The Makings of a Great Literacy Program

Please note the student writing sample below. After being given the prompt, "I like to eat ____," my student was enthusiastic about writing a sentence that said, "I like to eat an extremely big pumpkin." Not bad for a 6-year -old ELL (English Language Learner) student! But, he got sidetracked. Had to get up and go to the bathroom (I'm pretty sure it was a #2), and when he came back, he had to hurry to finish. As you can see below, this was the result.

I wrote the word "pumpkin" in his personal dictionary for further reference.

Daily Life

Here are some images from our daily life. We have some friends coming and some going right now, so we're in a double transition!

This is our church that we attended in the fall and have been back to since we returned to Korea.

Left to Right: Pastor Casino, Jennie, Ernie, Pastor Moon, Guy I don't know

Some of our good friends here: Ernie and Jennie

Candid. :-)

Sunset in Bundang. The lovely color is due to what Michael calls "particulate matter" in the atmosphere, aka smog.

We found a hiking haven. We think we can be happy now!

Korean cemetery

These are my students. As you can see, birthdays are a big deal, due to the size of the banner. The lady on the right is my boss, Jennifer.

My students again. This is about as still as I can keep them. 2 seconds later they were wiggling! To quote a veteran kindergarten teacher, "They're lucky they're cute!"

Hand-washing saves lives--and so do gloves!

Michael and I visited a public "health" clinic for our mandatory health screening, as the capstone to our visas. It was simple: a urine drug test and a blood HIV test. But let me back up...

I distinctly remember my 6th-grade teacher telling us in a DARE class that he would always insist his needles be opened right in front of him to make sure that they were clean. For some reason this story has always stuck in my mind, and as we walked into the clinic, I told Michael that we needed to insist on getting a clean needle. We didn't realize that we would have to insist that the blood-drawing lady put on gloves!

But it was indeed that way. We watched her draw blood from other patients, gloveless, so when it came Michael's turn, he asked her to wear gloves. She went to wash her hands. "No, gloves, please. It's for you--for your safety!" he said. A confused look followed. He gestured the donning of gloves. With a sigh and a huff, she went to fetch some gloves, as though her time were being wasted. She came back, not with surgical gloves, but with food service gloves. Sigh.

My turn came, and did she change her gloves? No, she did not. I vowed that I would seize her personal bank account if I contracted HIV. Not likely, but we were both surprised that in a developed country such as Korea, basic hygiene like gloves would be ignored. "Unbelievable!" We said as we left. "Unbelievable!"

New Temporary Home

Thurday night ended up being the last night we had to sleep in what we affectionately now call the "Bordello;" i.e. Korean motel. We have inherited the apartment that belonged to the teachers we replaced at Kids' College, and as they moved out Friday night, we moved in. What a blessed change!

I took a few pictures, but please forgive the backlighting.

Here you have the entrance hallway. Cabinets and storage make up the entire left wall, bathroom is on the right.

Kitchen!

Here's the living room; it's a straight shot in from the doorway. We inherited all the furniture you see.

Here's the loft that we use as a bedroom. The staircase comes up to the left of the bed. Behind where I was standing is a desk and lamp. You can't quite stand up in the loft, but it's a fun place to sleep!

The little staircase that goes up to the loft. To the left is the kitchen and behind me is the living room.

And of course, how could I leave out the bathroom? No bidet on the toilet, so I suppose we'll always have to use toilet paper. ...We all have some sacrifices to make...sigh...

So that's the tour of our apartment! It's small, but I find it very comfortable. Unfortunately, we can't settle here because the man who owns the apartment no longer wants to rent it to foreigners (no prejudices, of course!), so we will move down to the 2nd floor in two weeks. The apartment will look exactly the same, but we'll have to haul all that stuff down there.

We Have Returned!

On Saturday, the 23rd, we left Washington to resume our adventures in Korea. After a 13-hour travel ordeal, we arrived in Seoul on Sunday, the 24th. By the time we hit the sack Sunday night, we had officially been up for 24 hours. Korea is 17 hours ahead of Pacific time, so we gained a day as we traveled. Traveling that far west is basically an endless day.

This week, we're staying in a Korean motel as we wait for the other teachers to move out of our apartment. It is quite the experience. Apparently, Korea really doesn't have hotels the same way the US does. Thus, we are staying in a type of love motel. It is a skanky, brothel-esque, pay-by-the-hour operation, and earplugs have definitely helped at night. Use your imagination, and you have our living quarters for the week. We are really looking forward to moving into our apartment!

Today we visited our school and met some of our students. There's a lot to sort through and prepare for next week when we begin teaching. It's certainly a happy place that cares about its students. I think everyone there feels taken care of. We'll be working hard, but it will be good work to be doing. Once we get settled this weekend, I'll put up some pictures. See you soon!

The Sun Was Shining, But Don't be Fooled!

After a few weeks in California, we went up to Washington to visit the other half of our family. Washington has become a place to which many Californians like to move to get more house for their money, but I will say to them all: the winters really are as bad as you have heard. We've been here three weeks, and it it has been sunny 3 days in total. All the rest of the days it has been not only overcast, but rainy. Seasonal Affective Disorder is real, I tell you!

Anyway, the best thing about Washington have been our friends and family. It's been so refreshing to see the friends and family members we love so much! Enjoy the beautiful pictures of Washington; there's a reason why it's green!

We went down to Seattle to get our Korean visas; here is the famous Seattle Monorail.

A frozen Heart Lake with the mist rolling in on Mount Erie

More mist on Mount Erie

My step-dad, Ben, and our dog, Chelsey--she's the best dog in the world!

Hello, there.

This was taken on the third sunny day of our stay. Mount Baker is in the background; Fidalgo Bay in the foreground.

Pictures of the countryside near my parents' house. I was also experimenting with some "door photos."

The plan now is to leave Washington and head to Korea on the 24th of February, so all our loyal fans will be able to resume their vicarious cultural experience at that time.

You've Gotta See These!

We went to Ano Nuevo State Park in Santa Cruz and had a unique opportunity to see elephant seals during breeding season. They come to this beach by the hundreds (we saw more than 700 seals) to give birth, breed, and go back to sea. Just to help you appreciate how big these animals are, here are a few fast facts:
~full grown males can be up to 15 feet long and can weigh 5,000 pounds
~babies are born at about 70 pounds, and in 4 weeks grow to be almost 300 pounds
~one male "owns" a harem of females and must be prepared to defend his position at all times against others that might want to challenge him. In other words, they fight a lot!

We got to come within 25 feet of these guys, so it was pretty interesting.

This is a young male. He has nothing to do because he's not old enough or big enough to fight off another male for the rights to all the sex, I mean, breeding.

Mama and newborn baby.

They know how to live--lay around on the sand and sleep.

This guy is just letting others know that he is boss and owns all the women.

Here is another young male who doesn't stand a chance, but is wishing he did.

We highly recommend this tour if you're ever down in Santa Cruz in January. We learned a lot and got to see some really interesting wildlife!