Way to GO, Planet Earth!

WE MADE IT!

When I set out to do this thing, I set a goal of 750,000 won. Check it out -- we're well past that and still going! Friends in Korea have given me 390,000 won in cash, and Americans have chipped in $365 through Paypal and direct cash donations. That adds up to 818,000 -- before even counting what's in the KEB account! You guys are all amazing.

So here's my plan. After setting aside the funds for a really fun computer, whatever's left from this funding drive will buy the kids a new set of English textbooks. Last time around, this cost about 140,000 won. If there's anything left after that, it'll pay for a pizza party at the AeYukWon after the race on Saturday. That's to celebrate the kids finishing their last set of books. They work so hard and are always so proud to show off their filled-in workbook pages.

Of course all bets are off if we actually raise enough money to buy two computers... What say you, everybody? Five days left! God can do anything, right?

Over the hump

Here's an update: Donations in the PayPal account plus local donations total 425,000 won as of tonight. That's more than halfway to my goal of 750,000! Keep it up you guys! And thank you!!

<3 As One!

I just got off the phone with As One on the K-Popular show on TBS Radio. You ladies are awesome! Ever since I started listening on Wednesday, you always pick up my day. You remind me of all the things I love about Korea: the joy, the friendship, the innocence and honesty. Korean people are beautiful inside and out, and this country is so much fun! I'm hooked now.

I keep getting messages from K-Popular listeners, and you all are so encouraging. I love hearing from you. I think that if you believe, and if you look for them, God gives us all chances to save somebody's day. So here's one way to do that! If you want to help the orphanage kids, you can send money to my account at KEB (외환은행) 620-184095-562. If you're not in Korea, you can use the PayPal link. If you want to e-mail me, just click here or leave a comment below.

Thanks so much for everything, everybody!

Taking it to the airwaves

Look at these guys! How can you not love them? ^^
Send them some money if you haven't yet, eh?
In Korea: 외환은행 (Korean Exchange Bank) 620-184095-562
Overseas: Use this link...

And so it was that I got offered a chance to talk about the AeYukWon on the radio!

Thanks to my good friend and Korean teacher, Sara, I'm going to be on TBS' "K-Popular" program on Friday afternoon at 12:30. Sara called them today to tell them about the race in a couple of weeks and to send me a message. I listened in and found that it's a pretty awesome program. This may be mostly because I have a soft spot for K-pop music, but the hosts are funny and energetic and their exchanges with listeners are fun.

Anyway, the program called me shortly after her call, and they set up a time to interview me Friday. We're going to talk about the AeYukWon and the race in a couple of weeks. The hosts, As One, seem really friendly and cool: They told Sara they would like to come visit the orphanage with me sometime if it weren't so far away! They're in Seoul and the AeYukWon is in Masan, and it's harder to get much further apart in this country. Anyway, I'm really excited to get a chance to talk about the campaign on a nationwide stage. Already people in Korea that I've never met are sending donations -- go Korea!!

So if you're in Korea, listen in at 101.3 FM in Seoul, 90.5 in Busan and Gyeongnam, and 98.7 in Kwangju around 12:30 p.m. Friday. If you're not in Korea, go to this link to listen live. (I can only get it to work in Internet Explorer; your results may vary.) I'm expecting this to be a really short spot, so don't forget to tune in!

And if you haven't already, send a couple bucks for the kids! If you're in Korea and don't want to deal with Paypal (and I don't blame you), just send funds to 외환은행 (Korean Exchange Bank) 620-184095-562 and e-mail me. Thanks, everyone!

Playlist

Support the Masan Children's Home!

Today was the day I broke 30 minutes in my 5k training. I hit 5,000 meters with 5 seconds left in my workout program. That felt REALLY good -- I feel confident now that I can finish the race in a couple of weeks without leaving the staff sitting at the table waiting on me!

(Not that that would've happened anyway -- there will be people running 10k at the same time, and I'm pretty sure I can finish my 5k before they do their 10. But you get the idea. I wanted to feel like I would finish in some reasonable amount of time.)

Anyway, it was a good feeling, enhanced by the merciful weather (cloud cover and 22 degrees at 11 a.m.). But I gave myself a little problem -- my 5k playlist, currently on "shuffle" mode, just about did me in. It started me off with an old Petra song, "All Fired Up," followed by Big Bang's "승리의 함성 (The Shouts of Reds Pt. 2)," a rocking anthem for Korea's World Cup team. You try listening to those two songs back-to-back and not jumping up and down and singing along. I got through those first six minutes with plenty of adrenalin but not nearly enough oxygen -- that is no way to start out a 5k pace if you're still a running newbie like me. I gotta move those songs to the end of my playlist!

Which raises the question: What songs should I be listening to as I train and when I run this thing? I am terrible at finding good music. Katie, you are responsible for just about all of my musical horizon expansion in my adult life. Help me out here! Everybody else -- give me some ideas!

Here's what's on the list so far:

Definitely IN:

1. Big Bang - "승리의 함성" (but only at the END!)

2. Steven Curtis Chapman - "When Love Takes You In" (to remind me of why I'm doing this)

3. Something from FLOKS -- Yannis' Greek Christian rock band. But I haven't decided which song yet. Who else can say they listen to English, Greek and Korean when they run? ;)

Probably IN:

1. Loveholics - "Butterfly" (국가대표 OST)

2. Petra - "All Fired Up"

3. PFR - "Home Again"

4. "Your Grace Is Enough"

5. Geoff Moore & The Distance - "More Than Gold"

Other possibilities:

Survivor "Burning Heart"

David Bowie "Heroes"

Jonathan Coulton "I Feel Fantastic"

Yoko Kanno "Sure Promise" (Big-O OST)

Gackt "To Feel the Fire"

Petra "All Fired Up" or "Powerhouse"

Flatfoot 56 "Loaded Gun"

The Decemberists "Summersong"

Blur "Song 2"

Cherry Filter "낭만고양이"

거북이 "싱랄라"

Pipettes "Pull Shapes"

Hold Steady "Slapped Actress"

Yellowcard "Believe"

Wayne Watson "A Place For You"

Newsboys "Something Beautiful" or "I Am Free"

Ray Boltz - "I Will Tell the World"

Shinkichi Mitsumune - "Runners High"

Shaun Groves' cover of Michael W. Smith's "Rocketown"

The Pillows - "Hybrid Rainbow" or "Little Busters"

I need something new, exciting, uplifting, fun and engaging. Suggestions, people!

Bringing back the blog

Support the Masan Children's Home!

Well, it's been a long time since I've had anything to say. But I guess it's time to do this again. So much has changed in my life since December of 2008; I'm not even going to go into detail, because if you're on this blog, you already know all about it. In a nutshell, since then I have extended my Korean teaching contract twice; visited America on a whirlwind Christmas tour; gone skiing; bought a bicycle (well, actually three of them) and started a foreigner biker gang; helped start an English Sunday school program; and come down with leukemia. It's been interesting over here.

And I let this go by the wayside because whenever there's something worth writing about, I'm too busy to write it; and whenever I have time to write, there's nothing to say. I'll do my best to change that now, because a blog can be a part of ministry, and maybe what's going on in my head can help somebody down the line.

More importantly!
...and more immediately: I'm bringing back the blog because I've finished the Couch to 5K program and it's time to do the 5K part of it. I'm officially registered for the "Park Love Marathon" ("Marathon" is the word Koreans use for every kind of running race) in Daegu on July 3. Why is this worthy of a blog entry, you ask? Because I want your money.

This race is NOT a charity race. (Those are hard to come by over here.) But for me, it is. I am not the most self-motivated of individuals, so just running for the sake of running does not do it for me. However, if I'm training for this race -- and running it -- for something bigger than me, then it's fun and interesting. So I'm running for the Masan Aeyukwon, the orphanage I volunteer at on Saturdays. I dunno how much I can squeeze out of my recession-ridden friends and family back home, but I'm going to do my very best.

So there it is, over there on the right. The Paypal link. Sponsor me, would you? I'm not asking for any great chunk of change here. I'm hoping out of my 400 plus FB friends, I can get 50 people to give me 15 bucks or so and buy the orphanage a computer. Or send me a dollar, or 44 cents, or whatever you've got. That would sure make these sweaty mornings of training worthwhile!

You guys who have known me for a while know that the idea of me running five kilometers is pretty hilarious on its own. So here's your chance to celebrate vicariously with me. Thanks for any help you can give. I'm sorry I'm not a 501(c)3 or anything, so I won't send you a tax deduction receipt. But I will send you outstanding photos when it's all said and done. And you can have the satisfaction of knowing you made me run. Not just anybody can say that.