My Korean adventure, part 2, preparation

In part one, I laid out all my fears and insecurities and posed this question, Why?

Why would a sane woman, well relatively sane woman, like myself put herself through the misery of flying?  The answer is simple - my husband.  I want to be with him.  Love trumps my silly fears and turbulent stomach any day  

With that in mind, I began to prepare.  The first step was to pray.  I should say IS to pray because I haven't stopped.  Next, I began a packing list of everything I might need for a week in a foreign country.  I downloaded a couple of neat apps, too.  One with the subway system of Seoul and another with an English to Korean translator.  I've been on Google maps many times to get an idea of where the hotel is, where I should go visit - parks, historical locations, shopping, and even churches.  My son was stationed in Osan for two years and he will be getting me a list of "must go to" places.

Speaking of churches, I e-mailed two English-speaking churches and I hope to get a response soon.  While preparing for this trip, I decided to treat it like a mission trip and not a tourist vacation.  This helped me mentally prepare for all that is involved.

Today, I went to the doctor to get a prescription for motion sickness.  I'm allergic to dairy products and have discovered that lactose is in a ton of medications.  Did you know it is in:  Zyrtec, Dramamine, Bonnine, Xanax, and Valium?  Did you also know the new over-the-counter medication ZZZQuil is actually Benadryl?   Yep, me either.

My final step in preparation for the trip will be to do laundry and actually pack.  I plan on keeping a journal as I travel and will post from time to time.   Who thinks I'm going to throw up at least once?

My Korean adventure, part one. Fear.

I vividly remember the first time.  I was 6 or 7 years old when my mom was invited by a family friend to fly in his airplane.   It was a small 4-seater, maybe a  Cessna.  What I remember most was that I had just eaten a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich washed down with a grape Shasta soda.  Why do I remember what I ate before the plane ride?  Because it ended up on my lap after the pilot banked to the left then right.  Flying was ruined.  It would never be enjoyable.

While in college, my sister and I drove to Chicago.  On the way home the car broke down and we had to fly back.  Remembering my earlier experience, I did not eat before the flight.  Good thing, too, because I had to fly in one of those teeny tiny, cram-packed 50-seat planes from St.Louis, Missouri to Dallas, Texas.  I did okay until the landing.  As soon as the plane began its descent, my pulse began to race, I began to sweat, my stomach churned, and dry heaves commenced.  The poor man sitting next to me wanted to get far away.  Luckily for him, my stomach was empty.

During the 2-hour layover in Dallas I broke down and ate.  Big mistake.  Once again, upon descent, my stomach gave up its contents.  Soon after, I discovered over-the-counter motion sickness remedies.  On subsequent flights over the years, this helped with the vomiting, but not with the emotions that lingered.  I now had a full-fledge fear, disdain, anxiety with the mere mention of airplane, airports, flying.  All those movies about crashes and the real ones on the news did not help the matter.

After a move to New York, the anxiety increased to include crowds.  Well, it had been there for a while but the move made it worse.   You see, I'm short.  Put a short person in a crowd and it feels like an ant in the middle of a herd of elephants.  Shopping malls, concerts, and theme parks make me very anxious and I have had a few panic attacks.  I'm always in search of the nearest exit.

So, while in New York, I accidentally stumbled upon a gay pride parade on Halloween.  It was not fun.      Caught in the crowd, I could not get to the subway station which was less than a block away.  The mass of people swayed back and forth and I was caught up in it like a toy boat in the ocean, or as if I was caught in a rip current.  Fighting the crowd, after two hours, I made it to the subway.   My crowd anxiety/phobia was fully in place.

Prayer, deep breathing, arriving early, scoping out the exits, drugs...don't help all that much.

So why, do you ask, am I going to Korea!?

Stay tuned.

Why do you give? Or do you?

I was asked last week to do a few interviews with people who are giving/donating/volunteering at a local ministry.  My belief has always been, "But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."  Matthew 6:3-4.  

One person in particularly absolutely wanted to remain anonymous, which prompted me to go in an entirely different direction with the article.  I did what all good reporters do. I Googled 'giving'.  I lost count of all the posts after page two.  Well, I had to do the article anyway because I am not one to give up.  God led me to take a different approach.  Ask people what and why and see what answers you get.   Here are a few questions.  Please answer honestly and either reply to this post or send your reply to:   AssuranceSoF@yahoo.com
Names will not be used.  

1. Why do you give (to charities, etc.)
2. Do you give anonymously? Why or why not?
3. What is your opinion on stories showcasing individuals or companies who make large donations to charities?
4.  Agree or disagree:  Giving is a spiritual act of worship.
5.  Are you more or less motivated to give when you read about others and their experience with giving?