Any Place I Hang My Hat: February 2011

... That was the question. When we accepted teaching jobs in Cairo just a month and a half earlier, we had no idea what we were truly in for. As we excitedly got ready for our big move, things were brewing in Cairo. Then without warning, chaos erupted, which seemed to align perfectly (or imperfectly?) with our intended arrival date. To say the least, we were in the midst of lots of unknowns and apprehensions about the future. As if moving, saying goodbye, and flying across the world isn't stressful enough!

When we got to the airport in Korea, I was emotional, tired, and stressed about what was going to happen in the next 16 hours. Although our school in Egypt did not have internet, we had heard through Angie and Norris that we were to get on the plane as scheduled, and that someone would be at the airport in Cairo to pick us up. However, we also knew that things in Cairo had been changing quickly.

Taking it one step at a time, we concentrated on the task at hand-- getting our bags checked through at the airport. We had packed our entire life into four suitcases (quite an accomplishment, I thought!) as we prepared to move across the world. We assumed (first mistake) that we had a four suitcase allowance, as this had always been our experience. We knew that our suitcases were a little overweight, but we felt like we needed all of the things that we had packed. We were MOVING! As we waited in line, I prayed continuously that we could get our bags through without paying any extra overweight charges. Little did we know that we weren't just a few pounds over... we were 100 pounds over! It turns out the airline that we were flying with only allows one 50 pound suitcase per person... and we had two 50 pound suitcases per person! Thankfully, God heard my prayers! The amazing Korean woman at the check-in counter understood our situation and showed us grace. Otherwise, we would have had to pay a $1600 charge! Crisis #1 averted!

As we sat and waited to get on the plane, we prayed for Egypt, for Norris and Angie's safety, for our safety, and for clear thinking. We were heading to Istanbul (an 11.5 hour flight) where we would have a five hour lay-over, and then go on to Cairo. Right before we boarded the plane, we saw an update online that said the teachers from our school had been evacuated from Cairo and were moving to a beach resort on the Sinai peninsula. When I read this, I thought, WHAT ARE WE DOING?! Things were just getting worse, and we were flying INTO it! But we knew that God would go before us and protect us.

When we arrived in Istanbul after our overnight flight, all I can say is that I felt like I was in "The Terminal" and "The Amazing Race" all at the same time. We got off the plane and tried to find a place to get internet so that we could check for updates. We could only pick up a really faint and unreliable signal, but thankfully it was enough for us to see that we were NOT TO GET ON THE PLANE TO CAIRO. An important message! We were also told that someone from the airline was supposed to meet us to give us more information and set us up with a hotel in Istanbul for a few days. We bought visas and then headed out to arrivals. We looked for a person holding a sign for us. We asked at the information desk. No one knew anything about us. We found a restaurant that offered wireless internet with a purchase, so we got breakfast and got online to see what other information was there. We were able to make some calls, but we soon realized that there was a lot of miscommunication. Once we got everything sorted out, we were told that we should book a hotel in Istanbul for a few days, and then our school would reimberse us. Now that we had that figured out, we had to do the most important thing-- get our luggage! Our luggage was going all the way to Cairo, so we had to stop it! Here is the part where we ran all over the airport. Go here, no I can't help you, go there, go to this desk, etc, until finally we talked to someone who could take care of it for us. We were so thankful to get our luggage back because if it had gone on to Cairo, we probably would have never seen it again. Crisis #2 averted!

After hours of stress and rushing around the airport, we were finally on our way to our hotel on the free shuttle. I couldn't help but be SO THANKFUL! Thankful that we didn't have to pay any overage charges for our luggage. Thankful that we got the message not to go to Cairo. Thankful that we stopped our luggage from going to Cairo. Thankful that our school was taking care of our hotel accommodations in Istanbul. And thankful that we were safe. I had been praying a continuous chain of prayers, and people around the world had been praying too. God had heard each one of our prayers. Even though at this point, the future was unknown, I felt safe knowing that God had provided and would continue to provide. And I was struck by the awesome power of prayer.

So the answer was... not to Egypt... for the time being. All we knew was that this was an adventure we would never forget!

This is a blog post that I have been dreading since I first came to Korea. How can I say goodbye to a place that has had such a profound impact on my life? Korea has become a home to Tim and me. Not in the sense that it replaces Indiana as home, but in the sense that we feel like we belong here. We fit in. And to say that we love it is a huge understatement. I remember during the first few months of being in Korea, although I loved being here, I had a countdown on my calendar of how many months and weeks were left before I could go back home again. At some point, I don't remember when, the counting stopped, and Korea just became the place that I lived. But since Tim and I knew that we wouldn't be here forever, we spend a year and a half savoring EVERYTHING. Our students, our church, our quaint neighborhood, Korean culture, Korean food, ease of travel... everything. We have had a beautiful life in Korea. I've spent my last week here reminiscing about our time in Korea, and reliving all of our beautiful memories. I feel like we've been here much longer than a year and a half! A year and a half seems so short, like nothing really this significant could have happened in such a short amount of time. But this time in our life has been extremely significant. I think back to the person I was at the beginning of our time here, and I can see that I have grown, learned things about myself, learned things about Tim, and found new things to love. Leaving Korea is SO difficult, but as Tim reminded me, it's good that it's hard to leave because that means that Korea has made and impact on us, and that hopefully we have made an impact on Korea. So now, it's time to say goodbye. Hopefully not goodbye forever, because we're hoping that God will lead us back again someday. But goodbye for now.

Goodbye to...

The beautiful Korean language

Edie and Jack, our mentors and our friends who have opened their home to us

Our precious students, who have touched our hearts

Pastor Prince, who has brought spirit-filled messages to us every Sunday

Our friends, with whom we've loved talking laughing, eating, and sightseeing

Delicious Korean food

Our incredible church, full of the most generous and hospitable people in the world

The beautiful Korean culture

Our quaint and quiet neighborhood, full of all of our favorite restaurants

The Korean people who have welcomed us into their country so warmly

And now, after all the goodbyes and parties and final get-togethers and lasts, we are left with the memories of some of the most amazing experiences of our lives. We leave knowing that God is leading us and that new adventures await, but that nothing will ever replace Korea in our hearts.

Seoul Union Church young adults