retreat & peperos

Last weekend, I had the chance to go to my church's fall retreat and escape the craziness that is school and marking. The theme was "Living & Active" (taken from Hebrews 4:12 which says, "For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart."). Had a fantastic time learning more about my God, meeting new people (crazy connections!), doing absolutely ZERO schoolwork and...getting out of my Suwon bubble! Came back tired but refreshed, only to start the craziness that is school once again!

Since LAST week, my students have been talking and updating G-chat statuses non-stop about Pepero (빼빼로) Day. Every year, on November 11, Koreans celebrate this day by giving "Pepero" (Korean version of the Japanese "Pocky") to people they love and care about (sort of the equivalent of Valentine's Day). Of my 3 years working at this school, I have never seen so many Peperos as I did this year. Oh. Em. Gee. These kids were walking around with BOXES of the stuff! One kid walked out of my class with a big box and giant plastic bag filled with Pepero AND an overstuffed backpack which he couldn't zip up because it was brimming with more Pepero than books. He basically had to drag it out of class so that his stuff wouldn't fall out. Huh-larious!! Wish I took a picture. What was even funnier was seeing all the frazzled teachers, totally spent from trying to teach sugared-up kids all day. Kind of a useless holiday...but an amusing one, nonetheless!

Pepero love from my students :)

Of course, as a teacher, any moment could be a "teachable moment". So while my students were happily munching on Pepero sticks, I told them that there were many people on the other side of the ocean who were spending the day remembering those who served and lost their lives in past and present wars. Maybe that was a bit of killjoy but they need to know, right?? A little cultural lesson never hurt anyone. :p

coffee addicts club? yes, please.

Yup, that's right. You are now "looking" at the newest member of the GSIS Coffee Addicts Club. Such a shame. I held out for TWO YEARS before a combination of massive workloads, lack of sleep, no good coffee shops nearby, and an over-intake of the not-so-delicious instant stuff that comes in a packaged stick (hugely popular in Korea) prompted me to cave. I'm usually more of a tea person (current fave is the blueberry herbal from Second Cup) but, after starting to work, I've unfortunately become increasingly caffeine-happy...

To join this illustrious club, one must: A) love coffee  B) want coffee more than the person next to you as you fight for usage of said machine in the last few minutes before class starts in the morning and C) be subject to a 12,000 won (about $10) fee each month.

The good thing is, it's a month-by-month club so we'll see how often I end up actually using the machine. My favourite part of it is the light, foamy, steamed milk that you can get - I can make my own latte or steamer! Mmmmm......

It even shares the same name as my Korean name. WHAT are the chances, right? It was meant to be. :)

*Random sidenote: it smells like turpentine in my building. Should I be worried? ...

a new beginning

Today marks a new beginning in my ever-long attempt to blog. I kept one in university (remember when Xanga used to be the "place" for all your cyber introspective needs?) but that died shortly before the end of my undergrad years. I tried again about two years ago on this very same account when I first moved to Korea. That lasted...oh, about three posts or so! In any case, hopefully I'll fare better this time around. The goal is to continue with this until the end of my time in Korea (which may be approaching sooner than I'd like!). If I'm extra ambitious, maybe I'll keep it going past that date! But...trying not to get too ahead of myself here. One post at a time.

Last Wednesday, October 27 marked a new beginning in the life of one, special music teacher & colleague at my school, who left us to start his new life with Jesus. Being the first death in our community, it was a really difficult pill for our faculty, parents, and especially the students to swallow. I remember having to break the news to my first block class last Thursday and simply dreading it. One student burst into tears before I could even finish my sentence because she had known him for 4 years and had been his student for 3. The whole class was in utter shock and at a loss for words. So, many of them decided to blog instead about their thoughts/memories of Mr. Pash. One in particular really tugged at my heartstrings so I wanted to share an excerpt. It is from a letter that a 7th grade student wrote to her former music teacher.

"Maybe God took you away from this evil Earth because he missed you. He just missed you so much that He wanted to be with you, Mr. Pash. This is really sad for us and your family, but we're glad that you don't have to suffer anymore. We feel happy that you don't have to feel pain ever again, because you would be with our God right now. [...] I will pray for your family and their health so that you don't need to worry that much. I hope you are able to see this letter in heaven, and rest in peace there...Mr. Pash."

We held a memorial service for him today and, though my memories of Mr. Pash are limited to watching him conduct middle & high school bands/orchestras, his humour, and quick chats in the hallways/elevator, it was clear that he had affected the lives of many in our community.

A colleague shared this encouraging verse --

"Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him." - 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14

How amazing to know that death only means that we fall asleep in Jesus. The ultimate new beginning. :)