It's How You Get There

“The soul is healed by being with children.”   — Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Russian novelist and philosopher My kids are trying hard to steal my heart and I think it's working.  A couple weeks ago I was going through a little bit of homesickness/after graduation crisis, and maybe the littles could tell. I try hard to keep that separate from work, since my mood does a lot to set the tone for how the day goes for them, but kids are incredibly intuitive. There is a lot they don't miss. So maybe I fooled them, but they're smarter than I am, so probably not. What amazes me though are which kids initially reach out. In Sun Class (older kindergarten) we have Dani who is a feisty little thing with a big attitude. Her dad also brings her to school on his motorcycle, and let me tell you, I didn't believe it the first time she told me. Then I saw it. Her dad doesn't match our Harley biker stereotypes, but to say he isn't super cool pulling into that parking lot with her tucked be...

“Oogway: There are no accidents. Shifu: [sighs] Yes, I know. You've already said that twice. Oogway: That was no accident either. Shifu: Thrice.” ― Kung Fu Panda I cried in church today.  I woke up to Sunday like I regularly do, put on my makeup like I regularly do, walked into church five minutes before it starts like I regularly do, and sat in my seat like I usually do, and cried.  It wasn't a loud cry, that was saved for the video call with my parents when I got home. It was the gentle welling where only a tear or two escapes, but knowing it's only one "are you ok, dearie?" away from exploding into a miniature representation of Old Faithful.  The week was a bit of an emotional one. Perhaps it was a delayed onset of culture shock, or maybe my erratic sleep schedule had started to catch up with me, but I was closer to my emotions than I have been in a while. A large part of it has been I have slowly felt myself slipping in key behaviors that generally keep me afl...

“If you have carefully examined hundred people you met in your life journey, it means that you have read hundred different books! Every person you know is a book; world is full of walking books; some are boring, some are marvellous, some are weak, some are powerful, but they are all useful because they all carry different experiences of different paths!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan Have you ever met anyone who just has the ability to make you smile? Like they don't say anything, they don't have to. Just them being there is enough to make you grin. And lets be honest too, sometimes you don't even have to know them. It's how their eyes glint, the way they tell jokes, or help the lady at the store get something off a high shelf. The things that tell you a little bit about the kind of person they are.  Not to brag, but I've successfully made it to 27 years on this planet, and I'm not a professional at reading people, but I will say this, whoever said not to judge a book by...

"The world is a looking glass and gives back to every man the reflection of his own face.” – William Makepeace Thackeray It's been 4 months since I've come to Korea, and like I regularly tell my friends "I've felt like I've been here for days or years, take your pick." The closest thing that I've had to this in my life was when I served a mission for my church. Each day felt it lasted a year, each week a month, the each month a week, and the year a day. Time kind of did it's own thing and I lived within it.  I think a large part of why that is is because steep learning curves have a way of sucking you into them. You become such a part of the experience that when you finally surface for air you realize days have passed in the sea of everything you've had to learn. My Grandpa "C" asked me yesterday if I felt like I had settled in or if I was still in the middle of adjusting, and while I told him I felt like I was out of the woods, I mi...

“I am not the same, having seen the moon shine on the other side of the world.” – Mary Anne Radmacher The second day was bright and cheery, filled with energy of adventure and promises of shenanigans. We were out by 9 and on our way to the little reenactment village we'd wandered through the previous night. Stomachs rumbling, we looked forward to stopping at one of the cafes we'd seen advertised there for breakfast. It soon became clear however, that much of the magic and history from the night before had dissipated in a whirl of modern commercialism. Everywhere there was a shop and a cafe, but little by way of actual historic sites and tours that I'd at least been personally expecting.  Part of it was we were there on Chuseok itself. This was the Thanksgiving day of the holliday weekend, and many businesses and tourist attractions were either closed or running with limited services. We neither of us were feeling particularly decisive, and so after walking past all the cafe...