the Lord has been good to me

The holiday season is a little different in East Asia. We still have our own traditions and our own "family" here but it doesn't always feel a whole lot like the holidays. No one else around us is celebrating, and there certainly aren't any decorations around town. There are so many things I appreciate about Thanksgiving and Christmas here. The video me and my roommate threw together last night will show a little of  how we celebrate in the Asia town. 

On Thanksgiving day we all cooked our own dishes and brought them to Cat and Scott's apartment. The masterpiece of a turkey cooked by Michael Gregory was revealed and the crowd was in awe. We are able to cook almost all of the tradition Thanksgiving dishes here with a little help from the packages sent by friends and family in America. After eating, we laid around and eventually watched Christmas Vacation together. The next day we headed to a nearby city to visit friends and the guys played in the annual turkey bowl football game. That's about it. I'm so thankful for holidays here!

In this season of my life, I am continually thankful for the way the Lord is revealing himself to me. But it's not without my careful attention. He's speaking to me, only if I choose to listen. He's reminding me of his love and mercy daily.

 

"How kind The Lord is! How good he is! So merciful, this God of ours! The Lord protects those of childlike faith; I was facing death, and he saved me. Let my soul be at rest again for the Lord has been good to me." 

Psalm 116:5-7

the perks of being an "art" student

I wouldn't call myself an art student, but I love claiming that I go to an art school. Even though I only take language class, I'm surrounded by hippies. I think the students at the art school are the most trendy people in the city! Honestly I keep trying to adapt my style to fit in. This afternoon I visited a friend from my school in her fashion design studio. This is real life Project Runway.

her current project, a coat

someone else made some unconventional clothes #Christmasy

 

I swear I'm not obsessed with Gangnam Style but while we're on the subject of art school...our university made their own Gangnam music video. It has a lot of views on another website, but I found this one on YouTube. The 65 year old president of the school is featured around minute 3. Make note of the scenery, because that's my school!  

Oh and then I ran into this Gangnam Style flash mob and took a video on my phone. Okay, I swear that's all for Gangnam.

gangnam east asia style

This was just too funny not to share.

We stumbled upon something special Saturday night. We had gone to one of our favorite restaurants downtown and walked out afterward to crowds of thousands. Every night old people come together to exercise and dance. I think it's something really unique to their culture; it creates a strong community among neighbors. Usually one person leads the dancing and knows the choreography. In this case, it was a little girl...and it was Gangnam Style. Yes. Now I know Gangnam style is famous all over the world!

magazine cover with O & R doing the horsey dance too!

each morning

These days it's cold and dreary here. With each new day, it gets harder to wake up excited for what's ahead. Most days I'd rather just stay under my covers where it's warm. Yesterday morning I read this verse and saw it in a new light.

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you. I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10

I shouldn't be afraid of difficult days ahead. It's another day for the Lord to uphold his promises and extend his grace. I can look forward to each day knowing he will reveal himself in a new way- but only if I keep my eyes and ears alert. His presence is all around me and his hand is in every thing.

Mostly I'm writing this for myself. So on days when I feel like I don't have hope, I can look back here and remember how the Lord made himself known to me. How easily I can forget the things he has taught me! I'll probably need to reread this tomorrow...and every other dreary morning in EA. But I can choose to put my hope in him each morning.

out celebrating Sean's birthday

Sean with this happy little creature

he's riding solo

Noah helping Sean with his candle

one of my favorite spots in the city

oh the places i've gone

I'll admit it- I just love dressing up. I get super excited for Halloween. Last minute we decided to be Kiss. It worked perfectly because there is 4 of us. Also, who wouldn't want to paint their face? Walking out of our apartment to go to dinner, all of the elementary school kids were coming home from class. Some laughed. Some of their jaws dropped in shock. Some ran away.

John Turner wore the outfit I brought him home from Beijing for Halloween!

we don't have pumpkins here, so we carved a youzi this year

I'd say we did pretty good

Here's footage from our Halloween celebration and our weekend trip to visit my college friend. Hope you enjoy our latest video! Lots of love from East Asia.