SNAPSHOTS OF MOM'S TRIP TO KOREA

Being reunited with Mom...


Mom takes a tour of my school


She checks out my kids and classroom...


And women's group....(she was told she was my sister...)


On to Derek's apartment for Bible Study with friends and another delicious meal of Derek's


An early birthday present for me...


A purple Guess trench...


Went a little crazy on Friday night with a traditional Korean BBQ...


And noreabong with friends!


Video reel to be posted soon.


So far we have had a really good time hanging out with friends and touring around Seoul. Yesterday Derek and I took mom to a new "western" buffet with endless crab legs and snails...yummy on the snails. Derek gave mom her first K-pop cd! Sweet of him. Tonight we are going to take our first breather and enjoy hanging out in the apartment.
I will leave you with Tiara...

My MOM IS IN SOUTH KOREA!!!!!

Annette: strong, beautiful, confident, amazing, gracious and loving...my mom.


My mom landed in South Korea 45 minutes early last Tuesday afternoon. The weather was welcoming after 3 connecting flights and nearly 24 hours in the air. I met her at the gate with Stargazer lillies and tears. So good to see my mom after nearly 7 months of skype hugs. Hugging her was the best part.

We took the bus home where she met Derek for the first time. He had been slaving away making her dinner so that she could have some good food when she arrived. I think he made a great frist impression...

Over the past few days, Mom has toured my school, taken a taxi, bus, train and car around Seoul and where I live. She has climbed endless stairs like a champion, eaten a traditional Korean BBQ meal, complete with Kimchi and soju, skyped with the family back home, toured a centuries old palace, watched an amazing jam session at church, been noraebong with friends and ventured out on her own for a nice walk around the city.

Today is her birthday and Derek and I are taking her out to a buffet with a 2 hour time limit?!? I love having her here. Being able to share my life with her has been wonderful and really heart-warming for me. She joined our Bible study and women's group this past week where it felt just right having her here.

We have many plans for the rest of her time here. Hope I get over this sickness before she leaves. Perfect timing to catch a cold...but, mom is here and she can take care of me, right?

My MOM will be here tomorrow!!!!!!!! PS: This is big enough to be it's own title!

Where I live...

Reading

I have been reading a lot recently. Here's the books that I suggest you all check out:


Must read for ALL!!

Back from Manila, part sam

I woke up the next morning and journaled and prayed. We made our way with Marla to the pearl market. Most pearls come from the South Philippine seas and can be bought at VERY cheap prices. I spent about an hour wondering the pearl vendor stalls until I came back for the third time to the same man who promised me a "first customer" discount. I got the discount and I bought a beautiful pair of chocolate pearl studs.

Back to another Mega Mall, we had lunch in the food court. I had pizza hut, yup! Derek was overjoyed to find Taco Bell waiting for him! After lunch we met up with a pastor who lost his sight in High School. He teaches Bible Study to school-aged children in the public schools each week and let us tag a long with him. It was amazing to walk the busy streets with him. People would try to help him, but he can manage much better than I can with sight. We took another jeepney and a tricycle (a motorcycle with a cabin on the side) to the first school. Derek played the guitar for the kids in the class who sang beautiful songs. They had Bible study in Tagalog (their native language). Each child offered a prayer. One prayed for "peace on earth."

We walked through the streets of Manila to the high school for the next Bible study. The schools are open-aired and full of plants. It was like walking into a different country. We went into the classroom and said hello. One teacher said that I looked like a Filipino woman. One of the boys played the guitar for worship. They each sang a verse. I felt the joy of the Holy Spirit in my heart. Listening to the kids talk about prayer was beautiful.

We had planned to walk back to the family home after the study. We had a map, but we went the wrong way. At the last school they had given us snacks but we didn't really want them. Along the walk there were some children that ran up to us with outstretched hands. We were blessed to fill them with the snacks we had been given. We crossed over a bridge that gave us a nice view of the valley that had recently flooded. The mountains and sky were breath-taking. Finding ourselves back in the family home we enjoyed a feast of Filipino food. I can't tell you the names of the food, but I can tell you that it was delicious. After dinner we rounded out the night we a hearty game of NERTZ! Yep, Nertz takes on the Philippines! (Derek completely dominated the game.)

Wednesday morning I woke up early and not very excited to leave. I talked with Marla for a while and really enjoyed getting to know her more and in telling her more about my faith journey. Marla brought out the family photo albums and showed me Derek's family. It was a great introduction...(and I got to see Derek's baby pictures and teenage years!!!) We left heading to another mega mall to drop into a book store. I buy a book in each country I go to, so I needed to pick one up. I ended up picking up two. We had some Mexican food for lunch...ummmhummmm...and headed to the airport. Derek and Marla dropped me off. Derek was staying a few more days. I headed through the first of 5 security checkpoints, almost fell asleep waiting for the flight, did fall asleep during flight, experienced some pretty intense turbulence and landed in Korea to blinding snow fall. It took an extra long time to get home due to the snow and a while to get through customs and immigration. But, I managed to make it home all in one piece. My flip flops are back in the closet waiting for spring.