Making Wise Decisions...That Make You Alone

Yeah, so I'm taking a break from teaching right now. The Incheon Metropolitan School Board has holed 38 of us foreign teachers at the "Robert Hotel" in Incheon for a four-day "orientation," which is a month too late I would like to add. However, day one was very useful, and it was great to get some great ideas for future lesson plans. My creativity is pretty creative, but there are times when my gas-tank filled with teaching ideas runs on empty. This week is all about the re-filling for free.

One neat idea that I grabbed hold today is to try to teach more lessons about Korean culture and history to my students...in English. Koreans are proud of their nation, but they cannot really express it to us foreigners in English. Why not teach them basic vocabulary of cultural terms and history, especially about their heroes and villains? So, me being enthusiastic about my own Korean bloodline, I can bring some of their own culture back to them as a way that I care for our common history while teaching them the wonderful language of English.

So, day one of the orientation was really useful, like one guy gave us the scoop on how to discipline, how to create lesson plans, and how to create an interactive atmosphere despite the rowdiness that goes on in the classroom. Believe me, teaching 40 teenage BOYS a language that many will not use in the longterm is pretty challenging, but its fun.

After finishing the final session and eating dinner, I decided to hit it stag and go to Bupyeong Station in downtown Incheon. It is the major center of the city, where the shopping, restaurants, and other nightlife attractions are a plenty. I took pics to post on my MySpace page, so I can demonstrate how "exciting" the Asian atmosphere can be. It is a nice place to walk and to see walking about after a long day's work.

However, something special happened tonight. Earlier that evening, my roommate for the next four days invited me to celebrate another teacher's late birthday by hitting up a local bar. Most of the people I have just met went, and they were urging me to go. Now, you know by now I am a born-again Christian, and I don't drink. I politely refused, and went on back to the hotel, now writing this wonderful blog at this PC Bang, which is really nice quality cafe, has a non-smoking side where I am now currently sitting, and the Internet is blindingly fast.

But, I gave up an opportunity to "hang" out with my friends. In doing so, I'm alone. I even told them that I do not drink. Why not just hang out with them at the bar and just talk? What do you think? Should I have gone and just "socialize?"

Yet I realized something that night. Why do I not drink? I scratched out one reason for sure: it is not because I am trying to be this "gung-ho Rambo of self-righteousness," and by doing so I put myself on the pedestal of deceit and put everyone else down. Most Christians get down this path when they "abstain" from certain actions, and in doing so they become worse witnesses because they shun instead of love.

However, I did not go because...I wanted to cut off the head of the snake before giving it the chance to bite. Alcohol is a problem not just in Korea...its everywhere. Sure, argue its a drink of socialising, but hey, I have had great discussions over a can of Dr. Pepper. Sure, argue that people can also destroy their lives by eating cholesterol-filled garbage food daily, and I condemn that. Yet, I do not drink because I simply believe it is something that I do not need in my life. Jesus Christ did not say, "STOP DRINKING!" But, whom am I honoring and doing this for if I have a substance that alters the mind and can start a road to ruin? Alcohol has permanent effects on people's lives, and not just alcoholism, but to me, its a poor choice to have fun. Even one sip can bring a dependence on ruin instead of reason. I respect other people when they see they want to go to the bars, go ahead, but for me, to honor God, its just a decision of conviction...but it makes me alone. :-)

However, God blessed me still, and I finally saw it. As I walked back to the subway, I happen to meet a foreign teacher, from all places, South Africa. On the ride back, we had a pleasant chat about her trek to this far off land, and a good discussion about her homeland, and my experience in the end. So, in the end, I did not feel alone after all. Sure, some decisions, especially as a believer in Christ, will make you gun solo at times, but God honors that because, as a missionary/Pastor once said this past Easter Sunday, "The world looks out, yet Heaven looks in." God wants more than what we do, He truly honors the heart and the motivation from Christ to do good.