I guess it's been a while since I've blogged. Two months in fact. My sincerest apologies to my adoring fans. Ha. I will start where I last left off. I was able to go to the States for a week long visit and it was marvelous. I saw my family, met my nephew and my best friend came down from PA to see me. I felt like I hadn't missed a beat, I owe a lot of that to modern technology. Without facebook and skype things would be drastically different. It was a very refreshing trip packed full of catching up and gearing up for the last leg of my Korean adventure.
When I got back to Korea I was rather quickly thrust into my new position as head teacher. A role that I was nervous and excited about taking on. I've never really thought of myself as a leader, but I saw it as an opportunity to be stretched, and it has proved to be just that. My first day back to work my best friend e-mailed me with the most beautiful and heart warming letter of affection. I was completly caught off guard but clearly see the work of Christ in our lives and in our relationship. It is truly incredible when things are done in His way and in His timing. I feel as if blessed isn't a strong enough word to express the favor the Lord has shown to me in the past few months and even year. And although long-distance is hard and at times frustrating, I trust the Lord to cultivate this relationship into one that is pleasing to Him.
Many people have asked me what is next for me. I've never been one to make plans, I just kinda go with the flow. Initially I was going to stay another year in Korea, but in light of the recent developments in my relationship with Jud, I've decided to reconsider, and do my best to factor him into my plans. I'm currently looking for a job in the Pittsburgh area in order to be closer to Jud and try my hand at the Northeast, pray for me, cause I feel an adjustment coming for this Southern girl. I've also had spurts of fear about not being able to find a job, but then I remember that He will provide. So I'm doing my part, and waiting to see what the Lord will surprise me with next.
Here is a funny story to end with. Yesterday I was sitting at my desk making some samples for an English Village we are going to have at school. It will include a bank, police station, store, and library. The kids will go to the different places and participate in different activites. Well one teacher thought it would be a good idea to do fingerprinting at the police station. So I was gonna make a sample to show in a meeting. I found an ink pad on a shelf in the teacher's room and decided just to use it. I got a scratch piece of paper and fingerprinted my fingers, then I went to the bathroom to wash it off. I expected it to rinse off easily however I was sadly mistaken. I scrubbed and scrubbed and to my dismay every one of the fingers on my right had was stained purple. All I could do was laugh and be thankful that I was done teaching for the day. So the moral of the story is, don't use ink you find on a shelf to fingerprint yourself. :-)
I teach a class of first graders and they speak little to no English. We usually have fun, but sometimes kids disagree for silly reasons. Well not being able to understand what the problem is makes it difficult to resolve and so as I was helping some girls with their assignment two boys were having a fist fight behind me. I turned around and they are just wailing on each other. I had already warned them twice about not hitting and staying seated, so I promptly grabbed their hands and marched them to the front desk. While we were standing there and the two boys were explaining to the "desk teacher" a.k.a. secretary what the argument was about the bell rang. So she scolded them and sent them home. Later I asked her what the problem was and she told me that Tredjor had put the tip of his umbrella on Peter's shoe. Peter got mad and hit Tredjor in the chest. Then Tredjor explained that the umbrella on the shoe could not have killed Peter, but Peter's punch in the chest could have killed him, so he hit him back. Then he proceeded to use the analogy of a cartoon he had seen to better explain the situation. We both kind of laughed about it, but I was a little concerned. I know kids fight, and I've seen it before, but this was serious. After some thought I came to conclusion they learn this from their fathers. I have seen grown men in suits fighting on the subway. It makes me sad that children are taught from such a young age that this behavior is acceptable or appropriate for dealing with conflict. Pray that the little ones will have a better example of how to resolve problems.
