Thanksgiving and early November

I am unashamedly listening to Toby Keith Christmas music as I write. The older I get, the faster the Christmas season seems to fly, so I want to extend it as much as I can. :-) Plus, we already had our big Thanksgiving meal, so it's technically after Thanksgiving for me.

We celebrated Thanksgiving as a community in mid-October for two reasons: so it was spaced equally between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving, and also because Michael's parents were here visiting. We had our Thanksgiving meal at the office. Everyone who works at our offices was invited, and we also invited others. I brought Adrienne, Andee, and Tristan. Adrienne is a girl I met on the subway a few months ago. Turns out she is an awesome gal- a strong Christian who is here in Korea working with a camping ministry- AND she lives just a ten-minute walk from my apartment! I've enjoyed hanging out with her and visiting her church. She's currently in the US now until January to raise support. I met Andee and Tristan at my Korean class- they are both Koreans who help teach- and we've hung out a few times.

Our community Thanksgiving- a delicious mix of North American and Korean foods!

Then at work, we had a Thanksgiving party in each of our classes. We had students trace their hands and make turkeys, writing what they were thankful for on turkey feathers- a typical craft in the US, but one that was something new for the kids. The students all brought in snacks, too, ranging from tteok (mochi/pounded rice cake) to pizza to fried chicken to doughnut fish stuffed with sweet bean paste. Karen also made brownies for each class. It was nice to celebrate Thanksgiving with the students instead of Halloween like the other English academies do. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, and it hasn't caught on internationally the way some other American holidays have, so I'm really glad we were able to share it with the students.

doughnuts stuffed with red bean paste- delicious!

떡(tteok)- it's like Japanese mochi (rice cake)

We decorated the office for Thanksgiving and took class pictures. Some of the students have "English names." In Japan, I never met anyone with an English name, but it seems pretty common in Korea. It reminds me of how I had a Spanish name in middle school.  My Korean teacher here gave me a Korean name, too- "Anhwa." It means "peaceful flower."

With Edward and Jenny, one of my most advanced classes. This class now has two more students. 

Clockwise: Simba, Anna, Hobum, Ilho, Minseo. 

L to R: Haeun, Sohyeon, Yeongeun

My phonics class. We now have another student- a little girl! 

I teach one additional class that is not pictured, a one-on-one class with a middle school student.

In other news, I've been studying lots of Korean and even a little Japanese. I'm continuing to attend Japanese church. It's really special to me that the church is connected with the church I went to in Japan. Last week, a woman I knew from the church in Japan came to the service because she was in Korea for a wedding! I actually went to her wedding earlier this year. It felt so good to see a familiar face.

With Utae, my friend from church in Japan

I've been studying Korean through lots of self-study, writing in a journal daily, language exchange with my friend Saeran, a Korean class in the office with Donguk and Abby once a week, and a Korean class through a church on Saturdays. Sarah and I go to the class on Saturdays. We're in different levels, but it's really fun to travel there with her and we usually get lunch in Seoul after class.

Enjoying fall foliage on the way to Korean class with Sarah

Enjoying octopus bibimbap (mixed rice) after Korean class!

In general, my life here continues to be fun, fulfilling, and challenging. A few prayer requests:
1) That I can continue to become a better teacher, especially as I learn more about how to teach younger children, 2) continued motivation to study Korean and opportunities to use it, 3) patience and trust in God as I continue getting settled in my new life and making new friendships.