H1N1 is a Blessing!! Who Can Say That? Yep, That'd Be Me.

So I have had a week to settle in, and goodness has it been busy!

Monday, I stayed around my recruiter's apartment in Ilsan until 1:30pm, then headed for the bus station.  I hopped on the bus to GwangJu around 3:50.  The ride was about an hour and a half long, and I read a book the whole way.  When I got to GwangJu around 5:30, the director of my school was there to pick me up.  His English name is Kenny.  We drove to my apartment, and dropped off my luggage.  After that we went to the school, and I met the teachers and some of the students.  He told me we were having a teachers meeting at 7pm, so I thought "ok, not so bad.  Sit around a table, talk about logistics a bit, and leave and sleep.  Not too long.  Great!"..... yeah, a Korean teachers meeting means eating at a bbq place until your buttons pop off your pants and talking about anything other than work.  I loved it.  :)  I love Korean food, and the metal chopsticks were a success!  I didn't throw anything at anyone, nor did I drop anything.  Sweet.  We finished around 10pm, then Kenny took me to E-Mart (similar to a small target, but with more of a grocery section... it just opened, and he wanted to check it out and I needed to get a pillow, tp, etc), then home.  I got home at around 11:30pm and crashed on the floor.  My school has 2 native English teachers at a time, meaning they only have enough housing supplies for 2 teachers at a time.  Since the teacher I am replacing is still here until this coming Wednesday, I don't have a bed, pots and pans, broom, cleaners, etc until this coming Friday, 2 Oct.  No worries!

Tuesday and Wednesday I unpacked everything and investigated my neighborhood a bit.  I also sat in on various classes at the school.  Wednesday night I had dinner (twice) with Portia, the other native English speaker I will be teaching with.  She is from Ohio and she seems to be pretty cool.  She's a Christian as well.  Her friend that she came over to Korea with had just gotten out of the hospital and wanted to hang out, so we all went out to eat.

Thursday, my throat started hurting.  It wasn't that bad until Friday.  I could barely speak because it hurt so bad.  I just chalked it up to climate change.  Friday, it got really bad... so bad that I went through 4 rolls of cough drops in 3 hours.  And my ears hurt as well.  After dinner with Portia and her Korean boyfriend, Moon, on Friday night, I stopped by the pharmacy and bought 3 more rolls of Halls.  I got in the PJ's, laid on my floor, and watched "I am Legend" with Korean voice over and English subtitles (QUITE hilarious).

I woke up Saturday feeling dreadful!  My nose and sinuses were full and drippy and all around gross, in addition to my throat and ears hurting, so I stayed in the apartment all day.  I woke up Sunday with a bad cough and chest congestion, a fever, chills, and cold sweats.  I felt like death, and I have spent the better part of all my life severely sick.  Well, on the brink of what I felt was death, I got a call on my Skype number (Sunday night in Korea, Sunday Morning back in the States).  I didn't recognize the number, but I answered it anyway.  The call was an automated message from NWA/Delta stating that there were 2 passengers on my flight from Detroit to Tokyo who were unknowingly infected with H1N1 and if I experience any signs or symptoms (all of which I had at this point) to seek medical attention within 48 hours of the onset of symptoms.  This phone call came at least 72 hours after the onset of symptoms.  I researched it, and there was no point in me going to the doctor that late after the start of they symptoms.  I just slept it off.  I'm still recovering, but am feeling much better than I was this weekend.  I am going to take this week to fully recoup from it, though I still have to work.  I am just going to take it easy and let my lungs heal.

Still wondering how I can say that having H1N1 is a blessing?  Well, for those of you who know me, I have auto-immune diseases to a serious degree.  Because of this, I really haven't gotten sick in about 2 years because my immune system is confused.  It knows how to attack me, but does not know how to attack viruses and bacteria.  SoooooOOOOoooooo... my body responding so fierce against the virus is A VERY VERY GOOD THING!!!!  This is a sign that at least some of my auto-immune diseases are going into remission!!!!!!!!!!  Praise the Lord!  He is soooo good and so faithful!!!!! 

~ As for you, O LORD, you will not retrain your mercy from me; your steadfast love and faithfulness will ever preserve me! ~ Psalm 40:11 (ESV)

I'll try to post more frequently.  Last week it just didn't happen.  :)  To see some pictures from before I got sick, click here.  Love you all!

Be blessed!

Karis and Irini.

I'm here!!!!

I arrived in Seoul last night.  Wow.  I still feel like I'm in a dream, and that I'm going to wake up with Ruthie or Garrison telling me I'm going to be late for church.  Haha!  

First off, thank you all that came to the airport to see me off!  That was such a blessing.  Thank you all for the prayers and encouragement!  They have definite been evident!

Traveling was fairly uneventful.  The flight from Greenville to Detroit was pretty brutal because of turbulence, but I had a window seat which helped a lot.  The gate for my Greenville flight got moved without telling anyone, but I still found it.  Thanks Ruthie.  The guy that sat next to me on the Greenville flight was named WangJi, or Piper is what he preferred to be called.  He is 20 and went to Greenville Tech, but will be transferring to USC Columbia in January and majoring in economics.  His Visa expired, so he had to go home to Japan until he starts school again in January.  He was on the flight from Detroit to Tokyo, so Piper and I decided to do all of the connecting stuff together.  Praise God!  He is good, and worked everything out in the Detroit airport through Piper.  :)  Pray for Piper; he' doesn't have a saving faith in Jesus.

Just something awesome I wanted to share: When I boarded the Greenville plane, this is the song that was playing...

Why are you striving these days
Why are you trying to earn grace
Why are you crying
Let me lift up your face
Just don't turn away

Why are you looking for love
Why are you still searching as if I'm not enough
To where will you go child
Tell me where will you run
To where will you run

And I'll be by your side
Wherever you fall
In the dead of night
Whenever you call
And please don't fight
These hands that are holding you
My hands are holding you

Look at these hands and my side
They swallowed the grave on that night
When I drank the world's sin
So I could carry you in
And give you life
I want to give you life

(Chorus 2x)

Cause I, I love you
I want you to know
That I, I love you
I'll never let you go

(Chorus 2x)

~ By Your Side, by Tenth Avenue North

How cool is that!!!!?!?!?!!!?!?!?!?!

Detroit to Tokyo was LONG.  We sat on the tarmac for over an hour because we had to change our course.  There was a lot of turbulence in the Pacific, apparently.  So we flew straight up into Canada, across the upper Providences, across the middle of Alaska and the Bering Straight, then down along the coast of Siberia and straight down across Japan.  The sun was up the entire flight, and I got a window seat.  I fell asleep with my face against the window for about 30 minutes of the 13 hour flight.  :)  It was marvelous.  They played 3 movies, and several TV shows.  For Garrison and Chis: the first thing they showed was an episode of SCRUBS.  So not kidding. I thought of, and prayed for, you both.  :)  Oh, and I didn't feel sick once so that was a blessing for sure!  Oh, and I didn't have anyone next to me on this flight, so I just laid around across the seats! 

The Tokyo airport was a little un-nerving.  They changed our gate 3 times without telling us.  Once we got the correct gate, we sat there for another 30 minutes before they would board the plane.  We didn't board until 5 minutes before we were suppose to fly out. At this point, I was extremely tired from flying and hauling around my carry-on and computer bags.  I just wanted my seat so I could rest.  We got on the plane, and I sat next to a great couple.  I got the isle seat because I was right in the middle of the couple... so I switched seats with the wife, so she could sit in the middle by her husband.  They were from New Hampshire, and doing a 3 week long vacation in South Korea, the Philippines, and Hawaii.  She is from Seoul, and wanted to show her husband where she came from.  She was super sweet, and told me a lot about South Korean culture.  The airline played a movie, and I fell asleep for about 45 minutes to an hour on this flight.  We arrived at the Incheon airport at 10:15pm on Sunday (9:15am on Sunday for those in EST).  Glory day.  :)

Once in the Incheon airport, I went through immigration with no problems, took the train to find my luggage, and had no problem finding my way.  This is a surprise since there was only 1 smalllllllllllll sign for baggage anywhere in the airport.  I got my luggage on a cart, and went to the exit to find Pam, my recruiter, holding a sign with my name on it.  If I weren't so tired at this point, I probably would have felt like a celebrity ;)

We then hoped on a train for about 45 minutes.  We got off somewhere in Seoul, then walked (with my luggage) about 1/2 a mile to a different bus stop.  I got the luggage on the 2nd bus after some struggle, and rode on that buss for about 45 minutes.  We then, got off, and jumped in a taxi that took us to downtown Islan where Pam lives.  I stayed at Pam's apartment last night because it was too late for a bus or subway train to take me to mine.  We dropped off my luggage, and then went into La Festa to get some food.  La Festa is an open air mall.  It's 3 stories high, and has pretty much any clothing/accessory type of shop you could want or need.  We at a Korean BBQ place and had something that was much like very thick bacon.  The waitress brought our meat to us raw, and we had to cook it in the charcoal pit in the middle of the table.  Of course, there were many other side dishes and soups to go along with the meal.  It was all very good.  Pam ordered Soju and a bottle of Coke for me to drink (it was glass... thought of, and prayed for, you guys, Ross).  For those of you who do not know, Soju is the liquor of Korea.  It is clear, made out of sweet potatoes, and definitely taste like alcohol, but is completely smooth going down.  It's very good, and goes with pork and beef well, apparently.

We walked back to her apartment.  By this time it was 2:30am which meant it was a perfect time to call people back home.  Pam had some things to do on her computer, so I made all my Skype calls, and then went to bed around 3:30am.  I was crazy tired, but Pam wanted to talk.  I couldn't keep my eyes open, and she asked me all about my faith, and Christianity.  She said she is a Christian, but has doubted God for the past 3-5 years or so.  We talked about this in great detail, and many other things, but I was fighting so hard to keep my eyes open.  I was really tired, but didn't want to miss any opportunities.  Eventually we got the topic of conversation onto family, and I fell asleep while we talked about that.  That was around 4:30am.

I just got up about 2 hours ago, around 8am.  We don't have to be at my school until the afternoon, so I'm going to go discover Islan (Pam's city) while Pam sleeps.  Pictures to come.  I don't know what my internet situation will be after I leave Pam's today, but I wanted to update you all on this adventure so far.  I'm meeting my boss today, probably while most of you are sleeping, and then will probably go to my new apartment later this evening, when you guys are just getting ready for work on Monday.  

For those of you who have asked, I am 13 hours ahead of all of you in the EST.  Until I have internet at my apartment (don't know when that will be), I will not be able to tell you when a good time to call would be.  I'll try to pop into internet cafe's as much as I can.  Until then, I love you all!  Keep the prayers coming!  They definitely have been felt and appreciated! 

Flight Details

I got my flight information!!!!!  :-)   My flight leaves from GSP @ 12:35PM on Saturday, September 19th!!!!  Layover in Detroit and Tokyo, and will arrive in Seoul at 10:15PM on Sunday, September 20th (that's 9:15AM on Sunday in Greenville... Seoul is 13 hours ahead of EST...)!!!!!

Please pray that I stay open to the Spirit's leading, and don't miss any opportunity to share Christ while I travel.  Also, there are still several things I have to do and sell before I leave the US.  My Hangul (Korean script) studies are coming along slowly.  I am able to recognize what all the characters are, so at least I'll (hopefully) be able to read the signs so I don't get too lost in Seoul!  :-)  Thank you all so much!  Love you all!

Christ is ENOUGH!

Mandolyn