Two Praises in Two Days

In less than two weeks I will be leaving for South Korea. That hardly seems possible! The time has gone by so quickly this summer, and the next two weeks are just going to fly by. Before I know it, I will be sitting on the 14 hour flight from Chicago to Incheon (the international airport in South Korea), squished in between two other people. Besides saying good-bye to everyone, the only thing I really have left to do is pack, which is no small task. I had more to do, up until a couple days ago. Over the weekend a couple big things happened that have really cleared the way.

Praise #1: I got my visa!!!!!

Getting my visa has been a long process that I started back in March. First I had a bunch of materials that I had to send to the school in South Korea, including the originals of my teaching certificates. Then I had to wait for the school to process that information and get the right materials to the right Korean authorities. I could not move on to the second step in the process (actually sending in my application and passport) until everything in Korea was processed. I needed to get a number from them to then put on the top my visa application. By giving me the number, the government basically says, "We have looked at all your stuff, and we have approved you to get your visa to teach here." By putting this number on the visa application, the process would be much faster and smoother. I did not get this number until the first week of July. However, just as God provided the job in Korea, He also provided quick shipping and processing of all my materials, with my visa and passport arriving back on Friday.

Praise #2: I sold my car!

In preparation for the move overseas, I have been getting rid of a lot stuff, from clothes to furniture to miscellaneous items. I also decided to sell my car so that I didn't have to pay for registration, insurance, and maintenance when nobody was really using it. I would put the money into savings and use it to buy a new car whenever I return to the States. So earlier this week after I got back from PFO, we put the car on craigslist and also mentioned it to some other people we knew were looking for another car. It sold on Saturday. We weren't sure how long it would take to sell; we were prepared for my parents to have to still be trying to sell it after I had left. Thankfully, that ended up not being necessary. Until I leave I am able to borrow my sister Kara's car because she doesn't turn 16 for a few more weeks and she won't be driving to school in the middle of July.

God has really provided for me to move to South Korea. I am continually amazed by how He continues to smooth the path for me to teach at Pyongtaek International Christian Schoool (PICS). I know that prayer is a big part of it, and I will definitely need those prayers for safe and (hopefully) stress-free travels and transition to Korea.

PFO Wrap-Up

Well, I have made it home from PFO. I am tired, but it was a good time. I learned so much! This week focused on more application for the classroom, focusing on things like classroom management, the first day of school, English Language Learners (ELLs), cultural differences in the classroom, biblical integration, and evangelism in the classroom. I have been thinking more and more about how I want to set up my classroom and what I want to change or modify. It makes me want to be in Korea and be in my classroom even more.

I want to thank everybody for their prayers as I was at PFO. They were a huge part of what made it a successful time.

I leave for South Korea on July 29th, just three short weeks away. I feel like I have a lot to do between now and then--some things to purchase, tons of packing (and probably some re-packing), and good-byes. I definitely want to make sure that I spend time with family and friends before I leave.

And now for the part you've all been waiting for...the almost talent show! Now while there are many things I wouldn't do, like turning in a paper late, not all of those are things that you would do for a talent show. You may have guessed at least part of what this is, so I won't keep you in suspense any longer. (Insert drumroll). I (with the other teachers from Pyongtaek) was part of a k-pop dance routine. K-pop is Korean pop music, and it is extremely popular with Korean teenagers. K-pop is famous for having a dance routine that goes along with every song. So what we did is take the choruses from 4 different songs and learn the corresponding dances, which we then performed at the talent show. Now I know that many of you are saying, "Where's the video? I want to see this!" Well, if you would like to see it, it was recorded and put on facebook. It is posted on my wall for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy. It was a lot of fun! (Though that doesn't necessarily mean that I will ever do anything like that again.)