Cool Music, Thinking Music

I'm reading Finding Our Way Again, by Brian McClaren, and in one of the later chapters he recommends some music by David Wilcox, Nance Pettit, and Carrie Newcomer. While Sarah has been enjoying a night with the girls, I've been enjoying these brilliant musicians.

In Out Beyond Ideas, Wilcox and Pettit intone entrancing ancient poems from mystics from a wide variety of traditions. Most are fairly short, reviewing some basic lyrics a few times. One of my favorites is "Slicing Potatoes," lyrics by Rabia of Basra (c. 717-801) Mesopotamia.

It helps, putting my hands on a pot,
on a broom, or in a washing pail

It helps putting my hands on a pot,
on a broom, or in a washing pail

I tried painting, but it was easier to fly
slicing potatoes.

Sounds like Practicing the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence. Who would have thought that slicing potatoes could help you fly?
The whole idea of this CD is to utilize music to help people of different religious traditions see what we have in common in our core mysticism. I like it!

That led me on to David Wilcox's personal site, where I've been listening to his latest album Airstream. All of the songs were written during a 2 year long journey across the USA in an airstream camper, and then recorded actually in the airstream. Don't miss the very funny song "Reaper Sweapstakes."

Gotta go now, but I'll just point you toward Carrie Newcomer's site. Look especially for the "The Gathering of Spirits."

We're Back!

We're back in Cheonan now.
We arrived safely with no glitches at all.
Emma did great on the trip. She did wonderfully on the airplanes, but by the end of the long flight to Japan, she finally crashed and fell asleep. She slept almost the whole way from Japan to Korea also. By the time we made it to Korea, she was spent. She didn't want to walk at all, and every time we stopped walking, she just laid down on the floor wherever we happened to be.
But we got through everything OK and got a bus at 7:20 pm, perfect timing for us.
We made it to our apartment around 10 pm. We were all sleeping by 11. Emma and I slept until 5:30 (not bad for the first night), and Sarah slept until after 8.

Days 26 and 27

On Saturday, we had an early appointment at my grandparents' house for joker marbles. After a few games, we headed off to Conway for their favorite Chinese restaurant. The food was not so whippy, but we were surprised that one of the waitresses and one of the owners were Korean. They were very surprised to hear us and Emma speaking to them in Korean. The owner married a Chinese man and hasn't been back to Korea for 35 years. She was very surprised to hear that Cheonan is now half the size of Daejeon.
Afterward, the girls went out for some girl time. April took Emma on a special trip to get their nails done together. Mom was planning her annual or semi-annual studio photo adventure. However, she was greatly disappointed when Walmart was too busy to fit them in.

On Sunday, we went to a honky-tonk Nazarene church in Greenbrier, Arkansas. Actually, it seems like a really good church, with great connection with the community and appropriate for its context.
After church, we ate at a down home restaraunt called the "Wagon Wheel." The food was very good, but the environment was kind of like a truck stop.
We got in a few games of joker marbles and hit the road. Now we are all gathered in a hotel room near the airport getting ready for our "last supper" of pizza. And the pizza has just arrived!
I'm signing off until we get to Korea. We'll be leaving our hotel room sometime around 4 am tomorrow.

Days 24 and 25

On Thursday, we picked up my sister April at the airport. She had gotten up at the ungodly hour of 3 a.m. to make an early flight, and she was in our car before 9 am!

We returned to my grandparents' house and played a very fun game called "Joker Marbles," which is the new game of choice in the Jetton household. It is very similar to the games "Aggrivation" or "Sorry." It has lots of highs and lows and personal affronts - great for building those warm family affections.

On Thursday afternoon, we opened an abundance of Christmas presents. I know it is only July, but this is the only time of the year our family is together, so this has become a tradition. My mom and sister shopping at bargain outlets and garage sales, so there are always loads of nice but cheaply purchased presents.

On Thursday night, we enjoyed a nice meal at Cracker Barrell, where I had yet another yummy salad. I think this is one of the American foods that I have missed most. I must be putting on weight, because I seem to be in a perpetual state of "full."

On Friday, we ate lunch at the Senior Citizens' Center which my grandparents frequent. It was nice to see that part of their life, and I developed a new appreciation for senior citizen centers. They provide a vital service to enhance the quality of life of our senior citizens. This is one of the most important parts of my grandparents' day-to-day life.

After lunch, Dad, April, Sarah, Emma, and I went canoeing on Cadron Creek with Cadron Creek Outfitters, based just north of Greenbrier. The guide wasn't very friendly, but he was efficient. We rented two canoes, and had a great time paddling down the river. Both canoes ran into some rocks and trees, and one flipped once (losing some sunglasses and shorts in the process). However, we had a great time managing the rapids and relaxing in the quiet parts. We even stopped to swim a few times. For Sarah and I, this was one of our favorite parts of our whole trip to the USA.

Days 20, 21, 22 and 23

The last several days have been a whirlwind.

I spent the first few wee hours of Sunday morning finishing the Risk game with my friends from college (Jeremiah, Dave, Chad, and Joe). We used to play this game a lot in college, but since it takes several hours for one game, most of us haven't had much time for it after getting married, getting jobs, and having kids. It was like old times.

I was delighted to hear that Jeremiah, Dave, and Chad (and their spouses) are all planning to join us in Cheonan, South Korea within the next 2 years. Jeremiah and Alyssa will probably be first, since Chad and Dave are both working on their Masters'. This has been one of my dreams for a long, long time. Also, Chad said he and Sunny (who is Korean) plan to make Cheonan their long term home. Whoopie!! Three cheers for long-termers!

On Sunday, we visited Christ Community Church, our church home before we came to Korea. For the month of June, they had been collecting an offering for our Tanzania mission trip. They extended their offering one week into July so that we could be there to talk about it. They are mailing a check to me this week for our church. Yeah!

Then, after church, we enjoyed a great day with my Dad's side of the family at my Uncle John's house. We ate Uncle John's great barbecue (yes, more American beef!). Then, some of us played a short poker tournament and enjoyed an old classic American game - horseshoes. (You throw a horseshoe at a metal stake, and you get points based on how close you can get.)

Unfortunately, I got sick somehow on Sunday morning, and I had an upset stomach and headache for most of Sunday and Monday. However, I think I'm finally over it now.

On Monday, we had a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel, a good old homecooking American restaurant, with old friends (Matt and Darci Johnson, Jen Moore, and Joe and Elena Willey - and Elena's mom). Good food and laughter all around.

Then we drove down to Arkansas to see my Mom's side of the family. We rented a car - to the tune of $200 - yikes! We made great time, and we were able to eat dinner with the family and play a few games. This is the first time in a long while that I've seen all of my Mom's brothers and sisters all together, so that was really nice.

Tuesday, was mostly the same - talking and games with family. Today, on Wednesday almost everyone left so from now on out it will just be my parents, my sister, and our family who will be hanging out with my grandparents. We'll pick up my sister from the airport tomorrow morning.

Days 16, 17, and 18

On July 3, we celebrated the 4th of July. I know that doesn't really make sense. However, it is an old, old tradition for the folks in Marengo, Iowa. Because they are a small town, their celebrations tend to get overshadowed by the bigger towns on the 4th, so they decided a long time ago to have their parties and fireworks a day early. It works great.
There is a quaint little carnival on the town square and a little parade with a total small-town feeling (lots of fire trucks and tractors). I used to look down my nose at all this small town quaintness, but this is at least my 4th round of this tradition, and I'm really starting to like Marengo and their small town traditions. I think that the longer I live outside of the USA, the more I appreciate the small towns of America. They are such a nice change of pace from the dense population and fast lifestyles of big cities. I almost feel like I'm on a retreat when I'm in Marengo.
We celebrated the 4th of July by driving to Kansas City. That evening Theresa took Emma on a special shopping outing where she was able to watch the custom creation of her own teddy bear. Sarah and I took advantage of this night of freedom by going on a double date with Elizabeth and her new boyfriend. (Unfortunatley for us, it looks like he is going to woo her to St. Louis and away from Korea, at least for now.) We went to The Cheescake Factory, the home of the best cheesecake in the world. We enjoyed a beautiful dinner on the patio outside, under blue skies and perfect temperatures.
We are now in Olathe, Kansas. We are staying with my Aunt Sue and Uncle Dean, but Emma identifies houses according to the dogs who live there, so this is "Ivan's house" for her. Emma has been enjoying lots of time with Ivan - a beautiful white dog who is a gentle giant. Ivan is probably twice Emma's weight! I have to confess; I'm enjoying having a dog around, too. I miss that.
Today, Saturday, we visited my old college roommates (Jeremiah and David) and their ladies (Alyssa and Alicia). We had steaks and baked potatoes for lunch. (YUM! More American beef!!)
Tonight, Sarah and her sisters are having a girls night with her old roommate and childhood friend (Melissa) and Elizabeth and Theresa. Several of my buddies are coming over here to my Aunt's house about 9pm to play Risk (a strategy/war game). I'm hoping Emma will be sawing logs by 8:30, so that she will finally get a full night of sleep. She's been going to sleep and waking up with "the big people," so she's been running a few hours short every night. Hopefully, tonight will help her catch up.

Day 15 - Picking Cherries

So the big event of today was cherry picking.
First, we cooked up a great brunch of chicken enchiladas. I know a weird choice for brunch, but we wanted to have it when all of the family could be there.
Then, we went to a friend's house a few blocks over and picked 2 and 1/2 gallons of cherries. (For any non-Americans out there, that's about 10 liters!) Sarah and I were just amazed at all of this fresh fruit for free. In Korea, cherries cost the same as a plate of gold.
Sarah and her dad spent most of the afternoon pitting the cherries, and then I made a nice cherry cobbler. Luke picked up some icecream and baloons, and we surprised Theresa (Sarah's sister) at work (the Super 8 Motel) with a little party in her honor. Unfortunately, lots of customers came in suddenly in the last 30 minutes of her shift, so she couldn't eat with us. Bummer, but I think she still appreciated the gesture.

(Oh yeah, we also picked blackberries which had grown up over an old tractor when we were out at the farm. We are loving this fresh fruit!)

Days 10-14

Well, so much for blogging every day. I guess I'm having too much fun vacationing. Well, on Friday, we went to a 70 year old movie theater in a small town. It was the first movie theater with sound in this part of Iowa. We saw Wall-E, which was a great social commentary on technology and environmental degredation.
Then on Saturday, we went to Sarah's grandfather's farm. I wasn't able to blog there because - brace yourself for this - there was no internet access. Yes, I know it's hard to believe, but there are some places in the world where there is still no internet.
On Sunday we went to one of the most conservative Nazarene churches on the plannet. One of their last pastors faced a major church conflict because he invited people out to eat for Sunday lunch (therby making people work on the Sabbath!). At our Sunday lunch, appropriately enough at my grandfather's house, I said I wouldn't last 6 months at that church. They might even fire me after the first sermon.
On Monday, Sarah's dad and grandfather cut up an old combine for scrap metal. That was a first for me, and I have a new respect for people who haul scrap iron.
On Tuesday morning, I finished reading Harry Potter 6 - Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. This was by far my favorite. I was completely shocked by the ending, and I'm hoping that somehow it might be reversed in book 7. However, I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Gandhi - An Autobiography - Review

A very long time ago, my friend Betsie loaned me this book. It sat and sat on my shelf until I finally got around to reading it. By the time I finished, she had returned to the USA, and I thought I had borrowed it from Jackie. Oops. I'll have to mail it to her when I get back to Korea.
Well, I finally finished it about a month ago. But I have to say, though, I was pretty disappointed.
I was expecting to read the story of his struggles of nonviolence and his personal commitment to equality with the poor. However, there was only a little bit of narrative in this direction. There was chapter after chapter, though, about his dietary expiriments to bring him closer to God. These, of course, did not connect with me in the least. However, they were very important for him because he was trying to root out all desire (including urges for good food and sex).
On the upside, I have increased knowledge of and respect for Gandhi as a person who relentlessly pursued truth and goodness. As he discussed his Hindu faith, sometimes the words sounded uncannily like the words Christians use to describe our faith. At the least I am interested in reading more from or about Gandhi. My dad gave me a biography of Gandhi written by E. Stanley Jones, longtime Christian missionary to India. Maybe I'll pick that up when I get back.
Over all, I'll give it 3J's. It was long and sometimes irrelevant to my interests, but it is also the direct words of one of the greatest men of the past 100 years.

Day 9: Eurocup and Chili

For the past several days, I've been waking up between 6 and 7:30 no matter what time I go to sleep. This was definitely not my plan for vacation! Maybe I'm getting old. My sister gets up around 5 every single morning. Not that she's old or anything! ;)
Luke and I enjoyed another beautiful morning run. This time Leah (Sarah's youngest sister) joined us for half of it. We saw a tiny baby rabbit and a deer on the trail.
After a lunch of ham and cabbage (Abby's favorite), several us watched the Spain v. Italy game in the Eurocup series. (I know we're behind, but Jess has DVR, so we had it recorded.) This is my third game to watch in this series, and every single game has gone to extra time. They've all been very dramatic, with the underdogs usually winning. I don't get to watch much soccer in Korea for three reasons. 1) I don't usually bother to figure out the schedule of games on the Korean TV channels. 2) I usually don't have the time to watch a long soccer game. 3) The game times rarely match my schedule - often in the wee hours of the morning. But all of these problems are solved here during vacation and thanks to DVR, so I'm really enjoying this.
After the game, I fixed chili for supper. I managed to put away the chili powder before we had to call any fire departments, and Sarah's family was all able to enjoy it freely. I never once heard the words "too spicy," so that's a big accomplishment for me.
As night set in, a storm moved through. When I was upstairs working on the computer, I was surprised to hear pea-sized hail pinking against the window. I went downstairs to watch the storm on the poarch, but as soon as I opened the door a sheet of rain blew through the screen door and doused my shirt. I decided to let the storm viewing wait for another day.

Day 8: One Prayer and West Side Story

Tuesday was a fast day of sorts. Our church is participating in an international event called ONE PRAYER, and on Tuesdays churches around the world are invited to pray that God will make us one and that God will answer our deepest prayers for the Church. (http://www.oneprayer.com/)

I skipped breakfast, read from Finding Our Way Again by Brian McClaren, and prayed. But then, I was drafted to cook lunch. So I ate lunch and skipped supper. Before and during supper, I spent time reading and praying for myself and for our church.

After supper, we gathered together to watch The West Side Story, AFI's GREATEST MOVIE #51. I have to say it's not all it was cracked up to be. All of the singing and dancing was a bit cheezy to me. But I'm not much of a musical kind of guy, anyway. The plot line was extremely pressed. The heroine has a deeper attachment to her love of 2 days than she does to her own brother. The ending was also poignant yet lacking. I guess I'll have to give it a mere 3J's, mostly for the classic songs that it sported beautifully. Otherwise, it would only pull in 2 J's. I was fighting hard to stay awake toward the end of the movie.

Day 7: Jogging and Date Night

Monday morning, I went for a jog with Sarah's brother, Luke. We ran around a small lake near their house and onto the levie and then back through town. We were running pretty slow, but I'm guessing we ran about 4 miles. That gave us a nice time to chat about this and that. We're planning to do it again on Wednesday.

Thanks to the internet, Sarah and I were able to plan out a nice date night in Cedar Rapids, the closest big town. We found three great things all within 2 blocks of each other.
First on the schedule: salad bar at Ruby Tuesdays. When people ask me what foods I miss from America, lately I've been saying Mexican food and salad bars. Korea has an attempt at salad bars (usually at pizza restaurants), but they are usually just lettuce, tomatoes, dressing, and lots of other dishes (potato salad, sweet potato salad, jellos, canned fruits, pasta salads, etc.). One of my friends from South Africa (Jenny) said that a salad shouldn't have more than 5 ingredients. I definitely disagree. I piled on the diversity at Ruby Tuesdays. After 20 different ingredients, I lost count! It was a fiesta of flavors!
Next stop, the best icecream on earth at Cold Stone Creamery. South Korea has a few of these now, but they are both in Seoul and very difficult to reach for us (probably a good thing). Sarah couldn't finish her icecream after the big salad, but nothing was stopping me!
Last stop, the movie theater, where we watched Prince Caspian, the second in the Chronicles of Narnia series. The movie theater was very cold, so Sarah was in shock with her shorts and shortsleeves. But I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I'd probably give it 4J's. The alegory continues, as Aslan (God) was strangely distant. The Narnians were stuck dealing with doubt as the Telamarines dominated their homeland and turned them into exiles. Even when the child kings and queens were called back to Narnia, they faced the difficulty of following and waiting for Aslan when he was not easily seen. Sound familiar? Prince Caspian wrestles beautifully with the difficulty of faith in an ambiguous world. I highly recommend it.

While we were in the big city (well, small city), we stopped in at Wal-mart to buy some cheaper groceries for our family. Man, I love Wal-mart.

Day 6: Lutherans and Wild Game

We went to the Lutheran Church on Sunday with our friends Jon and Jess. It was Missouri Synod, so it is pretty conservative.

They have a "closed" communion. You have to pass an interview with the pastor before you can receive communion there. That felt pretty wierd to just sit there when it was time for communion. (I decided not to try to pass the test before church.)

Also, the service followed through a set service that took up about 20 pages in a hymn book. There were lots of responsive readings or responsive singings. For example, the pastor said, "The Lord be with you." And the people sang a response in a kind of chant, "And also with your Spirit."

It was interesting, but it felt a little like walking into a different world. I guess that's how most people feel when they go to a different style of church for the first time, and even more so when they go to church for the first time.

In the afternoon, I read through 96 comments on a post about Nazarenes and alcohol. If you have a few hours, you can read them here.

For lunch we enjoyed a classic American Sunday lunch: pot roast, potatoes, carrots, and a jello salad. Once again, we enjoyed American beef, and so far nobody's crazy.

Later that night, Jon introduced us to some pretty cool snacks. He had some extremely tender jerkey made from wild snow goose and some summer sausage made from deer. Both of these were the result of his uncle's hunting. I really enjoyed both of them - not going to get those in Korea!

Nuts! - Review

My Dad gave me the book Nuts! Southwest Airlines Crazy Recipee for Business and Personal Success, and he highly recommended that I read it for tips about leadership. The book sat on my shelf for quite a while, but this spring, I finally read it. I'm glad I did.
Nuts! is written by avid fans of Southwest Airlines. The husband and wife authors studied Southwest for their PhD disertation.
Southwest Airlines is a domestic airline in the USA, and it is the only airline to be profitable every year over the last several decades. Southwest achieved this amazing success through creativity and personal empowerment. They revolutionized the industry by aiming for profit through high volume instead of high prices.
Here are some of the basic leadership tips I learned from Southwest Airlines.

• Be yourself. Let your own personality shine through. Don't be afraid to be quirky.
• Encourage others to be themselves. Empower them to make decisions that have meaning.
• Be gracious about mistakes.
• Celebrate victories and milestones. Go all out with your celebrations. Humans have a deeply ingrained need for celebration. It is like a vital nutrient for our souls. Without healthy celebration, part of us withers.
• Have lots of fun at work and away from work. Fan the flames of humor.
• Customers come second. Take care of your people. Sometimes the people you serve are just wrong.
• Love, love, love. Crazy, huh. A secular business taught me that love is one of the key ingredients for a successful organization. Love is the glue that holds us together. Love is the oil that lubricates our gears. Love is indespensible and transforming.
• Be simple. Don't overcomplicate your systems or your expectations.

I highly recommend this book. The content is probably 5J's material, but it sank to 4J's in m book because it is somewhat repetetive, rehearsing the same good content again and again under different headings.

Day 5: Reading and Playing

Today, as soon as I woke up, I reached down and got Pelican Brief, my latest John Grisham book. I didn't get out of bed until I finished the book. It had a few classic Grisham style turns, but the end was also predictable Grisham style. The heroes escaped the immanent tragedy and fall in love.

Sarah went shopping with the girls at a nearby outlet mall, and they all took advantage of a big sale of some unmentionables for 47 cents.

Later, Emma, Sarah, Leah (Sarah's sister), and I went swimming in the city pool. It was fun, but Emma didn't want to share any of the balls.


We finished off the day playing cards with our friends Jess and Jon, who are graciously letting us bunk at their house. With 6 kids in the family, Sarah's house gets pretty cramped when we come home. By staying with Jess and Jon (about a mile away), we get two nice walks in every day and Luke (Sarah's brother) gets to sleep in his own bed instead of on the couch.

All in all, a very good day, and a classic vacation day - just doing whatever the wind blew our way. That feels good.

(I even got in most of the Croatia vs. Turkey soccer game. I couldn't finish because they went into overtime, and it was time for cards to start.)

Day 4: Sleep and Beef

We finally got a full night of sleep last night. I took 2 benedril before bed. (We're staying at a friend's house in Sarah's hometown because she has an extra bedroom, and she has a cat. I'm allergic to cats.) The benedril pushed me through the night. I got up just before 8, and Sarah slept the full 12 hours until after 9. Finally!
We've also been eating our fair share of American Beef. This is probably a scary proposition to our friends in Korea. They are deathly afraid of Mad Cow Disease, which is big news in Korea, but basically ignored here.
On Day 2 we had hotdogs, Day 3 hamburger in our spaghetti sauce, and Day 4 brats and hamburgers at a cook out at Sarah's grandma's house.
So far nobody's crazy!

The World Is Flat - Review

At any given period, I am usually reading through several different books. For personal enjoyment, I try to rotate through fun fiction, classics, and theology/ministry books that I really want to read. For professional enrichment, I usually try to read at least a chapter a week from a book that will be helpful to my ministry - usually related to leadership, theology, or spiritual formation. Sarah and I almost always have a book we are reading out loud together - usually fun fiction. Usually, our pastoral staff is reading a book together, slowly a chapter every few weeks. Sometimes, our small group is also reading a book together, again a chapter a week.
When I finish a book, I usually try to write a blog entry about it. But two things have happened recently to make this more difficult. 1) I've had lots of extra reading time because of travel and computer problems. 2) I've finished up books in several categories at the same time.
Over the past month or two, I've finished 5 books in various categories. All have been good. A few have been excellent. Over the next week, I hope to write about them one at a time. Here's the first one.

The World Is Flat - Thomas Friedman - JJJJJ
This is one of the best books I've read in the past few years. It is about globalization, and how our world is shrinking or flattening. The internet and the systems of interaction and collaboration enabled by the internet have radically and fundamentally changed our world. National borders have far less meaning. The economic market is becoming far less fluid. The internet enables the free transmition of work units, education, news, and entertainment around a borderless world.
Of course, there are upsides and downsides to all of this, but the huge upside is increased collaboration. Think of a basketball team that doesn't play well together as a team. Maybe they have tallented players, but everyone is an individual and plays an isolated game - very little passing or teamwork. Now imagine if that team learns teamwork. Every player works in a groove with the team. They pass to each other, set picks, support each other, and communicate constantly. The performance of the team and of each individual will go up dramatically. (For a case in point, see the Pheonix Suns. Personal statistics for each player improved dramatically when they joined the Suns' team-based approach.)
Basically, the internet and its surrounding systems are teaching our world to play together as a team. Global production of knowledge, technology, and services is increasing dramatically in both quantity and quality. The net result is that the entire world benefits -at least in the short term. We still have not addressed the environmental consequences of making the whole world rich. For the first time in history, we have the systems and the resources to completely eliminate systemic poverty. Beautifully, most of this elimination will happen simply through global participation in the global economy. (The systems most entrenched in poverty and unhealth will still demand much direct intervention.)
In business, education, technology, and religion, we are seeing and will see even more global leaders coming from every corner of the globe. As education and economic participation become freely available, more and more people will become active participants in the global village.
As a pastor and one who thinks about the Church, I have lots of questions here. How is this impacting the Church? How is the Church impacting this? What can we do to ride this wave instead of getting our boat rolled under by this unstoppable wave?
My intuition is that globalization is a very positive development. I expect that it will lead us in some very postitive directions - particularly toward empowering the formerly marginalized and toward diversifying global leadership and the leadership of institutions (like denominations). This is an exciting era - or more correctly - we are experiencing the excitement of a shift in eras.
By the way, while reading this book, I began to understand more clearly my ONE PRAYER for the Church: "Make Us Connected." Actually, for a while, I considered, "Make Us Flat."

Day 3: Jetlag Strikes Back

Jetlag struck with a vengance on Day 3.
I forgot to take a sleeping pill the night before. (I usually take some melatonin for the first 3-4 nights to help fight the jetlag.) We went to bed a little before midnight, but I woke up bright and early in the morning at 4am.
I went out to the livingroom to read Pelican Brief, a John Grisham book I got from the library. At 5:30, I decided to try sleeping again. I went back to bed, but I only succeeded in waking up Sarah. Oops! She was NOT happy!
Despite a cup of coffee, I ended up crashing again around 10am. Sarah woke me up from a hard sleep around 12:30. I really did not want to get up, but I knew that sleeping more than 2 hours would not be a good idea for jet lag.
Emma fell asleep on Leah's back walking back from another trip to the library. After an hour and a half, Sarah woke her up, too. Emma is a big bear when she gets woken up from a nap. Nothing could stir her happily to the land of the living - not even a popcycle. Finally, Sarah put in a cartoon, and Emma sat up to watch that. In the process of keeping Emma awake, Sarah fell asleep on the couch.
During Emma's nap, we watched the movie Bobbie. Its all-star cast tells a series of stories around the story of Robert F. Kennedy's assasignation. It was well done, but a little disjointed. It ended beautifully with the audio of one of RFK's real life speaches about the foolish cycle of violence.
Sarah and I were in bed by 9 and sawing logs by 9:30. Day 4 is starting with our first good night of sleep in almost a week.


Little sidenote: This is post #150 for me.

Day 2: Resting and Emailing

So this is Day 2 of our vacation. Today we spent most of the day just relaxing around the house. Sarah went for a walk on a trail near the house.
Some of the aunts took Emma to the library to pick out some books. Then she and her aunts read them again and again.
I spent most of the morning catching up on emails.
After lunch, Luke and I went over a few blocks to help the local pastor who is repairing the roof of one of the Nazarene church members here. He had some big sheets of plywood he needed on the roof, so Luke and I helped him get them up there. He has really taken on a big job! He's basically replacing the entire roof.
In the afternoon, Emma took a ride on her grandpa's newly repaired motorcycle. She loved that.
After all of that, and after getting up at 5:30 am this morning, she was exhausted and begged us to let her take a nap. We finally got her up from the nap with the promise of popcycles.
Sarah and I walked to the library. On the way, I was swarmed by bugs (mosquitoes and flies). Sarah said I looked like the stinky kid from Charlie Brown. It was aweful. For some reason, they only attacked me, and they especially liked my hair. I finally just jogged the last two blocks home and left Sarah to carry my John Grisham book (Pelican Brief).
In a division of labor, we decided to take on different jobs. I volunteered to cook once every day. Tonight it was blueberry pancakes and fruit salad and eggs. The pancakes were OK, but the eggs were like rubber. Win some lose some.
Sarah's rushing me out the door. Gotta go.

Day 1 - 26 Hours of Travel

On Monday night, no one in our family slept well. We were all anxious and nervous.
I came home from a late night last minute meeting with YoungMin to find Emma "trying" to sleep on the sofa. She quickly pulled the blanket up over her head and pretended to be sleeping. About 1am, she said, "I'm ready to go to America NOW!"
Sarah and I finally fell asleep around 2, and we woke up at 5:30. We were out the door by 6:30am.
1st leg: 15 minutes in a taxi to the Cheonan bus station.
1st "layover": We killed about 30 minutes in Dunkin Donuts enjoying coffee, milk, donuts, and the oatmeal raisin cookies Sarah and Emma gave me for Fathers Day.
2nd leg: 3 hours on a bus to the airport in Incheon. This trip took an extra hour because of bad traffic. That was a little stressful because, by the time we got to the airport, we only had just over an hour before our plane left. Emma got a little sick on this flight and filled up a few coffee cups with the remnants of the Dunkin Donuts layover.
3rd leg: 3 hour flight to Japan. About 2 hours into this flight, Emma said, "Daddy, you said this was a short plane (flight)." Just wait till the next one honey!
2nd layover: 4 hours in the Narita airport. Gratefully, there was a great little play area in a quiet room away from the bustle of the crowds. We spent about two hours there, and Emma enjoyed playing with kids from all over the world.
4th leg: 14(?) hour flight to Chicago. This one seemed to take forever! Emma fell asleep at take off. Sarah watched some of "The Office." I watched, "Fool's Gold" - don't waste your time unless you're stuck on a movie and you're only other choices are cartoons or Japanese films. Emma did not puke this time, but about half way through she began to feel pretty pekid. Mostly, though, she was a real trouper. She didn't cry at all. She stayed in her seat and wasn't noisy. Sarah slept some after a while, and finally 10 hours into the flight, I was able to sleep a little out of sheer exhaustion. I had been reading a very good book, Breakout Churches, which kept my mind racing, so I'm sure that's part of the reason I couldn't sleep.
3rd layover: 4 hours in Chicago. We found another play area - this time a mock airport. Emma loved it, but she spent most of her time in the mock icecream parlor. Near the play area, there was a medical clinic. I tried to get my Yellow Fever vaccine for Tanzania, but they said you have to go to a clinic that is registered with the Center for Disease Control for that one. Nice try.
5th leg: 1 hour flight to Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Getting on this plane was a bit of a shocker. It was so small it only had room for 3 seats in each row, 1 on one side of the aisle and 2 on the other. That was a big change from the huge international plane with 11 seats per row. This flight was so fast, they barely had time to pass out drinks and pick them up before we landed.
4th "layover": We landed about 20 minutes early. Our bags didn't come through on the luggage carosel, so we thought they might be lost. It turned out that they had been delivered on an earlier flight. I wondered why we couldn't have been bumped up to that flight also! Sarah's dad arrived to pick us up after about 20 minutes. Emma gave him a beautiful running hug. We immediately headed to Walmart to buy a carseat for Emma. Less than an hour outside of an airport in the USA, and we had already finished our first trip to Walmart (complete with the purchase of a wide assortment of US snacks and goodies). I guess we really are Americans. By the way, I kept raving to Sarah about how cheap the produce and other foods were. We paid just over a dollar for a thingy of sourcream, but we would have gladly paid $5 for the same thing in Korea.
6th leg: a 45 minute car ride to Marengo, Iowa. My eyes finally gave out, and I nodded off most of the way. (Sorry, Dad.) Surprisingly, the flooding is not very bad in Sarah's hometown. (For those of you who don't know, Iowa has been experiencing record levels of flooding over the past week.) Evidently, most of this flooding is because of river levels. However, the levies in Marengo are very high, so that is not a problem. Marengo floods when there are heavy rains because the town is so low, that it can't drain the water fast enough.
We arrived at almost 9pm - very tired but very happy to be here. We were in bed by 11, and we slept until almost 6 - not bad for the first night. We probably could have slept longer if it weren't for our 3 foot high alarm clock.
(I took some pictures, but we forgot to bring our camera cable. I'll try to add some in when I can find a cable that's the right size.)