Driving Miss Dainsy

I can officially drive in Korea...God help us all. Today I took my driving test. I'm 23 years old and had to once again hit the books and study driver's ed. I had to take the written test just like the 16 year olds in the US. Only this time the traffic signs I had to i.d. were in Korean...a little tricky. But a trip to the police station, an eye test and the relinquishing of my Wisconsin driver's license later and I can legally drive in this crazy city. Let's just pray that I never have to. If you know me, you know why...

I started Korean language classes today to. It's a world away from my high school Spanish classes. I desire so desperately to speak this language and understand the strangers in these neighborhood shoppes...maybe one day soon.

I miss depth. I miss the times in Townhouse 600 when people would just pop their heads in to say hi and end up staying the entire evening. I miss trips to McConn and ordering my 12 oz., skim, decaf, sugar-free vanilla latte. I miss Thursday nights when Angela and Kristin would pick me up after rounds, we'd get Steak n' Shake cheese fries, sit in the Starbuck's parking lot and listen to the "Bubbly" song. I miss Bekah and Meg's music videos. I miss Hodson wiffleball. I miss Shatford and the fact that Katie lived there. I miss chapel, the religion department, drama classes, Baldwin (if only I had known how good that cafeteria food is compared to here), the student development office, my RA staff (from all 3 years), eating those terrible doughnettes with Jen in IBS and Bib. Foundations of worship with Lennox. In short...I miss the past 4 years. Five weeks into my "new life" in Korea, I'm feeling a deep sense of loss. I feel like I'm missing out on my friend's lives. It's almost as if they are still living and I'm at a stand still. I know that's so far from the truth but when you find yourself on the other side of the world, it's easier to believe the lies. I long for deep conversations. I long for someone to ask me what the Lord has been teaching me. I long to ask someone face to face what they are dealing with spiritually. Rome wasn't built in a day, right? Well neither was my community at IWU. May God continually remind me that just as that community took time to grow and develop, so will the the TCIS community. He's starting a great work here in my life. I wish I could tell you everything that I've learned so far! The Tower of Babel has strangely come up again and again here. Manna in the wilderness as well. God is at work...it's just taking longer than anticipated to find my way.

RANDOM KOREAN FACT:

You can't get your driver's license here until you're 20. Since the country is the size of Indiana but has roughly 50 million people, you just can't have all the 16 year olds in the country driving (especially on these crazy tiny streets). Therefore, you can't drive until you're 20.