Thursday, November 26, 2009

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.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

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.

Sunday, November 1, 2009

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...