[et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”rgba(196,19,33,0.5)” background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(224,153,0,0.5)” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”http:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/bg-img.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||50px||false|false” fb_built=”1″ _i=”0″ _address=”0″][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/box5765.temp.domains\/~cultusq5\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Tanyanew-1.jpg” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0.0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.1″][et_pb_text admin_label=”By Author Name” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” text_font=”PT Sans Narrow|700||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”28px” text_line_height=”38px” header_3_font=”PT Sans Narrow|700||on|||||” header_3_text_align=”left” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_3_line_height=”32px” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.1.0″]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9jYXRlZ29yaWVzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiQnkgIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6ImNhdGVnb3J5In19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.3″ text_font_size=”20px” hover_enabled=”0″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.1.1″]I am Tanya Kan. I am an ethnic Korean born in Uzbekistan (one of 15 Republics of the former Soviet Union). <\/p>\n
I worked in financial services and my writing skills were mostly used to create financial reports. A desire to write more and deeper has always been in me.<\/p>\n
We are too busy to listen to ourselves and we procrastinate on following what our hearts want, waiting for better moments. As a result, I started actually writing and took writing classes only after coming to Canada.<\/p>\n
Now I am trying to improve my writing skills and write, write and write. I am feeling that I am in the flow, which is bringing me to a different level of my life.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row custom_padding_last_edited=”off|tablet” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.1″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.1.0″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.3″ hover_enabled=”0″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.1.0.0″]<\/p>\n
September 21, 2019<\/strong><\/p>\n Thinking of the incident that happened to me recently, the first thing that came into my mind was the story of John, whom I got to know not long ago. I got acquainted with John in the Toastmasters\u2019 Club, which I joined to improve my public speaking skills. Being both Koreans, on the very first day, we were chatting joyfully as if we were old friends about Korea, Koreans, Korean food, and how Koreans were dispersed all over the world. Suddenly, he disappeared and did not come to the Club for several weeks. I did not pay much attention, and I thought, \u201cWell, he must be busy with his work.\u201d [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section fb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ use_background_color_gradient=”on” background_color_gradient_start=”rgba(196,19,33,0.5)” background_color_gradient_end=”rgba(224,153,0,0.5)” background_color_gradient_overlays_image=”on” background_image=”http:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/bg-img.jpg” custom_padding=”50px||50px||false|false” fb_built=”1″ _i=”0″ _address=”0″][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_3,2_3″ use_custom_gutter=”on” gutter_width=”2″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ custom_padding=”0px||0px||false|false” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0″][et_pb_column type=”1_3″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0″][et_pb_image src=”http:\/\/box5765.temp.domains\/~cultusq5\/writings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Tanyanew-1.jpg” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.0.0″][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”2_3″ _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.1″][et_pb_text admin_label=”By Author Name” _builder_version=”3.29.3″ _dynamic_attributes=”content” text_font=”PT Sans Narrow|700||on|||||” text_text_color=”#000000″ text_font_size=”28px” text_line_height=”38px” header_3_font=”PT Sans Narrow|700||on|||||” header_3_text_align=”left” header_3_text_color=”#000000″ header_3_line_height=”32px” _i=”0″ _address=”0.0.1.0″]@ET-DC@eyJkeW5hbWljIjp0cnVlLCJjb250ZW50IjoicG9zdF9jYXRlZ29yaWVzIiwic2V0dGluZ3MiOnsiYmVmb3JlIjoiQnkgIiwiYWZ0ZXIiOiIiLCJsaW5rX3RvX3Rlcm1fcGFnZSI6Im9uIiwic2VwYXJhdG9yIjoiIHwgIiwiY2F0ZWdvcnlfdHlwZSI6ImNhdGVnb3J5In19@[\/et_pb_text][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.29.3″ text_font_size=”20px” hover_enabled=”0″ _i=”1″ _address=”0.0.1.1″]I […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tanya-kan"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1610"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1614,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1610\/revisions\/1614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culturechats.org\/writings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
One day when we came to our routine club session, an old lady in the club approached me and asked, \u201cDo you know what happened to John?\u201d I answered, \u201cNo, what\u2019s happened to him?\u201d
\u201cI think he has health problems.\u201d she said and continued, \u201cCan you talk to him?\u201d
For a couple of minutes, I was puzzled if he had health problems, he needed to see a doctor, but \u201cwhat can I do about it?\u201d rushed through my head. But I replied, \u201cSure!\u201d My gut feeling was telling me there was something deeper than just health problems.
After several days, we were sitting with John in McDonald\u2019s talking about his so-called \u201chealth problems\u201d. I would want to call it \u201ca conversation\u201d, but mostly it was John, who was talking, and I was a listener. I got to know that he came to Canada 9 years ago. He was alone and did not have a family in Canada. His parents passed away many years ago, and John had an elder sister, who brought him up and was like a mother to him. Recently his sister has got a car accident and was in a coma for one year already. Doctors said that there was no hope that she could come into life again and advised to let her go.
\u201cSince that time,\u201d he continued, \u201ceverything went wrong. I am bullied in my job place. Because of the stress, I can\u2019t sleep at night, smoke a lot and drink alcohol to fall into sleep somehow.\u201d When he was telling me this, I could see tears in his eyes.
\u201cI am completely lost. I think I can\u2019t stand it anymore.\u201d he said. Looking at John, I was feeling so sorry about his situation. I was unprepared to hear that. I could expect to hear everything but not that and because of this, I was struggling to find proper words to calm down John, persuade him that every problem always had a solution and he could cope with it.
\u201cI will pray for you, John, and you should pray too, go to the church, and you will feel better!\u201d I uttered. But he replied in a second, \u201cDon\u2019t bother! I don\u2019t believe in God anymore!\u201d
How weak or strong the faith should be or how wicked the circumstances should be or how offended and hopeless the person should be to lose his faith. I am not sure about it. But I am sure of one thing, which is written in the Bible \u201cThe Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?\u201d
I will be praying for you, John, because at the moment I do not know what else I can do for you and through praying, I will find the way how to help you.<\/p>\n