Christmas Party with the Teachers

Last year, I had some of the teachers over to my apartment for a little Christmas party. I was really looking forward to using my nice, spacious apartment this year for another party with them. Unfortunately, they've been extremely busy this year. So, I decided to just bring the party to them and invited them to my English Classroom instead. We still had a nice time, although I think I enjoyed last year's party with them a little more...


Just before the teachers came to my classroom for the Christmas Party =)


Christmas party with the teachers



They seemed to enjoy it all quite a bit! I think they weren't quite sure what to think about the nagatolis (Italian cookies from my Nana) though... apparently the anice flavoring is used in Korea with some kind of fish soup to ward off the bad smell of the fish. lol.

Christmas at School

After being in Korea for 16 months together, Sara was finally able to come to my school to watch me teach a couple of lessons. The timing was great! She got to see my Christmas lesson, which was fun.




I taught them the song Away in a Manger - just like last year. Although this year, there seemed to be a little more controversy over the song. Some of the teachers didn't think it was popular enough to teach to the students because they'd never heard it. I didn't realize that it wasn't a well-known Christmas song since I've been singing it for as long as I can remember! It was a good song to teach the students, though. If I had taught them a fast Christmas song, it would have been much too difficult to catch all the lyrics. It all ended up working okay...


Co-teaching with Teacher Min; giving instructions on how to make Christmas cards to send back home =)


In the middle of teaching, I guess...


Merry Christmas to Teacher Holly's family! This student definitely didn't want us to see his face... lol - a typical Korean student!


I laughed so hard when I read this!
To all:
Christmas coming.
I wish White Christmas. Do you have girlfriend. boyfriend?
I wish you have boyfriend. girlfriend before Christmas.
Happy Christmas
- From SJ -
(next to the illustrated gift it says, --> in boyfriend. girlfriend.)


With my lovely and amazing co-teacher, Lee Hye Eun! Gonna miss her next semester, for sure!


At my desk in the teacher's office =)

Midnight Disturbance

Sometimes living alone can be scary...

I always lock my door when I leave my apartment. Always. So, I was really surprised and a bit shaken when I returned home one evening a few weeks ago and realized my door was unlocked (totally not realizing that I'd left it that way). I found myself gingerly walking inside, leaving the door open before checking to make sure no one was hiding inside any of the cabinets/loft/bathroom. It was kind of scary... but then I saw that I had some cash still lying on my desk and realized that it wouldn't still be there if someone had tried to break in. So, thankfully, everything was fine and my apartment was left undisturbed. Even so, it took me a little time to settle down.

Sometime around 12:30 that same night, I woke up from a lovely, peaceful sleep with a jolt. The door handle on my apartment door was clearly jiggling and I heard someone trying to punch in the numbers to get in - unsuccessfully, thankfully! I was so extremely disturbed and found myself panicking and praying at once (not quite sure how that combination works theologically...).

I have a nice function in my apartment that allows me to see who is outside of my door. So I very carefully checked the camera to see if someone was indeed outside. I was horrified when I saw that there definitely was a Korean MAN attempting to get into my apartment! I had no idea what to do - screaming didn't even come to my mind as an option. I pressed all the buttons I could and heard some kind of alarm going off. I'm not sure if it scared him away or not, but I kept watching him through the camera, praying for God's protection. Then I noticed him look up. He must have finally realized that he had the wrong door. He left quickly and within seconds I heard my neighbor's door open and close. With incredible relief (and anger at the same time), I realized that it had been my neighbor - drunk and trying to get into the wrong room.

Needless to say, I couldn't get back to sleep right away. I'm pretty sure I was shaking for awhile...

Even though I realized it had been completely unintentional, just the thought of it all had really scared me. It took a lot of praying and singing softly until I could settle down. At some point, the Lord gave me peace to sleep, helping me realize that He is my GATEKEEPER and Protector. Twice in the same day, He protected me and my apartment. Even though I'd left it unlocked all day, He stood guard and protected everything. Then, even though someone had seemingly tried to break in, he continued to keep me safe. The following promise allowed me to finally settle down, knowing that He was guarding and protecting me.

I will lie down and sleep in peace,
for you alone, O LORD,
make me dwell in safety.
Psalm 4:8

Final Anguk Small Group Meeting

Well, we're officially on a break from small groups for the semester for the next month or so. It's been an awesome semester and I'm so thankful for the many things God has done in and through our small group members...



I Chronicles 16
⁸ Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

⁹ Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.

¹⁰ Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

¹¹ Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

¹² Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

¹³ O [Anguk SG members], his chosen ones.

About Korean Weddings...

Since I was able to go to two weddings this month, I decided to make a list of the cultural differences I noticed between Korean weddings and traditional weddings in the States. This is what I've observed (which may or may not be typical for all Korean weddings):

• the wedding is usually announced somewhat last minute, perhaps a few weeks ahead of time (often times you don't even know that the person was dating until the wedding is announced)
• the engagement pictures are taken with the bride in numerous wedding dresses
  
• teachers generally are at work the day before their wedding (not kidding!)
• the wedding usually takes place in a Wedding Hall (four or five other weddings may be taking place in the building at the same time, in separate halls) unless it is a Catholic wedding
• as I mentioned before, people get to see the bride before the wedding and get their picture taken with her
• when you arrive at the wedding, you should turn in an envelope with money before you can get your meal tickets (you can't eat the wedding meal without meal tickets). people normally don't bring gifts
• there is a separate guest book for the bride's guests and the groom's guests
• the groom walks down the aisle before the bride
• If the father gives the bride away, it's quite brief and I didn't notice him saying anything about it (although the father does walk the bride down the aisle/runway)
• there are NO bridesmaids/groomsmen... and generally no flower girls/ringbearers, from what I understand
• immediately after the kiss, a song (or a few songs) are sung to the bride and groom
• I noticed at least four or five photographers crawling on the stage like ants during the ceremony
• I didn't notice a unity candle
• the ceremony itself is very FAST - get the job done and get it done quickly!
• both the bride and groom wear gloves
• one woman (generally the bride's best friend) is pre-selected for the bouquet toss. she stands apart from all of the other friends to catch the bouquet while all of the friends are posing in a picture clapping
• due to seating, lots of people stand in the back during the wedding ceremony (and talk, talk, talk)
• at the end of the wedding ceremony, both the bride and groom bow to their parents. The groom bows all the way to the ground.
• a somber, traditional, intimate ceremony is performed immediately following the ceremony between the bride, groom, parents, and siblings
  
• the reception is super-quick (as soon as the guests are finished eating, they go home)

Who knows? There are probably even more things that I'm missing. It's possible that I made some generalizations that are not completely characteristic of all Korean culture, but I did my best to research and ask questions from my Korean friends at the weddings. =)

Wedding #2: Jeong Hye-Jin & Seo Hyuk-Jin

Wedding #2 took place the following weekend. My dear friend and co-worker, Jeong Hye-Jin was married on December 12, 2009. We have been friends since I first started teaching at Cheongryang. Our love for the Lord bonded us together so quickly! Over the past year and a half, we have met in the mornings (along with a couple of other teachers) before school to pray for our school, teachers, students, and the nations. Earlier this year, we nicknamed ourselves the "Shining Sisters." She also has a heart for missions and has gone to Tanzania & East Timor on missions trips since I've been in Korea. (Each time, she's brought me back coffee... she knows me well)!^^


I was so incredibly blessed to attend the wedding of my dear "Shining Sister." She was absolutely... shining... dazzling... sparkling... radiating...~^^~ It's traditional in Korea to see the bride and get your picture taken with her before the wedding. So we visited her little bridal room and saw her sitting like a princess on this little stage.


The wedding was at a Wedding Hall, not a church (quite common in Korea). She walked up to the stage on a runway.


Exchanging vows


Dinner afterward. Typically (from what I understand), wedding meals are either buffet style or galbi tang (an amazing meat kind of soup) is served. Galbi tang was served at this wedding. =)

Wedding #1: Kim Kyunghan & Moon Seongpil

'Tis the season... for weddings!!! I had the opportunity to go to TWO Korean weddings this month.

The first wedding was the marriage of my dear friend and former co-teacher, Kim Kyunghan and her boyfriend, Moon Seong-pil. (I met him in February when they took me to the Deaboreum festival. I also wrote about Kyunghan during Thanksgiving my first year in Korea...). Kyunghan has been a dear friend and I was so honored to attend and celebrate her wedding. It was especially meaningful because I remember when her and Seong-pil first started dating! So fun...


Waiting for the ceremony to begin (yes everyone got to see the bride before she walked down the aisle!)


The lovely couple


friends of the bride and groom (we are in the upper right corner)


amazing friends...


Wedding dinner - buffet-style!


Immediately following the wedding ceremony, the couple changed into traditional Korean clothes and had a special, intimate ceremony with only their family members. Here they are, eating their wedding dinner after most of the guests had already left. It was a rather quick affair (like just about everything else in Korea...). Although, since Kyunghan and Seongpil had a Catholic wedding, the actual ceremony (which was quite similar to Catholic weddings at home) was much longer than regular Korean weddings, as I quickly found out the following weekend at wedding #2...

Thanksgiving in the Classroom

I think cultural lessons are sometimes my favorite lessons to teach. My students always seem to enjoy them the most as well. I got to experience the joy of being a second year teacher this Thanksgiving... and got to do some lesson recycling!!!!!!! Ah, simply marvelous!!! After sharing briefly about American Thanksgiving history via revised PPT, I handed out the same turkeys to my students that I used last year and had them write down the things they are thankful for. It was fun to see what they came up with:




The background for this pic is SO perfect...


Hiding behind her work of art.
Note: she's thankful for several K-pop bands. Yes, Korean students are obsessed about bands like 2NE1, Big Bang, Wondergirls, Girls Generation, etc.


This is Sae-gyull. He is in my perfect Wednesday afternoon 1-4 class. He makes me smile so much... probably one of the most respectful students I've ever had (and probably will ever have)!

SO thankful for my students...

Thanksgiving Celebrations

Earlier, I mentioned that my Korean "parents" invited Sara and I to their place for Chuseok in October. Since Chuseok is somewhat similar to Thanksgiving, we decided to invite them over to my place for an American Thanksgiving meal (or as close as we could get).


We didn't have turkey, but the rotisserie chicken worked out just fine. =)
My Korean oma (mother) brought along some delicious japchae (sweet potato noodles mixed with veggies and pork... SOOOO amazing) and kimchi (the Korean trademark food - fermented cabbage in hot pepper paste... [not] my favorite)!


Another pic with my Korean family =)


American Thanksgiving Korean style - on the floor

Also, I promised a long time ago to post pics from our OEM Thanksgiving Banquet. Here they are... finally!!!

With Liza and Jackie. I'm so thankful we could meet through Korean class!!!


With Susie, Sara, and Kristen


me and Sara =)

*Special thanks to my sis, Emma, for being my outfit designer (via Skype). I had quite a time figuring out to wear, but she very patiently helped me figure something out, which I think ended up working out pretty well. =)

Overdue...

Dear friends, I apologize for neglecting the upkeep of my blog so terribly over the last month or two. Life has definitely been busy! I don't have time to catch up on everything right now, but I'll give you a preview of what's to come (accountability for me to post and something for you to hopefully look forward to):

• Thanksgiving celebrations
  
• Korean weddings vs. western weddings
• Small Group Semester End
• Drunk Neighbors & Midnight Disturbances
  
• Nutcracker Ballet
• Christmas Eve Party & festivities (note: I successfully baked homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch!!!)
  
• Princess Emma Byun
• Answers to Prayer

I hope to get things back in order soon! So, please stay tuned (if you're still reading)...

~Holly

There are better things ahead than any we leave behind. ~C. S. Lewis
(Seems appropriate with the new year 2010 upon us!)

Good News

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

I had this thought on the bus this morning, as I was contemplating homesickness and all... you know, I'm pretty sure Jesus understood homesickness better than anyone else. I mean, after all... he left His real HOME and Loving Father for 33 years! I truly am thankful for the life we have in Him because He made that huge sacrifice - giving His life, suffering through homesickness, desiring to be re-united with His Father once again, loving His disciples (though they weren't always strong and dependable, especially when He needed them most)... Come to think of it, I don't think anyone else understands that kind of homesickness and isolation better than our Lord!

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16

This morning, I was comforted knowing that He KNOWS and understands and has been there. Truly, this is a time to celebrate the message of the Gospel, the GOOD NEWS. He is my Wonderful Counselor (good news since so many of my counselors/sources of wisdom are back home), my Mighty God (good news since I'm so weak and frail...), my Everlasting Father (good news since I'm separated from my earthly father), my Prince of Peace (good news since I'm so prone to anxiety and worry). Yes, this is a hard season, but a good season. Hard because of the emotions that come along with it all. Good because of what this whole season means. Yes, HE is the reason for the season (cliche, I know). We celebrate His birth because it is GOOD NEWS. His Birth means salvation. This is the Gospel! For this reason, we can have hope... even in the midst of unsteady/uncomfortable emotions, HE is who He Is - Emmanuel, God WITH us! Now that, is GOOD NEWS.

Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. Matthew 1:23

Success!

I am pleased to report that I managed to successfully made homemade chicken noodle soup tonight (for the first time ever)!!! Many thanks are due to my dear friend Alison, for her inspiration and recipe!

*More life and picture updates are coming. My apologies for the delay...