Ramping Up

It's bizarre to speak of another country as home. The fact is, though, that South Korea will be our home for the next year (and, depending on how things go, who knows how much longer). However, it's starting to become easier to think of this new life in that light. On that note, two otherwise seemingly incongruous idioms converge here : 1) Home is where the heart is; and 2) Love means knowing and loving someone's faults. These sage sayings, when put together, accurately illustrate how I have begun to feel about South Korea. There are many aggravating things (delayed decisions, prejudice, vanity), but there are also so many exhilarating, beautiful, unique things to balance them out, things which we have begun to outline in earlier blogs.
We've only been here two weeks - I'm being overly sentimental, I know. Not to mention the fact that we haven't begun working yet. A month from now, this blog will probably turn into a rant and rave page to vent our frustrations. But let the magic continue for a bit. Imagine this - one month from now, Joel and I have trouble making time in our schedule for all our Bible studies. We walk into the Kingdom Hall and are surrounding by loving, supportive fellow workers. Five days a week, we jaunt happily into school, knowing that each day will be filled with fun activities and enthusiastic students. Every night, we go home to a perfectly peaceful apartment, ideal for rest and study. To top it all off, we savor every succulent, spicy bite of our favorite Korean dishes.
Maybe none of this fantasy will be realized. Maybe half of it will be. I have to believe that attitude plays a large role. Watching the Olympic swimmers offers an admirable model - the last few moments right before they dive into the pool, they stare intently down the wide racing lane, appearing to be entranced by the ripples. But any athlete knows this is no zen relaxation technique; the Olympians are picturing in their mind every stroke to the most minute detail. They know that in order to be successful, they must not only be prepared physically, but mentally. Only by visualizing a winning race can they actualize what they envision. Life abroad is no competition, or if it is, it is only a competition against oneself. However, envisioning the most successful outcome has never failed in the past to bring me closer to that ideal situation. So fire the starting pistol - we're ready to go.

Azure

P.S. Guess what this is . . .