Anyone doing this over the holiday season. . . AWESOME
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Caught the boss sleeping yesterday
I walked into work yesterday at 11 pm, to get started on my evaluations on my boss's head was slumped over her desk. An hour or so later I left and she was seated up in her chair asleep. I asked her about it a few hours ago, and apparently she ended up leaving work at 4 am. She did finish all of her work for this book that she's been publishing though.
Monday, November 26, 2012
Four more weeks
or less now, until I come home for the holidays. . . . Yes, I need to focus on the present before that long awaited trip home for the holidays comes up. Last week wasn't as interesting as the week before. I have decided that I need to fork up 30 bucks to get a Costco membership here in Korea though. It's twenty bucks cheaper than in the states and the membership can be used back home as well. The boss has asked for the second time now to consider another year at the place --- I only wish I had found the place much earlier. Actually they are just in their second full year here. This place is becoming very successful, and it is already expanding. I am not sure how the boss does it, since she spends a lot of time translating these books about gifted studies, and the brains of young ones. She is also teaching a class at a university that is about forty minutes away too.
In other news, I found that WKU was featured in a show called Ghost Hunters recently. I showed it to my Sunday students and one of them was very intrigued by the fact. I learned a few things that I did not know before. If one wishes to see, they can search "WKU Ghost Hunters", and different parts of the episode will come up.
I will post more in the next day or two in regards to the Tower Round-table Topics.
In other news, I found that WKU was featured in a show called Ghost Hunters recently. I showed it to my Sunday students and one of them was very intrigued by the fact. I learned a few things that I did not know before. If one wishes to see, they can search "WKU Ghost Hunters", and different parts of the episode will come up.
I will post more in the next day or two in regards to the Tower Round-table Topics.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
Smart phones causing death of social skills (in Korea at least)
Once again, this will be a two part post. That means that I get about eight minutes now, and then seven minutes to rant later.
So today's topic is about smart phones and how they are contributing to the death of people's social skills in Korea. I haven't spent a ton of time in the United States, so my testimony wouldn't be entirely accurate if I included it in here as well.
I can say as a fact from my few days in Bulgaria that the fine people of Sofia hardly know what smart phones are. I mean that in the way that not many of those people can afford them so they don't dig themselves into debt trying to have like everyone else. Instead they choose to have face-to-face time with their friends. That means going to the park drinkin' beer, and having real conversations without checking to see who is texting them every five or ten minutes. I have been that guilty party, and still am when I sit at home some nights, in regards to the constant checking for imaginary messages concept.
Now back to Korea. I probably spend about two hours on subways going to different places each week in this city. There's probably an hour that I usually spend on buses as well. That's just the ride from church all the way back home, but it's nice and relaxing and I don't have to walk up and down stairs, like I do at the subway stations.
During those few hours of riding public transportation in Daegu, Korea, I am amazed at how few faces that I make contact with. No, I'm not trying to throw "the wink" at every woman on the subway or bus, or give the "death stare" to anyone who stares at me for a prolonged period of time. Usually the buses or subways are both full when I ride them. As I ride the subways, I often find myself counting the number of people who have their heads buried in their phones, chatting away on Kakao Talk, checking their Facebook, or watching a baseball game. I would estimate that 50% of those folks ride for twenty minutes without even lifting their face.
One of the reasons that this upsets me, is that when elderly folks are walking around looking for a seat, not a single soul will notice, or even consider standing up and letting someone more deserving have their seat. Unless I'm in a rare mood, I usually make myself get up, and give up my seat. I'm not looking for brownie points, but I know as a fine Southern American man, that the comfort of others is more important that mine at times.
Some of my friends are constantly nagging and nagging me about how they can improve their English speaking skills. Now back for the last five minutes. Well, I tell them put down your phones for a few minutes and concentrate on improving your communication skills. It is very easy to be able to speak a language to someone when you are constantly sending them messages across your mobile messengers, twitter, or Facebook accounts, especially when you can use check Google translate (which isn't all that great at times, grammar-wise).
I have been out with some people, mostly younger ones, and there was hardly any eye contact made during the conversations. Two girls that I consider little Korean sisters are prime examples -- they spend time constantly sending message across their Kakao Talk or Facebook accounts to their friends, and barely make conversation with me as well. Koreans won't hesitate to use their phones to take random pictures of themselves anywhere and everywhere though. I even laugh at how many people on the subways use their phones as mirrors, and it isn't for a minute or two, it is almost as if they do not even use a mirror anymore.
I have had dinner with a few women (not sure about the guy friends) that will take their phones out to see if they have food on their faces. The main reason that I rant about this cause is that Koreans spend a ton of time working, and studying, and they are very competitive people. But when they spend so much time with their faces glued to a little screen making countless conversations per day, and make little eye contact with people where exactly are their interpersonal skills going?
Like I said, I do not really know how it is in other countries, and I admit the fault that I have sometimes of paying too much attention to emails or messages on my iPod, and iPad. I find myself improving on this though quite a bit, and spending more time paying attention to people or other important aspects of life. Heck, I even went five weeks without Facebook earlier in the Fall season.
So today's topic is about smart phones and how they are contributing to the death of people's social skills in Korea. I haven't spent a ton of time in the United States, so my testimony wouldn't be entirely accurate if I included it in here as well.
I can say as a fact from my few days in Bulgaria that the fine people of Sofia hardly know what smart phones are. I mean that in the way that not many of those people can afford them so they don't dig themselves into debt trying to have like everyone else. Instead they choose to have face-to-face time with their friends. That means going to the park drinkin' beer, and having real conversations without checking to see who is texting them every five or ten minutes. I have been that guilty party, and still am when I sit at home some nights, in regards to the constant checking for imaginary messages concept.
Now back to Korea. I probably spend about two hours on subways going to different places each week in this city. There's probably an hour that I usually spend on buses as well. That's just the ride from church all the way back home, but it's nice and relaxing and I don't have to walk up and down stairs, like I do at the subway stations.
During those few hours of riding public transportation in Daegu, Korea, I am amazed at how few faces that I make contact with. No, I'm not trying to throw "the wink" at every woman on the subway or bus, or give the "death stare" to anyone who stares at me for a prolonged period of time. Usually the buses or subways are both full when I ride them. As I ride the subways, I often find myself counting the number of people who have their heads buried in their phones, chatting away on Kakao Talk, checking their Facebook, or watching a baseball game. I would estimate that 50% of those folks ride for twenty minutes without even lifting their face.
One of the reasons that this upsets me, is that when elderly folks are walking around looking for a seat, not a single soul will notice, or even consider standing up and letting someone more deserving have their seat. Unless I'm in a rare mood, I usually make myself get up, and give up my seat. I'm not looking for brownie points, but I know as a fine Southern American man, that the comfort of others is more important that mine at times.
Some of my friends are constantly nagging and nagging me about how they can improve their English speaking skills. Now back for the last five minutes. Well, I tell them put down your phones for a few minutes and concentrate on improving your communication skills. It is very easy to be able to speak a language to someone when you are constantly sending them messages across your mobile messengers, twitter, or Facebook accounts, especially when you can use check Google translate (which isn't all that great at times, grammar-wise).
I have been out with some people, mostly younger ones, and there was hardly any eye contact made during the conversations. Two girls that I consider little Korean sisters are prime examples -- they spend time constantly sending message across their Kakao Talk or Facebook accounts to their friends, and barely make conversation with me as well. Koreans won't hesitate to use their phones to take random pictures of themselves anywhere and everywhere though. I even laugh at how many people on the subways use their phones as mirrors, and it isn't for a minute or two, it is almost as if they do not even use a mirror anymore.
I have had dinner with a few women (not sure about the guy friends) that will take their phones out to see if they have food on their faces. The main reason that I rant about this cause is that Koreans spend a ton of time working, and studying, and they are very competitive people. But when they spend so much time with their faces glued to a little screen making countless conversations per day, and make little eye contact with people where exactly are their interpersonal skills going?
Like I said, I do not really know how it is in other countries, and I admit the fault that I have sometimes of paying too much attention to emails or messages on my iPod, and iPad. I find myself improving on this though quite a bit, and spending more time paying attention to people or other important aspects of life. Heck, I even went five weeks without Facebook earlier in the Fall season.
Teaching
This is a very broad topic for Tower's round-table discussion today. I'll spend a few minutes before next class, and then I'll add more later. Living in South Korea over the last four years or so, I've learned that there are many differences in teaching formats, and how things are done.
I'll discuss some things here about the teaching environments that I have taken part in, and then I will discuss what teaching can do for your life, or a kid's life.
First of all, I have worked in teaching environments in this country, where it isn't always about how good you teach, or how smart the kids are.These places I have worked in are more like businesses, because that is what they really are. I call ATM's for people that are willing to put up the money and the time to invest. There are some people with tons of money that own these things known as academies (hagwon in Korean), that I have worked in.
There are also public and private elementary schools as well. For example, the place I work in these days has an academy, pre-K, and a kindergarten. The K, and pre-K kids come in the morning time and start class about 10 am. Then they finish around 2pm, and will come to the academy building for English, or special classes, or they may even go home, or to another place for something such as Taekwondo or Art.
After 3:30, this place becomes an academy, where kids from public and private schools come to learn English, until 6 pm. Some of these kids have been to places for music, art, or sports before, or may even go to those places afterwards as well. I even taught one year or so at a place where the students came as late as 6-8pm, and stayed sometimes until 10pm. Most of these kids though were late elementary or middle school students though. My high school girls that I teach on Sunday nights have told me that their school starts at 9 am, and usually does not finish until 10, or 11 pm. They do get half-days or vacation days, but not too many. They probably almost all of their winter and summer vacations in school as well. They don't take many holidays as high school students.
I have seven minutes left, and I will tackle that seven minutes in a little while. Time to go to the other building to rock out a little story-book time.
Took me a while to get back to this seven minutes that I have remaining. I promised some kids choco-pies this afternoon so I kind of had to walk quickly to the store after my little class (actually really big) in the other building on our "campus" here.
Back to teaching again. Many times over the last few years, I have found myself telling Koreans, or friends back home "I'm not really a teacher." Truth of the matter, we are all teachers in some way or another in regards to how we live our lives. I find myself teaching these kids about all kinds of things (nothing explicit, that I remember), besides just English. They've been learning about Snoopy lately, for example.
Pastor Ken tells us often that we are teachers in the way that we live our lives. I credit him for telling us that, because it is a great motivator, to show how strong you walk in your Christian world, when you separate yourselves from others in this world of many non-Christian folks.
I use the TV show Glee on Sunday nights to show my older girls a little bit of what life is like in American high schools. Perhaps that show may not be the greatest depiction, but it keeps them interested, and I can explain a lot of jargon and slang to them that they may not otherwise be able to take in. During the last episode the Glee Club director was telling Finn (a recent high school graduate who has almost hit rock bottom), that he didn't have to have the title of teacher to his name to actually be one. It was interesting to hear, as Finn had been influencing a young football player to take part in a school musical. The influence really helped him find his niche during the episode and the Glee Club director was needing a substitute over the next few months. So Finn was his guy.
I thought to myself after that episode, that one doesn't have to be formally called a teacher to teach or influence others in this world. Most importantly when we teach others, we can be taught many things as well. In my Fulbright application for Bulgaria, I duly noted that teaching has a give and take concept to it. The little ones teach me about being a father, uncle, friend, etc, and they get some English lessons in exchange.
One minute over!! Oops.
Took me a while to get back to this seven minutes that I have remaining. I promised some kids choco-pies this afternoon so I kind of had to walk quickly to the store after my little class (actually really big) in the other building on our "campus" here.
Back to teaching again. Many times over the last few years, I have found myself telling Koreans, or friends back home "I'm not really a teacher." Truth of the matter, we are all teachers in some way or another in regards to how we live our lives. I find myself teaching these kids about all kinds of things (nothing explicit, that I remember), besides just English. They've been learning about Snoopy lately, for example.
Pastor Ken tells us often that we are teachers in the way that we live our lives. I credit him for telling us that, because it is a great motivator, to show how strong you walk in your Christian world, when you separate yourselves from others in this world of many non-Christian folks.
I use the TV show Glee on Sunday nights to show my older girls a little bit of what life is like in American high schools. Perhaps that show may not be the greatest depiction, but it keeps them interested, and I can explain a lot of jargon and slang to them that they may not otherwise be able to take in. During the last episode the Glee Club director was telling Finn (a recent high school graduate who has almost hit rock bottom), that he didn't have to have the title of teacher to his name to actually be one. It was interesting to hear, as Finn had been influencing a young football player to take part in a school musical. The influence really helped him find his niche during the episode and the Glee Club director was needing a substitute over the next few months. So Finn was his guy.
I thought to myself after that episode, that one doesn't have to be formally called a teacher to teach or influence others in this world. Most importantly when we teach others, we can be taught many things as well. In my Fulbright application for Bulgaria, I duly noted that teaching has a give and take concept to it. The little ones teach me about being a father, uncle, friend, etc, and they get some English lessons in exchange.
One minute over!! Oops.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
A few things from last week before another 15 minute post
Last Thursday I got bit twice in one class period. Thankfully neither bite broke skin. This kid sometimes gets defensive and decides that biting people, or the teacher is the best mode of defense. I guess his momma hasn't signed him up for Taekwondo classes yet. I call the kid animal, because he has days when he is a complete animal. His twin is a super awesome kid, who comes pretty close to demonstrating perfection on his best days.
In my Sunday class that I teach at church to some high school girls and one middle school girl, I heard some interesting things. I'll just talk about one for now though. One told me that when she was in middle school that her teacher had all the girls in the class line up against a fence, as he whipped each one a certain number of times. Knowing how these girls dress for school, part of me thinks the guy may have been a total pervert who enjoys hitting women, but I could be wrong. According to what they tell me, stuff like this can be common. I have heard some horror stories about how they get hit at home for doing little things wrong as well.
My smartest kid at school here, got beat a few weeks ago, by his dad with a drum stick, for not speaking to him in the correct form of Korean. I was shocked when he showed me his leg. He was probably shocked that I took a picture of it too. It is weird how certain things are perceived as bad in the eyes of parents throughout the world.
That's a tough daddy, and a tough drumstick.
In my Sunday class that I teach at church to some high school girls and one middle school girl, I heard some interesting things. I'll just talk about one for now though. One told me that when she was in middle school that her teacher had all the girls in the class line up against a fence, as he whipped each one a certain number of times. Knowing how these girls dress for school, part of me thinks the guy may have been a total pervert who enjoys hitting women, but I could be wrong. According to what they tell me, stuff like this can be common. I have heard some horror stories about how they get hit at home for doing little things wrong as well.
My smartest kid at school here, got beat a few weeks ago, by his dad with a drum stick, for not speaking to him in the correct form of Korean. I was shocked when he showed me his leg. He was probably shocked that I took a picture of it too. It is weird how certain things are perceived as bad in the eyes of parents throughout the world.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Time
So as of yesterday, I'm beginning a series of posts about various topics. I'm not sure why, but I just feel like sharing things that are on my mind in relation to various topics. So I will give myself fifteen minutes each day (most likely during my lunchtime), and that's it. Keep your fingers crossed that I even spell check, or check my sloppy English.
So today's topic will be time (part will be done after the next class, since my school's internet was acting up, but the job will be done in fifteen minute, maybe a few seconds less, but no more than fifteen minutes will be allowed.
I'm not exactly an expert on any of these topics, so if you want to reference a great novel by a great author, you can check for a book known as The Time Keeper, by Mitch Albom.
For example, I have a young child right now bothering me about having a sticker. Well, little dude has got to wait so I can type this instead of give him a sticker.
11 minutes to go. So back to the topic about time. I live in a country where the cultural phenomenon is all about "hurry, hurry, hurry!" It is really sad to see how people are rushed to do this or do that. They consume quite a bit of ramen noodles as a result of it. They call themselves "healthy" as well.
Most of the time when I ask someone how they are doing, it is either, "I'm tired", or "I'm busy". Sometimes I hear, "I don't have time for this, I don't have time for that. " Well, you do have time to play that silly game on your phone at work right? Or you have thirty minutes that you sit on a subway or bus, talking to your friends using your apps on your smartphone that is thicker than my wallet.
The thing about all of this, is that we use time as an excuse to not be able to do something. I know I have not always used my time very wisely, and it's hurt some people in my family, or it has affected my friendships or relationships as well. I think to myself that I must do something for someone, and that I only allot myself so much time to give to someone else.
8 minutes to go. Man, this stuff is hard to do. I've just returned from entertaining kids for about thirty minutes. Here we go again. I remember hearing a well known football player named Ray Lewis giving a speech to the Stanford Cardinal Basketball team.
RAY RAY CLICK HERE.
I try to use this speech to remember that I should utilize my time ten times better than I do sometimes. Truth is we need to live in this world as if tomorrow is not a promise. We need to give everything we got. That means we need to give our time as much as possible to your friends, family, and even complete strangers. You never know what that time will mean to those people.
I have wondered sometimes how I can repay some of the people that have given so much of themselves to make a difference in my life. The easy answer is to just give them my time, because you never know when it will be the last time you see that person. When I was back in the states in the summer time, I made some selfish choices and was unable to see my best friend Jeff, and his father during that eleven day time-frame. Little did I know that the time that I spent with his father back in February of this year, would be the last time that I would have spent with that man. It tore me up emotionally as I sat in my classroom praying with my best friend, because the Good Lord was preparing to take his daddy home a few hours later.
I spent some time at the pool with a lady who was like a grandmother to me (for part of my life)when I was at home. My stepmother's mom Ma'Mere (as we called her) was called home a week or two after I came back to Korea following my summer time visit. After my dad gave me the news that she had passed, I thanked the Lord for that time that I did have with her a few months ago.
Remember there are so many people who don't need anything but your time. Time doesn't cost anything (unless you want to be one of those folk who analyzes everything in life).
Thanks and God Bless (over by one minute).
another great speech on time RAY RAY and Elon Football Team
So today's topic will be time (part will be done after the next class, since my school's internet was acting up, but the job will be done in fifteen minute, maybe a few seconds less, but no more than fifteen minutes will be allowed.
I'm not exactly an expert on any of these topics, so if you want to reference a great novel by a great author, you can check for a book known as The Time Keeper, by Mitch Albom.
For example, I have a young child right now bothering me about having a sticker. Well, little dude has got to wait so I can type this instead of give him a sticker.
11 minutes to go. So back to the topic about time. I live in a country where the cultural phenomenon is all about "hurry, hurry, hurry!" It is really sad to see how people are rushed to do this or do that. They consume quite a bit of ramen noodles as a result of it. They call themselves "healthy" as well.
Most of the time when I ask someone how they are doing, it is either, "I'm tired", or "I'm busy". Sometimes I hear, "I don't have time for this, I don't have time for that. " Well, you do have time to play that silly game on your phone at work right? Or you have thirty minutes that you sit on a subway or bus, talking to your friends using your apps on your smartphone that is thicker than my wallet.
The thing about all of this, is that we use time as an excuse to not be able to do something. I know I have not always used my time very wisely, and it's hurt some people in my family, or it has affected my friendships or relationships as well. I think to myself that I must do something for someone, and that I only allot myself so much time to give to someone else.
8 minutes to go. Man, this stuff is hard to do. I've just returned from entertaining kids for about thirty minutes. Here we go again. I remember hearing a well known football player named Ray Lewis giving a speech to the Stanford Cardinal Basketball team.
RAY RAY CLICK HERE.
I try to use this speech to remember that I should utilize my time ten times better than I do sometimes. Truth is we need to live in this world as if tomorrow is not a promise. We need to give everything we got. That means we need to give our time as much as possible to your friends, family, and even complete strangers. You never know what that time will mean to those people.
I have wondered sometimes how I can repay some of the people that have given so much of themselves to make a difference in my life. The easy answer is to just give them my time, because you never know when it will be the last time you see that person. When I was back in the states in the summer time, I made some selfish choices and was unable to see my best friend Jeff, and his father during that eleven day time-frame. Little did I know that the time that I spent with his father back in February of this year, would be the last time that I would have spent with that man. It tore me up emotionally as I sat in my classroom praying with my best friend, because the Good Lord was preparing to take his daddy home a few hours later.
I spent some time at the pool with a lady who was like a grandmother to me (for part of my life)when I was at home. My stepmother's mom Ma'Mere (as we called her) was called home a week or two after I came back to Korea following my summer time visit. After my dad gave me the news that she had passed, I thanked the Lord for that time that I did have with her a few months ago.
Remember there are so many people who don't need anything but your time. Time doesn't cost anything (unless you want to be one of those folk who analyzes everything in life).
Thanks and God Bless (over by one minute).
another great speech on time RAY RAY and Elon Football Team
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Quitting
Why is it that some of us quit or give up on something so much easier than others? I'm writing about this due to an experience that I had this past weekend.
I was really excited this Saturday because I was going to visit a really well-known village here that I had never seen before. A friend of mine was driving me up there in her car, which made it even nicer, considering I didn't have to sit on a bus or train. At 1:45 pm., I was picked up in the downtown area of Daegu. The drive was supposed to be about an hour and twenty minutes one way. Well, we arrived very close to our destination in a city known as Andong. Then all of a sudden the IPhone navigation app (Korean one at that), starting giving us the wrong directions.
Nara, my friend, turned the car around a few times, and tried to reset the navigation. Then after maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, she just got back on the road to Daegu.
So your app gives you wrong directions and you just give up? I did found the directions on Apple Maps, but it didn't really make a difference. There were so many ways that we could have found the place without the need of that app. I was willing to step out and ask for directions (real men do that sometimes). She just started throwing a pity party for a few minutes, and I was super nice about it. Then as we arrived back in Daegu, it just hit me - why did I let this person just give up so easily. Three hours for nothing. I never want to say that I wasted time doing something, but that's what was going through my head. Especially since I know my time is almost over in this country (four-five more months).
Weird thing is I went to visit a friend at the gym where I works and I spotted some dumbbells that were 100 pounds each (crazy idea went off in my head). I looked at my buddy Kevin, and said "I think I can do this." Well, after a few minutes of getting my body adjusted and saying the Lord's Prayer a few times I lifted those dumbbells ten times, thank you very much.
I bring that up, because I spend four days a week working out, and pushing my body to extremes that I never thought were possible as a youth. But I use these workouts as a way to motivate me to become better in other aspects of my life, such as work, church, friends, family, etc. If I don't give up when I feel the need to vomit, as my heart is pumping from working out, then I shouldn't give up on myself, or I shouldn't give up on those I love, or have a great amount of respect for. Likewise, I wouldn't expect them to give up around me as well.
I thought about this in my first class this Monday morning, because I know that I've been that quitter before - whether it was a sport in college or high school, a girlfriend, a friend, a job, or sometimes I want to give up on that long haired red-head friend of mine back home.
Lord knows that I'm a much better person due to the fact that people believe in me. As a wonderful Pastor tells me all that time, there's a ton of unlocked potential that I've yet to make use of. I'm always amazed that people in my life haven't given up on me due to some of the idiotic, or disrespectful things that I have done. Then again Love can conquer a lot.
I really didn't intend to type this, but it's better to get out of me than to hold it in. God Bless anyone that reads this.. There are many times when we feel the need to quit or just give up. We may be in the grieving process, or we may just be tired, down, frustrated, depressed, sad, lonely, etc. Somewhere deep down there is something telling you to just keep going - for some of us it is given to us by a divine spirit from above.
As I always say say KEEP GOING. Perseverance is so important for all of us.
I was really excited this Saturday because I was going to visit a really well-known village here that I had never seen before. A friend of mine was driving me up there in her car, which made it even nicer, considering I didn't have to sit on a bus or train. At 1:45 pm., I was picked up in the downtown area of Daegu. The drive was supposed to be about an hour and twenty minutes one way. Well, we arrived very close to our destination in a city known as Andong. Then all of a sudden the IPhone navigation app (Korean one at that), starting giving us the wrong directions.
Nara, my friend, turned the car around a few times, and tried to reset the navigation. Then after maybe fifteen or twenty minutes, she just got back on the road to Daegu.
So your app gives you wrong directions and you just give up? I did found the directions on Apple Maps, but it didn't really make a difference. There were so many ways that we could have found the place without the need of that app. I was willing to step out and ask for directions (real men do that sometimes). She just started throwing a pity party for a few minutes, and I was super nice about it. Then as we arrived back in Daegu, it just hit me - why did I let this person just give up so easily. Three hours for nothing. I never want to say that I wasted time doing something, but that's what was going through my head. Especially since I know my time is almost over in this country (four-five more months).
Weird thing is I went to visit a friend at the gym where I works and I spotted some dumbbells that were 100 pounds each (crazy idea went off in my head). I looked at my buddy Kevin, and said "I think I can do this." Well, after a few minutes of getting my body adjusted and saying the Lord's Prayer a few times I lifted those dumbbells ten times, thank you very much.
I bring that up, because I spend four days a week working out, and pushing my body to extremes that I never thought were possible as a youth. But I use these workouts as a way to motivate me to become better in other aspects of my life, such as work, church, friends, family, etc. If I don't give up when I feel the need to vomit, as my heart is pumping from working out, then I shouldn't give up on myself, or I shouldn't give up on those I love, or have a great amount of respect for. Likewise, I wouldn't expect them to give up around me as well.
I thought about this in my first class this Monday morning, because I know that I've been that quitter before - whether it was a sport in college or high school, a girlfriend, a friend, a job, or sometimes I want to give up on that long haired red-head friend of mine back home.
Lord knows that I'm a much better person due to the fact that people believe in me. As a wonderful Pastor tells me all that time, there's a ton of unlocked potential that I've yet to make use of. I'm always amazed that people in my life haven't given up on me due to some of the idiotic, or disrespectful things that I have done. Then again Love can conquer a lot.
I really didn't intend to type this, but it's better to get out of me than to hold it in. God Bless anyone that reads this.. There are many times when we feel the need to quit or just give up. We may be in the grieving process, or we may just be tired, down, frustrated, depressed, sad, lonely, etc. Somewhere deep down there is something telling you to just keep going - for some of us it is given to us by a divine spirit from above.
As I always say say KEEP GOING. Perseverance is so important for all of us.
Friday, November 16, 2012
Costco
I finally made it to Costco in Korea!!! I think the one in this city is bigger than the one in Memphis for sure. They do things in levels here so I might be wrong. After buying my plane ticket yesterday, I spent 85 bucks at Costco. My boss is a member, so I helped her push an extra cart full of supplies and toys for work.
I managed to spend my money on Colby jack cheese, oatmeal, Kashii cereal, chicken breast, Tilapia filets, and a 60 pack of eggs. It was very good investing for the next week or two, and I was impressed with all of the food that I could find there. Much of the same stuff like you would find back home.
I managed to spend my money on Colby jack cheese, oatmeal, Kashii cereal, chicken breast, Tilapia filets, and a 60 pack of eggs. It was very good investing for the next week or two, and I was impressed with all of the food that I could find there. Much of the same stuff like you would find back home.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Friday Friday Friday
It's been one heck of a week here. I'm on the iPad right now, so I will keep this short for now. I did however buy my plane ticket home last night; thanks to my mom for finding the new credit card. It's really, really crazy how the prices of plane tickets fluctuate even in the span of 24 hours or less. The ticket I bought 13 hours ago has now gone up 600 bucks. On the Korean websites, I filled out the reservation information and got a " sorry but it is now sold out" message. That was not cool. Thanks to Kayak and Delta.com for getting me home quickly.
I'll fill you in on middle school teachers beating students, biting kids, and other random stuff later.
I'll fill you in on middle school teachers beating students, biting kids, and other random stuff later.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
It's Friday!!!
But my stomach still has the darn bug going. . . . Wednesday was a rough day at work, as I wanted to vomit all day. I didn't thankfully, but I pretty much didn't eat for the next 24 hours. I had the equivalent of a Sprite for dinner, and then Gatorade for breakfast yesterday. Last night I finally ate dinner, courtesy of Quiznos, but it turns out that my stomach is still acting pretty rough right now. I may just try and take some time away from Korean food to see if my stomach get back to regularity again soon.
In about seven weeks I'll also be coming home for Christmas as well. That's something pretty exciting. I'll get a day off the week before, due to the Presidential election here. Koreans vote a new person in every five years (no exceptions). So the President actually does work a full five years. There's a good chance that a former President's daughter could end up winning the election this year as well. There are three candidates and all of them have a pretty decent shot at winning the election.
I'll try and copy some of the pictures that aren't showing on here later as well.
In about seven weeks I'll also be coming home for Christmas as well. That's something pretty exciting. I'll get a day off the week before, due to the Presidential election here. Koreans vote a new person in every five years (no exceptions). So the President actually does work a full five years. There's a good chance that a former President's daughter could end up winning the election this year as well. There are three candidates and all of them have a pretty decent shot at winning the election.
I'll try and copy some of the pictures that aren't showing on here later as well.
Sunday, November 4, 2012
can't believe this was posted on our school website
I'm hoping you can see the pics
that I've been posting on here that were from school activities. Some of them aren't posting I believe, so just let me know if they aren't there when you click. Things are going pretty well here. My one morning class is getting pretty rough, since one of my best kids has been sick for about ten days now. She's a super kid, that behaves really well, so she helps keep the others in line most of the time. Otherwise, the kids listen to me for about ten minutes and the next twenty minutes of class is spent trying to get the little folks in line. Some of these classes just be can't taught well when it comes to being alone with the kids. Some of the classes just need a Korean teacher in the classroom which really keeps the kids in line. Even if the Korean teacher has no clue what I am doing the kids will be scared because certain ones are pretty strict, so they don't want to misbehave.
Saturday, I led a group (sort of) hiking in an area here in Korea that is compared to the Swiss Alps. It's very pretty when you get to the top of the mountain, but I'm not sure how it really compares to the Alps though. Not as majestic but still nice. The only problem with the hike was that many of the trails are not very well marked. I should have tried this hike before on my own, beforehand. Everyone was still pretty positive, and four of us did eventually make it to one of the peaks, which was super cool. I'll post pictures later.
I had a duet yesterday at church which went really well. At least the part of the hymn that was in Korean went well. The English part was good too, but I practiced the Korean about ten times more, so it really came out very, very well. The Koreans were very complimentary of my deep bass voice with those beautiful Korean words.
Saturday, I led a group (sort of) hiking in an area here in Korea that is compared to the Swiss Alps. It's very pretty when you get to the top of the mountain, but I'm not sure how it really compares to the Alps though. Not as majestic but still nice. The only problem with the hike was that many of the trails are not very well marked. I should have tried this hike before on my own, beforehand. Everyone was still pretty positive, and four of us did eventually make it to one of the peaks, which was super cool. I'll post pictures later.
I had a duet yesterday at church which went really well. At least the part of the hymn that was in Korean went well. The English part was good too, but I practiced the Korean about ten times more, so it really came out very, very well. The Koreans were very complimentary of my deep bass voice with those beautiful Korean words.
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