Reverse Culture-Shock? Part III

I have a little more time on my hand today so I thought I'd blog a little. I'm not going to give an extensive commentary on the things that I noticed and experienced while being back in the States here, but I will just note them.

* The refrigerators in the States are huge!
* Although homes have land-lines, most use their cell-phones for long distance calls. It was not like that when we were living there 22 months ago.
* Clothes, electronics, durable goods are cheaper in the States than in India. The clothes in the States are of higher quality, I noticed. If I want to buy quality items that are equivalent to the ones in the States, I would have to pay more here than back in the States.
* While I was back this time around, what I perceived, intuited, or felt (not sure what the exact word is) that many people in the States are seeking or are in search of significance. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I sensed in people a desire for more meaning or significance to their daily existence. I don't find this as much here... well, at least not in the way I felt it back at home #1. (Maybe I'll write more about this when I feel more motivated to write...)
* America is really rich. After having lived here for over 21 months, I realize that being rich is not a bad thing in itself. Being poor is not more virtuous. In our wealth, it is easy to get caught up on our own wants and pursuit of more wealth. However, if we are able to live more simply in order to share our wealth and resources with others, then, I think wealthy people can do much good.

* I noticed scooters and even scooter shops! I guess with the gas prices going up, people are opting for a cheaper mode of transportation.
* The lack of trash piles or visible dump areas make us forget how much trash gets thrown out.
* Contentment can be experienced anywhere in the world if I know where it comes from. I'm still learning it but I do feel like I understand it more having lived away from the land of abundance.

Coming to America

We are leaving tomorrow for our first leg of the journey toward our other home--America. We will be stopping for a short visit with some friends in Delhi before setting off for the States. I've been getting more and more excited as we have been wrapping things up here. I am VERY eager to see my nephews and niece. I miss them so much and I think it will be hard for me to leave them when I return. They bring so much joy! I am so looking forward to seeing my family again, reconnecting with friends, and meeting all the babies that were born while we were away! I can't believe it has been almost two years since we left.

At the same time, I am glad that it will be a short trip. It's not because I don't want to be back. I'm excited to be going back. But, I don't feel like this is the time for us to be back for a lengthy period of time. We are just not ready to be back for a few months. As weird as it feels to write this, I don't want to be back for a long time...now. It is not the right time. It is one of the reasons why we decided to not take our furlough this year but to wait until next year. I feel like we're just getting started with life and ministry and this season is still supposed to be about being immersed in our learning.

I have heard that it takes about two years to get adjusted. And, I believe it! I feel like we're just starting to feel much more at home here. So, although I am excited to be returning to my other home, I am also glad that we'll be back shortly to continue with our learning. By next year around this time, we will be ready for a furlough... our language will be in a more solid place, relationships solidified more, and we will have had another full year to really give ourselves to life here and make this place our primary home...

But, don't get me wrong! We're going to live it up for two and a half weeks while we're back and enjoy what America has to offer!! ;) We're going to enjoy our family, friends, driving around in a car on freeways, eating different kinds of food, walking on sidewalks, wearing shorts and tank tops, running outside, getting a good haircut, holding hands in public, etc! We also get to watch the NCAA semi-finals and the championship game, and watch UCLA do what USC couldn't in football! (ouch...) Go Bruins! Oooh, I can't wait!

I'm thankful that I get to enjoy what both homes have to offer. See you soon!

**Updated April 5: Humble pie has been served... We're on even ground, SC fans!**

Personal Retreat in the Queen of the Hills

We spent the last four days on a personal retreat in Darjeeling, also affectionately known as the Queen of the Hills. We were lucky to have clear skies, crisp but not too cold temperature, a hotel with an awesome view (the developer of our apartment is the owner), and lots of time to read, sleep, pray, reflect, and talk. I also got a hair cut and my eye brows shaped (the Indian way--see photo)! (I finally have a beauty salon I like thanks to my friend from church who recommended this place!) What a treat!! Here are some pics. Enjoy!

Mt. Kanchenjunga (the third highest peak in the world) is the mountain that I saw in my dream sometime in October of 2003. I never get tired of gazing at the mountain for it is a very tangible reminder of God's call upon our lives.

Thailand Family Vacation

On our way to our organization’s annual conference we stopped in Thailand to meet with my family. Dad and mom were coming out to Thailand for their organization’s annual conference, so we figured it would be a good time to meet. My brother Jin, sister-in-law, Grace, and my sister Eun (along with my nephew Jeshua) flew out from the U.S. to spend a week with us. How good and fun it was to be together. I had missed them so much. Mom and dad brought for me a huge box of Korean food items to take back to India…Yummy!! Jeshua brought lots of joy and laughter. He is such a delightful and flexible kid. Too bad I couldn’t take him home with me. We definitely will do this again! Hopefully, the whole clan will be there.

First Visitors to India

My in-laws, Phil and Ann came to visit us in India in January. It was great to see them and to have them share in experiencing India with all of its sounds, smells, and complexities!

We also got to visit Delhi (New and Old)! How different Delhi is from where we are. It gave us another perspective into India.

Seeing the Taj Mahal in person was quite breath-taking! Photos don't do justice, but I guess a photo will have to suffice here.

Father-in-law and daughter-in-law having fun! Hopefully, others will follow in their steps and come out to India for a visit. (hint, hint ;)

Trekking in the Himalayas

Our language class was not in session in celebration of the biggest Hindu festival (Dashain), so we decided to go trekking up to Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) at 13,550 feet. The scenery was picturesque, the people we met along the road interesting, and had plenty of Korean food! Read on if you're curious...

Day 1 (Nayapul to Ghandruk)
We started our trek in Nayapul with our guide/porter Tulasi. Our destination: Ghandruk, a traditional Gurung village nestled in the steep hills of the Himalayas. (The Gurungs are one of many ethnic groups in Nepal. Supposedly, I look like them.) This village is the largest and the oldest village in the Modi Khola valley.
It was a tough day—mostly uphill, climbing 3,500 stairs. As we were taking a break in Salibazaar, I told Tulasi (in Nepali) that I am trekking up the hills for my husband. He thought that was funny, but it was true! (As you can see in the picture, I do not look very happy!) This trekking trip was Paul’s 40th birthday present. There were a few moments when I had to remind myself that I am doing this for Paul. What a wife! We also had to pay a fee to the Maoists to enter their “territory.” They even gave us a receipt, with some information.

We met a Korean group (mostly consisting of professors) heading up to ABC like us. Their porters carried up Korean food and had a cook to cook Korean food for them! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw them with Korean food…

Day 2 (Ghandruk to Chhomrong)
Chhomrong is the last major village before entering the Annapurna Sanctuary. Mainly corn and millet are grown here, and we saw lots of rice paddies on the way. We met some Finns and Israelis. I had an interesting conversation with two Israeli men about why we’re in Nepal. He asked me why am I leaving Nepal for India when there are so many people to convert here… I didn’t know how to answer this, except that our first contact is in India, but that we may come back to Nepal some day. It’s an interesting question… perhaps, God will send FECAI workers to Nepal! I learned that the Jews in Israel call Christians “Nazarines,” because Jesus was from Nazareth. He also asked a lot about whether Protestant “priests” (pastors) can marry. He seemed to really disdain the idea of celibacy! (He’s married with a child.) We got to see a little bit of Annapurna South and Machhapucchre.

Day 3 (Chhomrong to Deurali)
This was a killer day! We walked 10 hours and had about 8,000 feet of elevation gain! Our feet were so sore by the end of the day. Our original plan was to get to Himalaya, which is about 2 hours below Deurali, but when we got there, we found out that a couple of Korean groups had booked all the guest houses! They had sent someone way ahead of everyone and had booked it by 10 am that morning. We had no other choice, but to keep walking. When we finally arrived, we celebrated our 7 year wedding anniversary by soaking our sore feet in two buckets of hot water!

We also met a South African couple, the same Israeli guys, and two guys from Spain. Paul, who is (or used to be) quite good in Spanish could not speak a word of Spanish that night! His Spanish got replaced with Nepali. Only Nepali would come out of his mouth. He couldn’t even remember how to say, “What is your name?” in Spanish. Spanish would only come out when he didn’t know a specific word in Nepali. What an experience!

Day 4 (Deurali to Machhapucchre Base Camp)
Thank God we only had to walk about 2 hours! We could have gone up to ABC, but we decided to stay in MBC, thinking that all the Korean groups would end up in ABC. We later found out that all the Korean groups were staying at MBC, but we were able to get a room!

I met a Korean businessman who came up to go trekking on a short notice because he had not realized that it was Dashain time, the biggest Hindu festival time, and many offices and businesses were closed. He kindly shared Korean cup of noodles with me! I also met his guide who spoke some Korean, and the guest house owner also spoke some Korean. It was lots of fun to be able to understand 3 different languages simultaneously! I met another Korean woman who shared with me Kimchee stew with mackerel! Yummy!! I had no idea that Koreans were really into trekking, but from what these people told me, it’s really popular. I remember hiking a lot with dad when I was a kid. Basically, I learned that Korea has lots of mountains, and hiking is what people do for recreational activities! I got a quick lesson in Korean geography, culture, and hobbies!

Of course, I can’t forget to mention the views! Quite spectacular. A picture is worth a thousand words. So, I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves!
Day 5 (M.B.C. to Annapurna Base Camp)
Stunning, marvelous, gorgeous, majestic, absolutely beautiful! Never seen anything like it. As I was hiking up, I was overwhelmed by its beauty, and couldn't help but to sing praises to our creator! 360 degrees—surrounded by white shimmering peaks. It was incredible! It was worth the hard work to get there, with headaches, colds (Paul) and all. Paul is pretty sensitive to the altitude, and was feeling a little sick going up, but he made it.

More Koreans….this time, Paul was surrounded by Koreans and Nepalese. Our hotel was occupied by Koreans, and all their porters and guides. But, we got to take a bite of their feast—kimchee stew and more kimchee!! There was a group of nine ranging in age from 23 to 50+ who had come to Nepal to do volunteer work for 2 years. It was fun to interact with them, although darn Koreans! They can be sooo loud!! :)

Day 6 (A.B.C. to Chhomrong)
It took us 4 days to get to ABC from Chhomrong, but we decided that we want to get to Chhomrong in one day! Tusali must have thought we were absolutely crazy, and in some ways, we were! We walked for over 10 hours, and the last hour of the trek was spent climbing over 2000 stairs! We lost over 8,600 ft of elevation – and then climbed back up 2,200 ft. We arrived at our guest house at 6:45pm, just before it became pitch black and started raining hard.

Day 7 (Chhomrong to Pothani)
We decided to take a different route back home, so that we could do a loop. Weather permitting, we were hoping to see Machhapucchre from another angle. We met 3 Korean families heading to ABC with small children. One was being carried in a baby carrier by a porter. They had lived in Kathmandu for over 10 years. They seemed quite surprised when I spoke to them in Korean, and they asked me how I learned to speak Korean. I told them, I’m one of them! I surprised a few people when they realized that I was Korean. One man said, I was carrying a Japanese bag, so he assumed I was Japanese or from Hong Kong! Anyway, you can usually tell if someone is Korean, Chinese, etc. by what they wear and how they carry themselves….I think people were confused because I was with a white man, spoke some Nepali, and carried non-Korean looking bag!

We walked another 10 hours today. Not as difficult, but still hard. The trails were quite slippery and we had few small falls. It was quite eerie to walk in the fog… I made sure that my imagination didn’t go too far.

Day 8 (Pothani to Pheri)
It only took us 3 hours, and we were back at our taxi by 11am! There were some leeches along the way that we had to be cautious of…. Those leeches are fast, and they’re hard to get rid of! It was a cloudy day, so we didn’t get to see any spectacular views, but it was cool. It would have been nice, but we also didn’t mind walking in shade rather than in the hot sun!

I wish I can add more pictures to capture all that we saw and experienced, but it's difficult to do it with a dial up, and there's a limit to how much I can post. Hopefully, this gave you a little taste of our adventure!