I thought I only had a head cold...

...but if you don't take care of that quickly enough it turns into bronchitis. Which is really just a terrible segway into my next little story.

Friday night was not good. While we had some fun hanging out with the other teachers and enjoying good company, as I tried to go to bed that night, I was coughing almost uncontrollable. When I got up to use the restroom, I could not stop shaking. This little fact I have withheld from my wife till this point as she tends to worry about such minor things.

Saturday though, enough was enough and with Mylinda's help we went to the doctor. Wouldn't you know it, that was an experience too! It was basically a walk-in clinic, not too different from the urgent care clinics in the States. The receptionist could hardly communicate with me and had me write down ALL the pertinent information-date of birth and name-on a little slip of paper which she gave to the doctor. The doctor was very kind and attempted in his only somewhat broken English to explain procedure and diagnosis. I wish I had the capacity to explain the entirety of the the experience, I will simply say that it is a very fast and efficient system. I was given a prescription that was also filled in less than 5 minutes.

The cost was probably the most amazing part. The office visit for me was only 14,800₩ and the medicine was only 9,600₩ and that was without any insurance! (If you would like to have some idea of how much that is, check the converter at the top of the page! I like using it to compare different items and even salaries. If you make more than $1,000.00USD a year, you are a Millionaire in ₩).

Also on Saturday we went to iPark. It is basically building after building, shop after shop of electronics. There is literally everything that could possibly be attributed to use with electronics. From appliances to small cell phones and everything in between. Charity and I both found cords to use with our laptops that allow us to plug into the Korean outlets. In fact that should be tip #1. Most electronics, especially laptops, are made to handle both the US standard of 110 volts and the standard in many foreign countries of 240 volts. In most cases you can simply buy an adapter and a transformer is not necessary.

While we were at iPark I also bought a wireless hub so that both Charity and I could get onto the Internet at the same time. YEAH!

On a final note, I think one of the things that is the hardest to get used to is the smells. Everything from the smells of cooking (esp. silkworm larva) to the perfumes (some used a little too liberally in the malls) come as a bit of shock to the Western nose.

Goodbye for now,
Daniel and Charity

The Madness Ensued

What a week. Shortly after 9am local Seoul time on Tuesday we came to see the school and meet the teachers and children. Let me tell you, it was LOUD! Evidently every single young man in the entire student body has a crush on my beautiful wife. Such reactions as woawoaWOA!, blushing downcast faces and in one instance hopping around the class in his chair were on display. Needless to say, I have not received the same reaction... I always knew I married up in the looks department! :o)

Tuesday for lunch we had the opportunity to dine on the local cuisine...or at least we had some speedy delivery food. Sweet and sour Pork, a rice dish that has a very thin egg wrapping (the name is escaping me right now...) and-my favorite- kimchi. By the way, it may not be rotten cabbage, but fermented is close enough. Reagardless, I am trying my best to learn to eat anything and will continue to attempt to eat kimchi.

Tuesday night was a totally different story. We had galbi! The group sits around what ammounts to a recessed grill. Pork is brought out along with about 20 side dishes. The pork is cooked on the small grill and you wrap the pork, rice and other items into a lettuce leaf and down the hatch it goes. my absolute favorite was to wrap a little piece of garlic in as well. Soooo Goooood. The flavors were interesting to say the least. While I can honestly say that not everything was wonderful to my niave westerner tastebuds, there were still several items I found very, very tasty.

DAY 1 -
So we were told that we would be sitting in on some classes to see how they were done but when we got there, Charity and I were it! I floundered through the first day like an American fish out of water and managed to get some review done in the process. Charity had equal difficulty but we both managed to squeek by.

That night we went for Korean fast food. Dongkus...I am sure that is not the correct spelling but if you say it, it should sound about the same. Really good and extremely filling.

DAY 2 -
Today has been interesting. Again, I feel a little overwhelmed to be teaching the subjects that I am: Geometry, Algebra II and -I think the most daunting!- Pre-Calculas! I have never even taken Pre-Calculas and here I am teaching! Charity received a handful of English and Grammer subjects and we are both a little shellshocked.

Tonight we went to Costco and while it did have some similarities to American Costcos, it was interesting to note the differences. First, it is two stories. To move between floors. you have get on a inclined walkway that also locks your cart down to the track thereby allowing ease of movement. Another interesting note is the difference in mentality. The Koreans in the store bump, push, crash and shove each other with almost no backward glance. It is hard to imagine anyone getting anything done in the store, but all the teachers that went seemed to get all they needed.

Well, it is about time to go to bed and prepare for the next day.

More to come....much more...

The New Apartment

Here is a short tour of our apartment. Nothing special, just the basics:

Part 1




More to come....

Please leave comments....

...BTW, you can leave comments on these posts and I would love to have some feedback to known what you think!

The Calm Before the Storm...

I started writing this at 8:40pm EST...only 10 hours left here in PA and only 18 left in country. As I said, we are leaving Pennsylvania at 6:17 EST (God Willing) and after a 6 and a half hour plane ride to San Fransisco we will board the last plane for our 12 and a half hour plane ride (God Willing) to Seoul, South Korea.

I thought that I would be a lot more nervous about the trip by this point, but all the way throughout this process I have had complete peace the entire time. I really can't say how this will go in the next couple of months but I am looking forward to the adventure that is this short-term Life.

So without going deep into a nostalgic musings, I will just say that I am amazed when I look back and see God's hand in everything. Even though I have been less than total fidelity towards my God, he has always done what has been best for me and been completely devoted to my life throughout. What a great God we serve.

Goodnight and goodbye for now...