Although Thanksgiving has left and Christmas is on its way, I want to express how thankful I am for the many things that Jesus has given me. Where do I start?
1. I'm thankful that I have a loving and understanding wife that almost never gets upset. We rarely argue because we're both easygoing and don't let things annoy us for that long. The last time we even came close to an argument was when I came home after an exhausting and annoying day at work a week ago. My wife was on the phone for an hour after I arrived home and I was a bit annoyed that I couldn't express my frustration and had to hold it in. When she got off the phone, I expressed my annoyance that I couldn't express my frustrations to her. She promptly told me that she told her friend three times that it seemed as if I wanted to talk to her, but her friend finally got the point after the third time. I quickly got over it and I told her about my day at work. And even these situations are few and far between. I'm thankful for that. I'm sure my moodiness can annoy my wife as well, but she never tells me. I'm very blessed to have a sweet wife.
2. I'm happy to have a dad that receives my mail in the U.S. and lets me know when something important comes to his house. He's also very happy when I call him and doesn't judge me if I hadn't talked to him in awhile. My dad is pretty cool and I'm thankful that he supports me living in Korea despite him really wanting me to go back to California. He's wanted that ever since I extended my time in Korea after living here for a year. God has other plans for me though, at least for now.
3. I appreciate that I have a church that is very multi-cultural and full of great people. In L.A., I went to a church that was mostly Caucasian, but they were a bit cold. Then I went to a smaller church that was mostly young and Hispanic and felt like I never fit in. New Harvest Ministry in the Gangnam area of Seoul is full of people from different ethnic backgrounds, cultures, and ages. I'm thankful for that because that reduces the number of cliques, which can naturally happen if you hang out with people that are exactly like you.
4. I've worked at Wall Street English for the past 9 years and I just passed the nine-year mark. Although it hasn't always been a smooth ride, it's been a great job. I love teaching adults because they want to learn and have a strong desire for various reasons. Some want to travel, get a better position in their careers, study abroad, or just want to have an extra hobby. Prior to working at WSE, I taught elementary and middle school students. The experience was great, but teaching middle school students at an academy at 9:30pm wasn't rewarding. They had already studied at their regular school during the day, came to the academy to learn from the Korean teacher at 9:00pm and then had my class at 9:30pm. Needless to say, they didn't want to be there and I realized that I was contributing to the "hagwon" (private academy) problem among the youth. I got out of it and haven't looked back ever since.
5. I'm thankful to live in Seoul. It's not perfect and most places aren't. Sometimes the crowded subways annoy me at 10:00pm, summer can be too humid, and winter can be too cold. However, Seoul has many things to do, various restaurants, and the public transportation is the most convenient in the world. Not many people can be thankful for those kinds of things.
6. I'm thankful for the friends that I have in Seoul. Many are like family and if I'm depressed, they pray for me. We also hang out together, have dinner, and just have a great time talking about sports, church life, and our jobs. I also have non-Christian friends that have lived in Seoul for a long time and talk about what we love about living here and things that we don't exactly enjoy. It's great to have a support system in a foreign country especially when you don't get to talk to family members that often.
7. Finally and most importantly, I'm thankful to God through Jesus for all of the things that I mentioned. Without all Him, I wouldn't be blessed with the above mentioned. I'm still amazed that I've lived in a foreign country for the past 14 years, grateful that I found a wonderful wife, so happy we have been able to travel together. Now we are focusing on the next chapter (having a baby). I pray that 2018 will be an excellent year for us. So far my life has been pretty awesome and I'm so full of joy that God has helped me get to this point so far.
Scott Worden (The L.A./Seoul Guy)
Instagram: l.a.seoulguy
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