Our neighbors, the North

Hello everyone!

I want to write quickly about the recent activity between North and South Korea, and most importantly, thank everyone who has reached out to Bryan and I expressing their concern for us. It has really meant a lot to us to have such caring friends and family back home looking out for us. It made me feel less far away, and much more comfortable knowing that people were sending us their love and support.

I initially heard about the news from seeing facebook posts on my IPOD (hello modern technology!) during a quick 5 minute break in between classes. Im not gonna lie...I freaked. But, being a teacher now, and an "adult" (still getting use to that one), I had to put on a brave face and go teach a classroom full of kids. I could not let them see fear, because they could of been scared themselves and looking up to me for guidance. This is a little glimpse into how the class started (keep in mind, these children are about 11)

Students: Teacher Amy! War!!!! South Korea! North Korea! BOOM!!!!
Me: (nervous laughter, trying not to let them see that im turning blotchy and red) Oh yeah, I heard about that. But we live in Busan, we are safe!...right?!

Students: (laughter) Teacher Amy! Nuclear Bombs! Duh!

Me: (color draining from my face. 'you are the adult' mantra repeating over and over in my head) Oh. yeah. thats right. Well, how do you feel about this? Are you scared?

"Emo" Student: No. I want to die! (frightening)

"Dude who thinks hes a tough guy" student: No! My parents want me to fight! (making fake bazooka noises and arm-gun gestures)

"freakishly smart" student: No teacher Amy! My parents dug a big hole under our house for us to go in just in case!

Me: Great, then Im coming to your house.

So, after that class was over (thank god), I was able to get more news, and hear more about what actually happened. With the help of sweet Bryan (level headed, logical, hero), I calmed down a lot. We talked with our Korean co-teachers a lot about it, and read every possible article and watched the live news via internet when we got home. The more we heard, the better we felt. It was not a full blown war, as I had initially thought via facebook posts..

I realized that part of my fear stemmed from not knowing how to react to this kind of situation. I have never, ever, lived in a place where I felt unsafe (and I do want to add quickly, that I currently do feel safe in Busan). I think that is a tremendously lucky thing to be able to say. Granted, bad things can happen anywhere, and do, everyday. But, for the most part, they are 'random' uncontrollable things. The idea of living in a place that could potentially go to war is incredible new to me.

After thinking about it, I still have very mixed emotions about the whole thing. I truly feel that South Korea does not want to go to war. North Korea has been a 'bully' figure for quite some time now, but the South Koreans have been resilient and continues to offer humanitarian aid to the people of North Korea, and have not lashed out and attacked them yet. I also found comfort in the fact that the fighting only lasted an hour. I feel that if both sides were ready for a full-on-attack-war-mode, the fighting will have not stopped so quickly. I also feel strongly that China does not support this, and that North Korea can not do this alone, especially since we have America (love me some USA) on our backs.

Another big realization I had happened yesterday morning when I 'got out of my own head' and started to focus on the South Korean people. I was watching and admiring them on my normal 30 minute commute to Korean class (walk, subway, subway, walk).

They are really truly amazing. While I was freaking out wondering if I needed to go back to America, they continued living their lives, as normal as possible. They don't have another place to go. This is their home. The love it here, they love their lives, their families, and their friends. If something does escalate, and war does break out, it will be a completely devastating thing to see this culture get shaken again. They have gone through this so many times, and have always bounced back with their heads high. I would just hate to see this happen again after they have come so far.

So, what do we do now? Well, Bryan and I are keeping up to date with the news, and making sure we are aware of any changes or developments. We have both registered with the USA Embassy in Seoul, and will receive emails/texts messages from them if anything were to happen (have not received anything yet, which is a good sign). We have been told to carry our passports on us, just in case. And most importantly, if anything were to develop, and make us feel unsafe, we would come home. It would be tragic to have to leave the wonderful life we have created here, and I hope it does not have to come to that, ever. But, safety first :). I feel 100% safe in Busan right now, and hope with all my heart that this 'fizzles' out!

Sorry this turned out to be a bit long winded, but I have not been able to respond to everyone's emails, so I thought I could get out my thoughts in one place for now. Please send your 'peace and love' vibes to our neighbors up north, and we will keep on keepin on :)!

love you all,

Amy