Yes I have been slacking and I know I have. I just haven't been wanting to blog lately. I feel like life has gotten into a routine. Although we have had some exciting happenings in the last few months:
-Spring came and went - it was beautiful and it's still green!
-Cinco de Mayo with my girlfriends from church at On the Border
-Teacher's Day - lots of fun gifts from our students.
-Our church picnic - I actually got a little sun with SPF 50.
-New friend's moving on :o(
-A really fun Korean baseball game - need to post the video of that one!
-A surprise market that stayed until late one Friday night.
-Game Day with our pastor, who has hundreds of boardgames, and a bunch of people from the community.
-Continuing fun and challenges at work - there are some student's you love and some that drive you nuts!
-Our 6th anniversary! On the Border and shopping at CoEx
-Adoption of the 2 sweetest cats in the world! Callie and Orion.
I will try and write in more depth later. I just wanted to do a quicky for now. Check out all of the photos. I just added a bunch of links to Facebook.
Monday, June 22, 2009
Monday, April 13, 2009
Spring is finally here!
Our new looks for Spring. I got my hair cut about a month ago and Cameron decided it was time to shave for the warm months.
I need to take my camera out and get some pictures. We finally have trees blooming and new leaves coming out! It is so refreshing to see the flowers. I think this was the longest winter we had since we lived in Buffalo. Last week we finally had consistent temperatures of 60s and 70s.
March was pretty much same old, same old. We have been adjusting to some changes at school. There has been some competition coming in the area. People are realizing that English Academies can be great money makers. We have noticed this with a few students leaving, but we have gained many new students. It seems that each month we have started new classes. I still have one space to be filled in my schedule. Maybe next month. For now I don't mind having a break.
Cameron and I have both fought colds again. It's hard to know if they are colds or allergies with all of the dust in the air. I'm getting over my most recent one. Hopefully this is it! It can be rough while teaching. We have rain in the forecast this week and are hoping that it comes to settle the Yellow Dust. Each day there is a haze in the air as the dust continues to blow over from China. I noticed on the way to church yesterday that many of the cars have a light coat of yellow.
Although it never seems like we have done much I believe we have been busy every weekend. Our weekends usually have some form of shopping on Saturday and then Sunday we have church and sometimes more shopping. We have been enjoying getting to know more people at Uijongbu Baptist Church. I went to a Lady's Tea as part of the new woman's ministry at church. It has been a blessing to get to know fellow Christians in the area.
Earlier this month we had a going away party/dinner for our Korean co-teacher. Soon she will be headed to Australia to continue her education in English. She is a great teacher and we are sad to see her go. Her new adventure will be exciting and an experience of a lifetime.
Amazingly we are almost at our halfway point with this contract! Pray for us as we look for God's direction for the future. I know we would both like to continue on here, but we want to be in God's will.
I need to take my camera out and get some pictures. We finally have trees blooming and new leaves coming out! It is so refreshing to see the flowers. I think this was the longest winter we had since we lived in Buffalo. Last week we finally had consistent temperatures of 60s and 70s.
March was pretty much same old, same old. We have been adjusting to some changes at school. There has been some competition coming in the area. People are realizing that English Academies can be great money makers. We have noticed this with a few students leaving, but we have gained many new students. It seems that each month we have started new classes. I still have one space to be filled in my schedule. Maybe next month. For now I don't mind having a break.
Cameron and I have both fought colds again. It's hard to know if they are colds or allergies with all of the dust in the air. I'm getting over my most recent one. Hopefully this is it! It can be rough while teaching. We have rain in the forecast this week and are hoping that it comes to settle the Yellow Dust. Each day there is a haze in the air as the dust continues to blow over from China. I noticed on the way to church yesterday that many of the cars have a light coat of yellow.
Although it never seems like we have done much I believe we have been busy every weekend. Our weekends usually have some form of shopping on Saturday and then Sunday we have church and sometimes more shopping. We have been enjoying getting to know more people at Uijongbu Baptist Church. I went to a Lady's Tea as part of the new woman's ministry at church. It has been a blessing to get to know fellow Christians in the area.
Earlier this month we had a going away party/dinner for our Korean co-teacher. Soon she will be headed to Australia to continue her education in English. She is a great teacher and we are sad to see her go. Her new adventure will be exciting and an experience of a lifetime.
Amazingly we are almost at our halfway point with this contract! Pray for us as we look for God's direction for the future. I know we would both like to continue on here, but we want to be in God's will.
Monday, March 16, 2009
February flew by!
February went by fast and March is going by even faster. After my last blog was Valentine's Day. Cameron ended up with a cold and went to the doctor a couple of times. We did go to Costco that weekend because we needed some stuff.
We had our Valentine's date the 21st instead. We went to Itaewon - the section of Seoul most known for foreigners. There are lots of foreign restaurants and stores. There is an English bookstore there and a food store that carries lots of soup, sauces, and misc. - basically anything and everything. We were also shoe hunting for Cameron. He was wanting a pair of Kswiss ,his favorite brand, but hadn't had much luck with his size. Most Korean stores only carry up to a size below his. He wears an 11. He ended up getting a pair of Puma's which he really likes.
Some pretty flowers we picked up in the subway on our way home one of the weekends.
We were hoping to catch a movie that day, but by the time we got to the theater that we knew of at the Yangson station and mall, there wasn't one showing until late. So we did a little looking around at the mall. Then we headed home. Traveling around takes a lot of time in such a big city. You have to really plan out your days.
That Sunday we decided to check out the church we had gone to first again. So we headed to Uijongbu Baptist Church. It was a nice change. A couple we had been getting to know goes there ,which was nice. We met some more people and had lunch out with our friends and another new friend.
After church we decided to check out the theater in Uijongbu. I was really wanting to see Marley and Me. I bought the book last year and hadn't gotten around to reading it. Then I heard about the movie and got right to reading. It was a great book! I recommend it. It's hysterical and heart touching - a tear jerker. The movie was great! Not without it's little differences, but all around they did a great job with it! May have to get that one when it comes to DVD.
The week following was March 1st. The first Sunday of the month our church always has some sort of special lunch arrangement. This month they did "Guess who's coming to dinner?" You could sign up to be a host or a guest. We signed up to be guests since we were new. So after the service they drew names out of a sack to put with hosts. We were chosen first.
We went to the house of a Korean woman in our church. She is married to an American soldier who is in Iraq right now. They had been stationed in Korea and he was sent to Iraq. He is due home in November. They have 2 children, a boy 11 and a girl almost 2. She was fun! We got to play with her and she entertained us while we waited for lunch. Also, another Korean couple from our church came. They lived in the states for many years as did our host. She went to school in the states. We had a great time of fellowship getting to know these great people. The food was amazing. We had bulgogi BBQ. I think it's beef, but it might be pork. I need to find out. It's a common Korean meat that is marinated and the cooked over a burner or coals. Usually there are vegetables served with it. We had onions, squash and mushrooms all cooking on the pan at once with the bulgogi. We also had rice and kimchi. I'm really coming to like Korean food. I'm still getting used to the spicy stuff. As long as there are pickles of some sort I'm usually fine. There are usually various foods that are pickled which cleanse the pallet of the spice that lingers in your mouth. The most common one is pickled radish.
We really enjoyed having this special time and can't wait for the next "Guess who's coming to dinner?" - maybe we will host next time. I will start looking for recipes to plan.
Random: Here are a couple of pictures of the sweet potato pizza that I've mentioned here and there. Just in case anyone was wondering what it looks like.
School has gone fairly smoothly the last few months. We had a big change with March - adding 2 new Korean teachers. One Korean teacher is replacing another Korean teacher which is sad. But our co-teacher is getting ready to move to Australia to study which will be awesome for her. We also added a new foreign teacher. She is from Canada. Our schedule was changed around a bit and we have added some new classes. It's good because our school is growing. Our boss I know has been running around a lot. We now have a new manager. He is going to be a great asset. He has a lot of experience from another school where he was a vice-principal. He has brought in many new ideas. I know our boss has been thankful having the help.
We have been gradually improving our living space adding little things here and there to make it easier for us. It was already a great place to live. We got another rack for our laundry area which is much better for keeping up with our never ending laundry piles. When you hang dry everything you have to be strategic about doing laundry. Cameron usually does the laundry and I know he is really thankful for the new drying rack.
We were able to get a set of speakers to listen to our iPod's on in the kitchen living area. I'm so thankful for this. I love to listen to uplifting Christian music or just fun music while doing dishes, cleaning up or getting lunch ready. Before we had to listen from our computer which I was afraid might be disturbing the neighbors if it was up too loud.
The newest and most exciting addition is our oven!!!! We got a convection oven which can be used as a regular oven. It has a bunch of cooking options on it. It is a counter top size - around the size of a microwave, but probably a bit longer. It came with it's own pans which I made sure of before ordering it. This weekend I baked a batch of Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies and some banana muffins. It works great! I'm so thankful that we were able to get it. I was really missing being able to bake. I had gotten some silicone pans to use in the microwave, but didn't find many recipes for the microwave that I could get ingredients for here.
On one of the last few weekends we also hiked up the mountain again. This time we made it all the way to the top. It was not an easy hike. We really need to get some hiking boots. There were a couple of spots that almost felt like rock climbing. It was fun and great exercise. We also got some good pictures of our apartment complex and got to see a great view!
We have been having some pretty good months. I have had some issues with anxiety again and I think some depression. I think just having a rough start with connecting with a church and finding some great Christian friends has been hard and it has taken it's toll. Wanting to be a mom is also a hard point for me. I'm going to write more about that on my blog site. Right now I'm trying to cope with it using natural supplements. If I need to I will go back on medication which I haven't used in about 2 years or more. Keep me in your prayers regarding this issue. It's very frustrating especially since our job situation has been great! The only thing we can ever complain about is the occasional unruly student or getting behind in our lessons. I feel really blessed to have found such a great school and such wonderful co-workers. God is good!
Events in the last 2 months:
Happy Birthday to our dads! Cameron's dad hit the big 60!
Happy Anniversary to both our parents! My parent's had their 35th!
We had our Valentine's date the 21st instead. We went to Itaewon - the section of Seoul most known for foreigners. There are lots of foreign restaurants and stores. There is an English bookstore there and a food store that carries lots of soup, sauces, and misc. - basically anything and everything. We were also shoe hunting for Cameron. He was wanting a pair of Kswiss ,his favorite brand, but hadn't had much luck with his size. Most Korean stores only carry up to a size below his. He wears an 11. He ended up getting a pair of Puma's which he really likes.
Some pretty flowers we picked up in the subway on our way home one of the weekends.
We were hoping to catch a movie that day, but by the time we got to the theater that we knew of at the Yangson station and mall, there wasn't one showing until late. So we did a little looking around at the mall. Then we headed home. Traveling around takes a lot of time in such a big city. You have to really plan out your days.
That Sunday we decided to check out the church we had gone to first again. So we headed to Uijongbu Baptist Church. It was a nice change. A couple we had been getting to know goes there ,which was nice. We met some more people and had lunch out with our friends and another new friend.
After church we decided to check out the theater in Uijongbu. I was really wanting to see Marley and Me. I bought the book last year and hadn't gotten around to reading it. Then I heard about the movie and got right to reading. It was a great book! I recommend it. It's hysterical and heart touching - a tear jerker. The movie was great! Not without it's little differences, but all around they did a great job with it! May have to get that one when it comes to DVD.
The week following was March 1st. The first Sunday of the month our church always has some sort of special lunch arrangement. This month they did "Guess who's coming to dinner?" You could sign up to be a host or a guest. We signed up to be guests since we were new. So after the service they drew names out of a sack to put with hosts. We were chosen first.
We went to the house of a Korean woman in our church. She is married to an American soldier who is in Iraq right now. They had been stationed in Korea and he was sent to Iraq. He is due home in November. They have 2 children, a boy 11 and a girl almost 2. She was fun! We got to play with her and she entertained us while we waited for lunch. Also, another Korean couple from our church came. They lived in the states for many years as did our host. She went to school in the states. We had a great time of fellowship getting to know these great people. The food was amazing. We had bulgogi BBQ. I think it's beef, but it might be pork. I need to find out. It's a common Korean meat that is marinated and the cooked over a burner or coals. Usually there are vegetables served with it. We had onions, squash and mushrooms all cooking on the pan at once with the bulgogi. We also had rice and kimchi. I'm really coming to like Korean food. I'm still getting used to the spicy stuff. As long as there are pickles of some sort I'm usually fine. There are usually various foods that are pickled which cleanse the pallet of the spice that lingers in your mouth. The most common one is pickled radish.
We really enjoyed having this special time and can't wait for the next "Guess who's coming to dinner?" - maybe we will host next time. I will start looking for recipes to plan.
Random: Here are a couple of pictures of the sweet potato pizza that I've mentioned here and there. Just in case anyone was wondering what it looks like.
School has gone fairly smoothly the last few months. We had a big change with March - adding 2 new Korean teachers. One Korean teacher is replacing another Korean teacher which is sad. But our co-teacher is getting ready to move to Australia to study which will be awesome for her. We also added a new foreign teacher. She is from Canada. Our schedule was changed around a bit and we have added some new classes. It's good because our school is growing. Our boss I know has been running around a lot. We now have a new manager. He is going to be a great asset. He has a lot of experience from another school where he was a vice-principal. He has brought in many new ideas. I know our boss has been thankful having the help.
We have been gradually improving our living space adding little things here and there to make it easier for us. It was already a great place to live. We got another rack for our laundry area which is much better for keeping up with our never ending laundry piles. When you hang dry everything you have to be strategic about doing laundry. Cameron usually does the laundry and I know he is really thankful for the new drying rack.
We were able to get a set of speakers to listen to our iPod's on in the kitchen living area. I'm so thankful for this. I love to listen to uplifting Christian music or just fun music while doing dishes, cleaning up or getting lunch ready. Before we had to listen from our computer which I was afraid might be disturbing the neighbors if it was up too loud.
The newest and most exciting addition is our oven!!!! We got a convection oven which can be used as a regular oven. It has a bunch of cooking options on it. It is a counter top size - around the size of a microwave, but probably a bit longer. It came with it's own pans which I made sure of before ordering it. This weekend I baked a batch of Nestle Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies and some banana muffins. It works great! I'm so thankful that we were able to get it. I was really missing being able to bake. I had gotten some silicone pans to use in the microwave, but didn't find many recipes for the microwave that I could get ingredients for here.
On one of the last few weekends we also hiked up the mountain again. This time we made it all the way to the top. It was not an easy hike. We really need to get some hiking boots. There were a couple of spots that almost felt like rock climbing. It was fun and great exercise. We also got some good pictures of our apartment complex and got to see a great view!
We have been having some pretty good months. I have had some issues with anxiety again and I think some depression. I think just having a rough start with connecting with a church and finding some great Christian friends has been hard and it has taken it's toll. Wanting to be a mom is also a hard point for me. I'm going to write more about that on my blog site. Right now I'm trying to cope with it using natural supplements. If I need to I will go back on medication which I haven't used in about 2 years or more. Keep me in your prayers regarding this issue. It's very frustrating especially since our job situation has been great! The only thing we can ever complain about is the occasional unruly student or getting behind in our lessons. I feel really blessed to have found such a great school and such wonderful co-workers. God is good!
Events in the last 2 months:
Happy Birthday to our dads! Cameron's dad hit the big 60!
Happy Anniversary to both our parents! My parent's had their 35th!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Whew! I'm getting behind!
The weekend after Beth came was Lunar New Year so we had a 4 day weekend! Tara, our co-teacher and friend from the last academy we taught at came for the weekend. We had a blast! Shopping, shopping and more shopping! We decided to save our first trip to the CoEx Mall for her visit.
It is supposedly the largest underground mall in Asia. I'm thinking that must be true. Every corner we turned there were more stores and it seemed we walked forever. We both had missions to find things. I needed sweaters and she needed a new bag. Cameron was looking for a jacket. And of course we had to find a few fun items. They have a Sanrio store, the makers of Hello Kitty!
Tara and I could have probably stayed in there all day debating on what to get. Thankfully they had some great sales and what wasn't on sale were easy no's. The name brand stuff here can be pricey! We were able to check out a huge bookstore that had a huge selection of English books and a few English magazines. I got a new C.S. Lewis book and Cameron picked up the latest X-Files book. We ended up spending 8 hours total including transit times. We are trying to remember how long it took to get down there - it was about an hour and half including bus and subway. Many times now if we are not in a time crunch we just go with the flow and don't worry about the time.
We really had a fun weekend. Tara is a great friend! We missed having her around. She finished the English winter camp is back in Australia and looking to start her next adventure.
I almost forgot that with Lunar New Year weekend came the most snow we had seen yet. It was fun for Tara as she is from Australia. We got some pictures to commemorate the event. She had her first road trip in a snowstorm. She said it was a bit crazy! I said it was old hat. As far as I know she didn't have to drive.
Thursday of that week was Cameron's 32nd birthday. We were going to have a dinner party for him that night with our co-workers, but decided to postpone it until the following week. We were tired from our busy weekend! But we didn't decide until Wednesday night. I had already gotten him an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins - so we celebrated early. I guess we kind of had an extended celebration. It was nice to celebrate just the two of us.
Just in time for Cameron's birthday, our Christmas packages came from the states. We had planned for them to come in January instead of December - money. We were so excited! This year we had 3 coming with a little bit of everything plus a few surprises from our family. The best part was the Christmas cookies my mom made for us - Mexican wedding cakes for me and snicker doodles for Cameron. Our favorites!
The weekend after Cameron's birthday we went out to lunch with our co-worker Alice and her friends Michelle and Betty. They are learning English together and wanted to meet us. We went to a western/Korean style restaurant, meaning they have Korean options on the menu and American type options like steak or spaghetti. Cameron and I got spaghetti. Mine had seafood in it. I decided to give it a try. It was okay. I prefer the Korean style squid. We enjoyed a nice time chatting and getting to know each other. It was a nice afternoon. We are hoping when it warms up to go to the Folk Museum together.
Cameron's birthday celebration was Tuesday. I started cooking Sunday night. I tried a couple of new soup recipes. One was a chicken corn chowder recipe that was amazing and the other a potato soup for the crock pot. I made the chicken corn chowder ahead of time and it ended up being better that way. Our co-workers Alice and Rachel came and our boss Ricky. Our other co-teacher Victory couldn't come because her mom was really sick. We had a really nice time! I was so excited to finally get to host our new friends. They surprised Cameron with a birthday gift - a nice jacket. It looks really good on him!
That Sunday (before the dinner party) we went to church. We found out our pastor had a stroke. Keep him in your prayers. As far as we know currently he is doing well, but the recovery is very difficult. Last we knew he couldn't speak.
This past weekend we had a relaxing Saturday and Sunday. We were hoping yet again to hiking Saturday because the weather was supposed to be warmer, but it ended up being gloomy. We both kind of just vegged around the house instead. I felt like such a bum. We ended up sleeping in Sunday. Then Sunday afternoon after running some errands and having lunch we got to go on our hike. It was beautiful! We didn't go for very long because it was getting late, but it was nice to get some exercise! The trail is really close to our apartment which is nice. We are hoping to use it a lot more and they have exercise equipment on the trail at the base which we are also hoping to use once it gets a little warmer. When we got back we had supper and watched a message online from Jerry Gillis at The Chapel about intimacy with God. It was really good and inspiring for the week!
While we were out I took some pictures from the bus. There are a couple of a man made ice rink and some distant pictures of our apartment complex - one looking from the opposite side of the bus through the window. The other pictures are from our hike.
The time seems to be moving so quickly! I can't believe we have already been here three and half months! We are still enjoying school. We both have challenging students, but for the most part the classes are great! I still feel like I'm trying to get a rhythm for some of my classes. I have a few that have some very rambunctious students which make the time go too quickly sometimes. I really enjoy the books we use. They are involving for the children and they seem to like them as well. One of our book series called Wake Up has two children characters and two gorilla characters in it and in one of my classes my students refer to it as the "gorilla book." It's kind of cute. The funny moments make the challenges worth it! The other day I was teaching about earthquakes in my older class and the discussion question was "What would you do if you were on the 9th floor and the building started to shake?" The first thing one of my students said was "talk to God." I said yeah that would be a good idea. It was a great moment! We are constantly having funny moments where the students say the things the wrong way. I probably shouldn't repeat them on blog. We kind of just have to smirk and move on with the lesson. Occasionally we have to correct things they pick up off the the TV which is not usually edited for language content since it is subtitled.
All in all we are enjoying the school. We are still looking to build some friendships which we haven't done a lot of yet. We would like to find some more couples our age to hang out with.
We are excited that a new teacher is coming at the end of this month from Canada!
I guess that is the catch up for now. I need to try not to get so behind.
Happy Valentine's Day!
It is supposedly the largest underground mall in Asia. I'm thinking that must be true. Every corner we turned there were more stores and it seemed we walked forever. We both had missions to find things. I needed sweaters and she needed a new bag. Cameron was looking for a jacket. And of course we had to find a few fun items. They have a Sanrio store, the makers of Hello Kitty!
Tara and I could have probably stayed in there all day debating on what to get. Thankfully they had some great sales and what wasn't on sale were easy no's. The name brand stuff here can be pricey! We were able to check out a huge bookstore that had a huge selection of English books and a few English magazines. I got a new C.S. Lewis book and Cameron picked up the latest X-Files book. We ended up spending 8 hours total including transit times. We are trying to remember how long it took to get down there - it was about an hour and half including bus and subway. Many times now if we are not in a time crunch we just go with the flow and don't worry about the time.
We really had a fun weekend. Tara is a great friend! We missed having her around. She finished the English winter camp is back in Australia and looking to start her next adventure.
I almost forgot that with Lunar New Year weekend came the most snow we had seen yet. It was fun for Tara as she is from Australia. We got some pictures to commemorate the event. She had her first road trip in a snowstorm. She said it was a bit crazy! I said it was old hat. As far as I know she didn't have to drive.
Thursday of that week was Cameron's 32nd birthday. We were going to have a dinner party for him that night with our co-workers, but decided to postpone it until the following week. We were tired from our busy weekend! But we didn't decide until Wednesday night. I had already gotten him an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins - so we celebrated early. I guess we kind of had an extended celebration. It was nice to celebrate just the two of us.
Just in time for Cameron's birthday, our Christmas packages came from the states. We had planned for them to come in January instead of December - money. We were so excited! This year we had 3 coming with a little bit of everything plus a few surprises from our family. The best part was the Christmas cookies my mom made for us - Mexican wedding cakes for me and snicker doodles for Cameron. Our favorites!
The weekend after Cameron's birthday we went out to lunch with our co-worker Alice and her friends Michelle and Betty. They are learning English together and wanted to meet us. We went to a western/Korean style restaurant, meaning they have Korean options on the menu and American type options like steak or spaghetti. Cameron and I got spaghetti. Mine had seafood in it. I decided to give it a try. It was okay. I prefer the Korean style squid. We enjoyed a nice time chatting and getting to know each other. It was a nice afternoon. We are hoping when it warms up to go to the Folk Museum together.
Cameron's birthday celebration was Tuesday. I started cooking Sunday night. I tried a couple of new soup recipes. One was a chicken corn chowder recipe that was amazing and the other a potato soup for the crock pot. I made the chicken corn chowder ahead of time and it ended up being better that way. Our co-workers Alice and Rachel came and our boss Ricky. Our other co-teacher Victory couldn't come because her mom was really sick. We had a really nice time! I was so excited to finally get to host our new friends. They surprised Cameron with a birthday gift - a nice jacket. It looks really good on him!
That Sunday (before the dinner party) we went to church. We found out our pastor had a stroke. Keep him in your prayers. As far as we know currently he is doing well, but the recovery is very difficult. Last we knew he couldn't speak.
This past weekend we had a relaxing Saturday and Sunday. We were hoping yet again to hiking Saturday because the weather was supposed to be warmer, but it ended up being gloomy. We both kind of just vegged around the house instead. I felt like such a bum. We ended up sleeping in Sunday. Then Sunday afternoon after running some errands and having lunch we got to go on our hike. It was beautiful! We didn't go for very long because it was getting late, but it was nice to get some exercise! The trail is really close to our apartment which is nice. We are hoping to use it a lot more and they have exercise equipment on the trail at the base which we are also hoping to use once it gets a little warmer. When we got back we had supper and watched a message online from Jerry Gillis at The Chapel about intimacy with God. It was really good and inspiring for the week!
While we were out I took some pictures from the bus. There are a couple of a man made ice rink and some distant pictures of our apartment complex - one looking from the opposite side of the bus through the window. The other pictures are from our hike.
The time seems to be moving so quickly! I can't believe we have already been here three and half months! We are still enjoying school. We both have challenging students, but for the most part the classes are great! I still feel like I'm trying to get a rhythm for some of my classes. I have a few that have some very rambunctious students which make the time go too quickly sometimes. I really enjoy the books we use. They are involving for the children and they seem to like them as well. One of our book series called Wake Up has two children characters and two gorilla characters in it and in one of my classes my students refer to it as the "gorilla book." It's kind of cute. The funny moments make the challenges worth it! The other day I was teaching about earthquakes in my older class and the discussion question was "What would you do if you were on the 9th floor and the building started to shake?" The first thing one of my students said was "talk to God." I said yeah that would be a good idea. It was a great moment! We are constantly having funny moments where the students say the things the wrong way. I probably shouldn't repeat them on blog. We kind of just have to smirk and move on with the lesson. Occasionally we have to correct things they pick up off the the TV which is not usually edited for language content since it is subtitled.
All in all we are enjoying the school. We are still looking to build some friendships which we haven't done a lot of yet. We would like to find some more couples our age to hang out with.
We are excited that a new teacher is coming at the end of this month from Canada!
I guess that is the catch up for now. I need to try not to get so behind.
Happy Valentine's Day!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Finally!
I finally got over that nasty cough!
The first few weeks of our new year have been good. We started a new month at school so we had to adjust to a new schedule and get back into the swing of things. I'm still adjusting to a couple of the new classes I have. They started last month and the students don't speak much English at all. It is a challenge starting from scratch especially since they are young and don't like to sit still. My other classes are going well. It has taken a while to really get the hang of the new style of teaching we have here, but I think we both like it. The laid out schedule can be challenging, but it is nice to have goals.
Last weekend we had a unexpected visit. We got snow!
AND our friend Beth got in touch with us and asked if we were available to hang out over the weekend. We said that would be great! - so she came and stayed the night. It was a great time catching up. The only thing was that my immune system isn't quite back to par. I had a few early mornings and an exhausting weekend. So now I have a sore throat. I'm hoping it's just an allergy and worn out thing. It hasn't gotten worse. The weather has also gotten warmer which is another allergy factor.
We were able to go downtown Sunday and see part of the 63 Building. It is the third tallest building in Korea and I think the tallest building in Seoul. It has 63 stories - 60 above ground and 3 below. It was pretty neat.
It was a good weekend. We have a long weekend coming up for Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) and maybe a another visit from a friend. I think this weekend I will make sure I get tons of sleep before my exhausting days.
The first few weeks of our new year have been good. We started a new month at school so we had to adjust to a new schedule and get back into the swing of things. I'm still adjusting to a couple of the new classes I have. They started last month and the students don't speak much English at all. It is a challenge starting from scratch especially since they are young and don't like to sit still. My other classes are going well. It has taken a while to really get the hang of the new style of teaching we have here, but I think we both like it. The laid out schedule can be challenging, but it is nice to have goals.
Last weekend we had a unexpected visit. We got snow!
AND our friend Beth got in touch with us and asked if we were available to hang out over the weekend. We said that would be great! - so she came and stayed the night. It was a great time catching up. The only thing was that my immune system isn't quite back to par. I had a few early mornings and an exhausting weekend. So now I have a sore throat. I'm hoping it's just an allergy and worn out thing. It hasn't gotten worse. The weather has also gotten warmer which is another allergy factor.
We were able to go downtown Sunday and see part of the 63 Building. It is the third tallest building in Korea and I think the tallest building in Seoul. It has 63 stories - 60 above ground and 3 below. It was pretty neat.
It was a good weekend. We have a long weekend coming up for Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) and maybe a another visit from a friend. I think this weekend I will make sure I get tons of sleep before my exhausting days.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Happy New Year a bit belated!
We had an enjoyable Christmas and New Year.
The Tuesday night before Christmas we went out for dinner with all of our co-workers. A gift for the end of the year from our boss. It was fun! We had a lot of awesome food! I even tried the Korean style squid. It was a bit spicy, but it was really good. Cameron loved the pork and the mustard sauce. We really enjoy going out with our co-workers. It's especially fun getting to know more about Korean food and culture.
We were able to go to our new friends for a Christmas Eve get together. That was really fun. We got there late because of work and ended up staying until after midnight. We were able to share in a tradition with them of reading John 1. It was really special. After that we say some Christmas carols and shared some stories. It was like having a Christmas Eve service of our own. We were so thankful they included us in their special night! It was a blast and we hope that we will be able to have a lot more fun with them.
Since we were out so late Christmas Eve we slept in Christmas Day. We got to talk to both of our families before we had our own little celebration together. We were able to get donuts as a special treat. We had donuts and hot chocolate! Yummy! We read the Christmas story in Luke. It was special. Then Cameron and I got to our surprises! We kept it simple this year as we just had our first pay. Both of us found some special things for each other. I was so excited about Cameron's picks for me. He did so well! It was refreshing to be able to surprise each other. I almost forgot about the surprise package we got from Brazil. Here is a pic of the fun stuff we got.
Christmas surprises!
The rest of the day was just a chill day. We did have a bit of drama. I had planned a great Christmas dinner. We were going to have roasted chicken in the slow cooker that a friend had sent us for Christmas. While we were watching a movie we heard a pop sound in the kitchen. We went over and saw the transformer smoking. So we quickly turned off the cooker and unplugged the transformer. We were so thankful that we were home. If we hadn't been here we may not have an apartment left.
We ended up boiling the chicken and making BBQ sandwiches. We still had sweet potato casserole, though. That was yummy!
We worked the Friday after Christmas, although it didn't really feel like work. We had tests most of the day. It really went by quick and we were into our vacation. We didn't plan much for vacation. We were hoping to see a little bit of Seoul. Unfortunately, I got worse again. I ended up really congested. We went to Seoul New Year's Eve during the day. It was the coldest day of the week which made it a little miserable to walk. We went to the War Museum of Korea. We were surprised to see how large it was. It is really nice. They have the whole war history of Korea. We found out quickly that we were going to have to make more than one trip to see it. It was really interesting.
After that we went into Itaewon - the foreign section of Seoul. We had Quizno's for lunch. Right next to Quizno's was a Coldstone Creamery! But we decided to hold off on that until it warmed up and I wasn't coughing so much. We were able to check out an English bookstore and a foreign grocery store. Then we headed back to Yangsan train station to find the electronics market. We didn't find the market, but we did find an electronics store in the iPark mall. We had to pick up a new transformer. We ended up getting Pizza Hut for supper - it's almost like gourmet here.
After all that we felt like we had done so much! It was a lot, but not at the same time. I felt like it was a getting to know the city day. We learned about how to get around. It takes time. By the end of the night we were pooped out! Both of us were about to fall asleep on the metro home. We had a prayer, said happy new year and good night.
We had planned to go to Seoul Thursday and Friday, but decided against it so I could rest and continue to get better. Earlier in the week I went to the doctor and was taking more medicine and waiting patiently for it to work. It was a nice rest. We had an extended Lord of the Rings marathon (in 2 days). It was a fun week together. We finally made it back to church! Our first vacation went so fast!
The Tuesday night before Christmas we went out for dinner with all of our co-workers. A gift for the end of the year from our boss. It was fun! We had a lot of awesome food! I even tried the Korean style squid. It was a bit spicy, but it was really good. Cameron loved the pork and the mustard sauce. We really enjoy going out with our co-workers. It's especially fun getting to know more about Korean food and culture.
We were able to go to our new friends for a Christmas Eve get together. That was really fun. We got there late because of work and ended up staying until after midnight. We were able to share in a tradition with them of reading John 1. It was really special. After that we say some Christmas carols and shared some stories. It was like having a Christmas Eve service of our own. We were so thankful they included us in their special night! It was a blast and we hope that we will be able to have a lot more fun with them.
Since we were out so late Christmas Eve we slept in Christmas Day. We got to talk to both of our families before we had our own little celebration together. We were able to get donuts as a special treat. We had donuts and hot chocolate! Yummy! We read the Christmas story in Luke. It was special. Then Cameron and I got to our surprises! We kept it simple this year as we just had our first pay. Both of us found some special things for each other. I was so excited about Cameron's picks for me. He did so well! It was refreshing to be able to surprise each other. I almost forgot about the surprise package we got from Brazil. Here is a pic of the fun stuff we got.
Christmas surprises!
The rest of the day was just a chill day. We did have a bit of drama. I had planned a great Christmas dinner. We were going to have roasted chicken in the slow cooker that a friend had sent us for Christmas. While we were watching a movie we heard a pop sound in the kitchen. We went over and saw the transformer smoking. So we quickly turned off the cooker and unplugged the transformer. We were so thankful that we were home. If we hadn't been here we may not have an apartment left.
We ended up boiling the chicken and making BBQ sandwiches. We still had sweet potato casserole, though. That was yummy!
We worked the Friday after Christmas, although it didn't really feel like work. We had tests most of the day. It really went by quick and we were into our vacation. We didn't plan much for vacation. We were hoping to see a little bit of Seoul. Unfortunately, I got worse again. I ended up really congested. We went to Seoul New Year's Eve during the day. It was the coldest day of the week which made it a little miserable to walk. We went to the War Museum of Korea. We were surprised to see how large it was. It is really nice. They have the whole war history of Korea. We found out quickly that we were going to have to make more than one trip to see it. It was really interesting.
After that we went into Itaewon - the foreign section of Seoul. We had Quizno's for lunch. Right next to Quizno's was a Coldstone Creamery! But we decided to hold off on that until it warmed up and I wasn't coughing so much. We were able to check out an English bookstore and a foreign grocery store. Then we headed back to Yangsan train station to find the electronics market. We didn't find the market, but we did find an electronics store in the iPark mall. We had to pick up a new transformer. We ended up getting Pizza Hut for supper - it's almost like gourmet here.
After all that we felt like we had done so much! It was a lot, but not at the same time. I felt like it was a getting to know the city day. We learned about how to get around. It takes time. By the end of the night we were pooped out! Both of us were about to fall asleep on the metro home. We had a prayer, said happy new year and good night.
We had planned to go to Seoul Thursday and Friday, but decided against it so I could rest and continue to get better. Earlier in the week I went to the doctor and was taking more medicine and waiting patiently for it to work. It was a nice rest. We had an extended Lord of the Rings marathon (in 2 days). It was a fun week together. We finally made it back to church! Our first vacation went so fast!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Merry Christmas!
It's been a rough 3 weeks. I ended up with some sort of infection - bronchitis or something. I'm still coughing. I got more medicine for it, but it only seems to be working somewhat. Cameron had a cold or allergies. Thankfully he didn't get as bad as I did. He did have a miserable time with congestion and a sore throat, though. We were quite a mess. Both of us toughed it through school. It wasn't too bad. It is a bit difficult to teach with a cough or sore throat.
Thank you to all who prayed for us!
I'm excited that this year Cameron and I have actually figured out a way to surprise each other with gifts. That is something I've missed a lot. We are just together for almost everything, especially shopping. So this year we decided to separate at the store for a little while and meet up again. Not sure why we didn't think to do that last year. We haven't completely decided what we will do Christmas Day. We do have it off. We may go to a Christmas party. We are going to go a Christmas Eve party at our new friends house. We are excited about that!
We have been working on setting up some of our own traditions. With the help of our moms and the Today's Christian Woman site, we have come up with some good ideas.
Unfortunately with being sick we have missed most of the special events our church was having. That was a bit depressing. But we are working to make this a special Christmas!
Don't forget what Christmas is all about! Christ came to earth to save all of the world! Joy to the world! He gave the ultimate and free gift - his life!
John 3:16 and 17
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it."
Merry Christmas! We hope that all of our friends and family have a great Christmas!
Thank you to all who prayed for us!
I'm excited that this year Cameron and I have actually figured out a way to surprise each other with gifts. That is something I've missed a lot. We are just together for almost everything, especially shopping. So this year we decided to separate at the store for a little while and meet up again. Not sure why we didn't think to do that last year. We haven't completely decided what we will do Christmas Day. We do have it off. We may go to a Christmas party. We are going to go a Christmas Eve party at our new friends house. We are excited about that!
We have been working on setting up some of our own traditions. With the help of our moms and the Today's Christian Woman site, we have come up with some good ideas.
Unfortunately with being sick we have missed most of the special events our church was having. That was a bit depressing. But we are working to make this a special Christmas!
Don't forget what Christmas is all about! Christ came to earth to save all of the world! Joy to the world! He gave the ultimate and free gift - his life!
John 3:16 and 17
"For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn it, but to save it."
Merry Christmas! We hope that all of our friends and family have a great Christmas!
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