All you need is love.

Hands down, my favorite author of all time is Donald Miller. I had never heard of him until three years ago when my friend Beth and I were hiking and she spoke so highly of his book "Blue Like Jazz" that I went to Borders that night and bought it. (Yes I did just throw an advertisement in there...Borders is so way better than Barnes and Noble!). Since then I think I've read it at least 10 times and loved it more everytime. He's written a number of books and I would recommend them to anyone regardless of their background or beliefs because he writes with amazing passion yet is so honest and real that it doesn't make a person feel like he is pushing any ideas or claiming to have all the answers. But anywho. He has a blog that is so fun to read and a couple of days ago I read an entry that was so...awesome I guess would be the only word to describe it. It was titled "The Power of Love" and he was talking about a Hindu guru named Mata Amritanandamayi who has captured a fairly large audience across the world but funny enough, it's not because of her claims to have the answers to every theological question ever posed...it's because she gives hugs.

"Amma is gaining an enormous following because she gives hugs. Seriously, she’s the hugging guru. Her handlers estimate she has given more than thirty-million hugs. And these hugs are not unlike blessings, in which people receive a kind of enlightenment about the importance of loving one another.

Now to the critical Christian mind, this sounds like hogwash and we are tempted to roll our eyes. But the sad truth is people are not drawn to Amma because of her theological soundness, or her ability to give them right direction in life, or even to know their own purpose, people are drawn to her because God has hardwired them to be loved, and she’s willing to give them a hug."

Not to get all mushy on you guys but in the last 5 months I have come to realize the importance of love and relationship more than I ever have before in my life. Being so far away from the people you love the very most all of a sudden makes you want to show them more than ever how much you really do love them. In a way it's kind of like a little science experiment because since I've been here I've really realized that certain relationships I have with people back home are the real deal and so super wonderfully strong. I think, actually I know, that every other teacher in my office thinks that I am absolutely INSANE because I often talk to friends back home on email chat while I'm sitting at my desk and try so hard not to die laughing when they say some ridiculous thing but it happens almost daily where I am sitting there in tears I'm trying so hard not to laugh while drooling coffee all over myself...and I try really hard to make it look like I'm working so I'm sure it looks ridiculous. That's the stuff that is awesome though. It's amazing how one comment can make your entire day. That really wasn't what I wanted to write about though.

The best part about Korea so far is my kids. I know there are some teachers out there who think that I'm crazy for saying that and granted there are days where I want to dropkick every single one of them. But they really are the most wonderful kids on the planet. I'm talking more about my girls because I see them four days out of the week and have really gotten to know a lot of them which I can't say for the boys. If there is one thing I can say I've grown in since I've been here I would definitely say its patience. I'm not naturally the most patient person and get so consumed sometimes that I forget that everyone doesn't operate the way that I do. Being thrown into a culture that is so entirely different challenges me in that a billion times more. I've had to really put a lot of thought into things before I decide to blow up and be an impatient butthead. So I think that because I've had to take the time to question why these kids say the things they do and act the way they do has been huge in just getting to know them as people. So going back to the Hindu guru thing, I guess the greatest thing about the position I'm in is that I don't have to be the greatest teacher on earth, which is lucky because I suck quite often, but I just need to love them so that they genuinely believe I care about them. I firmly believe that as a teacher, if your kids believe that you care about them that you will be a million times more successful...and if you're just there for the paycheck then most of them aren't going to give a crap about what you have to say.

Today was a perfect example because if there was an award for "Saltiest Person Alive" I would have won it during the first part of my day. I was so stinkin grumpy it was unreal. Then I had one of my classes with some pretty hilarious girls in it and all we did was play a review game and talk about the World Cup and which teacher they thought would be a good husband for me. The bell rang and I was so bummed that I had to leave these girls and return to my cave of nonexistent communication a.k.a my office. Seriously though, during student teaching and subbing back home there was NEVER, EVER, NEVER an instant where I didn't want a class period to end. But these girls bring me so much joy and I really think that even though I might not always be the greatest teacher in the world that they know I care about them and they're willing to listen. So if that's all I gotta do then this is officially the greatest job in the world.

Check out Donald Miller's blog if you ever have the chance http://donmilleris.com/. Dang good stuff:)