저는 단 이에요…

…But you already knew that didn’t you? 

 

I know that it has been a long time since I dropped my meager ripple in the information super-puddle, but I am back, if only for a mist-like moment.

 

Lets do a little math.  During the school year there are 8 hours of on site work.  Most of the time is devoted to teaching or preparation for teaching.  My role is very heavily laden with in between class questions, grading and teaching.  Interestingly enough, I also seemed to be taking a lot of my work home in the form of grading.  By my calculations I spend 8 hours at work per day plus perhaps another 30 minutes a night for a total of 42.5 hours of work a week. 

 

Fast forward to the last two weeks.  I spend 4-6 hours a day at school with perhaps an hour or two per week for preparation.  So lets say 26 hours—about half that of the normal school week—and then add to that 6 hours of class plus study time and that still puts me about 10 hours a week less time than during the normal school year. 

 

Mathematically, I should have more free time, but somehow I have been feeling busier than ever before.

 

By the way, the title of this post is “I am Dan.” “저는” means I.  “단” is literally Dan as it is easier than saying Daw-nee-ael.  The nearest approximation of “이에요” has a basic meaning of “is” or “am.”  So the literal translation is actually “I Dan am.” S DO V.

I think the sad part of the above is the length of time it took me to memorize how to say that as well to write it correctly.  I am a loooong way from using this language correctly!

 

Well, there is little else at this point to say other than we would love to hear from you!

 

More to come…

A New Feature!!!

If you look to the top right on the blog page or the left hand side on my Facebook page, you can simply click on this box:


and start typing IMs to me when you can see I am connected.

Thought it would be another good way to stay in touch!

Our Trip to America…

Well sorta…

 

How bad off are you when Taco Bell sounds awesome?  How long have you been away from your own country that seeing Chevy, Chrysler and Ford vehicles make you stop and stare?  How far from home have you been that hearing English being spoken in a bowling alley by the majority of the local clientele seems strange and a bit wonderful? 

 

I don’t know that I can answer all those questions, but thanks to a wonderful military couple from church, the Dooleys, my wife and I were able to appreciate all the oddity of being in America in the middle of South Korea for a short period of time on Saturday the 30th.

 

First, it should be pointed out that the Army base there in Ichon does constitute American sovereign soil and all that it entails.

 

Second, Mr. Dooley is not Army.  He is Air Force.  Nothing against the Army, but I just feel it should be said that he is an Air Force man.

 

The Dooleys invited a few of the teachers to come to Ichon and visit them on base.  The activity planned was bowling!  I haven’t bowled in over 8 months and found the time to be incredibly cathartic.  I sat there and allowed English to surround and envelop me.

 

Once done there, we also had the first Taco Bell meal in 6 months.  Also, so very good and somewhat odd that we missed it so much.  Needless to say that we all chowed-down heartily and everyone left the table with a very full stomach!

 

When then had the opportunity to tour the base a little and it looked and felt, for the most part, like we were back in the States.

 

This is my thank you post to Mr. and Mrs. Dooley for the generosity throughout the day as well as their kindness in inviting us.  We appreciate you all so much!

 

More to come…

As Promised…

We are back on the blog. 

 

Let me see if I can bring you up to speed. 

 

First, Daniel’s birthday was the 14th and in celebration many of the teachers went to On the Border for a Saturday dinner.  Not much of a cultural shock but I thought I would take a few minutes to publicly thank so people for the gifts.  Thank you Mylinda and Lisa for the Korean/English Bible and the other cool little things.  Thank you to Linda, Merilee and Holly for the ₩!  Thank you Jason for the Gift Certs. for Outback.  Thank you Joanna for the coffee, tea and mug. Thank you Jessica for the variety of teas. 

 

I also want to thank all my students that worked so hard to surprise me on my birthday as well.  Thank you to the students that posted their notes and well wishes on my door.  Thanks also to Kevin for his gift of aftershave.  Also, thank you to my wonderful wife for all that she did on my birthday to make it special. 

 

Second, Charity also celebrated 23 years on this earth one week later on the 21st.  We had the opportunity to go to TGIFridays, really good to have American food once again, and enjoyed yet another wonderful birthday of fellowship with our new friends here. 

 

For Charity’s birthday, I suggested a day at the spa.  Mylinda, Charity and two of the other teachers went to Spavis, a really nice water park and spa resort thing.  The ladies all said they had a wonderful time relaxing at the spa.

 

Third, we had graduation here at school.  It was a bit of an odd feeling.  I really didn’t know many of the graduates well, so on one hand I wasn’t too sad.  However, I  saw amongst the attendees and the graduates emotions and sentiment that reminded me of my graduation day and I was a bit affected by it.

 

I should keep with the spirit of this blog by telling you some of the more interesting happenings that night.  As honor to the molders of the children’s minds, the parents took the teachers and administrators of the school to a really nice buffet restaurant.  Now, buffets, I am pretty sure, were started and have reached their epic proportions through good old American adoration.  American’s love buffets.  However, there are very few buffets here in Korea (or at least in Seoul).

 

The food there was good!  They had American classics such as prime rib, salad, french fries and fruit bar, but they also had a sushi bar, a desert menu that included do it yourself cotton candy and dduk and a couple varieties of kimchi.

 

Aside from the food, I noticed that none of the fathers were at the meal.  I am not sure why.  It may be culturally based but it might have been as simple as they were not off work yet.

 

Ok, there is more I can say, but I think I will save it for the next post. 

 

What you can look forward to in coming posts:

• Updates on Mia.
• More on summer school
• Korean classes, fun or failure?
• Summer day trips…

 

More to Come…

Sorry For the Long Absence…

But Charity and I have been busy and although this blog is important to us, it is hard to put it above other things going on in our lives right now.

 

Fear not though, I have many things to share and need only the time to sit and write (there is a good chance that is coming this weekend!)

 

So fear not, this will…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TO BE CONTINUED!!!