Sun and Fun 5-20-12

Our friend Giselle is from South Africa and has never been to a baseball game before.  Joseph and I took her to see the Hanwha Eagles play a home game in Daejeon.  No hotdogs here.  Pizza, chicken and beverages are the normal foods for baseball games in addition to bananas, chips, and ears of corn.


It was a blast.  They lost, but we didn't care.  We were supporting the home team and having a good time doing it.  A huge sell out crowd and a different cheer for each player.  Too fun.

The baseball games work a little differently here.  We learned that tickets are sold two hours before the game begins and they only have 300 tickets to sell.  Most of the patrons are season ticket holders and there is a long line 2 hours before the game starts.

On Sunday we went hiking on our mountain (Chicken Foot Mtn.) and had a great time.  It's getting hotter so we got a lot of sun.  Hurray for warm weather!

After hiking we met up with Bart and watched Giselle and Bart play tennis.  Later just hung in the park.   It's beautiful.  So colorful and green.  It's nice to see green after such a long winter.

Our spot to relax was near a stone pond, purple orchards and green grass.

A delicious dinner of dakgalbi was the end to a relaxing weekend.

Going Home May 2012

We're going home!

Not to stay.  We'll be back, don't get all happy.  We have a few more years here at least.

We are highly excited to be coming home for a visit.

We have our plane tickets and our list of stuff to do, buy and take as gifts.

 Look for pictures in a bit.

We're ready to go!  So happy. 

Seeing the people we love!  The beach, walking on the grass barefoot, smelling the rain, hearing thunder, reading a newspaper, reading a MENU.

So ready.
Bye Korea! 

Hello America!  See you soon.


annyǒnghi kaseyo!   
안녕히 가세요!!

Yellow Dust--Yuck

Rain, Rain
Come and
Stay.
Take the
Yellow Dust
away.

Where are you rainy season?

Please hurry.


It is Springtime in South Korea and with that comes Yellow Dust. 
To be frank, it sucks.

It doesn't affect everyone but if you normally have allergies or if you have asthma you should be careful.  Can you still go outside?  Of course.  Wear a mask.  You won't think it's weird when you begin to have an allergy attack.  Promise. 

You can purchase a mask anywhere.  A 7-11, GS, or any convenience store.  You can also purchase them at any CNA or Diaso in addition to any Home Plus or Emart.

If you are staying in a hotel you most likely can find them there as well but they are much cheaper in any other place.  Expect to pay 1,000W or 2,000W per mask (unless you want to pay more).  Each mask should last up to 5 days and still be effective.

Think of yellow dust as a large dust storm coming from China and heading East toward Russia, Japan and Korea.  It isn't every day and it isn't all day when it does happen.  This is more akin to hurricane season in the United States.  It can be severe (like this weekend) or it can just be very mild and you wouldn't even notice it.

If you do happen to notice it you might be affected by it if you have severe allergies.  Keep your windows closed and take allergy medicine.  If you have asthma make certain you keep your inhaler with you at all times.
You will usually get a sore throat and/or other allergy symptoms.


If you happen to visit any of these places during the spring time just be cautious.  Bring your usual allergy medicine and an inhaler just in case there is a bad dust storm and you need it.  Click here for more information.

Is that a rain cloud in the distance?

Delta Kappa Gamma

I have the privilege of belonging to a great organization for teachers called Delta Kappa Gamma.


This great group of women are dedicated and inspiring. 

When Joseph and I decided to move to South Korea for awhile, the Delta Delta Chapter asked to let them know if there was anything they could do to help.  A few months in South Korea, Joseph and I were asked to revamp the school library and to help rewrite the school's writing curriculum.  In doing this we discovered that the books available to the students, although plenty, were lacking just a bit whether through wear and tear or just not appropriate.  After speaking with various members of DKG it was decided this was a good project to embark on.

A few emails later and the ball was rolling with the wonderful women who are part of the Delta Delta Chapter of DKG.

So many books were donated to the students at our school and they were so surprised and delighted to see and read these books.  Joseph and I each read a book to them at the start of class and we do a picture walk and a read of the story.  With each class being only 50 minutes we don't have time to do what we would like fully with each book but we give each book justice.  We mainly want the students to enjoy the books and to read the books.  We think of what we are doing as advertising that particular book so the student goes and chooses that book willingly and reads it not only for themselves, but perhaps takes it home to read to siblings and/or their family members.

Oh Happy Day!

The Delivery

The Opening

Dr. Seuss in South Korea

It feels like Christmas!

Great books!

Amazing!

Thank you DKG!

Love it!

So many wonderful books!

Thank you!

What a great selection!

Yay books!

This is in every book from DKG. 
I tried to turn it but to no avail! 

Look at their faces! 

Picture walk/partner read

loving this book!

Enjoying the books

I want to show you my book first!

This man looks like Joseph Teacher!

Smiles for reading!

book selection

book discussion: what book are you reading and what is it about

partner reading

Engrossed in reading

picture walk

Reading and sharing the books with each other

The students choosing the books they want to read

Thank you so much to all of the teachers who donated books to our school.  The children enjoy them and read them weekly.  The children complete book reports on the books and they like coming up to Joseph and I and discussing characters in the books as well.  The students' enthusiasm and excitement about receiving these books was truly inspiring. 

Thank you so much Delta Delta!  You have helped these children love reading.