Loving Cheongryang Teachers!!!

So I'm a little behind with blog posts again...

Friday night was so refreshing! I was invited to go out to dinner with five other teachers at my school. None of them are English teachers, but we didn't have much trouble communicating at all. They translated a ton for me too, which was SO helpful and very much appreciated!!! I know most of them through our English Bible study - which is sweet. I'm so thankful for the opportunity to connect with them!


Pictured above: Kim Jin-Ah, me, Jeong Hye-Jin, Jang Myung-sun, Kang Bo-gil, and Kim Bong-hee.

They treated me to the Outback Steakhouse (this was my SECOND time there this year already... I'm not sure if I've EVER eaten at the Outback in the US... lol!). It was good stuff. All of us are young and single... and unashamedly like to eat...

So, we ate a lot...

Talked a lot...

And laughed a lot...

It was marvelous.

I can't even describe how much I enjoyed it.


Kim Jin Ah, me, and Jeong Hye Jin


Jang Myung Sun, Kang Bo-gil, Kim Bong-hee


After dinner, we went to a quaint little cafe and enjoyed FREE cake with our kahpi (coffee).


Aren't they adorable?!?!?! I wish you could know these people!!!

Jeong Hye Jin is going on a mission trip to Africa (Tanzania) during Winter Break and she's been practicing her Gospel presentation in English with me. She has such a beautiful heart for the Lord!

Jang Myung Sun makes me laugh all the time! She has the cutest expressions... Her desk is right behind mine, so we get to giggle together often.

Kang Bo-gil, the art teacher at our school is SO dear to my heart! She is a deep thinker and I love having meaningful conversations with her.

I'm still getting to know the other teachers... but really enjoying it.



Did I ever mention that I LOVE my school?!

The Lord is My Shepherd

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters

he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake.

Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

My apologies for the emotional-ness of my last post. I guess hard days are to be expected. It's all part of the journey. The Lord has been reminding me recently that HE is my SHEPHERD and is going to continue to take care of me! Just yesterday He overwhelmed me with reminders of His love and provision:

• Psalm 23... my psalm of the year (since I'm 23 and all...)
• A delightful package from my dear Aunt Rose - complete with pictures of my adorable little cousin with Uncle Rege tucked inside a cute Thanksgiving card, chocolate-flavored coffee, a Christmas CD (the first song is by Michael Buble), Scripture cards and bookmarks to use at school, and a nativity set that I can post on my walls the day after Thanksgiving!
• A long-lost birthday card that Nana & Papu sent to me nearly two months ago
• Special food from my students - non-spicy dok bogi and fruit salad
• A link to the Hippopatomus for Christmas song from Zac (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtqIM_bPTws&feature=related). Totally made me smile...
• A refreshing and encouraging lunch conversation with teachers
• Good classes (my Wednesday trouble-maker behaved perfectly)
• A big, beautiful apple from one of my co-teachers (I guess I really am a teacher... apples are sometimes the best gifts!)
• Encouraging emails
• Extra time to work on my essay (two classes were cancelled unexpectedly)
• A reminder that I am blessed with some very thoughtful and compassionate friends
• Delicious macaroni & cheese for dinner
• A new nickname from Janis
• A good small group meeting
  

Yeah, Wednesday was a much better day. I know that tough days of homesickness are to be expected with the territory of living overseas for an extended amount of time. I'm so thankful for the Lord's lovingkindness in the midst of those times... and for the people He has surrounded me with - here and at home.

And now... it's time to return to my essay writing. I am (Lord-willing) going to be emailing my essay submission tomorrow for a contest that is being held for Guest English Teachers in Korea. I'm not banking on winning, just attempting to honor the wishes of my supervisors and learning a TON at the same time. It is such a useful exercise to process all of these thoughts about Korean culture, Korean education, and challenges/conflicts I've encountered throughout my time here. It's going to be a late night tonight (already is...), but I really want to get it finished, especially since tomorrow is the deadline! Good thing tomorrow is Friday... :)

until next time...
~Holly

P.S. I highly recommend reading Hind's Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard. What a blessing and encouragement it has been to me over the past two weeks! Perhaps more to come on that some other time...

COLD... and missing home!

Well, it's definitely COLD here... and supposed to be getting colder.

From what I hear, it's pretty cold at home too...

I think the cold weather has been flooding me with memories from home - my family and Bethel. I miss walking to and from SG in the cold with the girls... and making "cold noises" with Jana Alexis... rushing to our apartment to make tea/hot chocolate/coffee... I miss cuddling with my mom and Emma in our big living room with the fireplace. I miss making pumpkin roll for Thanksgiving with my Mom...

I guess today was just more of a difficult day. I feel like the cold is taking more energy out of me this year than I've ever noticed before... which makes me perhaps a bit quieter at school... and more prone to noticing the Korean conversations all around me (which I can't understand all that well... making me feel more homesick, I guess). It means SO MUCH to me when someone translates for me.... (the key word is *when*).

I'm teaching about Thanksgiving this week and next week. I thought it would be a good idea - my own way of celebrating Thanksgiving with the students. We're talking about Thanksgiving food this week and next week we'll be talking about what we're thankful for. I planned it that way on purpose so that I could prepare myself for some delicious Thanksgiving feasting with church friends this upcoming Sunday. In the back of my mind, I thought it could make me more prone to homesickness... but shook it off and figured everything would be okay. Then today, in the midst of one of my lessons, I remembered that all this Thanksgiving feasting is supposed to be enjoyed with your family. I'm definitely thankful for my friends here for sure!!! There's still no replacement for my family, though...

It's good to miss home. It's good to miss Nana's spaghetti on Thanksgiving. It's good to miss Grandpa's jokes. It's good to miss the way my mom makes the whole house feel warm - with her baking, candles, music, and mere presence. It's good to miss snow angels with the girls... traipsing all around campus and singing silly songs in the gazebo... It's good to miss cuddling close with my roommates in Egle 101... It's good to miss Bethel... It's good to miss living with people...

I'm so thankful for all of the memories I have to cherish from the past. Yeah, today's one of those hard days that I knew would come at some point. There will be other hard days too, I'm sure.

In the midst of it all, I AM thankful for my life here... I'm thankful for my school and the amazing friends God has blessed me with here. I'm thankful for my church. I'm thankful to have my own apartment. I'm thankful for this experience... thankful for JESUS...

My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.

Korean Folk Village

I promised this post several weeks ago... and for some reason, I just haven't gotten around to it! Since I had the day off school today, I had some time to relax and enjoy life... and finally decided to post about the Korean Folk Village I visited nearly 3 weeks ago.

Saturday (October 25) was a marvelous day. Bok ja invited me to go visit the Korean Folk Village in Yong-In with some of her friends. We had a delightful time. I have to admit, I wasn't very excited about meeting up at 8:20 on a Saturday morning... but it was completely worth it!

We traveled about 1 1/2 hrs. after we met up together - by subway and by bus. The travel time allowed for us to get acquainted with one another, which was nice. We also had GREAT weather for most of the day. It only rained a little bit in the afternoon, after we were finished with most of our activities anyway.


My companions for the day: Jeom Soon (she surprised us with cute little snack bags in the morning and a special gift at lunch, which I'll tell more about later), Ah Ju (Bok ja's middle school-aged niece), me, Bok ja, and Hae Kyung (a Korean/Americanish exchange university student who spoke really great English).


The autumn scenery was lovely...


I really enjoyed watching this traditional performance. I don't remember what it's called in Korean... but my brochure refers to it as the "Farmers' music and dance." I especially like watching the long white ribbons twirl around their heads... I guess it doesn't take much to get me excited!


Tightrope acrobatics...


Delicious meat on a stick...


A traditional Korean wedding ceremony




The groom after the ceremony...


...followed by the bride!


Ah Ju being super-cute!


We had a sweet time together


Ah Ju and Hae Kyung posing under and "umbrella" of beautiful autumn leaves


This is when I started to feel like a celebrity. Several elementary school students were visiting the village that day and had the assignment to speak in English to a foreigner, describing different Korean traditions. At the end of their little speeches, I had to sign their books and actually give them a grade! So, I literally felt like I was signing autographs. Oh dear... they were cute.


Jump roping!


Trying to see-saw...


Couldn't resist playing with my camera settings with this one...


Me and Bok ja...


With Bok ja... It was starting to rain at this point, but we couldn't resist getting a photo in front of the gorgeous scenery!


There was also a small amusement park at the Folk Village. Jeom Soon and I decided to ride the non-music-playing-carousel while the girls went to play bumper cars. Not being an adventurous person when it comes to rides and amusement parks, I was content to ride around the carousel, trying to imagine that I could hear the carousel music...

Oh, and something more about Jeom Soon... at lunch, she surprised us all with little cards. Even though we'd never met her before, she had spent time writing a little poem for each of us using the letters in our names. So incredibly thoughtful! This is the poem she wrote for me (she thought my name was spelled with an "a" instead of an "o", but it didn't matter too much, I just appreciated the thought!):

Hello! I think that I couldn't see you in Korea.

Awesome God! God carried you here. It's God's will.

Lord! I praise you.

Lovely Hally! Make good experiences with your God. Please meet ~

Your God who he is deeply through everything.
^**^

Her thoughtfulness really blessed me in a very unexpected way!

Last of all...

They all wanted me to take a picture waving to my friends and family at home. So, here I am waving to tell you that I miss you all!!!

Happy Pepero Day!

Tuesday (11/11) was Pepero Day here in Korea. As I understand it, Pepero Day is basically a commercialized holiday that a company made up... and they sell lots of Pepero! It's comparable to Valentine's Day, I guess. What are Pepero, you ask? Well... they kind of remind me of chocolate covered pretzel sticks. Quite tasty, actually! I received several boxes and candies from my students on Tuesday, which was fun. It kind of reminded me of this summer when we celebrated random holidays from everydayisaholiday.com. Good times! :)



Other highlights of Tuesday:
English Bible Study was sweet... I love how Jesus makes Scripture come alive. I'm learning so much - especially realizing I have SO much more to learn!

After Bible study, Kang Bo-gil (the art teacher) went with me to Kyobo Bookstore to buy a USB flash drive and some new headphones (mine broke)... then we had dinner together at a little kimbop shop. It was great. I really like her!

Then... after dinner, Jessica (one of the girls that lives in my building) and I went for an intense one hour walk. We had some great conversations and must have walked pretty hard because my shins have been feeling it today! I'm looking forward to spending some more time with that girl...

Oh, and God gave me a sweet reminder that HE is the one that causes all things to grow. Just like with gardening (as a dear friend reminded me), we can plant the seeds, but we can't CAUSE life/seeds to grow! What an encouragement this is to my heart...

Homework & Hair

This is exams week again... only for the 3rd (9th) graders. So, that means that I'm only teaching 8 classes this week... and I don't have school on Thursday... and only one student showed up for my after-school class today. I gave him 2 tootsie pops for his faithful attendance and then we played English games on the computer.

Some of my 1st graders still don't seem to get the idea of listening while I am talking, though... so I am learning to be more firm with them. I'm starting to assign homework to classes that seem to think it's more important to chat with one another rather than listen to their teacher during class. (I think that's one of my biggest pet peeves as a teacher.) Today, when it was time to collect the homework from my 1-6 class (from their chattiness last week), about 10 of them didn't turn it in. I made them stay after school until it was finished. I also assigned the entire class more homework - writing their vocab words 20 times each - because they didn't listen very well again. I also assured them that I would be speaking with their homeroom teacher (something that usually puts a little fear in Korean students). So... we'll see how that works. I'm learning... and trying new things. Yeah, definitely learning a lot!

Anyway... after school, Alice and I had a lovely dinner together at a cheap galbi restaurant. Then, we went to get my first haircut in Seoul! I must say, I'm quite pleased with the results... I was a little nervous with how long it seemed that she kept chopping, but it is exactly what I wanted! Alice takes such good care of me... I like that girl!

Autumn Loveliness

Spaghetti Night!!!
Definitely had an amazing weekend. It began Friday evening with getting to be a hostess in my little apartment. Sara and I prepared spaghetti with chicken and broccoli... garlic bread... and white chocolate pudding for our friends Janis, Zane, and David. It was such a fun evening with great friends and fellowship. I felt like my Mom when I was preparing... simply delightful. Here is a picture of the cuisine (with my peace lily in the background next to my computer):

I didn't get a picture of the group, but I think a couple of other people did, so hopefully I'll get to post it at some point in the near future.


Fall Foliage

Saturday afternoon, I met up with Josie, Taryn, Janis, Sara, and Cassi for a day of celebrating autumn - complete with fall foliage and apple pie! We took lots of fun pictures at Walker Hill and Olympic Park.


Another view of the city.


Taryn, Sara, Josie, Janis, and Cassi.




I LOVE these kind of pictures... with lovely little paths and trees arching over the top. Ahh... gorgeous!




Olympic Park - World Peace Gate Entrance... you can't really see it in the picture, but there's tons of flags in the background representing the nations!



The lovely Ginkgo leaves path... so fun!







Don't we look like little kids?





I like this pic...




Josie and Janis


Josie retrieved some big leaves for me to add to my little collection. I'm so thankful that there are tall people in the world...


Apple Pie!!!


We've been craving apple pie and we finally decided to try to make it! Sara invited us over to her place and we had SUCH an adventure - so fun! Cassi and I started the process with cutting and peeling the apples.


Working on the pie crust... do you know how challenging it is to bake without measuring cups? We had some containers marked with measurements - but in the metric system only... which didn't help us a whole lot. So, we did a lot of guess work... which was accompanied by lots of laughter.


Like Sara's rolling pin/purple cup? It's amazing how creative people can get when the proper tools are unavailable...




Almost ready for the oven... although we probably should have been more generous with the sugar and cinnamon...


Sara's pie covering... just like her mama always does. She was so proud! (I was sort of missing the "Love Ya's" with a heart that my Mom always puts on her pies... so Sara added a tiny heart in the corner, but you can't see it in this picture.)


Sara's Happy Apple Pie Dance


The finished product - not bad for a toaster oven! We of course put ice cream on top and fully enjoyed our apple pie experience... and are looking forward to more cooking adventures in the future. It was definitely a great bonding experience. :) Josie posted lots more pictures on Facebook... basically a play by play, I think.

Anyway, I love AUTUMN... and Saturday was a marvelous way to celebrate my favorite season. Simply delightful...