Great Week Already

Why are we surprised when God does what He has promised time and again? Surprise might not adequately describe what we are feeling. We are completely awestruck by His perfect faithfulness. Last week was probably our most difficult week so far. It is only Monday and we have already had one of our greatest weeks so far. It started as most weeks do, on Sunday, but I'm going to work sdrawkcab.
Tonight, (Monday night), as we were watching August Rush, our 'homegroup' leader called us to see if he could drop in. (I'm a big fan of the drop in). At 8:37 he and his wife arrived at our door bearing gifts and an adorable, chubby baby girl. They gave us two dozen Krispy Kreem doughnuts since we had missed two homegroup meetings in a row in which they had been purchased primarily for our enjoyment. They also gave us a great book entitled Educating for Life: Reflections on Christian Teaching and Learning. They wrote a two page note of encouragement in the back of the book that included 1 Corinthians 1:25. Their best gift came last- the gift of prayer. We stood in a circle holding hands as Daniel's wife, Esther prayed for us in Korean. The spot between our front door and the kitchen became holy ground if only for a moment. We were in a battle and these people, these servants in God's kingdom went to war for us and with us. They prayed for us yesterday in our absence and they came by tonight to pray with us in person, eventhough they had initially come to deliver doughnuts. After they left, we had to retreat to our bedroom to sit on the bed and ugly cry. Our tears began to mix with laughter which naturally overflowed into praise. Selah (the action, not the music group).
Earlier this evening I was browsing through some of the new releases on Itunes. I rented August Rush which was actually a bit of alright. We really enjoyed it, but I digress. As I was preparing to download the movie, I checked the new releases of Christian music. I found Deluge. It's presented by Bethany, the same church that brought us Chasing After You and Let the Church Rise. Jonathan Stockstill is the worship leader on Deluge also. We have only listened to a couple of the songs, but it is really good so far. We bought the entire album. It just struck me as that type of album. It's a live worship recording. I highly recommend it.
Sunday, we skipped homegroup with Kevin and Kate. Kevin's back was bothering him after they had spent over two hours in traffic to go twenty miles to Seoul to visit Kate's parents. After church, instead of eating with the homegroup at the church building, Kevin and Kate took us to an awesome restaurant. Kevin called it 'Pig House'. We grilled slabs of pork over natural wood charcoal, it was so good. We had endless sides and they threw rolls at us. (wait that's another restaurant). After we ordered but before the food came, Kate nonchalantly mentioned that we could see her baby in November. Kevin and Kate are going to have a BABY!!! Their due date is November 17th!
Thank you for all of your comments and prayers and encouragement! We love you all so very much!
God is great, magnificent, awesome, amazing, God!

~Micah

Rough Week

We have had a rough week. This picture was the highlight of my week. The very next day(Thursday), I became ill at school. I thought I was going to pass out in front of a class of children. Everyone was very understanding. The chaplain of my mini-school prayed for me. He asked if I knew "speaking in tongues". I said that I did and he prayed in English and in tongues unknown to us. I took the rest of the day off. Friday I felt good enough to go back to school. I took it easy and didn't eat much lunch, but I got through. Being sick at home is bad enough, but being sick so far from home is very depressing. We have been leaning heavily on God and on each other. Sarah was recently informed that some of her major deadlines had been moved up. She had already been under quite a bit of pressure to get her planning done and this just added more. We were both up in her classroom until midnight on Wednesday night. I'm sure that contributed at least a little to getting sick on Thursday.

Sarah met her deadlines and I was able to get some rest. Now it is Saturday afternoon. The skies are swathed in shades of gray. It has been sprinkling all day. This evening we will walk over to the church building to watch SonShine Kids perform. I think it will be a fun song and dance praise type of thing. I hope to get some good pictures of the kids.

I'm sorry if this is a gloomy post. Your encouraging comments and prayers are welcomed and necessary. We do keep reminding each other of God's goodness and faithfulness. We love you guys tremendously.

Easter Sunday

We hope everyone had a wonderful weekend. The one-man drama sounds really cool. I can imagine it being very powerful. For our service on Sunday, the walls that usually separate the large chapels into three different sanctuaries were magically lifted to the ceiling leaving one huge sanctuary. We met Kevin and Kate early enough to get good seats and to take a few pictures during worship practice. They had STRINGS!!! Worship was really good. We sang some hymns that I knew but Sarah didn't. (At The Cross, Because He Lives, ekg). The pastor preached about the importance of the Sabbath and the kind of rest in God that the Sabbath entails. It is interesting to know God's presence without understanding every word that is being preached. Kate did translate some of the message also. Especially the scripture references. Luke 23:54-24:8, about the women that went to the tomb after the Sabbath was over. It was a really good service. Many of my coworkers were in attendance. There were also quite a few children dressed up for Easter. They all had tiny baskets made of paper, each holding an egg. We found out later that it was similar to a hardboiled egg. They were cooked on a hot stone instead of in water. The white of the egg turned brown. I think Kevin might have been the only one to eat one. After the service, Kevin and Kate gave us a ride to homegroup in their beautiful new car. It rained all day and Kate tried to give us her umbrella when they dropped us off at home, but we couldn't let her. The gathering was great. We had snacks and each person shared something that God had been dealing with them about. When everyone was done sharing, we split into groups to pray for the specific areas that had been mentioned. We were grouped with Kevin and Kate. It was a great time to spend with them and God.

Our Easter weekend was awesome. God is so great, for everything that He is and does!

Good Friday

Greetings and salutations!

Sarah and I went to a huge Good Friday service at a church in Seoul. It started at 7:00 and lasted until around 9 or 9:30. The main worship portion was facilitated by the worship team from Jubilee Church.(where we had gone last Sunday). The worship leader is apparently a pop star in Korea. He seems pretty genuine for also being a secular artist. There were also some good specials by various folks. The main speaker was the chaplain for the U.S. Army base here. He had a great message about the veil in the temple. He was pretty funny, too. The service was organized by AIM Korea.(Association of International Ministries)? It was for all the English speaking churches in the Seoul area. Afterward there was an afterglow-type thing. There were snacks and beverages on tables in the large lobby of the church. I grabbed a Capri Sun and stood against the back wall waiting for Sarah to emerge from the ladies room. As I stood there a man began to approach me slowly from the middle of the crowd. There were hundreds of people at this service. We looked at each other and tilted our heads inquisitively as we tried to decide if we were seeing what we were seeing. It was Huni! In a city of 11 MILLION people, Huni walked up to me out of a crowd of hundreds! We talked for several minutes and exchanged digits. When Sarah found us, Huni asked her if she recognized him. HUNI?! It was so great to see him. He actually teaches a bible study at Jubilee Church. I don't think we will be going to that church, but we will hang out with Huni as much as is convenient for all of us. God is so unbelievably amazing! We are still not quite sure if it was real or just a crazy dream.(not really, that would be kinda strange, not being able to tell dreaming from waking). Anyway, that's my Good Friday story. When viewed in relation to God, the world really is very small.

Blessed Twice

Last night, Sarah and I went to Homever to get some pizza. As we approached the restaurant, a very excited first grader came running out and screamed, "TEACHER!" It was a beautiful scene. He kinda halfway hugged Sarah then didn't know what else to do so he said' "Bye", and went back to join his mom in the restaurant. We laughed and waved through the window at her. When we went in I chose a table near theirs. We ordered these really tasty garlic rolls and a pizza that's actually on sale now. We also asked for two ciders to wash it all down.(it's like Sprite). As the waitress brought our meal the boy and his mother were leaving. They came back to our table and the mother informed us that she paid for our meal. Sarah and I had to fight back tears just to eat our pizza. As our pizza disappeared a piece at a time a waiter brought out a huge dish of pasta with alfredo sauce. Not only had she paid for our meal, but she ordered even more for us. We finished the pasta and saved two pieces of pizza and one garlic roll. It was such a wonderful feeling. It's difficult to describe. The welcome that we received would have been enough to make our entire evening. God blessed us twice! Praise God!

It's All Downhill

I've been thinking about our hill. We have to walk in an odd, almost uncomfortable manner to walk down the hill. We slow ourselves because the hill is steep and would have us practically running down it otherwise. I wasn't feeling especially spiritual when I started to mull this over, but I believe that God gave me this brain at the very least, so I give God all the credit for anything good that comes out of it. I hope this is good. Let me know what you think:
If you are going down a hill, everything is going downhill, it's all downhill from here, you're feeling down, you're down in the doldrums, down in the mouth, down and out, down; don't slow your feet, you may need the momentum to carry you through the valley. God has already promised to be our help. Our steps are ordered by God. Step with that confidence.

Psalm 23 The Message //Remix
A David Psalm
1-3 God, my shepherd! I don't need a thing.
You have bedded me down in lush meadows,
you find me quiet pools to drink from.
True to your word,
you let me catch my breath
and send me in the right direction.
4 Even when the way goes through Death Valley,
I'm not afraid when you walk at my side.
Your trusty shepherd's crook makes me feel secure.
5 You serve me a six-course dinner right in front of my enemies.
You revive my drooping head; my cup brims with blessing.
6 Your beauty and love chase after me every day of my life.
I'm back home in the house of God for the rest of my life.

A Weekend In Seoul

Hello, everyone! I miss writing to you. I don't think I've written since the great haircut vote of '08. Number 1 was the clear favorite and it's how I was going to do it anyway. Thanks to all who voted! It was a blasty! The real bummer is: I didn't have the heart to tell the girl that she didn't cut enough off, so it feels like I already need another haircut. Next time I'll get more of a 'summer cut', they last longer.
Well, where to begin...? I just spent almost the entire weekend in Seoul. On Saturday, a co-worker of mine took a small group of us to Seoul. He didn't actually take us, the bus did. He just acted as our tour guide. Sarah stayed home to rest and work and I went as a scout. We went to Itaewon which is supposedly geared toward westerners. We ate lunch at Smokey Saloon. It was a tiny hole-in-the-wall burger joint. The burgers were thick, juicy and very much American style. After lunch we went to Myeong Dong. Myeong Dong is a major shopping area. I've read that about 1 million people go through the area every day. I guess you could say I was one-in-a-million! Say it! It was so crowded. There were four of us and if I stopped to take a picture I got cut off from my runnin' crew. John and Amy are the couple from Texas that arrived two weeks ago. James is my co-worker and our tour guide. He's from California and has been here for about a year. I had to wade through a sea of people several times to catch up with them. There were some interesting food vendors in the streets. I got a few decent pictures, but it was hard to take the time necessary to line up my shots. I found a great messenger bag at the Puma store where everything was on sale for 70% off the original price. It cost 7500 won or about $7.50. Sweet! At 5 0'clock James suggested that we go to Outback Steakhouse. I wanted to call Sarah and see how she was doing, so they said we could head back to Suwon, get Sarah and go to the Outback here instead of Seoul. We went home and rescued her from her work and we all went to have dinner. It was very delicious. We had ribs and chicken on the bar-bee. I was just glad that Sarah was able to come with us. It was the only option I could imagine.

On Sunday, we met up with the same folks to visit James' church in Seoul. Jubilee Church. We left Suwon at around 10 am. First we went to a huge bookstore that has a pretty big English section. Sarah got Wicked.(a book about the Wicked Witch from the Wizard of Oz). I was looking for anything by Hwee Hwee Tan, but the computer said they didn't have anything. There were several books that caught my eye, but I couldn't pull the trigger on any. After the bookstore we went to Quizno's for lunch. It was the first time we had ever been to Quizno's anywhere. It was mighty tasty. The church service didn't start until 1:30. There were quite a few westerners in the congregation since it is an English service. Everyone was between 19 and 28 years of age.(not including me, of course). Worship was pretty good eventhough it was quite different from home. The keyboard player is a pop star in Korea. His older brother is the pastor of the church. During the service, we were supposed to recite the Apostle's Creed which includes allegiance to the Holy Catholic Church. We also sang the Doxology which is actually a decent song to sing but it just made us feel like they were trying to appeal to many denominations. We had a fun day, but we are still basically set on going to Kevin and Kate's church from now on. I hope everyone enjoys this post. Love you all ~Micah

Enter, Exit

I know I just blogged, but I thought of a school story that I wanted to tell you all - so now you have two new posts to read!
One of my students has Aspergers syndrome - a form of autism. Because of this, it seems he can only hear certain voices - he responds to his mother's voice and to his special ed. teacher and sometimes to the principal's voice. And until about Wednesday, he did not respond to my voice - except to repeat exactly what I'd said, but having no response to it. It's like he hears but doesn't comprehend meaning. I've been praying that God would somehow give me a voice that he would hear and respond to. Well...this Wednesday while at recess, this student just came up to me out of the blue and started playing this game that he'd made up. He would say, "Enter!" and then run towards the play area. Then, he'd shout, "Exit!" and run away from the play area. I started to play too. I'd say, "Enter!" and then we'd both run towards the main play area. Then, I'd shout, "Exit!" and we'd both run the other direction. We both just laughed and laughed as we played - it was such a significant teaching moment for me as I watched him giggle and his eyes light up as I said, "Enter" and "Exit." Even more moving is that now, when we are in the classroom or the class is walking in the hallway and he refuses to budge, I can say, "Enter" and he will come. Or, when he is doing something that he isn't supposed to be doing, I can say, "Exit" and he will stop doing that particular behavior. God heard my voice, and He allowed this precious child to hear my voice too. I know that this is just the beginning too - I can't wait to see how much progress this student will make this year! And here I am, crying all over again! Love, Sarah
PS - I just re-read some comments and people are wanting to know if it is difficult to teach children who don't fully understand English, and for me - yes! Even though the students I teach have a high level of English and are being instructed nearly full-time in English, I still have to consciously speak much slower and use lots of pictures and gestures. I also kind of realized that a lot of their English learning has come via a native Korean speaker, which means my English sounds much different to their ears - so they're not just adjusting to the speed of English they're hearing, they're also adjusting to the sound of English that they're hearing. Anyway, it's quite a challenge, but is also quite rewarding. Like today. I was teaching my after-school class and had read a story with my students - and they were able to tell me exactly what had happened in the story and the order of events, beginning, middle, end, etc. I was so excited that they had been so "into" the story and had followed the story line completely. A wonderful triumph!

Beyond a Weekly Meeting

When we walked into homegroup this past Sunday, it seemed strange that we couldn't understand the language - it felt just like walking into homegroup:) Does that make sense? The people were very welcoming, and the atmosphere had a very "homey" feel to it - which was enough to make both of us get very teary-eyed. We all sat on the floor around a table (as shown in our pictures) which held fruit and cookies and pie. Conversation flowed freely. We started with a time of worship - it was so sweet the way they chose songs that we knew in English. Micah and I were both crying during worship because of how real and heartfelt it was.
All of the homegroups in the church are going through a book right now (of course I can't remember the title!). Not only did every person in the room share about what God had layed on their hearts as they read the book in their quiet time, but they also shared very openly with each other how they were doing in their personal lives. I nearly cried as one couple shared the struggles that they were facing in their marriage and in raising children (people translated for us periodically - several people in the homegroup speak English). Their (the whole homegroup) hearts were open to each other and there was such a bond of trust that was quite evident. We could also feel the Holy Spirit very strongly in the room - again, I just felt like crying because it felt so much like home. At the end, we prayed for everyone. It's so neat how prayer is done here. Everyone prays out simultaneously - and not just little wimpy prayers either! Everyone prays fervently and with such sincerity! As I'm writing this, I just keep thinking, "Why were we having such a hard time figuring out where God was trying to plant us?" I think this homegroup meeting has really solidified in us the knowledge that this really is where God has lead us. As we were leaving, the homeowners told us to drop by any time now that we knew where they lived. It was such a good feeling - and again, seemed so much like home.
The school reminds me of home too (maybe I'm homesick?) - there are several faces that I see at the school who are also involved with the church. And it is so neat to see a girl who teaches special ed. also get up in Thursday morning chapel and lead worship. The staff at the school don't just "punch" their "time cards" and have nothing else to do with anything related to the church or school. These people are here all day every day of the week, and they fulfill multiple functions. They really love the students and are dedicated to seeing them receive a Godly education - for the purpose of raising up a generation who will go out and affect the culture around them towards Godliness.
And this afternoon! It was so lovely and not too unusual for one of my co-workers to drop by and let me know that a group was meeting in her classroom to eat some strawberry pie and drink tea. No other reason, just to hang out. We sat around talking and just enjoying being teachers - it was so great. I just sat there and thought, "How in the world did I of all people get here?" God is so good. So...while we are quite homesick, we're also quite "at home" here too. God is tremendously faithful - His Kingdom transcends cultural bounds. It is awesome to experience that first-hand! We love you all so much, and we cherish your continued prayers - and comments too! They are invaluable to us! Love, Sarah

Wedgies and the Church

I was walking up the hill to our apartment earlier today and I was reminded of a story that Doug told from the platform one Sunday. I don't remember the details, but the story involved one of his children and a wedgie. At the sound of the word 'wedgie', almost the entire congregation erupted in laughter. I say almost because some of the international students had never heard the term wedgie. One of our Korean friends asked Sarah later why everyone laughed and what wedgie meant. She then taught Sarah some Korean that has a similar meaning. I won't type it here because I don't think it's too nice. The moral of the story is...take smaller steps when walking up the hill to our apartment.
I've posted a few more pictures on flickr! I tried to do it last night but the uploader quit working. I would like everyone to vote on which hair style I should adopt for the rest of this school year. I know which one I'm leaning toward, but I would still like your input. I had to be VanDamme whilst Sarah took the photographs. I went all Chucklehouse on one of them and had to take it over. Let me know what you think.
There is also a picture of Sarah's boss and his family, a.k.a. The Korean Lotterer's. I hope you enjoy the pictures.
As you know, we are in the process of finding a church that we can connect with. We went to Kevin and Kate's church again this past Sunday. After church we ate lunch with them at the cafeteria on the first floor.(our school cafeteria serves lunch after church also). When we were finished eating we got a ride to their homegroup which they call a vineyard. It was held at a young couple's apartment near the Pizza Hut that we went to the other night. There were about six or seven couples including us. There were also three adorable babies and one really cute little boy. The couple with the little boy is expecting their second child. We had a visit by the main pastor of the church and his assistant. He is always very busy and we could tell that it meant quite a bit that he would take the time to join us. He's our neighbor and the pastor of the particular church that we attend. Since there are at least seven services in three different sanctuaries, there are several pastors. He's the main pastor and the pastor of the twelve o'clock church. I hope I explained that enough. He is the one sitting beside me in the new picture on flickr. God's presence was evident at the gathering and I was even able to partially live out the exhortation we received to be ourselves. We believe that it would be beneficial to attend a church that doesn't necessarily cater to all our English speaking needs. We want to know what it is like to be in a church as a non-native speaker. It will give us a feel for what it's like for international students that come to Covenant Harvest. The Vineyard leader(I call him Tennyson Jamison, he plays guitar), told us that they would help us in any way they can. They are very wonderful and sincere people and it is beginning to feel like home more and more. Please, pray that God will give me wisdom and courage to follow whatever His will may be.
Sarah is working late again today. When she gets home we might walk to Homever for pizza and to check out the sales. They have been renovating part of the store and were scheduled to have a sale this week to celebrate the completion of the work. I'm so excited! I like to go to the store, is that so wrong!? We love and miss each and every one of you, as always. ~Micah

My First Korean Haircut

We went to Homever last night and I got my first Korean haircut. It was great! I just pointed to a picture of a cool haircut in a book and the girl went to work. I closed my eyes and almost fell asleep a couple of times. Then, to top it all off, another girl came and got me so she could wash my hair. Not only did she wash it, but she was like a masseuse for hair. She would use her index finger and thumb to snap against the base of my skull kinda like pinchers. It's very difficult to explain but just know that it felt really wonderful. Then she used a blow dryer to dry my hair. We still had some shopping to do, but I was ready for bed. I was so relaxed. It was like a spa for my head. I'm getting ready for church right now, but I'll put some pictures of the new do on flickr later. Love to all, Micah.

Not Pop Dan's

This is a picture of our dinner. Joy posted a picture of Pop Dan's Gravy on her blog. This is all I got. I like Barilla, but this is the first time I've ever had sauce from a pouch. It's not the worst, but it's world's away from Pop Dan's, ovviously.
Last night Sarah and I had our first night on the town. We were reimbursed for our plane tickets, Praise God, so we went out on a date to celebrate. We took a cab to a really happnin area of the city. We ate at an Italian Bistro of sorts. In English I believe it would be pronounced Pizza Hut. We enjoyed the salad bar much more than the one on Quincy. We ordered a pepperoni pan pizza. It tasted just like a Pizza Hut pizza, but we ate it anyway. Just kidding, it was a nice treat. From the window we saw a banner for a grand opening of a new clothing store. The place was huge and we've been wearing the stuff we had packed for three weeks now. We ended up finding some really good 50% off deals on a few great pieces. I got a white button up and a navy sweater vest along with a pack of white undershirts. Sarah got a three really great tops. Tops are just shirts, but girls refuse to call them shirts. I don't get it. At the end of our mini-shopping spree, we each got a scoop of Baskin Robbins. It was a lovely night.
Now, it's Saturday morning and I'm headed to Costco with a group of English teachers. Costco has some American stuff that can be hard to find elsewhere. The school plans a trip every month or so. They're very helpful about everything. We jump in the van in 35 minutes and I'm still in my pj's so I'd better go. We love you! Don't forget to comment!
~Micah

Bloom Where You're Planted

This is the slogan for the pie/coffee shop, Blooming Beans. I also saw it today on the wall of a classroom. God has been impressing upon me the awesome meaning of this declaritive statement. God plants and transplants and our job is to bloom wherever He puts us. We bloom by drinking in the Holy Spirit and making the most of everything God provides for us. He gives us everything we need to grow. He hasn't uprooted us without replanting us here. I cannot mention His great faithfulness enough. It takes my breath at times.

It snowed again today, but only for about 3 minutes. Our cable has been fixed. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. It does give us a little more of a connection with home. I'm watching one of my favorite shows as I write to you. Noga boys, you'll love this one! I just watched Bear Grylls swim parallel to the shore to escape a deadly current and then climb a coconut tree for sustinance. Now he's making a bamboo spear to go fishing in the ocean. Maybe I can ask everyone to call me Bear. If Deadliest Catch comes on, I think I might cry. I love me some Deadliest Catch!

I guess I could've made this into two posts: a spiritual post and a not-so-spiritual post. Oh, well. I'll go now so I can see if Bear gets off the deserted island. (don't worry, he always survives). He's making a sea-going raft now, gotta go! ~Sarah

Just kidding, it's Micah!

At long last

Hi, everyone:) This is Sarah. Abby, you've made a great observation - I have been extremely busy the past couple of weeks - it really picked up momentum towards the end of last week, and it is just now starting to ease up. I've been staying till well after 7 most nights. I've been getting my classroom setup and trying to do lesson planning - it has all been quite the whirlwind of activity! I'll probably be doing a lot more planning this weekend, so I thought I'd take the time now and write. It may be a long post too, because I have a ton of things to tell you all! So, if you've got the time, pull up a chair and enjoy the read (hopefully:)
First of all, do you guys remember the stew for which Esau sold his birthright? Well... I had it for lunch yesterday! The way the stew is translated in the Korean Bible translates into this particular type of stew that I had (and of course, I can't remember the name!). It was made of red beans and some kind of long, spiraly noodle - it was so good! I don't know that it's birthright good, but it was quite delicious!
Yesterday was an awesome day! Though it was the first official day of school, we didn't actually teach. Here, they have a special ceremony to welcome students to their new grade. It began as the students exited the classroom to head up two flights of steps to the sanctuary. All students from the upper grades lined both sides of the hallways and stair wells and cheered at the top of their lungs for these little 1st graders! It gave me chills and I almost started crying as I thought of the significance - I was reminded of "the great cloud of witnesses" that we all have - I wish you all could have seen and heard it! It was loud and crowded - full of students cheering on this next generation! Two flights of stairs mind you!
During the ceremony there was an amazing martial arts performance by 4th and 5th graders. They were kicking and hand chopping through blocks of wood - and then as a climax, two students stepped out with these butcher knives, stuck apples on the tips, and two more students stepped out and kicked these apples from the tips! Everything was really dramatic - as they kicked through stuff, the broken pieces went flying high up in the air. I found out that students here start doing martial arts from 1st grade on. I was really impressed.
As the final part of the ceremony, parents came to their children and prayed for them. Then we (all the home-room teachers, I think there are 5 1st grade classes) passed out brand new Bibles to the students. Tucked inside the covers were letters written by the previous year's 1st graders. Everything was just so neat and really made the children feel very valued and important (which they are). I was very impacted by it all. It would be so cool if we could do something like this for our students in Pittsburg. (I was given one of the Bibles too, by the way:)
Anyway. Today! Today was fabulous:) I finally had students in my classroom for more than just 20 minutes! We still did not do a lot of teaching, as far as curriculum is concerned, but we, of course, spent a lot of time talking about rules and procedures - which is what we'll mostly be doing this week and for even a lot of the next month. The only subject that I'll actually teach for a while is language arts and Q.T. - Quiet Time. This is actually Bible time - it's the first thing we'll do every morning; I will teach this twice a week, my co-teacher will teach it twice a week, and we have chapel on Thursdays. There's actually a Tuesday morning (7:00) chapel just for teachers, and on Mondays there is a devotional time for each "Mini-School". This explanation might really make this post long, but I'll try to be brief. Here's how this school is set up: each grade band (1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8) is its own "mini" school - each band has its own principal and "mini" office. The principals report to some other main guy (whose title I can't remember, and "guy" is way too casual of term to use!). It seems to work out really well. Anyway, I had Micah take pictures of my classroom so you could all see it - although there are so many things that I'm already planning to change! So it may not actually stay the way it looks in the pictures - but you'll get to see the huge window wall I have (which I love) and how big the classroom is; I'm pretty pleased with it all. Love you all, and thanks for enduring through my ramblings:) ~Sarah

Kansas Weather In Korea

This morning began as a typical Korean winter day. (according to the last 2.5 weeks anyway). It was a little chilly, but not really too bad. Shortly after lunch the sky turned pewter and began to produce a light dusting of snow. Within thirty minutes it was snowing giant sized flakes with very little room between each one. The Californians were straight trippin'. Sometime around three in the afternoon it stopped just as abruptly as it had started. I left my office at a little after four in the afternoon and almost all the snow that had piled up is now melted, the sun is now shining in a valiant attempt to remove all evidence of the wintry day. I can't help but think of Kansas in weather like this. Haven't you guys gone from 70's to 30's from one day to the next? I guess I think of Kansas no matter what weather we have.
I am thoroughly enjoying a frothy beverage of Hershey's chocolate milk drink. We found it at Homever. When we see a familiar brand we usually jump at it. It is quite delicious. I'm also relaxing to the soothing sounds of the new Jack Johnson album which was given to me as a going away present by Emily, Josiah and Donovan. My favorite song is "Same Girl". It has recurring lines that speak of our honeymoon spot quite specifically. It's pretty sweet.
Well, my girl has called me to photograph her classroom before the tornado of little punkins hits tomorrow. For all of you M & S blog fans, we will be reporting on our first days with students very soon. Thank you for your continued encouragement and dedication.
We love you,
Micah

Correction To Previous Post

Kate helped me with my Korean history. I edited my last post to correct the info. Be sure to read it again to get the real scoop. I'm not sure who gave me my information, but if I ever find them they'll get a nasty e-mail! (not really). We spent a wonderful Sunday with our good friends Kevin & Kate. They invited us to their new apartment for Sunday dinner. We had bulgogi which we ate as lettuce wraps. We also had some delicious salad with apples bits and strawberries and pineapple dressing. It reminded me of a Rana salad. The noodles were also wonderful. The best part about the whole thing was getting to talk with our friends. Their apartment is really great. They showed us their wedding photographs. They were amazing! (and not just because I'm into that sort of thing). I threw some pics of the day onto flickr. Be sure to check them out and let me know what you think. I'm going beddy bye. ~Micah

Independence Day

Here is a brief Korean history lesson for everyone. Korea was under Japanese rule from 1910 to 1946. On March 1st, 1919, many Koreans staged protests against their unwelcomed rulers. Many of the protestors were Christians that were martyred as a result. A declaration was patterned after the United States own declaration of independence. These protests are now considered to be the beginning of the independence of Korea. It is known as The March First Movement and is one of the most important dates in Korea's history. As Sarah and I explored the city today, the Korean flag waved proudly in the sunshine.