It's How You Get There

It's been well over a year since my last post, which in itself is strange and uncomfortable in some ways. I'd always envisioned myself being one of the ones who faithfully wrote until the end of time. Yet the second my world opened up, I left my keyboard and went out to see what life was about. This led to one of the greatest ironies of my life in Korea: I finally had experiences to write about, and yet, I was doing no writing.  The strangeness is compounded as I find myself writing again in front of a window. Only instead of looking out into a small road there's a gravel driveway, and instead of hearing the hum of busses, there's the faint sounds of voices from my little sister's phone in the bed above my head.  I'm home.  And I don't know how to feel about it.  Almost three years ago to the day, I wrote my first blog post about Korea. It's titled " The SBD " (hyperlinked for your convenience if you want to indulge in some time traveling), and...

Sunrise starting to peak... Sitting with the window open, washer tumbling listening as the eerie strains of an accordion's melody accompanies the breeze dancing around the clothes hanging out to dry. The list of groceries sits filled out, the online order made, and plans for homework and other activities for the week have been laid out. With the coming spring comes the renewed motivation and hope that often slowly makes it's way back in as seasonal affective disorder drips away into the darkness to wait until the days shorten again. On top of that, though Korea is experiencing it's highest cases of COVID yet, Koreans are raising up with the spring, enjoying a relaxation in COVID policies and procedures that hasn't been seen since early 2020. And while there has been no declaration of a total return to normalcy, most Koreans look forward to upcoming months when the new South Korean president begins his term and supposedly ushers in the end of remaining COVID policies.  C...

 A friend of mine told me yesterday that a friend of hers was looking for Apocalypse Bingo 2022 examples. Being someone who regularly thinks about things, and likes to use humor to hide from the realities of life, I decided I'd try my hand at it. And since why not, I thought I'd share it here. Warning, this might slightly resemble your Facebook feed. Excited for 2022? I already have my vampire advocacy posters ready.  But debates about vampire dietary struggles aside, there's a lot of uncertainty going into this new year. It's something that friends and I regularly talk about, and I see it on the faces of parents and fellow teachers. No one is sure what's coming, and they're not quite sure what to do about it.  On one hand there's the cold, silky call of despair. Beckoning to the cynically apathetic embrace of nihilism, that whispers that the world is condemned anyway and releases its occupants from the burden of having to find a solution. Then it drowns you...

“The soul is healed by being with children.” ~ Fyodor Dostoyevsky It's been 7 months since the last post, so a personal apology to everyone that I kept saying "Yeah, I'll post next week." At long last, it is next week. Hehehe.  I've been thinking a lot about kids lately. It makes sense probably, because that's who I spend easily 80% of my conscious life with. If you count the times they pop up in my dreams you can move that up 5%.  When I first came to Korea the part I was actually most worried about was the kids. I had been in college for 5 years, and then on a mission before that. My youngest siblings weren't super super young anymore, and living out of state I didn't interact with them very much. There had been a time I was super comfortable around kids. I would know all the kids at my church, a lot of the kids at the local library clubs, and I was not at all afraid of babies or little little ones.  But at 27 years old, I didn't feel anywhere ne...

“Food can be very transformational, and it can be more than just about a dish. That’s what happened to me when I first went to France. I fell in love. And if you fall in love, well, then everything is easy.” – Alice Waters I did some scary things this week.  Admitted to myself that I've lost weight and need to buy new summer clothes (which you'd think would make clothes shopping mentally easier but doesn't really).  Went with Hayley and got my hair chopped off at a Korean Hair Salon (complete with an orange juice box, and hair machine thingies that probably came off an alien space ship). Actually looked at how much money I spend on food in a month (your girl eats out too much).  AND decided that it would be better to start talking to other human beings in Korean more often than I have been (a horribly necessary decision).  And amidst all that, Wednesday was Buddha's Birthday, and it being a holiday I went and ate a giant pot of seafood with the usual squad. Food has ...

I walked through the night, and found him there.  It wasn't God, He wasn't missing. This is the one I always wonder about. Wondering if he'll be part of this life or not.  Wondering if he's real.  Wondering if I'm crazy for wondering anymore... And on this particular night as I wondered, I looked up and whispered.  Whispered a wish to the stars I couldn't see, about the man I couldn't find. Then the night went still, and for a moment I felt a wondering back. The beat of a heart. It echoed mine. Curiosity.  Confusion, excitement,  Hope. Then the red and blue lights of a patrol car swept by, slicing the air. And in their passing left just God and I,  walking the empty street. Only this time, I wasn't left wondering. -Shayla

"...I know in whom I have trusted." (2 Nephi 4:19) My entire life I've been almost entirely surrounded by others. With 7 kids (who act more like a pack of puppies than not on any given day) none of us were ever truly alone. At 19 I left on a mission for my church where I was always with another missionary...the only time I slept in a room by myself was my last night before I went home. Then I was back home, and my 19-month-old baby sister was always among the first of my siblings to pop into the guestroom as soon as the sun would start to shine.  In college I had roommates, and whenever I visited home though I often had a room to myself, there was almost always someone there with me. Someone coming to just sit on the bed. Someone coming to talk about their day. Someone, there was always someone.  It wasn't until shortly after graduating that I got my own apartment and truly lived on my own. I remember that first night in the apartment. My family had left, and I wa...

We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing. -George Bernard Shaw Their eyes are gleaming in anticipation. White teeth glinting. They stomp eagerly at the line, aching to dart forward, but are held back by the invisible force of command. I begin inching backwards, knowing that if I move too quickly the tenable control we have will break, and I may not be able to get it back before the damage has been done.  I stretch my legs a little bit, all the while watching them carefully. Looking for signs that one of them might snap. They chatter excitedly, fidgeting, but they stay behind the line. Taking a couple steps backwards I look over at the others then nod. They back away from the sides of the line, leaving me alone to face the eight kindergartners twitching for the signal to charge into the playground.  Eyeing them suspiciously I address my little pack: " Now, remember, we run when I say 'go'."  Shouts of agreement come from the gr...

  There's a kind of magic that comes with rainy days. It whispers enticingly, the urge to curl in bed with a blanket, to listen to its whispers as it empties the streets of regular passers-bys, lets you catch glimpses of the shadow figures you'd regularly miss in the bright sunlight, reminding you that there are worlds within worlds, and asking you to find some of that in yourself. The majesty of stillness in the presence of constant rainfall and taxi horns, the deep baying calls of busses as they continue their rhythmic looping, the cough of the ahjussi smoking under the eves, sounds so common you'd say they might as well not exist until you're suddenly faced with their absence. It isn't until then that you realize those moments fed your soul.

I've been here 7 months now.  That's insane to me. In a week we'll start our new school year and I'll have a new course schedule, new students, new experiences to learn.  It's also spring. As a Midwest girl, the idea of consistent 60 degree weather in February is mind boggling. I mean, we've had weird weather in Iowa, I've seen it this warm in February before. But not consistently. So this early spring is great. The sun is rising earlier and earlier, and setting later and later. Benefits of being out of the States, there's no daylight savings. That's the part of spring that I consistently dread the most when I'm home. I like waking up to sunlight, and having it ripped away from me when we spring forwards felt a lot like having my ice cream taken away midbite.  Friday night I also had my first successful phone call in Korean. Granted that was with my friend HyunHo, who knows my brand of Korean, so I'm not sure how many other people would have ...

You have to taste a culture to understand it. - Deborah Cater So, I haven't seen anyone (well hardly anyone) from my local congregation since October. We've been meeting through zoom, and video etiquette determines that if you're not speaking the video and audio stays off. Since I'm not quite at church speaking level, most people haven't seen me for almost 4 months now.  Which leads to something that will be a secret between you and me - my goal is to lose enough weight that the ladies at my church start asking me if I've been eating enough. Yeah, it's a weird goal, but I don't do well with numbers. Just ask my Mom - she's the one who's suffered most from my stubborn dislike of numbers (the fact I can do any math at all is 100% due to her tireless patience). But reactions? Subjective responses that have little or nothing to do with anything?  Sign me up.  Honestly though, that has been an interesting side effect of moving to Korea - I'm shrin...

Violence is never the answer but sometimes, like with cockroaches, it is the only possible response. Tanya Huff If you've read the title, and it made you squirm, this post may not be for you. I'll still love you, I won't even know you didn't, and since you clicked on the link, I've already got the click count so feel free to move on to a bug free realm.  For those of you who have stuck around, LET ME TELL YOU. I've become a ninja. My powers of observation have tripled. I know the black spots in my apartment intimately , and if there's a new spot, I have a swath of toilet paper or my Squisher Swiffer (a repurposed floor mop) in a matter of seconds.  My "Sweet Home" fans (all two of you) know how I'm vibing. Before you go "But Shayla, there's poison for those!", I've got my passive defense too. I have two different types of roach bait, some roach spray, and a Borax/sugar mix that I keep under the sink and sprinkle in the garbage...

 It's amazing to me how somethings as basic as the toilet and restrooms can have so many different variations. I mean, thankfully they have toiles here (never anything I worried about, but am grateful for), but it's not always the same, friends.  My apartment is definitely no Hilton by any means, and T Teacher sniffs whenever I talk about it and he frequently tells me I could be doing better (considering his new apartment has an actual bedroom and no roaches, he thinks it makes him an authority on these things). Many bathrooms, especially in budget housing, are wet rooms - a toilet and shower head with a tub spout sticking out of the wall, no sink and no shower curtain. Initially this took a little bit of getting used to, and deciding between the spout to wash my hands or the kitchen sink is something I still struggle with. I hadn't realized how accustomed I was to my setup until I had a couple friends over, and one was like "Sis, you don't have a sink in your bath...