Handong Community

One of the wonderful aspects of living on campus at Handong University is the campus community.  I've written before about the students and their love for music, but here is a bit about the faculty families on campus.  It is very much like Mayberry RFD.  You see your neighbors everyday and socialize together on a regular basis.  Almost everything, somehow, ends up involving a meal with all sorts of homemade goodies to share.  Susan came down with a cold a day or two ago.  The kids and I went over to another professor's family apartment for dinner and a meeting with  students who participated in the Cambodian Law and Development project we were part of during the Winter break.  The neighbors across the hall had heard that Susan was ill with the flu and packed up some homemade bread, sea salt and tea to help speed along Susan's recovery.  A few minutes ago a student dropped off some Vitamin Water with extra "C" along with some Korean radishes.  Although these were prompted by Susan being under the weather, it is a common occurrence for someone to drop by with some sort of delicious treat, just because they were thinking of us and happened to be walking by.  I continue to marvel at the freedom we can allow the kids on campus.  I've mentioned before that we often don't see the kids until dinner time, and then only in the form of a telephone call asking if they can stay longer at whatever they are doing.  Being a college campus, there is much more of a transitional nature to our community.  Students graduate, Professors come and go, families move, but through it all there is a vibrant aspect to the process.  You always wonder who will pop up next, and from what part of the world.  Just this week Mary helped welcome a girl her age to the campus from Iowa who's father is a professor.  Mary now has a new friend with a delightful sense of humor.  Her Dad is the one who's shoes I "stole" during our Christmas potluck a couple of months ago.  Yesterday we were joined for dinner by a visiting professor from Washington D.C. who is the president of a chapter of the Christian Legal Society.  Instead of Narnia's "Winter but never Christmas" during the reign of the evil queen, we seem to enjoy Christmas all year long.  Because this is a large and vibrant campus, there is always a lot going on.  Still, we have learned to pace ourselves and enjoy the experiences each day brings to our doorstep.