saturday 5 august

today was another day full of orientation. after lunch i had a meeting with the elementary school principal. there are 12 new elementary school teachers this year. my principal's name is john and so far he has been awesome!!! he is laid back and easy going....really concerned about what is best for the students. he has been working overseas for many, many years. he and his wife are both here and both are really great! his wife, lynn, is a high school asst. principal. i was able to talk with her some when we went to carrefour. she is a woman with a heart for God and she is really nice. i am hoping to chat with her more while i am here. paul and i worked in my apartment after the meeting and were able to get some things sorted out. he was working while i was in the meeting too. such an incredible boyfriend i have. God is awesome!

later in the evening---4:30ish--- we were headed out to sinchon which is just on the other side of yonsei university. it is the major area i mentioned before and also the closest subway stop. we ate dinner at ruby tuesdays in sinchon. a whole group went together as afterward we rode the subway to an area near city hall to see some tradtional korean performing arts. very interesting! it was at the chongdong theater. there were about 5 different types pf traditional korean arts performed. some with instruments, a lady kind of sang a monologue, cool drums, and then ribbon dancing with drums as well. the funny part of the evening was when paul said "hey that guy over there looks familiar." we watched this guy sit down with a girl and paul began to ponder the idea that the guy might have gone to letourneau with him. after the performance, paul and i went over and YES, he did go to school with this guy and his wife, the girl. the guy even had on a letourneau shirt!!! SMALL WORLD!!! who would have ever thought 7000+ miles from texas we would see anyone we knew. the guy, marcus, lived in the same building as paul at school. we spoke for a minute and then headed back to the subway.

the weather is crazy hot and humid like texas! the only thing is in texas we spend most of our time inside. here there is a lot of walking and not all the buildings have A/C. where we meet does but a lot of the hallways don't. so most of the day i feel pretty gross and sweaty. i have been drinking tons of water, so that is great. my fingers are swollen from the heat. :) too much fun!

there is a family here that is from the UK but have most recently been teaching in shanghai. they are a lovely couple who are very friendly. i have enjoyed talking to them. they have 3 of the cutest children i have seen. 9, 5, and 3---arthur, isaac, and florence. well last night on the walk back to SFS the mills' were walking with paul and i. most of the group had taken taxis back from the theater. there youngest boy, isaac, was chatting away and asking lots of questions about cicadas. there are tons here and they do not have them in the UK. i laughed so hard the entire way home completely entertained by this little guy. :)

the crazy thing here is that it is such a close community! it is like extended family. like last night when we were making our way to dinner and then the theater, we were all helping to make sure all the kids did not get lost or separated from the group. what a blessing! it is great to visit with everyone and hear their stories. where they are from, where they have taught, the fun stories they have to share about things that have happened in their adventures. fun fun fun!

today paul leaves to return to the states.....sadness! i would ask for prayer for his safe return and for our relationship. i pray that even though we are living 7000+ miles away from each other that God would continue to keep us close and work in each of us. paul and i both know that it will not be easy, but believe that God will take care of us. he is riding the airport bus to the airport and the stop is just at the bottom of the school hill. it should take about an hour to get there and then he can check in and wait for his plane. he is packing his bag as i write this. he has internet access at his place. with that said it might be a few days before i blog again as i do not have internet at my apartment yet.

hope you are all doing well! i would love to hear from you.....what is going on in your life and anything fun happening. :)

grace and peace!