tis the season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

it is currently one a.m., christmas day! and i'm wide awake.

it's been a whirlwind around here lately.

the christmas concert was fun! i really didn't have to do all that much as an announcer; i really only had the opening and closing lines. i wasn't nervous which was extremely surprising and also a blessing - i was able to just have fun with it. the students did a GREAT job, especially considering the long day of practice they endured. i was especially proud of Johnny, who has a BEAUTIFUL voice, who sang a solo and Noah who blew me away with her piano solo. the whole night was joyful and a bittersweet end to the semester. it is hard saying goodbye, even for just two months.

"and for our final performance, all teachers and students will join in one voice to praise God. let's give them a big round of applause" - that was my line right before the last two songs. every single student from both KICS campuses and all teachers sang on stage - you can see a few of them in this picture (this is just some of the Bucheon boys!). we sang this song called "i am" which i had only heard twice before (and therefore had to just pretend i was singing parts of it) but it sounded amazing. the elementary students sounded like little angels :) and it was a powerful performance i was glad to be a part of.

we watched a lot of movies during the last few weeks. the students that weren't practicing for the concert had to go to class, so we mostly hung out. the very last day, after the concert, the ninth graders had a bit of a photoshoot (see link above for some posted on facebook). kaka took some great photos! he's a natural.

with some of the ninth grade boys...exploding through the doorway into my homeroom...




tonight, we had a christmas eve party at church! it was a vastly different celebration than what i am accustomed to, but it was full of joy and good friends. bible trivia game, a hymn contest, and a gift exchange. i got a round, yellow pillow. this past week, i also got to attend a christmas party at a co-workers house (catchphrase and american food) and go to a multi-cultural church's christmas performance which was cool.

the foreign teachers singing "the first noel" in the hymn contest. we won socks, just for trying :) we didn't practice at all because we didn't know about until half an hour before. typical.

once again, MERRY CHRISTMAS. christmas is definitely the hardest time to not be around family, but we have our own little dysfunctional family here in bucheon. i miss you all and i pray that this season will be a blessing as you bless those around you.

"...Day and night, without ceasing they sing, 'Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God the Almighty, who was and is and is to come'..." - Revelation 4:8

"in order to form a more perfect onion..."

shenanigans?!?

the title of this blog post was one of the gems written on a final test given in American Government. i take great joy in quoting my students whenever possible. i had my class memorize the preamble to the US constitution a few weeks ago and it appeared again on the final test. i never knew a purpose of the government was to learn the secrets of onion farming...

yes! this week was FINALS week and i can't believe school is officially done for the semester! next week, the students are practicing for and then performing in a Christmas concert, so no teaching for us, just report cards to do.

short update on school #1: yes, it has been busy, but no, i have not been at school until 11 pm everyday! (i decided to take tests home and grade them while watching christmas movies :). between that and grading during "self-study" period (where we are forced to supervise students and make them study for their tests), i finished grading all five tests (three classes of three-page geography tests - they had to memorize all the capitals in europe, write a short essay, and more [and they did really well, although apparently i made some students hate geography with that test :)]- one class of pre-calculus, and one class of american government plus their final essays, by friday! which means no work for this weekend! that's a first...

besides school, i have managed to have a few adventures in the past few weeks:

- christmas shopping in insa-dong (plus seeing christmas lights in seoul and buying an itty bitty tree for my desk at school - see left!)

- korean pop-culture 101: learning pop culture from my students. top of the charts in korea right now, boy band "2 pm" - actually, this name sparked a discussion in one of my classes about silly bands names, so i taught them some obscure american bands and then made it an extra credit question on my final :) - a song called "heartbeat". it's absolutely ridiculous (and in my opinion, absolutely hilarious), but the students LOVE it. here it is: "k-pop" at its finest...




now that my classes know that i know about this, every time some of them see me, they dance the little "heartbeat" move...*thump thump thump*. lolz. did you catch the guy in the video with the ponytail?!? moving on...

- we saw a cat die during lunch break one day. we were outside throwing a disc when this cat apparently got hit by a car. now, those who know me know i don't even like cats, but it was the most bizarre, sad thing, seeing the cat die right there. he tried to stand up and ended up spinning in a circle on the ground, leaving a circle of blood on the pavement. then he stopped moving. then one of the street-cleaner guys came around with a broom and dustpan and swept him up.

-SNOW! last saturday and on tuesday, it snowed for about ten minutes each time. on thursday, it started snowing during fourth period, and since they were only supposed to be studying for my final, i took whoever wanted to go outside and we stood in the snow until it got too cold, which was about the time when one of my students said, "if i stay outside long enough, i will become snowman"

 - last friday night: youngsan (basically a huge mall with restaurants, a bookstore, everything) for thai food with kristin. we were waiting in line when we heard "umbrella" (yeah, rihanna) playing. that was a moment. five minutes later, i spotted a sign announcing the "2th anniversary" of a donut shop.

- today, i stumbled into a fantastic foreign foods store where i found spaghetti, whole wheat flour, and microwave popcorn.

- and now, since you've been such a devoted blog reader, an early gift for you: more funny exam answers. i kicked off finals week by perusing the interwebs for hilarious test answers. some of the best were found on this website; i especially love number 21.

classic.

my students are funny without even trying...

American Government: His entire answer to "Describe what happened at the Boston Massacre": "snow ball" (also wrote the "onion" answer). the same student wrote at the end of the test "please give me D - i hate F". i regret to inform you he earned an F.

Geography (9th grade students) - Some excerpts from essays about countries in Europe (any grammar/spelling mistakes are their own):

"I wouldn't like to visit this country. I don' t know about Poland. Then I afraid this country. But I want to live in this country. Because I want be a farmer. Poland have many farmers"

About why he wants to go to France: "Epel tower and snail food. Every body said snail food is good! So I need eat snail food"

"I want live in Ireland, but little bit problem. The problem is bye my parent. So, 1 year of Ireland and 1 year of Korea. Let go Ireland with me ms. Kari <3"

"what is I know about Hungary...I know only one. teacher! your blood is Hungarian...I want see in Budapest, but I don't want live in Hungary because I want live in Luxembourg [because it has the highest GDP in the world]"

"I don't want visit Romania and I don't want live there Because I don't like vampires. I'm very scare about vampires. If I live there vampires will come my home and Bite me so I will never visit to Romania"

"I chose Hungary because of the Great Hungarian Plain. I'm sure the Hungarians are proud of the Great Plain that is in their country...I would like to go to this country to see how Great the 'Great Hungarian Plain' is"

ahh, the joy seeing the fruits of my labor :)

although there have been some rough patches the last few weeks, i continue to be blessed by my students and coworkers. i'm looking forward to christmas, although i have no idea what or if we will be doing something, and also to china! i'm visiting for new years with ANNA!! and we're going to play ultimate in beijing :)

thanks so, so much for your kind words and your prayers. i am one quarter of the way through my contract as of this week! the time is flying by. please pray for spiritual fruit in the students' lives.

living the adventure. 

i'm so thanks to God...

as i approached "american thanksgiving" this week, i anticipated sadness and homesickness coming into the holiday season without my family. today, however, has been nothing less than an incredibly blessed day surrounded by wonderful people and in the presence of a mighty and giving God.

i just returned from an amazing and actually american thanksgiving meal at the home of another "permanent" foreign teacher (who has lived in korea for awhile and has the nicest apartment of anyone i've seen here). first instance of actual american food and the works for thanksgiving - turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, veggies, salad, rolls, gravy, cranberries, pumpkin pie, sparkling apple cider!...i wasn't expecting it at all, and in the company of about fifteen of my wonderful co-workers, it was a great way to spend the holiday.

[it was, however, missing lefse. there's no way it can be thanksgiving if there is no lefse :) ]

i haven't posted for awhile, so there is small gap in my existence here, but that's okay. today's post is all about giving thanks to the God that has brought me here. i definitely miss all of you at home (and abroad!) that i haven't seen in at least two months, sixteen days, and however many hours, and that makes it difficult at times. but God is good (can i get an amen?!?) and He has greater things in mind. hence, in honor of Konglish, the mix of korean and english that most students and even korean adults speak, here is a little list of what has been bouncing around in my head and prayers today as i thought of what "i am so thanks to God" for:

- His continual provision, in every little thing
- the fullness of joy in Christ
- giving me strength and growing me in wisdom everyday
- my family back home and their love and support and prayers (i wish i could celebrate with you!)
- my friends back home (and scattered about the world) and their faithfulness (have an amazing holiday with your family or your "family" wherever you are!!)
- my students and their beautiful smiling faces everyday when i walk into the classroom
- the other teachers and their servants' hearts
- the opportunity to learn from my brothers and sisters in Korea
- Rick Steves, for taking my geography students to Europe via YouTube :)
- grass. lovely, lovely grass (oh how i miss thee)
- clean air
- laughing everyday when a korean will inevitably say to me, "aren't you cold?"
- playing frisbee (really just tossing a disc) after school or during lunch break with students
- quail eggs, eggplant, and sweet potatoes
- christmas lights and christmas music
- getting lost in translation
- beauty in His creation
- stomach-aching laughter when Thomas told me i have a "whoa" bicep muscle (i don't remember what i was talking about, but i somehow flexed said "muscle" in making a gesture when teaching today)
- hugs and high-fives from students
- the opportunity to bless and serve others
- you, because you took the time to read all of this! i'm impressed :)

happy thanksgiving!!!
may the lord bless you and keep you, His face shine upon you, and give you peace forever. amen.

we're getting stronger every day...

you guys in the states have most likely heard of Pocky sticks, but it was Pepero in Korea that came up with the clever marketing scheme known as "Pepero Day".

that's right. while you on the west are remembering those who fought for our country, Korean children and couples are giving each other presents in the form of pretzel/wafers dipped in chocolate. 11.11 because this date looks like four pepero sticks.

behold, the pepero stick...

As far as holidays go, it was pretty adorable.

last weekend, i got to travel to the Cheung Cheon campus again and spent the entire day Saturday tossing a disc with some teachers and students (including helping to teach many students who had never thrown a frisbee before...and so the ultimate revolution begins!), playing soccer (Bucheon campus wins again, 6-1!), playing badminton with no net, watching ping-pong, taking some photos - basically running, throwing and jumping all day. you can imagine how i felt when i stood up the next morning, but it was a good kind of sore! the fresh mountain air was once again wonderful and refreshing, as well as the scenery and the sunrise.

so THIS is where all that spice comes from...

back to reality in bucheon...
genius point #1: our school got a new fingerprint clock-in system.

we don't have a library.

don't even think about suggesting to get calculators for our students.

but, dang it, now we only need our index fingers to let the administration know what time we showed up this morning. what bliss.

on sunday, i had my first official korean lesson! we are learning how to read and write which is exciting because up to now i only have learned a few spoken phrases. in geography class the other day, i used the new phrase i learned, "don't speak korean!", in korean and they all said "whoaaaaa!". ha.

lol like a banshee moment #1: i have mentioned before that mr. park (mrs. ko's husband) "adopted" me. he doesn't know much english, but whenever i'm around, he tells people proudly that i am his adopted daughter. mrs. ko has started calling me her daughter as well and last weekend they took don and i to dinner at mr. park's brother's restaurant. his sister-in-law ended up adopting me as her niece. mrs. ko also called her son (who lives in australia) and told him that they had an adopted daughter. the next thing out of her mouth was "what do you mean, 'have you been drinking?'"

more funny than embarrassing #1: on tuesday, i ripped a hole in my long (one of the only ones that actually conforms to the 'length rule') brown skirt on that part of the whiteboard ledge that sticks out. luckily, i was wearing shorts (as usual), but mike insisted that i "go downstairs". mike is always trying to get out of class. i stayed.

more funny than embarrassing #2: same day, i completely missed my chair when i was in the teacher's room. i was trying to fix my skirt and sort of ended up falling...onto the floor. there were many students around. they laughed with me. it was one of those days. someone asked me how i was doing and i just started laughing hysterically.

a-ha! moment #1: i was helping a student with a class that i don't teach yesterday. but it was a logic problem and luckily i really like logic problems. she said that she has never before figured out a logic problem. i helped her set up the problem and she ended up getting it right by herself. when we started the next one, she got really flustered just reading the question. i told her to draw it out and as we drew it out and she worked it out, it all of the sudden clicked and she honestly almost started crying she was so happy. :)

things are going well. many good conversations with teachers and students. so much hope. teaching is still difficult and time-consuming, but so, so joyful (praise God!).

i also highly recommend watching or listening to Mars Hill's "Luke" series. i finally found time to watch the first sermon yesterday and i am so excited for the next three years!

please pray that i will teach my students with wisdom and sound doctrine (titus 2:1).

(please listen to delirious? - "stronger")
i love you from the depths of my heart.

fun is free...

fall has finally arrived, with a flourish.

the week ended in chaos. "swine flu" closed down korean schools next week and the kids, hearing they got three days off next week, had a really difficult time focusing on anything. especially in eleventh grade (good people, bad students). pray for them!

saturday morning (halloween!) was perfect. i was up early to get in a sunrise hike before it starts to get colder. it was perfect and i went down a different and beautiful path, covered in leaves and bordering the army base, which is surrounded in ominous barbed wire - a perfect setting for a halloween morning! i took photos and walked around for an hour. i felt incredibly alive.

stereotypically fall #1: after i got back, i made mashed sweet potatoes and watched "it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown". ahh...the only thing i was lacking today was some sort of pumpkin baked good.

the rest of the day i spent at school, a lovely coffee shop, Minto, and Can-More. it rained and poured with a fierce wind, so i was glad to be inside for much of it - and so glad i had gone outside early this morning.

sunday: first time visiting itaewon. an odd shopping and cultural center buzzing with foreignors. i haven't heard that much english since we were in insadong that one time.

what the... moment #1: in an earlier post (october 14th) i mentioned a discussion between my students and i about the phrase "what the". much to my surprise, the one (and only?) English bookstore is called "what the book?" i couldn't believe it.

blessing point #7: i really like hugs.
i've been missing hugs, and i realize that since i've been here, they have been few and far between. this week, i happened to watch juan mann's "free hugs" video for the first time in years and i said to myself, "if i see someone holding a 'free hugs' sign, i'm definitely in!". coming up the stairs in the subway station after leaving itaewon, there he was! a guy holding a 'free hugs' sign. there was a camera around him, which made me a little uneasy, but i went right up and got my free hug. they also had me tell them where i was from and my name, and as don says, i might end up on youtube someday...hah. it made me happy. i really like hugs :)

in case you haven't seen it, or if like me its been awhile, prepare to be heartwarmed :) (i think i just made up a word)







here's to a beautiful fall...

back in the swing...

...the old routine! see new pictures here!

it was nice to have a "week off" for midterms, meaning a week off of teaching, but of course i still had to make tests and do various other things (mostly help my students study!). its also nice to be teaching again! i was so proud of my students though...their test grades went way up on the midterm! i even had them write essay questions in english, but they worked really hard and did really well. woohoooooo!!!

this week in geography we are talking about language and culture - or what I see as an opportunity to teach them the finer things in life, like Sigur Rós, among other things :). i also showed a video about a click language and multilanguage Disney music videos...



american government provided me the opportunity to show a schoolhouse rock video about the declaration of independence...



i have to show the videos from my laptop, but its better than nothing and boy! i have never seen my students so quiet and concentrated...!

so classes have been good, although the students are having a hard time adjusting after last week. the midterm schedule was such that they had two tests a day, first and third period, and then self-study for the other four classes a day...you can imagine what chaos ensued during that time. but they're great and a blessing every single day...not to mention surprising!

friday night was refreshing. we went out to a buffet to celebrate two birthdays with a group of 8 or so people. they were the "younger" teacher crowd for the most part, including some teachers from last year. its hard to explain, but that time was really edifying for me, being in fellowship and getting to know some really fantastic people, talking about anything and everything. i needed it. i made a new friend (female and close to my age!) that i got along with really well, even after just a few hours. sunny's mom (in pink) also came and although she doesn't speak much english, she was generous enough to pay for our whole meal because she enjoyed being a part of our joyful evening. altogether, i was blown away by these people (see below). i love being around people who give me an even greater desire to know Jesus and that is exactly what this night was like for me. hallelujah, indeed.

saturday, sunday, and monday before school and between classes, i graded midterms. i finished with two minutes to spare and every student got their midterm back (after having taken it on friday) yessssssssssss. now i have to input grades and make midterm report card comments! its weird to be on the "other side" of this process!

oh and by the way, this is my modeling career, beginning and end (also seen in life-size at the expo last week). oh boy. why??? (notice the "walt disney" font!)

oh boy! it is wednesday. i should sleep.

i miss you all. thanks for your continual prayer for the students here, their families, and the other teachers. its a long road ahead!

it is well...

i give midterms to four of my classes today! three classes of geography and american government. good luck to all my young friends!! seriously, they're not that hard.

i was at the school until after midnight last night helping students study and also putting up the class photo up that i took in my homeroom - i got some photos printed and they look awesome.

i came to the school at six am to print out my tests which took more than an hour because the printer wasn't working from my computer so i tried almost every other teacher's computers until i finally found one that didn't need a password, had office 2007, and worked with the printer. God provides, but He sure made me nervous :)

there was a Christian Expo this week and there was a KICS booth there...apparently, the picture they took for the brochure also became a LIFESIZE banner at the expo. wtf.

i am incredibly awake this morning and i hope that i will last this whole day. luckily, after i give my tests, i don't have much to do, so here goes...

that's all i have time for (chapel in ten minutes - teacher's meeting now!) but i wanted to get that little update out. keep me updated on YOU! i'm having so much fun with the students and teachers, but i still think about and pray for each one of you that reads this.

peace, like a river.

(one of my favorites...)

the only thing more beautiful than vesper light...

i thought my next post would come sooner than it did, but it has turned out to be one of those weeks yet again! wonderful, yet full. this is the first day this week i got off work early - home at 8:30! and guess what?


SO MANY NEW PICTURES of about one hundred or so of my favorite people in korea!!!

this last week and weekend have been nothing short of exciting.

best lesson in geography class so far:
i got to teach my students the word "precious" (as in precious gems, precious metals from our discussion of the mining industry). how else? i used Gollum from LOTR.

i also really enjoyed (as did my students) talking about conservation and being a good steward of the earth. i had heard about the work of Seattle-native Chris Jordan before, art made to show how much we consume. check out the link - it was a great way to get their attention and produced a strong reaction.

friday, i took my camera to school. i want to cover my homeroom walls with pictures of my students, so i took a few that you can see on my facebook photo link. here's my beautiful 9-3 homeroom:

from left to right -

back row:
hanuel, gahee, sarah, noah, levi, james, andrew, joshua

front row:
jessie, runa, johnny, simon, miriam, david, seonghak, eileen, faith






yeah, best homeroom in the school. obviously.

friday night, the students and a few teachers and staff headed to Goesan, to the Cheung Cheon campus of KICS in the mountains. its a much smaller school of only fifty students, but their school challenged us "city slickers" to a soccer match.

number one highlight: the bus ride from bucheon to goesan. i had very little sleep nearing the end of that week, so i was expecting a dozey bus ride. instead, i was surrounded by a sea of joy...
all the students on the packed KICS bus sang loudly and passionately almost the whole way. after seeing them mumble the english hymn lyrics every morning, i was indescribably at peace the whole ride. CCM, Korean hymns (both of which are not allowed in chapel) - i sang along in English when i knew the tune. ah! so much joy in that bus! a slice of heaven, worshiping with your brothers and sisters in one soul and heart in every tongue - freedom and genuine community. this was also the moment i decided to start working harder on learning korean - to better understand the heart of each student which they express better in korean. there was an undeniable presence of the Spirit during those three hours.

saturday at Cheung Cheon was a day for fun and games with both campuses together which culminated in a soccer duel between the two campuses, which of course was won by Bucheon - five to one. slaughter. i spent the entire day taking photos of the students, having a blast, and running back and forth under the beautifully warm and sunny sky to change the angle i shot from. after the students played, we also had a teacher-student team vs student team. the teacher team won. i, of course, was the only girl on the field.

this week so far:

monday: we had a discussion in 9-3 about the meaning of "what the...". apparently, they pick up american slang better than their geography terms. it ended in a nonsensical exclamation by simon - "what the my wife!" which left half of the class laughing (including me) and the other half watching in bewilderment.
the dynamic in every class is so different, but one thing all classes have in common is the vast gap between the level of english among the students.

blessing point #2: i was exhausted and somewhat discouraged after a late night and a long discussion about the problems with our 11th grade class. back at the dorm, three students and i spent an hour in my room talking about life. i've missed that :) i love hearing their stories and their hearts, hearing about their families, their dreams, their gifts, and then sharing mine.

tuesday: i was unwillingly volunteered as a model for a KICS brochure. they made me brush my hair.

tuesday night: lightning storm. so good.

today (wednesday): during my attendance, some of the students were talking quietly and then out of nowhere levi (in 9-3) started singing "you...are...so beautiful, to me". i never know what to expect with that kid. in 9-1, sarah started singing "it's raining men" and as i walked to the front of class i sang "hallelujah!". my kids never know what to expect with me either.

blessing point #3,4,5,6: yesterday morning i woke up freezing, so i was pleasantly surprised to feel the heat as soon as i stepped out of my bed this morning (heated floors, yesssssssssssss). first time they've had eggplant at lunch (ahh!). perfectly warm with a perfect little chill at 3:25 pm outside on the roof of KICS before chapel (lovely). and the vesper light...

please pray for renewed strength (my eyes were so heavy today! half of the teachers passed out at about 2 today at their desks...), for the students' endurance as they prepare for midterms next week, and for the leadership of KICS. i love you all!

just a note...

...or what i entitled in my journal as "october the fifth, two thousand nine: a short treatise on the day in which I worked fifteen hours, started and ended my career as a professional "recording artist", and became someone's adopted daughter"...

[yes, i know this is from last monday, but as you'll find out in my next, i haven't had much time for blogging. so this is a little catch up...]

Teacher's Day number two, on a sunny and calm October day after a major holiday weekend.

It began like any other day, clocking in exactly six minutes before I was required to arrive at the school building (okay, this isn't true at all. most days, more like half an hour before). As per unusual, I got right to work planning my lessons for the following week. I spent the hours from 9-5 making said plans, creating fun and interesting ! activities for my geography class, trading in World Studies (hallelujah! no more ESL-B class - don't get me wrong, i love the kids, but i can't teach them well) for a Pre-Calculus class (gulp, is it worth it? i haven't taken any math since high school...), and yawning through American Government, peaking my interest in a side road through dictatorships.

Sigur Rós, John van Deusen, and assorted electronic and instrumental muezicks were the predominant aural pleasures of the afternoon and the isolation of my noise-reducing headphones was enough to keep out distractions, yet let in useful information, although I seemed to have missed the part where our lovely VP volunteered me for a recording task...

Later that afternoon, besides getting a bank card at "Human & Nature" (hippie?!?) Bank, I worked upstairs in my homeroom, braving the chemical smell from the concurrent floor waxing in nearby rooms, in order to mount my delicately created wall posters for my lovely class (okay, my FAVORITE class!).

I worked through dinner, sustaining on two lovely rolls of 1,000 won kimbap (that's right, a two-dolla dinnah), that Dustin generously delivered to me, along with the giant Asian pear sitting on my desk.

<------- cheap dinner. but delicious.

I told Sunny Ko (our VP) I had a lot to do (true story - I still hadn't read the Pre-Calc book at midnight), and I almost got off the hook for recording, until 8 pm rolled around. Dustin had already been "volunteered" as well, being the two youngest staff members, and Pastor Kim wanted my voice (which Mrs. Ko called "attractive" - now that's one I have never heard before...)

and that is how i became a recording artist.

dustin and i each read and recorded the 900 sentences of the "KICS Basic English Sentences".
the idea behind this book is for these native Koreans to better learn conversational English, so they have this book with sentences they have to memorize. 900 Basic English Sentences.

Such As:
"I already have a phonograph, but I do not have a radio yet."
"I was born on November first, nineteen thirty five."

So, obviously, important things to know how to say in English.

two hours.

no breaks.

around 300 sentences, the recording started becoming more and more ridiculous. the intonation in our voices became more dramatic and we also spent most of our time trying to make the one reading laugh by acting out the sentence. we definitely broke into laughter more than once and NOT ONCE did Pastor Lee or Sunny stop the recording or make us redo it. this tape is supposed to help kids learn the pronunciations.

I was able to maintain composure for most of it. My downfall: "Let me give you some fatherly advice."

later in the office, probably around 11 pm, Mr. Park (the Mr. Park in the hula hoop picture), Sunny Ko's husband, was talking to me and mentioned that he always wanted a daughter. Somewhere in that conversation (by the way, he speaks English, but not very well), he said I could be his adopted daughter. Then he played "Yesterday", yes, by the Beatles, on his pan flute.

8:54-midnight. longest workday yet. well, until thursday night. which went from 7:30 am -11:30 pm.

never a dull moment.

to make a wretch his treasure...

for the visual learners...

[photos from this weekend...take a look! i got a new editing program and it keeps the photos at much higher quality (although facebook still doesn't do them justice...)]

such a fast week! only three days, and four of my classes had tests. right now, my hardest struggle is teaching the subject without knowing how much english each individual student can comprehend. the most difficult part is that, when asked to participate, the students who speak up in class are the ones who are understanding. the ones who don't won't get any better without practicing speaking, but they are afraid to be embarrassed. it's a never-ending cycle. after looking at the test results, however, we need to do a lot of work with vocabulary! even though many students understood during the review, they had a hard time with test questions that i thought would be fairly easy...it's all part of the adventure and the learning process.

i asked my geography kids to give class evaluations, in order to learn how to make the class better. a good indication of how that went was when someone asked me what "dislike" meant, when i had them write what they disliked about the class. apparently, most students enjoy the class, but the language barrier makes the material hard for them to learn and memorize.

today is chuseok! i hope all my students are enjoying their holiday! i made sure of that by not giving any homework.

thursday was teacher's day...foreign teachers were at school with no children. it was nice because i got to wear PANTS (have i mentioned that i am required to wear a skirt six days of the week??) and it was a good chance to get to know a lot of my co-workers, for better or for worse, all crowded into that room for a whole day. i didn't get a lot of school stuff done because we had to decorate our homeroom classes, which i haven't finished either. but we have another teacher's day monday!

thursday night! we went to Wolmido, a part of Incheon. it was a perfectly lovely night, warm and clear, but most importantly clean. my lungs were very grateful. being on the water, there was a nice boardwalk complete with seafood restaurants and fish in tanks everywhere and arcades, games, and fireworks. it felt a bit like summer vacation on that first day of october! we ate at a chinese restaurant (although it was korean-style chinese food) and then wandered around, playing games and even riding some amusement park rides (see my photo link above - there is plenty of visual information!).

the most fascinating thing for me was this crazy disco ride that spins in a circle, bumps, plays music, and has a commentator sitting above them making comments about the people on the ride, while a huge crowd sits, stands and watches, laughing for hours at the people on this ride.

on this particular occasion, there was a guy standing in the middle, doing flips whenever the ride gave him a bump. it was insane.


needless to say, the bright lights and interesting people and events of the evening kept me quite busy with my camera. it was a fun night to spend with some fellow teachers. i have to admit though that i really miss hanging out with college students, people my own age. i really respect my teachers and i do have fun with them, but there are definite generation gaps at times that leave me wishing for some good friends to fellowship with, where i can be completely myself.

friday morning we took a long subway ride into seoul to the korean folk village. it was fun to see traditional houses and crafts, and it was a beautiful, sunny day downtown. we ate cold and hot noodles and mandu, a sort of dumpling was quite reminiscent of chinese jiaozi and baozi, but in a slightly different shape. we then hit up a "traditional" market at insa-dong, which was more appropriately termed a tourist market by mary smith; there were more white people there (in the two hours we explored) then i've seen in all of korea thusfar. a lot of expensive, similar looking items.


at the insa-dong market - a man making rice cakes ---------------->




another favorite food that we've discovered is a waffle fish - waffle batter filled with red bean in the shape of a fish. i have no idea what they're called, but they're incredibly cheap and deliciously filling.

still on the topic of food, it is 1 pm and i'm really hungry. i will shortly emerge on this chuseok day and see how deserted (or not) bucheon is!

happy chuseok, everybody!

where the gates swing outward never...

hey mom, look! new photos!!

by the way, i have skype - my name is karikut. talk to me!

in addition, if anyone feels so inclined, i would always love to receive mail. and my friend who got a letter said the postage was only about 80 cents from the US!

Kari Kutrich c/o KICS
581-3 Songnae-Dong Sosa-Gu Bucheon City
Gyeonggi-Do South Korea 420-844

aye aye aye! only a three day week ahead of me! this next weekend is the Chuseok holiday, the Korean version of Thanksgiving. This means I should have a much easier week, but who knows? we also have some fun things planned for next weekend, so i'm hoping i'll have more adventures and pictures by next week!

this week, i am basically giving two tests, that i hope to finish writing today, in two subjects (Geography and American Government), and planning some activities for ESL-B, like writing sonnets and looking at art, because we are talking about the Renaissance. By the way, my ESL-B class is still by far the most challenging. They did not-so-well on the first test I gave them; one boy got almost 100% and the next highest grade was a D! I thought the test should be simple for them, but now I have a really good indication of how well most of them actually comprehend English.

i know i shouldn't have favorites, but i am loving a few of my ninth grade classes (who i teach geography to). on friday, i gave them some time to work on a review/activity for chapter two and ended up talking to a few students. one boy, johnny, told me about his day trip to north korea. another guy told me about friends he knew from the US who were north korean refugees. i became increasingly interested in NK this past year, through my trip to China and the town of Tumen where we looked across the river into NK, and through the organization LiNK, who gave a powerful presentation on the living conditions of the people. now, talking to people who are personally connected to the country, even in the smallest ways, has been truly fascinating. i hope to explore a lot of south korea, but if i had to choose, my number one destination is the DMZ, the demilitarized zone between north and south. in our limited time, i was struck by johnny's comment about the people - he said they were very small and short (and i thought south koreans were!)

this weekend was eventful, meaning i haven't gotten a lot of (or any) work done yet.

friday night, we took the subway to part of Seoul where we had a massive buffet feast. it was "american-style", but included korean dishes too. it was nice to get my fix of veggies and fruit. we were there for hours, just eating and talking. it was a good way to end the week, especially with some people i haven't spent a lot of time with.





saturday, we made our much awaited trip to Costco. don had arranged for the school to take a group of us foreignors to the store in a school van, and we loaded up with eleven people, plus groceries on the way back. besides the food court, however, everything cost at least double that it does in the states, so we didn't buy all that much. i got some breakfast supplies that should last me through the winter :), plus some beautiful bananas.



in the afternoon, i was able to toss a disc around with don. it was the first time since i've been here!

last night, we went to a korean style BBQ buffet, where i happily munched on grilled tofu, mandu, lettuce, and korean pancakes (kimchi, bisquick, green onion), while the guys ate their fill of beef and pork. not bad for five dollars each.

laughed-out-loud-in-church moment #2: the pastor started talking about a soccer game on Oct 9th, which i thought he was talking about our school team vs their school team (there are two KICS campuses), until he said something about me playing soccer, or so the translator said. after church, someone else told me the translation was more than that - we are apparently having a female vs male game and they want me to coach the females. oh boy. i don't know if they mean students or teachers, but this should be interesting.

i should get to writing those tests! this is for all those scantrons in tenth grade...

...but i could tell you the four types of forest climates and all of their features! (hopefully my students can too...)

write back soon!
<3, kari

casting pearls before swine...

H1N1 has hit our school! at least one teacher and a few students had the virus this past week. pray that it doesn't become an epidemic in our school! people are in very close quarters here...classrooms are small and stuffy, most students live in dorms, so germs can spread rather quickly. however, they are taking all necessary precautions - quarantine for three days for the infected and we have a newly installed automatic hand sanitizing machine. woot.

really, though, we'll be fine.

hello there, friends. i wish i could sit down and talk to you face to face. what is going on in your life? somedays i feel really far away from home, but, as my mom says, "hearing" your words on this blog makes you feel closer. wish you were here!

word on the apartment: i should move in on the 26th. yes, that means i will be in this dorm room over two weeks total. it really isn't so bad, i just want to get out of my suitcases. here's where i have been:

the lovely green bathroom                                                             

not quite emerson... :) but it does have a/c

(dad! there's your cinnamony suitcase!)

the end of this week was...interesting, yet very good! always surprising, and usually rewarding.

wth moment #1: five minutes into fifth period on monday, Mrs. Ko (our vice principal) told me i was supposed to be teaching a class. so i was thrust into yet another class spur the moment, this time teaching PUBLIC SPEAKING to a bunch of eighth graders (again, what is it with the subjects i know nothing about?). despite picking up the book and reading it as i taught, it was actually quite an enjoyable class. one girl, esther, i had met the night before and learned that she lived in tacoma the last four years, so having her in my class was fun (plus, she speaks fluent english and korean so she'll be very helpful to the other students and to me when they don't understand!)

humorous moment #4: on thursday, a minute or so after starting my geography class, Mrs. Ko walks in with a girl about my age and tells me there is a student teacher in my class. precisely one week minus one day after i start teaching, i now have someone sitting in my class who is supposed to be learning how to teach. you've got to be kidding me.

blessing point #1 (this is funny because we give "tallies" for bad behavior and "blessing points" for good behavior): after class, the student teacher came up to talk to me and had really good things to say about what she saw. i couldn't even believe it. i almost wish she would've told me what i did wrong (cuz i know there are many things i have to work on), but she gave me really positive feedback. she especially liked that i smile at my students while i'm teaching. i didn't even realize i did that. she was shocked when she learned that i am only a couple of years older than her and had only been teaching a week (she told me she thought i was a 'professional teacher'. ha)

cruel joke #1: i gave a pop quiz to my geography classes on friday. there are people in every class who haven't been doing their homework, so i wanted to check up on them, keep them awake.

the sched: basically, i teach five classes everyday (out of six total class periods, and i teach six on thursdays). they split up classes by grade, and sometimes the grades are split because there are more students in some grades. so i have three ninth grade geography classes (9-1, 9-2, 9-3), one eleventh grade american government class, one ESL-B (7th grade) world studies class, one eighth grade speech class (once a week), and then my homeroom is 10-1 (so half of the tenth graders). most classes are five times a week, forty-five minutes each. i enjoy the variety.

teaching the same exact thing to three different classes (of geography) has been an interesting experience. i usually learn during my first class what works, solidify it by my second, and have the class completely memorized by the third (i kind of feel bad for that first class, but it kind of evens out because the schedule isn't the same everyday).

teaching bonus #1: all this repetition has its upside. at this point, i can tell you the difference between a bog, a marsh, and a swamp. booyahhhh. i would totally ace my own tests.

friday joy #1: went to korean BBQ where we sat outside and had delicious lettuce. there was other food too, but i loved having fresh veggies. it seems that every time i get veggies, it is cooked and smothered in some nasty sauce.

friday joy #2: went to the "other side" of Bucheon Station - college town central. shopping, night clubs. our stop, however, was for some amazing ice shaving dessert with fruit. not like shave ice, but ice shavings ( i wish i took a picture) that tasted sweet. new favorite.

friday joy #3: i met person #2 who is my age and gender (rare these days, it seems), and we clicked. it was nice to have some "girl time". i got to see her apartment (her parents also work at KICS) and it is so much nicer than the other ones i have seen. i hope mine looks more like hers, but i highly doubt it will. we even watched the disney channel in english and mr. bean was on. talk about a great friday night.

blessing point #2: i took a lot of rest, did a bit of work and grading, watched 'beauty and the beast', and went to dinner for bibimbap and cold noodles with grace (who offered to pay). i told her i needed shampoo from the OK Mart (our local convenience store for urgent needs) and she gave me a bottle that she had at the dorm.

this is getting really long, but this last part is the best part of the adventure so far! so go get a cup of tea, sit back, and breathe in...

i, along with some fellow teachers and administration, went on a hike today! too much time in the city has left me longing for some good air and green...

most of our group, plus random woman in blue.             

yes, i was the only one in the group under forty, but i enjoy all of them.

it was a short hike, but exactly what we all needed on this grey sunday afternoon.

things to note about this hike:

-although people call it a "mountain", it is no more than a glorified hill.

-the trails were packed! koreans, decked out in hiking gear (hiking poles and all) were out and about, young and old.

-we came to three different exercise stations. these sets of equipment are also found in the city, but i found it quite funny that you can hike to a place to work-out (what is the hike for then?). we came to the final stop, including a fresh springwater fountain, weight-lifting, badminton courts, giant hula-hoops, parallel bars and more where a good amount of people were working out.

-we also climbed up a series of stairs to an army base and the top of the climb. the trees blocked our view of the city, though.

-the air. as we came into the gardens which led to the trails, i could feel and taste the difference. crisper, cleaner, absolutely lovely. i think i'm going to make this hike a weekly occurance. there are still more trails to explore!

sunday funnies #1: when we got back to our "neighborhood", we ordered from "Big Mama Pizza" since we thought it would be a good post-hike dinner. the korean koncoction of sweet potato on pizza proved to be a welcomed treat to my taste buds.

i finally exercised my camera! check out more pictures on my facebook!


thanks for staying with me, friends. i give my first test tomorrow. i hope my students won't murder me with any icy glares (but at least they knew about this one!). hope to hear from you soon :)

count your blessings...

on my last post, david (yep, that's a shout-out to the mccoy - did you know that part of the earth's crust is called "sima"? tell sina.) inquired as to my name on this blog - kareoke. the reason it is spelled like way (of course, to be clever :) happened as i was searching for anagram for "korea". when i thought of the karaoke habit, i couldn't pass it up. it also makes it sound more like my name, so that works. also, as to the outback, the menu is definitely american-style - no barbecued kimchi! :)

humourous moment #1 (aka when i laughed out loud in the middle of a shopping center):

really, america? you had the send the dregs of yourself to other countries? really?

this weekend was mostly restful, although i spent a considerable time working and talking about work (disregard the numerical specifications. they are mostly useless.):

unexpected moment #1: on friday, they informed me i was to join the "foreign teacher choir". so we sang a song in church on sunday.

humourous moment #2: most of the sunday service is in Korean, so the monolingual foreignors wear translators with headphones, through which an administrator translates the sermon. during the announcements, at one point the pastor looked and motioned to me, and then i realized a few others were looking as well, but not until a few seconds later did i hear through my headphones, "and we have a new teacher, Kari. Kari, please stand up". i stood up to the translator giggling in my ears.

odd incident times sixty: most everyone here simply refers to me as Kari. all the homerooms list their teachers, and most say things such as "mr. mills, mrs. jobeth" but mine just says Kari. i have no idea why. or maybe i do. as funny as it is to hear koreans say "kahreeh", you should hear them pronounce my last name.

super fun time: i sat in the office (which is really a bunch of desks all pushed together, in groups of six - they really pack the teachers in like sardines), trying to figure out the next week, when mrs. briscoe (i'm still not sure what her title is, but she works with the foreign teachers) asked if i wanted to take a break and play ping-pong or soccer. she said "sunday is a time for play!". i ended up playing soccer on a sand field with about 18 students - all male. ever since, the teachers that speak Korean say that the students have been talking about me as a "soccer player". soccer is a huge thing over here, but i especially find it funny that they find it a big deal that i can play. during the game, if the ball was in the air and i went up for it, the boys never challenged me.

humourous moment #3: these same teachers also informed me that there has been a buzz about me among the male students because they think i am "very pretty". oh, boys.

on a more less-than-fun note, teaching so far has been much more work than i thought it would be. these last two days, i have been at the school for at least twelve hours a day. when they say "8-5", it is more of a suggestion, not the actual time it will take to get everything done. since i arrived two weeks after school started, everyone else has course outlines for the semester, so in the last two days, i have made three syllabi, learned the computer grading system (as well as every other "system" - tallies for punishment, school schedule, teaching styles), graded three classes tests, taught five classes per day, read the first few chapters of three textbooks plus the added activities and ideas...i got really overwhelmed at one point yesterday, but things are evening out as i get into a rhythm and it should calm down eventually as i actually figure out how to teach effectively. right now, it is a lot of experimenting, remembering that every class is both the subject and the english language, which is the second for most students.

i'm really enjoying my students, most of the time. there is a class of ESL beginners, meaning they have an extremely low comprehension of English, so teaching them World Studies on top of English has been a huge challenge. also, when i walked into class today, some boys were physically fighting each other and yelling (cursing, probably) in korean and things got worse from there, although it quieted down once two boys were sent out. i felt bad for the students who were actually trying to learn. after class, two sweet girls, rachel and joy, said to me, "i'm sorry teacher! the boys...so bad!".

the teachers and staff here are wonderful as well. most of the weekend, i didn't have to think about where to get food or even pay for most of it. there is always someone to eat with, to show us a good restaurant and what to order (very few menus with pictures).

necessary survival skill #1: i'm learning to like spicy food.

it's been fun getting to know my fellow teachers - they are quite the fascinating bunch of people.

thank you, thank you, for your words and prayers - all of you reading this have been a blessing in my life and i couldn't imagine getting through this year without your support. i love coming back after a long day and being refreshed by you! despite the difficulties, i am learning a lot, experiencing great things, and interacting with some wonderful people. God is so good! please pray for patience, endurance, and wisdom as i continue teaching this week!

day two...

another quick post, as it is almost noon and i have still yet to leave this little room (i've been taking care of a few things - figuring out my cell phone, internetz, and all that good stuff)! i'm hoping to go exploring today, although it was raining hard this morning (and the roof in the hallway was leaking). i have no idea if it still is raining, unfortunately i can't see outside from here.

yesterday was day one. i was functioning on little sleep (i kept waking up every few hours and staying up for a long time) and no food (i couldn't eat before visiting the clinic) and had to introduce myself in front of the school, which was actually only the high schoolers (and besides that is a fairly small school anyway) in chapel. i have no idea what i said up there.

i met my fellow teachers, who are proving to be nothing short of amazing. i'm working at Korea International Christian School, which is incredibly conservative, but for the most part, the people are great. some of them took me out to dinner last night (asian fusion and the outback steakhouse of all things for dessert) and showed me the town. don (dallas), steve (uk), sunny (new york/chicago/las vegas), and dustin (oklahoma) are all great, interesting, and very diverse and i'm excited to get to know them and everyone else (they are a lot of foreign teachers as well as korean teachers). a few were excited to hear that i go to mars hill, as they have heard a lot about mark driscoll and the church.

imagine my surprise when i was introduced to everyone as the new GEOGRAPHY and AMERICAN GOVERNMENT high school teacher!! i almost laughed out loud, knowing that i will be learning right along with these students, a few chapters ahead if anything. it turns out that most foreign teachers here weren't placed in their element. i even had to teach a few classes yesterday. the lady in charge told me i was to be "introduced" to the class, then she handed me a book, showed me where she left off (she was filling in for me since their school actually started two weeks ago), and left the room. wow. this should be interesting.

this is turning out fairly long, but i need to get over to the school and to run a few errands. oh, and about the doctor? not too painful, although i have a huge bruise in my elbow-pit where the doctor jabbed a needle in to draw my blood...

here i am...where am i?

i told a few of you that i would be getting a blog, and it has finally come to pass. hopefully you won't regret making this request, because now you have to read it. :)

[i have only a few minutes until i am supposed to meet someone to take me to the clinic for my health exam, so this will be rather short.] after roughly 10 and a half hours, i made it to the Seoul-Incheon international airport around 5:30 pm and met my driver around 6. the drive through to Bucheon took about an hour, mostly because we hit rush-hour traffic. at first, i just stared out the window, taking in the green rolling hills and ports of Incheon to the increasingly hazy skies and bright lights of the city. not being able to sleep on the plane meant that by now, it was close to 2 am back home and i had a hard time keeping my eyes open, thus the statement that i am quite unaware of exactly where i am besides my immediate surroundings.

we finally made it to the school where we waited. i didn't even know who for until the woman showed up who i had talked to on the phone. a woman named Grace took me to my temporary room (for a night or two) in the girls dorm, which is where i am now, picking up a random wireless signal.

living out of four different bags (there is no such thing as packing light when packing for a year!) makes me hope that my apartment will be ready to move into for tonight. the only minor explosion occuring in my suitcase was a small container of cinnamon (they told us to bring spices we liked), and besides a powdery mess, my suitcase now smells like a snickerdoodle (probably some of my clothes as well). i can't wait to unpack and get settled, but i don't even know how long that will be.

i haven't even taken out my camera, much less taken any pictures. this short update will hopefully turn into an interesting account of new adventures once i get settled in (hopefully i will be able to steal wireless there, at least at first).

from the land of the morning calm...