Swings and roundabouts (Part 1)

(Editor's note: I finished this blog post last night but couldn't post it, then Em snuck in and wrote an informative and engaging post that you can find below. How do I compete when she uses photos?)

There is an expression, "what you make on the swings, you lose on the roundabouts". I have no idea where the expression comes from, but to my understanding, it means to break even. We've lost things, but we've also gained things. I have recently been thinking about our move to Korea in this fashion. I should say from the start that we are really glad we are here, and we would do it again in a flash... rendering the theme of this post pointless and untrue... hmmm. Well, minutes have passed and I can't think of a more cohesive theme for what I want to write about, so let's just roll with it.

Anyway, some things here are harder, but many other things are easier. Let me tell you about 5 of each.

Easier

1. The availability of fresh kimchi. Can I describe something that is very fermented as 'fresh'? Anyway, it's much easier to find here in Korea.

2. Going to the doctor. This should be a difficult process. It should be painful, slow, expensive, and confusing. At least, that has at times been my experience in Australia, and Em's in America. But in Korea, wow! I've been to the doctor twice, Em, three times. We have each received prescriptions to be filled out at the pharmacist conveniently located next to any doctor's office. It hast cost under $5 each time we have gone, including medicine. It turns out you don't really need to speak to visit a doctor, just mime. I have taught more than one English lesson on going to the doctor, and can't help having a small existential crisis about what I offer the world.

3. Going to the gym. We joined a gym two days ago and it was easy, hence, its location in this 'Easier' list. It is a 10 minute walk, on the way to school, and it costs about $90 for 4 months membership. The guy who runs the gym seems really nice, even after he patted my protruding belly. It will be gone (again) soon.

4. Spending time together. We work the same hours at schools on the same block. We live a decent distance from our nearest friends. We live a massive distance from our nearest family. The TV is nearly all in Korean. This leaves us basically distraction free. We are so glad we don't need to set time aside for each other, it's happening so easily. This is definitely my favourite thing about being in Korea (Ohhhhh!).

5. Bestowing blessings. In Australia, I was pretty much anonymous to pretty much everyone. Sure I had my friends, family, acquaintances, neighbours I never spoke to, but to most people, I was a stranger that didn't warrant a second glance. In Korea, if Em and I so much as make eye contact with Korean teenager, it makes them excited. If Em and I so much as pretend we don't notice the elderly people staring at us, it  allows them to indulge their curiosity. But the real blessing, is when we say hello to an elementary student. Faces torn in half by huge smiles, they delight in their ability to cross - nay, destroy - cultural barriers. Their parents glow with pride, and I too am able to cross the cultural barrier as I read their thoughts - "my child is a genius and will be the president of Korea." Emily and I bring joy and hope wherever our feet take us. We make a more beautiful world. Previous existential crisis averted.

Now I would post the 5 things that are harder here, but my mother pointed out that Emily has been posting more than me. With that in mind, I'm going to terminate this blog post, with the intention of 

Our American Holiday in Seoul

As I mentioned in my previous post, Chris and I went to Seoul for a few days to submit his visa application (in preparation to hopefully go to seminary when we finish teaching here) as well as to get away and see some sights. Thankfully, everything went incredibly smoothly. We stayed in a hotel just a 10 minute walk from the Embassy, we were the first appointment of the morning, so we didn't have to wait at all. Everyone who helped us was very friendly, and we were assured that we had filled out all of our forms correctly and would hear back from the Department of Homeland Security within a few weeks. Step number one - CHECK. In fact, we even had some extra information that they didn't need. That's how prepared we were.

I'll post a picture of the Embassy below. It really wasn't impressive. The location was fabulous - across the street from a huge palatial complex as well as the cultural center (which is the lovely home of the Seoul symphony). Despite its nice surroundings, the embassy itself looks like a 1970's office building. What WAS impressing, though, was the number of Korean police officers swarming the place. They were guarding all the entrances and there were mobile police stations and we even saw the body shields that you see police carrying if you watch a riot on the news. Intense.

With all this in mind, when I lost my security badge while in the Embassy I started to freak out a little bit. I'm just one little person - no match for the entire Korean police force even with a husband who stands a half a foot (on average) above every other person in the country.  So yes, I lost my badge. Freaking out. I tried to tell a security officer who didn't understand me but then I kept seeing him everywhere watching me! On our way out of the building before we exited through security (and ideally turned in our badges) I asked the last American I saw what I should do. "Well, you're just going to have to risk it with them [meaning the security officers outside the door], we don't handle that." Umm... thanks.

You know what happened next? NOTHING. Chris turned in his badge. I didn't make eye contact with the security officer. We walked out the door. Perhaps I shouldn't be bragging about this in such a public forum, but really. I must look super innocent (or incapable) or doing anything  tricky, because she didn't even bat an eye when I left without giving back my security badge.

After our embassy adventure, we were free to explore at our leisure. We saw some really pretty sites - a famous palace, a trendy, artsy shopping street, some huge statues, and witnessed a Seoul snow-storm. Side note: apparently they don't plow roads in Seoul. No lie.

But, even though we did make the effort to see some nice, Korean spots in Seoul, we did a lot more "American" things. We went to a theater and saw an American movie (while eating popcorn and drinking Coke). We ate Dunkin Donuts one morning for breakfast, and then McDonalds another morning. We had Indian food one night, and then Subway another night. Oh yes, and I went to Starbucks an embarrassing number of times.  Don't judge us. That's right - you. I know what you're thinking, "Man, they were in Seoul! Why didn't they eat KOREAN food!!"

Upon reflection, we did feel bad about it -- but only for about a minute. We live here. We eat Korean food all the time and our TV has 70 Korean channels. And, for the record, I have missed Subway. It was actually kind of a nice mix of Korean and western on our holiday. I'm looking forward to going back to Seoul in warmer weather. And, I hear they have a few Taco Bell's, so that's definitely incentive. :) Just kidding.

Give me a break, give me a break, break me off a piece of that ....

As most of you know, our schools have been on winter break since just after Christmas. When I think about "school vacation" I think of sleeping in, watching movies, playing all day long, and generally relaxing until the point of boredom. This is not what Korean students experience. This is also not what teachers in Korea experience. We have been coming into school everyday even though school technically isn't in session, and we've been teaching extra classes. Our classes are a little more entertaining than the typical class during the semester, but they don't even compare to an afternoon building snowmen.

We've both had English conversation classes for the last 3 weeks and this week we had an "English Camp." Yes, its exactly what it sounds like. It's extra English classes that are jazzed up a bit so that the school can call it "camp." I asked a few of the students how many extra classes they are taking over the break and could only roll my eyes when several of them told me that they have about 4 classes a day - either at school or at a private academy. Give me a break!

In our English camps (we taught together at my school and at Chris's) we were asked to do our classes on practical, situational English. For example: going to the doctor, going to the movie theater, going on a trip, etc... At Chris's school the principal got it in his head that we HAD to take the students on a field trip of sorts for them to use their English. To the bank, perhaps, or the post office? Great idea, right? Wrong. No one at the bank speaks English. Who will the students talk to? The thought did run through my mind that I could make the students come along with me to run all of my errands and just have them translate for me. But, that would really be taking advantage, so this was our brilliant idea. Take the students to Home Plus (a super Walmart style store with groceries on the first floor and clothing/toys/electronics on the second floor).

So, we bussed 60 middle school students to Home Plus for 2+ hours of English activities. We had those students working hard. They were describing different products in English, completing grocery lists, translating shopping conversations, and MORE. Most of the students had a great time and really got into the projects. Chris, however, lost a student. I mean, don't think too badly of Chris -- the student wanted to be lost, and by "lost" I mean that he ran away and hid. As you can imagine, Chris was not pleased. He looked all over the store for the missing child and couldn't find him. That's when special agent Emily stepped in and snagged the deserter and brought him back to base for a sound scolding. I literally escorted him back, as in I was holding on to his coat sleeve the entire walk through the store. Disaster averted.

Other than the fact that we aren't letting kids get away with ANYTHING over here, I have some other good news. We have 2 weeks of vacation starting in .... 1 hour! I thought the best way to spend my last hour of work would be to blog, clearly. We are heading to Seoul on Sunday for a few days (and an embassy appointment) then catching some friends to go skiing. Seoul is going to be teeth-chattering cold, so I'm not really all that excited about it - to be quite frank with you, but I guess I'll suck it up and try to enjoy going on a trip. Sigh. I'm actually really excited about being in a US Embassy. Is that sad? Its fun (obviously, in a nerdy way) to think about being on US soil for an hour or so.

Which gives me an idea - on Monday, Jan 24 at 10 am (that's Sunday night at 8pm for all you Americans in the Eastern time zone) you should stop whatever you are doing and enjoy the fact that Chris and I are visiting the States! woooo!

And, on that happy note, I'll sign off. Missing everybody back at home (and by home we clearly mean Toledo, Melbourne, AND Canberra... duh.)

The Past - any time before now

Earlier this semester, I studied simple past tense with my students.

"Today I eat breakfast. Yesterday I eat breakfast?"
"ATE"
Emily: "Yep, that's right. Yesterday I ate breakfast. Ate is the past tense of eat. What does the word past mean?"
Student A confidently: "Yesterday!"
Student B tentatively: "A...ago"
Student C loudly: "THROW"
Emily: "Throw? Are you thinking about passing a ball?"  
Writes pass and past on the board. 
Emily: "Back to the question. What does the word past mean?"
Student A (again confidently): "Yesterday.... Before"
Emily: "Good! Past means any time before .......?"
Students: "Now!"
Emily: Right!

Now that we've got the word past sorted, I'll actually get to the point. 2010 was a GOOD year. Chris and I each wrote a list of the blessings we experienced in 2010. It was about the easiest list I've ever made, which didn't surprise me at all. I knew that the past year had been amazing. There are the obvious joys - getting engaged, marrying the man I absolutely adore, seeing SO many friends and family that I love, having two wedding celebrations on two continents, and moving to a new country with my husband. Good stuff. Amazing stuff. Moments I will cherish for the rest of my life.

There were also a myriad of smaller blessings, though only smaller in comparison to the massive, life-changing blessings I already mentioned. I got to live with my family again for 6 months in a brief but wonderful stint between two seasons of life overseas. Chris had two great bucks parties. I hiked the Grand Canyon, top to bottom, with my dad (in 8 hours with icy trails - that's right, we are hardcore). I had beautiful flowers at both of our wedding celebrations. Chris saw moose in Colorado. We got to go on a vacation with BOTH sides of our family. All our paperwork for Korea made it on time and my passport didn't get lost in international mail. We can get familiar food here in Korea. On and on and on.

And this - all this - pales in comparison with the gift of our relationship with Jesus.
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will. Ephesians 1:3-5


We also learned a lot of lessons. Spending almost our entire engagement on different continents taught us about perseverance and patience. Trying to get teaching jobs in Korea taught us about trusting God and not freaking out about everything that could possibly happen. Learning a new world in Korea has been teaching us about having grace with others and with ourselves and, frankly, how to look the other way as cars careen through red lights.

I could just keep going about all the great things and the difficult things that made 2010 a FULL and wonderful year. But, like I said to my students. The past is anytime before NOW. And, thankfully, the now we are living in God's hands as well. (Which definitely means it will probably be an adventure!)

The title of this post was going to be "Now is the winter of discontent" but I decided it was too pretentious

I. Am. Bored.

I'm at school, which is usually a place that keeps me pretty busy, but for the 5th day in the past two weeks, students have exams, which means there is no one I can punish for not giving me their undivided attention.  What, then, is a narcissist to do? I know! Write about myself in a blog, and hope other people in other countries will give me their undivided attention.

I jest, I jest. I don't really think I'm a narcissist, but I do see this current state of boredom as an ideal time to catch up the interested on recent action.

Emily and I must teach 'English Camps' and 'Vacation Classes' during the Winter break. This is code for additional classes to allow already studied out students to study more. Our English Camp classes were due yesterday and today, so we have been working hard getting several more lessons ready than is usually required of us. Em completed her work with a flair of efficiency, diligence, and creativity, while I plodded, pilfered and procrastinated my way to the finish.  Although, to be honest, the procrastinating wasn't done nearly as well as my previous high standards demanded. I think I'm out of practice.  I mean, sure, I could kill the odd 10 minutes here and there, but over the long distance, when I have a whole day at my desk bereft of those inconvenient lessons, I can barely think of what to do to fill my time besides work.

We had snow again the other day. I was teaching my single most troublesome class of boys, and I saw the tell-tale flurries out the window.  Let me confide in you, a battle waged itself within me at that moment. On the one hand, here were 40 boys that could riot at the slightest encouragement, snowballing into an eighth grade boys' rebellion, and no doubt, a middle school revolution before the period finished. On the other hand, SNOW! I so badly wanted to tell everyone that it was snowing, that I had seen it first, that this doesn't normally happen and that it is very exciting and look at the size of those snowflakes. But prudence one out. Adulthood one out. And let me tell you, the child within me wept.

Unfortunately, and perhaps, I confess it now, inevitably, five minutes later a student shot up his hand - "Teacher! Snowing!" Those fateful words echo anew in my mind, as if in slow motion.  Students were drawn to the window before the rebellion's instigator had drawn a new breath, no doubt with the intention of uttering more treachery. However, with a whip crack command and a single unyielding finger drawn to my lips, I quelled their coup before they even knew what could have been - "Shh! Don't tell anyone. Close the windows."

In other less dramatic news, we are going to Busan on Friday night to have Christmas with some old friends of Emily's, and newer friends of mine, Scott and Ashleigh.  We are quite pumped. Christmas present purchasing has been a trial, as it costs around $45 to send a box to the US. We are still trying to work out teleportation, but no luck on that front yet. Maybe I should get to working on that instead, or another creative idea to get family members Christmas presents...

Until next time, faithful readers and obligated friends.

Oh, and this was Chris, by the way.

There isn't really a cohesive theme for this post, hence the title.

As Chris mentioned in his last post. We DID have a bit of snow last week. It was beautiful. It made the freezing cold walk to school bearable. Unfortunately, today its raining. It was not beautiful, and the freezing (and now wet) walk to school was almost unbearable. But, we did in fact make it to school. A triumph of the human spirit.

Now, I don't know about you, but if I'm taking a 20 minute walk every morning in below freezing temperatures and part of that walk is next to a field (or a rice-paddy for some of us) where the wind has no barrier other than yours truly (and my very strong and broad-shouldered husband), I bundle up! Hat, big scarf, and mittens. This seems smart, doesn't it? Well, my students think it is a bit silly. They always laugh and say, "Ohh... cold?" or they indicate with sign language how bundled up I am. I usually look at them and ask (in an incredulous tone of voice) "Where is YOUR coat?" Some of the students have on a coat, a few wear mittens and no coat, no one wears a hat. Its not that they aren't cold. They admit that its not just cold, its freezing, and yet they don't do anything about it. Well, the good news is that I am no longer in middle school, so I need to be warm WAY more than I need to be cool. :)

As I read through the above paragraph, I recognize that I DO in fact, sound like an old woman. This is because I am turning into an old woman. Chris wanted to take me out for dinner and bowling on Saturday night. (Isn't he lovely!) Well, it was already dark out, and it was very cold, and wouldn't it be sooo nice to just be warm and cozy inside? We could just rent a movie right? So, that's what we did. We got take-away and watched a movie. Actually, we watched a documentary. I'm contemplating deleting this paragraph, because I definitely sound like I've come to Korea and aged about 45 years. Oh well, I need to be warm WAY more than I need to be cool.

We had a good time at our church yesterday. Singing Christmas carols and we are almost finished with a new-comers class. The past few weeks have been doctrinally focused. We've studied salvation, sanctification and the church. This Sunday was on the different ministries at the Korean church (a 4,000 member church) and our English service (about 100 member service). We are really excited about opportunities to serve and grow in ministry here. We're going to start leading a small group in January and we are talking about some other areas to get involved as well. The church is so interesting because it has such high turn-over. Most people are here for 1 year contracts, and they stay a max of 2 years. So, it takes people about 6 months to get into the groove of a new church and then they think, "I only have 6 months left, I can't really commit to anything..." We really don't want that to be our attitude. God brought us to Korea for a purpose and we want to seize it!

We'll let you know what we end up doing! Feel free to comment on how interesting this post was. It seems that Chris is getting more comments than I am. (And yes, EVERYTHING is a competition!! :)  )

SNOW! and other adventures

Want to know why white people are invariably of greater girth than Koreans?  Koreans give white people food.  Every time we go to the fresh produce market in front of our apartment (it wraps around the junkyard) and buy fruit - or donuts - they throw in a few extra. I want to believe it's because we complete the transaction in Korean, but to be honest, our Korean doesn't warrant an a free mandarin, let alone 3 mandarins and an apple.  I stammer my way through, sometimes panicking and saying something stupid.  Yesterday in the supermarket I waved goodbye to the assistant and said in more fluent than average Korean, "How much is this?"  One time in a taxi I spoke to the taxi driver in Hebrew.  He looked bemused, but I made up for it by overpaying him - again accidentally.

Anyway, SNOW!  We began our jog today, and it just seemed a little too cold.  Em wanted us to turn back because I wasn't wearing enough clothing, but I assured her that I was far too tough for the weather to get the better of me. I lasted maybe another 20 seconds before drops of rain showed me my hubris and we headed home.  After getting changed we went grocery shopping, and when we came out, it was SNOWING!  The closest thing to SNOW I have seen in December was hail on Christmas Eve during an Australian summer storm.  Needless to say I was pretty excited and decided if anything was blog worthy, SNOW was.

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