We are many parts

Blogging from Bruce
May 18, 2009

Vonda Keon


Well the days are counting down and the hours ticking along. This is exam week, packing week, scrambling to get plane tickets and paper work week. Our time as host family to Lo Ping and Ji Eun is quickly coming to an end.

Both of the girls will be leaving us next week. Tuesday, Ji Eun will fly out of Memphis International on her way back to Seoul Korea. Friday, Ping will leave from the Golden Triangle Regional Airport to go and visit her aunt in San Diego and from there she will wing her way home to Taiwan.

It’s creating mixed feelings with us all. We have enjoyed their time here and there is a part of us and a part of them doesn’t want to leave. They have made new friends and have experienced a different kind of independence and individuality that they didn’t have back in their homeland. As a parent I know their families miss them and want them home. Yet I have grown attached to them myself.

We had to make a quick last trip to Wal-Mart for ‘Space bags’ so they can get their luggage packed. They are only allowed two large pieces of luggage and one carry on bag on an international flight. I was looking at the accumulation of stuff and clothes and shoes that both girls have and I suggested the space bags to put their clothes in.

If you have never tried those things, I think they are the next best thing to white sliced bread. You can put half a closet full of clothes in one and seal it and then use the vacuum to suck out the air and the next thing you know, you have a flat thin bag of clothes. They are upstairs as I type this, filling those bags full of clothes and then sucking out the air. I’m pretty sure that they will get their entire wardrobe into one piece of luggage and then the next bag will be full of shoes and other items. That will leave their carry on bag for the laptops and toiletries and at least one change of clothing in case their bags miss a connection and arrive at a later date.

On the way back from Wal-Mart I asked them what they would miss about Mississippi. They said friends, the fresh air, their teachers, the laid back way of life we have and the wide open spaces we take for granted. They will not miss the mosquitoes that seemed to love them dearly. I asked them what would happen when they arrived in their respective countries. Ji Eun said her mother and father were going to take her to her favorite restaurant and she was going to eat Korean Barbeque. Ping said that her family will have a big reunion dinner and she would eat her favorite foods while seeing all of her family. I told them that they would both be sick from over eating.

They both said that they will have to immediately get back into their old school routine and take tests to see where they are academically. They will have to learn to blend back into their society and to rekindle old friendships.

I have watched them change over the 10 months they have been here. They went from shy and reserved to outgoing and outspoken young women. They have learned to live like a Mississippi teenager and go fishing and camping. They have learned their way around town and they want to take home their favorite pasta recipe from Jeffrey’s. I can just see them seeking out the American stores for the necessary spices like we had to seek out the Asian grocery’s to make some of their dishes here. They have learned to cook because some days I worked out of town and didn’t get home until after dinner time.

They experienced going to several different worship services and learned that in the Southern USA, church and fellowship is a major part of who we are. They both came from heavily populated cities that have more people in them than the whole state of Mississippi. I am sure at times they have felt totally isolated from the rest of the world. But then city kids need to see that rural America is what makes the world go round.

I think what they will carry back with them is the knowledge that we sing about quite often at church. We are many parts. We are all one body, and the gifts we have we are given to share. May the Spirit of love make us one indeed; one, the love that we share, one, our hope in despair, one, the cross that we bear.