this is for my mom...

happy birthday!

you have been asking me to write a post about your trip here so i will make it part of your birthday present :)

you have no idea how excited i was to see you when i picked you up at the airport. i couldn't believe you guys were really here. it feels so long ago now but i remember that moment well. can you believe you were in korea? sometimes i can't believe i am.

i loved seeing korea through your eyes. you gave me a new perspective as a first-time asia traveler, overwhelmed with the language and all the new experiences. i was impressed. you did really well adapting in the short time you were here.

i loved hearing you try to speak korean the first few days :) and even more impressed when you got better over the days.

i loved seeing you struggle through some of the cultural differences. i loved that you were able to deal with those struggles with such an optimistic attitude.

i loved walking with you on the beach. no matter where you are, you are at home on the beach. busan was no different.

i loved that you picked out a fresh fish at jagalchi fish market - you went for it! that was such a memorable experience (and the best fish i've had in korea!)

i loved that we found the outdoor foot spa and went into the wrong pool first.

i loved that even in korea you can still make friends with strangers.

i loved that you tried new things.

i loved exploring new places with you. busan. the dmz. seoul.

i loved how affected you were by our experience at the dmz. you put into words some things that i was thinking but couldn't express. it was a pleasure to look into the south korean side of north korea for the first time with you. i vividly remember walking down into the 3rd tunnel of infiltration and ducking under the dripping ceiling, imagining the toil of the north korean soldiers. i can't believe i have a picture with you standing on the north korean side of the panmunjeon conference center. thank you for coming with an open mind and open eyes to share that with me.

i loved the night view at the base of the seoul tower. i'm glad you convinced me to keep going. thank you for your endurance during a long day.

i loved seeing you in my classrooms in front of my students in 'teacher mode'. i'm so glad you got to see why i love them so much. thank you for your extra work in getting your class to send pen-pal letters to my students. it was so much fun for everyone.

i loved that you gave your attention to the people who have meant so much to me here.

i loved that you came to visit me in korea.

i love you! happy birthday!

awesome!

i recently discovered i live a block from a puzzle factory.

AWESOME!

thinking some thoughts on thinking...

i don't mean to disappoint...this isn't actually a post about metacognition.

thinkings #1: i was thinking the other day about whether or not i was a pacifist. i was leaning toward the affirmative, until i realized that i would fully support and also engage in a full-scale Mosquito Genocide in Korea summer 2010.

habit #1: ever since jonsi's 'go' came out, i can no longer make "to do" lists. instead, my weekly duties are titled "go do".

thinkings #2: i think i will become nocturnal this summer. Korea is just too darn hot.

dae han min guk! #1: so technically i was "cheering" for korea in their match against argentina on thursday night, but of course knew the inevitable outcome. they played the game upstairs on the screen in our chapel for the students and it was fun seeing them go crazy when korea scored. but that only happened once because argentina danced around them the rest of the game to the tune of 4-1.

thinkings #3: i will probably come back and finish this off later...there is too much running around my brain right now.

the glee finale was SO GOOD.

what a day...

just a few (okay 40) new photos!

"what's up, my homies?"

i have been teaching some of my students slang and i really love it when they talk like FOB gangstas. 

new photos are from my birthday party, although the whole day was really a party.

the whole day was a blessing. i was a bit disappointed that it was raining, but i had so much to do that it didn't really end up being a big deal. and at one point i actually had to run in the rain while wearing a dress...and it was wonderful.

my students blessed me in countless ways.

three different classes got me a total of three cakes during the day. luckily, high schoolers are equally as good at devouring said cakes as they are of providing them. the best presents were letters from students. their words, although limited in their english expression, mean so much.

i definitely wasn't going to do regular classes on my birthday, so i instead presented them with a challenge - make a list of 100 things they want to do before they die. try it. it is actually much more difficult than you might expect. to help inspire them, i showed a power point of my own list in each class. one of my favorites, noah, came up to me really excited and said she could help me complete some of them. [okay, okay, so i shouldn't have favorites. i have about seventy. it's a problem.] however, noah is a special girl and i'm really, really sad that her last day was on friday. she is leaving to pursue music...she is incredibly talented at violin and piano.

so the whole day was fun (and i made every class no-bake cookies which they devoured) and such a whirlwind. some highlights include sammy teacher bringing all of 10-1 into the teacher's office to sing happy birthday and my homeroom throwing a little party after school, complete with balloons and cake and candles. the second cake, given by my homeroom, they wouldn't eat any of and they made me take the whole thing home. on top of that, i had a box of letters from them, two unopened box-gifts, and stacked on top of all of these was a party hat from my homeroom. just imagine what it must have looked like to see me walking home down the street with this stack...in the rain. wearing a dress.

the after-school party (as in the photos) was almost the entire 9-2 class in my apartment. it was hilarious how crowded and chaotic those few hours were, but it was indescribably wonderful to be surrounded by so much joy with such wonderful people. i make the whole-wheat pizza crust the day before, but the students brought toppings, drinks, ice cream and cake and then actually only about 5 of them did all of the preparation, cooking, AND clean-up, which was completely unexpected. i hardly had to clean up at all after all 15 or so of them left! we played games, took a ton of photos (one of the funniest things - they all took pictures of my room when they first came in), ate a lot, sang, and made a gross drink concoction as punishment for losing a game...i would say it was a successful evening.

blessings came from home as well in the form of packages and cards.

as i told my students, i fully expected to be homesick on my birthday, but i honestly didn't even have time to think about such things.

needless to say, i am so torn about leaving them come september. there are so many things that drive me crazy about the school itself, but these students are definitely not part of it. pray for direction!

what a day.

go do...

there are plenty of new PHOTOS from our children's day field trip on may 5th to the science museum and palace. most of them are just of my students, so of course not much to look at ;)

listen to your teacher: you should probably listen to jonsi's "go" if you haven't already.

highlights of the field trip: getting to be OUTSIDE with my lovely students all day (although they had to wear their uniforms and it was really warm) just taking photos and breathing in the fresh air at the flowery palace.

yesterday (yes, a saturday) was the official "teacher's day" in korea. in morning chapel friday, they lit sparklers and sung a song for all the teachers and my homeroom later in the day surprised me with flowers, grapes, sparklers, balloons, singing and hugs.

are-you-serious-moment #1: when i gave my students their "quiz" - create a song or rap (that will be performed monday...) about a country or region in Africa (which we are currently studying in geography). i can't wait.

we have a three-day weekend coming up and being just before my birthday, i'm trying to figure out what to do with an extra day!

UPDATE:

korea won 2-0 over ecuador last night!
the fans were crazy, like sounders fans, but there was at least one stark difference...

ahh the humidity...

as fast as blue skies have graced the sky, humidity has wrapped its grubby hands around us...

but our spring days (although intermittently interrupted by rain showers) seem to be spreading joy.

spring is the best season in bucheon. with all the newly sprouted flowers and cherry blossoms, it smells a little bit less of a heap of ddong.

i really love test week. midterms are over and the results are in...


laugh-out-loud-student-mishap #14: one of my government students pulled a jeremiah. that's right - he FELL ASLEEP during the test and as a result didn't write anything on the essay part - 10 out of the 50 points. sigh.

some highlights from the essay question answers:

(american government)

"I chose Ms. Kari vice president of U.S. because you are my favorite American Government teacher!!! that's why I picked you. Don't be need to thanks to me. Don't worry about government. you can do that."

(geography)

(this kid has a LOT of trouble with English - this is his entire answer to a question about deforestation in the Amazon rain forest) "because Amazon is air 70% so Amazon lost we are very bad air eat so we are sike and Amazon have a many anemal and plant live But Amazon is very important. so Amazon need we are help so Amazon is important. Thank you. Pleases NO F!!!"
(this must be from a new disney movie - all forests go to heaven?) "So if deforestation continue and Amazon rain forest go the heaven where do make 1/3 oxygen? So if Amazon rain forest go to heaven We can not drink 1/3 oxygen"
(this is the entire answer) "1. Amazon Rain forest is Biggest forest so important. 2. I AM Not deforestation..."
"The Amazon rain forest is important because it provides the 20% of earth's oxegen. Without this we really would have to hold on the air tanks when we go out"
(this kid should write dictionaries...) "When I saw that I was so angry to deforestationer...If they continuesly deforestate we will can not breath. If there are no oxyzon, they don't need money so they are very stupid I think. If I meet them I will punch them and crush them."

children's day on wednesday! we get to go on a field trip!!

blue skies are coming...

spring is emerging.

cherry blossoms are appearing.

and my friend emily is GETTING MARRIED today!!! oh how i wish i could be there!

some new photos!

the last month went by SO quickly.

my parents came and their visit was great albeit way too short and the time flew by.

the highlights were a weekend trip to busan (fresh air and beaches!) and half a saturday at the demilitarized zone (dmz) between north and south korea. eye-opening.

the best part of their visit (for me at least) was the friday they came to my school. they came to each of my classes and they wrote letters to students in my mom's class. they got to meet my students and my students got to meet them and they had a lot of fun with their letters.
one of my favorite lines:
[almost at the end of the letter] "Oh my gosh! I forgot my introduce. I'm hadsome (sic) and I wear big glasses. Are you curious now?" - one of my 9-3 students.

my homeroom is pretty photogenic.

this week has been SO joyful. my students make me smile and laugh every single day. praise God for that!

laugh-out-loud moment #57: walking into my ESL A class, there were a few kids missing, but since the bell hadn't run i wasn't too worried about it. seconds later, i found one under my desk in front of the room and a second one popped out of a cabinet in the back of the room. especially impressive is that the cabinet is maybe 5 feet tall  and has three shelves in it. he fit himself on the top shelf.

snowing-in-march: we've had a long winter and one of our last snowstorms was on the day i do soccer club. they all thought i was crazy for not canceling it, but that day marked the first many of them had played soccer in the snow :)

laugh-out-loud moment #58: when my adopted father mr. park told my real father in his broken English, "I will fight you for your daughter"

something a little different: since our school has really long winter and summer breaks, there are really no breaks at all in the semester. in addition, school has instituted a new stifling rules policy that has many of the students begging for mercy. the students, as a result, have become almost completely burnt out. so many have been out sick and they look and act tired everyday. many of the teachers have been sick too. i have a lingering cold and this week i had a brush with pink eye.
the past few weeks (even months) i have also been struck by all the events going on around the world and i felt a holy spirit tug to share with my students - most of my students are SO disconnected from the world outside of korea. reading the details of yet another earthquake in china this past week, i thought it would do something different. i wanted to give the students a chance to actually pray for these nations (instead of just talk about them) and take some time to rest from the busyness of the week. friday in all six of my classes i played a little video i put together to give them a visual of what they could pray about and then gave them complete freedom to create (draw, write, or whatever), pray, or sleep if they really needed to. the response was different in each class, but it was definitely a renewing time for me and some of my students as well. i expected many to fall asleep but surprisingly, very few of them took advantage of that opportunity. God really blessed this time. He gave me Psalm 97 for this video and the song "How He Loves Us" by Jesus Culture...


keep breathing. keep praying.

사랑해요

[i love you]