Sangmyeong Summer Camp 2011

Summer camp has begun! The next three weeks at Sangmyeong are incredible. We teach the same group of students (only 11 students for Chelsea and 15 for Nathan) for 4 hours each day. This is different from the normal schedule where we cycle teaching 136 kids 3 times per week for up to 6 hours and spending 2 to 4 hours lesson planning/prepping each day.

Needless to say, this first week of camp has whizzed right by. Not only is it half-days for the kids, but for us as well. Our new groups of kids are great. We're both teaching two different 3rd grade groups and having a blast with them so far. Here's a few shots I snapped today of them working on some of their activities...

Animals on the loose.

Drawing sharks to put on our team flag.

More sharks!

"Summer" Storms

You think Seattle has it bad? 2/3rds of our Summer is spent in the rain here in Seoul. They're not just misty gray days, but dumping buckets types. At this very moment we are experiencing a bit of a thunder/lightning storm. As I was feeling a bit too cooped up on in our 15 floor apt. bldg, I wrongly assumed it would quickly let up and went for a run anyway.

Here's a taste of the view from our apartment for over half of the "Summer". Although I've run in the rain many-a-times, I think today out did them all. I was forced to keep my eyes shut for about half my run and had to run through ankle deep flooded paths, meanwhile lightning was striking down uncomfortably close. As soon as I heard the city intercom and bell, which I assumed to be warning of a monsoon in Korean,  I knew it was time to head somewhere dry!

Post-run outside the entry way. Mix in the unseen thunder and lightning and you have yourself a real storm.

Like I said, dumping buckets!

Mud Festival 2011!

We took off and went to the infamous Boryeong Mud Festival on Tuesday morning to see just how muddy we could get. Apparently, this festival is among the top rated 50 festivals in the world, so we couldn't pass it up. After the long bus ride, we dropped off our bags, muddied up, and went swimming in the ocean. It was a great two days experiencing something rather unique. I'll let the pictures do the talking...

Our cozy hotel room ;)

Before the mud...

After the mud...

Yes, we voluntarily did this to ourselves

Havin too much fun

Check out Nathan's mud beard

All cleaned up for the evening

Enjoying the perfect evening weather on the coast

Scott and Chelsea in fierce competition

Day 2 of the mud

So nasty, but so fun

I hope I'm never this muddy again

Nathan pre-tackling me to the ground and Scott... showing off?

Clams for lunch. The items on this plate were still moving.

Enjoying those clams

Leaving Mudfest and saying goodbye to our new friend, Mike.

More Adventures with Scott

Monday, Scott's second full day here in Korea, we crammed in a ton. Here's some pics to tell a little bit about our day. Started off with a run, some badminton, moved on to show Scott the school, then a trip to the National Palace, then Insa-dong for some lunch and leisurely walking around. It was our hottest day in Korea yet! However, the blue sky was a nice break from the constant summer rain.

Starting the day off with some friendly competition

Nathan's home away from home

Chelsea's Writing Zone

Front entrance to the school

In front of the King's Study

Moseying about the palace

Serious job to do

Cute kids on a fieldtrip

Sweltering in the heat

Annyeonghaseyo

Yummy Bibimbap for lunch

Nexen Hero's!

Scott finally made it here to Korea on Saturday!! :) Unfortunately he flew in on the day with the WORST weather we've had all summer, but thank goodness the rain has held up for the rest of the week.

We took advantage of the hot/sweaty weather to take him to a KBL game after church on Sunday. It was quite an experience. Koreans are crazy about baseball. There are games every single night of the week with the exception of Monday. The bleachers were definitely not full, but there's was still a big turnout and man those fans can cheer. We had a great time cheerin' on the winning team (especially once the weather cooled down)!

Getting some grub after church.

Olympic Stadium

Cheering on the underdogs... Nexen Hero's!

Passionately holding a sign he has no idea what it says.

Mascot/Cheerleader.

Semester One... Check!

Ahhhh! The semester is complete. It feels great to have one semester of teaching under our belt and to have a base of seeing where we can improve for next semester.

I think Nathan and I would both agree that we need sometime to allow our brains to escape lesson plans, screaming kids, school drama, and the like. Don't get me wrong, we absolutely LOVE teaching, but the break is heaven-sent. I certainly have more respect for my grade school teachers. Shout out to Mrs. Strawn!!

It's been a semester filled with many ups and downs. We've grown in our organization, productivity, discipline, decisiveness, etc, etc. Nathan has even gone above and beyond and created a 3 week curriculum for Summer Camp (a much bigger task than it may sound). We've put in a lot of long hours and worked hard in order to do our best in providing a great education for these kiddos.

The 'downs' are definitely a prayer request. Our school seems to be having a really tough time right now. There's terrible communication between the English and Korean side (and no one to take charge), there has been an extreme amount of drama among other English teachers, tons of last minute things are thrown at us, and they seem to be starting EVERYTHING from scratch this year. Even other teachers that have been at this school for years have said that this year is extremely challenging. Nathan and I are trying to remain positive and to not get too involved with the 'politics', which is hard when it directly affects our workload. Please pray for the upcoming Summer camp and the next semester!

I really did MEAN to take pictures of the kiddos on their last day today to post some, but I completely spaced. Sorry for the lack of pics.

We have an ENTIRE week off now and we get to pick up Scott (Nathan's sister's husband) from the airport tomorrow to show him a good time in Korea! We've been looking forward to having family out for a long time and can't wait to spend time with him! We've got lots on the agenda. There will definitely be pictures to follow. Plus, this next month and a half is filled with adventure. One week with Scott, 3 weeks of half-days at school (Summer Camp) and my mom potentially coming, 2 weeks in Malaysia, and a start to the new semester! July/August will fly right by (no complaining here!).

Keep well everybody. We send you love from Nowon.

Drummer Boy

 

This is Nathan's new favorite spot. We're excited to have a drum set he can use here and also bring home when that time comes. I find him sneaking in there for just one quick jam before dinner time or staying up well past bedtime for just "one more song." Here's to keyboards and drumsets!

A Band in the Making

Nathan and I have been giving our intentions for this next semester here a lot of thought lately.

As of now, the weather is excruciating. It rains almost everyday, while being in the high 80's, and with an insane amount of humidity. Nothing beats teaching inside a sauna (class) room ;). The weather leaves me no choice other than to wear dresses with rain boots. I THINK it's normal here; however, I find people staring more often. Is it my skin or my boots?? Who's to say! We find ourselves wanting to escape to anywhere INdoors and with Air-con blasting in our faces. I've been able to keep running, but have to wait until the sun is down and expect to be drenched by about mile 2 with a lovely humid sweat. The forecast is starting to ease up on us a bit. It's continuing to get HOTter, but apparently the humidity will start decreasing pretty soon. Fingers crossed!

As we experienced when we first got here and from what others say, the winter is the EXTREME opposite. Complete dryness and a chill all the way to the bone marrow! There will definitely be some investing in some nice insulated jackets once that time rolls around.

Why am I telling you about the weather?? Well, Nathan and I have been talking about some hobbies that we could pursue during our time here that would not be so dependent on the weather. Most of our hobbies tend to revolve around the outdoors. Our solution.... a keyboard! Yes, we went to the music "mall" and picked out a used keyboard and stand to make our home a place of learning a new instrument. I've taken lessons in the past, but I'd rather not tell you that, because they really did me no good and I'm starting from scratch all over again. We're pretty excited about it. We probably WON'T be starting a band anytime soon, but we WILL be spending our many hours escaping the heat sitting at the piano trying to self-teach.

That's our big news from Korea. A new hobby in the making. Next up, Nathan's very own electronic drumset. He's been a drummer since he was a youngster, but hasn't been able to play recently due to the lack of space/traveling the WORLD.

We're pretty excited about it and it gives us a little bit of hope in our time we still have here.

Happy 4th of July everyone! We opted out of running through the DMZ with the American flag, but it would have been VERY patriotic of us.

In the 85 degree pouring rain. We cross this stream everyday for school.

Flip flops in the rain... big surprise, right!?

Here she is!