Monday started off with all of the elementary school heading to a theater in Seoul to see JUMP - a comedic martial arts performance! Over 400 students, teachers, and chaperones (parents) were loaded on to 15 + buses to travel to see this Korean performance. They loved it and one of our teachers, Mr. Williamson, was brought up on stage during the performance to do some ad lib acting! The kids absolutely loved that!
Above is a large poster of the actors in JUMP. I was hoping I could take some pictures during the performance but that was not permitted!
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Tuesday was a very special day for me, and it turned out to be a very special day for students and teachers in Grades 4 and 5! When I was headmaster at Mercer Christian Academy, a wonderful friend and awesome teacher at MCA introduced me to a book titled The Royal Bee. I loved the book and it was one I brought to Korea when I came in 2008. The Royal Bee was written by two sisters, Frances and Ginger Park. They are Korean-American and also operate a delightful chocolate boutique in Washington, DC called Chocolate Chocolate. When I came to YISS, I learned of other books written by the Park sisters. One of those is titled My Freedom Trip and is an inspired fiction book which tells of the Park sisters' mother's escape in 1947 from North Korea to South Korea. Each time that book is read to our students at YISS, they break out in applause; many are crying. I met the Park sisters last June in DC and asked if they would come to Seoul for an Author Visit. They said they could not travel to Seoul but would be delighted to do a Skype visit. I was delighted! I asked them if they could surprise our students and have their mother, who is 82, come on during the Skype visit to talk with our children! They agreed and their mother was a great hit with our students! The children were thrilled to meet the lady who was a girl in My Freedom Trip and hear of her many experiences escaping North Korea and meeting the man, who would become her husband, in South Korea. Teachers and students thought it was one of our best author visits. Frances and Ginger told me later that this was the first time any school had asked to have their mother share and she was so happy to meet our students. The Parks said that the YISS children were their best audience ever and asked such great and creative questions!
Here are Frances and Ginger Park in their chocolate store, Chocolate Chocolate in Washington, DC. Hope you can visit them some time there.
Above is the mother of Frances and Ginger at a book signing for her daughters in the DC area. She certainly made a hit with our students. What wonderful stories she has from her early days in North Korea and her escape!
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Wednesday was Korean Hanbok/Korean Sports Team Day! Students and teachers were encouraged to wear their Korean Hanboks or jerseys/caps/uniforms from their favorite Korean sports team. What a fun day it was! You can see many more pictures of this great day on my Facebook page.
Above is Ms. Greaves, our 4C teacher with two fifth grade students modeling their Hanboks!
Above students from Grade 5 are modeling their Taekwondo uniforms!
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I also had to administer a couple MAP tests on Wednesday. It was so fun to go into Grades 2 and 4 to proctor these computerized tests that measure each child's individual growth in Reading, Language, and Mathematics! Many were taking the test while wearing their Hanboks. It was so wonderful to observe!
Above are several fourth grade students taking their Mathematics MAP Test. They showed great focus on the particular task at hand!
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Wednesday evening after school it was my pleasure, as always, to meet with my dear friend, Gunmo. We wanted to meet and talk before he left to go to his father's home for Chuseok. Please pray that Gunmo will get his needed rest and be able to do his job at work as well as finish his online classes so that he can complete his Business Degree to become a "businary." We are both praying that his father will accept Jesus during this Chuseok visit!
Above is Gunmo at Ho Le Chow, the Chinese restaurant where we had dinner. I love this shot of him! It shows his amazing smile that comes from his heart! We had a very yummy Chinese dinner + some wonderful discussions and fellowship!
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Thursday afternoon was quite busy and exciting in the afternoon as parents from each class in the elementary school came to school to involve the students and teachers in Kimbab and Rice Cake Making. I was able to visit each class and did some sampling of the finished products as well as help make some of the tasty goodies! The kids were having a ball! Some looked like they put more of the rice cake powder on themselves than on the little rice cake balls they had prepared. You should come over and join in during this very festive week of learning about Korea!
Above are some third grade students with some of the parents preparing Kimbab! I love Kimbab - especially Chamchi Kimbab (that would be tuna Kimbab)!
This little guy was so proud of his finished Kimbab. All he needed was to have one of the parents assist him in cutting the Kimbab roll into pieces for eating!
This is Ryan! He has so much energy and could not wait for the knife to cut his Kimbab! He was showing me how he was going to eat his!
One of our kindergarten cherubs making rice cakes! They all were having so much fun!
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Thursday evening was a special time for me! I had not seen my excellent friend, Jungmin, for almost a year. We have talked via phone and text messages, but not face to face. We had a tremendous evening at Suji's as we discussed so many things. We usually get talking about government and politics. We had a wonderful discussion about this year's American and South Korean Presidential elections! Jungmin continues to study for his degree so that he can serve God in the area of politics an government. His studies are going well; he is just too busy studying and taking these very difficult exams in order to go on to the next level in the field of government in Korea. He would love to be a leader in a government organization that helps those in need or a Professor at a university. I know he would value your prayers.
Here I am with Jungmin having a yummy Suji's dinner on the open terrace level of Suji's. It was a gorgeous night and I just wish we had a longer time to spend together.
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Friday was a busy day with Chapels, OASIS assembly, After School Activities, and a special Market Day in Grade 4C! Several grades have Market Days from time to time. Students earn "money" through behavior and leadership opportunities within the classroom. Then they each bring in something to "sell" with other students and teachers. They are using skills in math and communication. It is so exciting to watch them enjoy this activity. A particular group of boys in 4C heard that Mr. Garman enjoys whipped cream! All week they kept reminding me of the time for Market Day on Friday and continued to ask me if I really loved whipped cream because they were preparing treats that would need whipped cream + they would have extra cans so that I could get enough!
I now call these boys - "The Whipped Cream Boys"! Here we are posing for a picture. They had prepared a cup of only whipped cream for me and then brought the can to me. Later they were practicing eating whipped cream out of the can "like Mr. Garman does." It was so much fun! (and I loved the whipped cream!!!) :-)
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On Saturday, the first day of the Chuseok celebration, I met with two former SYME students at Yongsan Station. Above is Jaeman (Jacob) and Byung Jin (Christian) enjoying some coffee at Starbucks with me. Jaeman is planning to go to seminary to be a pastor/missionary to North Korea some day. Byung Jin is a professional photographer and does really nice work. He has invited me to his studio near my church so that he can prepare a portfolio of photos of me. Pray that his work will not keep him from participating in his church.
Jaeman and I went to enjoy a yummy Korean lunch after Byung Jin had to leave to meet his parents to celebrate Chuseok. Jaeman wanted us to be a bit crazy so he could play with one of his apps on his IPad. Such fun! :-)
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Just a little note to let those of you who were praying for me, the choir did a great job Sunday morning with the song, In the Garden! There were a number missing from choir and many missing from the congregation because so many had gone to their family homes to celebrate Chuseok. Korean Thanksgiving. All went well and I appreciate your prayers.
Please enjoy a delightful October. I can't believe there are only three months remaining in 2012! Thank you for your many words of encouragement, love, and prayers. Please pray for our Walk-A-Sock-A-Thon coming up this coming Friday, October 5. The PTO has informed us that for every 2 hundred Won coins students and teachers bring in, they will add another 100 Won coin! The kids are really excited!
Love, Gregg
PS: Here are the answers to last week's riddles. Congratulations to my friend, Greg Ginion, for sending in correct answers!!
1 - Few
2 - The jeweler sells watches and the jailer watches cells.
3 - Only one - the "last" one.
4 - Once. After the first calculation, you will be subtracting 5 from 20, then 5 from 15, and so on.
5 - None. The rest of the crows flew away when they heard the gunshot.
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