the beauty of laughter

When we arrived in Korea last year I soon realized how important laughter would be for facing the everyday challenges of living in another culture. Each day I am faced with challenges in communication, travel, shopping and cultural differences. There is a place, that I think everyone comes to where you learn, "when in Korea, do as the Koreans." It's a juggling act to learn to live well and graciously where you're at and who you're with. It's learning to let go of some of the common and familiar practices that I know from growing up in the Mid-West of the United States and learning new ways of doing things.

It's not often easy to live well and graciously. In the past week I have been challenged by our circumstances. We are into day five without AC. Each day we are told, "AC man come today. Really." Each day passes with us being bound to our apartment waiting for the illusive AC man. We haven't been able to unpack because we have no where to put our things. We are told that we will have a wardrobe delivered this week but I don't have a lot of confidence that it will. And I really don't want to be negative--a pattern has formed and I'm expectations lowered (I don't like that in me but it's true).

Today I spent time on-line trying to find bunk beds for the kids. We need to utilize our space in the most effective way but I couldn't figure out all the details when it came time to order. I'll try again tomorrow and hope that one of my Korea friends can help me.

I went to meet up with some friends today in Suwon. My 35 minute bus ride turned into an hour and a half of bus and taxi rides. I enjoyed some music that my friend Amy G made for me, I enjoyed the book I had brought a long to read and I enjoyed the beautiful scenery along the way.

And I laughed. I laughed and shook my head at all the craziness around me. Todd stayed home to wait for AC guy. He never showed. I spent an hour and a half lost--sorta--and came home again to the chaos of our apartment. And I laughed again.

Laughter is beautiful. Even in the most frustrating circumstances finding beauty in all the differences and remembering that God is still above all helps--it really does.

Tonight, I'm sitting in from of the fan, candles lit and listening to the sounds of children playing outside. I'm smiling and I'm grateful. And I'm HOT!