Living the Language Vol. 2...

I nearly forgot to give you the answers to the quiz.
(http://barjonah.blogspot.com/2008/12/living-language.html)
Here you go:

1. Mek do nal du
2. Baw gaw King
3. Dawn kin Do naw chu
4. Kei Epu Si

5. Pi cha Hawteh

6. TGIFridays

English Camp Vol. 2...

Just like that...it's over. And it seems we were only getting to know each other. My class was the best, no matter what Pastor Paul says. :) It has been a great week. Nine well adjusted, eager 3rd graders and two beautiful, capable bilingual assistants...what could be better. We spent four days teaching English grammar, songs, games and bible stories. Sun Jin and Eun Young were invaluable. Sun Jin being stronger in English developed some good vocabulary and story lessons. Eun Young whose strength is Korean served as chief translator. It was fun to watch the faces of the kids as they heard the Hanguel and suddenly realized what I'd been trying desperately to explain. Even at their age I sometimes felt they were looking at me with pity and understanding as if to say, "Dear man, we don't understand a thing you say, but we do appreciate your effort."
They loved elbow tag. You pair up and link arms with two set aside as chaser and chasee. The chasee runs around and eventually links arms with someone. At that instant the person on the other end of the now three person chain becomes the chasee. If the chaser ever tags the other person, they immediately switch rolls. There are no superstars and everyone gets to play. It can go on for hours, and after Monday that's the only game we played. There would be a lull in the teaching and they would say, "Game?" I gave in a couple of times.

We met on the third floor in the choir room which was a perfect set up for me. It had a sound system, and I was able to set up my laptop and a projector. I played music as they entered, and on Tuesday I went in to find one of the girls at the drum set. My first instinct was to tell her to get away from it, but something stopped me. That's when I noticed she was actually playing with the song I had on the system. Any time we had a break she was there "thump tat thump chink thump tat thump chink...."
Each day we prepared a song to share at Worship. Days One and Two I introduced them to my old friend "The Music Man". They love him as much as I do. Day Three we shared "You are My All in All". That's when God hit me with the inspiration.During a short break, I began to hear classical music. I looked up and this tiny 3rd grade girl was at the piano playing Mozart with drum set accompaniment (sort of). I looked at Sun Jin and raised my eyebrows. She raised hers and said, "You have an idea!" I had already thought of doing an interpretive movement to "Lord, I Lift Your Name On High," and I said, "What if...what if...what if we did it live? No CD?" So, that's what we did. We formed our own third grade band. Both the girls were excited, and we added one of the boys on violin. The pianist took the music home and returned Friday with it mostly memorized.Surprisingly, I haven't gotten to do a lot of musical direction here. So, I was thrilled to say "Hana, Dul, Set, Net" and lead these three children in the introduction. They watched me closely and adjusted like pros. It's a good thing Jewel doesn't have a computer or she might be a little nervous about her job. ;) The other kids did well, despite being 3 persons short. Imagine trying to do hand gestures and sing in a second language. They were a little quiet, but they did well. I was shocked when we didn't win. The other three teams had paid bands and singers on CD, but we were totally live and self-accompanied. I was very proud.And just like that, it was over. They evacuated the building leaving me alone with one left over Krispy Kreme donut. I will miss their smiles...their attentive stares...their laughter...and that cute way they said, "Teacher?" I saw the pianist later today. She was at the hagwan where I'm teaching a bible study. She smiled when she saw me... That's what you do when you've played in a band together...

English Camp...

Here's my 3rd grade class. They are a great group of kids. More to come...but now I'm off to ring in the new year. Hey, I'll be in 2009 before any of you. Sweet!!
Leading the best song every written... "I Am the Music Man"

The Bike Accident... (or) The Best Summer of My Life...

Pastor Paul's article in this week's bulletin shared his favorite Christmas memories. It reminded me of some of my own, so I'd like to share one with you.

When I was young, I loved my bike. It was black and gold with a banana seat, high handle bars and that wonderful pedal brake. Now the pedal break is vital if you really want to have fun on your bike. It was great for off-roading at the "dirt hill." And only with a pedal brake can you pop wheelies or power slide at that special spot in the road where the gravel collects. By the time I was 12, I had outgrown my banana seat and desperately wanted a 10 speed. It looked cool and I thought it would make me grown up. However, the thrill wore off quickly. I realized right away that it was much easier to climb hills, but the fun stuff was over. You can't power slide with hand brakes, and those tires are way too thin anyway. I missed my banana seat.

My riding was not without incident. There was the time I was riding the banana seat to the neighborhood pool. I hopped the curb and stood as I coasted down the grassy bank like I had done a hundred times before. I was on the same old trail traveling at the same old speed when a hole that had never been there before grabbed my front wheel and brought the bike to a sudden stop. The bike stopped, but I didn't. Instantly, I was sliding down the hill on my chest and hands. No damage except to my pride. There were other incidents involving scraped knees and torn jeans when my bell bottoms got caught in the chain. That can also be a sudden stop. Remember clothes pinning baseball cards in the spokes? My friends and I were real bikers with that tough bop bop bop bop sound coming from our motors.

The biggest event of my biker career came when I was 9. It was the last day of school, and after supper I went out with some friends to celebrate our freedom. I got separated from the others for some reason but knew where they had gone and where they would show up. So, I decided to have some fun and swoop down from out of nowhere to join them when they turned the corner coming from the pool. I went to the top of the Dupes' driveway and waited. As the seconds passed, my heart began to pound harder and harder. "This is going to be really cool," I thought. Then I saw them. As they turned the corner, I quickly looked both ways and started down. My speed was perfect to make the turn, and I quickly reached the road. I faintly heard one of them cry out my name...then stars...then nothing.

I awoke on my back on the driveway. There were adults gathered around me, and I looked around for my bike. It was about 10 feet away and there seemed to be something wrong with the front wheel. I tried to get up to check it out, but the adults insisted that I stay where I was. That made me a little mad, but then I saw my leg. There was a strange knot on the side of my lower leg, so I decided to do as they said. The short side of the story is that I did not see the VW Bug headed my way. The 19 year old driver never saw me until I was on his hood. My left leg was broken between the knee and ankle, and I had a slight concussion from impacting the windshield. I spent 4 days in the hospital. That was the beginning of my summer vacation.

You might think it was a horrible experience, but I have to disagree. Strangely, I'm thankful for the accident, because it led to the best summer of my life. When I was a child, both my parents were teachers. So, the whole family was all off together. We always did things together, and I remember many things from my childhood. But rarely do I remember when they occurred. That summer, however, stands alone. I'm not sure if my parents were trying to make up for the loss of freedom or if I was just more keenly aware, but it seemed that we spent even more time together as a family. Perhaps I was only receiving the benefits that were always there but had missed by being out in the neighborhood all the time. We had picnics in the back yard, and Daddy started a big project for my room. He had built furniture for my sisters before that, and now it was my turn for a major overhaul.

My full size bed had a headboard with three pocket bookcases built in. Daddy turned it on it's side and made a really cool unit with randomly sized permanent shelves. (He still uses it under the house to store motor oil and such.) We hung that on one wall. For the other wall, we made long shelves, and I learned how to use a chisel to make notches for the supports. We painted them with oil based enamel red, blue, green and yellow and used the same colors in random fashion on the headboard unit. I learned a little about removing oil based paint, too. To replace the bed frame, Daddy made a nice plywood box with an opening at the foot end, which served as storage for games and toys. The really exciting part of the whole thing was the support piece across the middle of the bed frame. It created a secret compartment that was only accessible by lifting the bed and box springs. Of course it wasn't all that secret, because I needed someone else to do the lifting until I was in Middle School. With the shelves, bed frame and a fresh coat of paint, I had a brand new room.

Here I am painting...I wore that plaster cast for eight weeks. Ha, I hadn't noticed before, but you can actually see signatures around the knee. When they cut off the cast a strange thing happened. The technician removed it and told me to swing down from the table. The moment I did, my leg involuntarily lifted off the floor. After carrying the extra weight for a couple of months, my muscles automatically compensated. I was intrigued, but it never happened again. I suppose the brain said, "Oh, well, I'm glad that's gone."

To make up for the lost summer, my parents took me to the beach for a week before school started back. We always camped at Myrtle. That was back in the good old days. Pine trees...lots of families...bamboo fishing poles...Japanese lanterns...Coleman stoves...and bug lights. Daddy, ever the good dollar stretcher had built his own car carrier. In it was our 5 man tent, cots, stove and traveling kitchen. The kitchen was a large wood box with drawers and plenty of room for all the necessities. I think it even had a towel rack, but I'm not certain about that. (I think he still has it under the house, too.) Mama had made special sheets for the cot mattresses, and it felt just like home. And she could really make a good meal at the picnic table. I still occasionally hear what sounds like an old Coleman stove and swear I smell bacon frying.

I'm glad I was reminded of that summer. What could be viewed as tragedy was for me a real blessing...memories I will cherish the rest of my life. Sometimes I question God, "Why did this happen? This is not what I wanted." But I am comforted knowing that He is fully aware of my needs and is never far away. I can trust Him and rely on His promises. I may not see more than a few steps of the trail, but when I follow Him, I find what is best for me. He has promised, "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (Jeremiah 29:11)

Sinusitis...

Doctor's exam & a steroid injection..............$12.05

Five unknown medications..........................$8.03

Humidifier..............................................Free

Waking up to a relatively clear head.........PRICELESS

(This was a 24 hour clinic on Sunday. Imagine what it would have cost in the US.)

Some Random Photos...

I've had these photos and didn't know where to put them. So they go together, I guess.

You think you have cable issues?
Me at the Currency Museum...
Moving Day...
Wash - Rinse - Dry. No kidding.
You must get your paper before you enter. Proper planning is essential.
The Korean version of the "Dollar Tree" (Actually it's more like 75 cents with the exchange rate).

Christmas Morning in Korea...

Choir cantata...worship...celebration...friends...family...the perfect Christmas. During the service, the infant boy next to me reached for me, and his mother handed him over. I held him and bounced my knee as he played with the zipper on my Korean/English Bible. The smell...the sound...the warmth...the feel of his fine hair against my cheek...the delicate fingers wrapped around my pinky...how Joseph must have wondered in awe as he held the Creator of Heaven and Earth in his arms.

About halfway through the music, Yu Na came up from further back in the room and squeezed in under my arm. She's 8. We sat there together until it was over, clapping our hands together in applause. What a wonderful gift I received this Christmas.The soloist is doing double duty.
I think you'll recognize this song.

Christmas at Calvary...

I went to Seoul again today and enjoyed time with my Calvary friends. However, I was reminded once again that if you stand in one place for very long, they will think you have nothing to do and put you to work. So, I helped serve the meal tonight. It was a lot of fun.
Sure, I'll wear that outfit anytime as long as this happens.
Do Rae Mi... I stayed with them Christmas Eve night.
By the way, as I write this it is officially Christmas in Korea. Merry Christmas!!