Bunnies In the Metro

Yes, walk through the metro in Sillim and you are bound to find cute brown, black, and white bunnies sitting in a tiny box with an old lady gaurding them. They are so preious, in fact, that one of the teachers saw them, loved them, and bought one. We were on our way to Krispy Kreme, and so can you guess the name? Krispy. Precious. The lady takes a tiny cage about the size of a 3X5 card (ok, so a BIT bigger...) and plops not one, but TWO bunnies into the cage, shoves the lid on, holds it out and smiles. Bunnies in the metro...imagine the possibilities.

Yesterday was my class party. Every time the students turn in all their homework (sometimes they have 5 assignments a night, they get a sticker on their chart. When everyone in the class fills up their charts (20 stickers each), we have a party. I brought them to my apartment, which looks big when it's just me living there. Try stuffing 14 rowdy 5th graders into a living room and not having Mt. Popcorn erupt. Thankfully, they have able hands and swept up MOST of the popcorn, chips, frosting, and sanity that was lying on the floor. There were only a few pieces jammed into the couch cushions. All in all it was a success. They laugh during the movie, were too full to eat cake (fancy that) and had a blast at the park. I'd like to see the day when someone else can fit as many bodies as they did onto my couch.

Tomorrow we're going to 서대문 자연사박물관. It's a museum of natural history. AKA many dino bones and plenty of evolution. A whole floor dedicated to it. What a great teaching opportunity. We just got done studying fossils and dinos in Science and we also had a section on Creationists and Evolutionists. Hopefully they can remember all that we discussed and apply it.

My favorite word in Korean so far is 화장실. Don't know why. Oh, it means bathroom btw. Just in case you were wondering. I guess it's just a very useful word to know.

It cracks me up when little kids look at me and whisper to their friends or parents "미국 사람" which means American. I just look back at them with an awestruck look on my face and say 한국 사람 which means Korean...and is very obvious yet brings gladness to my heart to see their confused faces. I just laugh, say 안녕하세요 (which means hello) and walk away. It's great!

Well, not much else to say...I mean, I'm sure I could say more, but the spacebar on this computer is sketchy. And so, I shall bid you goodnight. Or goodmorning...wherever you are.

Peace.

Does Anyone Have A Giant Bow?

Wow, it's been FOREVER since I've posted! Much sorryness (is that a word?) Things have been in uproar lately with my visa and then getting my alien card. Where to begin.

Well, for starters, I still LOVE everything about what I'm doing right now. God confirms every day that this is where He wants me. My kids keep my laughing all the time (even when they're bad they're cute!) and I love teaching them. I look forward to school each day. Sure, it's work, and lots of it, but seeing them learn is amazing to me. I'm so thankful God allowed me to come here and teach them.

I've gone to the orphanage a couple more times, and I still melt every time I see the kids. They're so precious!! Blessed be! I wish I could take them all home. They seem to be catching on with the English, but of course they don't speak it except on Fridays, so I don't know how quickly they will retain it. Please pray for this ministry that we'll be able to reach them. We have a Bible story each week, and they are very attentive and they answer questions readily. Please pray they will be saved.

I had a marvelous time in Guam! Everything worked out, and I was able to stay with a friend from college. The island is AMAZING! Blue water, lush green countryside, and really bad drivers. I got a chance to go to Harvest Baptist Church and the school, and it was such a blessing! They were just starting their revival meetings, and I got to help with the bus ministry one night. A supertyphoon was rollin' in, so it rained off and on and everyone was expecting the worst, but it passed us and hit other islands farther north. I got to go snorkeling and get lots of rest. When I got back, though, I had mounds of papers to grade and kids who asked upon my arrival, "Did you bring us jello?" I was just glad I was so missed...and my jello apparently. And yes, I did bring them jello and we all enjoyed it. :)

I've been enjoying Seoul. I've been many many places...huge malls, outdoor shopping at night, an old palace and museum, the Drum Festival, tons of Korean restaurants (I bypassed the fresh--and I do mean fresh--fish, eel, and octopus...) and a bunch more places. I've worn bunny ears in public, sang on the metro, twirled in the street, laughed in the taxi, walked around until my feet were dirty and sore and then walked some more, photographed little children, been told by old ladies who collect cardboard that they love me, made a shopkeeper upset because I said her goods were too expensive (in Korean, of course), been on a sardine packed metro carrying my big backpack on the way back from the airport, helped announce over a microphone at a little shop that had a sale, laughed much about many random things, seen a stuffed bear hanging on a clothes line, swept up tons of cat hair, used a broken shower for 3 weeks, sang "This Little Light of Mine" with the bus kids in Guam, attempted to gesture to ask for directions after getting hopelessly lost (and it worked), navigated my way around the city...successfully, stayed up way too late, graded hundreds of papers, tripped up the stairs, got caught in the rain and had to buy an outrageously priced umbrella or suffer the consequences of not getting one, got really excited, pet bunnies in the metro, bought cute pink nail polish, driven through the crazy streets, got my blood drawn and didn't faint, sat next to a crying baby on the plane, got my picture taken in one of those crazy Korean photo booths...wearing a giant rainbow wig, ate strange food, had chocolate pancakes for dinner, gone to the top of a really tall building, spoke Korean to the shop keepers and pretended to know what they meant when they spoke back, threw a coin backwards over my shoulder into a replica of the Trevi fountain, and oh so much more. And loved every minute of it.

I went to Korean class on Saturday. We learned the alphabet, and the teacher listened to our pronunciation individually and she said mine was good except for a couple letters. I'm going back every Saturday for a couple months, so hopefully I'll pick it up.

I found an iceskating rink at a mall near my house, and they have my size skates!! I was surprised because Koreans have such small feet. I'm excited to go soon. :)

THis week is spirit week. TOmorrow is fashion disaster day, so I will look very strange. I have a mental image of what it will look like, and it won't be pretty!

Nathaniel is coming in a little over a month! I'm so excited to see him! And then I get to go see him again for Christmas because my friend found super cheap roundtrip tickets to Shanghai. The hotel is dirt cheap and everything else it too. It should be a cheap vacation. We'll be there for New Years too.

Thanksgiving is coming up, and I can't believe I've been here almost 2 months. It sounds short, but I feel so comfortable here. I'm picking up some useful phrases. I can say hello and goodbye, how much, I am American, you're mean, I'm tired, stupid, that's too expensive, thank you and please, and a couple other ones that I can't remember. It's fun to learn it and I can't wait to pick up more because I just want to be able to talk to and witness to the people! With God's help!

So, that's basically my life in a nutshell right now. Nothing overly exciting. I'm having lots of fun, staying safe, washing my hands regularly, and just trying to swim through the mounds of grading. It's my fault because, after all, I do give them homework in almost every subject each night.

Time to write a worksheet so I can go to bed and be up bright and early tomorrow morning. God really had been good, and I've enjoyed getting to know Him more. I'm so thankful for His forgiveness and love, and I really wouldn't be anything without Him. I give all the glory to Him for everything everyday. He's everything to me.

Peace.