The Been Briefing

hello, monday...

so, Daylight Savings Time has kicked in back home. i'm now 13 instead of 14 hours ahead of you guys. bear with me when it comes to Skype conversations.

friday night was pride and prejudice with esther. let me digress just for a moment. please. pride and prejudice is a literary masterpiece. and why, you ask? because austen manages to blend optimistic happily-ever-after with a remarkable dose of satire and realism all within the four walls of an 19th century english parlor. it is a perfect novel, and the characters she creates are perfect. i am "lizzy" as every girl is, and perhaps every young man "mr. darcy." but what magic when the right two collide! and who can forget such marvelous creatures as lady catherine de bourgh, mr. collins, and the ever-nerve-stricken mrs. bennet? ahhh. even though i know the story so well, my stomach was full of butterflies, excitement, joy, horror, and delight until the closing scene... and now i'll stop. haha.

saturday night laura and i had a movie marathon at her place. we saw the notebook - me for the first time. for those of you who have seen it already..... i didn't sleep well saturday night. lol. does such a man exist anymore? lol. i hear they're out there..... somewhere.

and now some laughs for you at my expense. sunday morning i did what i have not done in my 7 months here. i went to migeum, laden with my umbrella and several bags of books to give people. (the foreigners in church have developed a sort of library amongst us. the ted dekker books my mom sent me for christmas have been passed around 4 or 5 times, i believe!) so i sat down only to realize i was missing something. surely not my purse?! oh no... definitely not that. it only has my korean ID card, wallet, bank cards - korean and american banks, medical insurance card, keys, etc etc. (basically, everything short of my passport). it took me a whole 2 seconds to realize my purse was indeed on Bus 11. holy mackeral.

i went to one of the deacons, intaek kim (who, by the way, is awesome), and he called the bus company and was able to have them hunt for it and reserve it at the bus office. also, sean, a guy on the praise team, wrote down a little note in korean to give to the bus driver, so he would know that i needed to be dropped off there.

on top of that, i was so flustered about my purse that i left my umbrella at the restaurant where a bunch of us had lunch! so after retrieving my purse, emily and i had to return to the restaurant to retrieve my umbrella, as well. phew.

the prayers continue for the right english teacher who will take my place at ERC when my contract is up. mrs. kim and i are always planning and discussing.

tonight my step 3 boys were..... being 13 year old boys and doing what 13 year old boys do best: being immature and annoying. i was trying to explain the word 'serenade,' and so i told them that for my 18th birthday an accapella group at william & mary serenaded me with the song 'Lady in Red." i googled the song, found a site that played it, and could hardly hear it for the noises they were making. what was i thinking?

Sidney Poitier, i don't have it half as bad as you did (in To Sir, With Love) but i feel for you. sometimes you just want to choke 'em. but enough venting. oh the joys of being a student in the Lord's school.

but what a patient Teacher He is. Lord, may i never leave Your feet.

p.s. nothing was lost from my purse. God is good.