My Korean adventure, #3, travel

To recap, as this is number 3 in the series.  I don't like to fly, get motion sickness and anxiety attacks, and my husband's company invited me to tag along on his business trip to S. Korea.

Friday we were all packed and ready to go.  My poor kitty, Oliver, followed me around the house crying.  He even sat on my suitcase and wouldn't let me move it.

7:30 pm after watching a fairly depressing movie, I have an anxiety attack.  I want to go, I don't want to go.   I'm crying and trying not to hyperventilate.  My awesome husband talked me out of my funk and I'm feeling absolutely ridiculous.   I finally calm down enough to do my Bible reading, then go to sleep.  3 a.m. and I am wide awake.  Anxious, but this time in a good way.  6 a.m. I apply my motion sickness patch, finish packing, load up the car and off we go.   Anxious and nervous again, but still in a good way.  We arrived at the airport early, so early in fact that there were no long lines at the security check.  First leg is Orlando to Detroit, 2 hours.  I'm feeling pretty good.  No nausea, not jitters, relaxed, calm.  Whew!! Upon arrival in Detroit we have just enough time to grab a bite to eat.  Now normally, I would skip food because, well, you read the first post.  However, I had my little patch and I'm hungry.  Weird though, everything tasted dry.  Maybe it was just the dry air from the plane drying me out.  I think I drank several bottles of water.  

Second leg from Detroit to Inchon airport was an enormous 747-400 airplane, double decker 3-4-3 (ten seats across).   Took over 45 minutes to load everyone.  I'm feeling pretty good, calm, a little worried about sitting for 13 hours.  Yeah, that's not going to happen especially since I'm sucking down water like a sand dune in the Sahara.  

My husband, the very thoughtful man that he is, ordered me a vegan, no dairy meal.  ~>

Airplane food

I have no idea what the bottom plate is, maybe beans and rice formed into a patty?  In any event, I ate most of it and it wasn't terrible.   Sleep was impossible.  My rear end hurt, my thighs cramped, my back ached.  Benadryl help enough to doze for a few minutes, however, I spent a lot of time walking up and down the plane, to the bathroom and back, around in circles bumping into people, etc.  I'm good for maybe 2 hours in a seated position.  This wasn't a lot of fun in and of itself, however, I was focused on the end result, landing safely in South Korea, which is exactly what happened.   Yeah!  I'm here.

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?

ASSURANCE E-MAGAZINE

Assurance, Stories of Faith magazine is e-zine for Christian writers designed to not only showcase their short stories and books but also to reach the lost, strengthen those who are hurting, and demonstrate how God's people are at work. It is also for readers of all levels of faith.  Here is the first cover:  

Assurance e-zine will have these basic segments:  Feature story on a Christ-based/centered organization, a bible study, 2 maybe more short stories, a human interest interview, an article written by young person age 10-18, possibly younger, an occasional photo essay, and advertisement for authors.  The editorial calendar tentatively will include:  Celebrate recovery, adoption, keeping Christ in Christmas, Missions, and homelessness.

The submission process is now open for all writers who fit these above genre. 

Guidelines are as follows:

Short stories: 1200 words or less.  May include one photograph.  You, the author, must hold legal copyright to the writing submitted.  You give permission to the editor of this magazine to edit and publish.  Content must be approved by the publisher (The story must have some faith aspect, pointing to God either directly or indirectly.  It does not have to be “squeaky clean”.  No profanity, erotic love scenes, excessive violence, zombies, or vampires.  The story will be proofread and edited. It can be based on personal experience or fantasy, for children, teens, or adults.  It can have people or animals as the characters.)

Feature articles: 2500 words or less.  May include photograph(s).  Organization must be faith-based, use Biblical principles, serve God's people. Personal interview preferably of someone unknown. The woman who cleans your building and no one knows about, the man who mows the yards of the elderly, the family who serves the homeless every week-end, the retired person who teaches Bible/English/cooking/math, etc. to the underprivileged, homeless, or perhaps the young person who spends their free time working at a homeless shelter, retirement home, or has started a Bible study at school or home.  This section is for the unsung hero doing God's work.  

Bible study: 1200 words. To be written by a current or retired minister, pastor's wife, or Sunday School teacher. It must be Biblically based.   Facts and doctrine will be checked. 

Photo essay: Tell a story of how God works through pictures.

Youth Submission: Must be written by persons 18 years or younger.  Include a short bio and photograph (state whether or not it may be used).  Same requirements as adult short stories. May include photos or drawings.  

Submission must be in Word document format .doc or .docx, photographs in .jpeg format.  There is no charge for submission.  Please include a link where your full-length books can be purchased, if applicable.  

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Guideline:  Submit a word document, .doc or .docx that includes embedded .jpeg, text only, or text with a separate .jpeg. Submit ad for approval to AssuranceSoF@yahoo.com with "ad" in the subject line.  Ads must fit magazine format.  Acceptance is per publisher discretion.  

Price packages:   Contact AssuranceSoF@yahoo.com for more information.

Submit your articles and short stories to:

AssuranceSoF@yahoo.com with "article" in the subject line.

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