earlier today i arrived back home in korea - safe and sound. i said goodbye to the holey family sometime in the vague and not-so-distant past.... as petra took mirjam to the train station to send her to her home in essen (in the western part of germany), and carsten and jakob took me to the dresden airport.

my flights were peaceful.. uneventful.. since the long flight from frankfurt to seoul was not booked full i had the last full row of seats to myself. i was able to stretch out and sleep fairly well for a good couple of hours. praise the Lord! i could never have anticipated such a wonderful gift from the hand of the Father. it was really good to arrive in the airport, to see mrs. kim almost immediately and for her to say, "wow, ruth! you look good!" especially after the way i looked after my flight this past september from home, to which she attributed the words "half-dead" to me.

so much has happened in the past few days, and i will try to post some pictures from my trip later. but in the meantime, i just wanted to let you know that i am safe and really really happy to be back home. thank you to everyone who has emailed me and wished me a merry christmas or just emailed me to keep in touch. i will do my best to write you back personally.

Jesus keep you and guide you into the NEW YEAR!! yikes!

Fröhliche Weihnachten, Alle!

hello everyone.. right now i am in the holey household. it is quiet.. the boys have gone to the castle to practice their music, mirjam is on the phone with her boyfriend christof, petra is on a walk, and carsten is in the kitchen cooking. it is nice to have these few moments of silence to process and write all that is going on here. i must say that i could not have anticipated the huge culture shock that comes with being neither in korea or in the states. germany is yet another country and i am having to adjust to being in a place where i understand the majority of what is said, but still it is not home. and then there are whole chunks of the conversation that i know i am missing just because i am too overwhelmed to process it.

overall, i am doing well. the food is wonderful. i am LOVING the bread and cheese. everyone is incredibly kind and caring of me, and i am humbled by God´s incredible kindness towards me. it is so much fun to be in germany again.

still, i am shocked to find out that truly, korea has become my home and my comfort zone. i miss korea. can i say that??!! and yet, i am also finding that my home is becoming wherever God is calling me, and to be outside His plans and purposes really is suicide.

the week is still largely up in the air, but the family moves at a comfortable pace and they give me a lot of space, for which i am extremely grateful. i look forward to hearing from you all.

and now.. it is hard for me to switch between the languages, so here it is in german...

jetzt sitze ich im jakob holeys schlafzimmer und denke an die letzte paar tage. ich bin jetzt in deutschland mit der holey familie und hab versucht die kulturschock und alle schwierigkeiten die damit kommen zu bewältigen. muss ich sagen, dass es ganz komisch ist, nicht in korea oder in den staaten zu sein. ich kann sehen, dass mein heimat wirklich ist, wo Gott mir geschickt hat. und kann ich ehrlich sagen, dass ich korea ein bißchen vermisse. und mein leben da. wow. kann ich fast nicht glauben, was ich gesagt habe!

gestern abends war weihnachten hier in deutschland, und es war sehr sehr schön. das essen ist ganz lecker, und eine willkommende veränderung von koreanischen reis und gemüse (obwohl ich koreanisches essen viel mag)....

heute fahren wir nach petra holeys elterns haus zeit mit ihnen zu verbringen. viel essen. viel kaffee. viele süssigkeiten. mmmhmm. yum! ich hab so viel in den letzten paar tage gegessen!

leider hab ich nicht so gut geschlafen. ich bin so müde um 21. uhr gewesen, bin ins bett um halb 23. uhr gegangen, und hab ruhelos geschlafen von 5. bis halb 9. uhr im morgens. aber ich fühle mich ganz gut jetzt.

ich bin ganz dankbar für die chance hier zu sein und deutsch so viel zu hören und reden. und es ist so leicht die buchstaben ö,ä,ü, und ß auf das keyboard zu finden und tippen. yay!

viele liebe und frohes fest!

christmas in germany

is, i hear, pretty amazing. magical even. so tomorrow morning i fly out for a week in dresden, which is about 3-4 hours south of berlin. i think late last night as i was getting ready for bed the realization settled in. i think in part it was because i had to give a few co-workers some instructions as to my lesson plans so they can cover my classes while i'm gone. also, i have begun to pack, which automatically makes things feel real.

when i think about all the places i could be during the holiday season - back home with the family in richmond, visiting college friends, or staying here in korea to be with the wonderful friends i have made here - i find that those are good in it of themselves. they are not abhorrent to me. i could be happy in either place. but i think this trip is ordained of the Lord, and on those grounds alone, there is no place i would rather be than in germany.

it is more than good german food, more than the longing to be where the language is spoken so i can test myself and stretch myself in my ability to grasp and respond in german, more than the love of *all* things european, though i would also be lying if those are not HUGE perks. but i think it is largely for the answer to a question i've had for a long, long time about the Lord's calling on my life and how that plays out in a practical way.

here are the details. i fly out tomorrow (friday, 22.december) around 2:30. i'll arrive in germany the same day, local time in germany around 9pm. i will return to korea the 29th, with enough time to recover from any jetlag. i should be able to access email/skype from the holeys - the family i am staying with - so feel free to keep in touch.

here's jody and i from the don juan opera. we call it 'the prom picture' because the background was just so ridiculous we had to get a picture of it. :)

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland...

last night was the first real snow here... it was absolutely beautiful watching the snowflakes fall

even the apartment buildings look beautiful. lol

Merry Christmas!

busy busy

i am thankful to say that the weather has been a lot warmer than it was this time last year. it has definitely been above freezing point a lot, and that is so welcome considering the amount of time spent outside walking to and from places... work, church... pretty much everywhere!

my advanced little ones (the ones i love and talk about ALL the time) have been learning 'Joy to the World' for the song contest our school is doing next thursday. they've pretty much memorized all 4 verses, and cara and peter can belt it out like nobody's business. i'm amazed. they've also been working on cursive, and i'm pretty impressed. they seem enthusiastic aboutl earning it, too. i cannot wait until they feel confident to write in it equally as well as in print. i have to say danny's cursive penmanship is just beautiful.

my prep class of girls is ridiculous. they are so dramatic. we're studying little women and it seems to be a good book for them. i hope i can get my hands on a copy of the movie, because i think it would just be really satisfying for them to see the movie after reading through the book. they love acting out the part where jo is 'rodrigo' having to save his love 'zara' from the evil 'hugo'. lol. oh the drama!

and my last class is getting into the groove with the magician's nephew. sometimes it seems like i'm pulling teeth, but i think they are learning.

overall, i think everybody is worn out and ready for a break. next thursday is the song contest, and friday i fly out for germany. i cannot believe how quickly the time has passed, and i hope and pray that i can prepare my heart enough to be back there... with all that goes on here!

on saturday jo and i went to the COEX aquarium. he'd never seen it, and we had a great time, despite the fact that it was really crowded and - unlike americans - koreans don't seem to be bothered by hordes of people pushing you on all sides. lol.
then sunday after church we headed into seoul for dinner and an opera. we went to the seoul fine arts center opera house for the french musical rendition of 'don juan'. it was really a great time and a wonderful evening. i am so thankful to my boss mrs. kim for her wonderful gift.

God has been good, and He continues to lead with His peace. i continue to praise Him for all that He's doing - at school, at church... in everything He has been good.

last last saturday... christy and joshua's wedding a couple from my church got married last week, and even though the foreign crowd is new to the church, christy (the bride) invited us with open arms. she even asked all of us to sing just a simple song as part of the ceremony.

it was a beautiful day, a lavish ceremony, and just really peaceful throughout. christy was a radiant bride, and joshua took it all in stride. God's blessing was truly upon it all. i wish we could have understood the message (since it was in korean and not translated), but judging from the number of times the pastor said "God" or "Jesus" we were in agreement that it must have been a great sermon. we even saw some people taking notes. LOL.

for all nice occasions - the opening of new stores, celebrations, weddings, etc. - there are these huge flower things. i have no idea what to call them. anyway, since christy's family is quite well-to-do, the whole hotel was decked out for the wedding, and the foyer/lobby outside the room where the wedding ceremony took place was filled with these flowers. the aroma hit us as soon as we walked in.

this was my first korean-korean wedding, and i really enjoyed it. in some ways i prefer it to the american apporach. there are no bridesmaids or groomsmen, and they really honor the parents, who sit in really nice wooden chairs in the front on either side.

after the ceremony there were pictures and the reception. no dancing, no wedding cake... just everybody eating around formal-style tables with white tablecloths. all the foreigners ate separately from the koreans, since they provided a ridiculously nice western-style menu for us. i confess i was really glad it wasn't wild and crazy like some western receptions are... it was nice to sit down and be low-key.

here are grace and ashley, two young women who have become dear friends in the past few months. grace is from colorado, and she came to korea 3 years ago. in that time she has become a christian and is growing in her walk with God. and ashley is from montana, here as a student at sejong university working on her masters in business. the two of them are an absolute riot together.

william, eunice, and moses have also become amazing friends. eunice leads our group, but all three of them are so helpful in explaining the way things are done at our church. we could not understand half of what goes on without their help. and their prayers are so encouraging... and necessary. i praise God for them!

christy spent several years in japan (as well as the uk), and this young japanese woman is one of her dear friends. here jody and i are posing with her in her beautiful kimono. :) please notice that jody and i match... lol. i swear it wasn't planned. we went to lotte mart and picked out a ridiculous tie for him, because that is exactly what ties are like here in korea. two words: amazingly ridiculous. and then the only decent sweater i had to go over the dress was this pink one. so voila!

right before the bride and groom make their exit...

http://www.savethewrencross.org/

please read up and sign the petition. i am sorry to hear of what is happening at my alma mater. not cool at all.

where's president sullivan?!

this afternoon at church, as everyone in our international group sat around jja-jja-myung (korean/chinese noodles) and pizza school pizza, we shared the challenges of this past week and prayed for one another.

it seems the Lord has brought us all to this church to be trained, and while it may be uncomfortable and challenging, we are in complete agreement that it is good... we can all see the work of God in each other and tell one another that the Lord is doing great things, but individually we all acknowledge that to be broken on the Potter's wheel is no comfortable thing.

not only that, but we were also marveling at how it seems every week now the pastor is preaching exactly what we need to hear. you know how it is... you sit down, you enter into worship, and then when he starts to get into the Word, that convicting word hits you- right where the Lord was working in you earlier in the week (or all week long). in fact, right where you were struggling with majorly two days ago. and he lists a few Scripture verses. how did he know that the Holy Spirit was already working on that area? and man, does it dig in deep. it sticks, too - all week long. and the meaning of c.s. lewis' name for God - the Hound of Heaven - resonates at a whole new level. when i sense Him closing in, i realize it is His love that is constraining me, drawing me, moving me, changing me. and while i struggle to regain some sense of self and control over "me", i realize that His love is trying to conform me to His will and the likeness of His Son. the process moves more quickly when i don't fight Him. note that, ruth. stop fighting. stop wrestling like jacob. surrender is a good place to be.

as i think about getting up tomorrow morning and starting a whole new week at work, i am thinking about how teaching is my job and yet how much smaller it has become in my life here. yes, i came to korea to teach english. and it is His plan for me to work with the children and to be faithful in my job and commitment to my boss, coworkers and students. they are my ministry, and i love them deeply. yet, God has brought such richness to my life outside of work that i am having to learn a whole new level of balance. the individuals He has placed in my life have become so dear to me that i know i am called to love them, as well. so the dance continues.

and then there's germany. i'm going to germany in 3 weeks, and i can hardly believe it. it has been 7 years since i've been there, and again it will only be for a week. still, i am starting to shift my focus towards it and pray for God to have His way throughout it all- from small things like being able to sleep on the plane so i don't have major jetlag to an increased ability to discern the Lord's voice and to gain more of a sense of His plan and calling for me and how germany fits into it all.

the word that clinches it all for me right now is this: since the Word of God is living and active (heb. 4,12), it will change me. and if i am humble, i can and will receive it. and i will be changed.

may we have open ears and hearts to hear, receive, and be changed by the Father.