A Very Warm Blessing!

I just thought I would share one of the most recent blessings that God has provided in my life here in Korea...

You see, since I'm in the far north of the country, the winters are even colder than those I experienced during college in Anderson, Indiana. I came here with a pretty nice (fake) leather jacket that I thought was pretty warm when I first got it... but the past few weeks have shown me just how thin that jacket is! Ha! Do you know it even snowed for the first time here a couple weeks ago (already!) -- yep, about 3 inches in one day! So, I needed a new coat. Not a jacket, but a coat. One of my co-workers, Mrs. Choi, who works in the administration office, saw my sorry excuse for a winter coat and actually went out and bought me this big guy... who, aside from the rather long fur rim on his hood (which tends to blind me and get in my mouth) is the warmest coat that I have ever owned! I am so grateful to my friend and co-worker for this wonderful Christmas gift :)

The day of the first snow, looking out through the flagpoles at school....

One of the awesome school lunches that we get to have every day! The only thing I could probably do without is the kimchi...

This is a little gift I received from my school... it is a piece of artwork that doubles as a keychain and a pair of fingernail clippers!

 Above is the playground a few days after the first snow...

Below is the statue of 이순신 (Yi Sun Shin), a great Korean naval commander from the sixteenth century.

The setting sun over the playground... this is what Mr. Yi Sun Shin gets to look at every day

The English Zone

Here's a look at my classroom for those who are curious about what my working environment looks like! This will just be a quick post with some pictures. Hopefully I can add some captions or explanations to it later this week.

 Okay, I have to give a caption here... haha.
I just found these audiobooks on the shelf with all the other English reading materials in my classroom and had to take a photo... they just seem sooo out of place on that shelf. I asked my co-teacher where they came from and she didn't even know. She assumed they must have been the property of the previous NET (Native English Teacher) --- but she was from New Zealand! Anything is possible, but this still was very weird.

And this is where we trade in our real shoes every morning for slippers... I can't stand this part of the job because my feet get so cold in the slippers and there is no central heating. But, it keeps the floors semi-clean so, what are you gonna do?

My third and fourth grade sticker chart for the month of November... I have to make a new one in the morning!

Gyeongju - a memory within a memory

When I posted about my very special iron last time, I was really just choosing a simple topic to blog about because I wanted to give a quick update. Now, I still want to give a quick update because my days are getting shorter and shorter it seems... but I have nothing short of a million things to share!

I will start with what I didn't share in my previous blog.

Our AWESOME 3-day field trip to Gyeongju!

Above is Sangsu Elementary, grades 3-6, at Bulguksa Temple, the first stop on our voyage through the old capital of Korea--Gyeongju--when it was ruled by the Silla dynasty more than a thousand years ago. Hence my title for this post: for me, Gyeongju holds a grand memory of Korea's past in which I formed some of my own wonderful memories as well!

The above and following pics were taken at the site of what used to be a large palace complex during the Silla period... the pictures were taken in succession as you might notice. I was not expecting this to happen...

 Or this...

 Or this!

 Above and right, the kids are listening intently to our tour guide who stayed with us throughout the 3-day trip giving us tours and explanations of all the sites we visited. She worked for the youth hostel that we stayed at, so it was very convenient. Apparently there are many youth hostels in Gyeongju with similar programs because all elementary students--and I think even middle school students--get to take at least one trip to the city to see their country's heritage. You can see Mr. 우 (pronounced kind of like the "oo" in "food"), the 6th grade teacher, who I got to know pretty well during this trip.

OH! And, guess what? I was on TV!
There happened to be a talk show from the Busan area filming at one of the monuments that we visited and since I was the most out-of-place-looking person among their onlookers, they came up to me and immediately started asking me how I liked Korea. They asked me how old I was and when I told them, the two women asked if I would marry them LOL.

It was a comedy show of course for a local audience, but still... I was on TV in Korea! hahaha
I haven't received any calls for further interviews... yet.

Left is Bulguksa once again.

This is Miss. 김 (Kim--the Smith of Korean last names, only even more common). She is the 5th grade teacher and also the person who has helped me in adjusting to life in this country more than any other individual over the past month and a half! She also just graduated college and we are the same age--so we can be friends! If you're not the same age as someone in Korea, it is significantly more difficult to become close friends with him or her because of the way their social hierarchy works... but I find this to be different for foreigners like myself thankfully!

Above: The youth hostel where we stayed in Gyeongju. Some 3rd and 4th grade girls are still trying to wake up at 8 in the morning... 

Above and below are all from the Gyeongju National Museum (국립경주박물관)

There were about 3 million of these tombs just laying about all across the Gyeongju landscape and we probably visited 20 of them!  They are, at least on the outside, somewhat similar to some of the Indian mounds you can see in Ohio and other places in the States.




Here is one of the most famous ones below...

And this is the largest bell I have ever laid eyes on... sadly it has not been "ringable" since about 2005 if I remember correctly.... at the Gyeongju National Museum.

These two little girls, Seo Yoon and Min Kyeong, are best friends as you can see... they almost never let go of each other! No joke.
They are also two of my best students!

Mr. 우 taught me an interesting expression (while we were visiting this beautiful park full of burial mounds) that lots of Korean men like to quote when autumn comes around:

"Autumn is the season for men" ("가을은 남자의 계절")

It means that men are at their peak for finding a relationship during autumn or something to that effect... I quoted it to Miss. Kim and she got a kick out of it.

There is a really cool story that goes along with this little artificial stone stream, but it was lost in translation... for me at least.

We also visited the Pacific Ocean! (in Korean: 태평양 "tae pyeong yang") 
It was chilly and the waves were huge... therefore, a lot of fun!

Made in France.

Now, this may look like an ordinary iron to the unobservant...

 But, look more closely, and you will see something really cool...

It was made in France! HA! Who would have guessed that the first iron I get in Korea would be made in France?? I don't know about you, but I am stoked.

Unfortunately it doesn't speak French, so I will have to look elsewhere in order to keep my language in shape. And, guess what. I met an girl from the States last weekend on the subway who majored in French and is now teaching English in Korea just like me! Needless to say, our short train ride was not long enough to discuss all of the things we shared in common. It was, on the other hand, long enough to exchange names and Facebook friendship requests.

I truly do miss France and speaking French with others, be it on AU's campus or in Normandy where I studied for 6 months. On the other hand, the experience of learning Korean is entirely new and entirely interesting to me. In between Korean lessons, however, I have managed to watch French news just about every day for the past few weeks. It is really nice, because they always give an update on the election in the US and normally they have another 4-5 minute story about something in the US. So, I get to stay up-to-date with American and French news, while at the same time keeping my French in shape :)

My interest in French probably doesn't interest a lot of my readers, but it is a big part of my life here so I wanted to share. French is a beautiful language. I can only hope that my interest in it will inspire others to study it or continue where they left off in high school. If you need a good reason... there are over 140 million French speakers in the world and most of them do not know Jesus Christ. Alors, allons-y!

On a different note--for those who are still wondering whether I managed to decipher my thermostat, I can happily report that I did indeed! There were a few fairly cold mornings last week that I had to endure, but now it is up and running... literally, hot water is running underneath the floor-boards.
I had to have my co-worker call the office manager here at my building a few (or maybe 5 or 6) times, but we got it figured out and I am warm. It's good to be warm. 

Blessings of Translation...

I must say, life gets busy. Hence the reason for my absence on this blog. For everyone who has checked for an update from me over the past couple of weeks without any luck, I'm sorry about that. I was blessed in the beginning of my stay here in Korea with a rather light workload which really allowed me the time to process my new environment and make plenty of blog posts in the process. Now that my 16-20 classes per week (depending on how you count) are underway, time is seeming to speed up. Not to mention, I have a lot fewer of those 24 hours in the day to use for social networking!

In any case, I wanted to give an update on things here in my neck of the woods. Currently, the biggest challenge that lies before me is pictured below.

Now, if that sight doesn't scare the living daylights out of you... well, then you're probably Korean. You see, it's not as simple as just flipping on the heat when one is cold. In Korea, they use what is called a floor heater. That's not a space heater I'm talking about. There is actually a system of pipes that runs underneath the floor in most houses and apartments (as far as I know) carrying hot water. This hot water heats the floor (almost always a wooden floor) thereby heating the room above. It makes for some very happy feet in the morning... when it is working properly. I have yet to get it to work in my apartment, in spite of having had the office manager of my building come and check it out with me along with a co-worker from my school. Thankfully it is not very cold outside yet and the only time I might need some extra heat is in the morning. But, all the same, I think this is a battle worth fighting now rather than later.

I am not worried about it though--okay maybe just a tad--BUT, that is my humanity talking. I know God is going to take care of me. He has provided everything I have needed every step of the way these past 22 years and much, much more.

"Yet true religion with contentment is great wealth. After all, we didn't bring anything with us when we came into the world, and we certainly cannot carry anything with us when we die. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content." (1 Tim 6:6-8)

My best friend recently shared this verse with me and it rings absolutely true in my current situation. 

That friend (David, whom many of my readers know already!) happens to be Korean and also happens to really enjoy translation! SO, I am going to take the liberty now to share with you all another of the blessing God has given me...

So, there you have it! (I hope David doesn't mind my showing off of his beautiful work...)

I hope to make another update this coming weekend. Until then, blessings everyone--count them, because they are all around you!