Guardian Angels

Do you believe in guardian angels? I do. Let me tell you why.

Last weekend I went to Yeosu to visit my friend Karen. Not long after I arrived, Karen came down with a bad cold which meant that we stayed in all weekend. That was OK because I probably needed some time to relax since it is always my want to be "on the go". Karen definitely needed some time to get better.

When it was time for me to leave on Sunday, I caught the 3:30 bus from Yeosu to take the 2 hour bus ride back to Gwangju where I would get my connecting bus to Yeonggwang.

Well "the best laid plans of mice and men......" Not long after embarking on our trip, it began to snow and had obviously been snowing for a long time as we made our way Northwest. It was obvious that this was not going to be the usual 2 hour bus ride. As time progressed and it got later and later, I began to be concerned that we might not make it back to Gwangju at all that night. As you can imagine, it is very disconcerting to be on a bus full of people with whom you cannot communicate because they don't speak your language and you don't speak theirs. After some time, I asked the young woman next to me (via sign language) if I could use her cell phone (EVERYONE in Korea has a cell phone - but not me!!) and I called the only Korean - English speaking teacher for whom I had a number. Through a series of phone calls back and forth, I was able to speak to my main co-teacher and found out that we would indeed be back in Gwangju but not anytime soon. It actually took 5.5 hours as well as seeing a lot of accidents on the road and many people abandoning their cars.

Finally, thankfully, we arrived back at the Gwangju bus terminal only to find that there were no more buses leaving for anywhere.. What to do, what to do......??? This is where the guardian angel appeared. As I often do many times during a day, I had prayed that God would take care of me and send me a guardian angel. He appeared in the form of a young university Korean student. His English was not that good but we were able to communicate enough for him to call my co-teacher again and she asked him to guide me to a motel around the bus terminal because I had no clue where to go.

About 1/2 hour later, I was warm and dry (and I hoped, SAFE) in a rather "seedy" motel near the terminal. I gave the young man some money for his trouble and he went on his way.

An interesting end to what started to be a very uneventful weekend.

Monday morning I was able to get a bus back to Yeonggwang where there was even more snow. Apparently, we have the privilege of living in the part of the province of Jeollanam that gets the most snow - and this had been the record amount in 76 years. Now let me explain that what is considered to be a "record amount" in Korea is nothing compared to what some parts of Canada and the US receive but........it's all relative. They don't have the luxury of great snow removal equipment. Many things just function on a minimal "as needed" basis here so..... you can imagine the results.

Anyway, the snow has made everything look very Christmasy although Christmas is not celebrated to any great extent here - well let's just say it is not so "over the top" commercialized as in the West, Thankfully! It will be much easier to remember that "Jesus is the Reason for the Season" this year and that's a good thing!

That's my guardian angel experience. Give your friends and family an extra hug or two or three at this very special time of year. I wish I could do the same as I will be missing mine VERY MUCH!!