The Been Briefing

Jody made salmon pooties!

Mom, look! See all that healthy food?!?!

friday musings.

i am stealing a few minutes away from my students to write. they are happily watching an episode of full house. surprisingly, the tv show is a hit with my younger students, who care less about current fashion and just appreciate the physical comedy and michelle's cuteness. i have been showing them full house with the hopes that english will be more fun for them.... we'll see if it computes.

it has been such a long time since i have written about what goes on during the work-week. i guess it's high-time i shared what's happening at work these days.

• on tuesday i learned that today (friday) will be my last day with my current 3 o'clock class. after working hard with them for 5-6 months and seeing very little progress, mrs. kim and i have agreed that they would progress better under the guidance of a korean teacher. i will be getting a new group of students (save one - woody), and i'm really excited about them. i understand they are an eager bunch, really wanting to improve their english. we'll see how things go with them. PRAY for creative juices to flow inside of me. i need rejuvination in that arena.
• i continue to press ahead with my 4 o'clock class, which is advancing a good deal. right now we're learning about space and our solar system, so they are beginning to learn more subject-specific vocabulary. it's thrilling to see them grow in their knowledge of english!

• my step 3 class continues to work through laura ingalls wilder's farmer boy, and we tackle various current events in newspaper articles. it is challenging for the students, but they are growing in their knowledge of the world. also, they are learning good, solid english vocabulary and how to write a strong chapter summary - taking the most important elements from a chapter and putting them all together with fluid transitions. it's a fun job, and i enjoy it.
  
• (i would request pray for one boy in particular. his name is kevin, and he's 9 years old. a smart boy with great english... but very strong in his opinion that korea is the best and all else is horrible. he has made several racist comments in my class. please pray for kevin. pray that God would crack his heart and show him that all people are equal and deserving of love.)

this week has been a challenging one for me, when it comes to living in korea. i find that i go through seasons of strength (whether it's one week or two months), and then i crash and burn and hate everything here with a force that scares even me. it's wearisome, because it is so extreme - much like this country. i long for home more with every day, and i cannot wait to be back in a country that is full of faults, but is nonetheless home. please pray for jody and me as we continue to do our best to follow God and remain here to the end of our contracts.