The end is near pt.1

I can't believe that I am so near the end of my time in Korea.  The last month has been an absolute whirlwind.  I have said good bye to many of my students, participated in another singing competition, went to a mud festival, gone to noraebong (karaoke) twice, went to the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, etc etc et.  It's been a busy time... but a great time.  I'm trying to take advantage of being in this country as long as I am here.

So I am going to do this blog in two parts... today I'm going to tell you about saying goodbye to some of my students and about the mud festival.

 This is my lovely Parents Class!  Most of them are moms of my students, but the lady on my left is the Principal's wife.  They have been such a great group of women to teach English to.  I am going to miss our Thursday mornings.  They were so sweet to me when they found out I was leaving.

 Me and the Principal's wife, and then me and Sun.

 Three of my favourite 5th grade students.  Eunice, Christy and Sarah.  They brought me a card that they had decorated and written little messages for me on.

 And this is probably my best student!  She is a 5th grade teacher at my school that came for English class with me all year.  She studies so hard and is so lovely to spend time with.  I will definitely miss Grace.

 The regular school semester ended last week and then for three days Kate and I taught at Pandong Elementary School for their summer English camp.  Here are some of the 3rd and 4th grade students we worked with.  They learned about family members (including creating their family tree), colors, numbers, and verbs.  Fun times all around.

 The students are colouring a butterfly.  They have to read the right colour for each section and then colour it that colour. 

 Numbers... please raise your hand!

 See I actually did some teaching in my time here in Korea...

 Verbs!  "He can jump" and "She can read."

 We also did a craft... decorating yo-yos.  I tried my best to teach them how to use the yo-yo... but at least they coloured them up nicely.

 I love my students!

 Pandong students proudly showing off their family trees and yo-yos.

 I thought this girl's family tree was particularly creative... it kind of has a vine thing going on.  And I'm a sucker for stars.

And yes... they are from Korea!  Korean children are very proud of their country.  I find that national identity fascinating.  I am, of course, proud to be Canadian, but I never realized how proud until I went to another country.  It makes me think what a Canadian national identity is.  Definitely not as homogenous as Korea's identity.  But also more than maple syrup, hockey, and saying "eh" at the end of a sentence.

I also went to Mud Festival at Boryeoung with a big group from Sangdang Church!  I have to be honest... initially the idea of going to a place where people would cover me with mud and roll around in mud and slide in mud and just be in mud did not sound good.  But I ended up having a good time.  And it was so great to be on the coast of Korea, the west coast.  Where I live is very landlocked, which is not the norm in Korea as it is surrounded by ocean on three sides.  So I had fun just being at the beach!  I, unfortunately, did not use the camera much.  It was a mud festival, so I wasn't interested in getting my camera completely covered in mud... but here's what I do have...

 The beach!

See!  I was covered in mud... almost as fun as camping.  Almost.

Just kidding... it was a lot of fun.

So more updates will come soon.  I can't believe in 9 days I will be getting on a plane.  It is a surreal feeling.  I don't know what to do with that.  I can't wait to see my family and friends and be around people I know and who know me.  I also can't wait to understand the language people are speaking around me.  That will be good as well.  But I am definitely enjoying my time in Korea while I am still here.  I want to make the most of every opportunity while I still can.

O Canada

It's a couple days after Canada Day (at least in Korea time), and also a couple days after my grandmother's birthday!  I guess it seems an appropriate week to have officially turned in my resignation to the English Center at Samsan Elementary School in Boeun, Chungbuk, South Korea.  For the most part, I'm sure this information is not new, but perhaps the reason is.

Being in Korea has been a great adventure.  I feel like I have grown so much amongst the challenges and experiences.  I have discovered aspects of myself I didn't know were there, I have developed a bit of a travel bug, and I feel like I have grown in my faith in a really powerful way too.  I definitely appreciate the friendships I have made here as well.

But at the end of the day, the path that I feel God has placed me on means that I need to finish my education at seminary.  So I am going home to finish my Masters of Divinity in preparation for ministry.  This means that I need to leave Korea a little earlier than my contract indicates so that I can start with the beginning of the semester.

So I board a plane on August 2, and arrive home on August 2!  I'm nervous yet incredibly excited about the next stage.