valpolicella

Saturday afternoon- I had been up for ages. At 5:15 my body wanted to hop out of bed and start the day, but I made myself go back to sleep until 6:30. After a shower, a large cup of coffee and several hours of laying around the house, I ventured out to find a quiet little coffee shop where I could spend some time writing. No such luck. Korean coffee shops don't tend to be open early in the morning, for some odd reason. It defeats the purpose of espresso, if you ask me. I settled for one of those little places where you can get fruit and ice deserts, because they had large comforbable chairs. I ordered a cappucino and something that I wasn't quite sure what it was. It turned out to be a glorified bowl of Fruit Loops! I was far too amused to roll my eyes, and there seemed to be a lot of fruit in the bowl. I wasn't complaining. For quite some time I was the only person in there, surrounded by the most ostentatious, overtly splashy decorations you can imagine with saccharine Korean pop music floating through the air. I felt like a doll in some kind of satirized, Asian dollhouse, on the other side of the world, far away from home. Still, the place was all mine for a good half an hour. Then a group of ten year olds came in, followed by a herd of loud, chatty women. When I heard, "Ooh, look, foreigner," accompanied by pointing and staring, that was my cue for the sunglasses to go down and me to get up and take my leave.

I headed over to the grocery store and was delighted to find the stemware that I had been looking for. So I picked up some wine- a 2002 valpolicella, a variety which bears good memories for me. Some people would rather drink mud mixed with grape juice. Robert Parker goes so far as to call it "insipid industrial garbage." I'm not quite that picky, so I think it should do nicely. Saturday afternoon I met Rochelle in Hongdae and we shopped at the outdoor art market, where I bought earrings. :o) Ah, what makes a girl happy on the weekend? Protein, wine, and shopping. This should be a proverb. Later on we met up with another American girl named Sarah and had shabu shabu at a restaurant near my apartment, then to TGIFridays for a drink. Gramma was sleepy and wanted to go home afterwards, and yes, I'm referring to myself, so I called it a night.

I'm spending sunday afternoon sitting around the house, eating soup, sandwiches, oreos... every time I eat oreos I try to take a bite without causing the cookie to fracture into several pieces. I don't know why I'm mindful of things like that. I guess it's the way our brains our wired? All day I am keenly aware of the fleeting nature of this life. Few things will remain. Time falls involuntarily forward, and we all go with it. As everything that surrounds me is fading away, I seek feverishly to surround myself with the glory of the eternal, with the King of the Ages, to be lost in the beauty of Jesus, who holds all things together- this world, the fabric of finitude, the orchestra of the stars vibrating in space to the sound of His voice, the most intimate thoughts of my heart, and the hope my perfection. I didn't know how difficult it would be to be living and working here in Korea. I wasn't aware of how homesick I would be. I'm starting to realize that it's for more than my home in America but for the home of my spirit...

When you go out looking for your old adversaries
you won't find them--
Not a trace of your old enemies,
not even a memory.That's right.
Because I, your GOD,
have a firm grip on you and I'm not letting go.
I'm telling you, "Don't panic.
I'm right here to help you.'

(Isaiah 41:12,13 The Message Bible)