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