leaving on a jet plane...

time really does fly as you get older! and i can't believe my trip to Korea has crept up on me so quickly. someone asked me if i had any goals during my short week abroad, and the question caught me off-guard so much that i sat there dumbly w/o a response. it's been a long time since i've gone anywhere just for a vacation, esp. to a place i've never really visited and know very little about outside what i see in cheesy dramas. =)

so even after a lot of thought, this is all i came up with:
- walk around and see as much as possible
- hang out with my roommate's relatives since i have none of my own there
- pass off that i'm not a foreigner for a few hours (but w/ my poor language skills, i think the only way i'm gonna do this is to stay absolutely mute)
- buy some cute pens
- not freeze to death
- ???

i know, lame. i wish i could say that i was going pray over the N. Korean border, but i don't think we're headed there at all (i'm just gonna to follow my roommate around all week). i guess, though, this goal-less-ness leaves me open to doing all sorts of random, silly things along the way which makes for the best vacations.

while i am very excited to be traveling, i'm sad to be missing out on Thanksgiving here. besides the fact that stuffing is one of my favorite foods, i *love* the obligatory sharing that goes on at dinner tables across the country.

i'll have to get cliff notes on everyone else's, but here's my list of things i'm thankful for:
- a job where i laugh every day
- my family's health and constant affection
- my night hours alone w/ God
- my deepening friendships in LA & elsewhere
- the ability to keep in touch with so many people i met this summer (incl. the Scott's, women at ABP1, and Chinese translators from the orphan camp)
- the chance to glimpse more of God's heart for the world
- the steady contentment and satisfaction i've had in Him despite all the ups & downs of the past year

what a fantastic American holiday. thanks pilgrims and abe!