Kickin' it in Geumchon

This is very much like just about anywhere in South Korea:

Ok, where was I?

oh yeah, I got hit by a car.. I've told this story a number of times, and I'm sick of explaining it, so this is the last time. Sorry. Anyway, I was walking home from the corner store. As I came near a small intersection a car coming from the right cut the corner so tight that he, or she, almost hit me head on. No headlights, just parking lights, as well as no blinker of course. I jumped off to the right but the front driver-side fender hit me and I tumbled over the hood. They weren't going fast, but just enough to piss me off, though. I spilled my Pepsi® over their windshield and so they finally stopped. I pushed myself off the car stunned with anger. I stepped back and immediately began yelling at them. The windows were dark so I didn't see who was inside or even how many people. They didn't bother rolling down their window either to communicate with me in the slightest. I continued to share my disgust and shock of their actions. But what shocked me most is that they kept on driving. I chased after them throwing the rest of my Pepsi® at the car, but still wasn't able to read their license plate cuz I didn't have my glasses (so stop asking me why I didn't get their information!). My ribs below my left breast was soar only when I laughed for the next week until this past Tuesday when I suddenly became sore just when I breathe. The doc last week said I was fine, and I'm sure I am. Just sore and ticked off at people's ignorance and carelessness.

Moving on..

"새해 복 많이 받으세요!" (se he bok mani ba deu se yo!)
Last weekend was Lunar New Year. Year 5,000-sumthin I guess.. haha. Didn't really do anything special. I cleaned my apartment so that Nate could stay here as his parents crashed up in his place for this week. Sunday I lost 11 bucks in poker. No, I'm not a gambler. And although I was kicking butt the first two hours of those games. I'm sure that will probably be my last time playing with actual cash, no matter how cheap the ante. Monday, i practiced some guitar and had a bit of a drawing party at a friend's place. So, not too special of a New Year. No fireworks as far as I know. Terrible shame on how they don't know how to properly celebrate anything here. Perhaps the reason is broken spirits by all the cars they get hit by here. RELAX I'm fine!

In other news, found a new job! Now it's just a matter of getting my visa junk renewed, blah blah blah... The job is very similar to the academy I work at now, only my apartment is WAY better; bigger, nicer. Slightly lesser pay, but it has it's perks that make it worth it for now.

For now, I'm doing fine. I'm pretty happy and have a tight church family and friends that support each other in any way we can. You may worry that I may get hit by a car again, but there are the same dangers in any other country, so please don't worry too much. I mean, at least I haven't gotten a gun pulled on me here. Anyway..before I make anyone mad...

I began "intermediate survival korean" class at our church on Saturdays. Korean is an unattractive language in my opinion but after a while it's still fun to learn. Hopefully I can learn to be some what fluent some day..

I'm still involved with the orphanage and the kids have warmed up to me immensely as of late. It's a good feeling that we can allow ourselves to open up to people we barely know, but something tells us that we can trust them. Maybe not fully, but just enough to know that we are safe and that they have something to share with us that is extremely important in our lives. And we may not know what that is for a very long time, but one day God makes it known to us even after those friends are long gone. This is why I visit them. I have just as much to learn from them as they do from me in regards to God's plan and purpose in our lives.

With that, here's some Word to share that's been on my heart and mind lately:
Psalm 139
Ecc 12:1-7,13,14
Matt 5:13,48
Luke 14:26,27
1 Cor. 10:31
Phil 3:7-11
Phil 4:6,7
James 5:13-16
1 John (yep, all of it)
Rev 21:1,2

{This post is brought to you by Pepsi Cola Co.®....but not really.}

2010 update..

Annyeong se yo!!

It's been a while.. So it's 2010. A fun year thus far. I like this year of the tiger. New years was nothing too special really. Just went out with friends and met a couple other newbies.

Still playing bass at church and helped out with designing a new bulletin. Loox great if you ask me! By the way, I guess I should've posted a link a long time ago to my church's website. Here ya go:
http://dongshinchurch.wordpress.com/
If you scroll to almost the bottom of the page, you'll see a group photo where it also reads "Dongshin Gallery". Click on it and you'll see some pics of me and Nate having some good times at different events we were involved in. It's been fun being involved in the church, meeting new people, playing music, discovering God in new light, and just goofin off.

Been job searchin lately. It's going ok. Problem is, at the moment, that most schools begin March 1st whereas I don't finish my current contract 'til March 22. There's a heap of options out here as to where I could work, so I'm thankful. I've been offered a couple neat positions for August; one is an RA in Daejeon, bout 2hrs west of here, but I'd rather stay in Daegu. Another is an Art Teacher position at a private international high school. Sounds good! So, we'll see.

...Soo...uh...was hit by a car the other day. haha. Don't have time to tell you now about it, but I'll update this post later. Love you guys!

Brandon / BJ / BañoJoe