kimchi corner

A MONTH OF SCHOOL HAS FLOWN BY

One unusual thing is the amount of sickness we have had. The first illness bout was some kind of stomach bug. Fortunately, that one didn't hit too many. Next, we had eye irritations. We were told that some public schools had shut down a couple of days due to the irritation. Now we have some kind of cold. One would think it was January with all the absences we've had.

Larry and I went shopping for a piano keyboard tonight. Seoul has a couple of mega-electronics marts. We went to Techno Mart for our search. I was not looking for an digital piano. We need something more portable and with all the bells and whistles. I ended up choosing the Yamaha Grand Piano keyboard. I hope it will make me happy!! The man selling it spoke quite a lot of English. Alas, I could NOT buy a stool/bench. So, I still have to hunt for one of those. I did ask if he had the manual in English. He assured me there was one in the box (which we did look for later). He seemed concerned that I might want it in another language...like French. I couldn't figure out why. Perhaps I don't sound like a native speaker?

We stopped at Pizza Etang and managed to successfully order pizza and have it delivered. It arrived at the apartment almost before we did.

On a different note, I have a few students in particular that are in need of prayer. Bibles are to be in Chapel. If you forget yours and show up without one, you stay after school and practice the sword drills with me. We also discuss why the Bible was not in chapel. Today, I had to keep a new boy. He had been reminded last week, his first chapel, to bring it. He had a very angry attitude about the whole situation. (This is quite rare. I hardly ever run into an angry attitude.) After prolonged discussion, he mellowed out some, but his attitude is still not right. I have this boy in science class as well and had never seen his anger before. Pray for wisdom for us and for spiritual break-through in dealing with him.

Another boy who joined us in the spring last year also seems resistant to chapel but in a different way. He chooses not to participate. I also run a practice session after school for those who make that decision. Usually a student just has to be reminded of the need to participate for correction to take place. However, this boy and I are going round and round. Pray for wisdom in dealing with his quiet willfulness.

We have been seeing an improvement each year spiritually and would hate to see that trend stopped. One boy in 9th grade who has been quietly resistant to spiritual things (something we were not aware of until recently) has withdrawn from the school. Our spiritual emphasis made him too uncomfortable. That, in itself, was an encouragement. I want our love and honor for the Lord to be evident. I truly do not want those who are seeking just an English education. So continue to pray for our school in that way as well.

Finally, teachers come over to teach on two-year contracts. Based on our current cycle, all of the teachers but two could leave at the end of this year. With the growth we are having, we really need a lot of teachers every year. Please start praying now for that need. Some may return, but none of us knows yet for sure what our plans for next year are.

posted by Seoul Man @ 6:58 AM