Apartment Update and Mail

Well, today was a good day. Just a Tuesday... nothing special really. Except 2 awesome things! My apartment has a slightly new look, and I got MAIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Well, as many of you already know, I worked my butt off to obtain a small desk/table that can serve as a place to write my blogs, a place to eat dinner, and a place to sit besides my bed. I lugged it all over Seoul, and finally put it together. Here is a mildly entertaining video of me attempting to put it together, originally recorded to send to my parents as proof that I actually put the thing together on my own, but which I decided to share with my beloved followers. :)

I ended up putting the desk completely together the wrong way 2 times, and halfway together the wrong way an additional 2 times before I figured out my mistakes and correctly got the dang thing together. Oh, Ikea and your assembly instructions....

So, I have an updated apartment look! I moved my useless floor desk into my wardrobe, but in order to fit it, I had to move out a small set of storage drawers. Conveniently they are almost the height of the table and provide a nice additional table top space to set things that I don't want on my desk, but that do need to be accessible.

I am so pleased with how the apartment is coming along. There are still some more things to find and add, but it's getting more and more homey. :) And, Erin Teacher saw this photo and commented on how much bigger and brighter it looks now than when Maggie Teacher was living in the space. Oh yeah!!!

Well, the other awesome thing that happened was, of course, I got a long-anticipated letter! AND a bonus surprise letter!!!!!! I was sooooo happy I had Erin Teacher take a photo for me!

One letter was from my mom, which I had been expecting. The other was an encouraging card from some family friends that nearly brought tears to my eyes. 

Something I have been wanting to write about for a few days, but have had neither time nor energy to write anything more than what happens during my days, is the development of my friendships. Now, I think getting mail from people I love has just pushed me to express myself.

Last week, I woke up to a comment on my blog from a woman I had met this summer in the Bahamas. When we met, I felt a God-connection. We only talked for about 15 minutes, but I felt like I should give her my blog address. I scribbled it on a torn off piece of paper from our itinerary, and didn't see her again the whole vacation. When I got back to Florida, I realized that I had given her the wrong blog address: chelseainkorea instead of chelseainseoul. I was frustrated at myself for the blunder, but since I only knew her first name, there was nothing I could do.

Well, somehow she found me! When she realized I had given her the wrong URL, she searched for me and eventually found me (after a lot of frustrating dead ends, I'm sure). When I got the comment, I couldn't believe it! I emailed her right away. She wrote me back and we have been in touch since then. The morning when I realized that we would actually be in touch, I was so moved. It made me think about how, in the past month and a half alone, I have met people who have already affected my life. How, even though I came on this trip to develop myself, I am being developed by my relationships with others.

God works in some amazing ways. He has led me to a place where I am meeting people who will be friends for life, and who are having a positive impact on my daily life. It's just incredible. I'm generally the kind of person who has a few close friends, and I don't share much of my personal life with the masses; a sorority sister pointed this out to me last year. I guess it's true - I am outgoing, but sharing my personal life is sometimes hard for me. I keep people at a distance. This experience has already been challenging my habits and practices dealing with relationships (example A: this blog). I expected to work on myself in ways related to work and patience, but I realize He is doing even more work on even more aspects of my life and personality.

I feel so blessed. I have so much to be thankful for, and so many people, too! :)