another day.......

chu-sok is fast approaching and i am ready for the holiday. it is korean thanksgiving so many people leave town to go visit family members. i have heard seoul quiets down and it is a good time to get out and explore. that is my plan next week---explore! friday is my last day in "the cave" as i get to move into my new classroom on monday. yeah for new classrooms! the room is really nice and there are windows along an entire wall.......something new for me. i cannot wait to have plants and such in my room and they will grow and create ambiance. i have already got my floor plan on paper and handed in so that they know where to put my stuff.

tonight i went to sinchon with suzy. she had to buy wyatt a gift and wanted some company. we had korean for dinner which was not that great. i should have stuck with gut and got the corn-dog like thing i have had before. good and cheap! tonight i had a fried rice kind of dish that was ok, but not my favorite at all. oh well............ i bought one of those oil warmer deals at a shop and then we bought the oils at a different shop b/c they were cheaper. i charged up more minutes on my cell phone. :) i have to charge it with 10,000 won each month or i lose my number. it is a pay-as-you-go phone. it works well........

today was ok......the kids are squirrely for the holiday. i am not sure who is more excited me or them. today we had the "see you at the pole" celebration. it became big in texas (where it started) in the 90's and now has become an internationally wide event. we all met on the field and had a time of prayer for the world, the nation of Korea, SFS, and our families and friends. it was really nice. the theme verse for this year was psalm 46:10---"Be still and know that I am the Lord. I will exalted among all the nations". My kids and I talked about what that meant and read the same verse from different translations. Each day we brainstormed a list of things to pray about for the world, Korea, SFS, and our friends and families. they made a list and wrote a prayer on their paper. today when we went out they have something to read and pray from. it was good. the weather was cool this morning and made for a nice time out on the field.

now i am working on responding to my student's reading journals. i am a bit behind since i wa out yesterday. ugh! sometimes it is more work to be out than just to go. oh well, i am in good company---sam and india. listening to some good tunes---david crowder band and delirious!

check out the praise music of hillsong. onnuri, my church here, uses many songs from them to use in worship. good stuff!!! :)

phrase of the past few weeks--------earnestly seek God!

80 more days.........

until i am home for christmas holiday!!! it is hard to believe that i have been in south korea since august 2nd. i was looking at the calendar just today and thought...."wow it is already almost october!" time flies..........

have i mentioned that david crowder rocks? i just got another CD in the mail from my mom----sunsets and sushi. it is really cool.....he remixes his songs on this album. way cool! you should check him out...............good stuff!

http://www.davidcrowderband.com/

grace and peace to you all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

here's the scoop from the last time i have posted....

thursday sept. 14th i went to edae and got my first hair cut in korea. quite an experience.....thank goodness i had suzy to translate otherwise who knows what would have happened.....i just got a trim nothing major. after school on this day i also got to tour my new classroom........WOW!

friday i went on an adventure with my good friends, the dornbachs! we went to costco, tesco and then to hongdae which is another area of town that is pretty funky and cool. we had a bit f trouble parking the van there, but amy was able to solve the problem leaning out the window asking "do you speak english?" i have never laughed so hard in my life. we finally parked the van and walked around. it was vivid, colorful place on a friday night. lots going on and people having a fun time.

saturday there was a breakfast for all the women on campus. we got together shared information about where to find this and that. great fellowship among the women! that afternoon i went to insadong with the dornbachs. they needed a full size violin for george. insadong is the part of town where you can find a lot of traditional korean art and stuff. there is also a HUGE music market there with all kinds of instruments! all my musical friends would have a party in a building like this! i never seen so much stuff in one building. we walked through the streets too. i ordered a chop which is a stone stamp with my name carved in korean. i cannot wait to pick it up. i also got one that said peace. it was interesting to communicate all that to the little guy in the shop. there was a party on the roof of my building this evening and "the band" played. "the band" is made up of some teachers on campus that get together and write music, hang out and have a good time. they are pretty good and made the night really nice. the weather was great!

sunday was the usual----starbucks, church, hotdawks, napping, and dak-galbi!!! :)

monday began my birthday week and i was invited to dinner at ken's with my church crew and pam. WOW.....he made some great dinner-----homemade quiche, bread, asparagus, salad, and dessert! he set a high prescedent for the week! AMAZING! we had a great time hanging out and sharing our hearts this night too. good times!

tuesday was a rather rough day----just felt wrong all day. had a run in with a teacher for the first time and that was difficult. BUT buffie and helen took my out to dinner for my birthday! fun fun fun! we went to a small cafeteria like place on yonsei university which had korean! no english at all......it was really fun to stand there and decide what to eat. thankfully this guy asked if we were in line in english and buffie says, "hey you speak english can you help us?" too funny! i ate a soup like dish with noodles in it. it was quite tasty!!! then we had ice cream. yummy!!! we had a great time and it was nice to hang out and visit with them after a long day and to celebrate my birthday!!! :)

wednesday----my birthday!!! i had many phone calls and emails when i woke up! yeah for fun family and friends. i got ready and left for school and found a sign and balloons on porch. yeah!!! then i get to school and bump into one of my parents in the hall and she gave me a birthday hug and said that her daughter had wanted to get some flowers for my birthday. i rounded the corner to my door and found a balloon bouquet hanging from the ceiling in front of my door. it was amazing! then i open my door and find 2 more larger balloon bouquets hanging from the ceiling at the front of my room..........wow!!! hanna also had brought me a beautiful bunch of flowers. :) it was great! my kids were great and brought me homemade cards and other small gifts. then at noon right after lunch a mom brought me a chocolate cake with candles. it was so awesome and my kids all sang and we celebrated. it was awesome! i could not believe it. i was blow away by the generousity. after school i tutored and then suzy took me to dinner at this cool place that had omelette like deals that were filled with rice. then they put sauce on top and meat. it was yummy! we then went to hang out in starbucks until Bible study. Bible study was good and there are some changes happening in leadership so things will be a bit different during the transition.

thursday after school i had a language arts meeting which was really good.....the meeting was productive so that was great! i had discipleship with the 9th grade girls and i actually lead the time with them. we had butterscotch bars to celebrate my birthday! the time together was good and i just spoke from the heart. i came home and was ssssooooooooooo tired......i laid down after suzy and i had cheese toast for dinner and slept! i took a long nap and then went to bed. i needed some major rest......obviously! :)

friday school was good........it had been a long week with all the celebrating! i had swim squad after school which was really awesome! for the first time in a long time i missed swimming. i was timing my kids so that later they can make the goal to beat this first time. as i watched them swim down to my end of the pool i had this feeling of i wish i were in the pool swimming. i came home and ordered a simple speedo so that i can start to swim again. i had dinner at helen's with sarah and then we went down to this little jazz bar in sinchon. it was not live music, but it was cute and fun to sit and visit. the beverages were pricey though. we each had one and then went to starbucks to people watch. while we were at the jazz place though we heard all this commotion in the street down below so all peeked out the window to see a group of people banging on drums doing the farmer's dance which is a traditional korean art. it was awesome and wild that they were just right there in the streets performing. they walked around the area. i got to take some pictures so that was cool.

on saturday i woke up early to join a few ladies for a trip to dongdaemun where the fabric market is. oh my, so many fabrics! a crafter and sewer's dream come true! this building was many floors and each one just jammed full of all kinds of fabrics, ribbon, beads, buttons, etc. you name it, i am sure it could be found there. it was wild and crazy! i bought a couple of necklaces and some cotton webbing to make a few belts. i did get a few swatches of fabric because i want to have some pants made. after the market we all went our own ways, so i made my way back to sinchon on the subway and walked around. i went in the stationary store and got some little things. i went to visit my little friend who sells food on the street whom i have bought from. he makes toast which has eggs and veg that he grills like an omelette and then grills bread to put it all on. it is yummy! i say hi to him whenever i walk by and when suzy is with me he does talk to me. he does not speak much english at all, but he always smiles when i order in korean. :) he is the this little old guy. i will have to take a picture with him some time. i love buying food from him. i then went to starbucks for an afternoon drink and to eat my toast. i ran into geoff, another 4th grade teacher who is also new this year. we were able to visit and hang out. then tim and kieran came by as well. tim is the head teacher of the british school and kieran is his son and is in the 10th grade. it was great to run into these folks and visit. then we all headed back to campus as the lysos were having an open house. i went down to the field to watch the youth soccer for a bit before going over for the open house. some of my kids were playing so i cheered them on and said hi to the parents! it is nice to be right here and able to see the kids playing. then i headed over to the lyso's for dinner. they had yummy food and i was able to visit with my little friend, florence. she is soooo cute! much of the staff was there so i got to visit with lots of people. then i went over to suzy's for my party. she had made lots of snacks.....includinig homemade kimbap (like sushi rolls, but better). she also had bread, cheese, fruit, a cake, and dips. WOW! it was awesome! lots of people came and we just got to hang out and visit. we played taboo towards the end of the night which was lots of fun! i had a blast visiting and laughing with all the people who were able to come. yeah for new friends!

sunday we went to starbucks and then to church. church was really good this week----we were reading nehemiah. reading about his commitment to pray. it was good to stuff. i am also going to start small group leader training this next week at church. i would love to start a small group for the ladies soon. i need that time of fellowship with other women. i am also praying about going to another small class on the mercy missions at onnuri. onnuri is involved with three orphanages here in seoul and they go to minister to these children. they play with them and hold babies. i think this would be a great experience and i would love to get involved. the training is in a few weeks so i will see what happens. after church i got my hodak treat at the corner. yeah for treats. then we went to lunch at KFC. yes, kentucky fried chicken. wyatt had a craving so we all decided to let him have it. i had a twister which is a couple chicken tenders wrapped up in a tortilla with lettuce, sauce, and peppers. it was good. western food is moe expensive than korean so i just got the twister and not the meal deal. we sat outside on a bench and were able to see the riot police come out in swarms for something going on at city hall. there was no problem, just lots of riot police. wild scene. when we walked down to get back on the subway a whole pack of the riot police were walking in the underground. it was crazy but i was not worried at all. jamie needed a hair cut so i went with her to edae to get her hair done and ended up getting my hair colored too. it is fun. really dark brown with a big blonde streak in it. very different but i like it. lots of comments and compliments. :) when jamie and i got back to campus we went to eat dinner at suzy's. she had lots of leftovers from the party. then i went to work for a little bit to get somethings sorted out. i came home and worked some more on my computer and then jamie came over for tea. we got to visit some more and hang out. i also wanted her to not stay at work any longer. she has a habit of being in her classroom all the time so i had to entice her to leave. :) yeah for hanging out!

monday was just monday! my allergies have been really acting and by the end of the day i felt pretty crummy. i did not feel good and felt pretty cold. i had to go out for a bit as i promised melissa i would show her where the hair place was. i had toast on my home to get some sort of food in my body and warm me up a bit. i was really cold walking home. once i got home i felt yuck so i asked to feel my head and tell me if she thought i was warm. she said that i felt a bit warm. i called phil, the sub guy, to request a sub and the went down to my classroom in PJs to write down some plans for tuesday. viola, i was going to stay home. i hated to, but knew i needed it.

tuesday i stayed home. i have slept most of the day. my friend amy told me to drink lots of fluids so any time i have been awake today i am drinking something. i feel better from all the rest i got so i am hoping that will do the trick for the rest of the week. next week i have inservices monday and tuesday and then the rest of the week is holiday for chu-sok, korean thanksgiving.

i also learned this morning that on monday (my tuesday) mom had to put Little Bit down. complete sadness. she had gotten much sicker over the weekend and the doctor said her lungs were really filled up with fluid. so mom had to make a decision and one she said was the most difficult in a long time. pray for mom and little bit! i know that she is in a much better place. she is the only dog i know who knew how many licks it takes to the get to the center of a tootsie pop. :)

sorry it took so long to update the blog. i know i still have pictures to put up as well. it is coming......

i know, i know, i know......

it has been almost a week and a half since my last post.........please forgive.......i have all the details jotted down in a notebook. i am going to blog this weekend............i promise! if not you can come hunt me down........ hee hee...........

tomorow makes....

6 weeks of living in south korea! i cannot believe it has been that long. it is amazing and weird all at the same time. some days i still feel like i am living in texas and some days it feels like i am not really living in a foreign country. i am thankful for this experience and journey that God has brought me on. living here and meeting so many people from all over the world is an experience of a lifetime. i feel as if my vocabulary changes daily. things are going great.....seoul is wonderful and challenging all at the same time. :)

the countdown.......

94 more days until i come home for the christmas holidays..........................

wonderful wednesday...

today was a great day! my kids and i were able to be productive and get lots done. we had been working on a few assignments and they were able to catch up on those today. we have our first math test tomorrow. i have been really good about communicating with parents this year. i have been really proud of myself. we use an online server like deal to communicate with parents so that makes it really easy. i can log in and shoot all my parents an email to inform them of what is going on. so nice! i created a study guide for the math test too which i put on edline for the parents to use with their kids. :) yeah for school going well. we have been talking about HOPE during devotion time and referencing the verse jeremiah----jeremiah 29:11. we have had some really good conversations about it. i have been really amazed. then i got an idea from another teacher for the kids to create acrostic poems with the word hope. i have been in awe of how insightful and creative they are. i have had some really deep poems. wow! go God!

after school i tutor a 6th grader from the british school. it is nice to get to work with him. his name is jake. we are working on writing. :)

then i came home and rested for a bit before heading back out to do some visiting. i went by the mills' home (where i played yesterday) to share some facts and information about cicadas. there are tons here and isaac (he is 5 yrs) has been really fascinated with them. they do not have them in england. he had collected the exoskeleton of one off a tree and thought it was dead. i explained what it was and that the part he had was just the outer shell. so today i printed off some information about the cicada from yahooligans. he was thrilled when i showed him the pictures and the papers. he will soon be an "expert" on them. :) i then went to visit my good friends the dornbachs. i have mentioned them before and you have seen pics of them on the photo page. i laugh so much at their house such a joy to hang out with them.

i came home to have suzy drop by. i made myself a quesadilla........yum! she had already eaten, but i was cleaning out my veggies and had some potatoes that i needed to use. she volunteered to make "chips" (french fries) with them in the oven. they were awesome and it was great to hang out with her. we have been able to share and be more real with one another which is a blessing. she also assisted me in making a salad and a sandwich for my lunch tomorrow. yeah for friends! thanks God!

sam and i are now chilling on the couch............i am going to spend the rest of the evening loving on sam and india and snuggling. maybe the three of us will watch some friends episodes.....i am almost finished with season one. mmmmmmmmmm......then what?!??!?!

FYI----down to only 2 more whole wheat flour tortillas!!!!!!!! cannot wait to come home for some more...........................

also, costco does not have anymore special k red berries.......thank God i got some when i did.

the beginning of the week.....

monday was good. you know typical monday.....never really excited to be dragging yourself out of bed, but you do it anyway. :) once you get moving you realize that is best that you not stay in bed. the weather here has been amazing. the highs have been in the low 70's and the lows at night in the upper 50's, lower 60's. i love it! so nice to be so fresh and crisp outside. as i post this blog it is 75 degrees at 8:30pm which honestly is warmer than it has been the last few nights. the leaves are slowly beginning to turn lovely shades of orange, red, and yellow. just the beginning though. last night i went to itaewon with kelly and suzy for some pampering. i got a manicure and a pedicure. suzy and i then did some really light shopping---got myself a cell phone which is not great compared to home, a few groceries and some dinner. suzy and i ate at a stall on the street. i had fried mandoo (like a dumpling) and we shared some dawk in red sauce. it was pretty hot, but i drank lots of water. suzy had some sausage looking things that had pig's blood in them like pudding or something. she eats about anything. it was really yummy and i even communicated with the lady to pay. yeah for learning korean! then i treated us to hot deok on the way home (the cinnamon, sugar filled pancake thing). this guy smiles at me when i order b/c i order in korean. he gets a major kick out of my korean. :) at least i seem to brighten his day.

today was good. lots of planning time to get ready for school. i was able to be really productive so that is great. i got a free love seat and a chair for my classroom reading area. they were going to be thrown out b.c they were old. they look and feel fine so i snagged them for my room. my kids were thrilled. i just hope that they fit into my new classroom. i move there in about 3 weeks............yeah! it should be an adventure. we get to take a tour of the new floors thursday after school. i am anxious to see what it will be like. this afternoon i had a "play" date with my little english friends---florence, isaac, and arthur. they wanted me to play yesterday but i had already made plans so i asked if i could come play today. i went over about 4:15 and stayed until 7:20ish. we had great fun! i also had dinner with them as well which was nice. the kids are magnificent and really fun to hang out with. i had a great time with them and am looking forward to playing with them again soon. :)

now i am going to watch some more friends, but might also watch some scrubs season 2. not sure....cuddling with sam and india are top on the list too.

Last weekend......

sorry for such a delay...........please forgive me.

let's see last friday i had swim squad with elementary kids right after school and it was great! i had the beginner group and it felt really awesome to be back in the swimming realm. we had a great time and they worked really hard. i cannot wait to see them again this friday. i am really glad that i signed up to help with this. :)

after swim squad my principal invited the ES staff over for pizza at his house which was nice. i never knew people put corn on pizza.......koreans do. then a group of us went out bowling which was really fun. we played two games and it is just like bowling back in the states. i scored a 63 the first game and a 108 the second. not bad since i have not bowled in ages. we laughed a lot which was nice. then i headed home as i was tired. the week had worn me out.

saturday my friend helen and i went on a tour to chungju lake which was about a two and a half hour bus ride southeast of seoul. it was free tour put on by seoul selection, an organization that caters to foreigners. we rode down then got on a ferry to go across the lake. we ate lunch at this little house place that was fantastic! i loved the food. we had bibimbap, a rice dish. it was very authentic as we had to take off our shoes and sit on little woven bamboo mats at the table that was short to the ground. good fun! after lunch, we went to a traditional korean like village that is now a historical site. there were lots of llittle buildings and such. we heard traditional korean music under a gorgeous painted roof of a pavillion. the colors in the roof were beautiful. the weather was a bit damp and cool, but tolerable. it was a nice day. i did not get back to school until 9:20ish on saturday night and began the day at five to seven am. i was tired, so i came home to cuddle with my kitties and watch friends. yeah!

sunday i got up and went to church----had my sunday traditions of starbucks on the way and hot dawk after. yummy! church was good. i learned a new song titled--"majesty". it was good. i found out monday afternoon that i actually have the song on my computer and the version i have is by delirious!. small world. sunday afternoon i spent napping and watching friends. resting. then as usual a group went for dak-galbi. yeah!


i am in the process of pictures. i promise to not be too tardy. patience please!

being thankful.......

today made for an interesting day. i was homesick today....i wish i could see and hang out with my family and friends. i did get to IM with paul which was nice and comforting. i think the stress of Back to School Night made the day a bit hard. i was prepared and everything was in place so i am not sure what all the havoc was about.

after school today i had a really close call. i was cutting paper on the paper cutter when all of a sudden i pulled the cutting part down on my finger full strength. i hit my left pointer finger with the blade. it hit on nail and i instantly was in pain. i closed the cutter, shut my classroom door, held my hand above my head and walked calmly to the nurse's office in the elementary building. OUCH! i did not bleed but i know have a big, nasty looking bruise on my nail and finger. Nurse Ko tells me that i am really lucky that is did not cut off part of my finger. i have been told in the past that i have really strong nails, so i am thankful for that otherwise i would have had to go to the ER. it does hurt and it throbs regularly. i have had ice on it all evening. i chunked the ice right before parent night.....figured that might look weird. i am going to lose my nail i am sure which is never fun! ugh!

after my injury i had to go to discipleship. this is the group of 9th grade girls that i have chosen to lead with another teacher every thursday afternoon from 4-5pm. it was great to see them even though i was wiping tears from my near finger loss experience. we had great conversation and great time of prayer! i felt better after hanging out with them today! i pray that the group will become a safe place for the girls to exploe their faith and a relationship with each other as well as God.

Back to School Night went really well. i had all but 2 parents show up. it was great to meet them all and share with them my goals and expectations for the year. it was a very positive experience and it was good. i was able to visit with some of the parents which was really nice. thanks for your prayers about this for me. they worked!

first clothing related purchase

this evening suzy invited to me to go shopping with her in Edae (near the women's university). it was fun.....suzy bought a new outfit which is really cute by the way. then we walked over to the hyundai department store (foley's like store). suzy did some shoe shopping and found a great pair. they had to order the right size, so she has to go back in a week. we then got to have a sweet treat of hot-daughk (i have no clue if i have spelled it correctly). yummy! we walked around the sinchon area just poking our heads in and out. i made my first purchase which was this cool gray hat. love it and it was only 10,000 won. i will have to take a picture in it. so to answer your question which i know you are wondering-----Korean people's heads are the same size as Americans. :) good times!

after the shopping suzy and i went into this little Korean restaurant.....not far from the dak-galbi place we go on sunday. suzy had to read me the options and then i narrowed them down for her and let her pick. i had spicy seasoned pork with rice. it was good, just pretty spicy. we also had some fried mandu. yum! dinner was really cheap---oonly 10,000 for both of us. yeah!!!

just around the way from dinner was this little Korean lady selling flowers out of a pseudo kind of shop. her little place was the size of a large closet and her flowers were in buckets just outside the door. she was really nice and i got a nice bunch of small, light yellow little daisies. they are really cute! i also got a pedicure tonight to get ready for back to school night tomorrow. it was not the best one i have ever had and i won't go back to that shop, but whatever. suzy and i had fun making small talk with each other.

tomorrow is back to school night so i would ask that you think of me and say a prayer. i am anxious a little.......i think just the newness and meeting parents and all.

photos...

i have not had the chance to get the new pics uploaded to the site yet. things have been a bit out of sorts with back to school night tomorrow. promise by the end of the weekend they should be there. :) i have not even had a look at them as they are still on my cameras.

thanks for your patience! :)

sadness.......

I was in shock this morning when I learned of the Crocodile Hunter's death. At first I didn't believe it, but was quickly reassured that it was true. Such a great loss from the world of education. He really had a passion for teaching folks about wildlife. It does seem likely since he did dance with danger so often, but a great tragedy to die at such a young age. I pray his family will be able to be comforted during this time of grief.

deep thoughts about Friends

I have now watched half of the first season of Friends. I am really having a great time and laughing lots. Each time I watch I see myself more and more in Phoebe. Her earthy, natural, artsy personality reminds me of myself. Although I do not say as many random things as she does I think I most relate with her. All of you might think I do say lots of random things....I have no idea. Good times are had when watching Friends! I even tried my skills at guitar Saturday at the beach and I really felt like Phoebe then. My guitar skills are limited.....very limited! :)

napping........my new hobby

Monday was a really long day. Nothing abnormal I just was really tired. It was great to see my kids and get to love on them some more. I got home from school though and I was just wiped. I talked to Paul for a few minutes before he went to bed and then I curled up on the couch. The weather has really cooled off and it makes great napping. I woke up about 6:30ish to answer the phone and then snuggled in my bed after that. Next thing I know it is 9:00pm!!! Yes I took a three hour nap! Whew! I stayed awake for 3 or so hours.......talked to Katie, ate some dinner, watched 2 episodes of Friends and then went back to bed. Surprisingly I was able to sleep through the night. I felt really rested this morning when I woke. YEAH for REST! Woo Hoo!!!

Weekend Tidbits

Buffie was watching the cats over the weekend for me and she discovered Saturday morning that they had been a bit naughty. They somehow broke one of my green striped plant pots and there was soil everywhere. My kitties are so mischievious! I guess they just really missed me.

Sunday night I met Jeff, Nicole's brother, for dinner in Sinchon which is near the school. We had not gotten to visit since we last went to lunch. We both have been pretty busy since then. It was really nice to hang out with him and catch up. Happy Birthday Jeff! His birthday was on Saturday! :) He also needs a congratulations as well as he is getting pinned as a CHIEF on Friday, Sept. 15th. YEAH!

TAECHON BEACH...

We had a faculty retreat this past weekend in Taechon Beach. We left Friday afternoon and it took about 3 hours by bus to get there. Friday night we stayed at a condo-like hotel resort place. It was nice. I got my first true cultural experience. In the room there was a bedroom with a regular western style bed and the other room was empty. I did quite understand it, but later that evening someone explained that Koreans like to sleep on what is called a "yo" which is a traditional Korean style bed. Basically it is a fluffy mat not as dense as a futon mattress would be, but just as thick. I stacked two on top of each other and then took the comforter and laid that on top of those. It was quite comfortable! I thought it was really cool too. I took some pics of my bed that night....so check out the pics section. Saturday morning there were more sessions that the speakers had for us. Then we had to pack and eat lunch. The retreat was over, but there were quite a few people who wanted to stay one more night down at the lodge that the school uses a lot. At the lodge it was great. The rooms had 4 bunk beds so all the single ladies stayed together which was fun! That afternoon we had loads of free time to hang out, go to the beach, or take a stroll around the area. One of the middle school teachers who is Korean was going to the Korean mud baths there. After inquiring about them I decided to take the giant step outside of my comfort zone to experience another traditional Korean activity. The baths are seen as a social place where women get together and visit with friends. The catch to the whole deal is that all the women are naked. Weird at first I know, but I just stop over thinking the whole deal and just did it. Sunny was really nice about being patient with all my questions and inquiries. We had a great time! There are showers, a hot bath, a sea bath, a mud bath (muddy water) and a sauna. After we took a soak in each one and sat in the sauna, we took a cool shower to rinse off and then painted ourselves with mud. Then we just got to sit around and wait for the mud to dry a bit and let our skin soak all the good minerals and such in. Everyone seemed quite shocked that I liked it so much. Most people aren't as brave from what I gather. I just decided that God loves me just the way I am and I should celebrate that. It was a very liberating experience for me. After the bath, I went down to the beach, took lots of pics, and then walked around. It was nice to get out and breath in the fresh air. :) Taechon Beach is known for good seafood.....especially really fresh seafood. So a group of us decided to take a walk in search of somewhere to eat dinner. Most of the places look the same---they all have many tanks full of live fish, crabs, eels, and such swimming around out front of the restaurant. Many of the places also had the short tables where you sit on the floor. We finally decided on a place that had chairs and with the help of friends YunJin and Suzy who were kind enough to order for us. We had a crab like stew which the crabs were removed from the tank near our table shortly after we placed our order. To some degree this was a bit disturbing to me. I have no problem eating meat or anything, but I am not a fan of being able to look at it swim around becoming some what attached and then to see it get taken out of the tank to go in a boiling pot of water. I just would rather not witness the murder first hand. Then we also had all sorts of clams which we cooked on our table. My favorite Korean dish so far was also included which the name I have a hard time remembering how to pronounce, but basically it is a pancake like thing with veggies and such. This one also had seafood in it, most noticeably squid. Not really a fan, but was hungry so I got over the chewy quality of squid which I do not really care for. It was quite a pricey meal, but worth it. The crab was ok---really challenging to get out the meat. I did not like the clams---too chewy.

After dinner we headed back to the lodge and some folks went off in search of firewood for the campfire on the beach. We decided to have it on the "back bay" which is more secluded area and it was quiet. After getting the fire going we sang some praise music and relaxed. It was nice.

Sunday morning we had great breakfast that some of the folks volunteered to make----pancakes and bacon with eggs. Yummy!!! I really liked the pancakes. After breakfast people meandered down to the beach to hang out. I loved the bath so much that I went back for round two on Sunday just before lunch. I went alone this time and had a great time just being solitary. Nice, quiet, and relaxing. There were some older Korean women there, but it was not that busy at all. I felt so refreshed and healthy afterwards. A great way to spend a Sunday. Lunch came next and then the bus ride back to school...................

I had a great weekend.......the beach was nice and it was really fun to get away and hang out with people without being "on the hill". I took lots of pics so be sure to check them out.

Last week

I cannot believe that it has been a week since I have updated my blog. Sorry to those of you who are avid readers.

Last week seem to fly by and there were lots of things to do. Tuesday I had dinner with Sarah and Buffie. Sarah made burritos and they were really yummy! Wednesday I ate dinner at home and tried to get some much needed rest........I have become an expert napper since I arrived here. I watched some more episodes of Friends. So funny! I cannot believe I didn't watch it on TV at all, but that goes back to my not owning a TV I am sure. It has been great to laugh and chuckle. I have been lloving getting to know the characters from the beginning.......I never knew Rachel's whole story about her being attached to her parents financially. Great stuff. Thursday night I had an invite to go eat at my pen pal's house for dinner. Her name is Christy and she is an awesome cook. She supposedly just "whipped something together"......right. It was a pampered chef recipe and it was really good. She made a chicken, broccoli and cheese like stuffing and then wrapped in all in homemade croissant bread. WOW! So yummy! I was able to visit with her and her husband which was really nice to get to know them better and have good conversation.

Thank God for the people who are here at SFS that have just been really great about creating time to get know each other and fellowship with others. :) Yeah!!!

School is going well. My kids are great and the routines are getting better with each new day. I have volunteered to help with the elementary swim squad on Friday afternoons. I am excited about this and hope to get to know some kids better. On Thursdays I am co-leading a discipleship group of 9th grade girls. I hoping that God will help me grow as a leader and be more confortable with hanging out with high school kids and talking about God with them. :) We have Back to School Night on Thursday and I am busily trying to prepare for this night of excitement. I am hoping it goes well and I would ask that you pray for Back to School Night and that all goes smoothly.