tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34463903097067449262024-03-13T06:12:13.592-07:00From the Mixed Up Files of Ms. Rebekah E. Westrupbekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.comBlogger427125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-88385798766964325462018-02-21T21:21:00.001-08:002018-02-21T21:24:47.632-08:00Lessons Learned In LaramieMy feelings for Wyoming are....manifold.<br />
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In me exists a wide spectrum of feeling for this place. Sometimes its fear. Sometimes a twinge of nostalgia for a nonexistent past. Sometimes its gratitude. Sometimes anger. Sometimes its happiness. I've always known Wyoming isn't a place where I could spend the rest of my life. But I've also always known it will be a place that I'll want to visit over and over again. If I'm lucky enough to have kids, I'll want to bring them to this place. I'll want to show <i>this place</i> to them. "Here, here is the place where Mom learned so much."<br />
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Here, during my very first week in Laramie, I discovered that being educated does not make you enlightened.<br />
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Here I tried in my efforts to critique, not to lose my compassion.<br />
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Here I met people very different from me and yet there was still common ground enough to build relationships.<br />
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Here I found out that the Christlike thing to do isn't always doing what <i>I </i>think is the Christlike thing.<br />
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Here I practiced listening more and most of the time wasn't very good at it.<br />
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Here I watched the sunset and it filled my heart to bursting.<br />
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Here I was hurt by someone I looked up to, and everything turned out ok but it took some time.<br />
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Here I went on a lot of road trips and saw the horizon in every direction.<br />
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Here I learned and researched and wrote and wrote and wrote. I didn't always understand everything but I tried.<br />
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Here my professors believed in me and encouraged me and thought I could do great things.<br />
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Here I was scared I wouldn't live up to people's expectations.<br />
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Here I felt like I didn't fit in. But I learned that most people feel that way.<br />
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Here I cried more tears than I have in my whole life combined.<br />
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Here I started speaking almost exclusively in hyperbole.<br />
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Here I laughed and talked and sang.<br />
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Here I found a warm little spot in front of the fire to call home.<br />
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The people here say Laramie is a place of healing. I've always disagreed. For me, Laramie is a place of learning... often the most painful lessons. Most of them how insufficient I've been and the ways that I need to do and be better. I felt it especially today. The weight of mistakes I've made have gotten heavier over the past couple of weeks and today was the first day that I really did something to try and rectify it. And I think it was good.<br />
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<i>Laramie, you are a difficult school teacher. But I think I will miss you very much when I'm gone.</i><br />
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<br />bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-8351086013759542342018-02-11T19:44:00.001-08:002018-02-13T07:58:06.760-08:00Of Bodies and Minds<div>
Body</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">by Sophia de Mello Breyner</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Body serenely built</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">For a life that afterwards wrecks itself</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">In rage and disappointment turned</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Against the total pureness of your shoulders.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Bentham;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">If only I could hold you in the mirror</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Absent and mute to all other companions</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Keep the bright knot of your knees</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">That shatter through the glass of mirrors.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Bentham;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">If only I could keep you in those afternoons</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">That drew the line of your flanks</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">The grateful air enclosed.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Bentham;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Brilliant body of vivid nudity</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Built by recurring waves</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Into a temple resting on its columns.</span></div>
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I've written about <a href="http://prettymuchrebekah.blogspot.com/2013/10/body.html">this </a>poem before. I discovered it in a class at BYU and it's words have been etched into me since then. They echo around in my head sometimes when I'm doing my makeup or trying on clothes in dressing rooms. <i>"Body serenely built for a life that afterwards wrecks itself" </i><br />
I want to speak the words to my friends sometimes. <u><i>"If only I could hold you int the mirror absent and mute to all other companions"</i></u><br />
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This time it's a class on material culture that has the words of this poem bouncing around my brain. For centuries philosophers have encouraged people to believe that there is a separation of the material and the mind. They taught that the body is something to be used; a carnal, sinful thing to be overcome by the strength of thought. As the binary of mind/body was created they talked of the body as a tool to be used-- an object. And so the mind became a thing separate from the material world in western philosophy. </div>
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This class attempts to refute some of those ideas. The aim of most of my readings the past couple of weeks have tried to give agency back to objects as they explore possibilities outside of a hard line separation between the mental and the material. In one of my readings, I learned about the concept of affordances. In this essay they used the example of a chair. One affordance of a chair is that you can sit in it. We give that affordance to the chair as it's purpose. But chairs can do many other things. They can hold doors open. They can smash windows. They can be used as props for a blanket fort. They can be purely ornamental in a doll house. The possibilities are limitless. So what can a chair's affordance and meaning be outside of our limited conceptualization of what a chair is? </div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>What if we extended this idea to bodies? What affordances do we give our bodies and what affordances do our bodies have that we can't see? </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: medium;"><i><br /></i></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><u>"Body serenely built" "Built by recurring waves" "Keep the bright knot of your knees" </u></span></div>
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In LDS culture, I think the idea of temporal and physical is often conflated. Temporal means placed in time. It doesn't mean physical and lesser than spiritual, though that is sometimes the rhetoric. Our doctrine clearly teaches that things are created both spiritually and temporally-- both eternally and materially. </div>
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But I have questions about what that means for our bodies! When Mormons talk about a heavenly afterlife, we imagine ourselves to be thin and perfect, celestial supermodels with not an ounce of fat or pimple among us. And yet, when Jesus Christ appears to His disciples post resurrection, etched into his skin are the scars of His mortality. The temporal wounds inflicted exist on an eternal being. </div>
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<a href="http://prettymuchrebekah.blogspot.com/2013/10/the-power-of-our-scars.html">I have scars on my body which I've written about before</a>. And I thought I'd come to terms with them because I had this understanding that my scars would disappear someday. But I've realized that my temporal scars are so very connected to my spiritual scars from that time. Years have passed and my scars have faded, but they are still there. Both types of scars are still there. Am I supposed to always have them? </div>
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If temporal bodies are a mirror to our spiritual bodies than what are we supposed to learn from them? </div>
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I haven't come up with definitive answers yet. But I think it has to do with accepting these seemingly imperfect tabernacles of clay as actually very whole and therefore perfect. But more importantly, I think it's accepting the seeming imperfections of ourselves so that we accept it in other people. So that we see the good, beautiful, whole, perfect bodies of people outside ability and skin color and age and shape. </div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Brilliant body. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Built by recurring waves. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";">Into a temple</span></span></b></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";"><br /></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "bentham";"><span style="background-color: white;">I don't really know. But maybe that's why we're given temporal bodies. So when we see and accept the waves that built our tabernacles, our temples, we'll finally be able to see the waves that went into building the temples of each other. </span></span></div>
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-72928898265520497412017-07-02T15:21:00.001-07:002017-07-02T15:22:54.680-07:00Of education and worth<div class="" data-block="true" data-editor="dohav" data-offset-key="2bks0-0-0" style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; white-space: pre-wrap;">
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<span data-offset-key="2bks0-0-0" style="font-family: inherit;">At the end of last semester, a professor I admire for her brilliance and insatiable appetite for knowledge, set up a meeting with me to tell me I should apply for PhD programs. <i>"Not enough people take the time to pull smart girls aside to tell them they're good enough. It's because we're busy or we think they already know. But I wanted to make sure you knew."</i> This is what she said to me. I don't know that I've ever had someone deeply acquainted with my academic work speak to me with so much faith. I will be grateful to that woman for the rest of my life for her kind words. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I think it's hard to be a Mormon woman sometimes and feel the weight of this paradox of education as the doctrinal reasons for education get lost in the cultural reasons. Reasons like "I'm receiving an education because my future husband might die" or "I'm not married yet so I guess I'll keep going to school" go against the doctrine of learning in the LDS faith. </span><b style="font-family: inherit;">We learn because it's with knowledge that comes a greater capacity to serve those around us.</b><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I still don't have very much faith in myself when it comes to what I can do with my education and that's why I was so touched to hear my professor say such kind things. Where those deep feelings of inadequacy stem from is difficult to articulate. I grew up and am still very much involved in a culture that celebrates women's accomplishments... but only as it's tied to motherhood. I think motherhood is a powerful good in this world. I will continue celebrate the sanctity of bringing life into the world and the honorable duty it is to engage in the daily tasks of raising children. But that doesn't mean I don't feel hurt when other Mormon women have told me that they're bored by the things I write about. Or when I've spent years of my life working on exhibits or projects and they just want to ask me why I'm not married yet. Unfortunately, they don't care about my work--my passions, my loves. And that has bled into my professional life. Why would I think I was worth going to grad school when I feel so inconsequential in the other large space of my life? </span></div>
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<span data-offset-key="7vhq0-0-0" style="color: #1d2129; font-family: inherit; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">And so that is why I'm grateful for this professor. That's why I'm grateful for my parents, who are 100% supportive and celebratory of everything I do whether they agree with me or not. It's what makes me look back with fondness to the boss I had at BYU, one of the dean's of religion who told me he was proud of me and the work I've done. It makes me happy to be in a place like Laramie (who knew?) where I have a priesthood leader and institute teachers who make me feel like I have worth because they ask me about more than who I'm dating. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #1d2129;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">And lastly, it is these feelings and experiences I've had that made me grateful for <a href="https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/eva-witesman_women-education-future-god-see/">this </a>BYU devotional. In the speaker's words I felt celebrated and worthy. I just hope everyone listens to it and hears what she has to say. She does a far better job of articulating what I feel and wish I could say. </span></span></div>
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-6703650109682198382015-07-13T05:52:00.001-07:002015-07-13T05:52:24.849-07:00What I spoke about I came back to Korea for a lot of different reasons. But one reason (that I've finally admitted to myself after many months) was to run away. I had the same expectations that every RM has after coming home from their mission. Finish school, find someone to settle down with, start a family. After months of messy surgeries, doctor's visits, and uncertainty, I was ready for some permanence. Instead I got a string of bad dates, several cases of unrequited love, and more than a few nights of sitting at home eating blocks of cheese while watching <em>Say Yes to the Dress </em>for the thousandth time. So as soon as I had graduation plans, I decided not to wait around and let life or love to happen. And because I don't do things half way, I moved across the world to a city where I knew no one, where I hoped adventure awaited. <br />
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Don't get me wrong. Moving to Korea wasn't a bad decision; it's just that some days I'm not altogether certain it was the best one. <br />
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Which brings me to what I talked about on Sunday in Sacrament meeting. I wanted to talk about one of the main things I've learned while I've been here: overcoming the temptation to isolate oneself. I ran away to Korea to have this fierce, independent lifestyle. And what I learned is that while I <em>can</em> be independent and rely on myself, I don't really want to. I learned that there's this certain kind of courage in opening yourself to others, in being vulnerable, in loving other people and letting them love you back. I think this kind of love includes, but goes beyond romantic relationships and abides in the genuine friendships that we all crave to make. Of course I couldn't say all this in Korean on Sunday, so I read this quote from the Ensign instead: <br />
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<div id="p11" style="text-align: center;" uri="/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well.p11">
<a href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well?lang=eng"><em>The pioneers cared for each other irrespective of social, economic, or political background. Even when it slowed their progress, caused inconvenience, or meant personal sacrifice and toil, they helped each other.</em></a></div>
<div id="p12" style="text-align: center;" uri="/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well.p12">
<a href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well?lang=eng"><em>... In today’s society, reaching certain ideological goals can appear to be a measure of our worth.</em></a></div>
<div id="p13" style="text-align: center;" uri="/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well.p13">
<a href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well?lang=eng"><em>Setting and achieving goals can be a wonderful thing. But when success in reaching goals comes at the expense of disregarding, ignoring, or hurting others, the cost of that success may be too precious....</em></a></div>
<div id="p15" style="text-align: center;" uri="/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well.p15">
<a href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well?lang=eng"><em>[The pioneers] knew the strength of family and friends. And because they depended on each other, they became strong. Friends became family.</em></a></div>
<div id="p16" style="text-align: center;" uri="/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well.p16">
<a href="https://www.lds.org/ensign/2015/07/all-is-well?lang=eng"><em>The pioneers serve as a good reminder of why we must break away from the temptation to isolate ourselves and, instead, reach out to help each other and have compassion and love for one another.</em></a></div>
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When I think about the type of woman I want to be, the adjectives I want to use are brave, graceful, intelligent, and self-sufficient. These are my goals. But I think, since being here I've tried to reach those goals at the expense of building relationships. There's been more than a few times when instead of socializing and being with people, I shut myself in my apartment and binge watched a TV show or two. I didn't want people staring at me on the bus, or I didn't want to have to focus all night on a conversation in Korean, or a million different things. But isolating myself didn't make me any more courageous, or graceful, or intelligent. In fact, I think isolating myself from human interaction pushed me further away from the person I wanted to be more than anything else. <br />
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Once again, there's no way I could have said any of this in Sacrament meeting. Instead I just told some funny anecdotes about how hard it is to live alone in a foreign country. And then I talked about how better my life was when I forgot about the differences between myself and those around me. And I closed with one of my all time favorite quotes by Sister Oscarson,<a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/sisterhood-oh-how-we-need-each-other?lang=eng"> "If there are barriers, it is because we ourselves have created them. We must stop concentrating on our differences and look for what we have in common; then we can begin to realize our greatest potential and achieve the greatest good in this world." </a><br />
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One of the things I believe more than anything else, is that God didn't put us on this Earth to be alone. That's why love, in all it's forms, exists. So after all this, I'm going to strive to be a little bit more present; to close my laptop, put my phone on silent, and overcome the temptation to isolate myself from other people. <br />
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And that's what I spoke about on Sunday. <br />
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<em>The Youth in my ward and me. Aren't' they precious? </em></div>
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-68605589445992943562015-07-03T05:31:00.002-07:002015-07-03T05:55:00.535-07:00Things that happened today that I don't want to forget -I went to see Jurassic World for the third time today. I had begged one of the girls from my ward to see it with me, but couldn't wait until she and I both had time. I didn't want to tell her that I had actually already seen it. So I was expecting to be bored out of my mind, but she grabbed onto me firmly throughout the entire movie, and kept hitting me during the especially suspenseful scenes. Hard. It was like watching with a 10 year old instead of a 23 year old and it was great.<br />
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-We went to a hair salon after the movies. One customer was getting a perm and the owner of the hair shop had half "gold" half red hair, with black roots. I didn't realize for a good five minutes that the customer getting a perm was a man in his late 60s. <br />
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-The hair dresser was especially chatty. I can't remember most of what she said, but I do remember her asking me why the ends of my hair were damaged. When I said that I had dyed my hair black, the old man chimed in and said that of course I had dyed my hair black as black is the color foreigners (that's white people in Korea) like to dye their hair the most. And here I was thinking my whole life that it was blonde. <br />
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-I was telling my friend how much I hate the color of my hair-boring brown. It's not even a rich brown. It's just a dull brown. Then in her simple English, she said, "No. Your hair is very special, because, in Korea, we cannot make this color, even by dye." I still don't like the color of my hair. But it just goes to show you how perspective influences beauty standards. <br />
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-I was explaining to my 4th graders the concept of fast food, and later Taco Bell, and even later still what a taco and burrito are, when one of them finally said (in Korean), "Wow you really like Mexican food. Why don't you just move there?"<br />
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-I was trying to make a deal with my rowdy sixth grade class that if they worked hard and focused, we could play a game the last ten minutes of class. One of them proceeded to grasp his hands in front of his face, with his index fingers extended and pressed together, and in the most menacing Donald Trump voice, kept repeating, "Let's make a deal." He did this in English and then Korean. This is the same kid who meow'ed at me last week... *insert sighing emoji here*<br />
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-When the same class rejected all the game ideas that I had at the end of class I said, "Hey, tomorrow is America's birthday! Why can't you just have fun with me and play a game?" Then they insisted that they didn't want to play a game but wanted to sing an English song instead, something by Maroon 5. But I wouldn't have it. So I started singing My country tis of thee . Loudly. And off-key. I don't know what came over me. Must have been an outpouring of built up patriotism. <br />
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-I went to my favorite kimbop shop for dinner and they gave me a free Korean pancake. It's run by these two sisters in their thirties. They keep telling me to stop by at night if I get lonely. I think I might one of these days. <br />
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-I was trying to say (in Korean) in a text to my friend that my new haircut made me look like a man, instead I accidently said I look like a potato. *insert Japanese shrugging emoji here*bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-10452592871557225492015-01-18T05:03:00.000-08:002015-01-18T05:03:09.629-08:00On Empathy I dread grocery shopping. I shouldn't. No longer being the starving college student that I was for many years has afforded me a much larger grocery budget. But still, I dread grocery shopping. I dread grocery shopping for the one simple reason that I'm not Korean. I fear that people will say something to me I won't understand and I'll look stupid. I'm afraid the employees will follow me around, as they often do in the bigger chain stores. I'm afraid that because I can't speak the language very well that I'll end up buying the completely wrong item (for example, fabric softener when I meant to buy detergent, which did happen before and makes this a non-hypothetical fear). I have a lot of irrational fears about the grocery store. Things I never thought to fear about the grocery store in America. <br />
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But this fear has developed into something useful that I never expected to gain during my time here: empathy. <br />
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Before I really began learning languages, I thought of it as something of a switch. Either you speak the language, or you don't. Now I realize the reality is totally different from that. Learning a language is more like boiling water. It's a very slow process at first. Though you heat the pot, it looks like nothing is happening. Then tiny bubbles begin to rise to the surface, followed by bigger bubbles. And then you turn around to grab the box of macaroni and cheese, and then BAM! it's suddenly a rapidly boiling pot of water. Learning a language in a new country is the same. It's a slow process that takes patience. And while you're struggling through the patience, you often feel like an idiot and maybe a little afraid to go to the grocery store. <br />
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So this is my life now. In the situations where I am the only foreigner, namely church, I sit in the back where once I might have sat in the front. I act as a spectator where once I might have participated. I feel incredibly stupid where once I felt intelligent. I speak to only when approached, where once I might have been the one doing the approaching. <br />
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Somewhere along this road of perpetual embarrassment, I realized that America was largely made up of people who went through these same situations. And I realized how very unsympathetic I've been. I never said anything out loud, but there were certain people I always questioned. "Why don't they participate more?" "Why aren't they friendly?" "Why do they always look so confused?" <br />
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But now that I've lived this life, I know. I empathize. I wish I could participate! But I can never say the words in my heart. I try to be friendly, but after using up all the small talk I know, I'm afraid of being awkward. And I generally live my life in a state of confusion in Korea. So it's no surprise if it constantly shows on my face. <br />
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I suppose I could study Korean a little bit harder and get myself out these situations. But another thing I've discovered about myself is that I'm rather lazy. But also, I'm grateful for these little struggles because it's taught me about the life of the immigrant (and the emigrant). Maybe once I get back to America, I'll finally start sitting in the back of the room just to be with the person that's too afraid to sit in the front. <br />
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<img alt="" height="494" src="http://thumbs.media.smithsonianmag.com//filer/39/b9/39b9ef8d-48eb-4c54-8ff9-5821854fc8ae/sf1577.jpg__1072x0_q85_subject_location-2811,1152_upscale.jpg" width="640" /></div>
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<em>Jacob Riis, Children saluting the flag in school, c. 1890 </em>(<a href="http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/pioneering-social-reformer-jacob-riis-revealed-how-other-half-lives-america-180951546/?no-ist">via Smithsonianmag.com</a>)</div>
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-36750879784418325322015-01-13T06:12:00.000-08:002015-01-13T06:12:11.716-08:00Let Me Hear Your Story<em>I've had a thousand blog posts bottled up inside my head; just ricocheting around up there waiting to be put to keyboard. But not having written for so long has made these little essays pile up. So when I sit at the keyboard, I'm never sure what to write about first. But, I know writing is something I have to do, even if it's not very often. So here goes one of those grand blog posts that's been composing itself inside my head for the past few months. Enjoy.</em> <br />
<br />
Maybe almost six months ago, I met this guy. He had graduated from one of the most prestigious universities in the world, and he was pretty decidedly anti-religion. So when he found out that I was Mormon, the conversation took a brief almost hostile turn. He asked about the priesthood and women's rights among other things, to which I gave honest answers. Later I found out he'd actually been baptized a member as a child and perhaps that's where some of the resentment toward religion came from. Though the conversation started out rough, I think the outcome was ok. I tried to answer his questions in the best ways I knew how. The conversation eventually moved to other topics, but when our group split ways for the night, he proffered these parting words, <em><strong>"You're the most interesting religious person I've ever met."</strong></em> It was definitely a compliment coming from him. I think at the time I laughed. But in my head I was thinking, "How many religious people have you met? I'm really not all that interesting of a person or any different from any other religious person I know."<br />
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The funny thing is, that's not the first time I've been told something like that. One Christmas break during college, I was home visiting high school friends, and one told me that I wasn't like other Mormons, I was more interesting, more free. And though I didn't say anything then, I thought it was a silly thing to say. Often people have said to me that I'm not a "<strong>regular Mormon</strong>" and I find that to be confusing as well as troubling. What is a "<strong>regular Mormon</strong>" and do you even know anyone who happens to be one?<br />
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During my time at BYU, I met some of the most courageous women. These were women I lived with, but some were neighbors, some were classmates, and some were my professors. These women are vivacious, strong, independent, ambitious, and deeply intelligent. If I am different from them, then I want to aspire to be more like them. <br />
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Now my perspective is a Mormon perspective and that is what I know best, but I feel that there's this common misconception about most religious women in general. The older I get, the more plainly I see how wide the chasm is between what religious women are and what they are seen as being. Because religious women support an institution (which is usually patriarchal) they are often seen as weak, foolish, and yielding. There is somehow this belief that following a cultural structure limits agency. But what people fail to realize is that a religious life is a constant use of one's agency. (I don't explain this as well as Catherine Brekus, but click <a href="http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700036184/Non-LDS-historians-often-ignore-Mormon-women-researcher-says.html?pg=all">here</a> for a scholarly explanation of what I'm trying to say) By following a religious institution like Mormonism, I am making a choice. Millions of other religious women do the same thing. Millions of other religious people do the same thing. <br />
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I've been thinking about all this in the context of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack. Besides the tragic loss of lives, and the fear that citizens now have to live with, one great sadness for me out of all of this is that the actions of extremists become definitive for a whole religion. I know there's some debate about whether or not the terrorists were really practicing Muslims. But it makes my heart ache that for some reason it's always the loudest and ugliest voices that seem to define religious groups even if they aren't expressly associated with that group. <br />
<br />
So naturally, I've been thinking about how to change this. How do we live our lives as religious people in a world where other people think that might be an insane thing to do? I've come back to the same conclusion I've always have: <em><strong><span style="font-size: large;">We have to tell our stories.</span></strong></em> We have to open a door for dialogue between all different groups about what a lived religion means. That means claiming the right to worship by the dictates of our own conscience, but also letting other people do the same. And hey, how about talking about all of it with each other? <br />
<br />
So with that, I'm breaking my usual rule of making no New Year's resolution and making a New Year's resolution. I'm going to keep telling my stories. And I hope you will too. <br />
<br />bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-69346986593122701642014-12-02T20:17:00.001-08:002014-12-02T20:17:25.385-08:00The GiftChristmas in Korea is celebrated a little bit differently than other parts of the world. In Korea, Christmas is a couple holiday much like Valentine's Day. So instead of gathering with family, Koreans usually go on dates on Christmas. This concept is still very strange to me. And I can't wrap my head around not having Christmas traditions with your family. <br />
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My family has some spectacular Christmas traditions. And although they've changed over the years, and even some traditions have stopped over time, I'm really grateful that I have those memories and that, for me, Christmas is a happy time. <br />
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This year, being alone and all for Christmas, I wanted to create a personal tradition that I could also share with the people I love so we could still be together for Christmas. So this year for Christmas, I'm reading the four gospels. When I realized that my Christmas celebrations this year would be very stripped down, and probably without any fanfare or pageantry, I knew that the best thing to do would be to focus on the life of Christ. That's what Christmas is supposed to be all about right? So family, friends, and anyone else, please join me! If you read about 10 pages or for 30 minutes a day, you should be able to finish before Christmas. <br />
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I'm not a perfect person. I struggle with the baser tendencies of humankind just like everyone else. But lately, I've had this desire to do a little better, and try a little harder. It has only been a few days, but reading about the life of Christ has already helped me to do that. In the quiet moments of study in the mornings, I've read about what it means to truly live your religion. And I would love to hear what my friends and family have to say about the same chapters. So, what do you say? Are you in? <br />
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<a href="http://www.mormon.org/christmas">via</a></div>
bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-49426465215256050232014-11-02T06:32:00.001-08:002014-11-02T06:32:13.016-08:00On Hope I spent the last hour or so going over some things I had written years ago. And like I often do these days, I lamented the old me. But instead of moping, I decided to do something about it. I decided to sit at the keyboard and write; to transcribe thoughts into words and sentences as I listen to the familiar clatter of the keys beneath my finger tips. I don't know if there's any more productive and comforting sound for a writer than the tapping of keys. <br />
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I don't know what happened to make me stop writing. But I did, and I'm so out of practice that I'm not sure if I can even call myself a writer anymore. <br />
<br />
But back to these thoughts that need transcribing. One of my Korean friends is leaving for the army tomorrow and I'm unreasonably upset about it. It took me a little while to figure out why, but I think the reason is I know he's the first of many goodbyes I'll be saying over the next few months. The contract for my job ends in February. I've thought about extending. And I likely will, but the past eight months have flown by so fast, I feel like I'm already clenching tightly to the figurative sands of time in my fists, but it's slipping away without my being able to help it. And the tighter I clench, the more quickly it slips away. <br />
<br />
I think the reason time is passing so quickly is because I've figured out what I want to do next. But I'm scared that it's such a far-fetched idea that I won't be able to accomplish it. I'm so afraid of failing. I don't even want to jinx it by talking about it out loud. So this idea about my future, this place I want to move to next, I've only mentioned it to a couple close friends. Except for last night when I finally talked about it in a more casual conversation. And for the first time I thought, "Hey, maybe I can do this. Maybe I can take the GRE in a month, apply for grad school, and get into the university I've thought about almost every hour for the past two weeks.... Maybe I can start writing again. Maybe I'll feel inspired again." <br />
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I don't know if it will happen, this crazy dream of mine that seems so impossible. But as I transcribe these thoughts into words and sentences, I've realized why the sound of keys tapping sounds so comforting to me; it's the sound of hope. bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-15846325780928839402014-10-21T18:18:00.002-07:002014-10-21T18:18:22.430-07:00A Happy Anniversary Indeed Three years ago my life changed in ways I never could have imagined. So while most people look to the New Year as a time for self-reflection and evaluation, that time, for me, has become October. I think about where I was three years ago, two years ago, one year ago. What was I doing? How did my body feel? What have I learned? Have I progressed? <br />
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For those of you who don't know the story, I'll summarize. Three years ago, I was in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah. I was learning Korean, and I was learning how to teach. I was having the <strong>most</strong> <em>incredible</em> experience of my life. And then suddenly, I needed hip surgery. And then that hip surgery led to an infection, which led to an extended hospital stay, which led to a lot of other things that would take years to re-tell. <br />
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It's so outrageous to think that something as small as a few millimeters of misplaced bone in my hip could change my life so drastically. But it has. Some days that change is good (as explained <a href="http://prettymuchrebekah.blogspot.kr/2012/10/happy-anniversary.html">here</a> and <a href="http://prettymuchrebekah.blogspot.kr/2013/08/happy-anniversary-part-ii.html">here</a>). But some days that change is not so good. I still have days wondering what could have been. I still have days of regret and anger when I can't do the things I used to do at the speed I would like. But each day is all a matter of perspective. <a href="https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/10/waiting-upon-the-lord-thy-will-be-done?lang=eng#46-PD50029123_000_4020"><strong>Every day of pain is a question (click this link to read one of the best sermons I've ever read on the subject)</strong>.</a><em> Will I remember how surgery brought me closer to God? Or will I distance myself from Him? Will I remember how it humbled me and helped me turn to others for help? Or will I remember how helpless I felt? Will I remember to be grateful for this body of mine and the second chance I got? Or will I hate my body for all the things it can't do anymore, for the way it looks now? </em><br />
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<strong><span style="font-size: large;">Everything is a matter of choice.</span></strong> <br />
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I still have bad days sometimes; days where there's a click and a hitch in my step. If I walk too quickly or too much, I'll spend the rest of the day hobbling around like the grandma I think I've always been. And even though sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't gone through all of that, on this the third anniversary of my hip, I would never take any of it back. I learned too much. I grew too much. And I've been led on this amazing journey back to a place that I love very much. <br />
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So cheer's to you hip! Now let's go climb a mountain together or something! bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-74706507450247565062014-08-31T19:43:00.000-07:002014-08-31T19:43:03.241-07:00For My Sister, In which I douse myself with cold water Today I skyped with my little sister. She's 11 now, and getting all sorts of chatty and teenager like. While the phone was being passed around from person to person, she told me how I'm the subject of her school project on the person she admires the most. Then she talked more about how she googled my name to find pictures of me on the internet (and a lot came up.... not terrifying at all). Then in a brief moment before the phone got passed to someone else, she asked, "So what's feminism anyway?" I didn't get the chance to answer, but in it's simplest definition (according to dictionary.com) feminism is "<span class="oneClick-link">the</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">doctrine</span> <span class="oneClick-link">advocating</span> <span class="oneClick-link">social,</span> <span class="oneClick-link">political,</span> <span class="oneClick-link">and</span> <span class="oneClick-link">all</span> <span class="oneClick-link">other</span> <span class="oneClick-link">rights</span> <span class="oneClick-link">of</span> <span class="oneClick-link">women</span> <span class="oneClick-link">equal</span> <span class="oneClick-link">to</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">those</span> <span class="oneClick-link">of</span> <span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">men." So basically Rach, feminism is making sure women have the same rights that men do in all aspects of life. And I support that. What gets messy, I think, is that not all feminists have the same definition of equality. There are a lot of feminists, for example, that don't like religion because they think it makes women weaker. But I disagree. I like my religion. I find it empowering. </span><br />
<span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available"></span><br />
<span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">Now what does this have to do with me dumping a bucket of cold water on my head? Great question. While I admire the awareness the whole campaign has raised for ALS, I haven't been the biggest fan. So when my sister nominated me, I was not interested in doing it. </span><br />
<span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available"></span><br />
<span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">But here is my younger sister, participating in something good, raising money and awareness for a cause. So because she asked me to, I did it. I want her to know she has a voice, that she has the power to participate in movements. I want her to know that when she speaks, she should expect people to listen. Not in spite of the fact that she's a lively, intelligent, 11 year old girl, but because of it. </span><br />
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<span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available"></span><br />
<span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available"></span><br />
<span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">On a closing note, rather than donate money to the ALS foundation, which has raised hundreds of millions of dollars in the past month, I'm donating some money to a different organization. <a href="http://www.kiva.org/">http://www.kiva.org/</a> is a website that helps coordinate micro-loans to people across the world who want to start a business and support themselves. It's one of the organizations highlighted in one of my favorite books <em>Half the Sky</em>. </span><br />
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<span class="oneClick-link oneClick-available">And instead of nominating specific people, I'm just going to challenge everyone to go out and do something good today; donate money to a charity that means something to you, bake cookies for someone who needs them, make a child feel like they're being listened to. I don't care. Just do something good. </span>bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-19659431361369783702014-08-21T22:09:00.002-07:002014-08-21T22:09:13.541-07:00Poison & WineSince I read this <a href="http://time.com/3085522/the-civil-wars-officially-split-up/">article</a> last week, I've only been playing Civil War songs on a continuous loop. Now let's all take a moment to listen to my favorite song of theirs and mourn the band that got me through my great break up of 2011. <br />
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-10850790092650868102014-08-21T21:54:00.003-07:002014-08-21T22:04:57.666-07:00On BeautyYesterday I was at lunch with the sister missionaries, and since both of the sisters are Koreans who went to BYU and BYU-H respectively, we began talking about mutual acquaintances. There was one guy we started talking about, and as just as an aside, I said, "Oh man, he is so handsome!" The new sister missionary started protesting immediately.<br />
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"Him!?" she said, "No way!" <br />
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"YES!" I answered. "He looks like a taller <a href="http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m9fyigftVK1rsskhm.gif">Taeyang</a>." I didn't know how to emphasize this more. But she insisted his skin is too dark and kept giving me looks like <a href="http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d51/deneris/Gifs/tumblr_lf2ygjHME11qbj46u.gif">this</a>. <br />
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Then Sister Son prompted me to tell a story I had told her a few weeks ago about guy I met, who I immediately dubbed, "The most beautiful man alive." So I told the story about this guy, who I had deemed too beautiful to make direct eye contact with, let alone actually speak to. And then to satiate the curiosity of Sister Choi and Oh Kyoung Mi, I showed them a picture of aforementioned "most beautiful man alive." <br />
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Again, Sister Choi was SHOCKED. "He's the most handsome man you've ever seen in your life?" Her eyes were telling me I really needed to get out more. I think she thought I'd been living under a rock for the past 25 years of my life. I tried to explain that the picture didn't do him justice, and that if she saw him in person, she'd understand. Oh Kyoung Mi seemed to offer the same sentiment as Sister Choi (that I needed to get out more), while Sister Son just laughed at the whole thing. <br />
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So this type of thing happens to me pretty often. I swear I see a literal breathing, moving statue of Adonis himself, and Korean girls are always like<br />
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Although funny, I think these anecdotes are pretty illustrative of beauty differences in Western and Korean culture. I've had more than one student tell me they wished their skin was whiter, their face smaller, their eyes bigger, etc. etc. They want to look more liked the idealized Western girls they see in movies. So you can imagine their shock when I tell them that the majority of guys I knew in high school liked dating Asian girls, or when I tell them that darker skin is actually more valued in America. <br />
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Beauty in Korea is absolutely fascinating to me. Appearance matters so much to people here, as it does in America. But I think the one glaring difference is that while Americans try not to acknowledge that beauty matters, Koreans do. So people tend to comment on your appearance more than they would in America. I've been here for six months, and I think I've been called pretty more in these six months than I have in the entire 25 years of my life combined. (Which, honestly, just makes me uncomfortable since I've never been attractive by western standards. And the compliments just make me conscious of the fact that people are looking at me and that I look different. So of course I don't believe it and then my face usually turns red and I change the subject as quickly as possible) <br />
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But not only is appearance important for women, it's important for men as well. It throws all the beauty and gender constructs I learned in my Women Studies classes completely out of the window. For example, you see just as many male celebrities endorsing skin products here as you do female celebrities. When people ask me the biggest difference between American men and Korean men, I tell them American men use absolutely no skin products. Their reactions are priceless.<br />
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I guess this is all just to say one more thing I've learned since being here--Beauty is only geographically deep. So don't worry about what you see when you look in the mirror. You could move halfway around the world and become a model. bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-24611483963514405972014-08-20T07:47:00.000-07:002014-08-20T07:47:56.020-07:00A Six Month Assessment <strong>"Do you always watch for the longest day of the year and then miss it? I always watch for the longest day in the year and then miss it." Daisy Buchanan, <em>The Great Gatsby </em></strong><br />
<em></em><br />
For almost the entire month of July, I anxiously waited for the day in August when I could celebrate my sixth month mark in Korea. But then somehow in the first week of August, I completely forgot that I was going to write this grand soliloquy of a blog post (I suppose all blog posts are soliloquies though aren't they?) And so now I've been in Korea six months and two weeks this go around and here are some things I've learned. <br />
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1) I absolutely detest living alone. After living with roommates for the past five years at BYU, the idea of living alone was a dream. Don't get me wrong, there are perks; walking around in your underwear, peeing with the bathroom door open, doing dishes whenever you want (which in my case is usually right after I finish a meal, and believe it our not, that used to drive some roommates crazy). But none of these living alone perks outweigh the perks of companionship. I desperately miss the late night dance parties, the ice cream feasts, and the soul-searching conversations we all shared. I really miss living with my best friends. And as much as I try to drown it out with k-pop, or re-runs of the West Wing, there is nothing more deafening than the silence of living alone. <br />
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2) It's rough working nights. That's all. <br />
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3) It is hard being a foreigner. This experience has given me a whole new insight on what it means to be an immigrant. Something as simple as buying groceries can be completely overwhelming. Or there are those times when I have so much to say, but absolutely no way to communicate it. I feel like an idiot at least 65% of the time. Also the whole looking different is much harder than I expected it would be. When I was a missionary here, it didn't phase me. But back then, I always had a companion to soften the blow. Now, however, it's a totally different story. And with Korea being such an appearance driven society, my looks get commented on a lot. Usually they are nice comments, occasionally curious (like "why is your face SO RED?" "Becauseeeee it just is...."), rarely rude, and only one time cruel. But still looking so other takes it's toll. This new found empathy I've gained for immigrants to any country took me completely by surprise. But I'm so grateful for learning this empathy through experience. It's made me better. <br />
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4) Making friends is hard. I was pretty crippled by shyness in high school. But I overcame that at BYU. Unfortunately it's back again. But somewhere during May I decided to stop being so scared, and I really went out and tried to make friends. I think I have some pretty great ones now. Of course I have a million thoughts a day that I wish I had a best friend here to tell. But thank goodness for the internet which makes best friends in America seem like they're only a city away.<br />
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5) Do you want to meet the kindest people on the planet? Come to Korea. I try not to be the helpless American all the time; but sometimes it just can't be avoided. Thankfully there's always someone around to help a girl out when she needs it. But what sets Koreans apart from others, I think, is their willingness to give without being prompted. I went to lunch a few weeks ago with some friends, and they all set some food into my bowl before they even took their first bites. I didn't ask for any and I had a very large amount of food myself. I'm still not sure why they did it exactly. But this is what I do know, Koreans take care of people. It's just what they do. It's in their nature. And I love them for it. <br />
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It seems like there were a thousand other things I wanted to write about in this, my grand six month soliloquy. But this will have to suffice for now. Not every day is this exciting adventure that I think my Instagram makes my life seem like sometimes. Some days are hard. Some days the taxi driver is mean to you because you can't speak Korean, or you try on a shirt at a store (because there are dressing rooms), and you didn't know you weren't supposed to try on shirts and then the employee yells at you and you don't quite understand why, or you get lost on the subway, or train, or just walking. But then there are those days... Days when you hear your new favorite song playing on every street corner in the entire city. Days when people feed you the most delicious food you never even imagined existed. Days when you look across your city and you see hills and valleys so beautiful, and you wonder what kind of miracle it was that brought you to this crazy place. Those are the days that I'll cherish from the past six months, and those are the days I'll look forward to with great anticipation in the six months to come. <br />
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Unless I extend... bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-20578869165738227262014-08-17T06:45:00.003-07:002014-08-17T06:55:04.389-07:00Some music thingsSongs I'm obsessed with lately: <br />
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This song is playing EVERYWHERE lately. I can almost sing the whole thing when we go to noraebang. My students think its hilarious when I break out into the chorus. <br />
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This is a new band from my favorite Korean label, YG Entertainment. I hadn't really followed their début at all, but after the release of two of their songs, I think I've become a fan. <br />
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I've been a big fan of this band, Run River North, for quite a while now. I even follow their snap chat updates. Recently one of my friends went to a show of theirs in Chicago. I was devastated that I wasn't there too. Next time I'm in America I guess~ Listen to their whole playlist! Amazing. <br />
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And some other noraebang favorites <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzbvUufPe-M">here</a>, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzbvUufPe-M">here</a>, and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moSFlvxnbgk">here</a> (duh). <br />
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Since being here, I've been more than a little sucked into the kpop music scene. I need an indie fix desperately. Any suggestions on new good music? bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-91672367241623316172014-08-17T06:25:00.001-07:002014-08-17T06:25:03.145-07:00As if my face could get any smaller<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="http://blog.roku.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TheBradyBunch.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://blog.roku.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/TheBradyBunch.jpeg" height="400" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>What my hair looked like pre-cut</em></div>
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<a href="http://s3-ak.buzzfeed.com/static/campaign_images/webdr03/2013/2/24/22/catherine-zeta-jones-reprises-chicago-at-the-osca-1-18069-1361764129-5_big.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://s3-ak.buzzfeed.com/static/campaign_images/webdr03/2013/2/24/22/catherine-zeta-jones-reprises-chicago-at-the-osca-1-18069-1361764129-5_big.jpg" height="424" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>The picture I showed the hairdresser</em></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ICO2Oas4DC0/U_CfckfhGxI/AAAAAAAAD3c/3j0Czk5dMzg/s1600/IMG_20140815_205023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ICO2Oas4DC0/U_CfckfhGxI/AAAAAAAAD3c/3j0Czk5dMzg/s1600/IMG_20140815_205023.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>The after</em></div>
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<a href="http://foothillart.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/amelie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://foothillart.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/amelie.jpg" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>and then it kinda turned out like Amelie. What are you gonna do? </em></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tsfsP0NgIGs/U_CfeW5n23I/AAAAAAAAD3o/PIKhNsIjZM4/s1600/IMG_20140815_203355.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tsfsP0NgIGs/U_CfeW5n23I/AAAAAAAAD3o/PIKhNsIjZM4/s1600/IMG_20140815_203355.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>Sticker pictures bring me so much joy</em></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bwbelsdSlH0/U_Cff4c_PQI/AAAAAAAAD3s/Caa1tIQYyEU/s1600/IMG_20140813_222949.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bwbelsdSlH0/U_Cff4c_PQI/AAAAAAAAD3s/Caa1tIQYyEU/s1600/IMG_20140813_222949.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>Before the Korean Elder in my ward got transferred, he sent me this text. It says, "Sister Rebekah's talk was the best. You're our Daejeon mission seniors and you are a wonderful person, and we are sincerely always thankful to you. Love you!" (I mean like I'm pretty sure that's what it says)</em></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8KQ5e_Flxhg/U_CflOFLX3I/AAAAAAAAD4M/mjstinTcK8A/s1600/IMG_20140807_001351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8KQ5e_Flxhg/U_CflOFLX3I/AAAAAAAAD4M/mjstinTcK8A/s1600/IMG_20140807_001351.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>When Karli came to visit, we went out for Bibimbap. Bibimbap is a tradition Korean dish that was invented in Jeonju. It is pictured in the lower left hand corner of this picture. Comprised of rice, and various vegetables, Bibimbap is a delicious and healthy meal. The rest of the dishes pictured here are traditional Korean side dishes. I cannot name what most of them are, but I ate them all ;0) But the potatoes in the middle of the right side of this picture were my favorite.</em></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-11VzU1bet1Q/U_CfiAy7TKI/AAAAAAAAD38/7jPquFtp7Lc/s1600/IMG_20140806_143036.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-11VzU1bet1Q/U_CfiAy7TKI/AAAAAAAAD38/7jPquFtp7Lc/s1600/IMG_20140806_143036.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>This is Karli. She's a peach.</em></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MISqzKSKBtM/U_CfqKNeQII/AAAAAAAAD4k/8IvaY0u04SE/s1600/IMG_20140805_191123.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MISqzKSKBtM/U_CfqKNeQII/AAAAAAAAD4k/8IvaY0u04SE/s1600/IMG_20140805_191123.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>Karli and I being touristy. </em></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_jS1awsIMsE/U_CfmoOzIcI/AAAAAAAAD4U/I5hbTJGzyvc/s1600/IMG_20140805_213738.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_jS1awsIMsE/U_CfmoOzIcI/AAAAAAAAD4U/I5hbTJGzyvc/s1600/IMG_20140805_213738.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>A cool shirt I bought at the Royal Portrait Museum in Hanok Village.</em></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qiLj-OCRyTQ/U_Cfrw-H0tI/AAAAAAAAD4s/mjEIQapkoQs/s1600/IMG_20140805_190952.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qiLj-OCRyTQ/U_Cfrw-H0tI/AAAAAAAAD4s/mjEIQapkoQs/s1600/IMG_20140805_190952.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>You can read more about this guy <a href="http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264419">here</a>.</em></div>
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<em></em> </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KemEBSSy1EY/U_CfzsqetuI/AAAAAAAAD40/iRm2VFpuva4/s1600/20140809_165325.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KemEBSSy1EY/U_CfzsqetuI/AAAAAAAAD40/iRm2VFpuva4/s1600/20140809_165325.jpg" height="640" width="384" /></a></div>
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<em>Not related to anything. But funny for obvious reasons.</em></div>
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New favorites in Jeonju~</div>
bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-46968686617677750092014-08-03T06:39:00.002-07:002014-08-03T06:39:31.025-07:00Summer Vacation<div style="text-align: center;">
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A jumble of pictures from the hike to Maisan (Horse Ear Mountain). </div>
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Sister Son and I~~ Her English name is Rebecca. I think that's why we get along so well. </div>
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Tiger Selca </div>
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Lolz</div>
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One of the "horse ears"</div>
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This is when Sister Collyer and I taught the Koreans about photobombing</div>
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This is the grave of the Grandfather that built all the stone towers</div>
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(insert funny caption here)</div>
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Post-downpour picture. Can you tell how soaked our clothes are still? </div>
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Sister Collyer and I having a tender moment eating lunch together~</div>
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Right after the downpour. I have only been that wet in a shower... and swimming pools.</div>
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Crouched under the kiosk during the beginning of the storm.</div>
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I wish I had more pictures of the other activities I did this weekend. Unfortunately, I didn't pull my camera out very much at all. Rest assured, it was a fantastic weekend. Exactly what I needed. Until next time folks. </div>
<br />bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-85552275281226293042014-07-28T05:52:00.000-07:002014-07-28T06:19:25.555-07:00Small Face in a Humid Place <br />
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<a href="http://www.soompi.com/2014/03/25/10-korean-celebrities-with-very-small-faces/">Link</a> to small faces in Korea-it's a thing</div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_Hae-chul">Link</a> to that rocker's concert I went to a couple of weeks ago-apparently he was quite famous at one point</div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_speech_levels">Link</a> to Korean grammar-why you gotta be so complicated?!</div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Wing_(TV_series)">Link</a> to the West Wing- Josh Lyman for the <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/lar245/11-reasons-why-we-will-always-love-josh-lyman-6f8n">win</a>~~~</div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bae_Suzy">Link</a> to Suzy- one of the most popular stars in Korea right now. She's in ever other commercial, and she is known as the "ideal type" of most Korean men because her face is "untouched" by plastic surgery.</div>
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<a href="http://www.jinan.go.kr/english/sub_0401.jsp">Link</a> to Maisan- the mountain I'm going to this week</div>
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<em>The view from my window a couple weeks ago. It's the rainy season right now, but occasionally there's these glorious clouds I want to capture and remember on the more drizzly days.</em></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YVKVTIOZ9kg/U9Y9B1PNdzI/AAAAAAAADwY/OWYWbdx8GAk/s1600/IMG_20140719_233923.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YVKVTIOZ9kg/U9Y9B1PNdzI/AAAAAAAADwY/OWYWbdx8GAk/s1600/IMG_20140719_233923.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>Teenager things~~~</em></div>
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<em>Don't ask me how to make this. I'm sure you could look it up on Pinterest </em></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D1j9PiQURqI/U9Y82CyHGBI/AAAAAAAADwA/UGL5Omm-UI8/s1600/IMG_20140719_233542.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-D1j9PiQURqI/U9Y82CyHGBI/AAAAAAAADwA/UGL5Omm-UI8/s1600/IMG_20140719_233542.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>The location of the "concert" </em></div>
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<em>Another shot of the "concert" in the countryside</em></div>
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<em>There were only about two songs sung at the concert. And they weren't by the guest of honor.... But they were cool none the less. </em></div>
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<em>I know I've posted this picture a million times a million different places. But like, Asian babies... I can't.... </em></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bwCLaVQOUU8/U9Y9b51MQxI/AAAAAAAADxU/tpPbbvXHYy0/s1600/VID_58740605_131852.mp4" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-bwCLaVQOUU8/U9Y9b51MQxI/AAAAAAAADxU/tpPbbvXHYy0/s1600/VID_58740605_131852.mp4" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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<em>That one time all of my Korean dreams were fulfilled. Thanks guys~</em></div>
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<em>Self-explanatory </em></div>
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<em>Meat Buffet</em></div>
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-45421547648581027872014-07-16T08:58:00.002-07:002014-07-16T08:58:46.299-07:00Long time no see, long time no seeIf you can guess the k-pop song which the title of this blog post references, you get a gold star. If you don't know, than I suggest you click this <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAoME_aMm1w">link</a> and experience for yourself the glory of the man known as T.O.P. <br />
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If my life were a book title right now, it would probably be "Life in Korea: A story of Unrequited Love." ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Just kidding. I'm not half as pathetic as I make myself out to be in these videos... Promise ;0) <br />
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Even though it says I have more than a few hundred views on my videos, I'm gonna go ahead and insert some pictures here for those of you who are more of the skimming type. And who knows? Maybe sometime in the near future, I'll jot down some excellent prose here and finally post something of real wordy significance. <br />
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Cold Noodles~~~ I just posted this picture on Facebook. However, I just wanted to again state that though the ice has made me hesitant to eat this for months, I finally ate some today and it was soooooo good. </div>
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Just some pictures of Doek Jin Park. It's near the University here. And the lotus flowers are amazing.</div>
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You know how you go to ponds or smallish lakes as a child and you always see those swan paddle boats, but you could never ride them because it was too expensive. Well guess what folks, I finally rode in one! And only have a life jacket selfie to prove it.... Next time I'll get a picture of the boat. </div>
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The Musee D'Orsay has a travelling exhibition going around the world right now, and currently it's stopped in Seoul. I went with a friend who also studied art history. And as soon as I recover from whatever writer's block I have, I'll write a blog post about the trip... Maybe. </div>
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The National Gallery in Seoul with a view of Namsan Tower in the back. I really want to go back and check out their permanent collection some more.</div>
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One time I went to Suwon, but got completely lost and only spent 15 minutes there before I had to get back to Seoul. Needless to say, I have to go back again soon. This is the only picture I took from the taxi. </div>
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Norae Bang guys. No. Rae. Bang. (It means singing room. It's basically karaoke but in a private room. So you can go with your friends and eat food, share drinks. Basically it's my favorite place)</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqKEqroN_qg/U8aYO0MgMyI/AAAAAAAADqQ/KS46JDVDTEY/s1600/14+-+21" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wqKEqroN_qg/U8aYO0MgMyI/AAAAAAAADqQ/KS46JDVDTEY/s1600/14+-+21" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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Stuffed with sweet potato crust</div>
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There's a really popular Children's TV show here about buses. So recently they made some of the buses look like characters from the TV show. I am a huge fan. It's increased use of public transit quite a bit in Seoul actually. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SwrqtpbuI4g/U8aYO2X6DaI/AAAAAAAADrQ/2anaYJFaZcA/s1600/14+-+26" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-SwrqtpbuI4g/U8aYO2X6DaI/AAAAAAAADrQ/2anaYJFaZcA/s1600/14+-+26" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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For the last YW activity, we made cookies. It was a huge fail. I think the weather is too humid here, so the cookies never hardened. My bad.... </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LhGqgLEqWYc/U8aYO9LpgRI/AAAAAAAADsg/jTpxTmOZCko/s1600/14+-+33" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LhGqgLEqWYc/U8aYO9LpgRI/AAAAAAAADsg/jTpxTmOZCko/s1600/14+-+33" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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Man, oh, man. Korea is a beautiful place. </div>
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-74179302915252385012014-06-09T06:08:00.000-07:002014-06-09T06:08:27.099-07:00Staycation, all I ever wanted...<div style="text-align: center;">
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A resting pavilion along the paved part of the trail </div>
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See, it was quite picturesque. </div>
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The summit. This picture was take about 1 kilometer from the top. </div>
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At this point I really thought I was going to faint on the trail. And someone would stumble on my body and they'd have to call 119 (the Korean version of 911).</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7y3g2x0XkSk/U5WvkWKXqNI/AAAAAAAADh8/tqGyjEINix4/s1600/IMG_20140606_195109.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7y3g2x0XkSk/U5WvkWKXqNI/AAAAAAAADh8/tqGyjEINix4/s1600/IMG_20140606_195109.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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This was part of the trail... -_-</div>
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The view from the summit. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iJx3GYrMxTA/U5Wvkd_J09I/AAAAAAAADh8/Vxk89upVcFw/s1600/CAM00269.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-iJx3GYrMxTA/U5Wvkd_J09I/AAAAAAAADh8/Vxk89upVcFw/s1600/CAM00269.jpg" height="98" width="640" /></a></div>
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View from the summit. </div>
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Korea is sort of beautiful </div>
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-70761626906059562012014-06-04T08:10:00.001-07:002014-06-04T08:10:42.431-07:00State of Perpetual Skepticism <div style="text-align: center;">
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Like, you'll get the title as soon as you watch the video. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dcqeZU5wLEI/U482DwkUwLI/AAAAAAAADWk/DqS6el7mGJo/s1600/IMG_20140604_155150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dcqeZU5wLEI/U482DwkUwLI/AAAAAAAADWk/DqS6el7mGJo/s1600/IMG_20140604_155150.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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Gregory Joseph always tryna take over. </div>
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First time I've had mac and cheese in months! </div>
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Clothes for normal sized people. </div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HIxRYBPHlaQ/U482D5gda9I/AAAAAAAADWk/n9olzWghQvE/s1600/IMG_20140525_153353.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HIxRYBPHlaQ/U482D5gda9I/AAAAAAAADWk/n9olzWghQvE/s1600/IMG_20140525_153353.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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I went to Outback a couple weeks ago. It was waaaaay over priced. But they did give me a free loaf of bread and honey butter upon my leaving. So that was kind. </div>
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-85012762466455871512014-05-11T01:48:00.000-07:002014-05-11T01:48:21.910-07:00Happy Birthday Buddha Because of Children's Day and Buddha's birthday, I was rewarded with a four day weekend. So I went to Seoul, once again stayed with Lindsay's aunt, made a few friends, and actually felt a little normal. Without further ado, here's a video and pictures to explain all!<br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TAhcMbbcwZw/U2800e8WKEI/AAAAAAAACyw/FSz6ijEwlAw/s1600/IMG_20140503_230605.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TAhcMbbcwZw/U2800e8WKEI/AAAAAAAACyw/FSz6ijEwlAw/s1600/IMG_20140503_230605.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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Narrowly missed the session, but it was nice just to be on the grounds.</div>
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View of Seoul from a mountain near Heather's house. You can see Seoul tower waaaay in the back. </div>
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Guys... Gorgonzola Pizza. I would marry it if I could. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7fRk26A-AYQ/U2800Tnt9-I/AAAAAAAACyw/KqLpEqByck0/s1600/IMG_20140506_000302.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7fRk26A-AYQ/U2800Tnt9-I/AAAAAAAACyw/KqLpEqByck0/s1600/IMG_20140506_000302.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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We meet again Kim Soo Hyun</div>
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Found this in a store called "Art Box." Wasn't a huge fan of the scent... </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fh6twxrl7-s/U2800cobldI/AAAAAAAACyw/E-eSH0_mUJo/s1600/IMG_20140506_000517.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fh6twxrl7-s/U2800cobldI/AAAAAAAACyw/E-eSH0_mUJo/s1600/IMG_20140506_000517.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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This is the most famous palace in Seoul. I still haven't gone inside yet. Maybe next trip? </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MN-9KFQ6RFk/U2800T5xrNI/AAAAAAAACyw/DENPzJFUDIM/s1600/IMG_20140506_095538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-MN-9KFQ6RFk/U2800T5xrNI/AAAAAAAACyw/DENPzJFUDIM/s1600/IMG_20140506_095538.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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These were only a dollar. So yeah, I bought them, and wore them. Whatever. I'm a 14 year old girl sometimes. It's not a big deal. </div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aHGb1lPe6N4/U2800dSRbjI/AAAAAAAACyw/bgj-Ms0Tcpc/s1600/IMG_20140506_214204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-aHGb1lPe6N4/U2800dSRbjI/AAAAAAAACyw/bgj-Ms0Tcpc/s1600/IMG_20140506_214204.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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At a Buddhist temple for Buddha's birthday. I was told festivities were not as big this year because of the Sewol sinking. But then I also heard that more Koreans were out praying on this day. So I'm not sure which is true. But it was cool to be a part of anyway. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jowvXiuDXhY/U2800bqCHcI/AAAAAAAACyw/GIev2rBkApo/s1600/IMG_20140506_214249.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jowvXiuDXhY/U2800bqCHcI/AAAAAAAACyw/GIev2rBkApo/s1600/IMG_20140506_214249.jpg" height="640" width="640" /></a></div>
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One of the buildings on the temple grounds. </div>
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The worshippers faced this image of Buddha and bowed and prayed while the monks chanted names of those being prayed for. There were also food offerings left on tables in front of Buddha. </div>
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"Thanks for hearing our prayers Buddha~" </div>
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Some views of the mountain before I had to turn back. </div>
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Jessica and I.</div>
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People will pay money to have names attached to the bottoms of the lanterns, that the monks will then pray over. The colored ones are for living people, the white are for the deceased. </div>
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That was incredibly delicious kimchee soup.</div>
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Don't worry, be self. #newlifemotto (purchased in Seoul)</div>
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Snap back here, snap back there, snap backs everywhere. (Purchased in Seoul)</div>
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This shirt ended up being a huge hit when I wore it to work on Friday. I didn't think the Koreans would think it was funny. But one of my co-workers laughed about it for a solid 2 minutes. Go figure. (Purchased in Seoul)</div>
<br />bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-48821023206698355812014-04-29T05:22:00.001-07:002014-04-29T05:22:07.259-07:00Shoutouts, Holiday Plans, and Some Confessions~<div style="text-align: center;">
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Adorable Koreans make me turn into a 14 year old girl. What can I say? </div>
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Saturday's Lunch! </div>
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I've joked around with Oh Kyoung Mi that I have this special "spidey sense" when it comes to Kim Soo Hyun. His pictures are all over Korea, from huge billboards on the outside of department stores, to the jellied fruit packaging inside of E-mart. But wherever he is, I always seem to find him a mile away. I spotted at least five on Saturday, and here was one of my favorites. He really is an incredible actor. I plead you to watch <em>Moon Embracing the Sun</em> if you have any doubts. </div>
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bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3446390309706744926.post-33946922139647723732014-04-20T07:01:00.001-07:002014-04-20T07:19:08.752-07:00I choose you JeonjuI was at church for kind of a long time today. It started at 9, and I got asked to stay for an extra meeting. So I didn't make it out of there until 1:30, maybe 1:45. I narrowly missed the bus I needed to take. I even saw it idling at my bus stop from about 50 feet away. But I was wearing heels and couldn't run to catch it. <br />
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This is all just to explain that by the time I got home at 3:00, I was exhausted. So exhausted that I couldn't cook and just scarfed down a bowl of cereal instead. As I was sat huddled on my bed, my bowl mere inches away from my face, the YW president called and invited me to dinner. Lee Ka Yeon told me the family's name. But it's often hard for me to put Korean names with faces unless I've talked to them A LOT, and even then it might be hit or miss. To be frank, I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do it-- a whole meal with more Korean and me feeling awkward because I can't say much. All with people who I don't know very well. <br />
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But I went anyway. <br />
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And boy, did I swallow a whole lot of humble pie. This was one of those experiences I don't think most Korean teachers get. <br />
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We drove maybe half an hour outside of Jeonju to get to their house. We finally arrived in this remote tiny little town, and as we turned this corner, I saw a quaint, traditional, Korean gate. And then we stopped.<br />
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My mouth fell open I'm sure. They lived in this complex of old traditional Korean buildings. The family are the caretakers of the place, but they live on the property in a traditional Korean house (with a few modern amenities). <br />
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<a href="https://www.google.co.kr/search?q=lee+min+ho+faith&newwindow=1&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=NdRTU6fXFszi8AX5koGgCQ&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=753#newwindow=1&q=lee+min+ho+faith&tbm=isch">I know I've said this before, but I really was expecting Lee Min Ho to pop out from behind a corner in traditional Korean clothing. </a><br />
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And now, some pictures. It was hard to get any good ones because the sun was setting and the light wasn't too great. But they said they have a lot of ward activities there. Especially during the summer time because of the river nearby. So I'm sure I'll get to go back. <br />
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Dinner turned out to be really great. The bishop's family was there with their seven kids. Along with this family's three and the sisters, it made for a full house. I'm always glad when the babies are around, because it gives me something to do without having to focus on feeling awkward because I can't speak. And of course everyone was incredibly kind. I don't know why I always get so worried. It was just like a Sunday evening BBQ in America, except for the kimchee.... and the lettuce wraps.... and the chopsticks. You get what I mean though right? <br />
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A lot of Koreans think the countryside is boring, but if it means adventures like this on a regular basis, I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. <br />
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I love you, Jeonju~</div>
bekahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302443536525585256noreply@blogger.com1