Thursday, October 20, 2005

Mortal Combat

Well, I have four months left in this country. It's great. I'm excited because my contract is coming to a close, not because I want to leave, but because I'm on the cusp of completing something that actually took some comittment. It'll be bitter sweet to leave. I've made some great friendships here and met a lot of cool people and leaving kind of represents the end of all of that. However it also represents moving on to bigger and better things. More traveling perhaps? More school? I haven't quite decided yet.

I know that for many at home there are a lot of things changing, particularly back at the church. All I have to say is don't be sucked in by the drama. Keep your head and make sure that what you're thinking is of God. See what is happening as a blessing in disguise, because honestly I believe it is. Don't be deceived by the gossip, drama, and change that can often consume us.
Stand on solid ground and ask Him where to go from here.

On a lighter note, I was able to initiate some Mortal Combat at my place of work...


I decided that on my way out of the building that I would ask Mr. Lee and Stickman to "Taekwondo Fight". Since all men here know it, I figured it would be fun to pin one against the other. They were a little hesitant at first, but it worked out great, right there in the lobby to our Academy. They're both pretty funny guys. Look at these tough guys. Would you really want to mess with them? Too bad they're two of the nicest guys I work with!
This picture proves that all guys are still children, regardless of their age. Actually Mr. Lee on the far left actually looks like he could seriously work someone. I'm sure he's got some serious skills.

Tuesday, October 11, 2005

So I have this friend....

I have this "friend" of mine here in Korea and she just called me with this story. She got this spoof email, which looked entirely real, from eBay saying that someone was making fraudlent bids with her account and that they were undergoing an investigation. In order to repair the problem, she just had to give them some information, including her Visa number and pin. Now, this "friend", she doesn't normally make ill informed decisions, but she said that it was pretty late when she filled out this form and the moment she hit send, she realized her mistake. I couldn't believe it when she told me. I mean, who does that? Anyway, she called the Visa card company right away to cancel her Visa, so that no one would be able to use her card, which leaves here all the way over here in Korea, while the new card will be mailed back to her house in Canada. Heartbreaking.

Anyway, my message is for all reading this. If you get emails that look like they're from eBay about you're account activity and they request Visa info, don't fall for it like my "friend" here. Be smart and keep your Visa information to yourself.

Monday, October 10, 2005


This is William. He comes to my desk everyday and likes to hang out with me. Today, William punched me in the back super hard. Then about 45 minutes later, he messed up my hair. Joseph, William's teacher and my boss, saw him do this, so he proceeded to grab William by the ear and lecture him about how not to do that to any teacher ever again. Then after Joseph's lecutre (in Korean) William says, "I'm sorry Andrea Teacher I will never do that again." And walked away sheepishly. I felt kinda bad, but I guess it needed to be done.

Thursday, October 06, 2005

Shut Up is Bad Say

Well, I'm exhausted after a Thursday night at work. It always seems as if the kids are so incredibly wired on these particular days. I'm not sure why. Anyway, I had a class of about 11 year olds that I yelled Shut Up at and then proceeded to go on a tangent in fast and loud English at them. They didn't know what was happening, other than the fact that I was pretty angry with them and that I just screamed shut up at the top of my lungs to get their attention. Oh, and then I tossed one of the students in the hallway cause he continued to hit the kid next to him. I feel like I'm babysitting. Sometimes it's just so frustrating when kids don't listen, especially when their English is so limited that they're just sitting around hitting eachother in the face, or throwing stuff at eachother. Or even having their own broken English conversations that have nothing to do with the class. Irritating. I'm not sure why these kids have come to start thinking that shut up is like saying shut the EFF up, but they do, so that's the effect it had. Which I'm sitting here smiling about as I think back on the episode. Korea. Geez.

Anyway, on another note, I've realized that I've become a total nerd. The other thing I've realized...I LOVE IT. Ok, I hate getting out of bed in the morning, but here's what does it for me these days, and maybe you'll see signs of my ever increasing age. Coffee. A book. Jazz or Blues Music (like old skool Ray Charles and Miles Davis). Honestly, my mornings are perfect. I absoloutely love waking up, drinking coffee, getting some good tunes going, and reading a book. Most recently I have just finished a book called "Blue Like Jazz" by Don Miller. No that has nothing to do with me listening to jazz music, I've been on it for a while now. I read the book in a 24 hour binge to get to the bottom of what the guy was getting at. Turns out that his book has got a lot of my own thoughts right there inside! It's crazy when you open a non-fiction book and realize that you and someone else have the same crazy thoughts about life, church, and evangelism. It's a really good book, although I don't think it's for everyone. If you're not there, ready for it at the time (which is the same with any book), you might not like it. But I did. Not in a best book ever kinda way, but I just enjoyed it. Enough to finish it in a day to say the least. Anyway, if I can encourage any of you to wake up read books, listen to music and drink coffee...my goodness, you'll be the happiest ever. Or at least I am, for now.



sidenote: other books currently on the go:
"Ruined for Ordinary" by Joy Dawson (part of my course package from church)
"The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant

Sunday, October 02, 2005


Namsan Folk Village.


Seoul Tower at Namsan.


Picture of Seoul from Namsan Tower in the center of the city. From this point you can see a 360 view of Seoul.