Always an Adventure...

This morning in church there was a dancing group of ladies age 40-80. Not something you see every day. This afternoon, I went to Children's Festival, held in a park about 20 minutes' drive away. It was an extremely refreshing way to pass the scorching July day. They have set up vendors, displays, and most importantly, a number of water games and huge stations like a king-sized water park. They had huge mounted water guns, an area with a rubber mat over the water where you had to try to remain standing, and a set of spinning sprinklers that seemed to be stimulating typhoon rains (funny how we love it in one place, and hate it in another). My favorite was this dance floor with jets of water shootingto the rhythm of the music up from small holes spaced a few inches apart all over the platform. It was like a big, wet mosh pit (though not nearly as violent), and I found myself thinking, they should do this at Youthquake! Apart from the fact that it would break all Briercrest d...

The moving process for me was extended over almost two weeks, but on Tuesday morning some people from the church helped me load everything into the big church van, which the pastor drove to my new place. I stayed in the church a couple more nights, and Thursday was my first night to sleep in my new apartment! I'm thrilled to be here, to be in my *own* place. It's practically a rite of passage for me. My class in Luodong this week was tons of fun, and the kids' behaviour was MUCH better than last week at the other church. My summer evening classes started again, with some interesting times. Wednesday's beginner class only had 8 students and one parent, who did everything short of learn English for his son, and didn't seem pleased with any imput I had to give, all the while coaching his son to speak in sentences which more often than not had glaring errors. It was hard to know what to do, and even harder not to laugh at how ridiculous it was. Is it bad to hope the...

Friday was our last day of camps, and it went so well! I really enjoyed having those students for two weeks, and I even taught my evening high school students how to play Uno! They had a great time catching each other, and got really into the game. This morning I visited the church where I'll be doing camp next week, but it's a little less intensive, just two hours a day there, but I have to travel to LuoDong every day (10 minutes by train). This week I'm ALSO starting two evening classes at the church and one morning class at a high school. My high school classes for the summer all start at 8am... so perhaps I will have to mend my night owl ways until the fall, sigh... I'm moving on Tuesday, but I've been slowly taking stuff over on my bike every time I go. I still have to give the kitchen a good scrub to try to get rid of a large accumulation of grease... YUCK. I discovered today that I have some foreign neighbours (2 floors above me) when I almost locked one out...

How hot is it where you are?? It's hot and humid here, though only 32 degrees today. There's another typhoon coming.... I don't think it will be very big, but we may have to cancel our classes on Friday. Summer is in full swing, and to celebrate, here are some pictures from the beach I went to in South Korea (Busan) and the aquarium. The water was cold! A view of the beach. Jellyfish. King crab. Hey duuuuude! The special exhibition at the end was frogs. Rosalee said last time she went it was sheep etc. so NOT something that belongs in an aquarium!

The view from my balcony. I received the keys to the place I'll be moving into today, and I went to take some pictures and set out some bug poison. Over the next couple weeks I'll be cleaning, packing moving, etc. etc. etc. Anyways, here are the "before" pictures, if you will. I'll be sure to take more once I'm moved in. A little curtain can be pulled to separate off the kitchen/bathroom/balcony. I'm planning to move the wardrobe to the middle of the room to kind of divide living room from sleeping area. Table and loveseat. The kitchen. Washing machine is out on the balcony. Still no dryer.. I'm starting to wonder if that amazing machine really does exist, or if it was all just a beautiful memory... Bathtub, MUCH nicer than this one. Red toilet. Standing at the kitchen looking toward the door. There's a small storage space that overlooks the courtyard. Not bad at all.

I didn't disappear after Jinju, and as my previous post said, I am back safe and sound, though dreadfully busy. On Monday I had the misfortune of a computer crash, just in case I didn't have enough stress in my life. So I've spent time in between and after classes this week trying to get it fixed. Since Monday, I've been teaching 3 times per day - morning, afternoon, and evening. It's been very busy. I almost feel like I'm back in that Brazil experience, preparing for class up until about 15 minutes before it begins, not sure what I'll be teaching the next day. Actually it's gotten a little better now, but it was REALLY chaotic at first. I recall my VBS years at the Church of God, this is definitely not the well-oiled machine that that program seemed to be. Some of the teachers went to their classes on the first day to find them locked etc. Anyways, I've been enjoying my classes so far, though I've struggled somewhat with teaching the elem...

My sushi lunch. A hot pepper, one of the many side dishes served with a typical Korean meal including 3 or more varieties of kimchi, raw onions, and egg. The group, on the left are Attack and his friend that he brought, and on the right are two English teachers at Rosalee's school. A delicious pork and glass noodle dinner after the 6 of us attacked it. Jinju from the castle wall. The next set of pictures are taken around the grounds of the Palace, which was the setting for many battles with the Japanese. And finally, Korean BBQ served to us in a very special way!

I'm back in Yilan after a whole day of travelling.... 3.5 hours from Rosalee's in Jinju to Seoul, then another hour to the airport, 2.5 hours on the plane, 45 minutes to the train station, and then 2 hours on the train (got stuck on the slow train)... that adds up to almost 10 out of 16 waking hours in transit today - and that doesn't include waiting time in the airports! You'll understand if I postpone further Korea tales for a day or two.