Good Friends...New and Old!

What a busy week! On top of the usual weekly grading of spelling tests and essay along with journal reports about each Kindergarten student, we had a lot more work. Our classrooms are soon to be judged for our creative artistic ability in decorating for Halloween. Teachers have literally gone all out to make their classrooms as SPOOKY as possible before the festivities begin Halloween week. Just like elementary school, we will have a dress up week including: pajama day (my favorite in elementary school), crazy hair day, sports day, backwards day, and of course, Halloween costumes! I never thought of myself as too creative, but I think I did quite a good job on my room! There are scary spiders crawling around all my walls, ghosts flying around the ceiling, Christine Teacher witch and her student witches lingering around the board, a cauldron of creepy eyeballs with BAD STUDENTS brewing, and a path of my Kindergarten students walking through the woods to get their Halloween candy at a haunted house! You can about imagine how long this all took. As well as the decorating that consumed all my spare time this week, we also had to create our monthly test that is coming up again soon. Friday was a breeze as my morning was spent celebrating Kevin's birthday. Again...tons of presents and food: spaghetti, fried chicken, pizza, cookies, Korean rice cakes, chocolate cake, fruit, juice...at least the birthday boy didn't throw up this time! PLEASE look at the cute comb over and Kevin's birthday suit...absolutely adorable!Needless to say, my week flew by again!

We had a special visitor in Korea for a short time...Britney's dad! Exactly 30 years ago, he was teaching English in Japan and will be returning as a special teacher for a short time. He stopped here to visit Britney and see the area before heading back to the school he taught at. He treated Shauna, myself, and Britney to a delicious duck Galbi and wine dinner on Friday...thanks Tom! Saturday, I took the day to rest...sleeping in, working out, responding to emails, and making an EXCITING Saturday night trip to E-Mart (another Walmart/Target type store). My best purchase was a cute down winter coat for only 30,000 won (about $27)! I knew I didn't need to waste the room in my luggage to bring one when you can get them for such great prices here...I got lucky!

Today, was such a fun day! Last time Shauna and I attended the International Lutheran Church for our first time, it took us an hour and forty five minutes to get there between the bus and subway. On our way home, I happened to recognize a different Suji numbered bus at the same stop we got off at for the Rent musical, only a few blocks from the church! So, today I ventured on my own and got to church in less than an hour! The service was so great filled with MANY of my favorite traditional hymns (Shine Jesus Shine, You who Dwell in the Shelter of the Lord, I the Lord of Sea and Sky) and a baptism of a beautiful little Korean girl (maybe about three years old). I don't know what it was about today that brought me to tears so many times during the service, but it was wonderful. Maybe it was that I hadn't seen a baptism in a while, but welcoming a new beautiful child into the family of Christ was especially moving for me today. I may have been a little creepy taking pictures, but it was so neat! The greatest part came after the service though...the traditional LUTHERAN POTLUCK! I was supposed to be meeting friends for lunch, but couldn't pass it up! We played a fun game to get to know the congregation members and then the feast began! By the time I sat down, the only open seat was at a table with three Korean men...one a doctor from Suwon near me, one who got his masters at the U of M, and the other who sang a beautiful solo in church and has been to St. Paul twice...small world! They all spoke great English and were SO fun to socialize with. The International Lutheran Church is a WONDERFUL community that I am so glad to now be a part of!

I still met my friends for lunch, but didn't eat...000ps! Today I met Zeb, an OLD friend from college, who just arrive a week ago today. I also met and NEW friend, Sarah, a girl who I had been connected with through other mutual friends. Don't get me wrong, I love all the people I have been hanging around with so far, but it was so nice to meet up with more friends. We had lunch in Itaewon (the foreign district), found the English book store, and then I took them to the very fun, artsy area called Insadong. Then we headed back to Itaewon for dinner at a delicious Thai restaurant, and I picked up mom and dad's Christmas present that I bought earlier and didn't want to lug around all day. After all the shopping today, I must admit, I have some buyers remorse, but I did get most of my Christmas shopping done...thank goodness! The best part though was certainly the time spent with wonderful friends in my new home that I have grown to love!