I knew it was going to be a very crazy week when I woke up a week ago on Saturday with a painful attack of Gout in the big toe on my left foot. I have been taking medicine for this for a number of years and usually the attack lasts for an hour or so, but NOT this time. The pain continued all weekend and continued to move from the big toe downward and then to the left side of my foot and then my left ankle. It continued throughout the week and finally, the ladies in the ICS-P office told me that I MUST see a doctor. So, on Wednesday, an appointment was made for me to meet with a "Dr. Kim" in Songtan on Thursday morning. I had built a great relationship with my "Dr. Kim" in Itaewon when I was at YISS, but this was a new one. It was a very interesting appointment. Dr. Kim took some X-rays and some blood work to check my uric acid, CRP (inflammation level), and RA Factor (having to do with arthritis). I was given an injection on my bottom (the favorite place for Korean medical professionals to give injections! (I think I scared the nurse a little with my strange humor - barking like a dog, fake crying when she injected my bottom, etc.) I was given a prescription and orders to return on Friday. Thursday night I had a great sleep and woke up and the pain was nearly gone! I went to see Dr. Kim on Friday at lunch time and as I came to his office, I did some barking and I wish I could have taken a video of his expressions and responses. He loved it! I greeted him with a gift. I brought him a shoe horn. On Thursday, he could not understand that I needed a shoe horn to get my shoe back on my foot. When I gave him the shoe horn, he was delighted to find out what it was! My levels were all good except the one that checks arthritis and it was in the higher level. He wanted to give me another injection and I began to fake cry again. He laughed and said, "OK, I don't need to give you that, but I will give you a prescription for medicine for the next five days. Then you need to come see me again after five days." The pain has almost departed. I now just have the crazy corn/callous (or something) on the toe right beside the little toe on my left foot. I would love to be able to get complete relief from that. Thanks for listening to all of that. Thank you for your prayers. I am going to try and get a pair of custom-made shoes to see if that will help my toes. We shall see.
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The Moti Mahal Indian Restaurant!
Garlic Nan and a very yummy Indian Chicken dish!
Here I am across from our NICS host, Rhonda Stark, with some of our ICS-P staff!
Another table of our staff members enjoying the meal!
And another shot of some of our staff enjoying the evening!
And one more group of our staff at Moti Mahal!
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Tuesday was also a special day in the elementary school at ICS-P! It was designated as Moustache Day. Students and teachers were encouraged to create a moustache or wear ones they had already grown on that day. I was glad to see that no elementary students wore one that they had grown! :-) They were creative and we had a lot of fun. Enjoy some pictures from that day!
My buddy, Robert, sporting his moustache!
These two loved showing off their staches in the cafeteria!
This young man came to the office with his stache and "Golden Ticket."
Mother and daughter created these staches!
Mr. Kuhn with two brothers!
This young lady enjoying chess with her created stache!
More morning Elementary Chess players!
Love these two with their staches!
Two more elementary stache boys!
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Our Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Cho, took advantage of the day to teach a very cool Math lesson using moustaches - live ones! :-) Mrs. Cho invited our IT Teacher, Mr. Richards, and me to her classroom so that her children could experience estimating the length of our moustaches and then actually measuring them. They then placed their findings on a chart/graph for comparison. And finally were given the opportunity to feel the real moustaches! So much fun!! The kids were learning Math and didn't even realize it! Here are some pictures from this kinder activity!
Mrs. Cho and her Kinder cherubs with their staches ready to learn some Math!
Estimating the length of my stache before actually measuring!
Two begin the measurement!
Recording the length of my stache on the chart!
Oh no! Now all of them want to feel my hair on my head! :-)
Mr. Richards getting his stache measured! It was
a very long one! They loved it!
Then they wanted to feel and touch his stache! :-)
They really loved feeling his hairless head!! :-)
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Things calmed down a bit on Wednesday as it was a relaxed day Rhonda Stark and then our boys' and girls' volleyball teams had games in our home gym against. It was also a day when we were trying to work through details for a new Teacher Assistant and Elementary Korean teacher to replace Mrs. Han, our current T.A. Mrs. Han's last day was Friday and we were able to have a nice "Hasta la Vista" party on Thursday afternoon to express our love and thanks for her very good ministry at ICSP. Please keep praying that we will be able to locate the person to replace her soon. Actually, on Thursday, we were able to interview a young lady who has taught at ICS-P several years ago. She has also been a T.A. at Yongsan International School of Seoul and our NICS school in Uijeongbu. Please pray that this young lady will be open to accepting our offer to be our Kinder and Grade 1 T.A. and our Elementary Korean teacher.
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Yes, it is an Etch A Sketch!! Did you ever have one? :-)
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Friday - another very full day to finish Quarter One! After leading staff devotions in the morning, I had several meetings with teachers and principals. I also had to make a quick trip back to Dr. Kim to receive the results of my blood work. The uric acid level was good; the RA Factor indicated that the arthritis was negative, but the CRP (inflammation) was high. So I was given the meds as mentioned above and will return in five days to see the good doctor. Thanks for praying.
Friday just seemed to be non-stop with all sorts of things coming up, which needed attention. We made it through and at 3:15, I headed to the cafeteria to do the drawings for the "Golden Ticket" recipients. Following the Golden Ticket presentations to the kids, it was time for dismissal. After students were dismissed, I had agreed to a meeting with the two officers from the HS Business and Economics Club. These two young men greatly impressed me. They had prepared a business proposal to begin a non-profit Cafe' at ICS-P. They were very professional and had done a lot of research and work. Our Business Manager, Mrs. Haselman, was also present for their presentation, and she was also very impressed. I am excited about these young men and their club. After a great discussion and a lot of Q & A, they decided to take our suggestions and recommendations and go back to work and then they will meet with us again. I will probably have more on this later, but please pray for Kyungin and Ryan and their passion for this business project and their desire to use all proceeds to fund special projects that need to be accomplished at ICS-P.
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With the visiting team looking on, Mr. Kuhn presents a rose to
Senior Jeannie.
Jeannie and her mother embracing with Coach Kuhn and visiting
team looking on!
Above are the two senior girls on the Volleyball team with their mothers. Sandra is on the left - out of uniform because of an injury to her arm. Her mother, Mrs. Okamoto, is the cook at ICS-P. Next to them are Jeannie and her mother!
Mr. Kuhn presenting Justin with a rose!
And one to Mokin, a senior and President of the
student body!
Here are all four seniors! A great group of young people!
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"Yesterday was my first follow up appointment with my oral cancer surgeon since his diagnosis last month. He confirmed that the disappearances of the mass on the top and side of my tongue indicate that my cancer tumor has shrunk.
I won't have official X-rays to confirm exact size and shape of the cancer tumor until 10/31, so I will send an update on 11/3 after my hospital appointment to view my shrinking tumor. :-)
Praise God for the rapid healing and the ICS community! :-)
In other news, today I have learned that I am an Egghead." :-)
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As always, thank you very much for your continued faithful love, encouragement, emails, regular mail, prayers, and support. Please enjoy this last full week of October. Hard to believe November will be here before we know it.
Love, Gregg
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