I went for a late afternoon stroll today through a nearby park whose trees were a firey-red color. There aren't many trees here in the big city -especially around my apartment area. The few we have that are scattered faintly around the city have turned brown and are losing their leaves. These in the park were so beautiful - I just fell in love with them! It's the end of the autumn season with a few trees still bearing gorgeous colors.

Today, mid-term grades are due which means one thing for me - more work! However, this term, I welcome them because that means I'm that much closer to going home! So basically, I have to look over the teacher's grades to check for any signs of miscalculations or any other abnormalities and check that they've each given atleast 3 tests so far for each section:conversation, pronunciation, writing componants, and listening quizes. We are in the full swing of things now and are looking forward to the end of this term. The other 2 teachers are headed for Thailand(Bangkok, and Phuket) for the term break, which I'd normally want to go, but I've already been there and I'd rather go home instead. :o)

Mission Day

Every term, we choose one day that we have Mission Day for all the students. This term, we invited the Associate Dean from the Main Institute, Colin Lawrence to come and have our talk. We started off with song service, then Colin delivered a powerful sermon. Many students afterward asked for bible studies - we were thrilled! God was at work and His presence was evident. Here, you can see the two other teachers from my institute: Shennoa Blake(left), and Quaneta McDaniel(right)

Students gathered in the chapel for the special program. (These are my level 1 students)

Pastor Oh(left) is the Director of my institute who is translating for Colin Lawrence(Mission Day speaker).

My apartment

Our living room area is in serious need of some furntiture. My Director promises to deliver our couches by the end of the week - we have our fingers crossed! Unfortunately, the institutes doesn't provide a TV for our apartment, so we're hunting around for one to entertain ourselves with. The cost will be split between the 3 of us, so it should be fairly affordable.

obviously, the kitchen...

My bedroom

As you can see, my bedroom is very spacious with plenty of room to maneuver around. This is vastly different from my previous room in Kwangju that was so small, I had to either sqeeze past the chair at my desk or crawl over it - no joke, it was cramped. Being that I've been in Korea the longest between all of us(2 other teachers), I was given this bedroom with a connecting bath. I was more than happy to take it! :o) I also have a fantastic view from my window which you can also see from the living room - it faces the same direction.

View from the door ~

~ View from my bathroom

Running around in Vietnam

Cao Dai Temple

All over Vietnam, there are beautiful buildings with bright colors that

most countries probably wouldn't attempt to use.

I loved the contrast between the colors of the rich green fields and the sky.

One has to wonder - if this man knew my lack of
dexterity - would he still allow me to have a
shot gun in my hands? :o) Not only was it deafening, but also painful to play with this gun because the butt of the gun would punch my arm due to the force. I wanted to only buy 2 bullets, but the minimum was 5. By the time I finished shooting all five, I was in pain. It actually left a bruise on my arm for a couple of days.

I'm back in the land of frequent internet users! I have been begging - pleading for my computer to be connected since I came here 3 weeks ago. Now I can relax and enjoy my own private internet heaven. :o)

So much has been happening since I came to Seoul - which I've talked about in earlier posts. I've now finished my second week here at the Dong Seoul(East Seoul) Institute and have given several tests already. There are normally 36 days in each term - some terms are longer depending on holidays(there are many) with long weekends, etc. But this term is going to be short because there are no holidays, except for Christmas which by then, the term will be over and I'll be AT HOME!!! :o) As of yesterday(Thursday), I have 5 weeks left then I'm outta here - SO excited about that. Don't get me wrong, I like what I'm doing here, but there's NOTHING like being at home in my own environment, eating the food that I'm used to consuming, sleeping in my own bed, and chilling with my family and buddies - especially during the holidays.

Ahh... the first day of classes is over, so I can breathe freely now. I was terrified yesterday thinking of how today would go, but things ran fairly smoothly - atleast with the actual teaching part. My part of this job as Coordinator is still very chaotic with so much that needs to be done. I spent most of the afternoon at the institute typing up flyers for our different club meetings, and other announcements to be posted in the classrooms. I was very envious of my teachers today, because while I was busily working away on administrative duties, they were at home taking a nap - what I wished I was doing instead. But hopefully, things will calm down within the next week, and the institute will run smoothly until the end of the term when all grades and other paper work will be due.

The first day of class is always fun for me because that's when each student has to stand in front of the class and introduce themselves. Then, they are subjected to questions from the class, and best of all - by me! :o) It was fun getting to know the students - what their interests are and other fun details that I was inquiring about. Tomorrow the real work begins!

Things have been fairly chaotic since I arrived from Vietnam. I had hoped to move into my apartment upon my arrival, but had to stay at the main institute for 2 days because it wasn't ready for us yet. They finally finished putting in the new flooring and wallpaper and allowed us to move in on Wednesday, only to find it in desperate need of cleaning, organizing and obtaining furniture - beds, desks, couches, etc. I have tackled most of the cleaning in the kitchen and what will become our living room areas as well as my own bedroom and bath. We are located on the 13th floor with an amazing view of the city. I think once we finish cleaning it thuroughly and have ordered and recieved all of the new furniture , it will prove to be a great place to live.

As for the new institute, it's not looking very promising. We are planning to open our doors on Monday, November 7, but there is still much to be done to finish what is neccessary to run the institute properly. Desks are still being ordered and other furniture coming in and being placed, then rearranged, etc. It's quite a mess! As for my responsibilities - the Director, Pastor Oh, and I are supposed to talk about the schedules and plan activities and such, but since there is so much that needs to be done when it comes to the building itself, we haven't found the time yet. I'm getting fairly restless with this situation - I don't like that we're not prepared, but there's not much that I can do about it. All I can do is continue praying and let God handle it in His very capable hands.