Seoul, Birthdays, Cell Phones, and Water Filters

It has been a busy week. I am feeling much more settled here, especially now that my classroom at school is pretty much set up. We had orientation this past week, so I've spent my days at school, sitting in meetings and working in my classroom. For the most part it has been meetings in the morning and then a few hours of work time in the afternoon. All the work this week was in preparation for Open House on Monday night. That will be a time for parents and students to come meet the teachers and see the classrooms and the school. Except for making copies of information to pass out, as of Friday afternoon, I am ready for open house. That means that I can finally start thinking about lesson plans. School starts with a half day next Wednesday, August 15th. Yikes, is that coming up quickly! I have a lot to figure out in the next few days.

Next week also starts normal arrival times at school. This week we didn't have to arrive until 7:45 for breakfast, so we didn't have to leave until 7:20. Because it takes about 20 minutes to get to school, the teachers cannot walk. Instead, we travel back and forth in teacher vans everyday. Next week we have to be at school for devotions at 7:25. We will aim to be at school by 7 to have some prep time before devotions, because once those are over, on normal school days, students will be at school and prep time is over. All of this means we have to leave at 6:35 every morning. I know some of you are thinking, "That's not early. I do that everyday!" Well, it is earlier than what I'm used to. That's about the time I would get up when I lived on the east side and worked at Grandview. I'm sure I will get used to it, but it will take a little bit of adjustment.

School hasn't been the only thing keeping me busy this past week. Last Friday I went into Seoul with a few other teachers from school. There were three new teachers who went (including myself), as well as one returning couple and their toddler. The couple had to go to the embassy, so the other new teachers and I were able to explore part of Seoul while they were in the embassy. The embassy is near one of the palaces in Seoul, one I had visited two years ago. However, we explored some of the surrounding neighborhood that I did not get a chance to check out when I was here during student teaching. We did, though, come across a stream running through downtown that I had found last time I was in Korea. That was cool. I also remembered where the tourist office nearby was. Yay! That was my personal victory for the day. I had a lot of fun riding the subway again and exploring Seoul. It really made me feel like I was back in Korea.

Statue of King Sejong who ruled at the end of the 14th century during the Chosun dynasty. He invented the Korean alphabet.

Admiral Yi Sun Shin, a great Korean warrior.

The stream running through downtown.

It continued with my birthday last Saturday. I celebrated with my family before I left, but I was able to do some things here with the other teachers. I went out to lunch with a couple of them, and then on Sunday we had an ice cream/birthday party for me, complete with blowing out the candles on a cake made in a rice cooker. My "buddy," the person who has been helping me adjust to life in Korea, answering my questions and taking me to the grocery store the day after I arrived, got me a plant for my birthday.

My buddy also took me to get a Korean cell phone last Saturday. I was without a cell phone for less than a week, but I didn't like it. Though people here could still get contact me through the home phone, I still felt out of contact with everybody else. Also, because I didn't have a cell phone, I couldn't get a debit card when I opened up my Korean bank account last week. I still need to go back to the bank and do that, but at least now I can call and text others here in Korea. I know, many of you are thinking that for years you never had cell phones and were okay, and I was okay, but it's still not fun being without one.

This week also included a trip after school to Home Plus, which is basically a Super Wal-Mart. In addition to getting some necessary food items, my roommates and I also decided to buy a water filter for our apartment. Like in many countries, the water in Korea is not safe to drink. As a result, you either have to buy bottled water or have a big water jug and dispenser. Our apartment doesn't have a dispenser, so we have to buy bottled water and carry it up to our apartment. Not fun. So the idea we had was to buy a water filter that hooks up to the water supply in the kitchen. No more buying water bottles, no more hauling water up the hill, and no worrying about water delivery or buying a dispenser. It costs a little more up front to get the water filter, but in the long run it will save us money and hassle. So, when we were at Home Plus on Wednesday, we bought the water filter. And that's where the saga begins. One of my roommates put the charge on her credit card, but the store had processing the card and had to take it on and off before it would finally work. Once that was finally accomplished, they could talk about delivery. Because it was such a big purchase, the store would deliver it to the apartment and set it up for us. Originally, delivery was going to be Thursday afternoon sometime. They were going to call that morning and tell us the time. Morning passed, no call. We got home from school, and there was still no call. So we called the store, and they now said it wouldn't be delivered until Friday after 5, which worked out well because we would be home from school by then. Friday morning rolled around, and they called to ask if they could deliver it right then. We were at school and couldn't leave, so the answer was "no." Then they said it wouldn't be delivered until Saturday sometime. Okay fine, we would definitely be home then. Friday afternoon we got another call. The delivery men were waiting outside our apartment building. Thankfully, our director let my roommates head home immediately so they could accept delivery of the water filter. If they hadn't, who knows when it would have actually been delivered! Now the saga is over, and we can enjoy cold or hot safe, filtered water whenever we want, no bottles or jugs required.

Saturday's adventure consisted in a trip to Costco. This is always very exciting because it allows us to buy American products that we might not be able to find elsewhere in Korea. I went as a guest this time, but next time I will probably get my own Costco membership that will also be good in the States. My biggest purchase at Costco today was a table to use as my desk. It's just a plastic folding table, rectangular, about 4 feet wide. It's nothing fancy, but definitely necessary for grading papers and working on things at home. In fact, I'm sitting at it right now to write this blog. What makes it so necessary is my carpal tunnel. Yes, that pesky little condition is acting up again. And it will probably, most definitely act up once school gets going into full swing with teaching, lesson planning, and grading. Right now, that's my biggest concern as school starts, and my biggest prayer request. It definitely made things harder this past year, and I don't want the complication or pain this year. I would really appreciate your prayers on this matter!

First Few Days in Korea

I made it to Korea! After a long 13+ hour flight from Chicago, I landed at Incheon International Airport in Seoul and got through immigration and customs without any problems and all my luggage. Getting to Korea safely without any difficulty was an answer to prayer in and of itself, but God went beyond that in providing for this trip. On my flight to Korea, I originally had a middle seat :(. It was all I was able to get when I booked my flight. However, when I checked in at Chicago, the attendant called to see if there was an aisle seat for me, without being asked by me. At that point there wasn't, but she was going to try to get me one. And she did. And not only did I now have an aisle seat, but I had an aisle seat only 5 rows from the front of economy class, meaning I was one of the first people off the airplane. Before I was about 5 rows from the back of the plane. It was a much better seat.

Well, that was Monday. It is now Thursday in Korea, and I am settling into my apartment, learning about my neighborhood, working on necessary items for the immigration office, and starting to set up my classroom. After crashing Monday night, I spent Tuesday unpacking and going to the grocery store. Wednesday included a short trip to school, enough for a tour and a quick perusal of my classroom, before going to the hospital. Don't worry, nothing was wrong, I didn't do something stupid to injure myself. One of the requirements of the immigration office is a health check. So we spent several hours at the hospital getting various tests done (lots of waiting!). We had to do a urine test, a blood test, a chest x-ray for tuberculosis, height/weight measurements, hearing test, vision test, and a consult with one of the doctors. The staff at the hospital were very helpful and used their limited English to tell us where to go, where to sit, and what to do. The 6 of us stuck out a lot at the Korean hospital.

Today was mostly spent at school, setting up my classroom. I got all my furniture arranged, including the student desks, and mostly have all the books on the shelves. I plan to go back tomorrow and finish that and hopefully get through all the other boxes. We start orientation on Monday, and I would like to have my classroom set up enough so that I can start working on lesson plans and syllabi during the work time. Sometime in there I will decorate, but that's not my number one priority right now. I will say that having a couple years teaching experience definitely helped me set up my classroom faster. I knew what I liked for furniture placement and what I didn't like. I didn't have the space to arrange the student desks exactly how I would like them, but I am content with how I have them arranged. Once everything is done, I will post pictures of my classroom. One wall is basically all windows, and it looks out onto a rice patty. It's nice to see some green after looking out at the concrete jungle that is the city I live in.

Speaking of where I live, my apartment is on the 8th floor of a 10 story apartment building. That's pretty comparable to the other buildings in this area. My building stands out a bit, however, because it is on top of a hill, a hill that I will have the joy of walking up and down every single time I want to go somewhere. Carrying groceries in the middle of winter, especially if it's icy, will be a lot of fun. However, that makes my building a little bit of the way, though it is bordered on two sides by busy streets, so it's not necessarily quieter. Overall, though, I like it. I have two roommates, one of whom is here already, while the other gets in tomorrow. I have my own room, though I have to share a bathroom. There is also a spare bedroom that we use as office space. The apartment does have an A/C unit, which is very important right now as Korea is very hot and humid during the summer (though it is cooler than Iowa right now). One side of my apartment looks onto another apartment building, and the other side looks out onto the rest of the city of Songtan. In case I haven't explained, all the teachers live in Songtan, which is very near Osan Air Force Base, but the school is in Pyongtaek. We carpool in teacher vans each day (15 passenger vans), which take about 20-30 minutes to get to school (depending on traffic). Below are some pictures of Songtan from my apartment. This is the view out my bedroom window. This is also part of the flight path of the jets from Osan, so you can sometimes see them flying by (you can definitely hear them!).

The area I live in has restaurants and shops all around. There are several small grocery stores not far away. All the teachers live within a 10 minute walk of each other, so it is really nice.

While there is so much more I could tell you, I think I will wait for another day, maybe with more pictures of the area. I'm sure as time passes I will get more fun stories to tell. In the meantime, keep up the prayers, as the transition to Korea is definitely not complete yet. One of the next things I need to do is start learning Korean, which will definitely be a challenge. Though hopefully with a little bit of work, it will start looking less like a bunch of lines and circles and sounding less like gibberish and start turning into comprehensible words.

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.)

PFO So Far...

We are a week into PFO, and we have already received so much information. We've done everything from personality assessments to communication assessments to small group meetings to cultural differences activities to safety/security exercise to talking about Third Culture Kids (TCKs) to discussing the process of transition to brainstorming about what this would all look like in the classroom. It is a lot to take in. We are basically in sessions from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. with one or two 15 minute breaks, plus lunch. It is a good thing we have a binder with notes, because otherwise all this valuable information would get lost just in the sheer amount we are hearing.

We also have some activities in the evenings, from school bonding time to a tour of the NICS home office to a Memphis Redbirds (AAA baseball) game. The evenings also give us a little bit of down time, which is essential in helping us get to know the other people that will be teaching at our school and in the rest of the network next year. We have had the opportunity to start discussing with other teachers in our same content/grade areas different techniques, challenges, etc. in the international Christian school setting.

The great news is that there's still one more week of PFO! I will get another week of good information that will be helpful as I start teaching. I've already started making lists of what I can use in the classroom and how I might implement it.

One fun thing that we get to do next week is the Almost Talent Show. As the name might imply, this is a chance for the PFO participants to share all their "talent," whether that's in song, dance, skits, or stupid human tricks. My school has decided to put together an act. We have been rehearsing a bunch already and still have a long ways to go before we are ready to perform. I won't tell you what it is right now (I'll let you formulate your guesses). Here's a hint, though: it's probably something you would NEVER predict that I would do.

Pre-Field Orientation

For the next two weeks I will be in Southaven, Mississippi, for Pre-Field Orientation. This is a required training session for all new employees of the Network of International Christian Schools (NICS). Topics covered in these two weeks include third culture kids (TCKs), international schools, teaching in an intercultural context, dealing with cultural differences, and cultural transition. We will be in session all day, everyday. It will be a lot of information, but it will be a lot of good information that will help with the transition to teaching overseas. Since PFO is required for all new NICS employees, I will also have a chance to meet all the other new teachers (and their families) at my school. I will also have a chance to network with the other English teachers at the other schools.

I would really appreciate your prayers throughout the next two weeks. Pray that I would be able to learn, retain, and apply all the information from these two weeks. Pray that I learn more about myself and what I need to adjust to have a successful transition experience. Pray that I would have a soft heart for what God is going to teach me.

Pyongtaek International Christian School

Next year I will be teaching at Pyongtaek International Christian School in Pyongtaek, South Korea. In this post I will try to answer some of the most common questions about the school and what I will be teaching. Feel free to comment and ask any other questions you might have.

How big is the school?
The school has about 130 students, K-12. Class size in the high school is about 13.

Is the school associated with any organizations or mission boards?
The school is part of the Network of International Christian Schools, a nondenominational organization that has 21 schools around the world. For more information, visit their website at www.nics.org.

What classes will you be teaching?
I will be teaching high school English for grades 9-12. The classes are Literature and Composition (9th), World Literature (10th), British Literature (11th), and American Literature (12th). I will also be teaching speech and drama.

How far is Pyongtaek from Seoul?
The school is about 50 miles south of Seoul.

How far is Pyongtaek from the border with North Korea?
The school is about 80 miles from the border with North Korea.

What is the background of the students at the school?
The students come from a variety of countries. Most of them do not hold Korean passports; if they do, they need to have lived outside of Korea for at least 5 years to attend an international Christian school. Many of their parents are military contractors. The students do not have to be Christians to attend the school. As a result, my classroom could have atheists, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc., in it. It will be a really neat opportunity to share the Gospel with students who may not have ever heard it before.