neglect for long enough

It seems that I struggle with keeping up with posting on a regular basis. I blame it on the fearful writer inside of me. Perhaps also the commitment we make to so many social media: Facebook, Twitter and now PINTEREST. I plan to change it this year and become a more avid blogger sharing thoughts, experiences and general tom foolery with you all (my faithful 10 readers... let's get real 5 readers). We all start somewhere. It's a new year, my birthday month and a fresh start.

Here goes...

"operation" it's not just a board game

an American board game for kids who wanna be doctors for all you SAFFAS out there.

So I had the lovely honour of having an operation in South Korea. It all started on the 2nd of October at 12:40. I know the time very well coz I was waiting for my lift to church and I like to be on time, so watch checking is vital! I had slight pain in my upper abdomen most of the day and all of a sudden on arrival in my apartment (back form church) I experienced HECTIC pain in my tummy.  Time... 4:30pm. This time I was checking my watch to meet Jen and Chloe at the train station. Chloe came to Korea to visit. As she arrived in little Gimcheon (my current home town) I was writhing in agony and thanks to an English speaking Korean friend of mine I went to the emergency room.

The first thing was a blood and urine test. My second in Korea (the first was for orientation). I think they want to sell it on the black market or something. JOKES! The result was that my white blood cell count was double what it should be. Still have no idea what that means. The I went in for an x-ray followed by a computer thermal imaging type test. Uber dramatic, right?! The doctor came over to my bed in the emergency room and proceeded to talk to my Korean friend in Korean. I would just notice her facial expressions and hear her say "aai go!" (translated to "oh no" in English. I finally piped up and said "WHAT IS WRONG?!?". Diagnosis: acute appendicitis.

The next day I went in for a laproscopic appendectomy i.e. they used a camera and surgery apparatus and pulled my appendix through my belly button. No scars. YAY!!! I stayed in hospital for 4 nights and 5 days. A bit too long in my opinion, but better safe than sorry. My friends here and my school were so amazing! They gave me so much love and visited me ALL the time. Incredibly blessed. The down side to the whole experience was the amount of medication they gave me. Korean medicine is administered through an IV. I had about 4 drips, 6 bottles of antibiotics and 16 injections (no jokes! 16 injections a day happened for three days consecutively). I have a bump on my upper wrist from the IV and injections.

Not the best thing to happen to a person away from home, but I like the fact that it's really competitive to get into med school in Korea. 98% of the population goes to university, so you HAVE to be the creme de la creme to get into med school. That was a reassuring factor.

considerations

It's hard when you have to make decisions. The one that I am facing right now is whether to stay in Korea for one more year or go home. The advice I always get is to make a list of pros and cons and to, of course, pray about it. Things can just never be easy, can they?

There are so many factors to consider. Factors like church, family, friends, studies, the job situation in South Africa, saving money, travel and the list goes on. The thing that makes me so content with whatever decision I come to is God's sovereignty in my life and that any decision made will ultimately be for His glory and according to His plan.

So I sit waiting patiently for the right answer. Well... "patiently".

strange obsessions

Lately a lot of my time has been devoted to thinking about  the future, in particular MY future. Somehow my strange obsessions in life revealed themselves to me... clear as day... like never before. I pretty convinced that I don't really know myself. All I do know is that there are many sides to me. Good thing? Bad thing? We'll have to wait and see. My obsessions have slowly started to help me see these different sides. Maybe I will pick one side and be content with life, like I wish I could be. Maybe I will actually get to know myself.

So here they are: (I'm a list maker as you can tell from previous posts.)

1. Travel. I find the world a fascinating place. I want to see more and do more things. I want to experience different cultures and food. I want to meet interesting people that will inspire me in some way. I don't want to  stop travelling and live a scheduled life in the real world.

From Flickr (coz I don't have the skills.. yet!)

2. Fashion. Can you believe it? ME? FASHION? My outer appearance would never even give you an inkling of a thought that says "She's into fashion. She's stylish." BUT in my mind I adore the fashion industry. It may be as material (excuse the pun) an industry as they come, but I appreciate the theatricality of it. It's big, strange, colourful, dull, clean cut, challenging, provoking, pretentious and so much more. It comes in so many forms of media. Photography, film, television, runway shows, red carpets, in every day life... It would be great if my outer appearance could convey my feelings toward fashion.

3. Weight. I think the only time I was happy with my weight was when I was 12 or something. I have tried to look a certain way for MANY years, but I think I have been too lazy to do anything about it. I start a diet or fitness regime of sorts, but I never follow through. I LOVE food too much! I'm too ashamed to write more about this.

4. Photography. Not just any type of photography. I am obsessed with photography that has taken time to produce and shows a really skilled photographer. Photography that captures moments and not deliberately posed photographs are beautiful. I think the human face has A LOT to offer the eye. I would love to do be that type of photographer.

5. Doing something good. I feel that I should redeem myself after the more most shallow obsessions I could have had. I have been involved with volunteer organisations for about four or maybe more years over my life span. It's been one of the best parts of life. I really want to continue with volunteering or working at an NGO in South Africa.

After all this, I am just as confused as before. Oh boy! What to do? What to do?!

what keeps me going

As I sit in an office where a teacher's meeting is in progress, which is completely in Korean, I start to think about "what keeps me going" in Korea. This is not to say that Korea isn't an experience I have cherished thus far, but any sort of change in ones life can have its challenges. I think it's good to be real. You know what I mean?

1. trying to apprecite as much of Korean culture as I can, some of the cultural habits can be a bit hard to fathom. It's one of those "tilt your head and wonder why" moments.
2. seeing the different cities Korea has to offer. Travel here is so cheap... why not just jump on the train and go on an adventure?
3. enjoy every moment as a teacher. Most of my time in Korea is spent teaching, so why not put my every efort into it.
4. contemplating the meaning of "Lynn's life". What should I do when I decide to enter the real world?
5. regular Skype dates with my friends and family in South Africa (Dave Wright is currently in pole position with the amount of Skypes and online chatting)
6. my amazing chingus (friends) - pronounced chingoos - here in Korea. Lifelong bonds have formed already. I just know it.
7. and lastly God's sovereignty in my life and knowing that life happens acording to His plan and infinite wisdom. It's such a blessing and it gives me a huge amount of assurity and peace.

Gwangali beach in Busan

As they say in Cool Runnings "Peace be da Journey man"!

a start = a video tutorial

Hello blogging world!

This is a wierd feeling to think that someone out there is reading this. The time has some to document my travels. I think that this may be the start of many a blog in the days, weeks, months and years to come.

I am so incredibly bad at this whole thing that I had to watch a video tutorial on how to create this. I have had a Blogger account for a while now, but did not know how to start blogging. I am an amatuer of note, so please do forgive me. Blogging has become such a craze and it kicks Facebooks butt in my opinion... so I had to jump on the band wagon.

I know the title of this blog is really yawn-able, but I plan on keeping this for a while. My experiences in Korea will not be the only subject matter.

I hope that this will provide for happy reading and I hope that my mom and Odette won't be the only ones to read this. Odette Bester... you are my blogging inspiration!