Well, it's been a while since I've written on here. And I'm gonna blame Anlee. Having a girlfriend takes a lot of time! I find myself wanting to see her all the time, and other things get pushed to the back. It's crazy! Having a girlfriend should mean you get 4 extra hours in every day. Where was God on that one? But seriously, it's great. My time and priorities have certainly been rearranged, but it's all very good.

I've give you some snapshots of the last 3 weeks.

Well, my mind isn't going back that far, so let's do the last week. Last Saturday, Anlee, me, Amanda(Anlee's roommate), Brian (Amanda's friend), Cam, and Gideon went to see the Nutcracker ballet in Seoul. Some of Anlee and Amanda's Korean co-teachers also joined us, one of them bringing their family. It was a great night. Probably the best part was eating a full-on American meal at Tony Roma's before hand. I got just a plain old burger and my taste buds were jumping up and down in excitement the whole time. It was incredible. I had a good time talking with the husband of one of the korean teachers. They lived in Canada for several years, and more recently lived in NYC for 2 years. They have two younger kids that both speak Korean and English. Pretty cool. After dinner we walked up the street (in the 25 or so degree weather) to the Seoul Arts Center. It was a really nice building. Our seats were way up at the top, but it was still a good view. I was surprised at the number of foreigners there were around us. There was a white couple probably in their late 60's, early 70's right in front of us. I also wonder what other people's stories are. I wonder how long they've been in Korea. The ballet itself was very different from the American version. I had seen the Nutcracker in Seattle as a child and had really fond memories of it. This version did not really captivate me. The dancers were great and the music was great, but it was kinda hard to pick up on the story line, and really didn't draw you in very well. It was not as captivating as I had hoped it would be. And it didn't help that the audience would clap after every slightly impressive individual dance performance. And so every 8 minutes or so, the play would be interrupted by applause. Kind of annoying. But it was still a good time. It's nice having a group of English speaking friends to hang out with.

The next day, Sunday, was our Christmas service at my church. Now, I haven't really ever played with the worship team at my church. I've done a couple of special music pieces, but nothing with the team. They know that I play and have asked if I want to get involved. But I've told them that one of my reasons for coming over here was to take a break from being in a leadership position, and being up front in the church. Not because I don't like it, or don't feel called to it. But just because I've done it for most of my post-middle school life and feel like if I'm going to continue to be in ministry or leadership positions in the future, I'd like to take a step back now, while I can, and just evaluate life and God from a non-ministry perspective. So, I've turned down the offers, but have said that in time, I'd love to join them. And this Sunday was mostly a bunch of special music stuff so I agreed to be a part of it and ended up being part of 4 different songs. I played O Come, O Come Emmanuel on the guitar and sang. I played piano for a Korean guy named Sung Min for a Kirk Franklin song. It was all jazzy and gospely, and was a good challenge for me on the piano. I also played piano for an American girl named AP on Oh Holy Night. It was an interesting blend cause she's a classically trained singer (think opera) and I worked up an arrangement that was more upbeat and syncopated. So we both had to compromise and agree on a medium. It turned out great though. And lastly, my Korean friend Paul was doing a rap and he asked me to right a hook (you know, the singing part that comes in between raps; kinda like the chorus). I put together something and sang that with him to a track. It was pretty fun. It was nice to play a good amount of music that day. I still think I'll wait a bit to play with the team, but am feeling close to being ready.

On Monday, Anlee and I went and saw Avatar. That was really sweet. Go see it.

Then, Christmas Eve, I got to lead a song in the Korean Christmas Eve service. The Korean church that my English service is held in is huge (I think 15,000 members). And they put on a Christmas Eve service that was mostly just special music, and a lot of kids dancing around. And they asked a group from the English service to do a song. I volunteered to lead something kinda last minute. So we did my arrangement of Joyful Joyful We Adore Thee. I played guitar and sang, Pastor Nick played piano, someone played bass, and then there were 3 other singers. It was really fun. There were probably around 3000 people there. Good experience.

After the service, a group of us went over to Anlee and Amanda's place. The girls had the idea that we could all just crash over there and then nobody had to wake up alone on Christmas day. We had a great night eating yummy food (thanks to Costco), watching Elf, and playing Nertz, the greatest card game in the history of the world. The only bad part was that I got dominated by Amanda, who's only played once before. I will get revenge before I leave (that's right Amanda, just wait). It was a good time hanging out with friends, and then we all crashed on the floor.

Christmas day, we went back to the church, as there was a turkey dinner being served for the English service. It was pretty good. Not amazing, but real American food is always appreciated. After that, Anlee came over to my place and we hung out for the rest of the day/evening. We shared gifts, made a Christmas tree (picture), watched Grinch, went on a walk, and had some yummy alfredo and ice cream cake. It was one of the best day in my recent memory. It was nice to have Anlee and other friends to share Christmas with. At no point did I feel lonely. Then I skyped with my family today (the 26th) and got to chat with all the relatives that are over. I almost felt like I was there with them.

Here's a link to a new video that I just took this last week of the infamous Tae-oo Fekkes, my Korean brother. http://www.vimeo.com/8390635

http://www.vimeo.com/8116619-here's another video. This gives you a taste of my everyday morning walk into school. Enjoy.

Well, I have a lot of videos that I would like to show you all, but for some reason, I haven't been able to upload them directly to the blog. So, if you'd like to see more of my life in Korea through video, you can go to this link and watch the videos. I just put one up of a student of mine who wants to be my brother and has named himself Taylor Fekkes. Enjoy! http://www.vimeo.com/8005805

Hello, hello. It's December already. Crazy! Time goes by in really weird ways when you're in a new country. Yesterday there was some snow blowing around, but it didn't stick. It was really cold last night though. I went shopping in Seoul with my ladyfriend (everyone: see below; Anlee: you said you preferred "lady" over "girl". haha). And it was cuh-old!! I bought a new beenie that keeps my head nice and warm, but it's tough to keep out the chilling wind. I guess the average temperature is right around freezing for the next 3 months. Golly!

I found out roughly what my teaching schedule looks like for the next few months. And it's pretty sweet! So, the students all just finished final exams this past week. And the next three weeks we have school, but we're finished with the textbooks so I just get to plan whatever I want for the classes. I'm doing "Missing Lyrics" this next week with both grades. How it works is all the students get a sheet with the lyrics of a song, except that some lyrics are missing. And then we listen (or I play on guitar) the song several times and they try to fill in the blanks. This is my favorite lesson plan. Easy, fun, and it involves music. I'm playing "Hey Jude" for the first year students, and we're listening to "Hello Seattle" by Owl City with the third year students. The following week I have a "Creating Sentences" lesson for the 1st year students. And then the 3rd week I am going to do Christmas carols with my guitar with both classes. And maybe a Christmas quiz and candy canes for prizes. Should be loads of fun. And that's December. And then there is technically no school in January. But during the first week, I am supposed to put on a English Winter Camp, with a special group of kids that sign up to continue studying throughout the month. And then I will have some classes with this same group of students (I think) throughout the month, but it should be a pretty easy load. Maybe one or two classes a day. And then, normal school is back in session the first two weeks of February, and there is no school whatsoever for the last two weeks in February. So, for one of those weeks, I just bought a ticket to go visit my relatives in the Philippines. Pretty pumped about that. Got a great deal on the ticket too. I'll be there in Manila for one week. So, that's how my next few months look teaching wise.

Another notable thing in this past week is that I started reading a biography of Martin Luther. It was written in the '50's I think and is called "Here I Stand." Several years ago, I watched the Luther movie when it was in theaters, and I was really intrigued by his life. And reading all the details now has really been captivating me. He story is amazingly interesting. I recommend both the movie and this book to everyone. Why it is no refreshing for me to read this right now is that I, at times, get kinda isolated and forget that other people struggle with faith and understanding God and the Bible. I tend to think that nobody really struggles like I do and that I ought to not struggle like this. But Luther wrestled INTENSELY with what to make of the Bible and what God's thoughts towards him were. It controlled his life! And this has given me some peace with where I'm at, and some strength to keep asking questions and searching. But I've learned that there is a right and a wrong way to ask questions, and to have doubts. As I learned in different book yesterday (yes, dad, I starting reading "Doubting" and it's perfect for me right now), there's a difference between skepticism and doubting. Skepticism is "the decision to doubt everything deliberately, as a matter of principle." And doubt is something that is quite natural as humans with limited understandings and abilities who are trying to understand a God and his created world that are beyond comprehension. I would say that I have been living mostly in the skepticism realm for the past 4ish years. Purposely bringing everything in to question and being afraid to hold anything as "truth." But things are changing now, and I will soon write a blog that contains more of my present thoughts. I have much more to say. All that to say, Luther is hugely encouraging to me right now. I read the biography for like 6 hours on Monday.

And lastly, as I mentioned before, there is a really cool girl named Anlee that is part of my life. She's been a good friend of mine for a while and now I get to call her my girlfriend. I've been teaching her guitar and we have bible study with a few others every thursday. She teaches at a different school about 30 minutes from here. She's 23 and from Georgia. Yup. If you want more info, you're gonna have to contact me personally.

Alright. Hope y'all are well. Let me know if there are ways I can be praying for ya. Gotta get ready to go to church. peace, derek

Things are going well here in South Korea. This past week was another good one. Next week is final exams, so I put together a game to help review everything we've gone over. I did a similar version of the game with both my 1st and 3rd year students. It brought some nice competition in the classes and I had a lot of fun with the students. This next week, since it is exam week, I think I have only one class on Monday, and none the rest of the week. I still need to come to school, but I'll be spending my time lesson planning and somehow trying not to be bored. I don't even really know what lesson planning I need to be doing since the following three weeks we don't follow the book, but just do whatever we want in class. So, I think I'll bring in my guitar and do a song one week, and I've already got ideas for the next two weeks. But I guess it doesn't hurt to have random lesson plans lying around. This past week, I had some extra time so I started researching why so many English words have silent letters, which turned into researching loanwords, which lead to the history of English words in general, which lead to the history of England and me reading about the Vikings, Old English, Old Norse, and the Anglo-Saxons. It was really interesting. So, I put together a lesson plan about loanwords (words that a particular language "borrows" from another language; like Pizza(italian), knight(german), tortilla(you should know this one), and the history of English words. I think my original goal was to show my students the reason English spelling rarely keeps to any rules. And I ended up finding it really fascinating that the reason is that English has always been a language that is influenced and changed by the cultures and people around it, even those that are attacking it. Some other world languages are protected for their purity, that they won't be deluded by other languages. But English has always welcomed that change and is a representation of all the different types of people that speak it. Isn't that interesting? I thought so. And I hope my students think so, though I think it may be a little beyond most of them. We'll see...

On Friday, I went over to Anlee and Amanda's house for some of Anlee's salmon salad. It was very delicious. But the most exciting part of the night was that we played Nertz! For those of you who aren't aware of the awesomeness that is Nertz, it is a card game that is kind of a combination of solitare and speed. As Anlee put it, Nertz was her version of partying in college. And I can say the same thing. We would have Nertz parties at our house senior year and play for several hours. One guy at my school even started keeping a spreadsheet on his computer to keep track of like 10 categories of stats from the game. Every time a game was played, he inserted the data in the computer. He must have had like 70+ people in there.

Saturday was an eventful day. And I wanted to tell you about it by making a list of the 8 reasons I'd rather take a road trip with 25 Korean middle schoolers than 25 Korean middle school teachers, but I felt bad about listing all those unpretty details. So, I'll just give you a quick rundown. One of the teachers at my school got married yesterday down near the south part of South Korea; about a 3 1/2 hour bus ride from Ansan. The school decided to take a bus down there for the teachers that wanted to go to the wedding. I didn't have anything else going and decided it would be a great Korean experience-seeing a Korean wedding, seeing another part of the country, and hanging out with the teachers outside of school. And it was mostly a great time. I was glad I went and I now have lots of knowledge and experience that I didn't have beforehand (some of which I would be alright not having). We first went to a traditional Korean village down in Jeonju, the city in which the wedding was being held. That was pretty cool. Then we went to the church where the wedding was being held. (As a side note, many Korean weddings are actually held in an apartment or office highrise, with a couple floors set aside for weddings. My apartment building is one of these. Also, Korean weddings are typically very short. I've been told weddings at these buildings are just in and out, with another wedding right afterwards). Well, this wedding was a western style wedding and was at a church. When we got there, the first thing we did was go into this room where the bride was positioned against one side, seated, with her wedding dress on. And anybody that wanted could go up to her and get a picture with her. So there were like 20 of us in this tiny room all waiting to get a picture with the bride. I found this situation rather odd, since it is not part of a typical American wedding. Typically, as a guest at a wedding in America, you don't see the bride till she walks down the aisle during the wedding. I can see some of the purpose of taking pictures with the bride before the wedding, but all that I could think of was, if I was a bride, the last place I'd want to be in the minutes leading up to the wedding was seated, unable to move, with people rotating in to get a picture with me. But that's probably just my American expectations and traditions coming through....Okay, so back to the story. After we get a quick shot with the bride (and of course as the foreigner, I'm immediately pushed up to get in a picture) we head out of the church back towards the bus. And I'm confused. I had heard Korean weddings were short, but was this it? Turns out we were heading to lunch. The guys were hungry. But it was 1:15 and the wedding was starting at 1:30. I asked about this seemingly important fact. "The guys are REAllY hungry." Oh, that makes sense...No! It doesn't at all. We're going to miss the wedding! Am I the only one who see this? But I don't make much of a fuss, because I am not in charge and I figure the principle and other leaders know better than I do. So we get some lunch. I figure the wedding probably starts later than we thought. After about 25 minutes, I am told it is time to go to the wedding. About half the teachers get up to leave. Turns out the principal, vice principal, and the others are not going to come, but stay and drink. Interesting turn of events. And at first the principal tells me to stay, but the others come to my rescue. So, we get back to the church, and sure enough, the wedding has started. Not sure how much we missed but I'm guessing about half. The wedding was not anything too different from what I've seen, except the part where the groom gets on his knees to bow before both sets of parents. After the wedding, we get a group shot with the couple, and then head off to find the others. The plan is to go get some makuli, some Korean rice alcohol that is popular in this part of the country. We take a taxi to this small restaurant where the others are already waiting, and drinking. I will try give you a picture of what it's like being the lone foreigner in a situation like this. The moment I walk in, the principal yells out my name, bringing everyone's attention to me. They all have this slightly mischievous look on their face because of what's about to happen. Before I can barely sit down, the head of teachers gives me his bowl of makuli to drink. I think he wanted me to drink it all, but I take a sip. I am then handed a combination of food I know my body doesn't want. It's a piece of fermented skate (fish), some kimchee, and something else. But all eyes are on me, so what else can I do. As the only beverage around, I take a few more sips of the makuli since the taste of the makuli is heaven compared to the taste of what I'm trying to digest. I then ask for some mool, or water, and am quickly turned down. Eventually, another teacher sympathizes with me and gets some water. Makuli and a plate of food is brought out for all of us who just got there. I am poured a bowl of makuli and I take tiny sips to appease the others. Most of the food does not look very appetizing to me, so I try to bide the time with eating carrots. A little ways in, and about halfway finished with my makuli, one of the not-so-sober teachers insists that I take another bowl by (ha, he thinks I'm actually gonna drink this). Thankfully, we leave soon after this.

I will mention just one more thing. I asked about why the principal and the others didn't go to the wedding, and this is the answer I got. When it was originally asked about taking a bus to come to the wedding, the answer was that it would be too expensive. BUT, if it was turned into a "teacher's outing," then it could work. So, throw in the lunch($), the makuli($), and the folk village, and all of sudden it's affordable. I'm confused...

Today, I'm going to the US military base in Seoul for a full on thanksgiving meal. Pretty pumped about that. Here are some pics of the trip. peace out.


Below is Mrs. Kwon, who has taken care of me so well. She is the head English teacher and is so helpful and compassionate. I am so thankful for her.

Kimchee!!

Well, it's Sunday evening. I just finished putting the finishing touches on my lessons for this next week's classes. As this is the last week before final exams, I'm doing a review game with both my 1st and 3rd year students. I have a powerpoint with a bunch of sentences that either have a wrong word or are missing a word, and have something to do with all the stuff we've learned this semester. And each table gets a turn to pick a number, then I give them that sentence, and they have one minute to write the full sentence on the board. If they get it right, they get 2 points. If they get it wrong, the next table gets a chance to do it for 1 point. Furthermore, there are Jackpot and Ka-boom slides. If they pick a Jackpot slide, they get however many points are written on there; if they pick a Ka-boom slide, they lose however many points are written on it. Team with the most points gets a great treat (which I just remembered I need to go get at the store tonight. Bummer!). Should be fun.

This past week was my best week of teaching by far! It was awesome and I just had a blast everyday. I really enjoyed the students and I was confident and able to just be a goof at times and have fun with them. We all laughed a lot. I am learning how to engage the students more and getting more confident in teaching. I also started writing in Korean on the board this past week, which really got their attention. I got an ovation every time I did it. That was my favorite part each class. I'd have them give me a translation of a word that we were working on, and then I'd write it in Roman letters, and then attempt to write it in Hangul(Korean), which is possible because Hangul is phonetic. But the main reason last week went so well was that I got kicked out of my classroom and had to go around to the student homerooms, as most of the other teachers have to do. The thing is, in my English classroom, there are 6 tables with 6 chairs around each table; a set-up that lets the students sit next to their friends and encourages lots of chatting. In the homerooms, they are sitting in individual desks and have assigned seats. I had their attention 10 times more. It was so great. I hardly got frustrated at all. I was tired at the end of the week from putting so much energy out to make each class fun, but it was worth it. So, on Friday I told Mrs. Kwon that this week had been so great and that teaching in the homerooms was the major reason, and asked her if I could continue to teach in the homerooms. And she said it was up to me. Sweet!!! Mrs. Kwon is amazing. She is so understanding and takes care of me so well. So grateful. I need to get her a great Christmas present. So, whenever I'm doing a game or activity, I'm going to use my English room since it works best for team stuff, but otherwise, I'm going to keep going around to the student's rooms.

Watched two bad movies this weekend. District 9 and 2012. Not worth your time.

Today at church, I played a song for special music. Me and my Nigerian friend Badejo played my arrangement of Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee. I played guitar and sang, Badejo sung some sweet harmony, and a girl played piano with us. It was a lot of fun. And people really liked it. And I guess that the church is gonna have a concert thing around Christmas time and they asked if I'd be willing to play some songs. "Umm...Yes!" So, I'm excited about that.

This next week is Thanksgiving, and I am going to a big Thanksgiving feast at the US military base in Seoul with my friends Amanda and Anlee on Sunday. It's kinda pricey but I'm thinking it's going to be well worth it. And Saturday, one of the teachers from school is getting married about 4 hours away, and the school is renting bus to take all of us over there. I'm pretty interested to see a Korean wedding. I'll bring my camera.

Speaking of camera's, it's Kimchee making season here, and all the grocery stores are flooded with cabbage to be destroyed, I mean prepared, into Kimchee (picture above). How it works is that families buy like 100 heads of cabbage and prepare Kimchee to last for the entire year. They actually have a special "Kimchee Refrigerator" to store this stuff. According to Wikipedia, this appliance is the "most wanted household item in Korea!!" What the $%#? Seriously?!!? So, you don't see a need for an oven, but you make sure to clear a space for a refrigerator to keep fermented cabbage "fresh." Why not just leave it under the couch or something. Then, you could "enjoy" the smell of it all year long. Okay, I am being too harsh. Sorry. I actually do eat the stuff a couple of times a week. But on the other hand, I did see a bunch of cabbage leaves spread neatly across a big electical box outside this one restaurant. They were out there for like a week. A week that included rain. Note to self-don't eat Kimchee at that restaurant. And Anlee said that she saw some Kimchee being "prepared" by a guy walking on top of the leaves with shoes on. That explains some of the scent of Kimchee. Hmm...Nothing against Korea. I just don't understand the obsession behind this stuff. I'm going to list the Korean food that I do like just to counteract my previous words. Bulgogi, Dongas, Mandu, Kimbap, the seafood pancake thing, meet buffet, duck buffet, shrimp fried rice. That's all I can think of. There are some good eats here.

Okay, time for bed. An yeong he gae sae yo (goodbye in Korean).

P.S. It's cold here. I wear 5 layers to walk to school.

The other English teachers at my school. (above)

So, I got kicked out of my classroom for one week. My school is being audited/inspected and the inspection officers get to take over my room to use as their office. So, now I get to go around to the students home rooms to teach. This is how the majority of the other teachers do it anyways. The students stay in their classroom, and the teachers go around to the different classes. I really like having my own classroom. But I'm finding that their are some benefits to teaching in the homerooms. You see, in my classroom, there are six tables with six chairs around each table. This set up lends itself to lots of talking going on when I'm trying to teach (equaling a very frustrated Derek). But in the home rooms, they're all in individual desks facing the front of the class, and they naturally pay attention a lot better. So, my first day teaching in the homerooms was a little rough, just cause it was different for me and I had to adjust. But Friday was great! The students were so much more attentive than in my classroom, my lesson plans allowed for a lot of fun and laughter, and we all had a blast. So fun! So, I'll be teaching in the home rooms until Friday this next week.

I have 3rd year student named Ji Won who has started coming into my classroom at lunch to chat. Her English isn't great, but it's been really fun trying to have a conversation. She'll teach me some Korean and I'll correct her English. One day she brought in a 2x2 rubik's cube. I told her to try to finish it by the time school was finished. So, she brought it back after school and it was done. I was impressed. I asked if I could try it, so she let me take it home and I said I'd bring it back the next day finished. It was a late night, to say the least. I stayed up till 2 looking at stuff online trying to figure out how to do the freakin' thing! All the videos online were by these genius guys who always begin with the same sentence, "They're really nothing to this; it's really easy." And within 5 seconds they've lost me. So, I brought it to school the next day unfinished. But during a break period, I found a website that was simpler and was able to figure it out. So, I was inspired and went and bought a 3x3 for myself. I haven't had any time to put into it, but some students come in and solve it sometimes for me. They all seem to have them figured out.

I went to Costco yesterday. Kettle Chips, Tillamook Colby Jack Cheese, bratwurst (for breakfast scramble), bread, and pumpkin pie. Yummmmmyyyyyy! They had pumpkin cheesecake there but it was around $20 so I decided against it. But I may give in sometime.

I think an interesting question to ask oneself is, "If you did/do not worship God, what would/do you worship. I think everybody worships something. Money, comfort, family, friends, fame, respect, sex, alcohol, etc. I think for me, if I did not worship God, I would probably worship Kettle Chips. They're just that good! Next topic...

An African guy that I know from church is coming over today after church to work on some music together. It's so cool that he's actually from Africa, and not African American. I think he's from Nigeria. Speaks English. He's like 32 and married and is here studying at a university. Should be fun.

Well, I got to shower and get to church. Peace out, Derek

Okay, okay, I know it's been freakin' long since I put anything on here and most of you have probably given up on me. I'm sorry. But here's the latest.

Three weeks ago I flew back to the States for my friend Ryan's wedding in Colorado. It was weird coming to America not as my home, but being more like a visitor/tourist. But it was super good to be around my good friends Ryan and Tripp. We three lived together senior year of college. There are two of my closest friends and I am so grateful for them. I flew out of Seoul Wednesday night after school and arrived in Denver one hour later due to the 16 hour time difference. Wednesday night I stayed at Ryan's new house along with a couple of the other groomsmen. Thursday, all 7 or us groomsmen drove up to Breckenridge where Ryan's now wife's family has a freakin' sweet "cabin." We went by the grocery store and bought steak, potatoes, seafood, chips, and more and made a meal fit for a king. It was great. After that, there was a hot tub and Super Smash brothers on 64. I didn't really sleep at all that night. Possibly my favorite part of the time in Breck was getting up around 7 before everyone else (by that time I had given up on the idea of sleeping) and going outside as the sun was just coming up. I took a lot of pictures of the sun shining on the mountain and had a good time reading my Bible (Psalm 88 was refreshing for me at that time). I'll post a pic or two of this. Friday, we drove the 2 hours back to Boulder, where the wedding was, and that evening had the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. Tripp, my roommate for 3 and 1/2 years of college flew in from Chicago and him and I stuck together as we were the only two friends from Belmont there. After the rehearsal dinner there was a desert/wine get together at Ryan's house put on by a bunch of mothers. Tripp and I missed out on most of this, because we ended up getting into a great conversation in the car out on the street. It was a much needed and anticipated talk. Tripp is doing awesome! He's just on fire for God and the word. What's most exciting about it is where he's come from. It's been really encouraging for me to see the change that has happened in Him and how God has captured his heart. He's memorizing chapters of the Bible and is now considering becoming a pastor, things that I would have never imagined a year ago. Tripp and I have gone through some similar things with our thoughts on God and as far as being cynical and questioning God, so for me it was great to see. That conversation, coupled with an email from Shea and some other factors have really brought about some great changes in my outlook and faith. Mostly, grace has become evident in my life. God has been more real and the Bible is becoming more alive. I'm memorizing Romans 8 which reminds me of grace each day. I'll write more of what's going on later. But the past couple of weeks have been great.

Okay, what else is going on? Hmmm....I ate dog. Yup. Went out with all the teachers from my school, and I had heard that dog would be an option. I had said I wouldn't try it and wasn't planning on it. We get there and all the tables are prepared with chicken soup and some pork stuff (bosan?), except the principal's table, which had dog (supposedly it's really expensive and gives you stamina). So, being the foreigner and all, the vice principal and principal wanted to offer me some of this delicacy, and in the moment with everybody watching, coupled with the fact that it looked similar to any other meat, I gave in and tried a small piece. It was super tough and took at least 5 minutes to chew and swallow. And it didn't have much flavor either. I don't think I'll try it again, but the ceiling on my "Weirdest Things I've Eaten" list just got bumped way up.

A couple of weeks ago, I had probably my most exciting night in Korea so far. One of the Korean teachers at my school is a member at this music club in Seoul and she asked me if I'd like to go with her. So, I went up to Seoul with a few other friends of mine and we met her there. It was so much better than I had expected. It was a dimly lit room with comfy couches and tables spread across it, a bar, and up front a pretty nice drum set, a piano, and a plethora of guitars. And the only other people there were some of Eun Son's (my co-teacher) friends. There are no employees, just the members who can just go up and get the drinks or food that they want. And we could just go up and play anytime we wanted. Super relaxed environment. It was awesome. I played a couple of my songs on piano and then got to play drums with Eun Son and my friend Chris. It was a blast. I told Eun Son that I'd love to come back as often as possible. So, this past Thursday, the club had a big party, and apparently the owner called Eun Son and told her to invite us back. A personal invitation from the owner! So me, Chris, Anlee, Amanda, and another co-teacher of mine, Eun Jeong, went up there. I got to play a few sets of my songs and also jam with some other people. It was a pretty fun night. There were a lot of people there, and some of them were really good musicians. It's really nice to have a place to play my music and also to play drums once and a while. I hope I can keep going there on a regular basis.

Probably the most encouraging thing that's happening here is the Bible study that a few friends and I started. My friends Anlee and Amanda (both American) suggested the idea, and so them and I and my friend Chris (from Vancouver) have been meeting every Tuesday for the past week at the girls' apartment. A couple of other people have since joined us. We are going through the book of Luke. But the most encouraging part has just been the fellowship and level of comfort and honesty we have developed with each other. I am really enjoying and benefiting from this time and these people in my life.

Well, I gotta get going to church. Heading up to a church in Seoul with Anlee and Amanda that I go to once and a while. Not my normal one here in Ansan. I'm excited for my lesson plans this next week. Should be pretty fun. Talking about adjectives of comparison-better, stronger, faster, best, longest, etc. I'll post a few pics here and maybe a video.

P.S. new music update-David Crowder Band's new CD rocks. These guys are so creative. And I'm still listening to Owl City like 4 times a day.

So, I've been super motivated to work on music recently. This new music that I've just been turned on to by Owl City(apparantly, I'm not the only one as their song is first on the itunes store) is inspiring me like none other. I highly recommend it. I composed a couple of new sets of lyrics on the plane ride to the states and back. Here's one that is unabashedly romantic. Started putting music to it today. Enjoy!

Tonight, my dear, it's you and me
Our hands entwined, our hearts alive
The world has a glow only we can see
Lit with the news that you are mine

chorus-
Love, unselfish love
Over all my lesser wants
Love, I'll wait for love
My soul and mind will join my heart

As a bird finds shelter in its mother's wings
Let my arms be a refuge, a surrounding grace
As the evening cools, and the daylights wanes
Give into the warmth of my embrace

Do not fear when your eyes give way
To the pull of the night, I will not leave
As your head finds the rhythm of my chest
May your dreams never fly this abiding scene

Well, just wanted to do a quick post before hitting the sack. It's been a little while since I've last posted, and I'm taking off for Colorado tomorrow for Ryan's wedding. Haven't really thought too much about what it's going to be like to go back to the states. I imagine it will be kinda surreal. But amazing, too. I'm so happy to spend some time with Ryan before he ties the knot. I get in on Wednesday night, get to join the other groomsmen for a bachelor party up at a beautiful cabin in Breckenridge, and then wedding on Saturday. And my other roommate from college, Tripp, is flying in from Chicago and I'm very excited to spend some time with him too. I fly back on Sunday morning and arrive in Korea at 5 PM Monday and teach again on Tuesday. Not sure how I'll be feeling by then with 2 12 hour flights within 5 days.

This past weekend I took a trip with 3 friends down to Busan on the south tip of the Korean peninsula. The purpose of the trip was to go to the Busan International Film Festival. We took the high speed (180 MPH) train there and back. It was about a 2 and a half hour trip. Super smooth and comfortable. I could have stayed on there much longer. Hopefully, the flight tomorrow will be similar. It was a good weekend. Spent some time on the beach-walking, taking pictures, playing frisbee, etc. Ate some great food, most of it western. Went to a couple of Italian restaurants. For some reason, I just haven't been feeling the Korean food lately. So, I'm excited to head back to the land of hamburgers, quality beer, and chips. I am definitely bringing back some American food to Korea.

Tonight I had a great Bible study with my friends Anlee, Amanda, and Chris. I am so thankful for them and this opportunity to seek God together and be honest about what's going on in our lives. I felt very encouraged tonight. Which was a welcome change for the brokenness and discontent I feel quite often (I can expound on that later). But today was a good day.

Well, going to bed. Below is a video of Amanda, Anlee, Gideon, and I on the train to Busan. A

Brandon and I at the scrumpious meet buffet.
My student Tae Woo, or Taylor. Quite an interesting kid. Tests my patience I enjoy him.

Soy, Brandon, and I on Gwanak Mountain today.

Hello, hello. Well, I got lots of stuff I want to post. Most of it is videos and pictures. I also just finished the song I've been working on. I thought I could post it on here, but I don't think I can (unless I'm missing where to do it at). But I'm really excited about this song. I've had it mostly done for about 3 weeks but have just been waiting and listening to it a ton until I was completely satisfied with it. So, I guess the next best option is to post it to my myspace and give you the link. Here it is -www.myspace.com/derekfekkesmusic. The song is called "Discontent Breeds Growth." Let me know what you think. I think I'm going to try to do some more songs along this vein, in part because I don't have much choice here in Korea with a computer, keyboard, and mic to work with. But I like this kinda stuff a lot. I've been playing on the piano at school after classes some. It's way out of tune, but it's still great to play on a real piano for a change.

Well, I am just beginning a four day weekend. It's Korean Thanksgiving, called Chuseok (pronounced "chew-suck"). Everybody goes to their relatives place and makes different foods, some in honor of their deceased relatives. Tomorrow, Saturday, most everything is closed I am told. So, I stocked up on supplies to make some curry for lunch. Can't wait. Today is Friday, and I met up with Brandon and Soy (his girlfriend) around 2 and we went on a hike in Gwancheon, which is about a 45 minute subway ride from me, up towards Seoul. It was awesome!! Gorgeous 360 view of all of Seoul. Simply incredible! I'll put the video below. There was a Buddhist temple towards the top. You could here people chanting most of the way up. It was pretty cool. At the top, there was a little food vendor set up making ramen and other stuff. It was kinda weird. But I did buy two ice cream pops from a guy who hauled up a backpack freezer full of them to sell. They hit the spot. Overall, it was a great hike and I'd like to go do it again, maybe even try to run part of it.

Well, here are some pics and videos. Hope it gives you a image of my life here.

This is one of my classes from last week. Notice how the boys are all about the camera and the girls are extremely embarrassed.



Here is Seoul from the top of Gwanak Mountain.

Well, it's Sunday morning, Sep. 27th. I'm not going to church this morning because I'm meeting up with a couple friends and going to a different church in Seoul. I've been to this church once before with another friend. It's really great. The English service has like 1000 people in it, and it's very lively. I'm looking forward to it. And then, after church I'm meeting up with Brandon Mueller (friend from high school) who is flying in today from China. He's been teaching in China for several months, but has a girlfriend here in Korea. I'm super excited to see him. He'll be here for a week so I'm sure we'll hang out several times.

This past week was decent. Teaching was kinda hard Monday-Wednesday. I just found myself very frustrated with the students and also with myself. Sometimes I don't feel like I have very much control, and when the kids talk when I'm teaching, I take it personally. I have this desire for control, which means that I want all the students to be interested and to learn something. I'm realizing this isn't realistic. I want to make my lessons as engaging as possible, but I've got to accept that some students just don't want to learn and I can't really change that. I think Mondays I generally have high expectations, and then I'm usually let down. And then by Friday, I don't have any expectations and get excited about every little thing that goes well. I always end the week on a high note. My lesson for the 1st year students this past week was about hopes and dreams-"I want to be a..." I have them write down their dream and then share them with the class. One boy said, "I want to be a god." And in the same class, another boy said, "I want to be a pastor." So, I obviously introduced them to each other. "Pastor, meet god." In another class, a girl said she wants to be in the mafia. Didn't really know how to respond to that.

The weather has been fantastic here. In the 70's and little humidity. I went hiking last Saturday on what was probably the nicest day since I've been here. It felt great! I went with Paul, a guy from my apartment who's from Kansas City. It was fun. The hike was short; only 30 minutes to the top. But the view was great; 360 degrees of Ansan. I took lots of pics and a couple of videos. One is posted below. After the hike we went out to this Nepalese restaurant that serves great curry. It was awesome. This next weekend is Chuseok, a big Korean holiday. I think I get Thursday, Friday, and Monday off. Brandon will be here till Monday so I'll probably hang out with him a few times. May go hiking. And I've been working on this song on my computer for 3 weeks or so and hope to finish that up soon and put it up so y'all can check it out. I'm really excited about it. It's way different from anything I've done before.

Well, I've got some lesson planning I need to finish up. Here's a couple of pics. Peace, derek

This one is at a Korean restaurant. I forget what this stuff is called, but it's basically really big, really fatty pieces of bacon that you fry up on your table. And then all the side dishes.



This is at Pizza Hut for Melanie's goodbye party. Melanie (back with the black shirt and short hair) returned home to Canada last week. Here's a video from the hike.

Yesterday, one of my co-teachers, Yoona, and her friend Ivan took me on a trip to Seoul. We visited a famous court palace from the Joseon dynasty. We were going to leave at 9, but it was absolutely pouring in the morning, so we ended up leaving around 12. It ended up being a beautiful day. It's really cooled off here and the days have been very nice. We got to Seoul around 2:30 cause the traffic was horrible (I see know why riding the subway is the preferred mode of transportation). We got to the palace just as the temple guard was being changed, which I guess only happens once a week. It was pretty neat to see. The palace was very large, and the architecture and designs very intricate and colorful. We walked around for over an hour and took lots of pictures. After that we drove up a hill that has an observatory tower on it where you can see most of the city (on a clear day, which is rare). There was a really cool, and expensive, cafe on the side of the mountain (called "cafe on the side of the mountain") that we hit up on the way down. Got a glass of lemonade for 7 bucks. Actually there was more ice than lemonade. But you pay for the view, which was amazing. We sat on the top balcony and looked over the city. It was getting later by this time, so we drove down into the Insadong area of Seoul and they took me out to a really neat Korean restaurant. We got some Korean pizza thing and some bulgogi, which is thin slices of beef. Amazingly, this meal didn't come with Kimchee.

Today is Sunday, and I'm about to head to church. My friend Melanie is leaving next week, so we are going out to lunch with some people after church for her. Tomorrow starts my third week of classes. Last week ended up being great, after a rough Monday. I'm learning how to control a class, yet have fun with them. It's a good challenge for me. I had a student in one of my classes on Friday that was taller than me. It was crazy. He walked in and I just stared at him for like a minute. Every class I had been having them guess my height and they would all be in shock and applause when they found out it was 188 centimeters. This guy was 191. 15 years old. Dang!

Well, I would like to write more, but got to get to church. Here are some pics. BTW-new switchfoot single up on youtube. Also, Tobin posted a couple of my songs from the "Living Room Concert" up on youtube, also. here's the link-http://www.youtube.com/user/DerekFekkesMusic

Well, it's been a few days. I finished up my first full week of normal classes this past week. It went very well. I enjoyed it. I'm learning as I go what works and what doesn't work. I have 3-4 classes a day with around 40 students in each class. I have a Korean co-teacher in the classroom too, just to help with discipline and translation if necessary. I am teaching the only the 6th and 8th graders. There are over 1000 students in the school, so I only see the 6th graders once a week and the 8th graders once every two weeks. So one lesson plan lasts me a week or two. That's pretty nice. I definitely had my lesson down by the end of this week. But it's too bad that my time with each class is so limited. I really have to make the most of my time. I also have three "extra" classes after normal school is out. These are with the kids I had for summer camp. There are only 15 or so in a class and there English is much better. I think these classes will be my favorite. Cause I'll actually get to know the kids and hopefully be able to see more progress in them. And I don't have to follow a textbook for these classes but can plan my own stuff. On Friday I was talking with my 7th grade extra class students, and I found out that this group of students-the 15 of them-are at school until 9 PM every day! There parents pay extra money for them to be a part of this special group, and they study from 9 AM-9 PM every day. Plus, Korean's go to school every other saturday also!

I went out this past week for a goodbye party for my friend Nikia. She left today for home (Philly). There were 12 of us that went out for duck. (above) It was very good. I ate a lot. We got like 3 whole ducks and it was about $10 a person. Afterwards, Melanie and I helped Nikia pack till 2 in the morning.

So, I had a revelation this past week. I think I came upon the story of how Kimchee came to be the Korean tradition that it is. I'm pretty sure this is close to the way it happened...

"Times were hard in Korea. The war had left the country ravaged. Work was hard to come by and food was scarce. Malnutrition and famine were common in all areas of the country. It was getting so bad that some families were even starting to eat their pet dogs! The Park family was a typical Korean family. They had long ago said goodbye to Buster. And things weren't getting any better. Pa Park hadn't had work in more than a year. He had lost 3 fingers fighting in the war and was at a disadvantage for the jobs at the few factories that were still running.

One night, after two days of eating nothing but scraps of dried squid, Pa Park had had enough. He could handle this horid state no more. There must be something; there must be some way to sustain his family. As he poured the last of the murky drinking water into his wife's glass, he had an idea. He thought it over. Would it work? Would it be edible? Would his family go for it? It was worth a shot. There were no other options. He turned to his wife. 'Honey, I may be crazy, but I have an idea. Go get me the compost.'"

And thus Kimchee (meaning "I can't believe I'm eating this") found its way into Korean tradition.

Well, I'm finally finished with the recording project and am feeling better. The past week was not been very productive or enjoyable, for the most part. Felt mildly sick most of the week and then felt like crap Thurs.-Sat. Left school early on Friday and went to the doctor. Got diagnosed with the lovely "common" cold. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to react to that prognosis. I think I was mostly disappointed. "Come on! Validate my feelings of crappiness and all my complaining!" But I guess it's good that I don't have the swine flu. I had English Camp all last week with two groups of students. It was pretty fun. Played a lot of games, did a powerpoint "tour" of American cities and landmarks, and made burritos with them. They weren't as ecstatic about the burritos as I had hoped (or as I was). Mostly it was fun getting to know the students better and help them learn English.

Today (Monday) was the first day of the semester. I wasn't given a class schedule or told what to teach or anything. I didn't know what grades I would be teaching till this morning. Communication is not...ideal. But it's okay. It turns out that I will only be teaching 1st and 3rd year students, which is similar to 6th and 8th grades. And though I was told I'd have a class of 20 students to myself, the principal decided he wanted to go the route of most of the other schools and give me 40 students with a Korean c0-teacher. Lame!! 40 students is a world of difference from 20. My class-control-level just plummeted. Plus, I had gotten used to the level of English the the camp kids had, but they seem to be the better kids. Communicating with the classes today was surprisingly difficult. I got a lot of blank stares. I was thankful the Korean co-teacher was there to translate some things. After an introduction of myself, I taught the 1st year students a short lesson on verbs, especially future tense, and then had them right 3 things they "will do" this coming week. The 3rd year students were much more advanced than the 1st year. I was pleased. I was able to have conversations with many of them. I had them write about their summer. This was quite easy for some, but still difficult for some. There is such a huge range between their level of understanding. It's gonna be tough challenging the top while catering to the bottom. Reminds me of a book I read in college while writing a paper on homeschooling titled "Dumbing Us Down." hmmm...

So, spent some time browsing itunes, myspace, billboard today. Turns out there's a buttload of new music just coming out. Third Eye Blind, Imogen Heap, Skillet, and Mutemath. Just bought Imogen Heap's new one. She is amazing. I don't know how she does all this herself. I'm jealous. Well, I'm gonna end this. If anyone wants to skype on the weekends, let me know. below is a picture of my church. The English service is held on the top floor of the building on the left. Pretty crazy. I think there's around 8000 people at the church. And I'm taller then them all!!! No, that's probably not true. There's probably a few other giants around.

Summer camp tomorrow: Picture tour of America-Cities and landmarks; and ultimate frisbee. Yes! Gonna turn these Korean kids on to the great sport of ultimate frisbee.

I'm getting into the habit of getting home from work and listening to a sermon. The last couple of days I've listened to sermons by Mark Driscoll from Mars Hill in Seattle. His free podcasts on itunes are great. I also listen to Tim Keller from Redeemer Presbyterian in NYC at times too. I recommend both. Today's sermon by Mark was about wisdom. Proverbs says that "the fear of the Lord is the beginning of all wisdom." And Mark was saying that if you want to understand and improve your life, your first item of business should be to learn the fear of God. I try to focus on clearing up all the problems and confusions in my life first. But that will never clear things up. Also, the fear of the Lord cannot happen as long as we fear man. And I fear man quite often. I value and give worth, or weight, to what different people say or think often more than what God says or thinks. None of this is really new. It just hit me today with where I'm at and was what I needed to be reminded of. I had forgotten this. So yea.

Gonna hit the sack.

Well, I need to go to bed. I haven't been feeling too hot the last few days. Even though I've been getting enough sleep, I've been real tired, I have a headache, and my eyes feel really heavy all day. Today was a bit better.

Today, monday, was my first day of English Summer Camp. I have two periods with the 1st year students (14 yrs olds) and two periods with the 2nd year students (15). It went well. We played a game that I call telephone pictionary. Not sure of the real name. But it's really fun and the kids liked it. Tomorrow we are doing a scavenger hunt. I'm also giving them lyrics to a song with all the verbs taken out, and I am going to play the song for them and they need to fill in as much of the verbs as they can.

This past weekend, I went to Lotte World with the new members group from my church. Lotte World is kinda like a smaller version of Disneyland. It was a great day. I didn't really do many rides, but it was fun getting to know some new people, especially a few Koreans. The best part was waiting in line for over an hour to go on the "gyro-swing," getting up to the front and having the attendant open a side gate and push me up against a wall with some lines on it, and tell me that I was too tall to go on the ride. Hahaha. It was awesome. I didn't mind. I wasn't feeling to well so it was probably better. I went on the pirate ship later that day. Above are a couple of pics from the day. I would write more but I really need to go to bed and get over this bug. I bought some cereal and yogurt last night and am excited to eat that for breakfast. Make sure you check out the video below. Freakin' amazing. It was so funny.

Well, I've had Monday-Wednesday off this week. I had thought about going on a day trip somewhere, but I ended up just staying around here. One of my goals for my time in Korea is to learn to play jazz piano, so I made a plan to practice for 45 minutes, five days a week. So these last three days have been filled with playing jazz piano, working on some projects in Logic (my music production software), finishing "Surprised by Joy," and going on some walk/runs in the park.

Last night, I went over to Mrs. Kwon's (the korean teacher who is in charge of me) house for dinnner. She lives up in Anyeong, which is about a 30 minute train ride from here. On the way out of the apartment, I ran into Nikia, who is a girl from Philly that lives on my floor. She was heading up to Seoul and taking the same train. So what is usually a pretty boring train ride turned into a nice talk about korean women, my music, and whether parents should force their kids to go to church. Mrs. Kwon's son was waiting for me at the subway station (by the way, kids of all ages run all over the place by themselves here. You see 6 year olds just crossing the street by themselves. And it's not stanwood. Ansan is a city of a 600,000. Just crazy). So, Kim Won found me at the station and we walked the 1/2 mile or so back to their "home." They lived on the 19th floor of a apartment building that was surrounded by many other apartment buildings. Everybody lives in apartments. I was curious to see what dinner would be like. After beginning a game of chess with kim won, we sat down to eat. We had pork, breaded squash or cucumber, kimchee, rice, and the little fried, whole fish that I had tried last week. I didn't try them this time. In the traditional korean way of eating, you would take a piece of lettuce, put some meat, some sauce, and whatever else you like inside of it, and then eat it up. The meal was pretty good.

A couple of interesting things I learned about Korean culture from this time at Mrs. Kwon's house. High school students have an insane life. They go to school from 8 AM-10 PM!! They have an hour break for both lunch and dinner. And after school, many students go to an academy till midnight! And then they have homework!! This just blows my mind. They can't be getting any more than 5 hours of sleep a night. Education is huge here. Another thing is that Koreans work very hard to have a decent life-style. Mrs. Kwon's husband is a surveyer, and he got home from work after we finished dinner around 9:30. He leaves at like 6:30 in the morning and gets back at 9:30 every day!! Dang! And the women all work too. Even when there kids are young. I was thinking that would be hard to have much of a family life, but I guess that's just custom here. It's making me think twice about raising my family in Korea. Just joking, mom.

Well, I'll finish this up. Tonight, I had the best Korean meal yet. It was a Korean BBQ place, that was all-you-can-eat meat. You go up and grab as much raw pork and beef as you want along with a slew of veggies (including some funky mushrooms that looked like string cheese with a bunch of heads sticking out of it), and bring them back to your table (my legs just love these places where you sit on the ground) and cook them yourselves on the little grill built into your table. It was great! We ate and ate and ate. (pics below) After that, we went out to a bar that has instruments in a corner, and I got to sit in on a song on drums. It was pretty fun. But now it's late (12:43), I have to work tomorrow, and I'm going to bed. Peace out homies.

P.S. It's good to hear that many of you are actually reading this. I'm impressed. Thanks.

A couple of pics at the park today. I was tired. Late night at Noraebang.



Had my first experience of noraebang (korean karaoke) last night. I had heard that this was a quite popular cultural event here, as it is in other Asian cultures. Lyra, one of the other English teachers from America that lives in Ansan had a goodbye party last night, and a group of 15 of us went out to korean BBQ, then to a sports bar, then to noraebong. It was incredibly entertaining. The room, big enough for all of us, had a big flatscreen on the wall with the lyrics and completely unrelated video footage, bench seat on 3 sides, two big books listing all the songs available, and a huge remote to program songs. We were there for more than two hours and it was about 2 in the morning when we left. It was still going strong when we left. I'm usually not a fan of singing in front of people in this format, but it was less intimidating than I had expected. I sang Linkin Park's "In the End" with Lyra. It was pretty hilarious watching some of the others really get into the songs. We all laughed alot. Good time.

I also got to meet a few other westerners from the area that I hadn't met before. Turns out there's a guy named Daniel that lives in my apartment building who's from Bellingham. He's a Christian and seems like a great guy. Didn't get to talk to him too much but hope to hang out with him again before he heads back (like most of the others, his contract is up in a few weeks). And I met a korean guy named Micah (or jihoon kim) that goes to the Korean church where my English church meets. He's really great and I got to talk with him quite a bit. We shared numbers and I hope to spend more time with him. His English is quite good and maybe he can teach me some Korean. Oh, since Lyra was leaving, she passed a few Korean language books on to me, so I've been trying to pick up the language a little more.

OH! One other thing that I forgot to mention last post is that I got cleared by my school to take a couple days vacation in October to go be in my friend Ryan's wedding in Boulder, CO! Super pumped about that. I was hoping to go but didn't know if they'd let me leave in the middle of the semester. But it turns out that's midterms time and they were fine with me leaving. Yea!

Books I'm reading-Suprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis, The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind by Mark Noll, and How to Read the Bible for All it's Worth by Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart. I had started the latter two books a month or two ago, but am in kind of a phase right now where I'm not able to digest the heavy, theological, interpretation books, a category which both of these would fall in. So, in need of some lighter reading, I turned to C.S. Lewis' account of his early life and conversion. There are certainly deep parts to this book also, but it's more story than theology, and I find that I usually relate to and feel like I'm right with Lewis' train of thought. The last chapter I read was very helpful to me. I will try to right about it next time. Peace!

11:35 PM, Thursday-Just got back from a lovely walk in the park. The big park behind my apartment assumes a different character at night. There was a low mist hanging over the trees that gave it an eerie feeling. And I hadn't discovered the slew of trails on at the northwestern section of the park that meandered through a bunch of trees and small hills. It was so beautiful. The reason I went out was mainly to pray. I find my mind can focus better when I'm walking. And this park provided spot for that. When I came out of the trees and into the central section of the park, I was surprised at the number of people out at 11 PM. There is a large amphitheater on the high part of the park, with a large, circular paved section around it. On one side of the circle is a shop that rents out rollerblades. It was still open, with four guys sitting outside of it talking, and many people had checked out rollerblades and were riding around the amphitheater. I considered joining them but then remembered I hadn't brought my wallet. So after walking around the theater, I walked back to my apartment through the trees and haze. I felt refreshed and focused.

(Oh, for lunch today, Miss Kwon took me out to a Korean restaurant that specialized in soups and seafood. I got the bean curd stew with seafood. It was decent. Kinda spicy, but bareable. But one of the many side dishes came with it (along with the three different types of kimchee) was the craziest thing I've seen yet. It was a bowl full of tiny, whole, fried fish. Eyes, tails, everything. They were about the size of a ear wig and no more appetizing. I tried them and they weren't too disgusting, but I was perfectly content not having a second bite. Miss Kwon said that she makes them for her family every day!! "Thank you God for not letting me be born into that family. Amen." ) Above is a pic of some of the other foreigners in my apartment complex at dinner last week.

Well, we've been getting hit with a ton of rain due to the typhoon hitting southern Asia. I usually walk the mile to work, but this morning it was just pouring (as it had been all day yesterday), and I was the only person on the streets without an umbrella. I thought I'd go by the grocery store and get one but they were closed (open till midnight but closed at 8 in the morning. weird). So I rode the bus, but I was already soaking when I got on it. I hadn't ridden this bus to school before so I was kinda taking a chance. I got a little scared when it made a turn away from the road that I normally take to get to school, but it turns out it takes a different route to the school.

After school, I came home and took a little nap. I've been very tired recently. I got up from my nap at 6:45 and decided I needed to go for a run if I was going to be at all useful for the rest of the evening. So glad I did. As soon as I got outside, there was a perfectly clear, big rainbow coming from near the park where I was going to run. As I ran towards the park, I noticed a lot of people taking pictures of it with their cell phones. It was an amazing sight and was captivating everybody. When I got into the park, I was out of the tall buildings and trees so I could see its full beauty. The top part was not visible, but you could see a portion of the other end coming out of a mountain top to the north-east. At one point, the main section looked as if it was coming out of this big church across from the park. I wish I had had my camera.

One thing that has been on my mind recently, that is relevant at all time, but especially for me right now, is letting God be in control of leading me where he will, and not feeling the pressure to produce this growth, get to a certain spot, on my own. I tend to put a lot of pressure on myself to "arrive" somewhere where I feel alright and that everything is okay. Not sure exactly what I think this place of arrival will look like. But I don't think it exists. "There's no arrival," as one songwriter has put it. I think I struggle with control. Okay, I know I struggle with control. It's hard for me to trust God to lead me and take me places. I try to force it and be in control of spiritual growth in my life. Sure, we play a part in our spiritual growth. We have choices to make. We can keep God central or let Him just be on the outskirts of our life. But I find a freedom in giving up control of where I'm headed and the changes that will happen in my life. While here in Korea, I have an idea of how I want to grow, how I want to change. And to a certain degree, I am making choices that will foster that growth and change. But there is a bigger picture that only God sees, and He has a plan that is so much bigger than me. And I think I have a lot to learn about enjoying God here and now, while leaving the growth up to Him. I find it easy to focus on the frustration and discontent in my life, and how I can change, and not focus on Jesus. But He wants me just as I am. He doesn't need me to be at a certain place to enjoy and delight in me. Who I am today is enough. He is not discontent until I get to a more mature place. There is no place of arrival in the future where His love and delight in me will be greater or complete. It's complete already. God will never love us more, and never love us less than He does right now. Alright, that's it for today.

(Bought a cell phone today. Trust me, it's an upgrade from the previous one that brought me so much flack. Found another good Korean meal today-Se-oo bokkeum bap. Shrimp fried rice. Yum! I have one class tomorrow and one on wednesday, and that's it for the week. And then all all of next week off. Probably will take some vacation, either go down to the Busan area, or just stay here and do music stuff with my keyboard and Logic.)

Me (and Susanne) in downtown Ansan (or Jungang Dong)


The music market.

Went to church today. It was really great. A girl from my apartment (another English teacher from Canada) took me there. It's an English service that is held at a really big Korean church. Our service is on the 10th floor! The place looks like an office building. I'll try to bring my camera next week. It's all in English, but the pastor is Korean, as is a good majority of the congregation. There were probably about 20 westerners there, all English teachers I think. I like the pastor a lot. I talked to him afterwards for a bit, and he seems very real and down to earth. After the service everybody breaks into small groups, which I think is awesome. Gives everybody a chance to participate and offer something, sharing their thoughts and stories. Why don't more churches do this?

Yesterday was quite a day. I went up into Seoul to buy a keyboard and go to Costco. I had read about this music market in this old building with over 200 music stores. The subway ride there was about an hour(costs a whopping $1.50). I found the place with out too much trouble and was blown away by the volume and quality of the music equipment. There were at least a hundred good size stores, each specializing in one or two things. Some would have hundreds of guitars hanging on the walls. Others would be filled with drum sets and cymbals. There were sound equipment stores, brass stores, piano stores with pianos lining the halls. It was insane. I found the exact keyboard I wanted (M-audio 88es) rather quickly, but looked around some more to see if I could find a better deal. Sure enough, I was able to get it a little cheaper at another store (370,000 Won). Though I also need to get some speakers and maybe a keyboard stand, with the subway as my way home, I could not carry anything more besides the 30 lb keyboard. So, I hopped on the subway and found my way to Costco. The store was about 3/4 of a mile from the station, so I had to lug my keyboard there and back in the 90 degree, humid crazy weather.
Costco was everything I had dreamed it would be.... Got a chicken bake and sprite in the food court before shopping. Then, I set out to find only a few essentials, as I couldn't carry much more home. I found some yogurt-covered raisins, some Tillamook cheese, some bagels, and...oh! there it was, on the end of the aisle, just waiting for me, what I had only imagined in my dreams...bags upon bags of Kettle Chips, lightly salted and heavily loaded with goodness! My quest was over. I couldn't have been happier! My time in Korea was going to be bearable.

And then, the ride home on the subway was long and hurt my feet, cause I was dumb and wore flip flops. But it's all over, I've got my keyboard, and am all set up to begin messing with Logic (my music sequencer computer program) and writing some music. Yea! I'll post some pics. (this post isn't very deep, maybe I'll do a deep one later tonight or tomorrow. Cause I got a lot of thoughts buzzing around my head).

Alrighty. My very own blog. Sweet. The first thing that I need to say is that I rarely read anyone else's blog(sorry), so I feel kinda shameful starting my own and expecting people to read it. I think that you have to been in a certain life stage and situation to really value "the blog." And now being overseas, not in daily face to face contact with people, constantly having deep talks over coffee, I see the value in having a forum to express my thoughts publicly and maybe get some feedback. Cause I tend to think a good bit. And I need to get it out.

So, if you're reading this, thanks. It does mean a lot to me. I'll try to keep it interesting. I've got some sweet videos I haven't put up anywhere else yet, so I'll get on that right now. Peace!