The Adventures of Blake and Erin

Meeting some Special People (that we have pictures of) the first few days

2010-11-12T20:06:00.000-08:00

Best Buddies :)

Elisha Joel

2010-11-12T19:19:00.001-08:00

Early August 21, 2010 we had a little (8lbs 11oz) baby boy and named him Elisha Joel. Elisha is pronounced E...L(eye) sha. It's a Hebrew (Biblical) name from the Old Testament and means God is Salvation. I've grown up being familiar with the Old Testament stories of the prophet Elisha, but apparently most people are finding it EXTREMELY unusual and are calling him Aleesha when they see it in writing. We totally didn't see that one coming! Sorry Buddy! I guess he'll have to pave the way on this one!

His middle name Joel was chosen for three reasons. (1) We loved the sound of Joel after Elisha. (2) The meaning is Jehovah is God and loved that combo with God is salvation (Elisha). (3) We also have some pretty special people in our life that have this name and as a tribute have named our little guy in honour of all three of them.
My 'little' brother Joel. A pretty special guy with a big heart for God. He's a gifted leader, a talented athlete, sensitive heart and a great sense of humour. We're excited for Elisha to play soccer with Uncle Joel soon :) We also desire our Elisha to be like his Uncle Joel who is a great role model.
Jordan Joel. I've grown up with Jordie my whole life and Blake and I have become best couple friends with him and his wife Jenny. We loved these guys so much we dragged them over to Korea with us for a year and bonded so much deeper during that time. They are such an encouragement to us in so many ways. God has allowed us to step into the role of parenthood right alongside these guys and are bonded even further as we seek wisdom in how to bring up Naomi and Elisha as God would have us. These guys are our BFF's ;)
Timothy Joel. The 'big brother' I never had who lived in the basement of our house for 8(?) years while I grew up. Tim is an extremely diligent individual who seriously digs deep into the Word of God. I had so many spiritual/theological questions for Tim while growing up and he would faithfully help me struggle through them writing pages of notes in explanations- always directing me to Scripture verses. We would love our little guy to have this same diligent heart for God.

We are so thankful for the many more Godly and wonderful role models we are surrounded by and the wonderful influences Elisha will have in his life. Choosing the name Joel meant we hit 3 all at once! :)

Our Birth Story

2010-11-12T19:09:00.000-08:00

Well I guess I need to update here...I've been a little preoccupied as of late. :) So here's the birth story of our little guy. Just a warning that some may consider this TMI! Please read at own risk!

The last few weeks of pregnancy were pretty difficult. It was so uncomfortable to do anything! I couldn't move without hurting, I couldn't sleep, I was taking tums to deal with the constant heartburn and I was swollen like crazy! The anticipation of meeting our little 'Peanut' and how our story was going to unfold was almost unbearable!

Thursday morning (August 19- 6 days after the due date) Jenny and Jord came over for breakfast. We had a really great conversation, prayed for each other and just had an honest time sharing what we appreciated about one another. I was starting to feel a little crampy, but nothing too major and I didn't really think anything of it. Dawn came over a little later that day and she was so good to just keep me company- despite the fact that I was probably the most boring host at that point. She was content to just sit with me and knit and go back and forth with discussion as to whether we were having a boy or girl and even have a few naps throughout the day. I had finished all my knitting projects at that point- tried to save some for early labout, but I was going stir crazy waiting for the baby to come! I started to have a growing tightening feeling in my stomach throughout the day, but still wasn't anything major. Dawn would sit and time them and it really didn't seem like too big of a deal. Blake came home from work that night and Dawn went home. From 11pm-1am I started have consistent contractions (1minute, 5 minutes apart) and decided to call the midwife at that point. She came to the house a little while later and said progress was going well, but to take some tylenol and gravol and just try to sleep. (haha) Blake passed out immediately. The contractions seemed to intensify when I was horizontal so I sat on the couch and tried to sleep sitting up (quite difficult!) between the contractions. They came all night long, but started to stagger in length and grow in intensity. Blake was so encouraging and helpful throughout this time. I had a hard time relaxing my shoulders (I'm an upperbody tenser apparently) and would forget how to breathe. Blake was so good about talking me through it and I had this strange fixation on his mouth during this time- like I couldn't hear what he was saying, but copying his mouth was how I remembered how to breathe properly. The midwife came again in the morning and again there had been no change in progress. She suggested walking to get things moving and she'd go do some paperwork nearby and to call if anything changed. By 1pm on August 20 there was still no change. I was started to feel extremely tired and began to have back labour. Our midwife (hereafter referred to as Sushma) suggested going to the hospital to check things out. She gave me some water droplets in the muscle of my back which were supposed to help with the back labour. It was extremely painful and I don't think it helped at all! After that we grabbed our bags and headed to Markham Stouffville Hospital. Things were all ready for us when we arrived and it was such a surreal feeling walking into that room, knowing we were going to meet our little baby soon. I was check again and still no progress- stuck at 3cm! I was given a shot of morphine and laughing gas so that I could rest a little bit before they broke my water. I slept for a little while and then awoke to Jenny standing there with a muffin and chocolate milk. So good to see her!

Sushma broke the water at this point to try to get things going and there was meconium in the water-basically means the baby pooped in utero. There would be concern at delivery of meconium getting into the baby's lungs so they would need to clear the lungs right after birth. After the water was broken, labour stopped entirely and they decided to issue oxytocin to get the contractions going again. I was given some gas to breathe when the contractions happened. Sushma check me again and things were progressing. I laboured for quite a few hours, but started to fade in exhaustion from lack of sleep. The oxytocin levels needed to be increased, but I could hardly cope with the level it was at. Sushma checked me again and I was started to digress and go backwards! The baby's head was coming too fast and was bruising my cervix and things were closing off. At that point they said the only thing that would help would be an epidural so I would be entirely relaxed. The epidural was pretty incredible! From that point it only took about 30 minutes for my body dilate and be ready for delivery. Again, Sushma said for me to rest for awhile before we delivered the baby. I slept for awhile and then my sister and brother-in-law came to the hospital (quite the trek at that time of night!). The baby was born at 1:40am Saturday August 21st. Blake was such a support throughout that whole process. What an incredible feeling to have him say, 'it's a boy!' Blake cut the umbilical cord and the rushed the baby to the back of the room where they pumped his lungs (to make sure there wasn't any meconium in them). Those few moments felt like hours! The baby wasn't crying at that point and they were working on making sure he was ok. All I wanted to do was see and hold my baby! Sushma was focused on me and making sure everything was ok, but I could hardly sit still for her! Blake finally brought the baby over so I could see him. It felt so unreal- I just couldn't stop looking at all his little features...counting his fingers and toes, looking at his lips and eyes. Blake called Amy and Chris to come up from the waiting room and they were the first to meet him- so special! The hospital was extremely busy with people in labour that night so they rushed us to a ward room where there were a bunch of other women, babies and some men as well. The room was so loud with babies screaming that there was not a chance that we were going to be able to sleep! Our baby was starting to cry and all we wanted to do was go home! Sushma hurried through all the tests and paperwork and we were happy to be out of there around 6am. Sushma would come to our house the next day to check on how everything was going. So thankful to God for a healthy little boy!

Proud Daddy!

Hi Peanut!

Words can't describe this moment!

Meeting Uncle Chris

Hanging with Auntie Amy!

Memories of the past year

2010-08-04T11:30:00.000-07:00

So this has been an embarrassing long time to forget a blog. Its been a whirlwind year with lots of changes. It has been a year of pretty intense frustration, excitement, setbacks, leaps forward and most of all...growth. I found a bunch of pictures lately that I thought I should do something with and in many ways outlines a lot of the journey this past year. It has been hard to update week by week and month by month because in a lot of ways we had to simply sit and trust that God was working in ways we just couldn't seem to understand. We were in many ways challenged to stop talking and doing and just wait on God to act and move.
The pictures begin last summer before leaving Korea. Blake and I were celebrating with Jenn and Jord in this picture because we had just learned we were expecting. We miscarried shortly after and that seemed to be the beginning of a ton of changes to come.

We took holidays in August at Jenn and Jord's cottage in Canada and it was such a relaxing time for us to hang with good friends.

Blake celebrated another birthday.

We had some happy times with family. These are pictures with my family on the boat.

Sorry Chrissy, saw these photos and thought they were hilarious! :) For the record, he got quite good that day.

We went back to Korea intending to finish a few more months of teaching, but realized there had been some miscommunication with the visas and realized we'd have to commit to another year if we wanted to stay. Blake and I were increasingly feeling like our time in Korea was coming to a close and finally felt lead to return home to Canada. It was such a tough decision because Korea represented so much growth for us. We had just been getting plugged into an amazing church (which I can't find a picture of at the moment) and we just weren't feeling ready to give it up yet. We were also having to face the reality that we would be separated from our best friends for 6 months. The morning we left was so sad. We got up at 5am just to play our favourite game of euchre one last time. Jenn had recently found out that she was expecting as well so that was also so hard to leave during such a special phase of life! Here we are saying goodbye.

Getting on the airport bus.

So we landed with a thud on parents doorstep. They were gracious to accommodate us for a few months while we tried to figure out what we were doing and where we were going. We both found part-time work in Peterborough and tried to make the best of a fairly dry job market. We kept trying for work elsewhere, but doors seemed to continue to close and God didn't seem to be directing us in any particular direction for work or for a place to live. Blake and I had a lot of time together and we spent a lot of time with family. It was a beautiful fall.
The 3 boys and Bailey

Boys having fun. Joel looks so devious!

Bailey...the perfect subject.

Sisters

For some reason my family has the hardest time getting a good family portrait.

Mom and Dad

Blake and I went on many walks with Bailey. This photo was taken right before she ran all the way home. Unfortunately this skiddish dog has a hard time breaking the routine of her walk around the neighbourhood circle.

Bailey likes to carry her own leash.

Trying again for a family portrait. Where did Blake go, Chris and Joel...why?

Dad closing eyes- Bailey not cooperating.

Blake and Chris' eyes closed

Finally a normal picture? Looks a little boring!

Bailey discovering that raspberries taste really good.

After what seemed like endless hours of research and talk, Blake finally got to act on his dream of buying his first car. I was just glad the talk about cars was over. Here he is with the brand new purchase.

I got to join the picture.

Being back home without consistent work had the perk of a lot more golf games for the guys which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Notice Blake's 'concentration' lips :)

In December Blake and I faced a whirlwind change when a dear friend thought of me who had connections to a school that needed a music teacher. Unfortunately in Ontario's dry teaching market it's all about connections! God opened the door for me to join the staff at Pickering Christian School and we moved down the road from the school to Ajax. It was an incredible opportunity and one that I thoroughly enjoyed! We also started hanging out with some old time friends (for me) who have become very dear new time friends. Steph and I became co-workers at school and then we started tagging along with them to Harvest Bible Chapel. This church has become such an incredible blessing to us and we have been growing so much through the ministries and relationships there. We were excited to rejoice with Jerry and Steph as they welcomed their bundle of joy Audrey Renata in June.

So jumping back a little to February...our dear friends Jenn and Jord returned home to Canada. Felt like an eternity! We have been so happy to have them back and the good times have resumed! Jenn and I got to be pregnant together for a few months. And yes...I think I forgot to mention the fact that Blake and I are expecting the middle of August. :)

Jenn and Jord eagerly awaited the birth of 'Nemo' who arrived in May.

I was convinced Nemo was a boy, but was shocked to learn that Nemo was actually Naomi!

Sleepy daddy!

Uncle Bluck holding Naomi

Blake and I have joined a church plant from Harvest that will be coming to the Durham region in September. We've been developing relationships and really thriving. This church is growing like crazy already- in new recruits and from all the babies. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the guys right now. This was at a triple baby shower for some of the moms.

So this brings us to the present. I'm currently trying to find things to fill my time as I await the arrival of our 'Peanut.' Hence, the update and finally getting pictures in order! :) Here are some maternity shots Blake and I recently had done with a friend from Harvest York region.

So that's it for now. Thanks for reading if you're still with me! :)

Matthew's Forever Home

2009-09-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

Today I'm rejoicing with a special friend of mine who has been trusting and waiting on God for a very long time. She and her husband Brad are probably meeting their precious baby boy at the airport right now. What's even more special is this little boy Matthew is coming from South Korea! I've been so blessed and encouraged by their journey of learning to wait on God. Today marks such a special day of finally seeing the day their hearts have been longing for.
If you're interested in reading, click here.

In Canada

2009-09-17T18:26:00.000-07:00

We've landed in Canada. Blake's parents picked us up from the airport and we stayed at their house for the night. We were both up at 3:30am wide awake. Had a nap today from 12-5pm. Our bodies feel really messed up right now. You'd think we love doing this to ourselves! We came home to find my sister and brother-in-law also living at home with my parents. They had a few unforseen circumstances and had to make a quick move home for a bit.
So...my poor mom moped while we were home on the holidays about the upcoming empty nest. My youngest brother Joel skipped off to Queen's University this September to begin the engineering program. My mom had 9 full days of an empty nest, a clean house and no shoes at the front door. I guess the 4 other kids happened to feel that that was long enough and all decided to come home. :) haha

So...here we've landed. Not sure what the future holds at the moment. Blake had a job prospect, but by the time we got home for the interview it was filled. We're both sending out applications. Hoping and praying that something comes along soon!

Decision Day

2009-09-17T18:19:00.001-07:00

Monday, September 14th,
Today is D-Day. We've been assured that if the president initiates the interview then we're in. We will go forward with the job if he calls. So...we're now praying that if we are not meant to be in Korea then the door would close, that the president would be busy or something would happen. We are giving him til 6pm today and then we will go forward with booking our tickets home to Canada.

6pm
He did not call. We have prayed through this decision so much and feel that this is clear indication that we are being directed home to Canada. We tried to book our tickets for Thursday or Friday this week, but the price jumped astronomically so we had to book for Wednesday. That gives us one day to do all our paperwork and say a LOT of goodbyes to some really dear friends. We're feeling all mixed up emotionally, but relieved to finally have some sense of direction.

Waiting

2009-09-17T17:53:00.000-07:00

Friday, September11th
Our job prospect is with a university in southern Seoul. If hired, we would be university professors (hilarious eh!?) teaching English to university students. Our good friend Will is currently working there and called us to say that 2 professors had not worked out and they needed to fill those 2 positions. We scrambled together some 'sophisticated professor type' clothing and ran out to the university for a meeting. The guy that hires was extremely busy and made us wait a long time while he dealt with other issues. We were quite content to wander around and just talk. The hiring guy finally a had a bit of free time over dinner so we went with him to chat. He expressed to us that he really wanted to hire us and would be the one to do so, but we needed to first shake the hands of the president and have an 'interview' with him. The president was the one that needed to initiate this meeting and the actual 'hiring guy' could not rush the process despite the need in the English department. This process really reflects a lot of the Korean culture.
Anyways...we have waited all week. We have really prayed that God would direct our steps. We resolved that we would walk through the door if it opened, but if it closed we would go home to Canada. We wrote the hiring guy an email telling him that we needed to make a decision by Friday at 6pm. He phone us at 4:30pm on Friday pleading with us to wait until Monday because the president would have time to meet with us on Monday.
So...here we are waiting til Monday.
Jenn and Jord are such amazing friends and continue to put us up in their loft. We're playing lots of euchre and Jenn and I are baking and having a grand time. I think Blake and I have assumed the role of the household pet. We're sad to see the go in the morning and are so excited for them to come home to feed us and play with us.

Clouding Clarity

2009-09-07T21:18:00.001-07:00

So I just wanted to apologize for anyone who has been following this wild ride this last little while. We feel like yo-yo's going back and forth and just not knowing much. Again, the plot thickens and we're not sure what we're doing. I think we're going to be in need of some intense pyschological counselling by the time this is all through!
Here's the latest...
We thought that the door closing at the hagwon meant we were being directed to Canada. We haven't gotten around to changing our flight yet because paperwork with our schools is taking a bit of time. Yesterday a lot of strange things happened including a very good possibility that some of the best jobs in Korea landed on our laps. With these jobs we'd have a lot more vacation time which means we could go home and be with family for significant periods of time throughout the year. Not sure if this is a temptation to allure us to stay when we should be going back to Canada or whether it's God's provision and the opportunity of a lifetime.
Sooo...here we go again. Praying for God to give us wisdom and discernment as we stand with a huge decision before us. Also praying that God would slam that door shut very clearly (and quickly) if it's not where we're meant to be.

Clarity

2009-09-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning
I woke up this morning and the first thing on my mind was Abraham and Isaac. God asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. God had made many promises to Abraham that were to be fulfilled through this son Isaac, yet God was then asking him to kill his son. I can imagine the confusion Abraham felt ask God seemingly wasn't making sense! However, Abraham stepped out in faith in spite of the confusion and heartache and got right down to the moment where his promised son was tied down on the altar and the killing knife was in the air. At that moment God stepped in and told him to stop. The point was to bring him to a crisis of faith and to trust in the wisdom of God above what seemed to make sense.
Maybe I'm making assumptions, but I'm wondering if our situation with the hagwon is similar. Perhaps God was asking us to step out in faith and say 'yes' with the intention of simply bringing a crisis of faith. This week we have had to trust and seek God in ways that have been extremely difficult, but maybe that was the whole point.
I shared with Blake and he said that the same word had been given to him! Craziness!
Sooo...I think we're coming home to Canada!

Sunday morning
We're on our way to one of the last meetings with our church and we have mixed emotions. This church has been such a blessing and we are so sad to say goodbye.

Confusion

2009-09-05T16:37:00.000-07:00

Friday night
Just got home and received a phone call from our pastor Jae. He said that 2 members of the leadership team woke up that morning and felt that God was giving them a very clear word that the hagwon was not to open. God seemed to be telling them to trust Him with the church rent for now. Jae said he was sorry, but the positions were no longer available.
So...we're going to sleep tonight super confused. We thought God was calling on us to say yes and to step out in faith. He seemed to confirm each step toward staying longer in Korea. Did we completely misread the signs?? We've been giving this to God so often and asking for CLEAR confirmation. What the heck?!?! Why were we put through this week of stress if it wasn't meant to be from the beginning. We do feel peace though that God has clearly closed the door. We followed as far as we thought and God is seemingly now directing us toward Canada.

Chaotic Week Part 4

2009-09-05T06:54:00.000-07:00

Friday September 4th
Continuing to give this to God. Still not sure about the details. Still having moments of inner anxiety, but peace that we are following what we believe is God's leading. We are continuing to ask for confirmation and even random little details are working together to point us towards working with the church/hagwon. Feeling a desire to distance myself from people who ask me a lot of questions. I don't feel I have many answers right now. Times with God are so great and I feel so much peace when I give it all to him. I'm not able to stray far at this point because my over analytical brain drives me crazy. Feeling like God is just saying to wait now.
I went out with Hannah and I am so blessed by our times together. She's pretty sick right now with the possibility of a brain tumour. She's got so many questions for God too and yet has so much joy. She told me that times like these make for really intimate encounters with God and she is simply revelling in them. That's how I've been feeling this past week too. She was praying over our situation last night and felt came across a verse that she felt was meant for us. "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law." Deuteronomy 29:29 This theme keeps repeating itself. We want answers and I think we're supposed to trust God with the details we can't figure out. So difficult for me!
I have never been apart of a church like this before! There is an air of anticipation and God seems to be working in ways that I've only ever read about in books. We are becoming such a tight group of believers at this church. Our mid-week meeting together was so great this week. We sense God is really moving and yet there appears to be a lot of opposition and pain (which would make sense). God is blessing us in so many little ways through them!
I think my tendency in a time like this is to take a very practical approach and look at things from a worldly perspective. These people won't let me do that! I'm also starting to wonder if the reason we're to be living in a one-room apartment with Jenn and Jordan is so that encouraging friends are super close-by. They have been such a support this past week. They are so understanding and can hurt with us, but also won't let us simply bail out and take what appears to be the easy road.

My Vice-Principal called and asked to go out for dinner with me last night. Blake walked me to the restaurant (you know my navigating abilities :) and then my VP wanted him to stay with us. This woman is not a particularly easy woman to work for and I've had to work extremely hard under her. She speaks English and she heads up many English programs which means she's super involved in my work. She's like the all-seeing eye at my school. She's had problems with many other English teachers who can't handle her. I hate conflict so I've simply tried to bite the bullet and try to impress her this past semester. I guess it worked! She was so complimentary last night and I feel so encouraged. She also listened to Blake's situation and is now going after his school to restore what is due. She's a fierce woman of influence and I wouldn't want to get on her bad side. We are so thankful that she is now working for us!

Chaotic Week Part 3

2009-09-05T06:40:00.000-07:00

Thursday September 3rd

Distressed and overwhelmed inside. Feeling so weak and frail and at the end of myself to take this step of faith. We feel like God is asking us to go forward. This was the Psalm that spoke so deeply to my heart today.

¹ O LORD, hear my prayer,
listen to my cry for mercy;
in your faithfulness and righteousness
come to my relief.

² Do not bring your servant into judgment,
for no one living is righteous before you.

³ The enemy pursues me,
he crushes me to the ground;
he makes me dwell in darkness
like those long dead.

⁴ So my spirit grows faint within me;
my heart within me is dismayed.

⁵ I remember the days of long ago;
I meditate on all your works
and consider what your hands have done.

⁶ I spread out my hands to you;
my soul thirsts for you like a parched land.

⁷ Answer me quickly, O LORD;
my spirit fails.
Do not hide your face from me
or I will be like those who go down to the pit.

⁸ Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.

⁹ Rescue me from my enemies, O LORD,
for I hide myself in you.

¹⁰ Teach me to do your will,
for you are my God;
may your good Spirit
lead me on level ground.

¹¹ For your name's sake, O LORD, preserve my life;
in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble.

¹² In your unfailing love, silence my enemies;
destroy all my foes,
for I am your servant.

God give me the strength and faith to do your will! I am so weak and frail, but in this frailty I know that Jesus is my strength so we say yes to this process. Please continue to confirm if this is Your will! I have talked and sang about how your presence is better than physical comforts and our own plans and yet I am often never put to the test in this regard. You have asked so much more of others. I'm crying out for more faith!

Chaotic Week Part 2

2009-09-05T06:17:00.000-07:00

Tuesday September 1st
Jae and Hannah have offered us the jobs with the hagwon and they need an answer really soon. At this point our heads are spinning and we don't feel good about anything.
This past vacation in Canada I felt that our time in Korea was coming to a close in the near future. We were planning to work at our jobs until December and then be done for good. I felt I communicated to our families that we were going to be done soon as well.
The hagwon needs us to make a year long commitment which would take us til October 2010. There are a lot of risks we would need to make as the contract would work a little differently than those we've had in the past. The priority would need to be paying the rent for the church and we would be paid after the rent was covered. The area that the church/hagwon is located makes for a sure gold mine so we're not entirely concerned. There are parents already knocking on the door asking when it will open.
My heart and stomach are burning inside me. All indicators seem to pointing towards going forward with the hagwon/ministry, yet I just hurt so much inside. I'm having such a hard time with the year commitment. I have so many questions. I'm having such a hard time asking my family to let us go another year. I don't want to hurt them or cause them any pain.
We're desperately seeking God and searching God out through Scripture. I'm feeling so overwhelmed inside and so uneasy about the implications of saying yes to this opportunity, yet God seems to keep saying 'Be still' and 'don't worry' and 'leave the implications to me.'

Wednesday, September 2nd
We're not sleeping well and my stomach is in absolute knots. We are putting out fleeces and asking God for peace and leading and He seemingly keeps directing towards the hagwon. I still don't want to commit to another year in Korea, but I'm starting to wonder if this is the sacrifice God is asking of me. "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails" Proverbs 19:21. I know our emotions can often mislead and where we want to go is not always where God wants us to be. We sat down with Hannah today to talk about the contract and our internal struggle. Hannah confided that when she and Jae were in America for 3 years, they were then called on to stay an additional 2 years. She wanted to be home with family and the comforts of home, but God was calling them to stay. She said that those 2 additional years were a time of huge spiritual growth and closeness with God. Obedience is more important than following what's comfortable. We feel we're at those crossroads right now. Facing the decision of desperately wanting the comforts of home and desiring closeness with family, yet God is seemingly calling us to step out in faith, put everything on the line and say yes. I'm terrified. It hurts to talk to family right now. We don't have answers.

Chaotic Week Part 1

2009-09-05T05:44:00.000-07:00

Monday August 31st
We are officially bums. Jobless, homeless and not sure of direction. We are so confused. We had been praying throughout the spring months about whether we should return to Korea or not. We felt we had the go ahead with returning for a few months during the fall and then finally going home for good at Christmas time. We are convinced that all things are for purpose and that God has a reason for leading us back to Korea, but we're just so confused at this point. Blake is also facing complications with his contract and school. He has been dealing with some malicious women this entire year and they are being very difficult at this point. It looks like he will be losing quite a bit of money at this point. While we are not in desperate need of this money, it's discouraging because it is unfair.

On a completely different topic, I wanted to share a little about the church we have been growing with these past few months. It is a small church plant in Seoul headed by a Korean couple who received training in the US. We have grown to absolutely love this body of believers and have been so richly blessed by them. I especially have grown to love the pastor's wife Hannah. She is our Korean teacher and we've been having so many heart-to-heart talks lately. She is so open and honest about struggles, but has faith like very few I know. I am learning so much from her.
Blake has also been growing in leadership and the church has been recognizing his gifts and providing outlets for him to use them. I have been seeing so many changes in Blake.
Because this is a new church plant there are so many things that are not established. God has been directing the leadership team in some very clear ways, but it is requiring us all to be seeking God continuously for direction and where He is leading.
One of the things that has been happening as of late is that the small office building where we have been meeting is now too small. The church is growing and it's time for a new location. The problem with a new location is that rent is extremely expensive. Seoul is one of the most expensive places in the world to live and so you can imagine that price of rent right in the heart of Seoul. At this point the church is not able to afford the rent and have been calling on other ministries for support during these initial months. However, these attempts have been fruitless as of late. It became clear that God was calling on the church to go forward with the move and step out in faith regarding the finances.
The pastor and his wife (Jae and Hannah) used to run a school for teaching kids English (called a hagwon) before they began their ministry training in the US. It was a lucrative business and Jae was so successful that he was asked begin a counseling business for other hagwon owners. Because of this experience, Jae and Hannah felt that God was calling them to support the church ministry with a hagwon business. The hagwon would be run during the week while the church would be held in the same location on the weekends. There would be opportunity to make connections in the community with the kids and this could be used to reach them and their families with the gospel.

This brings me to now... we have just found out that we no longer have our jobs. We were brought back to Korea and are not sure why. A few hours after we receive this news, our pastor Jae called us to say that they went ahead with the new church location with the hagwon business. There were four classrooms in this place and they were simply praying that God would bring teachers. We told our pastor that we had just lost our jobs and he went silent. He said that he had just received word that another friend at church (Dan) had a similar situation with his visa. Our other friend (Ben) was finishing a contract and needed a job.

While we were on holidays in Canada, the church felt God's leading to go ahead with this move which would require 4 teachers. A few days later 4 teachers in the congregation were all jobless. Crazy! We are not sure if God is truly leading us to participate in the hagwon, but we do recognize how seemingly bizarre this situation is. Our pastor has offered us the position and we are praying for very clear direction. Please pray with us!

Sunday

2009-09-05T05:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 30th
We are safely back to our apartment in Seoul. We had a few issues with immigration and our working visa here in Korea. It's a complicated situation and difficult to explain, but here's the short version....We needed to renew our visa before we left the country. We did do this and had all the paperwork in order, but a re-entry sticker attached to our passport was missing. We were under certain assumptions based on past experiences which have turned out not to work this time. Sooo...our visas were taken away and we had to enter the country as visitors. The problem became so much bigger because there is no quick fix in Korea. 2 years ago a foreigner in Korea was sexually abusing children while on a working visa. The Korean government reacted strongly (as it should) and has made the visa process quite complicated for teachers. We are now stuck in the system. It will be weeks to fix the problem and Blake's school in particular is not willing to wait. Our apartment is tied to our place of employment so we had to get out as soon as possible. Our good friends Jenn and Jordan have let us stay with them while we figure out life.

Healing God

2009-09-03T17:46:00.000-07:00

Blake's father was diagnosed with severe heart disease a couple weeks ago. He was sent for some extensive health tests and we have been waiting on the results since that time.
We have been praying with our church here in Korea for him and Blake's dad's church has been holding prayer services for him as well. Neil has been confidently sharing that God was taking care of him and that he was going to be healed.
Yesterday we received news that the test results had come in and that they found no evidence of heart disease! They don't really understand the results aside from a miracle.
We're standing in awe at the moment, reminded that our God is in control! He is a healing God and has chosen to show mercy to our family in this powerful way. Even through the short conversation we've had with Neil we are blessed to hear how his faith has been strengthened and how he is praising God for the work that has been done in his life.
This news has brought praise to our lips as well and we are reminded of how big and powerful our God is. We stand in the midst of crisis right now. I'm feeling a lot of internal stress because many of the daily comforts I put faith in have been taken away. I have been reminded through this time that Christ alone is my anchor.

Psalm 46
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed,
and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea;
Though its waters roar and be troubled,
though the mountains shake with its swelling.

There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God,
the holy place of the tabernacle of the Most High.
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved;
God shall help her, just at the break of dawn.
The nations raged, the kingdoms were moved;
He uttered His voice, the earth melted.

The LORD of hosts is with us;
The God of Jacob is our refuge.
Come behold the works of the LORD,
Who has made desolations in the earth.
He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;
He breaks the bow and cuts the spear in two;
He burns the chariot in the fire.

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!
The LORD of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge!

Lord we believe! Help our unbelief!

Stranded in Tokyo

2009-08-31T20:57:00.000-07:00

We're updating mid journey back to Korea. Our flight path was to be Toronto-Minneapolis-Tokyo-Seoul. We made it to Minneapolis and then our plane was in need of maintenance. We were delayed a few hours in that airport (which is a lovely airport I might add) which meant we missed our connecting flight from Tokyo to Seoul. Northwest was great enough to provide us with a hotel for the night in Japan and also gave us dinner and breakfast vouchers. I think the hotel had a lot of mildew and mold in it because my allergies starting acting up as soon as we stepped into the hotel. However, for all the things that could have gone wrong we were really happy to have a comfortable bed to lay down in for awhile. We met up with a girl who was on her first trip to Korea and were so thankful that everything has gone so smoothly for us up until this point. I don't know that we would have handled all the complications so well the first time.
Anyways...the next morning we got to the airport and were put in first class seats. Woohoo!! We are ruined for life!! You could actually lie down in these seats and we had tv's and it was so wonderful!
We arrived at Seoul airport and to make a very long and frustrating story short, our visa's are no longer good. We went to immigration before we left and thought everything was worked out, but an apparent fluke error left us without our alien cards. We had to enter the country on a tourist visa. We thought this could be worked out with our schools, but the problem became so much bigger and will involve a lot of paperwork and time. Immigration sucks! Our apartment is tied to our schools and since we won't be working for those schools anymore we had to get out of our apartment really quick. Sooo....here we are....jobless...homeless...and half-way across the world. We moved into Jenn and Jord's apartment and are so thankful for those guys for so many reasons. God has given them such generous hearts and we have been so blessed by them.
We're not sure what God is doing through this. We thought things were going a certain way and things have changed so many times. Perhaps we're meant to just simply learn to trust even when it seems like everything is falling around us.
God is good. This moment I'm listening to a song and the line that keeps repeating is that 'we hold the hand of the One who holds the world.' It's funny how heightened your spiritual sense become when things are crashing around you.
We're not sure why God brought us back to Seoul and are currently trying to discern where God is leading. We covet your prayer as we are trying to discern.

Canada Vacation

2009-08-31T20:45:00.000-07:00

These past 3 weeks have been such a refreshing time for us. Camp has a way of zapping every ounce of energy out of you and we were super ready to take a break. It was great to reconnect with loved ones. One of the highlights while being home was going to the Sound of Music in Toronto. After we booked our tickets Blake confided that he had never seen the SOM movie (almost a crime!). My aim before we went to the musical was to make Blake watch the movie....easier said than done! Blake grudgingly sat through most of the movie, but didn't quite seem to appreciate it the way the Covert household requires. I guess I can't ask for much when you grow up with a bunch of boys. Anyways...we had a splendid time and I do believe that deep down Blake really did appreciate it...I only caught a couple rolls of the eyes! :)
For those friends that we weren't able to connect with we are sorry! Time is too short!

We also just found out that when we get back to school we are in quarantine because of the H1N1 virus. (No, we haven't contracted the virus) The Korean government has mandated that everyone who has gone abroad has to wait 7 days before they can enter the public schools. Sooo...Blake, Jenn, Jord and I have a bit of a vacation before we start school again.

Monsoon Season

2009-07-13T22:21:00.000-07:00

Dated July 15, 2009
We are currently in the thick of the monsoon season here in Korea. Basically, it means it rains and rains and rains. Blake and I are usually quite content not having the burden of a car, but weeks like these when the skies open up it makes me wish we had our little toyota for protection.

As a bit of an update...we are currently finishing our last week of school and are embarking on a 3-week long camp starting next week. After camp is finished, we will be visiting Canada for some intense family/friend bonding time. Morale has been low these last few weeks as we finish this intense and long semester. There have been a lot of demands and combined with the excitement of home, it makes it difficult to keep your head in the game and finish well. We're so close and so super excited!

We have another piece of news that has been a slight change for us. These past 2 months Blake and I have joined a new church plant here in Seoul. It's a small plant at the moment headed by a Korean couple who felt called to start a church that was Christ focused, gospel centered with Biblical teaching. This past weekend we all gathered for a retreat in the mountains. We have been super blessed being apart of this church and Blake in particular is thriving with some leadership opportunities.

Goodbye Grandma

2009-06-07T23:56:00.000-07:00

My grandmother has been sick and slowly going downhill for the last number of months. Wednesday, June 3rd marked the day that she finally was released from pain and sickness and went to the arms of Jesus. I have been taking lots of time these days mulling over many memories I have of Grandma and I just can't help but smile. I have so many funny memories of her and I just wanted to take the opportunity to share a few.

One of the biggest things I remember about Grandma is laughter. She loved socializing and laughing with people, but she also laughed at herself. Grandma seemed to be loved by everyone she met. She was just such a happy and chipper person to be around and seemed to be able to chat to almost anyone. I remember going on dates with Grandma to Tim Hortons and the staff always seemed to know her name and order. In fact, the staff from Red Lobster, Swiss Chalet and the Carousal also seemed to know her name and story. I remember one date in particular we went to the Carousal and her favourite part of the restaurant wasn't open yet. She told me not to fret because she knew the owner. This determined little lady marched right through the restaurant and found the owner who promptly opened it up for "Phyllis." She then happily chatted on with the owner about her grandkids, introducing us all to him and telling him what we were all up to these days.

During these dinner dates that us Covert kids had with Grandma, we would always laugh about her eating habits. She would get a little wee piece of meat, pass over the salad and choose a few pieces of vegetables just so she could say she took them. She would happily chat for most of the dinner, pushing those vegetables around and around on her plate. However, as soon as it was dessert time, she marched right up for the biggest piece of lemon meringue pie she could find and would hardly leave a crumb. She always did love a 'nip' of dessert.

While Grandma was loved by most she met, one of the things she was not known for was excellent driving skills. I will always remember her stories about all the crazy drivers in Peterborough and how everyone was always honking the horn at her. Amy and I remember the time being driven by grandma and we sat at a four-way flashing red stop light waiting for it to turn green. When we told her that it the light never turned green she just giggled at herself and carried on. I remember being in the passenger seat with her driving and her proving her theory about crazy drivers in Peterborough as we switched lanes and cut off another car. She happily hummed away as I sat white knuckled mouthing the words 'I'm sorry' to the angry guy beside us. The family was quite relieved when Grandma decided to give up her license and not deal with the Peterborough crazies anymore.

Grandma was young at heart and though she was aging in years, she still thought of herself as a young woman. I remember at one of Joel's hockey games, she met an old friend that she hadn't seen in decades. After chatting, she came back to my mom shocked at how old this friend looked. It never seemed to cross her mind that she herself had aged as well. Lying in the hospital bed in palliative care, grandma declared that she didn't think she would get married again.

Grandma loved watching a variety of sports from baseball, hockey to soccer. She was the uncontested, unashamed, biggest fan at my brother Joel's hockey and soccer games. The other parents loved Grandma and her chatter despite her obvious lack of interest in the other players and her constant questions of whether Joel was on the ice. Sometimes this got her in a bit of trouble. From time to time while sitting amongst the other player's parents she'd yell out that Joel was the only one playing well and why wasn't anyone helping him?! Dad was always the one commissioned to tell her to tone it down a bit. Sometimes Grandma would get a little mixed up while watching the hockey games. One game in particular everyone couldn't figure out why she kept clapping and cheering at all the wrong times. It wasn't till later that they realized she was cheering for Joel's number on the opposite team! Mixed up-sometimes, but enthusiastic-always! Us grandkids knew that Grandma was always one of our biggest fans!

I think one of the funniest memories I have with grandma was taking her to one of her doctor's appointments to have tests done on her heart. She was so sweet and kind and tried to chat with the doctor who clearly was too busy for small talk. His questions about her mom and dad were for the purpose of medical history information, but Grandma didn't seem follow where he was going with his questions. She started chatting about her mom and dad and their jobs, illnesses and deaths until I had to gently cut in and state the fact that she was adopted. I let her go on for a bit though, she was always so happy talking about her childhood and parents and it was pretty funny how furiously the doctor scribbled notes until he realized there would be no connection to her health. The doctor clearly wasn't too impressed. We left the office...me mad at how gruff he was and Grandma happy that it was over and chatting about how he was a nice man. Grandma always saw the best in everyone.

Optimism was another one of Grandma's strong qualities. Before her death, she was scheduled to have some dental work done on her teeth. She hated the dentist and kept wanting to postpone appointments to the summer, then to the fall, then to winter. When grandma got news of her cancer, she rejoiced that God had saved her from the dentist. I guess that's one way to look at it! :)

Grandma grew up in an era where strict observance of acceptable social behaviour was stressed. Dancing was clearly forbidden. Although grandma always seemed to follow what was expected of her on the outside, she also had this quiet rebellious side to her as well. She would always tell me that she would secretly dance with her cat at home when no one was looking.
During her last few weeks in the hospital, she said that she'd beat this and be up dancing soon. I guess that was a pretty prophetic word. So many people in their comforting words to my family have used the expression that she's up dancing with Jesus now. We are so happy that she is no longer in pain and can dance with her King!

We will miss her dearly and the laughter she brought to our lives, but we wouldn't wish her back!

Isaiah 25:8-9 He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove the disgrace of his people from all the earth. The LORD has spoken. 9 In that day they will say, "Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the LORD, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation."

Language Learning

2009-05-22T21:12:00.000-07:00

As of late, Blake and I have been learning Korean a little more seriously by taking Korean lessons. It has been a great experience so far and our teacher is so kind a patient and is a great model for our own teaching. I think it is important for a teacher to often place themselves in the position of learner so they can identify with their students’ struggles and frustrations at times. One of the things we are continually encouraged to do as language learners is to practice it out even if it means looking a little silly at times. I do look silly a lot, but I also love the challenge! I have also gained a great deal of respect recently for older Korean people who place themselves in the ‘silly’ position and try out a few English words they know. Respect is so important in Korean society so it takes an extra dose of humility for these older people to be vulnerable.

Blake shared a cute little story with me last night about an older Korean gentleman at his school and I liked it so much I thought I’d make it blog material.

At Blake’s school there is a janitor who always goes about his work ignoring the ‘English’ boys at the school. They’d give each other the odd nod and the occasional “안녕하세요” (hello), but not much beyond that. Anyways, Blake has been at this school for 9 months now and I guess this janitor has decided to learn a bit of English and try it out on Blake. He grabbed Blake’s arm a few days ago and said ‘strong!’ I guess Blake praised him enough that he studied up on a few more random words. Yesterday as Blake was leaving school for the day, the janitor stood at the door waving and said, ‘Good Morning!’ Blake saved the giggle for later, waved and said, ‘Goodnight!”

So not quite the right word, but he got the point across!

Timmy's Married

2009-05-14T04:12:00.000-07:00

My "big brother" Timmy got married this past Saturday. These are the times when we are saddened to be so far away. Tim and Sarah, we love you and are so very happy for you! May God bless you as you grow in this new relationship!

Happy 3rd Anniversary Erin and Blake!

2009-05-12T03:49:00.000-07:00

On the eve of Mr. and Mrs. Bradley's 3rd anniversary, we, Jordan and Jenn, thought it would be a timely occasion to acknowledge how dearly we treasure their friendship. Having spent the last 9 months with them, we've come to love them as family. Oh sure, you may think they're just so lovable, how could anyone not love them? Well, you'd be right.
B and E, we love you guys and wish you the most blessed and joyful anniversary yet!

I'd like to take a few minutes to reflect on the moments we have shared as friends here in Korea. From Costco dates to coffee dates, playing euchre to go-carting, we have a blast what ever it is. We've shared buses, trains, planes, subways, taxis, tuk-tuks, and hotel rooms. Jordan and Blake have proven their worthiness as husbands time and time again, saving the world from the arcade zombies in Gangnam station. Erin and I have learned far to well to rely on their leadership. This is well proven each time we travel without them and end up lost.
We have convicted and encouraged each other, and helped each other through times of homesickness and culture shock. In fact, I can only think of one important thing that we have yet to do in this foreign land - the infamous Noraebang! Lucky for Jordan and Blake, there's still time for the joyous occasion of Korean kareoke!

We'd like to now leave you with a few pictures we have of Erin and Blake. As we count down the last few months of our time here in Korea we just want to say how unique and memorable it has been to share this year in Korea with you.
B and E - Our friends, travel buddies, "non-life partners", and fellow expats; we pray that on this anniversary you will grow deeper in love with each other as well as your Saviour, Jesus Christ.

Thailand Adventure

2009-03-08T06:49:00.000-07:00

For the second week of our vacation we visited a place in Thailand called Krabi.

kayaking on the ocean

Jordan found this clam- he heard it close when he walked by it.

Swimming in the Emerald Pool in the middle of the jungle.

One of Blake's dreams has been to rent a scooter and it finally came true in Thailand this year. (sorry mom!)

Below: Notice the kickstand

Cute little dog

Cambodia Adventure

2009-03-01T05:31:00.000-08:00

The four of us at the airport...'the beginning!'

Here are the first few sights from our trip to Cambodia. We started out in the city of Phenom Pehn and then travelled by car to a city called Siem Reap. It's really quite difficult to wrap up our experience in a post, but it was like a completely different world! I have never seen poverty like this before and the various smells, (sometimes good and often not good) were a little hard to adjust to initially.

Below: This was the car ride where we travelled to Siem Reap. We often had to wait for random cows and waterbuffalo to cross the road. I also saw a few scooters drive by with a few dead pigs hanging off the back. Apparently that was not something to freak out about, but I certainly was trying to find my camera...but I didn't get it in time.

Safety is the highest priority! It was quite normal to see 3,4 even 5 people on the little scooters. We found it quite unbelievable as we watched a scooter whiz by with 4 people and a baby on it. It was a little much for our Canadian brains to handle.

Below: Jenny and Jordie in the tuk-tuk

Below: Attempting to cross the street. Normally something I wouldn't take a picture of, but crossing the street in Cambodia is a little different. There really aren't traffic lights the same as other countries and vehicles don't really seem to stop for pedestrians. The key is to simply walk out into traffic and the cars and scooters just zoom around you. I was pretty freaked out the first time...ok I never got comfortable. Complete chaos, but it just seemed to work.

Below: People gather in the park for evening exercises.

Happy baby at the park

National Museum

visiting an alligator park

Making New Friends- this was a family we met while buying fruit. There is a lot of poverty in Cambodia- we were encouraged to take children home with us on a few different occasions.

These next few pictures are from the killing fields near Phnom Pehn. During the years 1974-1979, nearly 17 000 civilians were tortured, murdered and buried in mass graves under the Khmer Rouge regime. These mass graves are now termed 'the killing fields.' They were dug up in recent years and 8000 of the skulls were placed in a memorial building as a reminder of the atrocious brutality of the former regime.

Below: This memorial stands in the middle of the fields and houses 8000 skulls of those brutally murdered during the genocide.

8000 skulls

Below: If you look closely you can see holes and chips in the skulls.

Cambodian Sunsets

Riding in the tuk-tuk

Jenny and an elephant

Blake and I at the East Gate of the ancient Temples.

Ta Prohm- ancient jungle temple built in the late 12th and early 13th Centuries. The trees have left this temple in ruins.

Jenny tree

Huge tree roots!

You may notice that where we are standing is where a scene from Tomb Raider was filmed.

Temple 2- Can't remember the name, but I do remember after tromping all over the grounds someone casually mentioned that poisonous snakes live in this temple. Yikes! Would not have walked so confidently...ok let's face it...probably wouldn't have even gone in.

Boys climbing extremely steep steps.

Temple 3: Angkor Wat- built in the early 12th Century- considered one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Chilling

Pretty Jenny with a flower

To Cambodia we go...

2009-02-14T01:37:00.001-08:00

We are leaving for Cambodia and Thailand tomorrow together with our travel buddies Jenn and Jord. We will be leaving February 15 and returning February 28. I am really nervous and excited all at the same time! We would definitely appreciate your prayer for safety! We will update as we can and I have no doubt that Blake will ensure you get some good photos.

Erin's Winter Camp

2009-02-14T00:52:00.000-08:00

When Blake and I returned from holidays in early January, we were flung into the thick of what's termed "English Winter Camp." Please don't let your Western mind be fooled by the term 'camp' because the majority of the 3 weeks was spent studying science, social studies, math...just all in English. We did have a few fun days mixed in with the school work and I recently received a CD containing photos from the camp. Thought I'd share.

This first photo is the opening ceremony where we were solemnly sworn in as teachers of the Winter Camp. Pretty intense! :)

These are the kids promising to learn and behave.

These next few photos are of my Language Arts classes. Don't they look so dedicated and behaved?!

This is my class playing the human knot game. Teachers get tired of doing work sometimes too! I decided to play a game instead.

The following few pictures are of my Fantastic Art class. The kids are displaying their final projects.
Making puzzle piece ornaments

Sean with his Iris Card.

Iris Folding Cards

Hanging snowflakes

The girls eating their decorated cookies.

Amy with her lightbulb penguin.

Nicki with her picture frame.

We had a few special activity days where we took all the kids to various locations. The first outing was to an English Village.

First step is going through customs at the 'airport' using appropriate English. Soooo nervous!

Learning appropriate English for when you go to jail? hmmm

Next activity was jumping in 'Castle Land.'

Tubing at a hill.

Me and my buddy Chris.

Printed Fame

2009-02-07T06:12:00.000-08:00

We always knew he had it in him! Jordan landed a half-page colour photo in a Korea-wide newspaper. The article is about English education in Korea. Way to go Jordo!

Ode to Jenny

2009-01-30T20:13:00.000-08:00

I had a moment of reflection the other day as I was hanging out with my kimbap loving friend and thinking how neat it has been to watch these guys go through the process of helpless and brand spanking new in Korea to quite competent and independent. I'm so proud of their progress!

I remember with clarity the first day they arrived in Korea. We knocked on their apartment door and a sleep deprived Jenn answered saying something like, 'What the heck are we doing?!" They gave us such big hugs that afternoon- I'm guessing it was good to see a familiar face. :) Blake and I made special mental note to really treasure those first few days/weeks as we witnessed them adjust. As we showed them the subway and experienced the Korean version of 'packed with people,' sweet Canadian Jenny asked with innocent politeness, "how can I say excuse me in Korean?" (For those unaware...you just push) Ah yes...those were the days of sweet, polite Jenn.

For friends and family back home, I am happy to report that these two are doing well and are enjoying the Korea experience, but there has been a subtle change in Jenn that became painfully obvious to me last week. Jenny and I were on a Wednesday night date while our men met with the guys for Bible study. We decided to splurge on Starbucks because it was a super cold night and Starbucks has really comfy couches. We arrived and despite the huge restaurant, there was not a seat to be found. We strategically split up bettering our chances of landing a spot, but it seemed as though there were some other people who came in way after us who had the same idea. Out of the corner of my eye (closer to Jenn's strategic location) a couple started to clear their glasses and move. I alerted Jenn, but the girls behind us (need I mention again they came in WAY after us?) saw the opening as well. The one girl started to gain ground on Jenn and it almost looked as if we had lost (again), but one too many elbows and shoves and seats taken from under her nose on the bus had finally gotten the better of Jenny. With a look of determination in her eye she made a run for it, leapt through the air and landed on the couch, triumphantly declaring with satisfaction in my direction, 'I got it!". I think the rest of us were all a little shocked, especially coming from the sweet Canadian girl who used to ask how to say 'excuse me.'
'Able to adjust to a new environment' and 'adaptable' are resume worthy qualities and by-golly, Jenn's got them! We're all hoping that she's just as adjustable and adaptable when going home to Canada again.

She promises to stop before becoming the old grandmother in this video at her granddaughter's wedding. We love you Jenny! Pushy and all! :)

January 2009

2009-01-08T23:14:00.000-08:00

Wow- I have been really horrible these days with updating the blog.

It's definitely beginning to look a lot like winter these days...actually, it's more just feeling like winter here and it's been feeling like winter for awhile. We don't have any snow aside from the random falls where it melts almost instantly, but it's still stupid cold.
Blake and I made the decision to go home for the holidays this year and it was a pretty eventful trip home. We found ourselves in the middle of what was termed 'snowmageddon' and we almost thought we weren't going to make it to Toronto. We had 3 flights, 2 transfers to get home and after 35 hours of travel, we found out that our last flight from Detroit to Toronto was cancelled with no hope of rebooking for days. We made the decision to take a bus home from Detroit and had to navigate in the scary city of Detroit to find the bus station. The area of Detroit we saw was such a stark contrast to our home in Seoul. We had to wait about 7 hours in the bus station in Detroit and there were homeless people trying to break into lockers beside us and cornering us for money in the bathrooms and calling us on if you made eye contact. Wow was all we could say. We rode the bus all night long and my dear father-in-law drove to Toronto to pick us up. We were so happy to see a familiar face after almost 2 days of travel with hardly any sleep. I have never gone to sleep so fast when my head finally hit the pillow!

Our luggage was extremely delayed and we didn't actually have it for the majority of the time that we were home. Northwest gave us some money back for clothes so that was pretty exciting.
It was such a blessing to be home for the holidays and re-connect with our loved ones. It felt like such a short time and we didn't visit everyone we wanted to visit, but it was so great to just take a break.
We made a few discoveries about ourselves amidst all our travels. The less you eat, the better your body adjusts to time change. I adjust much faster than Blake. Poor Blake was completely switched around and would find himself exhausted in the day and wide awake and on the computer at night. Funny enough, he's still having a bit of a hard time now that we're back. Aside from feeling a little tired, I think I've pretty much adjusted and back on track.
We are full throttle at work and running what they call 'winter camp.' It's an intensive program and we really gave ourselves no time to adjust to the jet lag or anything before starting work. This past week has felt like we're in survival mode and we're trying to take measures so we don't get sick. Yay for Ginseng- it's worked so far!
Our trusty travel buddies Jenn and Jord decided to embark on an adventure of their very own this Christmas and went to the Philippines. This was Jenn's first trip to a tropical area and they said they had a blast.
That's about all that's new with us. We are looking forward to the weekend here so we can clean and make some sense of the apartment.

2009-01-07T14:28:00.000-08:00

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Autumn

2008-11-10T00:46:00.000-08:00

So...I've been criticized by a random blogger for being a complainer when writing about our weekend to Seoraksan. I re-read what I wrote and I probably have to agree that I was slightly pessimistic. I do apologize! I was writing with fresh memories of being soaking wet, freezing cold, riding on a bus for 5 1/2 hours to snap a few pics in the rain before we had to turn around and come home again. Despite our bad planning and naivity with Seoul traffic, the mountain was absolutely breathtaking! The colours on the trees were vibrant, the air so fresh and the glory of God displayed before us. How like us to focus on the frustrating details of life instead of recognizing and praising God's handiwork in creation before us!

Biggest Budha I've ever seen!

Ah the Korean sun visor. Despite how good it looks, I didn't buy it

Happy Birthday Jordo!

2008-11-10T00:37:00.001-08:00

Boys enjoying their steaks.

THE dinner.

Ugh...I can't believe they serve shrimp (or whatever it is) like this...eyes and everything!

The Birthday Cake. Bread and jam. We got ice cream later!

Look Alikes

2008-10-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

When Blake and I first came to Korea, I thought I'd never be able to tell the difference between individual Koreans. They all looked so similar to me! (We are quite capable of telling people apart now!) I have often been told that the reverse is true for Koreans when looking at white people. Blake and I have giggled on numerous occasions when we were told that we look like brother and sister or that we look like so-and-so. Recently, we've had a bunch of Koreans tell Jordan that he looks like Tom Cruise and Blake that he looks like Matt Damon and Wayne Rooney. We laughed it off the first few times, but I decided to try to compare the similarities today. I was actually pretty surprised! Judge for yourself...I'm thinking the Koreans aren't so crazy after all!

Here's Jordo and Tom Cruise

Here's Blake and Matt Damon

Touring an Ancient Palace

2008-10-28T06:37:00.000-07:00

This past weekend we took advantage of the beautiful weather and did some more touristy things in Seoul. We visited an ancient palace in the north end of the city. Here are some pics.

Boys got to dress up like Korean warriors. Girls were thankful that boys had each other to fight with so girls did not have to be included!

Yes this is me signing autographs. Not entirely sure why, but hey...I don't get asked often! There were a bunch of little girls asking for us to sign and the hilarity was that some older Koreans thought that the girls knew something they didn't. They approached us to ask if Jordan in particular was a movie star. It was really hard to say no! :)

Blake continues to practice his photography. Here are a few cool shots he got on the weekend.

Passion Korea 2008

2008-10-28T06:09:00.000-07:00

Finally the pictures from the Passion Conference. Sorry this has taken so long! Passion was a fabulous conference! We were so blessed by the music and speakers and it was neat to be gathered with thousands of Korean young people all worshiping God together. Chris Tomlin and David Crowder shocked the crowd by singing a few of their songs in Korean- I was quite impressed!
Conference was held at Olympic Park in Seoul.

David Crowder

Some of the gang

Thanksgiving Dinner
Holidays can be a time for homesickness and this Thanksgiving was no exception. Jenn was especially missing her Markham Fair and pumpkin pie. In light of this, we decided to really make this Thanksgiving special by inviting a bunch of Canadian (and American) friends over and making a big dinner. With the help of our beloved Costco...we had chicken, pumpkin pie, we made dressing and potatoes and carrots and it was soooo good! Not quite the same as back home when you're eating with plastic plates and forks, but it was a pretty good celebration.
Here are the boys cutting up the chicken.

Heating up the pumpkin pie in our teeny toaster oven.

Reminiscing Thailand

2008-10-23T23:57:00.000-07:00

Hey All,
This is Blake. I've been reminiscing about the good times we had in Thailand last spring and wanted to share a few of the pics I found, but didn't post. Sorry that the video is sideways, but it's from a ride called 'The Flight of the Gibbon' which was a zipline ride over the jungle. Please don't break your neck trying to watch. :)
Blake signing off.

Current state of Christianity

2008-10-21T03:38:00.000-07:00

Embracing Accusation

2008-10-21T02:56:00.000-07:00

Again...Crazy Konglish

2008-10-21T02:30:00.000-07:00

Just saw this "English" phrase on a shirt and wanted to share. :)

"In your carears
you will meat
Many people
All are signllicant
All desaeve you allantion"

HUH?! I think this one will rank in as one of my favourite crazy Konglish phrases!

Passion Conference

2008-10-09T01:31:00.000-07:00

So this coming weekend we're going to what's called the Passion Conference here in Seoul. We're going to see in concert...Chris Tomlin, David Crowder, Matt Redman, etc... and we're pretty excited about it.
Blake just called me a few minutes ago to say that while riding the subway to Costco he bumped into David Crowder! How crazy is it that we have to go to Korea to meet these guys?!

Funny English Signs

2008-10-08T16:45:00.000-07:00

Sareung Church

2008-10-06T07:17:00.000-07:00

Blake and I have been visiting a bunch of different churches in Seoul before we decide where we're gonna plunk down. This past Sunday was a special celebration for a church in the area so we decided to go see what it was all about. We took a few pics to show just how huge it was. This Sunday was a combined service where there is normally a bunch of different meetings, but this is one big massive church!

Jinju Lantern Festival

2008-10-06T06:21:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we traveled to a southern city in Korea called Jinju for the lantern festival. For those interested, here's a quick history lesson.

This festival is to commemorate the resistance of the people of Jinju in the face of Japanese invasion in 1592. The soldiers defending the Jinjuseong Fortress sent signals to its back-up forces outside the fortress by flying lantern-kites in the sky or floating lamplights on the Namgang River. Leading only 3,800 troops, General(Chung-Mu Gong) kim Si-Min killed 20,000 Japanese troops who invaded Jinjuseong in October of 1592, heightening Korea's national pride.

During the Japanese invasion, the general raised a lantern in the sky and floated lamplights and torches on the river to send military signals to loyal troops and other support forces outside the castle.
Soldiers inside the castle sere able to use the lantern as a means of expressing their safety to their families. The city now remembers this difficult time of suffering by lighting thousands of lanterns on the Namgang River.

Below: Boys will be boys

Erin with Andrea

Jenn and Jord getting a portrait done. Doesn't the sketch look like Jordan?!?

Fireworks

Remembering history with a parade.

Captivated

Loving those sun visors.

Calm in the Midst of Crazy

2008-09-29T06:13:00.000-07:00

Life in the big city can sometimes feel like a lot of concrete, cars and pollution. Jenn and Jord have become more brave with exploring and found this beautiful, peaceful park right in the middle of Seoul. We spent last Sunday afternoon walking around in 'Canada.'

Below: Jenn and I chilling and talking in the park.

Birthday Party in Daegu

2008-09-29T05:55:00.000-07:00

So last weekend we made a trip to our home from last year- Daegu. Because Blake's birthday was mixed in with our move to Korea, we really didn't have a big party for him so last weekend was for Blake. For those who don't know Blake, he is so accustomed to deferring attention and shying away from the spotlight that we really need these special celebrations for him to get a chance to have the limelight. :)

It was so great to see some faces that we haven't seen in awhile and it was neat to show Jenn and Jord our familiar spots from last year. We stopped in at CDI and said hello to all the folk there and while there is a high turnover rate with the teachers, that place just seems to keep chugging. We came away grateful for our current situation in Seoul, despite the low level of English we're dealing with. Here are just a few of the pics from the weekend.

Eager Teacher

2008-09-29T05:36:00.000-07:00

My current dilemma...

I teach classes that sometimes reach numbers of 40 students. Because of the communication barrier and the number of students, the homeroom teachers are required to stay with the class while I teach English. This has been a huge blessing at times when the teachers manage well and at times a big burden. Many of these teachers are eager to learn English and become very active in my classes. One teacher in particular is very enthusiastic and perhaps feels a boost of confidence about her English abilities when compared to the students. She answers all my questions before the students even have a chance! Quite often I have a competition of some kind in class and she keeps giving away the answers. It's actually quite hilarious how genuine she is. Anything I ask the students to repeat she's right in there dominating the voices.
I've had to handle a situation like this before where I told an eager student to take a break and let someone else talk, but I'm not sure that the approach is going to be the same with a teacher.

Broadway Blake

2008-09-25T01:32:00.000-07:00

Blake told me a story about his day today and I wanted to post it on the blog because it's too cute not to share.
Blake is teaching a variety of levels at his school and this includes some very young kids (gr 1 and 2). While he has developed into an excellent teacher for older grades, the strategy for working with little guys is a lot different and is all new to him. I would love to be a fly on the wall and see him with these little guys!
Blake was attempting to teach the months of the year today and was losing their attention in the discussion. They weren't too interested in learning how to spell the words and were distracted by anything and everything. One of the Korean helpers said to Blake, "They don't understand...you just need to sing!" I can just imagine Blake's response...something along the lines of...'you're kidding right?!'
I guess the Korean teacher assumed she would be waiting a good while before Blake broke out in song so she decided to take over by singing, 'January, February, March, April' and touched a different body part for each word. January- head, February-nose, etc... The kids instantly jerked to attention when they heard singing and mimicked exactly what the teacher was doing and sang along. Blake said he was entirely baffled watching how captivated they were. I think we're going to see some changes this year in my husband! I'll keep you posted :)

One of those days!

2008-09-25T01:03:00.000-07:00

I just finished teaching my last group of kids today and I need an opportunity to de-stress! This public school arrangement is a little tough at times! You know all the wonderful things I said about Korean kids last year?! I have learned that kids are kids and this public school deal has showed me that it isn't that much different from home.
Let me tell you about my day....

It started out with rain and gloom. I didn't feel 100% and I also wasn't feeling entirely prepared for my classes as I had skipped prep time yesterday to go to the immigration office. However, the day began with the usual bus ride. As an aside...I think riding the buses here in Korea should be considered an Olympic sport. I stand beside all these Korean girls who wear short mini-skirts and high heels and seem to have this innate ability for balance. I am the crazy white lady wearing work clothes and running shoes who grasps at anything and anyone for stability and still goes flying. Today was an exceptionally bad ride (I thought the bus was going to tip over!) and to make matters worse, I had an umbrella in one hand that prevented me from using two hands to hang on and my umbrella kept whacking people. I am sure it was quite the sight!

I arrived at school unscathed and managed to prevent any stabbings with the umbrella. On top of my teaching load today which involved some nightmarish Grade 5 classes, I also had to run a club activity called 'English Animation' that happens once every two weeks. For some reason, only boys signed up for this club activity (sigh) and it just so happened to be a combination of all the most horribly behaved boys from all of my other classes. I couldn't believe the combination of kids as they walked through the door. I knew it wasn't going to go well right from the get-go! I normally have a Korean teacher with me for classes to help with management, but I don't have one for the club activities- which is where I need it the most! Classroom management can be tough at times when the kids understand you! The first two boys walked in punching each other, a couple others followed who were soon rolling on the ground wrestling and everyone was yelling before it even started- it was absolute chaos! After trying an assortment of techniques involving yelling in Korean (and boy does it scare them to have a crazy white lady yelling with words they understand), I finally had their attention. I went to play the dvd we were to watch, but my computer decided to give me error messages in Korean! At this point the class is in chaos again and I couldn't get any of the dvd's to work. The tape player worked so I shoved in the only tape I had which was....are you ready....Winnie the Pooh! Oh my goodness- I just wanted to be swallowed up! The boys watched long enough to see the title and had an absolute fit. It was awful!!
Thankfully, my TV will display my computer screen so I quickly found some Mr. Bean and Animaniacs clips on youtube and I was able to keep their attention long enough to pass the time. Some of the really bad ones even fell asleep (and I was not about to wake them)!

One of the other challenges I'm dealing with is the kids trying out random English words they hear on TV- I'm sure you can guess the type of words I'm talking about. I know they have some idea that the words are 'bad' or they wouldn't try them, but they also are saying them in front of the Korean teachers and in front of me which makes me think they don't entirely know what they're doing. I am somewhat at a loss as to how to effectively handle situations like these.
At any rate...I earned my pay today! I'm exhausted. I'm about to lace up my running shoes and get on the dreaded bus again. I've got my umbrella again so pray for the safety of the people around me! :)

Chuseok Weekend (Thanksgiving)

2008-09-18T02:46:00.001-07:00

We are loving having Jenn and Jord here! While it will take some adjusting, they are saying they really love it here. We went touring around Seoul this past weekend and here are some pictures. The first few are from The Korean War Museum.

Above: Jordan with a big tank.

Below: Boys are loving being together surrounded by big guns and tanks. Girls are thankful that boys can rave about big guns and tanks to one another and not have to involve girls :) Girls can then talk about much more meaningful topics!

Below: Blake welcoming Jordan to Korea.

Below: Flags of the countries that helped South Korea fight off the North Koreans.

Below: Yay for Canada!

Below: Korean meal with old friends and new friends.

We also toured ancient burial grounds for some of Korea's kings of old. It was such a beautiful, calm park right smack in the middle of Seoul.

Below: An old Korean man attempting to explain the park in English. Pretty good effort!

Jenn and Jord taking in the sights.

Cultural Differences

2008-09-18T02:46:00.000-07:00

Blake and I have adjusted to most of the cultural differences we experience in South Korea , but teaching in public schools has provided us with some new ones we haven't encountered before. I guess our employers at our old schools were accustomed to dealing with us foreigners and had mostly (note mostly) worked out the kinks when it came to those cultural differences. I am the only white person at my school for 600 kids (which apparently is a small size) and this has given me a whole new perspective on Korean culture. One difference between Canadian schools and Korean schools is that they provide lunch here, but you must bring your own toilet paper. I find that so weird!

One teacher at my school has taken responsibility for making me feel welcome at lunchtime. Based on body language and context I'm pretty sure the principal commissioned him to talk to me when I was sitting alone on the first day. He can't speak English well, but he told me he likes it because he's getting free English lessons out of the deal. He's started to write me messages because his wife has told him his English writing needs improvement too. He's a pretty funny guy and tries hard so I'm humoured so far. :)

Blake is one of the only male teachers at his school and apparently the female teachers are tickled pink to have another guy around. Blake told me today that the conversation with the girls revolved around household duties and some were saying how their husbands don't help much. This past weekend was Thanksgiving where a great deal of food is prepared and women have a lot of responsibility. Blake was asked what sort of things he did around the house and they were shocked to learn he takes primary responsibility for laundry. He was pretty quick to share with me that those teachers thought that he was just a dream. I have such a gem on my hands! :)

Our New Diggs

2008-09-07T05:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the pics for our new apartment. It's one big room plus a bathroom, but we've been able to section it off a bit. We found a great couch for cheap at a used furniture store and our apartment is really starting to feel like home now.

Jenn and Jord embark on the Korea Adventure

2008-09-05T07:33:00.000-07:00

Jenn and Jordan have finally made it and are now here with us in Korea! They are extremely jet-lagged and are being thrown right into the thick of things with school. They're experiencing all the typical cultural shock, but I think they'll adjust in no time. We're attempting to set their apartment up so they have the essentials. It has been so neat to experience Korea again for the first time through their eyes. One of the first things we did with them was set them up with their subway cards and take them on a tour of the subway system...during rush hour :) Yes I think we're a little cruel. Jenn said something to the effect of, 'do you just push like everyone else?' and 'is there a word for excuse me?' For those unaware...yes you push and no you don't say excuse me.

We finally have internet at home!

Found my way!

2008-09-02T17:32:00.000-07:00

So I found my way home last night and while I had to get help from a complete stranger to get to school this morning...I made it! I now know the exact buses I need to take.

I am now on my second day of teaching, but I feel a little out of the loop. Because no one speaks English well, they forget or just don't tell me what's going on at the school. I was in my classroom prepared to teach the grade 6 students at 9am, but it is now 9:40 and there are still no students. Not really sure what's going on. The ability to just 'go with the flow' and not need a whole lot of information is essential!

In other news...Jenn and Jordan have their visas! We are so excited to have them here with us! If all goes as scheduled, they will be arriving on Thursday at 1pm.

Adjustments

2008-09-01T21:55:00.000-07:00

Erin again with another update...we're alive and well in our new city. I think this year is going to be very very different from last year. We've had a few bumps to work out as we get set up, but nothing too big. We are thinking that our landlady went through the Korean war and has become a pack-rat because of it. (Yes Amy, I think she would even beat your pack-rat tendancies) Our one room apartment had a piano in it and was full of horrible plastic-like blankets and broken pots and pans. The blankets took up the limited closet space and while a piano is nice, it is highly impractical when it is such a little room. We asked her to move it along with all the other junk (perhaps to her own apartment?)...to which she said that there was no other room. Our contact at school was kind enough to reason with her and we now only have a few of her storage items in our place. Apparently this is quite typical in Korea.

The other hiccup that I'm dealing with is getting lost. Blake and I worked at the same school last year and our classes were beside each other. This year I have to take the bus and he walks to school. I know it's pathetic because so many other couples never even have the chance to work together, but I really miss him. I rely on him in so many ways, but his gift for direction entirely compensates for my incompetence in this area. I can never tell you which way is north or south and I constantly get turned around and confused. I follow Blake like a puppydog as we navigate around the city. Now I'm on my own and I hate it! I got lost going home from school last night and couldn't find my way to school this morning. I still don't know how to get home! I'll have to sit down with google earth once we get internet hooked up at home and try to make sense of it. Last night when I was trying to get home it was pouring rain and I had no umbrella. I knew I was really close to home and probably could have made it had I searched a little longer, but Blake had felt prompted to come look for me in the pouring rain. I can't express the relief it was to see my man come to rescue me! I felt like such a damsel in distress awaiting my knight in shining armour to rescue me. I am so thankful for him!

Teaching is going pretty well. The students are very low level English and nothing like what we experienced last year. I am the only foreign teacher at school and the other Korean teachers seem nice and friendly, but many are hesitant to talk to me. The kids are pretty funny and some are just so desperate to interact with me, but can't figure out what to say so they just bang their hands on their heads (which is typical when you're frustrated). Other kids will just yell out any English words they know like 'hamburger' and 'hi!' Hilarious at this point. I think we're getting the true 'ESL' experience now.

Jenn and Jordan are still stuck at home in Canada because of the visa situation. They have another flight booked for Wednesday and are hoping the visa will come through by then. We are eagerly anticipating their arrival!

Korea: Round Two

2008-08-27T17:51:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

We're here in Korea once again. We had a fairly uneventful flight- long, but good. I think the whole process is pretty hard on our bodies and Blake is currently fighting off a cold. We are in our new apartment in Seoul and it is bigger than we were anticipating. It is still one big room, but I think it's gonna work. We are currently consuming large amounts of caffeine at Dunkin Donuts in order to cope with the time change. We have been laughing about how different it feels to come to Korea this second time around and feel so at ease with everything around us. We were so lost the first time! We've missed this place and are happy to be back-we don't feel so much like foreigners.

Right now we're off to E-Mart to try to get the essentials and hope to visit our friends Daniel and Hannah (and new baby Jonathan) in Pohang in the near future. We'll try to update as we can- we still don't have internet hooked up at our apartment.

Update regarding the Visa Process

2008-08-21T14:26:00.000-07:00

Our Visa has finally been processed and everything is ready for us to leave on August 26th. Thank you so much for praying about the situation. We were getting a little concerned about making our flight! I would ask you to remember Jenn and Jordan as they are still stuck in the process. At this point it looks like they will be delayed another week and a half which means they will miss training and the first week of school. Needless to say... they are feeling a little discouraged. I couldn't help but laugh as Jordan said he understands why consulates are targets for bombings. (he's not actually considering bombing though :) Blake and I will have to go blaze the trail ahead of them in Seoul and then try to meet up with them a week or so later. We're not quite sure how that's going to happen. In any case...we're in for another adventure! Thanks for tuning in!

The Dog Days of Summer

2008-08-07T12:02:00.000-07:00

For those who don't know, this is our precious dog Bailey. We're worried that she's too stressed out! (Please notice the tongue hanging out!)

Update

2008-08-07T11:39:00.001-07:00

Our original flight date to Korea was scheduled for August 19th, but we've been delayed because of the freakin' visa process. (For those of you who are ever embarking on this process, be sure to have a gazillion copies of your university transcripts.) Our flight date is now booked for August 26. My (Erin's) visa confirmation number came today, but we're still waiting on Blake's before we can go to Toronto for the application and interview process.

Last year when we went to Korea we simply booked our tickets and went to Korea. We had to make a trip to Japan in order to get the work visa stamped in our passport, but it really wasn't such the complicated procedure that we are going through now.

The reason this whole process has changed is due to a man by the name of Christopher Paul Neil. He is actually a Canadian citizen who was teaching in South Korea and sexually exploiting kids through the internet. German police were the ones who finally caught the guy in Thailand and now South Korea has responded by tightening the rules on who can be employed in the country. While it is an admirable thing for Korea to do a better job with screening people, it's a big pain for people like us and the process takes several weeks.

We were really hoping to be in Korea early so we could visit some friends in Daegu before we start teaching in Seoul, but at this point it looks unlikely. We would appreciate your prayer for Blake and I as well as Jenn and Jordan that everything would run smoothly and quickly with our visas!

Thank you!

Friends

2008-07-14T13:07:00.001-07:00

We spent a weekend at Jenn and Jordan's cottage. Blake and I were so happy to get in on the tradition of a couple's weekend away. This weekend last summer was cause for some intense homesickness! Jenn and Jordan are the furthest couple to the left in the picture and they are also the good friends that we're kidnapping and taking with us to Korea this next year.

Picture order: Jordan, Jenn, Megan, Caleb, Chris, Amy, Erin, Blake

Mom and Dad's 30th Wedding Anniversary

2008-07-14T12:51:00.001-07:00

We thought that 30 years of being married is good cause for a little celebration, so, we planned a little party! Mom and Dad aren't into those big celebrations when they're the center of attention so we just had a small gathering of some couples that they've been close to over the years and had a barbq. Even though Mom has a sixth sense for knowing what's going on and can detect a secret from a mile away...we managed to pull it off as a surprise. We also put our pennies together and are sending them to the musical 'Sound of Music' in October. I think they're a little excited!

Below: Mom very surprised!

Below: 30 years ago!

Cute moment cutting the cake!

Above and Below: My ever photogenic father!

Below: Yes, I think we are some very sick people. We found it so amusing to torture our poor dogs by tying helium balloons to the collars. Personally I think they liked being the 'celebration puppies.'

Cottage

2008-07-14T12:05:00.001-07:00

One of the events that we've been looking forward to this summer has been a week at a cottage. It was such a beautiful setting on Chandos Lake near Apsley. Here are the photos!

(Above) Mom making a bouquet of flowers. I'd say she looks relaxed!
(Below) Dad fishing.

Mom and Dad getting quite competitive playing go-nad golf!

(Above) Blake getting ready to knee-board.

(Below) Good friend Mark came to visit.

(Below) Blake showing some sweet moves. Looks like a natural!

Above: Blake and Marky

Below: Beth and Erin. Yes...if you remember from previous posts...this is the same Beth from Korea! She lives in Ontario too and we finished our contracts at the same time. Funny how it took going to Korea to meet when we even have some mutual friends! It was so good to have my family and some friends meet her because she's a big part of what made Korea so great for us!

Mmmmm Shish-Kabob.

Dad relaxing perhaps a little TOO much!

My photogenic father again ruins an otherwise great photo!

Joel's Graduation

2008-07-14T11:37:00.000-07:00

My little brother Joel...sorry, let's be honest... my not so little brother graduated from high school this past June. We couldn't have been more proud of him! He got the top marks award for the school and also raked in some other math and chemistry awards. I'm a little partial I know, but this kid is a genius! And yes...I retain bragging rights! :)

(Below) This is the face for: "I just got five awards and I'm so excited to see how much money is inside so I can come to Korea to visit my big sister!" It was surprisingly disappointing considering the prestige of all the awards! I think Blake was the most disappointed of all. He remarked with disgust, "It doesn't pay to be smart!"

(Below) This is Joel and his good friend Etienne. They are ever so excited and feel they are ready and mature for the adventure and challenge of post-secondary!

(Below) A sweet one of Joel and Blake. It is such a rare find to come across a photo where they're standing beside each other smiling. Normally they're on the floor wrestling and punching and calling it some form of male bonding.

(Below) Dad didn't get the memo about this camera :)

(Below) "Big brother" Tim sharing in the excitement.

Amy's Wedding

2008-07-14T11:36:00.001-07:00

June 7th was an absolutely beautiful day! Despite the drama leading up to the day, everything went so incredible smooth. The couple looked smashingly gorgeous, we had a lot of fun and they got married (most importantly)!

Absolutely no fun was had here!

Our pretty flowers!

Above: The 3 Covert Kids

Above: The new Covert clan siblings
Below: All of Amy and Chris' siblings

Mom, Joel and Erin

Above: We wondered where all the boys had disappeared during the reception! We soon found out!

Above and Below: Jenn, Jordan, Blake and Erin. Jenn and Jord are coming to Korea with us!

The Bachelorette Party

2008-07-14T11:22:00.000-07:00

I do apologize to our faithful blog readers. I have been doing an absolutely horrible job with maintaining this site and I sincerely apologize. We have been enjoying our summer and with all the social engagements, we're just not sure how anyone has the time to squeeze in a job! We are so thankful for all the time to put into our family and friends before we embark on another year. I'm going to try to post some pictures of some of the things we've been up to this summer. Happy reading!

First up...Amy's Bachelorette Party!

Blake and I arrived home just in time to be in the thick of wedding planning. There was a bit of drama including an almost butchered wedding dress by an unnamed bridal shop in Peterborough, but everything worked out beautifully in the end. One of the privileges I had as the sister of the bride was to plan an unforgettable party that would make my sister feel so very loved and special. Here are some photos from the night.

We dressed my sister up in a beautiful dress from the 1980's (courtesy of Heather Anderson who found it at Value Village) and gave her some gloves, crown and a veil for her special night. We took her out to Boston Pizza for dinner and only one couple asked to be moved away from us! We then had a list of activities that Amy had to complete in and around Wal-Mart. It was hilarious watching the faces of the people looking at Amy. One little boy stood in awe as we walked in and said to his mom, "Mommy...who is she? She is beeeauutiful!" We whole-heartedly agreed! There are a few photos here of the different activities Amy needed to do before she was allowed to go home.

Below: Chris also had some wonderful friends who wanted to make him feel special too!

One of the final moments for Amy was standing outside of Wal-Mart with a sign asking for donations for the honeymoon. One of the reasons we saved it for last was that we feared we may have been asked to leave and that would have been a real shame. Much to our surprise, the Wal-Mart staff thought that it was absolutely hilarious and joined right in on the fun by helping out with the tasks and then taking pictures. Amy stood outside and raised the $5 she needed in no time flat- I think more so because people felt sorry for her!
All in all...I think she felt very special and now has so many memories of an unforgettable night! Yes...I think I accomplished my duty as maid of honour with flying colours...if I do say so myself! ;) I'm so glad I got married first because I have no doubt there would have been some intense revenge!

Home in Canada

2008-06-02T21:07:00.000-07:00

We're home! Back in Peterborough and loving the time with family and friends. Jet lag hasn't been so bad. There have been a few rough days where we were super sleepy and only one bad night when we were up early in the morning- other than that we've been pretty good considering our schedules have been completely flipped. Adjustments have been a little weird, but we're doing ok. We're having a hard time hearing English all around us and not being able to tune out the conversations. We've been straining our minds and ears for an entire year to hear words we can make sense of.. so it's a little overwhelming to be surrounded by conversations we understand. I have been super excited to go shopping and see clothes that aren't plastered in weird designs or crazy English phrases. Blake has been living for the moment when he could golf again so he's been loving this past week.
Right now we're in the thick of errands and plans for Amy's big wedding on Saturday. We'll post some pictures after the big day.

Bye Korea...Thanks for all the Kimchi!

2008-05-24T19:37:00.000-07:00

We finished work and are now packing all our belongings and heading to the airport. We anticipate a massive dose of jet leg...any tips for a quicker recovery? So long Korea...we hope to be back and for those in Canada...see ya on the flip side!

Gonna Miss Korea

2008-05-22T18:03:00.000-07:00

Blake and I have been saying goodbyes to students this entire week and are currently on our second last day of teaching. While we are over the top with excitement about going home, there are some mixed emotions with having to leave everything here. Our home in Korea has been such a stable, secure place for us this year. There have been challenges with adapting to a new culture, but it has been so good in many ways. We're now on the verge of unknown...once again. We are going home to live in the basement of my parents' house with no car, no job and no secure plans for the future. Our desire is to spend good quality time with friends and family for the summer and then come back to Korea for round 2. We are currently applying for positions and going through interviews and while jobs are a dime a dozen, the right job takes some searching. Round 2 in Korea will also involve bringing 2 of our close friends from Canada with us for the ride in Korea- which we are thoroughly excited about. We would appreciate your prayer over the job search- we desperately need wisdom and God's direction.

As of late, my mind has naturally pulled out of the Korean scene and I have been thinking more about plans in Canada and the differences in culture and how we're going to have to adjust.

Here are some things I'm going to miss (or not miss) about Korea. In no particular order...

1. First up...Couple Wear!

Korean culture frowns at public displays of affection. Therefore, a couple who desires to publicly display their commitment and affection for one another will wear identically matching outfits. They will often wear the same shirt, pants, shoes and even carry the same bag. This is extremely popular with the younger generation of adults and youth. Blake and I have refrained from adapting to this part of culture, but we did get our first set of 'couple wear' as a goodbye present the other day.

2. Friends! We've made some amazing friends while being here in Korea that we love very much.

We are also going to miss the friends we have made in really random places. Sometimes when you can't communicate with many people, you make friends with people in the oddest places. We are quite sad to leave our friends who own our favourite coffee shop. They speak a little bit of English and we have become quite close from all our visits to get our 'frozen caramels' -which rock the socks off of Iced Caps (I'm sorry to say). Unfortunately, we don't have a good picture of our owner friends, so I'm just putting up a picture of the specialty drinks.

3. Korean Food
I don't think it's going to take long before the cravings start to hit. One of Blake's favourites is bibimbap and is displayed below. I don't think it looks so appetizing, but you've gotta trust me on this one...it's awesome. Mixed vegetables, rice, egg, meat with red peper paste.

4. Crazy Driving.

Ok, so this one I am not going to miss at all. I feel that I've somewhat adjusted to the way things just seem to work with traffic. When the light turns green you IMMEDIATELY honk your horn to let the people ahead of you know that you're waiting. Cars swerve from lane to lane without checking blindspots or signalling and it seems that it's a matter of luck rather than any skill that prevents countless accidents. Most cars also come equipped with tv's in the front and people watch while driving. It's crazy!

Cars also park everywhere. Just put on your emergency lights and it lets everyone else know you're doing something crazy. You can park on the streets or sidewalk and everywhere between. People will place their phone number in the front window of their car to call you if you need to move- towing doesn't seem to happen.

5. Another thing that I won't miss is trying to avoid getting hit by scooters. Delivery people always use scooters because you can drive on both the road and sidewalks and seem to have the right of way regardless of where you are. They save on gas and get to the location very quick. I have to say I've never had the experience back home in Canada of being honked at while walking on the sidewalk. Delivery guys bring your food on plastic dishes and will return a few hours later to pick up the dishes that are left outside your door. For those uninformed foreigners who order food and then trash the dishes, it can be an awkward situation when the delivery guy comes looking for the dishes.

Below are dishes waiting for pick up.

6. Korean Fashion

Fashion here reminds me of what the early '90's would have looked like back home. I don't think I have ever seen a more unashamed use of rhinestones on shoes or frills and lace on dresses. A very common outfit for a girl is a baggy t-shirt (they love Mickey here) with spandex pants, big earings and high heels. High heels are a bit of a staple and they accompany even some of the most frumpy outfits. Blake and I have found it somewhat entertaining to watch how these girls do almost anything in heels. We were hiking a mountain and saw a girl doing the same in heels. This is one area that I was not really anticipating to be a problem when coming to Korea. I skimped when packing shoes thinking shoes were universal and I'd find some in Korea. However, I haven't found much that I like. Sorry...that's not strong enough...I hate the shoes here!

7. Sun Visers and Sun Umbrellas- The most fashionable item for Korean ajummas (that's middle aged Korean women with permed hair and flower pants) are sun visors. These come in all shapes, sizes and colours, but my favourite has to be the tinted ones that cover your entire face. It seems that women here are obsessed with keeping their skin white and protected from the sun. Younger fashionable women carry umbrellas. Funny how our obsession back home is with getting our skin tanned and dark.

8. The Challenge of Communication

I've mastered the job of ordering pizza. I think our conversation goes something like this...

Pizza Lady: Hello?

me: Hello, pizza, please, 1, Hawaiian

Pizza Lady: Yes

(She has our address come up on call display when we call so rhymes it off and it sounds right)

me: yes, thank you

We're actually not as bad as we make ourselves out to be, but we do enjoy the challenge of communication for the most part. It's such a satisfying feeling when you finally understand each other- I'm going to miss that.

10. People not understanding us

I think Blake and I have developed a bad habit of talking to one another in loud voices because not many people can understand us. Just yesterday we were walking down the street and Blake commented in not so much a quiet voice about how big the woman's hair was. Granted it was huge hair, but I think we've become a little blunt and loud- maybe we've absorbed more of the Korean culture than we thought! This may present a bit of problem for us. It's going to be weird to have people understand us again!

Bird Flu and Kimchie

2008-05-13T19:47:00.000-07:00

Because we work a somewhat odd shift of 4-10, we teachers never usually eat dinner. Our school thought this was a bit of a problem a few months ago so they decided to generously provide a snack for the teachers on our 5 minute breaks. Yesterday the menu read 'fried chicken' and everyone was really excited all night. However, we went to the snack room at 8pm, there was a sign saying that they wouldn't give us chicken because of the bird flu. Our bodies are probably better for it, but it was quite a disappointing moment.
This morning I've been trying to catch up on the status of this bird flu epidemic and can't help but giggle at the sometimes hilarious thinking in Korea.
Basically, there have been a few cases of bird flu and they have started to slaughter up to a million birds in an attempt to get rid of the disease. People are no longer eating chicken. The one article I read has told people that eating kimchie (that's the red pepper fermented cabbage that Koreans eat with EVERYTHING) may prevent you from getting the disease. Now they do qualify this by saying that it is far from scientifically proven, but it seems that the public doesn't remember or need that part in order to run with the idea that kimchie can cure anything. They love an excuse to tell the world about the miracle powers of their beloved kimchie! People are stocking up on kimchie now at record rates. One stat said that on average, each Korean will eat 40 lbs of kimchie annually.
This kimchie is the same food that the Koreans claim prevented them from getting the SARS virus. The kids vehemently defend this fact, yet can't quite articulate why it's is true. They don't think it's been proven scientifically, but how else can you explain why no Koreans got the SARS virus when the rest of the world was hard hit?! Duh- it's the kimchie! :)
After being here for a year...I still can't quite bring myself to eat it raw. I love it cooked on the bbq, but raw is still a little much for me. One thing I don't think I will ever get over is old men with kimchie breath! That's a shock for the senses!

Two Year Anniversary!

2008-05-13T08:58:00.000-07:00

Has it really been two years?! I had to stop and think the other day whether it had been 1 or 2. Time has gone so fast! Yet, in other ways...I have to consciously try to remember what life felt like before being married.

I think it's hard to sometimes appreciate how attached we've become to one another until we're separated. I know it sounds a little cheesy, but I don't feel quite right without him by my side. These past few years haven't been without their share of struggles as these two imperfect people attempted to make marriage work. I look back on some of these pictures here and laugh at our naivety- not knowing all the things we would have to fumble our way through- sometimes succeeding and sometimes failing miserably. Marriage has been good. Sometimes hard, but good. I knew we were different when we got married, but marriage really seemed to magnify how different were really were! Some days I think that I could have a much loftier vision of myself i it weren't for Blake. I wonder if part of the purpose of marriage is to keep you humble and aware of who you really are.

Blake and I went on a coffee date yesterday to do some reflecting about where we're at and where we're going. One of the things we discussed was how this year in Korea has been so beneficial for us as a couple. We've been stretched, pulled, and placed in many rather uncomfortable circumstances, but these situations have forced us to rely on each other more than we ever had to before.

Thank you to those who have supported and encouraged us as we walk this road together. God has provided us with many beautiful examples of godly marriages. Please continue to pray for our marriage- that we would strive to put Jesus first and that we would love one another selflessly. I'm sure in the future we'll look back on this moment in time and again giggle at our naivety. We definitely haven't figured it all out, but we're a working progress by the grace of God.

Blakey,
Thank you for 2 years together! I love you very much!

This last picture is the one I have on my screen at school. I find it hilarious that the overwhelming majority of my students will look at it and the first thing they mention is concern about the possibility of getting hit by a train. I don't think it even crossed our minds!

Thailand Part 2

2008-05-13T08:20:00.000-07:00

Here are the photos from our underwater adventures in Phuket, Thailand.

The picture below really makes me laugh. These baby bears were not being cared for by their mother so they were taken in and rescued. I love how Blake looks so comfortable holding the baby! I wonder if it's the stiff neck, straight back or the baby bear holding up his own bottle that screams, 'I'm comfortable!' I think Blake's commentary of this moment was,
"Erin, I think the bottle is running out of milk! What do I do then?!"
I think there's gonna be a huge learning curve when we have kids of our own.

Thailand Adventures

2008-05-04T05:09:00.001-07:00

Hey All! We're back home in Korea safe and sound. Thailand was an amazing week. It was so warm and beautiful and we have a ton of photos to share. Hope you enjoy!

These first few pictures are of us way up high in the jungle trees. The trees are all connected with ziplines and we flew from one tree to the next. It was pretty scary at first because we were so incredibly high, but so much fun!

These next few pictures are of the beautiful orchids in Thailand. Blake was in his glory with beautiful flowers and a camera.

I'm not sure what I was thinking about above with that frown, but I like how the photo is set up with the butterfly up close.
These next 3 photos are from a night safari. Unfortunately, most of the other photos didn't turn out because of it being dark.

These next few photos are from a few days on the ocean. We went sea kayaking and also took a speed boat out to a few islands. There have been a few movies filmed on some of these islands because they're so beautiful.

Below is Monkey Island. Blake is making some friends.

Phi Phi Island

Below are the fish we went snorkeling with.

Sea kayaking

Above: Blake showing off his white skin...err...I mean huge muscles!

Elephants!

Above: This elephant took off down the street right after the photo.

Above: Romantic Dinner
Below: Blake's amazing sunset shots.

So that's it! Hopefully we'll have some more shots to put up from our underwater camera when we went snorkeling- we're really not sure how they'll turn out. We've got lots of stories to share, but I don't think I'll put them up here right now. Today I just wanted to share some of the photos.
I think it's going to be extremely hard to our heads back into work tomorrow! However, we've only got 3 more weeks to go so the final countdown is on!

I Want Pizza

2008-04-24T22:52:00.001-07:00

One more post before Thailand tonight!

Blake and I have had some free nights this week because our students are busy studying for their exams and don't come to CDI. Wednesday night we actually had the night off together and had a few friends over. We decided that we wanted pizza from a great pizza store called "아이완피차" which translates "I want pizza." Trouble is...I couldn't find the phone number and had to call information to get some help. The information girl's English was fairly good, but we had a bit of an issue regarding the name of the pizza store. I told her that I wanted to order pizza and wanted the phone number for the pizza shop. She asked the name and I said "I want pizza." She seemed a little irritated and said that she knew we wanted pizza, but needed to know the name. This went back and forth a few times. The NAME is "I want pizza!" She ended up getting us a number, but it didn't work. We ended up making spaghetti instead.

Thailand news...we are very excited! I tried to call the first hotel today to ask them about a ride from the airport. They put on 'the English girl,' but we weren't able to talk well. I asked her how we would know who to look for at the airport and she responded with, 'ok, goodbye' and hung up. Umm...this may be the start of a really big adventure! :)

Phone Jail!

2008-04-22T00:26:00.000-07:00

Koreans love cell phones! Everywhere you look people are talking on cells, texting or holding their phones so that they're ready for an incoming call. I think one of the things that shocked us the most was seeing how many little kids have cell phones too. Perhaps their parents are using it as a safety precaution, but I don't understand why a four year old would need one!
Anyways...this presents a bit of a problem for me as kids are often distracted by their phones and try to hide them during class. I catch countless numbers of kids trying to text without looking at their phone- points for talent!
Very early on I saw the necessity of what's called, "Erin's Phone Jail." If I see a phone or hear a phone, it goes to phone jail for the rest of class and cannot be used even on breaks. Today I was teaching some junior students and a phone started to ring. I was slightly irritated as all my kids denied ownership of the ringing phone. I made them all look in their bags to prove that it wasn't their phone making the noise. Unfortunately, they all proved they were telling the truth and I then realized that it was MY PHONE! How stupid do I feel!! Naturally, the kids thought this was hilarious as my phone went to jail.

We also have a very exciting announcement:
After a year of anticipation, we have finally booked a trip to Thailand and leave this Friday April26th. We will be gone for a week returning Sunday May4th. We will visit the northern city of Chiang Mai for the beginning and then will be heading south to Phuket for the remainder of the visit. We are very excited! We are armed with our camera and are rolling up our bartering sleeves....actually Blake is more excited about this :)

Busan Trip

2008-04-20T07:08:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Blake and I went to the second largest city in South Korea called Busan. We were checking out some potential employment opportunities, but we were also very interested in some of the tourist attractions of the city. The first place we visited was the Busan Fish Market. I have heard stories of this place from the horrific smell of fish guts to old Ejemas (that's old Korean women) running down the street after an escaping octopus. However, nothing prepared me for the real thing. There were streets lined with tanks of live fish, dead fish, dying fish flopping around gasping for air, fish not completely dead, yet cut in half, dried fish, octopus, squid, crabs, seaworms, etc... I was so glad we went when the weather was a little cooler because I can't imagine how horrible it would have smelled in warmer temperatures.

I think one of the most disturbing memories for me was watching a cute little family buying a live octopus. The family made their pick out of a tank and the old woman selling grabbed one of the legs and dropped it into a small bowl on the ground. As the family got out their money to pay and everyone was distracted, I think the octopus thought it had finally got a break and tried to escape. It crawled out of the dry bowl and made its way to another bowl of water nearby. As soon as the transaction was completed, I witnessed an incredibly disturbing scene... the lady grabbed it by a leg out of the water, ripped off the head, reached in and yanked out something round and black (heart?), plunked it in a bag and handed it to the family. Wow is all I can say.

Poor Octopus

Our good friends Andrew and Hannah accompanied us on the trip. These next few pictures are us on the beach looking out over the East Sea (as Koreans call it) or the Sea of Japan (as the rest of the world calls it).

Below: Andrew and Hannah with us.

The next place we were eager to see was the Busan Aquarium. I think I am forever scared of the ocean because there are some really huge, really scary looking things that I hadn't previously known to be afraid of! I am thoroughly convinced that God has a sense of humour because there are some bizarre looking creatures out there!

Oh...Blake wants to apologize for the poor photos as there was low quality lighting and we grabbed many of these pictures from video. :) Definitely not his fault! ;)

I think these guys have a perma- headache!

Some sort of weird jellyfish.

Below: One of Blake's favourites! The Jackass Penguin.

This fish is absolutely massive! I think it could have easily been bigger than me- biggest I've ever seen.

Yuck! Weird looking eel.

Massive Crabs!

Yup... fun day!

Gyeongju

2008-04-19T06:19:00.000-07:00

Blake and I having been working quite a lot recently and were really feeling the need to get away from the pollution and the big city. We decide to take a trip to the smaller town of Gyeongju which is about an hour from our home in Daegu. There was a Cherry Blossom Festival in this city and it's famous for being very beautiful this time of year. The bus ride cost $7 for the both of us- crazy how cheap some things are! Blake was in his glory snapping pictures of flowers and the beautiful scenery. Here are some pictures from the day.

Marathon Results

2008-04-13T05:33:00.001-07:00

We did it-we finished 10k! Twas a good day! My students were quite concerned about us going in a marathon when we don't speak Korean and thought it was a bad idea. Sometimes I wonder how they think we've survived at all this last year in doing anything. The day started off a bit rough when no taxis were anywhere in sight. After we stood for awhile with no hope of a ride, Blake gave the thumbs up sign to a random car. Turns out they recognized our marathon shirts and gave us a lift. We couldn't really communicate well, but I think they understood we were thankful! Other than that, it was a great day and really...who needs language when all you're doing is running? Blake finished the race no problem in 1 hour. He was actually hoping to score one of the best times in the girls category- we signed up for the run on the internet and he didn't know how to change the gender to male- so he proudly ran with a 'red' number on his shirt in the girls category.
I finished 1 hour and 14 minutes and I am extremely sore now! My goal was to simply finish and not really worry about speed or time. I kindof felt like the slow turtle passing all the fast little bunnies who got tired half-way through. So vindicating! The day ended with us finishing the race and then going to the foot massage hut where they had students give us a great massage- it was so wonderful! Here are a few pictures from the day. Please note the spelling of depository in the first picture! :)

Here are a few pictures of the Daegu World Cup Stadium where the race began and ended.

This is a picture of Blake and I early in the morning before the race. Blake looks really sleepy!

Here are some shots of some of the runners. We had to put our camera in a locker so we don't have any pictures of us during the race.

After our run posing with the weird big head dude. This shot followed quite a hilarious scene where a bratty little boy tried to pull the head off the mascot and nearly succeeded.

Below is Blake and I with our 'finisher medals ' at the end of the run. We handed the staff our computer chips and they handed us finisher medals for the 42.5km run instead of the 10km. They must have assumed because of our incredible physique that we were in the full marathon. Easy mistake! :) On these rare occasions, the language barrier works to our advantage!

Update

2008-04-12T00:30:00.000-07:00

Hey Y'all! Thought I'd give a bit of an update. The rhythm of school continues to go well- we love working with these kids and have been growing in many skills. I have recently been 'voluntold' to do a parent presentation next Wednesday on the program of CDI. While I am very confident infront of a group of kids, I am quite nervous about being infront of a bunch of parents. There's quite a bit of pressure as these are paying parents who are very interested in their kids education!

Blake and I are also gearing up to run in a marathon tomorrow morning. Blake has been pumped about this ever since he heard about it, but I have never really enjoyed running- I just get so bored! Anyways...being the supportive wife that I am...I signed up too. I figured that this year has been a year of pushing ourselves beyond our comfort zones so we decided to add a mini-marathon to the mix! We've been training at the gym most days and Blake has been doing really well- he'll make 10k no problem. I on the other hand am a little concerned! I'm still seriously considering just going for the t-shirt! :) We received information about the marathon the other day in the mail and it included a microchip to wear on your shirt so they can track how far you go. I wasn't too happy about that! Today one of my little guys in class told me he was in the marathon too. He said he'll run with me so I have someone to talk to because I'm sure Blake will be way ahead! Now I have to finish- I can't let one of my students beat me! *Sigh*

This is a picture from the marathon last year. I don't know if I'll ever meet up with Blake if we split up! Thank goodness for cell phones!

Crazy Konglish

2008-04-06T07:14:00.000-07:00

The Asian Squat

2008-03-30T08:53:00.000-07:00

I have a test for you Westerners.
1. Stand with your legs shoulder width apart.
2. Keep your feet flat with heels touching the ground
3. Bend your knees to lower your body so you are in a squatting position (without letting your heels pop up)
I would like to hear from those of you who are successful with this! I would especially like to hear of the success from those blog readers of Asian descent who have grown up in another country. Is this a genetic ability or a learned ability?
I am amazed to see Koreans chilling out all the time chatting, eating dinner or just hanging out while doing the squat for long periods of time. They make it seem like it's a comfortable position. I can't do it without my heels popping up! Here's a video to show you exactly how to do the "Asian Squat" as well as outlining the benefits.

I also wanted to introduce you to one of the things I dreaded most when anticipating the move to Korea. The dreaded "Asian Squat Pot." The majority of places we go have regular bathrooms, but there have been the occasional outings where this has been the only option. Despite not being able to do the normal 'Asian Squat,' it's not as bad as I had originally thought.

Blake's Photography

2008-03-28T01:43:00.000-07:00

The following are some of Blake's amazing nature shots.

Happy Easter

2008-03-21T23:12:00.000-07:00

Pondering once again the significance of the cross on Good Friday and the empty tomb on Resurrection Sunday, I stumbled upon a new blog. I have been touched afresh and I would encourage you to check out the newest entry from Beth Moore's blog.
I'm at a loss for words. How easily we get distracted from the incredible truth found in the cross and empty tomb. Praise God for those moments where He breaks through the dullness of our hearts to reveal Himself afresh.
Happy Easter

Yellow Dust

2008-03-19T22:39:00.001-07:00

Blake and I have been hearing about a phenomenon called 'yellow dust' occurring in the spring months here in Korea. We had our first experience of this yellow dust a few days ago. The air was thick- almost looked like it was going to rain and there was a yellow haze in the air. The cars are apparently dusted with this yellow dust in the mornings and many Koreans walk around with face masks on. I've been told that it is hard on those who have allergies or asthma and I'm thinking my recent bout with laryngitis could possibly be linked to this. I looked up this 'yellow dust' phenomenon on Wikipedia to give a more educated explanation of what is occurring.

Asian Dust (also yellow dust, yellow sand, yellow wind, or China dust storms) is a seasonal meteorological phenomenon which affects much of East Asian sporadically during the springtime months. The dust originates in the deserts of Mongolia and northern China and Kazakhstan where high-speed surface winds and intense dust storms kick up dense clouds of fine, dry soil particles. These clouds are then carried eastward by prevailing winds and pass over China, North and South Korea, and Japan, as well as parts of the Russian Far East.

Spring!

2008-03-19T22:30:00.001-07:00

Here are some pictures that Blake took this morning while playing sports with some friends.

Birthday Party

2008-03-18T23:47:00.000-07:00

For someone half a world away, I feel so blessed and loved by those back home. I can't imagine how different it would feel to be here in Korea without facebook, email and skype! Yesterday was my birthday and I just couldn't resist the opportunity to share a picture from a birthday card I received.

My nickname from Tim is punkin.' Thanks Timmy!

Blake was also really sweet in trying to make my birthday special. He got up early and brought back these to surprise me. What more could a girl ask for?!

Our friends here in Korea had a gathering to celebrate- actually we celebrate every Sunday for no reason at all, but this Sunday we celebrated 2 birthdays. Mine and our friend Daniel's. (who I've been meaning to do a post about....I'll get on that in the near future!) This Sunday we went out to a restaurant called Tres Lore (I don't think the spelling is right). Anyways...it's a fabulous restaurant where you get soup, salad, bread, your meal (spaghetti) and unlimited dessert all for the price of....drum roll...$8! Blake is in his glory! I think he ordered 4 smoothies. Yes, needless to say...this man of mine is going to have some tough adjusting to do when we come home. We took a few pictures of the gathering.

Finally a picture of Beth and me! Beth is the one who reminds me of my mom.

Would you believe they're having fun?!

Take 2- The boys above just wouldn't cooperate for a good photo! Blake is actually mimicking what some of the Korean girls do for photos.

Blake and Daniel trying to concentrate on getting a good shot. Not easy!

(Daniel is the unphotogenic birthday boy on the right- I think the second photo was take 27 or something).

This next photo was not Sunday, but a shot of some of the special friends we've made while being here. Someone said that our meat cooker should have some of the meat because he looks too skinny.

In other news...I have been sick for a week now and have been diagnosed with laryngitis. Not so great for someone who uses her voice for work! I've been trying to take it easy with my voice so I don't grow nodes on my vocal chords-whatever that means. The doctor's office was quite the experience- she checked my nose and throat out and then made me sit with this humidifier shooting water up my nose. Then she put a laser up my nostrils and made me sit there for a minute. Not really sure of the purpose- but I wasn't exactly in the position to be asking questions (language and throat issues).
My kids in class were so well behaved yesterday. I told them that I couldn't talk loud and so they were so so quiet- they even talked to me in whispers! Very cute!
Oh, check out the time counter! 55 days...whoops...getting a little ahead of myself...65 days!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

2008-03-09T22:25:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday Grandma! Thank you for being such a joy and blessing. We love you lots!

Canadian Winter

2008-03-09T21:11:00.000-07:00

Countless times I have been told how lucky I have been to miss this year's Canadian winter. As a person who is terrified of winter driving, I would tend to agree with them. These are some pictures a friend recently posted on facebook of the blizzard-like Canadian winter I have missed. While I have been struggling with feeling a little homesick as of late, I have absolutely no desire to deal with all that snow.
I giggled when I looked at what Blake chose to wear this morning on our walk and decided to take a picture of my man to show the contrast.

(Note the shorts and flip flops)
Sorry if this makes some of you folks puke, but we're up to 15 degrees today!
While I miss so many of you back home, these pictures have cured my homesickness.
I love you guys and can't wait to see you when the sun's shining!

Strawberry Season in February

2008-02-20T06:50:00.001-08:00

I can't express to you the intense disappointment I experienced when we decided to come to Korea in May, knowing full well that we would be missing one of my most treasured times of the year...strawberry season! For those who know me, strawberries are my hands-down favourite food. I've been a fan since...I can't remember. Self-control knows no boundaries during this season and I've been known to make myself literally sick.
Blake and I recently discovered that Korea's strawberry season is in February-March! I can't express how excited I am to be hitting Korea's season now and then Canada's season when we come home in June. What more could a girl ask for?! I have seriously considered this ESL thing in Korea for a good deal longer if it means I get fresh strawberries two times a year instead of one!