Shortened Week for Lunar New Year; Refreshment; ASA; RAT; KA; On to NICS!

Last week was a shortened week for the teachers and students for Lunar New Year!  It gave me a chance to get to work on After School Activities for Quarter Four, prepare for the New Directors' Training & Annual Leadership Conference at NICS; refresh with some friends; and then have two very busy days on Thursday and Friday at YISS!  As I write this I am in the USA in Southaven, Mississippi after a long flight + a 10-hour layover in Detroit.  I am here safe and sound (as sound as I can be) and preparing for training, recruiting some teachers for ICS-P, and taking part in the Annual Leadership Conference at the NICS Headquarters.

Saturday morning, my wonderful "son" and dear friend, JiSang, came to pick me up at my apartment to deliver me to the airport for my flight to Memphis via Detroit.  I always love my time with JiSang and Saturday was no exception.  We had some excellent conversation going to the airport and then enjoyed some more time with coffee at the airport before I had to leave to get my flight.  Thanks so much, JiSang!

JiSang and I posed for a "weefie" at the Incheon Airport just before I had to go through Security and Customs.

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Last week I was able to meet with a couple friends to enjoy the Lunar New Year break.  On Monday, I met with my wonderful friend and former SYME student, Yeongmin.  He and his parents invited me to come to their apartment for our traditional Lunar New Year Day feast and great conversation and laughter.  Yeongmin's Mom and Dad always have way too much yummy food for me to enjoy, but it is always a very special time.  Please continue to pray that this family will come to know the Lord.

Yeongmin with his parents and me at their apartment on Monday.  We had just finished our Lunar New Year feast!

Some of the yummy taste treats that the Baeks had prepared for our feast!  All of them were sooo good!

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Tuesday I spent most of the day working on ASA material for Quarter Four and getting all of my responsibilities for two weeks covered at YISS.

Then on Wednesday, I was finally able to get a time to enjoy a delicious meal with one of our great teachers at YISS, Heidi Corbett.  Heidi has been at YISS probably longer than all other teachers at YISS.  She is such a great encourager and we have been trying to get a time together for a long time. We enjoyed a delightful time at The Original Pancake House.  I noticed that there were several YISS families at the OPH as well as a few other teachers.  It was a great time of catching up and enjoying some excellent food together.

GGG with Heidi Corbett at the Original Pancake House on Wednesday morning.

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On Thursday, the Kindergarten A class had its Publishing Party and I was invited.  I love these times to celebrate the writings of these delightful kinder cherubs.  When I came to KA, the kids all wanted to read their stories to me.  There was just not enough time.  I love being able to encourage these young ones as they continue to grow in their writing skills.  Ms. Regnier does a super job with these young ones.  Below are some pictures from the KA Publishing Party.  I hope you enjoy these pictures of some of the special cherubs in KA.

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Friday was a special day as well.  As students arrived in the morning, there was a small group of band students under the direction of our Band teacher, Ms. Zakula, performing some "love" instrumental songs in celebration of Valentine's Day.  It was fun to watch students top and listen to this group play as they came in the building.  Such a fun way to begin the day on Friday.

The Band Ensemble playing as students enter YISS on Friday morning!

Ms. Zakula directing one of the "love" songs that the Band Ensemble played on Friday AM.

From another angle, the Band Ensemble playing while some students stop to listen and enjoy!

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Then on Friday afternoon, the elementary students and teachers packed the auditorium for the kick off assembly for our annual Read-A-Thon program.  The PTO along with the elementary administrators and teachers have conducted this Read-A-Thon for one month each year since I have been at YISS.  The kids are already excellent readers, but they read even more during this special time.  They really get excited about Pancake and Pajama Day!  They loved the little skit and video that the administrators and teachers did along with many of our students.  I am hoping to be able to show you the video at a future time.  It was not ready to be placed in this week's post.

One of the pictures taken by Ms. Regnier on Friday afternoon at the RAT Kick Off Assembly.  Mrs. Roll, GGG, and Ms. Dean doing their parts in the RAT Cheer.  Several other teachers joined in the fun and the kids were going crazy!  They were really into it.

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Well, as I mentioned, I have arrived at the NICS Headquarters and I officially begin New Directors' Training Monday morning at 8:00 AM.  There is only one other new director at this time.  His name is Linroy Kilgore.  Please pray for Linroy and me as we begin our training and then are joined by other NICS' directors from around the world for the Annual Leadership Conference and Job Fair.  ICS-P needs a few elementary teachers and a high school English teacher.  Please pray that we will be able to interview some excellent possibilities at this Job Fair.  I will be joined by the High School Principal of ICS-P, Charlie Mooney, who will be the main person from ICS-P at this conference.  I will be assisting in the teacher interviews and getting to know Charlie as well.  Thanks for your prayers.

Happy Valentine's Day to each of you!  Thank you very much for your love, encouragement, notes, emails, packages, prayer, and support.

Love, Gregg

Happy Seollal! (Happy Lunar New Year)

Seollal or Lunar New Year is one of South Korea's most significant holidays when Korean families gather to prepare traditional foods and wear hanboks to perform a deep bow wishing elders a happy new year.  Travel is at a frenzied pace during this three-day holiday.  Families gather and enjoy delicious traditional foods such as japchae, hangwa, galbijim and one of my favorites,  the Korean pancake (Nok Doo Jeon or Boo Chim Gye).  Our Elementary Secretary knows I love Boo Chim Gye and she brought me some on Thursday, and before I could get a picture of it, it was gone! :-) This Lunar New Year is the year of the Fire, or Red, Monkey.  One of the parents brought me some green tea cake and some yummy rice cakes which had the Fire Monkey as a decoration around the two containers.  Here is the photo of the Fire Monkey:

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It was a shortened week because of the Lunar New Year holiday.  On Friday we had an Early Release at 11:30 and then spent time as a faculty working on curriculum planning and final preparation for our accreditation visit in March.  Teachers and students were eager for the three-day respite!

During this shortened week so much had to be accomplished.  After School Activities continued its second week of Quarter Three, and I began planning for Quarter Four After School Activities.  I had two brief meetings with the person who will be taking over the Elementary After School Activities Program.  After the first meeting, he was not sure he should have agreed to take this over.  He found out that there is much more to it than he, or most people, realized. :-)  Please pray as we continue to make the transition of the program to this staff member. Pray also that in the middle of the busy two weeks of New Directors' Training and the NICS Annual Leadership Conference in Southaven, Mississippi, I will be able to make time for working through everything that needs to be accomplished for Quarter Four for the ASA Program.  Just a reminder I will be in Mississippi from February 13 through February 26, heading back to Seoul on February 27 but actually arriving in the evening of February 28 in Seoul.  Pray especially for the 10 hours that I will have in Detroit between flights from Seoul to Memphis.

I really enjoy watching the kids create their Ceramics projects in the Ceramics After School Activities.  Here are a couple pictures of some of the cherubs at work this past week.

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We continued to interview candidates for elementary teacher positions at YISS during this week.  We had several via Skype and one face-to-face.  Please pray as offers are made to candidates and that God will bring us those teachers He would like to see at YISS.  I also continued to work on several reading projects for my transition to ICS-P.  I met with my wonderful friend, Tony Kuhn, on Saturday morning at the Original Pancake House to discuss many transition items.  Please continue to pray as things continue to come together.  Tony and I got so involved in our discussions that I forgot to get you pictures of the yummy food we enjoyed. :-(  You are probably happy about that! :-)

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February at YISS is the month that we focus on standing up for what is right especially when there is bullying going on. It has been exciting to see students and teachers throughout the entire YISS community getting involved in this through various projects, discussions, skits, etc. Here are some pictures of some of the students and staff making a statement to "Stand up and be a Guardian!" In other words, stand up and do what is right! (For those who do not remember, the Guardian is our school's mascot.) We want this time especially to be a time when our students and staff "Stand Up" by creating a safe and caring community where everyone feels included.

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Throughout the week, we were also preparing for our annual Read-A-Thon that begins on February 12 with an opening assembly to encourage our elementary kids to continue their passion for reading good books.  Our Ed Tech teacher in the Elementary School, Mr. Chan, has been working with students, teachers, and principals on a video that will be shown on Friday, February 12.  The actual reading by students will begin on February 15 and go through March 6.  The kids LOVE this event and really get into it.  This year's theme is "Reading is Your Ticket to Adventure."  Teachers and Principals have been sharing books that take students on an adventure, the main adventure book we are highlighting is the Bible.  It has been fun helping to prepare the video and I am glad I will be able to be present at least for the opening assembly.  I will miss one of my favorite days - Pajama and Pancake Day!  The kids love this and so do the teachers and staff.  All are encouraged to wear pajamas to school and we work with the catering service that provides lunch at YISS to have a breakfast for lunch!  The kids love it! I love breakfast and could have it as my meal three times a day! It should be a great Read-A-Thon!

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Two exciting events finished off the week at YISS this past week!  On Thursday, two kindergarten classes, KB and KC, had their Publishing Parties.  I love these!  Administrators and parents are invited to come to the Publishing Parties to sit with Kinder cherubs as they read the stories they have written and illustrated.  I is so much fun to see how they have improved in their writing and their oral presentation skills!  The Kinder kids love it and this time they were writing non-fiction stories. 

I loved this little group gathered around the little man in red as he

     read the story he wrote!  They look so focused on his story!

This is Gavin reading to me.  This was a quite an interactive reading as Gavin would stop to see if I had questions.  And he answered each one of them!  He is such a bright young man.  After we have one of the cherubs read to us, we are supposed to write a note of encouragement on a post-it.  Gavin was very particular where he wanted me to place my post-it! :-)

Mrs. Roll listening to the little man in red as 

he reads with great expression using verbal and

non-verbal communication as he reads!     

This is my buddy, Emerson!  He greets me every time he sees me with this huge smile.  He is always smiling.  I call him Smiley!  He loved reading to me and he loved it that I picked up the stuffed lion to listen to him read, too.

After Smiley finished reading, I wrote a note of encouragement to him on a post-it.  I asked him to read it to me.  That's what he's doing in the picture with his nice smile.  Look at all those post-its!!

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On Friday morning, one of our ELL (English Language Learners) teachers, Mr. Lantz, invited the principals and teachers who were available to come to the B1 Cafeteria to listen to nine ELL students from Grade 2 who had been working on persuasive presentations in English.  They had created fictional communities and were told that investors would be coming to listen to their persuasive presentations.  If the presentations were good, the investors would write a check to them for $1,000,000!  (Ahead of time, Mr. Lantz had asked each of us to get excited about a certain student's presentation and when the bidding began, each of us would get really excited and say we wanted to invest in our particular student's community.)  I was so impressed with the growth in the English language by these students!  One girl, Tiny, could speak maybe 3-5 words in English and she was AMAZING!  I wanted to really give her a real check for $1,000,000!  She wowed all of us!  Mr. Lantz has done a superb job with these students and I was thrilled with all of the presentations.  I was VERY impressed!  Here are some of the students.  I think you will see the joy in their faces when they heard from each of the "investors" what a fantastic job they had done.

     I was almost crying joyful tears as Tiny made her persuasive

presentation!  This is Mrs. Roll listening to her superb presentation!

Grade 2B teacher, Ms. Buster, listening and questioning Angel during her presentation, "Angel's World."

I was also very impressed with the presentation by Felix.  Here he 

is presenting persuasively to his ELL teacher, Mr. Lantz.       

This is my buddy, Sushi.  He is from Vietnam and I just love how he has grown in his English.  Sushi was the presenter that I was chosen to give my million dollar check to.  Her I am presenting him with his check.  Just so you know, the kids did not get legal checks, but they did get 10 points for their House Team.  Sushi and I are on the same House Team, the BLUE team.  We were both very happy!

    Grade 2A teacher, Ms. Minor, with her presenter she gave her 

                 million dollar check to.  Angel was so happy!

Mrs. Roll was selected to give her check to Tiny!  Tiny was soooo thrilled.  All of the kids - even those in the second group of presenters did a fantastic job!

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I want to leave you with two special happenings that happened on Sunday.  First, when I arrived at New Harvest Ministry (where I fellowship on Sundays), I was greeted by Joshua, a YISS student who is now in 7th grade.  He was in my Discipleship group when he was in 5th grade.  I continue to see him grow in his faith.  Joshua and his parents began fellowshipping at NHM back in September and today he was greeting people as they came into the auditorium.  He welcomed them so nicely and offered a piece of candy while wishing them a Happy New Year since this week Korea celebrates Lunar New Year.  

Here I am with Joshua after I was greeted by him and entered the church auditorium.  Joshua's mother took the photo and she was so excited that the picture was a bit blurry. :-)  Continue to pray for Joshua as he continues to grow in his walk with the Lord.  I continue to meet unofficially with him and he keeps me posted on what is happening in his life.

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Second, when I arrived home, there was an email from the father of three boys who were at YISS for several years before Dad was relocated back to the Washington, DC area where he has a position that is a high security one.  He can't even tell you what he does. :-)  I really admire him.  He has been a single Dad for some time and continues to treasure each moment he has with his sons. They sent me an email with New Year greeting and several pictures.  I sure do miss this family.  Here are a couple pictures from a recent trip they had taken to New York City.  The boys are growing up rapidly!

Joey, Tommy, and Michael with their Dad!

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Once again, I want to thank you for your encouragement, love, care, notes, emails, prayer, and support.  I would really appreciate your prayers and encouragement during this month of February!

Love, Gregg

Happy February!! Warmer Week, but Things are Getting Busier!

Most of us thought we were experiencing a heat wave last week! :-)  Temperatures were between -1 and 7 degrees Celsius rather than -19 to -7 degrees which we had experienced the week before!  Kids and teachers were delighted that we did not have any indoor recess this past week!

It was a very busy week, and it is going to continue to be busy in February!  By the way, Happy February to you - 29 days this February!  Enjoy!

One of the frequent happenings at an international school - especially here in Seoul - is that parents are here for several years (we always love it when they can stay longer) and then their country or business will give them a new assignment in another city and country.  Two precious little girls had to leave this past week.  Neomi and Leona are being relocated and their mother made a point to invite me to the class party where the girls would be able to say "hasta la vista" to their classmates and teachers.  The girls wanted Mother to specifically invite Mr. Garman to come and write in their "Friendship Book" and enjoy some cake and get some hugs!  Both girls will be missed!  They always had a nice smile for me.  I got to know them and their mother because of meeting them many days after school when Mother came to pick them up after finishing their After School Activity.  Please pray for this family as they relocate.

          GGG with Leona and Mrs. Miller, grade 1B teacher.

GGG with Neomi and her mother at the party!

Neomi with some of her classmates and a mother 

getting ready to enjoy some cake at the party!   

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And yes, After School Activities began in full force this past week.  Over 350 of our 460 Elementary cherubs are involved in an activity or two (some three or four) this quarter.  Thanks for praying for the ASA program - especially for next year.  I was informed this week of the staff member on YISS staff who will probably be taking over this major responsibility.  He and I met on Friday so that I could begin sharing with him all that needs to happen to make the program run as smoothly as possible.  After an hour, I had to leave to begin dismissal procedures for the Elementary School.  He left my office looking very overwhelmed. Please pray as these transition meetings continue.

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Tuesday I was asked by our Elementary Chaplain, Ms. Johnson, to be part of a skit in Elementary Chapel.  I was John the Baptist in "An Interview with John the Baptist."  I enjoyed being part of this lesson and for the remainder of the day, I was greeted by the cherubs with "Hello John" or "Hi, Mr. Baptist Man." :-)  You will notice from the pictures that I refused to wear my animal skin costume.  Didn't want to frighten the children with my hairy chest, etc.  I couldn't locate any locusts or some Korean silkworm larvae to eat. :-)

Ms. Johnson and "John with a Locust" in Chapel.

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Tuesday was also the special day for Kindergarten!  It was the 100th Day of Kindergarten!  This is always a major celebration for them with many activities all centered around the number "100."  The kindergarten teachers, Ms. Regnier, Ms. Han, and Mrs. Bongiovanni, did a great job with the assistance of a number of parent volunteers in organizing some very successful fun learning 100th Day activities.  Ms. Regnier asked me once again to read a book to the kids about the 100th Day.  I always have a fun time with this.

GGG reading the 100th Day story to the Kinder cherubs on the 100th Day of Kindergarten!

The Kindergarten cherubs in the lobby of YISS.  They have their 100 Day Hats on and many were afraid to look up to the second floor where I was taking the picture.  Their hats kept falling off when they looked up! :-)

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On the other days I continued to be busy working on After School Activities' projects as well as assisting in interviewing for some elementary teaching positions that are open at YISS for 2016-17. In addition, I was assisting with two interviews for two positions at the International Christian School - Pyeongtaek for next year.

Then on Friday was the PTO's Newcomers' Coffee in the morning!  This is an event the YISS PTO plans at the beginning of each semester for new parents who have enrolled at YISS.  I always enjoy these special times of meeting the new parents and getting to know them a little.   Friday's group was not as large as the one in August so I was able to get to know more of the parents.  Always a great time!

Some of the PTO members mingling with the new parents to YISS at the Newcomers' Coffee.

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I have a particular prayer request for one of our Physical Education teachers.  The teacher has confided in me to pray so I will not share the name of the teacher.  God knows the teacher and will hear your prayers.  This teacher has been having some dizziness and nausea.  Last week the teacher had a CT scan and an MRI + the neurologist had the teacher wired so that the specialist could check out the heart rate of the teacher for one day of normal activities.  The teacher was to find out more results this weekend.  The neurologist said initially that the cerebellum was affected and there was a "shady image in the cerebellum that indicated a lack of blood fluid in that region."  Would you please for this person as the results are shared this weekend?  Thank you!

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Friday afternoon I received a text message from my new Chinese friend, Lu Chuan Qing, who is studying at Namseoul University in Cheonan.  I met Chuan back at the end of November when I was taking the subway on Line 1 to Pyeongtaek.  I didn't get off at the right stop for a transfer and as everyone was getting off the subway car, I was looking very bewildered and Chuan came along beside me and in his broken English, he said he knew where I was going and he would make sure I got on the right subway.  We started talking and then met in Seoul when he came up for an orthodontist visit.  This past Friday Chuan was coming to Seoul again to see the orthodontist before he flew to China on Saturday for a Lunar New Year break.  He wanted to meet if possible.  We met at a Thai restaurant, Wang Thai, in Itaewon and had another wonderful conversation.  He is excited about seeing his parents and his girlfriend back in China.  Please continue to pray that I will have continued opportunities to meet with Chuan and continue to share about the Lord. 

GGG with Li Chuan Qing at Wang Thai on Friday evening!

           Chuan wanted the Thai Chicken and Crab

                              Fried Rice!

                               

      I love the Thai Red Curry and Chicken!!!!           

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My wonderful friend and former SYME student, Yeongmin, has been very busy and our schedules have been so busy, it has been difficult to get together and chat.  He texted me and invited me to one of the many Strawberry Buffets that many hotels in Seoul have for about three months to celebrate the wonderful strawberries that Korea produces.  Our schedules were both open and he was able to get a reservation at the Seoul InterContinental Hotel COEX at the very large COEX Mall in Seoul! What a fabulous time at a very scrumptious buffet which included strawberries prepared very creatively!  The afternoon buffet was packed with strawberry taste treats as well as a salads and mini-sandwiches. Yeongmin and I enjoyed many trips to the buffet and neither of us ate any dinner later that evening!  As usual, we enjoyed some excellent conversation as well as some very delicious strawberry treats!

Waiting to go to the Buffet.  Our reservation was for 2:45.

GGG and Yeongmin enjoying some great conversation and many trips to the Buffet!

       The Chef presenting me with my personal

              Strawberry Flambe.  So delicious!

Chocolate covered strawberries!!  Soooo good!!  

The Macaroon Tree with many other strawberry treats underneath and beside.

             Strawberry Bread Pudding!  Loved this!

Yes, even Strawberry Pizza!

More things strawberry!                     

Strawberry Cheescake!  You will have to check out my Facebook page if you wish to be tortured more.

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This week I am going to close by asking you to continue to pray for me as I continue to work to finish well at YISS and continue to work on transition things for the new position as Director at ICS-Pyeongtaek.  In February, I will travel to the international headquarters of NICS (Network of International Christian Schools) in Southaven, Mississippi for two conferences.  One of them will be the New Directors' Training.  This is training for all new directors to NICS.  Combined with this is the ALC (Annual Leadership Conference).  This is for the directors and some other key leaders at the various NICS' schools.  During this conference, there is also a Job Fair at one of the large churches in the area.  Mr. Charlie Mooney, one of principals from ICS-P, will be coming from ICS-P to join me to represent ICS-P at the conference.  Charlie will be handling most of the presentations concerning ICS-P and I will be observing and learning!  Your prayers will be appreciated as I travel and participate.  I leave on Saturday, February 13, and will return to Seoul and YISS on February 28. Please pray that I will be able to get all of my responsibilities covered at YISS for this time when I am away.

Thank you so much for your continued love, care, encouragement, prayers, and support.  I really appreciate all you do for me.  Enjoy a great month of February!

Love,  Gregg