everyday obstacles

Well, we're here!!! We finally made it. The plane rides were excruciating, and we were constantly rushing so that we didn't miss our flights. Everything worked out just fine. We arrived in Ulsan around 10pm on Monday night, so I thought I would get plenty of sleep and easily adjust to the drastic change in time. Boy was I wrong!!! The first night I didn't get any sleep at all. I'm still waking up very early every morning, but I'm sleeping a little more every night!!!

The apartment complex that we live in is very nice. Anytime we mention the name of the building they think that we are very wealthy. It's a high rise apartment in a great location. The view is amazing, and it's equipped with the latest technology. There's a security camera that turns on when someone rings my doorbell. I can see the person standing at my door while sitting on my couch in the living room. Also, there's a mini flat screen in the kitchen, and my faucet at the kitchen sink comes on when you brush your foot over a sensor. The only issue now is figuring out how to work everything since the buttons and directions are all in Korean:) Either way, I'm very thankful because my place is so much nicer than I had ever expected.

The school we are working at is nice. There are lots of people who speak English, which we are learning to appreciate more and more. We like the other teachers (but they do seem to have a small case of apartment envy, everyone else has older apartments).

The language barrier here makes everything a challenge. A simple task like going to the grocery store can take a lot of time and money if you don't know what you are doing...WE DON'T!!!! We search and search for certain items and never seem to find them. Like wheat bread for instance, it's nearly impossible to find. We've bought everything but wheat bread in this attempt. Finally, just yesterday we found a bakery that had one small loaf of wheat bread. We thought we had found gold!!! Another item that we have yet to find is an Ethernet cord, never even thought of bringing one of the 4 I have at home!!! We spent probably 2.5 hours yesterday looking for a cord just to see if we might have Internet. The first store was closed, and the second didn't what we needed. The man at this store was gracious enough to write down the name of the store that we should look for and point us in that direction. However, when we got there and found a young man who did speak a little English, he told us they did not have one, but he too pointed us to another store. Everyone here wants to help us; so, this guy wrote "Ethernet cord" in Korean....or I guess I should say, we think that's what he wrote. Anyway, the same thing happened over and over again until we finally came upon a store in which we think we saw what we were looking for hanging on the back wall!!! Unfortunately this was only through the window because they too were closed :) The journey continues....

God is speaking mounds to me with each obstacle and each victory, even if it is just wheat bread!!! Even as I struggle to accomplish the small things in life, I'm learning more and more each day and hopefully this will make me a stronger and more complete individual!!!

James 1:2-4
"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Keep the emails coming, and I'll keep trying to find that cord so maybe I can post a little more frequently!!!

MISS YOU ALL!!!!

Am :)