After students were in their respective classrooms, then the Kindergarten students arrived at 8:30 for our annual Boo Hoo Breakfast! It was a great time of meeting our Kinder parents and their little ones on their first day of school! I was able to meet many of the parents and I am excited about the little ones God has brought to YISS for our Kinder classes this year. After breakfast we took the parents outside for class pictures and final boo-hooing and goodbyes! Enjoy some pictures below:
One of our new Kinder Moms with her two children;
the one on the left will begin Kinder this year.
Another Mom with her two children. Dad was in line getting breakfast for them. The little boy will be in the Kinder class this year.
Mrs. Birmingham giving a little welcome to the families
gathered for the Boo Hoo Breakfast!
Some families going through the Breakfast Buffet line and some enjoying breakfast and fellowship.
Some more of the families at the Boo Hoo Breakfast!
The cherubs of our Kindergarten A class with their teacher and teaching assistant!
Here is Kinder B class with their teacher and teaching assistant!
And finally, Kinder C class with their teacher and teaching assistant!
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At 10:00 all of the elementary school (442 cherubs this year) gathered in the YISS auditorium for our annual Opening Assembly. Mr. Johnson and then Mrs. Birmingham greeted the students and we had a very fun and informative assembly to introduce the students to YISS for this year. We introduced a new program - our Fifth Grade Guardian Ambassador Program! At the end of last year, our fourth grade teachers nominated various students, who had demonstrated the Guardian Way Honor Code so well all year, to be 5th Grade Guardian Ambassadors. They have been having training classes with Ms. Weir in various ways they will be used to model the Guardian Honor Code and be peer mediators for simple disputes at recess or in the cafeteria. I am excited about this program and value your prayers as we implement this with our students.
Above is the Elementary Administrative Team doing a skit in our "Chub Suits" for Opening Assembly. The Guardian Mascot is actually the husband of Mrs. Krista Roll, Assistant Elementary Principal in the red suit. Mrs Birmingham, Principal, is in the black suit. And I am in the green suit! :-)
Four of the Grade 5 Guardian Way Ambassadors doing
a little skit to introduce the program to the student body.
Here they are finishing their skit. I was so impressed with the student holding the microphone. His name is Evan and he sounded just like a teacher!
Here is the picture of all of the Ambassadors and their names!
Please pray for them this year.
YISS elementary students at the close of the Opening Assembly preparing to return to their classrooms.
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This year we are using 23 school buses to transport children to and from school. So at the close of the day we have a HUGE dismissal situation. A number of our students go home by bus, some are picked up by parents, some receive permission to walk home or ride the subway, some are in After School Activities, etc. It gets quite complicated. We are attempting a new program this year and I ask your prayers as we work through all of the bugs.
After the first very busy week, students, teachers, and staff had Friday off for celebration of Gwangbokjeol (literally "Restoration of Light Day". August 15 (established in 1948) is the day that Korea commemorates its Victory Over Japan Day, which liberated Korea from colonial rule. I was delighted to have a day off since I was fighting off one of my sore throats. I was able to rest as well as meet for lunch with my new friends, Jake and Scarlet! You may remember I met them last week and was interviewed by Jake for his English class. They wanted to meet me again and treat me to lunch and talk some more. We were able to learn more about each other and begin a friendship. Jake, especially, was quite interested to learn more about things from the Bible and had already done some checking of YISS on our website. He had excellent questions about the school and our beliefs. We had a great time at my favorite Thai restaurant, Taste of Thai, owned by my friend, Young Ho. I hadn't seen him since returning to Seoul after the summer break so we had a lot of catching up to do! Please pray for all three of these wonderful people.
Since Friday was a big holiday in Korea, many people were out and about on the streets. As Jake, Scarlet, and I walked to taste of Thai, we came to this LONG line waiting to order some treats from Street Churros! There seems to be a line here any time I go by, but today the line was even longer. One of these days when there is a short line, I may have to try some of these treats to see what all the excitement is about!
GGG with Jake and Scarlet at lunch at Taste of Thai.
When we arrived, all seats were taken and the hostess
said, "30 minutes, please!" The the owner, Young Ho,
saw me and came out and took us to a private room
so that we would not have to wait. Jake was so surprised
that I had such a great relationship with Young Ho! :-)
A picture of the three of us at the end of our 2 and a half hour lunch and excellent conversation!
Young Ho pretending to hit me because I keep
asking him to let me work as a server at his
restaurant. He keeps saying I am too old. :-)
And here I am pretending to hit my wonderful friend because he won't let me work for him! :-)
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Saturday I was so happy to meet with a YISS graduate from this past year. Joseph Yi and I connected at YISS when we discovered we both liked the New York Yankees. Joseph and I have been talking a lot and he came to YISS this past week to ask if he could meet me Saturday before he flew to Florida to begin his four years at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida. He will earn a degree in Aeronautical Science and become a pilot. Please pray for Joseph as he leaves. We had an amazing time of conversation and I am very impressed with Joe's maturity and desire to obey the Lord. Pray that he will stay strong in his faith.
At Pizzeria in Gangnam with Joe Yi about ready to enjoy our Gorgonzola Pizza. I loved their Strawberry Ade, too!
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I was also delighted to be able to meet with Tony and Sue Kuhn plus our mutual friend and former SYME student, Bob Cho, on Saturday evening. They wanted to go to Suji's, but they were on break time so we decided on Los Amigos. We discovered they have moved. Glad we were able to find them again. And my great Filipino friend and the greatest server in Itaewon is still employed there. August, our server's name, is always smiling and so friendly. He loves when he sees me coming and we have some great fun and talks. Pray that he will come to know Jesus! We also celebrated Tony's birthday (August 13) with a special dessert! It was so great to see Bob Cho again! We always have so much fun with Bob. I asked him to pray for our meal and he actually said yes. We said he should feel free to pray in Korean, but he wanted to do it in English and he did a great job!
Here we are getting ready to enjoy our Baja Burritos at Los Amigos!
For those of you who like pictures so you can have a face of those
I request prayer...here is a picture of August and his amazing smile!
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Coming up this Friday, August 22, will be the annual YISS PTO Back to School Picnic! It's an exciting time with over 1,000 people expected to attend between 4:30 and 7:30 PM. It takes a lot of work to put everything together, but it is a great event when YISS families can connect with each other and have a great time together at the beginning of the new school year.
Thanks once again for all of your love, encouragement, notes, cards, prayers, and support. Enjoy a great week!
Love, Gregg
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