Korean Sass for Summer

The traditional dress here in Korea is the Hanbok. Numerous kids will wear them on special holidays and they look absolutely precious! It is truly such a beautiful piece of clothing and is full of different colors that light up the child's face! Recently I have learned a new type of dress.....summer sass in Korea that my kids keep coming to school wearing! The girls are constantly wearing tutu's and gorgeous summer dresses with matching bows in their hair and even little purses! The head gear keeps getting more beautiful and more interesting by the month, as the parents send their little girls to school in tiara's or huge bows that look like mickey mouse ears! Here are a few pictures of my favorite ensembles and what they entail!

First, the socks: there are the adorable socks that have come out to play! So frilly, so girly, and so reminiscent of my own childhood when I would run around in the same fancy socks!

The head gear: this little girl had a veil going down her back and looked like something a bachlorette party would be wearing.

 This is a more typical look; large bow and huge headband with a bow!

 The nails: Multicolor for so many little girls, and even the boys want to partake in a little summer polish action!

The princess look: It was the little girl in yellows birthday... she wore a princess dress just 

like Bell from Beauty and the beast. Sometimes children wear princess dresses just because it's Tuesday. Way to celebrate any random old day girls!

The tutu: These little girls are rockin their tutu's which is almost an everyday occurrence!! Such fashionable dresses and so sassy for summer!  There also have been a few knee high socks.....reminds me so much of the movie Clueless!

The fancy brief: These are worn under their dresses as well as over top other shorts because they are so cute! They must be seen!

There are so many fads I can't even keep up with them! The boys dress up the same as in the States, but the girls always leave a smile on my face! The little girls look so precious, more adorable daily, and I love watching them search for compliments. "Is my dress pretty Ms.Nikki?" It couldn't be sweeter and I know my late Grandpa would have loved it.

 All I remember wearing as a child was biker shorts and girl scout shirts! I never looked as cute as them, (unless it was Easter or some other special occasion) and I definitely never matched!!! But my grandpa would always marvel at my outfit and say I looked beautiful. 

The crazy sunglasses, fancy head gear, and overall fancy appeal is so Korean. It's so Gangnam style. This is my attempt at the typical Gangnam dress:

Whatever I tried, at least at no point did I dress up like this:

The summer trends and Korean style continues to impress and surprise me. Let my education of summer life in Korea continue!
I can only be so lucky as to try to replicate an American version of this kind of sass in my fashion choices. Let the experimenting begin ;)

Naked at the Han

 This past weekend I went biking with a friend down the Han River. It's a favorite past time here in Korea and now that summer is quickly approaching it is warm enough to wear shorts, a bathing suit, and a tank top for the ride. I was hoping to get some color on my very pale skin, and was excited about our picnic we planned to have by the side of river. 

It is a very different story when you see a foreigner biking along the Han opposed to a Korean person, as our attire couldn't be more contradictory. While my friend and I biked along the river in shorts and a tank top, the Koreans passing us looked like this:

 

I mean we are talking face masks, long sleeves, pants, gloves, and sunglasses! I couldn't even see their eyes! But they want nothing to do with the sun that is beating down on them, as it would cause too much judgment. (The whiter the skin the higher class you are assumed to be a part of here in Korea, so dark skin is frowned upon.) All I could think was, 'Aren't you SO HOT under there? I am sweating in my tank top, let alone if I had gloves and long sleeves on!"

Nevertheless, we kept riding along the path smiling and laughing at how little we were wearing in comparison, and enjoying the hot sun on our skin. That is one of the best things, sunshine seeping into your body, and it makes me the happiest! I couldn't imagine not being allowed to indulge in it.  The bike ride was entertaining as I had a few people laughing and taking pictures of my shorts....

I have not had time to buy any normal shorts yet for summer, so I wore these funny ones that have the Korean flag on my rear end, and so there were a few comments like 'Go Korea' made on the bike ride from fellow riders whizzing past me. It was hilarious to say the least when someone asked me to turn around so they could take a picture of my butt. (didn't expect that)\

 

We got to our picnic spot and laid out our blanket and got out our snacks. We looked around at the array of colorful tents surrounding us and all of the Korean people staying out of the sun by relaxing inside of them. It is a known thing to go 'camping' here in Korea so many people come to the Han River for just this reason. Camping consists of bringing your tent, food, and games to a nice area and usually is a daytime activity, not overnight. Its wonderful for the kids and many of my students love to go! But of course, no one hangs out in the sunshine.  

Well, we had been biking for over an hour, and were very hot. So we spread out our blanket, took off our tank tops, and laid in the sunshine with bathing suit tops and shorts on. A few people gave a whistle, we had plenty of stares, but we did it anyway. It was the first time it really felt like summer, because I could totally relax in the sunshine, bathing suit and all! Never would I have thought my friend and I would be the only people taking advantage of this top notch tanning location 

and everyone else would be hiding in tents! 

Next to how much everyone else was wearing on this hot, 80-something, summer day, I felt like I was basically naked! But after years of sunbathing and knowing how good it feels, I couldn't quite bring myself to care. My shorts may have said 'Korea' but I'm an all American girl.

Going on a Pic-a-nic

Last Friday my Kinder class went on a picnic. The kids were ecstatic about the event and came to school all decked out in their LCI uniforms, sunhats, and sunglasses. We hopped on the bus and soon arrived at a local park. All the kids walked up the path with HUGE smiles on their faces.

My Kinder girls looked adorable in their sunhats! All the children were wearing them since here in Korea everyone wants to be out of the sun. The hats seemed to get cuter and more obnoxious with every turn I made as I surveyed all of the classes from our school around the park. All I could think was, 'Those hats are so Korean.'

But one of my boys probably looked the cutest....and he had the sass and attitude to rock this priceless picnic look too!

We soon got right into all the games that we had prepared. We had games with bubbles, games including tunnels, hula hoops, and a run and hug your friends game!

Soon the kids were sweaty and starving. We were given adorable little snack packs full of kimbap, a popular Korean food for picnics, and some other yummy snacks for them to eat afterwards. I even got a teacher portion which was delicious!

The kids were having a blast stuffing their faces on picnic blankets and

picnic tables all around the park.

Some parents had even packed some snacks I recognized from home!!! 

Oreo's, cheeto's, and fruit-roll-ups!

Soon lunchtime was over, and we got to do one last fun thing for the day! We made pinwheels! The kids ran around the park in absolute mayhem watching the pinwheels spin and posing for pictures,

The field trip was a huge success and so much fun. Teaching continues to give me new experiences, like this field trip that will serve as a bittersweet memory for me. I had such a great time and will miss going on field trips with these kids in the future! There is truly nothing quite like it. What a great Korean style picnic with my adorable little Kinder class..

Best seller, Game changer

People often ask me advice about how I live my life, or choices I would make if I was in their shoes. Whether it’s advice about relationships, work, conflict, or something else, I always have one resource I try to refer to before giving them my two cents. I know that I have some influential life experiences that enable me to have insight into some tough situations, but I am not a wise person. I am not putting myself down here, I’m just being honest. We all make a million mistakes all the time so who really knows the right path to take when there is a fork in the road? Let alone when your talking about someone elses choices? So when I am asked how to handle a situation I always refer to my reason for making my own choices; a fantastic best selling book that truly changed my life a few years ago. 

There are so many self-help books, guides to happiness, or guides to a more liberating and fulfilling life. They give you step by step instructions but yet many people keep having to buy more of these books because they are not quite doing the trick. They are not the game changers like you had hoped they would be. Well a few years ago I found the best book to help me with my own desire of wanting to be a better person and to have a more fulfilling life. When I was struggling with questions about my path in life and my character, this book gave me the answers I needed. It is quite long, but it is chalk full of great advice and a basic layout of how to be successful and happy in your life. Every time I read it, I learn something new. Here is some of the advice it gives on certain topics:

Building your Character:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

For whatever you sow, that you will also reap.

As in water face reflects face, so the heart of a man reflects the man.

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.

Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another.

Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven.

A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends

Conflict:

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

You have heard, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Do not let the sun go down on your anger,

Friends:

Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.”

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.

And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends

Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his friend.

And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as some habitually do, but encouraging one another.

Love:

“Do not arouse or awaken love until it so desires.”

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. 

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Not worrying about the future:

Can you by worrying add a single hour to your life? ...... Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. 


You have probably guessed it by now. The amazing best seller book that changed my life was the Bible. People don’t realize that the answers they are looking for when it comes to their day to day struggles, questions, or conflicts are actually in one of the best selling books of all time; the Bible. What stops you from taking a look for yourself? The advice is the same as many people tell you daily. "Money is the root of all evil." We all have heard that. Or how many times have you heard someone say, "One day he's going to get what he deserves, it will all come around full circle"....in other words, "That's karma!" Well how is that different than 'you reap what you sow?' And of course the golden rule COMES from the Bible! (treat others the way you want to be treated)

Don't let anything stop you from letting the wisdom of one of the world's best selling books guide you through your life. Go grab a copy today and check it out for yourself.

Orphan love

Ever since I was young, maybe 11 or 12, I have had a heart that bleeds for orphans. I remember having dreams of children around the world in orphanages with no one to love them, and waking up realizing I was crying in my sleep. The faces in my dreams of the poor and lonely children were vivid, clear, and absolutely real to me. I have always believed that this was God's way of showing me a glimpse of the harsh realities of this world. Every child did not have parents that loved them, a roof over their head and food on their plate, let alone a cool new bike or the latest barbie doll. The children in my dreams were running around the orphanages in diapers with no shoes on, crying from hunger and sadness. It seemed so surreal, just a bad dream, but when I got older I realized just how accurate this really was.

I have been to 3 orphanages now in my 27 years of life. One was in Belize, then India, and now one in South Korea. Every one of them has it's own unique issues but some serious similarities which always make it hard to swallow. There are often stories of how the children got there; these often differentiate from the story of dead parents and no relatives to live with. Sometimes the child was born with special needs and the parents didn't want them anymore, so they sent them to the orphanage. Sometimes the parents struggled with alcoholism, abuse, or were in trouble with the law, so the child would be sent to the orphanage. Sometimes the family simply couldn't afford to pay for another child, so they would choose one of their children to live at the orphanage. I always wondered how in the world they would pick....?

The fate of these children, however they arrive at the orphanage, is always the same. They are starved for attention, love, and care. They scrape by with so little and have to learn how to defend themselves amongst an array of other children. This sometimes means learning to fight at a young age, whether its for protection or fighting for things like food and clothing. They worry where their next meal will come from, and sometimes depending on the weather, how they will get through the night without freezing. If they get sick, oh well. If they are upset, oh well. If they need something that is not already inside the 4 walls of the orphanage, oh well. These kids get the bare minimum, and somehow they are supposed to come out OK. 

I will never forget some of the moments of horror that I felt at some of these orphanages. While in Belize a child told me he slept on the hard concrete floor at night, and although he was scared there was nothing he could do. He didn't like the dark or sleeping on the floor. He then took me inside the orphanage and I saw children sprawled out on the floor with no cushion or pillow looking exhausted with mosquitoes flying around their bodies. The heat was incredible there, in the 90's with insane humidity, and the kids all looked dehydrated. It was like a sight off of the Discovery Channel; it didn't seem real. When I asked later if we could donate beds or money for the staff to buy them, I was told that the women who ran the orphanage often kept the money for themselves or would sell anything we donated to them, so there was no point. When we left the orphanage and got on the bus to go back to our hotel, I was inconsolable. I cried hard at the injustice of the lives these kids were living. They didn't even have a pillow. Their fate was bleak.

At numerous orphanages in the Ukraine the young girls have to go into prostitution if they do not find a home before they turn 18. Safety issues in numerous orphanages around the world have led to violence, rape, and death for kids who are just discovering what it's like to be a teenager. Instead of worrying about how they will deal with middle school peer pressure, or wondering who their first kiss may turn out to be, they are scared to go to sleep at night because someone may take advantage of them. No childhood, innocence is robbed, and hope is obliterated.

This is why spreading Jesus' love to these kids is so important. It is the only hope that they have. Nothing else comes through for them. No one else shows up. But praying to Jesus when you are scared in a dark room lying on the hard concrete floor one night, just might get you through it. I loved when the orphans would sing "Jesus loves me this I know", because this song used to be my favorite when I was a child. And for them, it can not only offer hope and encouragement through the infinitely difficult days ahead of them, but also a bedtime song.

"For my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord will take me in."Psalm 27:10

I personally can't wait to welcome some of these kids into my home. Adoption will be a part of my future, and I will open my home to as many orphans as God calls me too. It is so much more than a choice for me; it is a calling. One that I have known would come to fruition since I was 12 years old. Whether they have my DNA running through their little bodies is completely irrelevant to me. We are all part of God's family, and I will love them the way that He loves me.

These children are amazing kids who need people to step up and help them. Whether that is by volunteering with them or actually inviting them into your home through adoption, it is our job to change their bleak future into a bright one. They are talented, gifted, and amazing kids that just need someone to believe in them.

I saw this deafening truth during my last visit to the orphanage here in Seoul. A sweet and beautiful little girl showed me just how special she really was. We were making t-shirts and she painted this:

I was in awe of the artistic ability of this little girl, who couldn't have been more than 8 years old. She proceeded to then play numerous songs on the piano for me while I clapped along and watched her in amazement. I thought, 'so she can paint and has music running through her veins?' Who knows how much hidden talent is in that orphanage or any orphanage around the world, if people would only take the time to find out.

There are a million reasons to do nothing when it comes to the tragedies that this world faces. But there are a million faces that plead you to reconsider.

"Learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause." Isaiah 1:17  

Belize

India

Belize

India

Jesus loves me this I know,

For the Bible tells me so,

Little ones to him belong,

They are weak but he is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

The Bible tells me so.

Fighting the Man

I remember when I got in my first and only car accident when I was in high school. I had just gotten my license, was sixteen and feeling free, and then some moron backed up when his lights conveyed he was going straight. It was completely and utterly his fault, but with myself being the brand new driver and him being some 30 or 40 year old liar the policeman totally wrote the report how he showed fit. It didn't help that I could barely talk through my continous dramatic tears, and my own Dad didn't actually believe my story. Or better yet, didn't believe the truth. No one did. And one look at my ridiculously damaged Honda Civic and thoughts of my bank account being depleted was enough to send more sobs running through my body.

Well, when I told my Mom what actually happened in the car accident and that what the policeman wrote was incorrect, she asked me if I wanted to fight it. I would of had to pay my own damages which were over $1,000 (a lot of money for anyone let alone a teenager working in retail) as well as the higher monthly rate for car insurance. She was asking, did I want to fight the insurance company and see if I could win? I thought for a bit, and said "Screw it! I'm right! I wanna fight the Man!" Well I went all out....I reenacted the car accident with a friend of mine taking tons of pictures that I then presented at a hearing in front the car insurance company. But I kept thinking that the harm had been done and there would be no coming out of the hole that had been dug already. The police were against me, the guy in the other car was against me, and even my own Dad didn't think my story was true. Why would some car insurance people think I was anything but an irresponsible teenager?

Low and behold, months later, I got a phone call from my Mom who proceeded to read me a letter from the car insurance company. I will never forget that moment when she told me I had won.....I beat the claim against me.....I beat the Man. My Dad then got on the phone and earnestly apologized for not having my back, and to this day I know he would never make that same mistake again. There could be solid proof against me, irreparable damage, and he would still vouch for my innocence.

Well as exhilarating as that day was when I found out I was victorious it was somewhat of an exhausting situation. Fighting the Man is no small feat and many times is a lot of work with no payoff.

Well I find myself at a crossroads again, wanting to fight the Man, but not sure if its worth it. You see, I had to sign up for National Health Insurance while over here and pay $125 to be under their plan. I was told that I would get 40% of my funds back whenever I spent money in a medical sense while here in Korea. Well, believe it or not, during my continuous 3 months of being incredibly sick when I first arrived here I tallied up about $380 of medical expenses. To even mail in your claims to get a refund you have to get a note from your doctor to explain why you went there to begin with. These notes cost $5 or $10. In total I spent about $20 on doctors notes, deeming it a worthy cause only because of how much I would get back from the Health Insurance Company. I handed in my information and receipts a few months ago and crossed my fingers. Well, I found out yesterday that I am getting $24 back from the $380 worth of receipts that I handed in.

(pause for a moment of disgust)

Yea.....a mere and pathetic $24 that only covers my doctors notes costs! In my frustration and disbelief I asked for an itemized receipt of what they will and won't pay for, since there are so many things they have considered not worthy of giving me back 40% of. I then was told by the Korean staff member that is handling this for me, that the National Health Insurance of Korea does not keep records so I will not be getting anything of the sort, and maybe I should get a lawyer.

I started to laugh, and then genuinely looked at him in his face and said "What would you do if you were owed $100 and no one would explain to you why you don't get it? What would you do if you were in this situation? Am I the only person that has ever asked this question in all of Korea?" He walked away.

Now I have a decision to make. Do I want to fight the Man and try to get my money or let it go like so many teachers have here when they have been ripped off by their Health Insurance. Coworkers keep telling me that this is just how it is, this is how things are with the health insurance here. I know it's true, but it doesn't make it right. If I fight the Man I will probably lose because doing anything like this in Korea is beyond difficult. Is it really worth the trouble?

Because after all.....how do you fight the Man when the Man speaks Korean?

Wrap it Up

Things are starting to come to an end. It's been 9 months and I've got 3 more left to go, but the goodbye's are on the horizon. The things on my to-do list need to be crossed off in the upcoming weekends because before I know it September will be here. That last trip to Busan or flight to China to see the Great Wall can not be put off any longer. It seems like all winter we were wishing for the summer, but now that it's here, it will be gone in no time. My pending trip with my Mom to backpack around numerous Asian countries is no longer a distant dream. Now it is a reason for coming home during my lunch breaks and starting to research information about hostels and customs of foreign Asian countries. I can no longer wait to figure out these important details as our trip is around the corner and there is so much to do! I can't put things off to tomorrow anymore, because tomorrow will soon be today.

I was asked today if I am staying another year once my contract is complete in August. I replied, "No I will be traveling for a bit, and then returning to the States." So it's official; my job knows, my coworkers know, and everyone back home knows I will be back in the US in the blink of an eye. My replacement teacher is being searched for as we speak, and my life here in Seoul is coming to an end. I have been here for so long that it is hard for me to comprehend how much of myself and my life has changed. How will all of this change translate back to life in NC? I have been dreaming of the day I walk through the airport back home giving my family a hug and seeing my puppy for the first time in a year. It was a day that I wouldn't let myself think of too much because it made me too homesick. But now it's right around the corner. Soon this tempting thought will be a reality.

I had similar questions, fears, concerns, and mixed emotions when I was nearing my year end in England. There is such an intense and extreme learning experience you endure when you live abroad, that to go back to a place of comfort and familiarity almost seems mundane. It's elating because of the people you reunite with, but stirs up questions of it's importance because you are no longer challenged on an everyday basis.

Here I am challenged daily with small simple things like going to the grocery store. I cannot read anything I am buying so I am continuously guessing or concocting something new whenever I get home and realize I have bought the wrong ingredients for what I wanted to make. I am challenged by trying to explain the definitions of words to students who don't speak my language, and challenged by the laws and rules of this unfamiliar custom. There is no such thing as simple, uncomplicated, or effortless in Korea. This is something that has made me grow and step up to the plate in order to thrive here, therefore making it something I am grateful for here. This will be invaluable, my ability to persevere regardless of what's against me, in the future. But it also will be something I will not miss. I will be ecstatic to get back to Harris Teeter or Trader Joes where I can read everything I am buying and even speak to the employees if I have a question!

I will miss the challenge though, the richness of culture, the amazing food, the kids, and my new found friends. But I will be so happy to get back to my family, familiarity, old friends, and most of all everything that encompasses HOME. My departure will be nerve wracking, exhilarating. heart wrenching, and bittersweet.

It will be a big PERIOD on an influential and monumental chapter in my life.

I'm a better woman for living in Seoul. I will be a better woman to bring the knowledge I learned in Seoul back to my life in NC. It will just be a whirlwind of adjustment for this southern girl to find her footing again.

Weight Watchers

When I was young I had quite a sizable belly. I was that kid with clear baby fat that entirely gathered around her mid section. When I look at pictures of myself in elementary school or middle school it is absolutely adorable how far my gut sticks out, and it is no wonder I didn’t gain a complete inferiority complex about it. Kids could be cruel but I guess my mother and fathers continuous reassuring of my beauty made me never question my looks. I also grew up knowing that beauty was on the inside and that God never made mistakes. 

Well with me being a teenage girl growing up in a less than forgiving society, it is a miracle that I skipped the ‘freak out over my weight stage.’ I was lucky enough to grow out of my pot belly and be somewhat proportional, but with peer pressure to look a certain way I should have been completely self conscious. All of my close friends in high school would adamantly skip lunch and smoke a cigarette instead to try to curb their appetite. I would watch them in confusion of their choice, because personally I liked to chow down on my packed lunch that my mother gave me leaving all my food devoured. I hated cigarettes since my Grandma was a smoker and loved to eat…..so it never occurred to me that giving myself lung cancer was better than doing what was natural; eating. 

I watched numerous friends over my high school and college years struggle with eating disorders and worry themselves sick over their weight.  I would listen to them throw up their food in the bathrooms after meals and try to tell them they were beautiful inside and out with one failed attempt after another.  Some clinically needed help, and some would minimize it to just ‘being a girl.’ I would be told ‘All girls worry about their weight and that’s totally normal, aren’t you worried about it too?’  I am not sure if it was because I grew up in a household with a strong faith or a household where I was cherished and told I was beautiful just the way I was on a daily basis, but I somehow did not fall into this typical cycle of weight obsession that so many of my friends fell victim too. 

To this day it overwhelms me with sadness to see people obsess over their weight as if we are meant to look ‘a certain way’ and that we all aren’t somehow beautiful just the way that God made us.

I’m not saying a diet every now and then to cut out fast food or sweets isn’t a healthy choice. Working out is excellent and is great for your mind and your body. I just would love for women to be motivated to do it for all the right reasons, and not because they want to look like the women in the movies or to look the way a man tells her she should. Where is our confidence ladies? Remember that precious word; confidence?

Summer is approaching and in Korea women are working hard to get their bathing suit body. Weight is such a sensitive and obsessive topic here that it brings my anger on the subject right to the surface. A woman who is a trainer at my gym told a coworker of mine that all she ate one day was 8 egg whites and the next day all she ate was an orange. My response was, ‘Doesn’t she know she shouldn’t tell people that! She is so unhealthy the way she is losing weight and she is in a position of power to tell other women how to look like her by being a trainer at a gym. Women come to her for advice, and this is what she will tell them?” Because after all that’s not a diet, that’s not advice, that’s not healthy, that’s anorexia.

I’m lucky to have the confidence I have in my body and in how I look. My parents made me feel beautiful no matter what the scale says and have taught me that who I am on the inside shows my real beauty. ( I wouldn’t know what the scale says anyway because I have never owned one!) Both them and my faith have taught me that its things like honesty, integrity, loyalty, and generosity that make a person beautiful. Not their pant size.  So when my kids at school call me fat or my coworkers comment on my weight it just rolls off my shoulders because I value my inner beauty more than what others see and judge at first glance. It’s always the inner beauty you remember about people anyway, isn’t it? Their kindness, their compassion, their humility? Even the most beautiful person can ruin it with a snide and ignorant comment.

I just wish more women in Korea could understand where their true value lies.