Summer is Coming

After what seems like weeks, I have finally found a moment to slip away from my adorable, but demanding host sisters, to sit in my favorite coffee shop and try to formulate my thoughts into words.

The oldest and youngest host sisters (8,4) at our day at the park

Let me start by recounting a conversation my host parents and I had a few weeks ago. It went like this:
Host dad: Tessa, we have a problem.
Me: Really? What can I do?
Host dad: Can we fly to France with you in July?
-on the inside, I'm like, "Ummmmmmmmmmmmmmm------------"
Me: Yes...but I am not flying to France, I am visiting my grandmother in Germany.
Host dad: Hmm, when are you in France?
Me: August.
-here my host dad and host mom exchange looks and speak non-verbally
Host dad: Can we come in August?
Me: Sure!

And just like that it will be my turn to host my host-family for one week in August. I am excited for this, but I am also aware it will cut my time with my family a bit short, and leave me quite tired, right before my studies at Gordon-Conwell start...especially because my host mom cannot come, leaving me to share my host dad's burden of being sole entertainment providers for my host sisters (aged 8,6,4).

Jeungpyeong country side

My host family's upcoming trip to Europe has left the girls very excited. Every day they ask questions about what life in Europe is like. Often at the dinner table I will get questions like, "Do they have rice in Europe?" "Do they like spicy food?" "Do they have seaweed?"

A trip to the country side with my host family

Just recently the eldest makes me watch baking videos with her. Not just your average muffin, or cookie either, but elaborate recipes of unicorn cupcakes and kakao-talk animal muffins. She asks me after each one, "Can we make this in France?" Since their trip to my home is two months away, and I don't really know what we can and can't make, I don't want to say no yet. But it has gotten to the point where the list of things she wants to make includes:

• kakao-talk muffins
• unicorn cupcakes
• totoro pudding
• Lion (Korean character) cookies
• Spongebob cookies
• Pokemon cake

Now anyone looking at that list could tell that even making one item would involve a bit of work...add to that the fact that my host sisters are all under the age of 10, and don't know how to bake...recipe for disaster...

Lastly, one thing that has been on my mind a lot, partially because of my host family's trip to Europe, is Europe itself. In light of the London attacks that have happened over the past three months my host mom asked me the other day, "Is Europe safe?" Even just a year ago I would have replied without hesitation, "Absolutely. You don't have to be afraid when you visit Europe, nothing bad will happen to you."
Now the answer is so much more complicated, because yes, I still believe Europe is much safer than certain parts of the world, but one thing is clear: It is not the Europe of my childhood anymore. And this makes me sad.

A view of my neighborhood. My house is behind the white one in the middle of the picture.

D-25 Let The Preparations Begin

What do European cities have to do with Korea? Not much, except that I am currently living with my parents in France, as I prepare for my year of teaching English in South Korea.

The view from the restaurant terrace

Yesterday my parents and I took a trip outside of our city, to the small village of Cassel, settled on top of one of the only hills in the region. This Flemish-French village featured a long, cobblestoned road that rattled our brains as we journeyed to the top of the hill, however the view was reward enough. After a wonderful lunch on the breezy terrace of a restaurant, we walked through the city square where a music festival was being held. 

I returned to Europe, the place of my childhood, the beginning of May after graduating from Roanoke College in Virginia. As I prepare for my year in South Korea, I cherish the moments spent under the shadows of ancient cathedrals. The historic aura pervading all European countries wraps me in a familiar cocoon. I am leaving for Seoul on July 8th, and before then will have visited Ireland, Belgium, England, France (where my parents live), and Germany (where my grandmother lives). Sometimes I wonder what it would be like not to travel so much, but then I shake my head. I am thankful, so thankful for opportunities to travel and see the world, that I have had all my life. 

The restaurant 

When I first moved to France as a 15 year old, I had to learn French from scratch, and it was hard. I still do not speak French fluently, but spending the time here preparing for South Korea reminds me that I have lived in a country that I do not speak the language or know the customs before. If I did it once, with God's help, I can do it again. 

Music festival Cassel

This is my first blog post, of many more to come, detailing my adventures as an English teacher with Fulbright Korea. I hope that this blog will be a help to anyone considering to apply for a Fulbright ETA. If you have any questions, feel free to comment! I began my own process of applying to Fulbright May 2015, and I would have never successfully completed this long journey without the help from my professors at Roanoke College and friends who have gone before me as ETAs. So don't be shy! 

Sketching Marburg

Me sketching the castle. Behind a view of Marburg.

I sketched the entry gate to the castle in Marburg, during our time there two weeks ago. Today the castle belongs to the University of Marburg, but until approx. 150 years ago, it was home of the Count.

My favorite part about sketching is that it really makes me look at what I'm drawing, and I think about it.

The thoughts coursing through my mind, while drawing this sketch, were about the people who must have lived here; the Lord's who called this Schloß home.

Did they know how beautiful the surrounding hills are? Did they live in fear of attacks from neighboring Lords? Were they happy?

Too the left you can spy part of the doorway to the entrance of the inner court.

Drawing doesn't give me answers to my questions. Nor does asking the questions make my drawing better, but it does help me appreciate the beauty and richness of history.

The European Coffee Culture

Wafflestübchen

It's wonderful to be in my German home town, Unna. It brings back memories of 8 hour long car trips coming from Innsbruck to visit my grandparents. As a celebration of my mom's 50th birthday (last year), my Oma took us to the Wafflestübchen (Waffle house). It was a wonderful experience to once again sit in a restaurant for three hours, drinking coffee and tea, and enjoying each other's company. The coffee culture in Europe is something I never appreciated growing up, but it is something I really missed during my year in the States.I think I will try and continue the tradition of drinking coffee (or tea in my case) at 4 pm, come rain or shine!

Practicing the Coffee Culture :)

Starbucks knows how to make coffee, but it doesn't know how to drink it! There's something magical about sitting in a café under an open umbrella, gazing at cobble stoned streets and taking time to simply enjoy life! Putting culture into words is very hard to do, but I think it is safe to say that American life is busy, busy, busy. There's always the next thing to do, or the next place to go to. Maybe it's just college life, but I felt like I had no time to simply breathe and BE! That is what I value about the European coffee culture. It's not just the art behind drinking a cup of coffee, but it is the mentality of taking a break and sitting down, not having a: "Coffee to go".

I think the best part about being here again, has been seeing how much the German culture is, and ISN'T my own. I choose to adopt certain customs, like the coffee culture, but I also choose to ignore other customs. That is the blessing in the way I was raised, that I have no culture, and through that am my own culture. I can sort of pick and choose what I want. I am neither completely American, German, Austrian or French, and thus, I am completely my own. I like that!

Thanks to Noah for the awesome pics!