Settling In

Hello!!! Wow there is so much pressure in writing a blog. I immediately feel relieved when I remember that not many people will read it. Hi mom and dad!

I will preface all of these postings with a warning: my English continues to deteriorate as I spend more time teaching English.

"What's your favorite thing to do?"

"What is your favorite thing to do?"

"Your favorite thing what?"

"Your best thing do what is?"

That is just a small example from one of my English classes. What am I doing here? Good question. I'm still figuring that out, too! I am living in Ansan, South Korea, an extremely westernized city- except for the fact everything is in the Hangul alphabet and though my phonics are getting better, I can't decode anything unless it's the word "chi-kin". ㅊㅣ ㅋㅣ ㄴ. I teach English at an after-school academy for children who are essentially priveledged. It is standard, however, for Korean children to go to school all day, and then bounce around from academy to academy until 10:00 pm. They stay up until 1-3 AM doing homework, and then get up at 6:30 the next day and do it all again, often for six days a week. This would explain why 13 yr old Judy was fighting to keep her eyes open and her head up at 9:30 last night during class. They slap their face, ask me if they can go "wash their face" with cold water, and have perfected the art of sleeping with their head hanging down. I walk around and fan them during class to keep them awake, even though they complain the room is "Cold, teacher! Cold! Teacher! Cold!"

When I tell my students that American children go to school until 3:30 and they go home and play, you would not believe the shocked, rapturous expressions on their faces. They all say "AHHHHH!" and are in complete disbelief. Then I tell them that is why Korean children are smarter! Still, they want American school. Last night they asked me what food was like in American cafeteria, and I told them "pizza, fries, burger"... every word they said "Ahhh!" and things continued to escalate until I said "salad" and their faces dropped. I guess USA isn't all that great.

So yes. I teach from 4pm to 10pm, and I teach five different classes. Ages range from a class of eight year old boys who would not stop saying the word "dung" yesterday and giggling madly to a class of 15-19 yr olds. One boy is a mathematical and scientific genius and has been accepted into the Korean equivalent of MIT, however, he can't speak English and that is why he's in my class.

I teach English and also science in English. Quite a challenge explaining "radioactive decay" and "symbiosis" to kids who can barely say, "Yesterday I went to the store!"

I live alone in a loft apartment on the 4th floor, the three floors below me are businesses. It's super convenient because on the bottom floor there's a corner store and a bank and a pet store and a laundromat... and five million restaurants and stores everywhere. Living alone is strange for me because I'm incurably extroverted, however, it's pretty cool because I can write all the music I want and play guitar as loud as I want, and decorate however I want... it's a challenge being super clean though because I usually clean my house when I know people are coming over, and here that doesn't happen a lot- I don't have any couches or anything like that yet! Just a bed, a dresser, a table, two chairs, and an office chair that I found on the street.

I have severe ADD so it has taken me about... two or three hours to write this much. I think right now I'm going to look for some Korean recipes and then go to the grocery store. There are almost no ingredients available for everything I've ever learned to cook... aka American, Italian, French... so... time to learn Korean cooking!

Please continue to pray that God will show me my ministry here and that I will find solid community... I keep thinking of some verses in 1 Corinthians:

"When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power." (2:1-5)

I just want to do what God wants, and get closer to Him so... if you're praying for me, pray for that! K love you all bye!