End of Season 1

As I am sitting here listening to Big Bang, a famous Korean pop group, I decided that I should write a weekly update since I have nothing better to do. :) It's nice to not be too busy right now. I spent today at a bridal shower for my neighbor and resting at home. This week went super fast. It was my "light week" meaning I only had my full day of teaching on Tuesday and Thursday. On Thursday I gave all the students a proficiency test so I wasn't really teaching that day either. I spent most of Friday grading the tests, though. Tomorrow I will give the students the oral. It is interesting to see what they remember and see how much they learned this year. Makes me feel like I am doing something even when it sometimes seems like they aren't making any progress.

The highlight of the week was this weekend. On Thursday evening I went to the HS musical production of Urinetown. It was wonderful! Then, on Friday night I had all the girls on swim team over for a spaghetti dinner. We had a good time playing Catch Phrase and eating ice cream fondue. They also gave me a really cute giant card. It was nice. Then, on Saturday we had our KAIAC conference championship meet. We left at 6 AM and didn't get home until 7:00 PM so it was a long day, but a lot of fun. Most of the swimmers had their personal best times. Unfortunately, one of our last relays got disqualified for an early start so we ended up getting 7th place (our goal was 6th) by just 3 points. Overall it was still a good day though. It will be nice to have more time in my week, but I think I'm really going to miss seeing my team everyday. Luckily, most of them will be back next year!


Most of the swim team before the awards ceremony. The end of a very long day.

Time is flying...

Time is going so fast that before I know it I will be home! Ok, to update you on this week I have to start with last Sunday. I spent Easter Sunday at a Hanwha Eagles game. The Eagles are Daejeon's professional baseball team. It was a beautiful day to be outside so a bunch of us decided to check it out, and it was quite an experience! Baseball games here are so different than in the U.S. At home, baseball games are about socializing and eating, but here, the entire crowd was doing chants and banging thunder sticks for the whole 9 innings. It was unbelieveable...I felt like I was at a basketball game in the student section, not watching baseball! It was also funny because they didn't have a 7th inning stretch, but instead, after the 5 inning, the players came on the field fou about 10 minutes and actually stretched! haha. It was a good time, though.

Monday through Thursday our school was being evaluated by a visiting committee from WASC, our accreditors. It was kinda nerve-racking when they popped into my classes, but nothing too bad. The worst was on Tuesday when I wasn't teaching. They came and found all us teacher in our workroom and started grilling us about our curriculum writing and assessments. I tried to make an escape to the teacher's lounge, but was unsuccessful because I was caught by the WASC guy. Oh well, I think we got all good marks and feel confident that we will get the full 6-year accreditation.

This weekend went so fast. Saturday we had a swim meet (which I almost missed because my alarm clock didn't go off. Eek!) that actually went really fast. Our team swam well, too. We just have one week left; next weekend is our conference meet. Then, last night I went with some of my friend to Outback and then to the movie New in Town or Miss Lucy or whatever it is called in the U.S. It was hilarious because it is set in SE MN and it totally plays up rural life. It reminded me of home and made me laugh...a lot. Today the weather was so warm--80 degrees--so I went for a bike ride. I'm starting my training for RAGBRAI. I think I got in about 20k today and maybe 15k on Friday. I hope the weather stays nice so I can keep riding regularly. I don't have any more traveling planned for the rest of the school year so now it is a straight shot to the end. I'm looking forward to my around-the-world trip and for some time at home, but things are still going well here. I hope everything is going as well stateside!

Just call me nurse!

I have finally found time to write about my amazing Spring break mission trip to Boracay, Philippines. Early (2:30 AM!) on Saturday, April 4th, 17 of us--5 leaders, 11 boys, and 1 girl--left for our destination, and after 2 flights, a bus ride, and a boat ride we arrived...17 hours later. For being such a tourist spot, the island sure is difficult to get to. It was definitely worth the hassle, though, because the place and people are absolutely beautiful.

We were hosted by a ministry called On the Rock which is currently building a four-story community center for the people of Boracay. The 1st floor will be a preschool, the 2nd a Bible school, 3rd floor is a medical clinic, and 4th floor is a gym/auditorium. It is BIG project; we spent every morning of the week working on the second floor. We actually only poured concrete one day, but the other days were used preparing for the pour mostly by hauling endless piles of gravel and sand up the bamboo stairs via a bucket brigade, measuring them, and putting them into bags. It was tough work and it was hot so our biggest challenge was keeping everyone hydrated! Some of those boys earned the nickname "ox" because they seemed to never tire.

We mostly had the afternoons free to relax; however, we usually headed for the beach...less than a 5-min. walk away. The beach was lined with restaurants, shops, palm trees, and awesome white sand by clear blue water. Some days we swam, other days we got henna tattoos, we also enjoyed plenty of mango shakes and cerealicious (cereal, milkshake, candy, and ice cream in one!). My favorite day on the beach was when a group of us rode the banana boat and fly fish. We had a blast, but got thrown off a good number of times. hehe. Another highlight of the beach was the little Filipino kids who were always around. One day we played frisbee, volleyball, and rugby with them. They speak English pretty well so we could communicate with them. They were so cute!

We all had plenty of opportunities to interact with the kids at feeding sites. Everyday at four we split into two or three groups, hopped into a tricycle, and went to a more remote area of the island. Sometimes it felt like we were headed into the jungle! While we were there we sang songs with the kids, performed a short skit of the story of the lost sheep, played with the kids while they colored, made paper airplanes (they LOVED them), passed out candy and vitamins, and did basic medical treatments on their many wounds. They also receive a meal there. I think this was my favorite part of our trip because it was so cool to see the boys with the kids. They were so good with them!

Other highlights of the trip included eating dinner every night on the beach. I mean, our tables were right by the water so you could hear the ocean and see the stars. One night we went on a sunset sail. Absolutely gorgeous! On the way back we saw a beautiful moonrise, too. I had never been sailing before, but it was cool how we were kind of like flying on the water. So relaxing. On our last day we took an island hopping tour where we snorkeled and had a picnic lunch at a beach on the other side of the island. But despite all these awesome things, the biggest highlight was getting to know an awesome group of high schoolers. It's crazy how close we got in just one week. It was cool to see them all get along so well and grow so close by the end of the week. One of them even shared that they were "like brothers" by the end of the trip. :)

I think one of the reasons that we all grew so close was because this trip was far from perfect in that we had a lot of mishaps. The most evident being sickness. Now, before we left I had been declared the team nurse. Who knew it would be such a big job! The second day of the trip we had two boys come down with a very bad illness. Both had fevers and 0 energy. One even had to be on an IV for 2 days. One morning I woke up and took his temp and it was 103.5. It was scary, but a couple of the boys stayed behind and helped take care of him. After several visits from the doctor it was discovered that he had hookworm (that he apparently got in Korea...Yikes!) so he was given treatment and recovered in a day or so. The other boy recovered as well, but the next day 3 more people weren't feeling well. On the last day we made yet another trip to the clinic to find out that one of the boys had a perforated ear drum. Ay ay ay! We as leaders had to take turns staying behind with these sick people basically the entire trip. It was a lesson in service that I wasn't expecting. I was prepared to serve the Filipino people, but sometimes it is just as important to serve those who you came with. Luckily, they have all made full recoveries. :)

Well, this is quite long, but it was such a great week! We all had a blast and grew a lot. I feel so blessed to have been given the opportunity to go on the trip, to meet the amazing people on the island, and to help with a variety of really awesome things that On the Rock is doing there. Plus, now there are 16 other people on campus that just make me smile when I see them because we shared a week full of good, bad, hot, fun, challenging, rewarding, memorable times.

Be sure to check out the pics! :)