Full Circle

December 17th, 2006 Mike and I went to a Korean church service in Madison, WI. The service was nice enough--from what we could understand anyway. We stuck out like sore thumbs but people were very kind to us and afterward the pastor made sure to talk with us. So why go to a Korean church service in Madison? No, we weren't preemptively 'testing the waters' or seeing the future. :) Mike actually had to go there for research on a paper he was writing for a college course at the time. Me, being a religious studies minor, am always up for new opportunities.


After church that day we went to Memorial Union for a stroll around the building and a wintry walk next to Lake Mendota. We found a little overlook that jutted off the path to stop at. It was there that Mike proposed to me. (And yes, it was beautiful and romantic and perfect). We always enjoyed that our proposal day story started with a Korean church service, but now it ties life together a little more for us.

Memorial Union June 29th, 2007

When we moved to Northern Virginia we knew there was a large Korean population in our area but it wasn't until we found out that we'd be moving there that we saw just how many things had been under our noses the whole time. We were also able to go to Korean Festival in Virginia which was a good experience. It had about two blocks of vendors, businesses, food stands, novelty items, performers, and more. It was obviously small scale, but still a good experience and eye opener of walking down the street being in the minority.  New sights, sounds, smells...it was a lot to take in only because we knew it was a small taste of what was to come. Not being able to read signs, know what foods were, or understand what people were saying...all things that are now part of every day life for us.

Other fun tidbits:

• The first person I told we were moving was a blond-haired, blue-eyed vet tech who told me her family was from South Korea. Really??? It turns out it's her step-dad that is native but it was still nice to have someone to talk to about it, especially about taking a dog there. 
• The two piano teachers who replaced me at the studio are both from Korea.
• The AT&T rep who helped answer questions about international plans is also from Korea. 
• My uncle has been (lived in?) the city where Mike will be working. 

It's times like this that it's refreshing finding out it's a small world after all.