annyeonghaseyo!

hard to believe i am already into my 3rd week of being here in korea. it seems like i just got here yesterday, but at the same time, like i have been here forever. does that even make sense?

glad to report that things are slowing down a bit in TESOL training. i had my first graded teaching practice last friday and by the grace of God...i somehow passed! such a relief. i will present another tomorrow, and then have the rest of the week off of homework and presentations! i won't even know what to do with that free time. we will then have 2 more weeks of TESOL.

we have a long weekend coming up as koreans celebrate the lunar new year. i hear it is one of the biggest holidays. all of the train tickets are already sold out as everyone travels to see relatives for the weekend. we haven't decided how we will spend this time yet...but there has been discussion about going into seoul for some sightseeing. we will have monday off of training, but have to make it up by going to classes on the following saturday. =(

this past saturday, our power was out for most of the day so i went into yawoori to visit some friends and shop. the mall has a giant stationery store that i could spend countless hours in. korean stationery is so wonderful. most of it has funny cartoons or designs on the front, and then some broken english. hahaha. i have been eating this stuff up. i had to give myself a spending limit and cut myself off after awhile. i bought a ton of stuff, so everybody email me your address if you want a card from across the world! i sent out a bunch of them today...only time will tell if you are in the lucky 1st batch. =) everybody run and check your mailboxes!

i got to attend my 2nd korean church service on sunday, and loved it as much as i did the first time. one of my very favorite things is being able to sing hymns and choruses alongside the koreans and know that we are singing to the same God, even if not in the same language. it's so humbling and i feel such a bond with them during those times. i am also proud to report that i have noticed a marked improvement in my ability to read hangul (korean). i can almost read & sing the characters with the rest of the church. music is a great way to practice your korean. again, this week, they translated the bulletin for me, gave me an english printout of the sermon outline, and the pastor sang some verses in english. i am so thankful! they also gave me a print with several of the pictures that we took last week together...it's so sweet! they are the most thoughtful hosts i have ever met. john came with me this sunday, and everybody loved him...the kids, especially. during the course of lunch, john mentioned that he had studied vocal performance in college, so before we could leave, the pastor made john get up in front of everybody and sing a hymn. hahaha. they were all so amazed by his voice and kept saying, "wow! wow! wow!" next week, my 2 translators will be gone to visit their family for the holiday, so communication will be more limited than it has been. we'll see how it goes!

i haven't given a food update in a couple of days, so i will share one of my new favorite foods here: rabokki.
i get hungry just looking at this picture. rabokki is a mixture of many things, just like most korean foods. it starts with a hefty serving of ramen, covered in a red sauce. then it is covered in all kinds of things, among them: fish cakes, rice cakes, hard boiled egg, and rice cake tubes that are stuffed with cheese. it is so good and so filling. there is a place really close to KNU that has the best, and it is only 3,500 won...or around $3 USD. you can't beat that.

time to sleep before another teaching practice tomorrow. i pray that all of you are alive and well in the states. keep in touch via facebook or email!