Christmas time is here,
happiness and cheer.
fun for all that children call
their favorite time of year.

after listening to my one Christmas cd about 4000 times, i broke down and bought "a charlie brown Christmas." it's wonderful. i know Christmas is technically over, but it doesn't really feel like i got my fair share of the holiday since we only got the 1 day off and had to work the rest of the week. so elizabeth and i are extending Christmas into this coming week which is our winter vacation! besides making and decorating sugar cookies, i'm not sure what that will entail -but i do know that my Christmas decorations are staying out.

here are a few pictures of what Christmas looked like here in korea.


"ho ho ho, merry Christmas!" here i am demonstrating the santa beards our kids got to make at the Christmas party.


andy tries to convince santa that he really has been a good boy all year. (except for that one time he tried to flush his sister's barbie doll's head down the toilet...)


jenny and jessy wait for their turn with santa.


near michael's apartment, we found some wild lands to explore. it was great fun. we walked back carrying 2 huge branches which michael wanted to use in his decorating. we got a funny look from the apartment attendant as we struggled to get them into the elevator. =)


we went to an italian place for Christmas dinner. elizabeth and michael were quite happy at the prospect of calzone and pizza.


seth, brittn, and i were mostly excited about the grape fanta.

i hope you all had a wonderful Christmas whether you were at home or on the other side of the world. don't forget to bring Christmas with you throughout the year when stores don't stock eggnog and the radio doesn't play "chestnuts roasting on an open fire." there is still joy for the world.

peace and love.

being away from home over Christmas has been really hard. but there are some things that made it just a little bit easier (or harder -elizabeth and i couldn't decide if familiar things made it harder or easier to cope). at home, baking is a big part of the holidays...here, it's a harder since we don't have an oven or a fred meyer to run to for last minute ingredients. but elizabeth and i were bound and determined to do our best, so one night we wrote out our grocery list and set out for itaewon, (a kind of foreigner's haven). after searching a couple different foreign food markets, we went home victorious (and broke).


evaporated milk -$2.50


chocolate -$2.50


marshmallows -$3.00


duncan hines frosting -$5.50


"sugar powder" (aka powdered sugar) -$3.00


sprinkles!! -$3.50


fudge, chex muddy buddies, and sugar cookies -priceless!

sunshine on my shoulder...

the sun is shining into my window...getting in my eyes and making it hard to see my computer screen. (ironic, yes?) do i mind? most definitely not. far from minding it, i'm soaking it in...literally. my poor white skin can't get enough and the warmth on my face is one of the best feelings in the world. besides human touch -that of our families, friends, and lovers -i think the sun's touch has the biggest impact on us. it does on me at least.

elizabeth and i were out walking yesterday in search of the post office, and at a few points we found ourselves "on the sunny side of the street." it was freezing, but the sunshine's rays pierced the cold with no problem and made our red noses feel like they could live another day. sunshine just makes me happy. i think that's one reason why the people walking around big cities seem to be more sullen and depressed. the sun rarely makes it down to the streets! and we rarely remember to look up.

over the past few days elizabeth and i have been realizing how important the bare necessities are to our happiness. if we're cold -we're not happy. if we're hungry -we're not happy. if we're warm -we're happy. if we're full of good food -we're happy. if we're warm AND full of good food -wow, we're about the happiest girls on earth. of course happiness is a fleeting feeling, and we have joy through both cold and hunger...but it's nice to feel happy. God doesn't leave us cold and hungry, either physically or spiritually. yesterday especially, traipsing through the cold with elizabeth at my side, i had reason after reason to feel warm and full -both inside and out. thank you God.

good morning! i've decided it's high time you saw pictures of who i spend the majority of my time with -my kids.



here are the little ones -my kitten class. (leo, chris, wain, rob, cindy, angel, kelly, and owen)

singing "baby beluga" at the top of their lungs.


cindy thinks chris is about the funniest thing in the world.


owen basks in the glory of rice cakes. (at the november birthday party)


cindy isn't quite as excited as owen...after all, this is pizza, not rice cakes.


little angel.


i love owen.


being the crazy kids they are.

the not-as-little-ones...piglet class. (nick, jonathan, and kevin)


off in their own world (like normal).


they love science (this is just before the water spilled all over the floor and kevin's jeans).

my starfish class. (jessy, justin, judy, jenny, june, mason, edith, and andy)

lunch time!


june, edith, and andy on our field trip to the aquarium.


jessy is so cute.


edith, judy, and jennie -they were smiling fantastically until they saw the camera.


june -a cute handful.


this is classic andy-justin-mason.

my seal class. (alice, lisa, nancy, caleb, brian, willy, dominic, and rachel)


semi-lined up after class.


alice and lisa writing me love notes on the board before class.


nancy and lisa (in the pig tails i did for her...hmmm, i may need to work on my height?)


"willy willy willy" and brian's big smile.


caleb, dominic and classic rachel.

my oldest elementary class -SA.

after the girls decorated the board for my birthday. (you probably can't tell, but i'm fearing for the life of my camera as kevin and john fight over who gets to take the picture)


introducing our fellow teachers to the goodness of chicken quesadillas.


yes, i spend alot of time with my kids. but in actuality i spend the majority of my time -at school, at home, at coffee shops, etc. -with this kid. she's my favorite. =)

Christmas time is here. it comes in korea, too...surprise surprise. but Christmas isn't shown physically in the same ways here. while the malls are decorated with the traditional trees and lights, the rest of the city hasn't changed much. strings of red, green, and yellow lights don't outline every house and wreaths don't grace the doors i walk by on my way to school. i haven't seen nativity scenes out in front of churches -in fact i haven't seen a single mary, joseph or baby Jesus anywhere. of course the decorations aren't what Christmas is about -but they do help to bring about a certain feeling of "cheer and goodwill." it's a little weird for commercial areas to be the only places that feel like "Christmas."

but i no longer have to go to the mall to feel the Christmas spirit! i just spent the last couple of hours listening to Christmas songs and decorating my house with anything and everything "Christmasy" i could find. i even made a nativity scene with a few toilet paper rolls and some teabags and ribbon (i can't claim the idea since it came from a product of my dad's early years -but he didn't use tea bags!). it feels just about right. now i just need company to fill every crack and crevice with warmth and laughter. so feel free to stop by sometime this Christmas season (or any time of the year). the Christmas music will be playing and i'll have egg nog and peanut butter balls waiting.




peace and joy to you.

sometimes i want to be a child again more than anything else in the world -to wake up to my dad cooking breakfast every morning, look forward to peanut butter and jelly every lunch (ok, i still do that), and to be tucked in every night.

there was a book my mom and dad used to read to my brother and me when we were little. well there were alot of books -but one in particular is ingrained in my memory -"a day at the park." it's incredibly simple -a sister and brother leave the house with their mom for a day at the park . with a small hand clasped in her right hand, and another in her left, the mom leads her children out the door, down the sidewalk, across several streets, until they come to the park. the brother and sister (they probably had names, but they aren't coming to me) play all afternoon and after splashing in a water fountain, walk home with towels wrapped tightly around their wet swimsuits. when they get home, the kids change into dry clothes and the mom makes hot tomato soup and warm bread with butter. they have cold ice cream for dessert. then they get into warm pajamas and the dad reads them a bedtime story. after the story, the girl is worried that she won't be able to sleep, but her dad assures her that she will fall asleep and dream about her wonderful day at the park. and she does.

it's that simple.

my life was like that a few years ago (ok, so more like a few decades ago...). it was wonderful. but i didn't realize it at the time. i knew life was good, but i didn't stop to think about it. i miss playing with my brother -taking care of him back when i was a couple heads taller than him. we've traded places in that respect, but we still take care of each other. alot has changed since we were little -we don't make massive marble runs, record christian radio shows, or play "kaleb sees you, you're dead." but we still play games and he still hates losing, and we still jump on the trampoline and sing "i'm the winner under the apple tree." we've also matured a bit, therefore we do more mature things -like talk about religion and cs lewis, share our latest music finds, drink black coffee (ok, mine's more like slightly brown milk), and play hide and seek when we go camping. i guess it's an ok trade -just a bit more complicated.

now, no matter how much i miss being a child, i'm going to do a very adult thing and go to bed because i'm tired. if my dad was here, i know he would pray with me and assure me that i would fall asleep and dream of my wonderful day at...school?

i just got back from a service at unnori community church, here in seoul. linda, one of the korean teachers at my school, attends there and she told us they hold english services for foreigners. i went expecting to sing familiar praise songs, study a familiar bible passage, etc. but i found something a little different. while i was hurriedly walking (i was a few minutes late) up to the 5th floor of the building i had been told (or so i thought), i heard singing and thought surely i was in the right place. as i got to the top of the stairs, i realized i couldn't understand what the people were singing, but it was too late to turn around. yep, i was at a korean service! i stopped for a second at the door and a lady smiled and said something i couldn't understand -but i could understand the smile, and that was all i needed. as i walked into the big room, i can't describe it -but i felt at home. there wasn't another foreigner in the room, and i'm sure everyone thought i was lost, but for one of the first times in korea, i didn't feel out of place. i didn't know the song everyone was singing, but i knew the God they were singing to. i couldn't understand the prayers they were praying, but i knew Who they were praying to. i didn't knew the passage of Scripture they were studying, but i knew the God who inspired the Scripture. (ok, actually i think i figured out that they were looking at galations 2:11-21 by a process of elimination -there are only so many 2:11-21 passages that work in the new testament. ) it was one of the most beautiful times i've ever experienced. i saw God in a new way -among people i probably have nothing in common other than the fact that we serve the same God. it was beautiful.

next time i think i'll try out the english service, but i'm glad i got "lost" and found God in a korean service today.

there's much more to tell you about -thanksgiving last weekend, the kids birthday party the other day, etc. but i'm attempting to make peanut butter cookies in my toaster oven, and i already burned a batch while writing this, so i should stop multi-tasking. (i also just realized i forgot to put the eggs in my batter -oh well, i guess i'll find out how important eggs are in peanut butter cookies. =))

thank you so much for your prayers -God is near. love and peace.

guess what -it's snowing! the voices down in the street outside my window have gotten louder and more excited since it started falling...and suddenly elizabeth and i aren't so tired after all. there's just something about snow that's so magical, and korean snow is no exception. seeing as i won't be going to bed for awhile, i thought i would break out the hot chocolate and give you a little update.

on thursday, lizzy and i got a taste of home -costco. here's the blow by blow:



with my huge backpack and lizzy's suitcase, we hoped to get all the essentials safely home.









hardly half a block from lizzy's apartment, we were faced with a deal we couldn't pass up -cotton candy for 300 won (30 cents).





that's the look of pure happiness. with the fluffy pink stuff in hand, we continued our journey.












we found it -the first glimpse of freedom!













it was everything we'd dreamed and more. after perusing the first floor for quite some time, we started to wonder where the food was. happily, we soon found an escalator (for carts!) that led us to a basement full of familiar sights and smells.




they had just about everything -cheese, bagels, muffins, cream cheese, real butter, tortillas, etc. and we'll just have to live without adam's peanut butter, cheeze-its, and graham crackers. they even had a few extra products we decided to pass up.
















after filling our cart to the brim with wonderful food...









...things gotten even better! yes, that's right -chicken bakes for dinner!









as you can see, it was a bit darker when we left costco than when we went in. =)















we got home -prized bagels and all -safe and sound. you can probably tell what what our diets have missed the most -carbs, carbs, and more carbs.

needless to say, we're pretty happy about finding costco. somehow things like chicken quesadillas have the ability to make life a whole lot more enjoyable. it's all about the simple things. on that note, i just started reading a book by shane clairborne, "the irresistible revolution," and it's incredibly challenging! i highly recommend it (at least the 70 pages i've read so far), but be prepared to be a bit shaken up. more on that later.

now it's bed time! thanks for all your prayers. loves.

it's friday night!! and what am i doing?? well, my big plans are to watch gilmour girls while doing the dishes (yes, multitasking is my specialty).

i walked home from school by myself for the first time tonight. it made me realize how wonderful it is to have lizzy here. every day for the last 3 weeks she has waited around during my last class so we can walk home together. (only tonight she needed to get back asap because her brother was going to be online). it's a little sad walking home alone and unlocking the door to a dark, empty (of people, that is) apartment. but just think how many people come home to that everyday! when lizzy and i are on the subway (which is quite often, considering it's our only mode of transportation), we're usually some of the only people in the car who are traveling together. there may be millions of people around, but it's a lonely world. once again, thank God for elizabeth.

lizzy and i had a feast tonight -thanks to kirsta's leftover food -chicken enchiladas!! it wasn't until the gooey goodness was sticking to the roof of my mouth that i realized what my life had been missing for the last 3 weeks -cheese. consequently, (and for a few other reaons like chocolate, graham crackers, and mac and cheese), we're setting out ot find costco on thursday. armed with our marked up subway map, a long shopping list, and a huge rolling suitcase, we will conquer costco like never before.

the past few days have been especially hard for me emotionally...but God is so faithful. i wake up in the mornings in a kind of panic, as if i don't know where i am or what i'm doing here. as night comes, i dread going to bed and not falling asleep right away, therefore having time to think about people i miss. i've ended up memorizing psalm 91 and it helps to have something come instantly to mind whenever panic threatens. thank God for elizabeth -she gives amazing hugs.

i've decided that my kindergarten classes are my favorite. the older kids are lots of fun to teach, too, but kindergartners are so cute and excited about learning -they actually WANT to learn. that makes things fun. each child is such a character -there's willy who lives in a far away world and whose mouth drops wide open every time i manage to pull him back to the world of phonics. there's kevin who likes to draw complex math problems on the white board while i'm teaching new spellings words. there is jenny who drops her pencil on the floor and leans over inch by inch as slowly as possible as if she's an old lady with arthritis. there is 5 year old owen who can't understand a word i say, but looks up at me with his big eyes, hanging on my every word. and there is lisa who draws hearts full of love notes for me on the white board before class, but doesn't listen to a word i say during class. etc. etc. etc. i can't wait to take pictures so you can see their cuteness first hand.

my aunt betty ruth just reminded me that i've neglected my blog over the past week. now i know someone reads this! =)

so i'm now in the middle of my 3rd week of teaching, and i can officially say i've eaten spam. i thought it was carrots, and my kids told me it was ham...but i was pretty sure it wasn't ham. sure enough, lizzy walked in after lunch and gave the unfortunate news -it must have been spam. what can i say -i was hungry! and with enough rice, even spam isn't that bad. that's one thing i'm not used to -the mindset that this is what i have to eat, and if i don't eat it, i'll be hungry for a long time. there isn't any fridge to go to -no it's "that red stuff" or nothing at all.

it's quite a different experience living life as part of the minority. especially when the total of that minority is made up of you and the person walking next to you. lizzy and i have not seen a single caucasian in our area of town -and it's doubtful that we will. i've never gotten so much attention! for awhile i thought that cars were slowing down so i could walk safely, but no, they are slowing down to get a better view of the white girl. there have been several times when lizzy and i have been stopped on a street corner, and people will come up and stand 2 feet from us and stare -literally stare at us for seconds on end. it's good to know what it feels like to be the different one, but i can't say it feels good. besides their staring, koreans are extremely friendly and welcoming. it's just a difference in cultures -diversity is simply not a part of life here!

elizabeth and i went to a distrit called "itawain" (aka, the "foreign district") last week and found something amazing -foreign food!



the guys at subway made an incredible turkey sandwich...



and the hot chocolate at starbucks was superb. (though somewhat of a splurge at $5).


a taste of the states was a welcome surprise, not that i don't enjoy rice and kimchi. (honestly, i can't say i feel like korean food and i are a perfect match, but i'm trying hard to make the relationship work since i don't have much of a choice. but actually, there are a few foods, like korean bbq, that i have really enjoyed!!).

i'm very excited about experiencing the korean culture, but it's nice to know french fries and whoppers are there if i ever need them. =) peace.