Craving Italian

My friends call me the worst Italian ever. I’m half Italian, but I’m not into Italian food and definitely not pasta. I hate that heavy feeling after you eat a whole dish of it. Maybe it’s because I had it so much growing up that I shy away from it now, don’t know. My reason for mentioning it is that I find it strange that lately I’ve had cravings for Italian food. Maybe because I know I won’t have the option in Korea. They DO have American and Italian restaurants there, but they’re pricy. And to be honest I’m skeptical of if the Italian food will be any good. I’m a very hard critique on Italian food (well actually, on food in general). I guess that’s also since I grew up with it. My work sent me to New York City and so one night I trekked to Little Italy for dinner. My chicken parm tasted so authentic and I was so happy. I even asked a little old lady on the street who had the best tiramisu around and she pointed me to Café Palermo a block away. It was amazing. I’ve also decided to have a farewell dinner with my friends at church and planed that at an Italian restaurant. What’s come over me?

Trusting

There have been times where I’ve wondered if this is really going to pan out or not. There’s so many things I’ve had to take care of or figure out and there’s also so many things that need to happen that are out of my control. The documentation alone was nerve wracking… wondering if I had the right forms and if they’d get in fast enough. Figuring out what to do about my apartment lease and where to put all my stuff for a year… what to do with my car… where they’d place me in Korea… if I’d even get accepted. The list goes on forever. But early on I had a sense that God was leading me in this direction. And thus I had a resolve that if that was true, then He’d make the way for me and make all the details fall into place for me. And so He has. As I’ve been trusting in Him for this, little by little the details are coming together and I’m just watching in amazement. Wooohooo!!!

Packing

My Criminal Background Check FINALLY came in and I sent it off to Korea. Now that it’s in they can send for my visa and I can book my flight. It takes 2 weeks for the visa to go through and I only have 3 weeks before takeoff so I hope things go smoothly. I booked a flight for Friday October 10th. That means I’ll arrive Saturday night in Korea and have Sunday to relax and then Monday morning I start training. Talk about hitting the ground running! On Sunday I wanna try and hit up that church in Korea that’s the largest church in the world… either Sarang or Yoido, not sure.
At this point my focus is turning toward packing. I’m such a last minute packer… I actually pack better that way. With this I can’t be though. My stuff is going so many different places that I need to be organized about this. Last weekend when I went up to Boston for my sister’s wedding I took a carful of stuff to my mom’s. I was so impressed with how much fit in my tiny little car… I love my little Honda Fit. One of my friends has no room in her house, but she is being gracious enough to let me store my large items there such as my bed, desk and dresser. Another friend of mine offered to take some boxes of mine too. Once again, thanks so much guys! It’s a huge help. I got some tips from some of my Korean friends about what to pack. #1 item… deodorant. It’s difficult to find there since they don’t really need it. I figure I’ll bring a few items like Advil and Nyquil just in case I need it early on and I haven’t learned enough Korean by that time to know which product to buy. I’m not even sure how much I’m bringing with me to Korea. I keep thinking “just my clothes and a couple of other small items”, but then I think about my coats and shoes… I have a lot of shoes. That alone will take up a lot of room. And don’t ask me to choose cuz I love them all and remember where I got each pair like they were my kids or something. Maybe I’ll just have to pay the fee for a second bag. Decisions, decisions.