Well, the past couple of weeks have definitely been trying on me. However, things have been looking up. This past weekend I spent Saturday and Sunday night at my friend Gulraiz John's house with his family. It was cool. I learned a lot about his country, Pakastan, and his culture. It was just really awesome to get to know people from another country, especially when they are brethen in Christ.
Sunday was really cool! I spent most of my day at church (I've spent lots of Sundays at church since I've been here), and met more people. The message was really convicting, and made me think about how things have been for me since I've came to Korea. God has really shown me things in my life that I'm ashamed of, things that I didn't know I could do, things I didn't even know I was capable of doing. One thing He has definitely showed me is how to just trust Him and not to rely on myself. This has been the most difficult thing to do. I always want to be in control. However, since I've been here, I haven't been in control of anything. So trusting Him is a must. I really have no choice.
Sunday night, I met this guy named Tom (it's his English name, lots of Koreans have English names because their Korean names are hard to pronounce) and his wife. Apparently, the company he works for told him last week that he has to go to Europe in September. His problem is that his English isn't very good. So, he asked me if I would teach him English in a month and a half. I freaked! I thought that there would be no way I could do this! Not only that, but also he was willing to pay me anywhere between $50 and $90 an hour. I was flattered and nervous. Not only would this guy pay me, but also he wanted an intensive course. Well, I wasn't sure what to do. The first thing I did was pray. Then I reduced the amount because he is a believer to $30 an hour. So, I took the job. Even though it's illegal to teach private English lessons in Korea without notifying the government, lots of Koreans and English speaking foreigners do it apparently. So, I teach him on Wednesday nights and Saturday afternoons. It's hard. Last night after work, I came to his apartment (which is the largest home I've been in since I've been living in Korea) and helped him for an hour. It was hard, but I believe God will provide and give me the necessary tools and knowledge to help him.
On Tuesday, there were some problems. I thought I was going to lose my job. Evidently, because Immigration took my passport in order to register me, my boss was given a receipt. Well, I was told that I was the one who should have the receipt just in case a cop or someone asks for my passport I can show them the proof. Well, I asked him several times on Monday about it. Well, evidently, in Korea if you ask too many questions people think you don't trust them. That's exactly what my boss thought. When he sat me down with the head teacher he told me that he knew that other hagwons treat their foreign employees miserably (partly because foreign teachers will sometimes leave in the middle of their contract, so many hagwon principals will hold your passport from you), but he didn't want to be like them. It took me a while to figure out what he meant, but then when I explained what I was thinking and that I did trust him, he soon figured out that there was just a misunderstanding due to cultural differences. I just wanted to know if I really needed my passport receipt and nothing more. But it scared the crap out of me big time!
So, yeah, this week has been weird and strange. But, I wouldn't change it for anything less or more. God has blessed me so much! I just feel unworthy to receive His blessings or faithfulness because I lack so often. Because Korea, and Asia in general, is a communal based society, people trust each other heavily and share food, their homes, and goods liberally. The fact that men in Korea will walk down the street holding each others hands and no one thinks about it because it isn't gay is definitely a testament to how people care for one another. I just wished I could be more loving like that sometimes.
Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment