Over a week into December and no word from my recruiter for three weeks [EDIT! I just heard back from her while writing this lengthy blog post! I'll review the email and write more on any news later]. This process continues to remind me that I don't have the answers, any of them. Today I printed off an 11-page sample interview from the recruiting agency's website and worked through those questions for a little over an hour. I'm glad to have that in advance so I can work out some of my answers. That way I'll have more confidence than if I had to work out my responses over Skype, I hope! The questions are pretty involved now that I have sat down and started thinking about them, though it's possible I'm over-thinking. The sample document came from Korvia's website.
Headlines reading "Tensions high in Koreas, but all-out war unlikely" helped confirm what I had heard from people living in South Korea since the North attacked the military island several weeks ago (in response to the South's drills off the coast) and killed 2 soldiers and 2 civilians: while it's not a good situation, the citizens in the South are not very perturbed by the situation since they have had similar occurrences to live with for the last 50 years. It's still pretty much business as usual, in spite of what the headlines in the U.S. are trying to stir up among American citizens, namely, anxiety and news sales. So far, I think I'll still be reasonably safe over there. Maybe moreso since I won't be driving a car. I think my odds of getting killed in a car wreck in TN are slightly higher than the odds of my getting greased by a nuke over there. Right now, I'm resting in the belief that I won't be living a minute longer or shorter than God intends (though I realize that's not an invitation to be irresponsible).
The FBI report still hasn't arrived, though I called their office one more time on Monday of this week and confirmed that they have my name in the system, the options I specified (I asked for them to include an "authentication"--I'm not sure if it helps or not, but it sounded official, added no extra processing time or fees, so I figured, why not?), and they estimated it should take no longer than two more weeks, since I have been waiting 10 so far. Nice to know they're not rushing this, and maintaining high quality control standards... ;)
Since I do have plenty of time while I wait on people to send me news and/or correspondence, I have time for Christmas shopping and baking too! I took some time yesterday and today to bake "cutout cookies" (glazed and decorated sugar cookies), using Grandma W's tried and true recipe. The yesterday part provided enough finished cookies to take to the Bunko ladies' Christmas ornament exchange. Side note: I am going to miss them all so much it's not even funny! That's one of several activities I'll have to leave behind that will truly make me homesick. Okay, back to cookies! I glazed and decorated the rest of the baked cookies this afternoon for the family to enjoy. I do still have a little dough left in the fridge for if my brother comes back from school towards the end of the week. They're his favorite holiday treat and I think I'd be in some trouble if I made cutout cookies and didn't save some for him!
Probably I'm spending too much time watching TV these days, but I haven't figured out yet what my "on demand" options are for Korea yet, so I'm sort of trying to finish and/or catch up on two series before I leave, while still watching a couple of broadcast shows weekly too. It's been fun to watch Battlestar Galactica marathons with my parents, sister, and brother-in-law though, and I'm enjoying my foray into the world of Dr. Who as well. Pretty sure they're not much concerned with Korea, though Grace Park (on BSG and the new Hawaii Five-O) is of Korean descent I think, and speaks it fluently. So... yeah, there we go, some sort of... relevance. No, you say? Hmm.
In the realm of books, I finished re-reading The Art of Crossing Cultures by Craig Storti. It's actually a book (secular) that I got as part of my missionary intern training before I went and worked at the MN Chippewa reservation for a summer. From the product description, "This text provides an analysis of the personal challenges inherent in cross-cultural experience. The author weaves the perceptions of an assortment of the world's great writers and literature into his comments. He examines the differences one encounters in living in another culture which cause some form of counterproductive psychological reaction. This text should help the reader to anticipate differences and master alternative reactions to enable cross-cultural adaptation." Also, it includes some insightful and humorous quotations from journals and travel literature through the last few hundred years.
I hope to have something to report soon, but at least there's plenty with which to occupy my time as I wait. I re-started reading The Rare Jewel of Christian Contentment by Jeremiah Burroughs. Unfortunately, I think I have a lot to learn from that book, but maybe I'll make it through this time, unlike when I started it in grad school. My main concern about my travel and teaching process (I'm not fully planning for the possibility that this could fall through this semester) is that all of a sudden everything will happen in the last 2 weeks. That could be a growing experience too, I suppose!
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