The true spirit of Christmas...

On Sunday, December 10, we spent our family worship time at the Village of Peace Orphanage, participating in a Christmas party planned by TCIS National Honour Society students. What a way to celebrate the true spirit of Christmas! The children were thrilled to see Santa, receive gifts, sing songs and eat treats. Once the children had opened their gifts, they carried them around as if they were treasure! As the angel says in Luke 2, "I bring good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord." The spirit of Christ's good news was flowing like a river during our Christmas celebration at the orphanage, and the best gifts we received were plentiful smiles and hugs from these beautiful children.

Amnesty is launched at TCIS!

On Wednesday we had our first meeting of the new student chapter of Amnesty International here at TCIS. I am the staff sponsor and organizer of the chapter and I am so excited to have a dozen students on board who are deeply concerned about human rights and social justice. We spent our lunch break writing letters to government officials in Vietnam and Iran about citizens affected by human rights abuses in those countries, and after lunch I promptly mailed the letters off. They are pictured here with one of the great ladies in our office, Chi Hee, who looks after all the mail. In Isaiah 58 the prophet writes: "Is this not the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter..." I think our students, through their work with Amnesty, will have an opportunity to participate in loosing some chains and breaking some yokes! (for more information about Amnesty International go to www.amnesty.org)

Let it snow...

On Saturday, December 2nd we had a snowfall here in Taejon! We were on our way to the first Christmas party of the year, one that featured a showing of Will Ferrell's movie Elf, and the snow was perfect. Rebecca was particulary excited by the flakes and romped around for awhile taking photos of leaves covered in snow. Alas, the snow didn't stay for more than about 8 hours, and it was a very small amount (a dusting, really), but it put us all in the festive spirit!

Hot off the press...

It seems Brian and I have a hard time staying away from publishing, even if it's on a small scale. This week the second edition of our school student newspaper, The Golden Dragon, arrived back from the printer. I am the staff advisor for the newspaper and the school yearbook this year, and my newspaper crew is a fantastic group of 10 hard-working students. Here are a few of them! We're trying to challenge each other to produce a paper that influences students on campus to think more about themselves and God's world - a good, and difficult, challenge!

Sunset over Taejon...

On Saturday (Nov. 18) Brian and I hiked up KaeJokeSan (Chickenfoot Mountain) to watch the sun set over the city. What a beautiful view of Taejon nestling between several mountains! Now if only I can get in shape so I don't feel like I'm going to keel over about half-way up the mountain!!

Chaotic Harmony...

TCIS high school students are engaged in a 3-day Spiritual Emphasis Week this week (Wednesday - Friday, Nov. 15-17). Called "Chaotic Harmony", the week is themed around understanding how God speaks to us and creates harmony in the midst of this crazy, loud, frenetic world. A speaker from Louisiana has presented some very challenging messages to us, and on Thursday and Friday I took students downtown for 1 1/2-hour blocks to hand out hot coffee at the train station. Rebecca says the week has been very cool, and that she is in love with the lead singer of Una, the Christian band from California leading us in worship. Here are some photos from the train station, including one of an exceptionally interesting older man I met (doesn't his face indicate he has an interesting life story?). God has been doing some great things this week at TCIS.

Exploring a traditional neighbourhood...

The city of Jeonju, located 1 1/2 hours southwest of Taejon, is one of the few cities left in Korea that has a traditional neighbourhood still intact. So many buildings were destroyed in the Korean War, and since then many cities have torn down traditional houses in favour of apartment buildings and high rises. So it was a treat on Sunday, November 12th, to take a bus to Jeonju with our friends Sue and Steve. Full of courtyards and traditional homes with fluted roofs and rice paper windows, there were many buildings you could explore in the Hanok neighbourhood. Traditional Korean arts and crafts (such as paper-making, wine-making, pottery) and tea houses and restaurants dotted the neighbourhood. It was a beautiful day! (The photos feature leaves from a 500-year-old ginko tree and a visit to a traditional tea house.)

Pedalling at Ppuri Park...

On Sunday, November 5th, 3 members of our family roamed around a park on the edge of Taejon. Named Ppuri Park, this wooded area is full of monuments celebrating Korean surnames. It also boasts trails, a large area for soccer and kite-flying, and a small bay that was home to a fleet of swan-shaped pedal boats. Brian, LeeAnne and Cora enjoyed all the park had to offer, and it was a fantastic break from city life for the afternoon. Alas, Rebecca was shopping with friends and Hannah was working on a group homework assignment, so they missed out on the fun. (Excuse the quality of these photos - they were taken on our Korean cell phone!)

Off to Seoul...

On Saturday, October 28th, we were a busy family. Rebecca headed off to Seoul with her volleyball team for an end-of-season tournament (they finished fourth overall!), Hannah played in a middle school soccer tournament at TCIS and Brian, Cora and I jumped on a bus to also head into Seoul. We explored a bit of the massive National Museum in the morning and shopped in a unique area called Itaewon in the afternoon. What an enormous city! We only saw a small part of Seoul and are keen to get back to explore some more.

Hallowe'en...

On Friday, October 27th a group of Canadian and American staff children (and staff!) participated in neighbourhood trick-or-treating fun. Hallowe'en is not celebrated in Korea, so the masked and costumed participants drew considerable interest from O-Jung-Dong dwellers! Rebecca and I stayed home to shell out while Brian (a.k.a. Captain Fear) and his little mate, plus Hannah-the-fairy, went on a candy hunt.

Night-time visitor

The other night we were watching an episode of West Wing (we've become addicted and are now watching season 2 on DVD), and heard a funny rustling sound by the fireplace in our living room. Upon inspection, it turned out that this beautiful butterfly had somehow made it down the chimney and through layers of paper and plastic (sealing off the fireplace) to gain freedom in our living room. It was about the size of a swallowtail and, while I haven't yet been able to identify it, it was incredibly beautiful. The blue bands on the wings were irridescent, like mother-of-pearl. Needless to say, the Lavender lepidopterists were exceptionally excited and, after observing the beauty, took it to freedom outside.

Chat with the Astronaut

Since Brian's childhood dream of flying in space has yet to materialize, the next best thing was to shake hands and chat with an astronaut. For the past few days, TCIS has played host to Col. Jerry Ross.

Col. Ross holds the distinction of being the first human to make seven trips into space and holds the record for the most spacewalks - nine in total. In an engaging presentation, Col. Ross described his final mission into space as part of the team that delivered and assembled a central component to the International Space Station. Prior to his posting with NASA, Col. Ross was a test pilot for the US Air Force, regarding his time as chief testing engineer for the B-1 aircraft as a milestone achievement.

Col. Ross spoke candidly with students, encouraging them to discover the purpose for which God put them on this Earth. He is a warm and friendly gentleman (who took a shine to Cora) and was really happy to oblige our desire to take advantage of a photo opportunity.

Blessings from the orphanage...

On Saturday afternoon (Oct. 21st), we went back to the Village of Peace Orphanage, this time to play with the younger children (7 and under) as the older kids were off doing something else. This changed the dynamic entirely and the little ones were so eager to climb into our laps and snuggle up. One little girl named Hae-Yun is so spirited and beautiful and she took a real interest in the picture books we brought along. She climbed right up onto my lap and then wanted to spend a lot of time just leaning into me while I held her and rocked her. So many of the other little ones created special bonds for the afternoon with various individuals (in our family and amongst the students who came, as well as with another family - the Roberts from Idaho, who are amazing and becoming good friends). I am reminded of Christ's call at the beginning of His ministry when He uses the book of Isaiah to say "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour." (Luke 4:18-19) I am also pondering the many verses in scripture that talk about caring for widows, orphans and foreigners in our midst - the vulnerable in society, those without power and voice. Looking into the eyes of these precious children today I was moved and humbled and I pray God will claim every one as His own. I also pray He will continue to teach us what it really means to be His church and to care for everyone in need in this wide and broken world.

Slices of life...

Over the past few weeks Rebecca has celebrated her birthday with a sleepover and visits to the local shake shop, Hannah has performed in her first orchestra recital in our school auditorium, and Rebecca's volleyball team has been playing hard, gearing up for their final regional tournament on Saturday, Oct. 28th. Cora has been busy practicing her flute (she sounds great!) and getting pumped up for taekwondo lessons which start next week. Family life is, as always, busy and wonderful and rich.

LeeAnne's Big Adventure

Well it seems that climbing a mountain wasn't enough for our LeeAnne. We got up yesterday morning at 5 to hike up to a Buddhist temple and all was well. After we came back to our room (I won't call it an Inn because that would give you the wrong impression) we had a nap. When LeeAnne woke up, she felt a pain starting to radiate below her bellybutton.

To make a long story short, we made it back to our home in Daejeon (a five hour journey by bus, then train, then taxi) and called the school nurse. After checking LeeAnne over, the nurse drove us to one of the hospitals that our school has a relationship with. Within a half hour, LeeAnne had met the doctor and had a CAT scan. The verdict: appendicitis.

This morning, LeeAnne went in for surgery and had her appendix removed. As a real bonus, the surgeon actually brought LeeAnne's appendix out on a silver platter to show her anxious spouse. Wow. Now that is something that is not usually done in Ontario! (except at your auto mechanic's...)

This evening, she is resting comfortably in a fine setting. Many people have visited and called with good wishes, offers of assistance, and prayer support. It's already so clear that God has been in charge throughout this whole experience. LeeAnne is expected to stay in the hospital for four more days as she regains her appetite for kimchi.

A Visit to the South Coast

As a way of kicking off our Chusok break week, our family took a journey that involved taxis, trains and busses in order to see a wonderful area of South Korea: Yeosu.

These are just a few images of the rugged coastline that we enjoyed during our four day adventure. One highlight that will stick with us was our climb up a mountain in the pitch dark to wait for the sunrise. Awesome!

Green Tea Plantation

One very interesting side trip that took from Yeosu included a close-up look at how green tea is grown and used. Our travels took us to an organic green tea plantation in Boseong. We were free to climb the very steep paths and walk among the rows of plants as we pondered the wonders of this very popular drink.