Saturday, March 29, 2014

A Week of Refreshment, Reading, Spring, Birthday Joy, Accountability, and Work!!

This past week was Spring Break for YISS students and staff!  I loved it because I was able to be refreshed!  I was able to walk a lot!!  I was able to enjoy the beautiful Spring weather!  I was able to celebrate my 65th birthday with many friends! I was able to spend time reading, thinking, and reflecting!  It was a wonderful week!  I even received a little package from Chambersburg, PA which included our traditional marshmallow "Peeps." :-) (My friend, Allan R. in Langhorne, PA likes to let his Peeps get hard and then eats them!)

Spring Break and my birthday celebrations actually began last Friday, March 21 as YISS had an Early release for students and staff.  At the close of a very hectic Bus dismissal on Friday around 12 Noon, I noticed teachers coming into the Elementary Office.  They kept coming as I was trying to locate a missing child. (The child was located and all was cool!) All of a sudden, Mr. Lazor, our Elementary Principal brought out a cake with candles and everyone began singing "Happy Birthday" to me.  In the middle of the song, I had to run out because of an emergency bus situation.  I came back in and they started singing again.  I had to leave again and came back and yes, they started singing again.  A little girl waiting in the office was laughing because of the teachers singing to me three times.  They presented me with some beautiful cards and then we enjoyed cake - after I blew out my candles.  I am so glad they could not locate 65 candles!  Not sure I could have extinguished all of them in one breath! :-)  It was such a great way to start my week of birthday celebrations!  I love the wonderful staff of elementary teachers and principals God has brought together as a family at YISS!!

Mr. Lazor lighting the candles on my birthday cake
                 in the Elementary Office!

Here I am after blowing out all of the candles on my
yummy cake!  Mrs. Yoo, our wonderful secretary,
would like to have seen me attempt blowing out 
65 candles! :-)                         
__________________________________________

Sunday evening I was surprised by three of my "Korean sons," Gunmo, Chang Yong and Jin Seok.  Gunmo had invited me to meet him for dinner on Sunday evening.  I said that would be great.  When I got there, he was there with his girlfriend, Soo Jin, Chang Yong and his girlfriend, Eun Jung, and Jin Seok!  These same three "sons" were instrumental in surprising me at SYME on my 60th birthday!  We enjoyed a wonderful time at Ashley's restaurant.  I had not been there in a long time and we shared a huge steak and enjoyed the scrumptious buffet! But more importantly, I was able to spend a fantastic time together with my special friends who gave me some very special gifts and a yummy cake!

   I love this group!!  Sunday evening at Ashley's!
 Clockwise: Eun Jung, Chang Yong, Gunmo, Soo
  Jin, GGG, and Jin Seok!  Do you like Gunmo's
                         new hair cut? :-)

GGG blowing out the two candles on the cake Jin Seok
brought for me!  They all made comments that they would
like to have had 65 candles, but the cake was too small!
I may have to punish them!! :-)              
___________________________________________________

Monday (my real birthdate) was a relaxing day plus I went to YISS to work a few hours on the After School Activities program for Quarter Four.  I enjoyed a nice quiet meal at On the Border in Itaewon and then went home.  I received a text from my wonderful friend, Yeongmin, who asked if he could stop by to give me his birthday gift.  He was coming back from a trip to Jeju Island with a colleague from SK Telecom.  He said he wanted to stop before March 24th was over to wish me a "Happy Birthday" and give me a gift.  It was a nice visit, although very quick, and I now have a brand new wallet!  My old one was getting a bit worn.  I am sorry but I was not able to get any pictures of Yeongmin's visit. :-(

On Tuesday evening I met with Hojae, my friend and former accompanist of the NHM Choir.  If you remember, I had asked in an email back in January for contacts in Manhattan where Hojae could practice the piano while preparing for his auditions at numerous music conservatories. Hojae wanted to take me out to dinner and tell me about his 40 days in America and his auditions at conservatories from Los Angeles to Ann Arbor to Manhattan!  It was one of the best times of conversation I have had with Hojae and it was exciting to hear him share how God led him throughout his entire visit to America.  Hojae is now receiving official proposals from five of the conservatories who were greatly impressed with his gift and ability.  I will have more details in a future post about his final decision - once he makes it.  I knew that those who heard Hojae play would be very impressed and I was not disappointed.  I know he will have a difficult time deciding where to go for his Masters in Music Keyboard Collaborative Arts.  I learned so much about this relatively new and exciting degree!  Hojae took me to a new restaurant, IP Boutique Hotel in Itaewon.  It had a yummy buffet and we enjoyed fine food and a wonderful time of fellowship.  Please pray for Hojae as he makes decisions about which conservatory to attend.

  Here I am with Hojae at IP Boutique enjoying a 
      great time of fellowship and yummy food!

Just a glimpse of the array of goodies on the buffet!!
__________________________________________________

On Wednesday, a former SYME student and great friend, Jae Hong Park (Dr. Fred), took me to another new restaurant experience in Itaewon. (There are sooooo many restaurants in Itaewon.  I doubt I will ever get to all of them.) We went to a very yummy Brasilian Meat Buffet!  When I led a team from Mercer Christian Academy on a mission trip to Sao Paulo, Brasil I enjoyed my first one of these and they are amazing.  They just keep bringing different cuts of meat to your table and you slice off what you want and enjoy! They will keep coming as long as you keep eating!  It was so good!  Please pray for Jae Hong as he is studying for an English test so that he can go to America to study Nursing.

GGG with Jae Hong at the Brasilian Meat Buffet!   

A sample of some of the tasty cuts of 
           meat we enjoyed together!
____________________________________________

Thursday evening was my first session with Nam Gyu (David Baek) in our accountability.  Nam Gyu had contacted me about 2 weeks ago asking if he could meet regularly on Skype or in person once a week for accountability.  You may remember that I sang at the wedding of Nam Gyu and his wife Victoria back in January.  Nam Gyu and Victoria wish to serve as missionaries and would love your prayers.  We had a wonderful time together on Skype Thursday evening and plan to meet next Thursday to follow up on the assignments.  I am so excited about this young man and his wife.  He has such a passion for serving the Lord.  Please pray for this delightful couple!

Here I am with Nam Gyu and his beautiful wife, Victoria having burgers earlier this year!
__________________________________________________

As I mentioned,  I was able to do a lot of reading and walking and reflecting this past week. I love to walk!  I love singing or talking to the Lord as I walk.  I know....many people look at me strangely, but I am used to having people look at me strangely! :-)  I use these times to reflect on what I have been reading.  I am so grateful for the extra long walks I had this week.  I walk every week, but usually not as long as I was able to this past week.

One morning the weather was so nice I decided to walk to one of my favorite little restaurants where they make these fluffy omelets!  As I walked, I noticed that so many trees were in the process of breaking forth into full bloom!  It was a beautiful walk and when I got to The Pancake Story, I decided I would try something different.  I enjoyed their strawberry pancakes with whipped cream (never enough) and sausage with a delicious cup of coffee.  So good!!  here are a few pictures from the walk.

   Today, as I write this, there are even
             more of these blooming!

The Forsythia are blooming so beautifully!!

And some more beauty on my walk!    

I love these murals throughout the streets in Seoul and other cities in Korea.  You have to be careful though.  It is what inside that really matters.  Many of these murals are hiding something inside.  Behind this wall is a garbage collection place!  I decided not to take a picture of what is behind it so you can just enjoy the outside! :-)

   After my walk I enjoyed this yummy breakfast!!
 Not nearly enough whipped cream as you can see!!

After eating breakfast, I walked to YISS to do some work.  I noticed this sign!  I love it! An "i" in Korean is usually pronounced like a long "e" in English!  The person who made the sign thought that "eat" should be "it."  :-)

Above is a view in my apartment complex!  Love the Cherry Blossoms and the Dogwood!

A picture from my camera of Seoul on Sunday afternoon right before I sent out my post!  The Cherry Blossoms are so beautiful!!
____________________________________________

Thanks so much for your faithful love, prayers, encouragement, and support.  I would really value your prayers this next week as we begin Quarter Four.  Teachers will return to YISS and need to have their Quarter Three Comments and Grades to me this week for checking.  I know they would value your prayers as they prepare them.  Please pray also for Quarter Four After School Activities.  Everything is ready to go, but there will be last minute changes - especially since we had a week off and parents realize they didn't sign up or they signed up for the wrong activity. Thanks so much for all you do to partner with me as I serve Him here at YISS in Korea.

Love, Gregg

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Fun, Frantic Finish to Quarter Three!!

Yeppers, Quarter Three is now history!  It is hard to believe we have only one quarter remaining in this school year.  This next week our students and teachers enjoy a week of Spring Break!  And it appears that Spring has returned to Seoul!  It looks like a great week ahead!  You can be praying for over 200 students and teachers who left Friday on 11 GWAM (Guardians With a Message) trips to places in South Korea, the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Cambodia, and China. Our student body president Jae Eun will be taking an extra days along with two of our tech teachers, Carol and Samuel Pitts, to take an extra trip into North Korea!  Jae Eun has a Korean parent but his passport is from the USA.  He would not be able to get into North Korea as a citizen of South Korea.  He looks Korean so it will be interesting to hear of his experiences once he returns.  I know all three of these persons would value your prayers.  Oh, Jae Eun also told me on Thursday that he received his first college acceptance letter!  It was from Wheaton College!  He wants to go into the Pre-Med field and I am so excited for him.  We are having some excellent discussions.  Jae Eun is an excellent student and I'm excited for what God has in store for him!

Sorry but this is the only picture I could locate of Jae Eun.  It is from my phone but I wanted to give you a picture of him so you could pray for him.  This was taken at the J & J Deli at YISS. 
_______________________________________________

Yes, it was a fun and frantic finish to Quarter Three this past week!  Monday was a Professional Development Day and we had sessions all day with Dr. Carol Commodore on Standards and Assessments.  In between sessions I was working on final preparations for the online registrations for Quarter Four After School Activities in the Elementary School.  I was able to get everything finished and the online registration began right on time at 8:00 AM on Tuesday morning!  Things have gone smoothly and during my Spring break I will be working on all of the lists needed to keep everything organized for Quarter Four.  So much to do to make the After School Activities program run as smoothly as possible.  In Quarter 4 we have about 30 activities from in which elementary students can choose to participate.  Between 250 and 300 students out of the 421 elementary students will be involved in at least one activity; some have 2 or 3 activities.  Thanks for your prayers!

On Monday during our Professional Development Day, our Grade 2B teacher, Mr. Bennett, came to lunch with his family's newly adopted daughter, Zoey!  Mr. and Mrs. Bennett had just returned from China after 2 weeks of working through all of the paper work necessary to make the adoption official.  Zoey's three brothers love her so much!  Please continue to pray for the Bennetts as they make Zoey part of their family!  here is a picture of Daddy and Zoey at lunch on Monday!

Mr. Bennett with precious Zoey at lunch on Monday!
_________________________________________________________

Wednesday was the March Fun Day for the Elementary cherubs.  They could dress alike with another friend or friends or with their entire class.  They always have a fun time with this.  I was rather busy with After School Activities' registration so I did not get as many pictures as I would have liked.  But here are a few of my favorites:

        Four Spiderman friends enjoying the day!!

Two cowboys from Grade 5!  I love these guys!

   Three Princesses from Grade 1!  So cute!           
________________________________________________________

I was invited by the teacher (Ms. Wheat) of one of our Kindergarten classes, KC, to their Publishing Party on Thursday!  Students had been working on their writing skills and presentation skills.  They celebrated with a Publishing Party where they invited parents, principals, and friends to come and listen to them read their stories.  Each adult would listen to various children read one or more of their stories.  Most children had written two or three stories with illustrations!  Then the adults were encouraged to write some encouraging comments on a post-it note to stick in the story book - wherever the author wanted it.  It was so much fun to have the children read their stories and see them show a wonderful smile once they read our comments!  At the close of the readings, parents had prepared some yummy desserts for the "authors" and their guests to enjoy!

KC "authors" enjoying their desserts and some are 
still reading their books to Mr. Lazor and some parents!

Zack Bennett reading his book to me!  He was so cute as he read his book!

This little girl wrote several books, but 
she wanted to read her book entitled God
to me!  Oh, how I wish I had a video of
her reading to me.  She presented very 
clearly all about God, Jesus, and the Holy
Spirit both in words and illustrations.  Pray
that she will come to experience Jesus!

She is now reading her comments to me.  When she was reading her book, God, we came to a page that had an drawing of Jesus, but said that it was a drawing of God.  I asked her, "Where is God's picture?"  She responded immediately and confidently, "No one has ever seen God so I can't draw Him."

This little man, Tyler, is soooo full of energy that he
cold not stay seated to read his book to Mr. Lazor!
I loved his book and I can't wait to see what he will 
            do in life with all of that energy!!

I sat at the table where these three read to me.  They had each written three books.  They were delighted to pose with one of their favorites for a picture.  David was sooo good at reading his book with wonderful expression!
______________________________________________

Then on Friday I was invited by grade 2D's teacher, Ms. Moon, to visit the 2D classroom from 10:30 - 11:15 for their Poetry Day!  Each child had selected a favorite poem of theirs to recite. They had worked on presenting a good introduction and then reciting their selected poem with expression!  I loved listening to each one of them.  I wish I could have videotaped each one to show you.  Following the recitations to the gathered parents and principals, children were invited to share their book of original poems each had written.  I loved this part, too!  I would love to show you each book and the various poems they wrote.  I will include several of my favorite along with some pictures of the event!  It was such a great way to end the week and the quarter!

Above his Chris's poem he wrote about
his life at age 3!  The students each wrote
one of these and added a picture when 
      they were that age.  I love it!!

I would love to show you the video of Chris's recitation of his favorite poem.  For some reason the sound did not come through.  What impressed me the most was that he had memorized his poem and had excellent eye contact with his audience.  He did a super job!  Here he is sharing with me his book of poems that he had written!  I love this little man; he always has a great smile to greet me each morning!

Here is Lily's poem about life at age 2!
I love this poem and her pictures!!    

Here are three poets who were so excited to read all of their poems to me! From left to right: Lily, Elizabeth, and Matthew!

One more poem from William!  He is
always so happy!  I love it that he learned
the "American" language; not the English
                    language! :-)
_______________________________________________

As always, thank you so much for continuing to be so encouraging and supportive to me.  You mean so much to me and I thank God for each one of you.  I know the YISS teachers would value your prayers as they spend part of their Spring Break preparing Quarter Three Comments and Grades to distribute to parents of our cherubs!  When we return to YISS on March 31st, we begin in full force with the activities of Quarter Four!  Please enjoy this last full week of March!  Bring on the warmer weather!! :-)

Love, Gregg


Saturday, March 15, 2014

The RAT Razor Returns Once Again!!

It continues to bring great joy to me when I can enjoy children being happy and excited!  Once again this year, the PTO set a goal of 555,555 minutes of reading for the YISS elementary children to read during the three-week Read-A-Thon (RAT).  The reward for reaching that goal was also, once again, to have Mr. Lazor and Mr. Garman lose their hair to the razor!  The children far exceeded their goal with a total amount of minutes just over 701,000 minutes!  So Wednesday was a great day for the children.  Mr. Lazor chose to have his hair styled in a Mohawk, which the children loved.  When Mr. Simmons was shaving my hair, he kept asking the children if they liked the various styles (which were quite nasty and would have been much more embarrassing for me) he was shaving on my head.  They started a chant, "Shave him bald!"  It was amazing how very quickly this chant caught on.  So once again, I am naked on my head! The kids were thrilled and they keep asking if they can touch my head!  They get so excited by just feeling my shaved head! I love so much that our YISS kids continue to want to read and keep reading!  Here are some pictures from the RAT Shaving Wednesday.  More are posted on Facebook - including a video clip!

This is what greeted students and teachers as they
entered the auditorium for the RAT Wrap Up Assembly
and the Hair Shaving!  Sort of looks like one is going
                      to the Electric Chair!

The shaving begins!

More shaving!                       

Final result!!  I have been told that I look like a prison convict in this picture!

Mr. Lazor with his Mohawk, Mr. Simmons (RAT Chair),
and GGG after the shaving.  Mr. Simmons always 
              has the "Shaved head" look! :-)
_____________________________________________________

This past week we also concluded our two weeks of "Muffins with Moms" for our elementary Moms and their children.  Mrs. Birmingham, the other Assistant Elementary Principal initiated this, along with "Donuts with Dads" in the first semester.  I love these special mornings as Moms come with their son and /or daughter and enjoy a muffin and orange juice at the beginning of the school day.  It is so special to see them take time to enjoy their children as well as make some new friends with the other Moms who come.

     Mother and son at the muffin and juice table!

Mom and daughter enjoying a special time!

Moms and their Grade 5 sons enjoying some time!

Another group of Moms with their son or daughter!
__________________________________________________________

Two more special events for me this week were subbing in Grade 5A on Friday morning plus being the special guest reader at Grade 1D's belated birthday party for Dr. Seuss on Friday afternoon.  Friday was very busy as we also practiced our first Civil Defense Drill with the entire school.  The Korean government conducts these regularly throughout Korea, but have never required international schools to participate until this month.  It was a good experience for our kids and it went well for our first drill.  Our kids did a super job!

I was delighted to be able to read a Seuss' book to the cherubs in 1D on Friday!  They spent all week reading many of his books and then on Friday celebrated with a party and special reading to end their week.  I love reading to children of all ages and this group was such a responsive group. I wanted to read so many books by Dr. Seuss but settled on Green Eggs and Ham to the delight of the first graders.  Dr. Seuss (Theodor Seuss Geisel) would have been 110 years old on March 2! It was a special way to end the week!

Here I am reading to Grade 1D students, some parents
and their teacher at the belated birthday party for Dr.
                                 Seuss!

Here I am in a sill pose with the "Things" from Grade
1D at the birthday party.  Mrs. Thomas, their teacher, is
in the back row on the left!                
_______________________________________________

It is hard to believe that we are half way through March!  This coming week we have a Professional Development Day on Monday.  The kids are off school that day so that we can participate in seminars with Dr. Carol Commodore (Leadership Learning and Assessment) and work on various planning activities. I will be working on last minute things before opening the Elementary After School Activities web site for our parents on Tuesday morning for online registration for Quarter Four Activities.  I would value your prayers that all will run smoothly.  Registration will continue through Wednesday and then I will have a lot to complete before the students return from Spring Break on March 31.  I will have the week of March 24th to work on things without distractions - I hope! :-)

Two fifth grade boys are on my heart this week!  I have built special relationships with these two boys ever since they were in third grade.  I so want them to come to know Jesus.  Dor is a Jewish boy who came to YISS when he was in third grade.  His English was very poor and he came heavily medicated for his ADHD.  He would hardly say a word and had a huge temper.  He never smiled and looked miserable most of the time.  In talking with Dor's parents we were able to get him off the medication and he has progressed in English so well.  He is a much happier boy!  He now feels very comfortable coming to me and talking about various issues.  He still is working on the temper.  I love how he has improved.  This past week was not a great week for Dor with his temper and the fact that he is not understood all the time.  I have spent much time with him and through the tears (his and mine), conversations and prayers (mine), he is growing in to a nice young man.  As you think of Dor, I would value your prayers for his salvation and continued growth.

I took this picture of Dor during Lunch Recess Duty several weeks ago when we had some snow and I had recess duty.  He was making a snowman with one of his friends in Grade 5.
_____________________________________________________________

The other fifth grade boy on my heart is Ian.  Ian and I have a very special relationship and he continues to grow (physically and mentally).  I have seen such great growth in him since I met him in Grade 2.  He is learning self-control and he is learning to be such a kind young man.  I love watching him help younger students who seem lost.  He has a great sense of humor and we have enjoyed getting to know each other.  Ian is such a kind and considerate young man and I want him so much to come to experience a personal relationship with Jesus.  Please pray for me as I continue to develop our relationship.  Pray that Ian will see Jesus in his teachers and me and want to know Him personally.  Thank you!

This is a picture of one of the Grade 4/5 Boys' Basketball teams.  Ian is in the second row on the far left - the tallest boy on the team!
_____________________________________________________________

I wanted to leave you with a picture of two brothers who are such a joy to know!  Noah is in Kindergarten and is such a cutie.  He loves my new hair style and he is quite the talker with me, too.  His brother, Oliver, comes with his mother each day to pick up Noah.  Oliver loves to play with me and is always smiling when he sees me.  Here is a picture of the brothers greeting me after school on Friday!  I love them!


___________________________________________________
I was about ready to post this blog and received a phone call from my wonderful friend, Gunmo. As you read last week, he has a new job and is in need of housing.  He is a bit discouraged as the housing costs in the area he needs to locate an apartment is VERY high.  It would cost at least $500 a month just to have a two-room apartment with a bath.  I know Gunmo would value your prayers as he seeks a suitable and affordable apartment.  The adjustment to his new job is going well.

Once again, I want to thank you for your continued love, encouragement, prayers and support. Please enjoy a wonderful week.

Love, Gregg

Saturday, March 8, 2014

Cold Returns for a Busy Week: Muffins, Minutes, Math, and Much More!

Two weeks remain in Quarter Three!  It is so hard to believe! Quarter Three After School Activities are winding down and Quarter Three Comments and Grades are being prepared!

This past week we began our "Muffins with Moms"; similar to our "Donuts with Dads" in the first semester!  The Moms loved being able to come before school with their child in various grades and enjoy a time of conversation with other mothers and have a yummy muffin and juice at the same time.  The kids loved being able to spend time before school with their Moms!  Tuesday was Kindergarten children; Wednesday was for Grade 1 students; and Thursday we entertained children and Moms from Grade 2.  Next week Grades 3, 4 and 5 will have their Muffins with Mom.

_______________________________________________________

This past week was the official ending of our Read-A-Thon!  The kids have been so excited about reading, not only to have Mr. Lazor and I shave our hair again, but just to enjoy reading.  The PTO also offers some awesome prizes for the top readers.  There are various levels and everyone wins something.  The bulletin board display below had the Reading Minutes count early in the week, but after the official tally was added up, the kids had read 701,241 minutes during the three weeks.  The goal was 555,555 minutes!  So on March 12 around 2:30 PM (Korean time)  Mr. Lazor and I will once again be shaved!  There have been rumors that the kids are wanting designs etched in our heads!  We shall see! :-)

The bulletin board with total minutes posted earlier in the week - 695,442!  But the final count was even higher!
_____________________________________________________________

Our full time elementary substitute teacher, Mrs. Palmer, has been subbing for Mr. Bennett, our Grade 2B teacher. for nearly 2 weeks and still has another week remaining.  Mr. and Mrs. Bennett and their three sons have been in China making the final arrangements to bring their adopted daughter, Zoey, home to Seoul!  Everyone is excited for them!

In addition, we continue to have some teachers out sick as well as taking personal days.  That means that usually Mr. Lazor, Mrs. Birmingham and I need to sub in addition to our regular duties.  This past week I had the joy of being in 5C to teach Math and then have 4th and 5th grade lunch recess duty!  I had a great time!

Our Quarter Three basketball After School Activities were in full swing as we come to a close of activities in Quarter Three.  Our 4th and 5th grade Boys' Basketball Club and 4th and 5th grade Girls' Basketball Club has been practicing for a Basketball Jamboree at Dulwich College International School in Seoul.  That was held on Saturday and our kids did a great job.  We had two girls' teams and two boys' teams.  I am including some pictures for you to enjoy.  One of the things our coaches did on Friday was to have the boys wear a nice shirt and tie to school.  They looked so nice!  At first, they kept their outer coats on until they saw how everyone responded...then they enjoyed showing off their ties and shirts!  Enjoy the pictures:

The 4th Grade Boys in their outfits on Friday at lunch!

The 5th Grade Boys in their dapper outfits on Friday at lunch!!

The two Boys' teams that represented YISS Elementary
at the Dulwich Basketball Jamboree on Saturday!    


The two Girls' teams that represented YISS at the Dulwich Jamboree!

The boys stretching before the many games at the 
              Dulwich Basketball Jamboree!

Mr. Resende (our P. E. teacher in Elementary) giving last minute instructions to his girls' team at the Jamboree!

Mr. Lazor, coach of the other Girls' team giving his
words of advice to his girls before one of their games
at the Jamboree!                          

Mr. Murphy, Grade 5A teacher, talking to the Boys' Basketball team before one of the games!

The lineup to congratulate the other team after playing
a game at the Jamboree.  YISS boys are on the left.

Parents of the Girls' Basketball team who quickly flocked to the one corner of the Dulwich gym when they saw several of us taking pictures of both Girls' teams following their last game at Dulwich.  I wish I had it on video! :-)

And here they are with their coaches!  This is the  
picture the parents wanted to capture!           
________________________________________________________

I am also including a picture of our 2nd and 3rd grade Basketball After School Club.  They are having a great time and look forward to being in 4th and 5th grade.

The boys in the Grade 2-3 Boys' Basketball After School Activity!
_______________________________________________________

I have been quite busy getting everything organized for Quarter Four After School Activities, but had to put things on hold on Wednesday when I had to spend 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon with the other elementary administrators and the headmaster with a group of parents in a Focus Group to reflect on the parent's questionnaire and some of the areas that parents feel are really effective at YISS and those they would like to see enrichment.  It is always interesting to hear parents' perspectives of what is going on at school.

Two of my wonderful friends from SYME days, Jin Seok and Gunmo, have recently accepted positions and I know they would value your prayers.  Jin Seok began his internship last Monday for the Korea National Tax Service as a translator.  He is hoping that this 2-month internship will lead to a full time position.  Thank you for praying for him.  I had the delight of meeting him last Sunday for dinner when he traveled to Seoul from Busan to begin his internship in Seoul.  It is all new to him and I know he would really appreciate your prayers.

Jin Seok at Seoul Station preparing to
eat his Short Rib Soup and usual sides!

Here I am across from Jin Seok ready to
eat my egg and rice omelet with chicken
balls + the usual sides!              
____________________________________________

Gunmo called me this past week to talk about a possible position for a company called Grape Seed.  They offered him a position where he would do some English teaching, but he needs to learn a lot about the company first.  Many have been praying, and Gunmo told me on Tuesday that he accepted the position.  He will need to move and find an apartment and car.  Please pray for him as well.

Thanks so much for all of your love, prayers, encouragement and support.  Enjoy a great week! Your prayers for me this week as I strive to meet deadlines for the After School Activities for Quarter Four will be appreciated!

Love, Gregg