Our neighbours to the east have been hit hard with an earthquake and tsunami.  If this would have happened while I still lived in North America I would have been aware of it, but it wouldn't have sunk in like it has now, being in Asia, quite close to it.  This might be the closest I've been to a large natural disaster and it's interesting to me how physical proximity makes such a difference in situations like this.  I think it's often easy to allow physical distance to be our excuse for not giving proper thought or concern for major world events.
Korea itself wasn't affected by either the earthquake or tsunami, being shielded by Japan.  But I can't help but realize that things would have been a lot different for the people of Pohang had the earthquake happened on the other side of Japan.  As it is, I'm safe, but there are thousands who are suffering not far from here.

On another note, mom and dad arrived late Saturday night and are currently asleep on my bed.  They've had a pretty busy two days so far.  Yesterday dad was the 'last minute' substitute guest pastor at my church.  He preached on the importance of drawing the line in those parts of our lives that can become too important to us.  Many people in the church, myself included, thought he did a good job.  Then, after buying some groceries, we walked to the beach.  It was a beautiful day, the nicest so far this year, so it was perfect weather for me to show them the very popular summer hangout spot for the foreigner crowd that is Bukbu Beachee (which is how it is pronounced in Korean).  We ran into a couple of my friends and then continued on to the Indian curry restaurant.  I felt a little bad about not bringing them to a more traditional Korean place on their first day, but the Indian place reminds me of Toronto and I'd wanted to go there with them at some point.  After supper we walked home and fell asleep early.
Today I met mom and dad for lunch and we went to the local Korean buffet where a busy Korean lady daily serves a variety Korean side dishes (kimchi and some things I've never seen before) as well as soup and sometimes fish, both of which I find to be the best I've ever had.  I've been going there quite often lately.  Mom and dad found it an interesting cultural experience, and didn't eat all their kimchi or funny brown things.  Tonight, the other English teachers at Poly and another local teacher joined us at a duck restaurant, which I think mom and dad enjoyed a little more.
While I was at school during the day they wandered around the area a little and also got some work done in my apartment.  Maybe tomorrow they'll venture downtown on the bus.  They're being good sports about being left alone in a foreign country for most of the day.
Having them here is great for me.  I'm very lucky to have such a loving family.

Thanks for reading,
 Michael