner BBQ/potluck!  This time's theme was Mexican!  Needless to say, it was a big hit!

I stayed at the BBQ for a couple hours and then took a long bus ride over to Kosin Univeristy for my weekly bible study at one of the professors house!  I've been going here for a little while now and REALLY love it!   My favorite part is the fact that there are people from ALL OVER THE WORLD that come!  There was a fantastic guest speaker tonight from Brittain, who passed this notebook around, asking everyone to write their names and their home countries. When it got to me, I snapped this picture to show just how diverse it actually is! 

Here's a video of 1/2 the room singing the last verse of Seek Ye First.  I love that you can hear everyone's individually beautiful accents!

I was so touched tonight, and inspired to be more like Jesus - patient and loving!!  This was my favorite verse that was read.

And regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It's your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it. -Colossians 3:14

On that note, Happy Easter!