Virtual Bridesmaiding (and why I have the most wonderful friends on Earth)
13 Sep 2011 Leave a Comment
Don’t have a stroke. I know it hasn’t been very long since I have written to all of you. But, I wanted to update you while I have a chance and before I forget everything…
So, about the getting ready for the wedding… I went to Sara’s so that she could help me get ready. Jazzy was already at home. And I invited Gurpreet to come along. Well, I got Gurpreet, Jose, and Nerry all and they all followed me to Sara’s to see me get ready. Gurpreet did my eye make-up for me and it looked really good. I can do basic make-up, but the Queen is a master. Sara helped me by making me a hair appointment and by steaming my dress for me. And, Nerry and Gurpreet also helped me with the purchase of some double sided tape, that helped me feel, um… more secure in the dress. The dress, though not indecent at all, definitely showed more skin than I am accustomed to (unless I am going swimming). Anyway, the end result was a very nice looking Rachael. 
The band at praise team was a little shocked. I think everyone was a little confised about what I was doing. Praise team was good and then we went to eat some dinner. And then, I got to stay about thirty minutes at karaoke before I had to leave. I wanted to make sure to get home in plenty of time to see Gwyn getting ready. You have to see the bride getting ready. It’s part of being a bridesmaid!
So, Michael (my wedding date) drove me home and then returned to the karaoke party for awhile. And, I got to see all of the bridal party getting ready. And I got to talk to my friend Teena too. She was a nice bonus. I haven’t seen her in a long time. Gwyn looked incredibly beautiful. Her dress was so pretty! And it was so nice to just talk to her like I would if I could have been there in Ohio with her.
Let me tell you about the bride. Gwyn is a very close friend. We have talked and shared so much over the past few years. I met her in college during our senior year. And, when I met her, she was going through hopefully the most difficult time of her life. She has been through so much and I am not sure if anyone else could have come out of it as well as she has. Last year, I remember talking to her on skype while she was working three jobs and desperately praying for something better. Her prayers were answered. She got a call from a Christian school and they offered her a job as a Calculus teacher. And the same week, she met Josh (her husband now). What I have seen in her life is a testimony of God’s goodness and faithfulness. We have hard times, yes, but he is so very good to us. I am so happy for her and my heart felt like it was about to explode with pure joy and mushy sentimentalness during her wedding… Truly, I could not be happier for something so wonderful to happen to anyone, even myself.
And Gwyn asked me to be a part of her wedding, even if it had to be on skype. She made a special podium for me on the stage and had members of the wedding party cart me around and plug me in throughout the whole day. I was very well taken care of. And I had a great view of everything!
Side story: The funniest part of the wedding has to be when I had to go to the room with the groomsmen. Gwyn had me on mute, so they couldn’t hear me, but I could hear them. The ringbearer, a little boy of about five or six, was very amused with this whole virtual bridesmaid business. He just laughed and laughed. Then, Michael made it even better. He got my bear and put in front of the screen and then they boy was really excited. “GRRRR!” He made a growling sound to scare the bear. Michael moved the bear. “I scared it! I scared it!!!” he laughed. This went on in a cycle for about ten minutes! I was laughing so hard! ha ha! The groomsmen were not so amused. We had to stop so we wouldn’t get the kid in trouble.
Now, speaking of Michael.. I don’t know if you know any people like this or not… But, do you know anyone who is just SO NICE?I mean those people who are so naturally good that they make you want to be better and even though you know you could never be as kind as them, you have to try… Michael is just like that. He agreed to be my wedding date, just because I thought it would be funny to have a date for an online wedding. So, he went out and got a new suit for the occasion (a three-piece suit at that–gotta love a man in a vest). He even managed to get a purple tie to match my dress. Then he drove me home, went back to sing karaoke with our other friends, and came over about 1:30 to be my date. Then, went back out again at 3:00 when we were starving to get us McDonald’s. And then stayed until 4:30AM when he was about ready to pass out from being so tired. I don’t know why he is so good to me, but I appreciate him so much.
I finally got to sleep around 6:00. I was so keyed up that it took me forever to wind down even though I was physically exhausted.
And so, that was my virtual bridesmaid experience…
And since then, my new co-worker has arrived from Canada. His name is Simon. He is very laid back and gentle with the kids. He has done so well with adjusting to everything so far. I have been trying to take good care of him…although, the first week of work was rough for him and now he has a nasty cold. 
At least we have had a four day weekend (Korean Thanksgiving) for him to recover. I have fed him lots of Korean food and I am trying to introduce him to my friends and make sure he knows how to get around and such.
And yesterday, since I had a four day weekend, I went to Everland with my friends. Everland is a themepark about forty minutes from my house. It’s a pretty good one too. We had a lot of fun and the weather was perfect.
Today, I am going to be cleaning up and cooking some shepherd’s pie for the peeps. We are going to cram into my little apartment and hopefully more good times will be had. Thank God for holidays! I needed one.
And that’s all for now. I’ll try to write again soon. Much love to you folks at home.
This is my new furry rodent friend from Peter and Irina. His name is Gupta, but I have been calling him Critter.
job roller coaster
01 Sep 2011 1 Comment
It’s always when I am not blogging that I have the most to blog about…
Well, I suppose I should start by updating you all on the job situation since I mentioned wanting a new job in the last blog. It’s been rough. I am still at my same ole job. I will tell an abbreviated version of how that happened. So, I was looking for public school jobs. And out of the blue, I met this lady with an international school. So, I interviewed with her, but I didn’t expect to hear anything back. So, I kept looking at public schools and my friend Irina is leaving, so I interviewed at her school. I really liked it. I had made up my mind to sign a contract at her school…when international school lady called me back. She made me a really good offer, so I thought about it and decided to take it. I went in and signed the contract and was told that their CEO was out for the day because of the flooding in Seoul. So, no big deal, or so I thought and I was going to pick up the contract the next week. Well, the next week came and went. I was on vacation and went on a mission trip (I will tell about that one too) and I emailed the lady the next week. She didn’t email me back. I called. She didn’t call me back. So, finally, I called last Monday at 8:00AM on her cell phone and asked her what was going on. My position had been eliminated and they just didn’t tell me. And, I only had one more week at my job. Thanks a lot international school lady! :/The good thing is that my current boss said he would like me to stay. Otherwise, I am not sure what I would have done. So, I passed up a good job with better hours to get an international school job only to end up with the job I already have… A three month job roller coaster that I am so glad to be off of, at least for now. *sigh* Maybe that wasn’t abbreviated enough. My apologies.
I am not sure how long I am going to stay where I am. I can go home in three months, or six months, or nine months, or next year. I don’t know what I want anymore, so I am just praying for a little clarity. You all can join me in that prayer. I’d appreciate it.
In less disappointing news, the mission trip this year was great. We went to Pochun which is only about an hour and a half from Seoul. It is a smaller suburb/town north of here and many of the people who live there are people who were living in Seoul and had to move because of financial problems. We were working with the people at the Eun Pa Church, a small Methodist church. The pastor and his wife and daughter started a ministry to help the neighborhood kids. So, they built a small building next to the church and have been tutoring the kids there and teaching them traditional drumming and Tae Kwon Do.
My team was working with the kids. We also had some teams working with the elderly people in the town too. The kids were so loving. They latched onto us quickly, especially Michael and Jose. We had a lot of fun together. We did the cha cha slide. We played dodge ball. We played chubby bunny. The kids ate it up. There was this one little kid who got so excited about everything. We would finish playing a game and he would get the rest of the kids to help him chant, “One more time! One more time!” So, we would play one more time. My team was great, we had Michael, Jose, Jesse, and a newer girl named Karen. We worked together well and I am happy to report that there was really no conflicts or irritations that are so common on mission trips. We were all there to do our part and everyone was serving each other. I was impressed with my church folks.
Ahh, a funny thing about thechurch where we went was that everyone was really nice. But, when we first arrived none of them were smiling. They looked a little angry or unwelcoming. We sat in the santuary for about thirty minutes while everything was settled. During that time, they had some rather ominous church bell music playing. I thought Quasimodo was going to pop up any moment and run his hunchbacked self through the sanctuary. I told everyone to be watching out for him… I was relieved when the music stopped. They played it again later on in the trip, but it was just creepy sounding. They should invest in some Hillsong or something less creepy, even Don Moen would be preferable…
I also went to the beach for a day when I came back. A one day getaway was just what I needed. Actually, I could use another one. Maybe I will go somewhere for Korean Thanksgiving later this month. Fifteen bucks for a three hour bus ride to the beach cannot be beat. Feeling sand in between my toes is worth it. The beach I went to is called Boryeong. It is famous for mud and they have a big festival there every year where people go there and drink too much and cover themselves in mud. I have not been to the mud festival, but the pictures always make it look like Panama City Beach over Spring Break, only people are covered in mud too. The festival is pretty popular. I didn’t even make it to the mud pits, but I did get some mud masks and mud soap for my friends. (Would mud soap be effective? Why do they even make such a thing? It doesn’t make any sense …which is precisely why I bought some!)
Umm…Other things happening…. My new co-worker from Canada arrives on Friday. I am excited about him coming and I am praying that he is wonderful for the kids. All I know is his name and that he majored in Philosophy. Honestly, I hope he is more exciting than what I am picturing. Was I the only one who hated Philosophy class? All of that time spent on searching for the answers to life’s biggest questions and never reaching any conclusive answers… It makes my brain hurt just thinking about it. It is also 2:00 AM, so that could have something to do with it. The Korean teachers are excited because he is supposed to be handsome… I’ll let you know! Ha ha!
Also this weekend is Gwyn’s skype wedding extravaganza! I have a purple bridesmaid dress that makes me look like a box, a shapely box, but a box nonetheless. And, I will be staying up til the crack of dawn to attend this event. It’s going to be fun. I bought cheddar today so I can have cheese cubes. (Cheese cubes are a wedding necessity-it’s true!) And, I have a date too! My friend Michael is going to dress up and hang out at the wedding on skype with me until we are too tired to stay awake. I’m pumped. I feel like I am going to the prom or something. And it’s going to be so funny to watch everyone’s reactions at the wedding. Ha ha! I can’t wait!
And, I think that is all the big news for now… Write to me soon. This job fiasco has made me pretty homesick. I just want to run home. But, I don’t think that is a wise move nor is it what I think God would have me do. I am praying that if I stick it out a month or so, that the homesickness will fade a little bit. Let me know how all of you are. I still check my email all the time. I don’t always reply right away, but I read every one, I promise.
Much love to you all,
Rachael :0)
