What a Punk

Actual conversation today during creative writing class:

Student: Can we use swear words in our novel?

Me: What did you have in mind?

Student: [spells out a four-letter word]

Me: You can write [spells out four-letter word with asterisks instead of the middle two letters]. Don't overdo it.

Student: Is [spells out a milder four-letter word] a swear word?

Me: Yes. If you wouldn't say it in front of your mother, it's a swear word.

Student: Oh, I swear in front of my mother all the time.

Class: [Laughter]

Me: [Wrinkles forehead] If you wouldn't say it in front of your grandmother...[grimaces with mental effort]...If you wouldn't say it in front of your father's mother, with your father present, it's a swear word.

Student: Ohhhh...

Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving here. As we've already had two Thanksgiving dinners in the past week (one on Saturday with ten of our colleagues in our apartment, one on Tuesday with the entire faculty and staff of our school in a restaurant on the American army base), Leslie and I did not have Thanksgiving Dinner today. We have the day off. We slept in; Leslie worked on her graduate school applications; I washed dishes; Leslie made us fried eggplant and asparagus for dinner. Leslie watched an episode of Modern Family, which she and the Emmy Awards love but I find intolerably embarrassing.

Tuesday afternoon, North Korea launched an artillery barrage on the island of Yeongpyeong. We initially wondered whether this would cause the closing of the American base and prevent us from having our Thanksgiving dinner, but it did not. South Korea, and the American military command here, have grown accustomed to having a spiteful and unpredictable neighbor to the north, and this attack was not enough to cause the closing of the base, or to force any noticeable changes in the day-to-day life of this city. For my part, I have engaged a few People On The Internet Who Are Wrong on this topic (people who seem to believe that North Korea has the right to order South Korea not to hold military exercises, and to shell South Korean-held territory when its orders are not obeyed) but life for us has not changed very much as a result of this new North Korean atrocity.

Meghan, our colleague who did the bulk of the planning for our Saturday Thanksgiving Dinner, designated me as the grace-sayer, and I took the assignment seriously, perhaps too seriously. The grace that I wrote included a petition expressing gratitude for the peace and safety in which we live, and praying for South Korea's government. To anyone reading who is the praying kind, we are in need of your prayers for peace on the Korean Peninsula now more than ever.

Here's what I said right before our Thanksgiving dinner on Saturday:

Almighty and Most Merciful God,

Your goodness and faithfulness and loving-kindness are everlasting and all-encompassing.

The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in due season.

You open wide your hand, and satisfy the desire of every living creature.

We thank you for the feast before us,

for the soil and the rain and the sun that made it grow,

for the laborers who worked to grow it and make it available for our table,

and for the skilled hands of those gathered here who prepared it for us to eat.

Bless the earth and the labors of all who work to grow food from it,

that everyone all over the world may be fed.

We thank you for the people gathered around the table here,

for the times we have shared together and the time we are sharing now.

Bless this meal, that our bodies may be nourished, and this gathering, that our friendships may also be nourished.

And in your mercy grant, we pray, that all people everywhere may know the joys of friendship and camaraderie and love.

We thank you for our good health, and we lift up before you those who are sick or injured, both known and unknown to us. Comfort and sustain all who suffer illness or pain, and all those who care for them.

We thank you for our families and friends who are far away from us. Bless and keep them, and grant that we may be reunited with them one day soon.

We thank you that in these uncertain times we have work to put our hands to.

We lift up before you those whom we know who are unemployed, or underemployed, or facing unemployment;

and we ask your blessing on them and on all people who do not have a means of living, or who live in uncertainty.

We thank you for our school, our colleagues, and our students.

Grant Euysung and Jeannie and Steve the wisdom and discernment they need in leading our faculty and guiding our school.

Prosper us and our colleagues in our labors, and prosper our students in their studies.

We thank you that in an uncertain world we live in peace and safety, and we thank you for the governments and institutions that protect us.

Bless, prosper, and guide the President and the National Assembly of South Korea,

the President and the Congress of the United States,

the Prime Minister and the Parliament of Canada,

and all those throughout the world whom you have raised as leaders.

Make them just and wise, and grant that they may seek the common good rather than their own glory.

Dear God, make us truly thankful for the extravagant plenty in which we live, and mindful of the many blessings we have received. Keep us mindful, too, of those whom we are called to serve.

Our bodily needs are provided for;

keep us mindful of those who are hungry, or thirsty, or cold,

and of our duties toward those less fortunate than ourselves.

We rejoice and give thanks here in the company of friends;

keep us mindful of those who are lonely,

and of how we can be neighbors to those around us.

Grant that we may live long, happy, and holy lives,

grateful for each day we are given and its attendant blessings;

and bring us all at last to join with you and the saints and angels and all who have gone before us in the Thanksgiving feast that will have no end.

Merciful God, grant all these things and whatever else you see that we need, for the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen

A Sad Story With a Happy Ending; or, FREE PERSIMMONS IN THE FACULTY LOUNGE REFRIGERATOR

I just sent this email to the faculty list of my school:

Dear Esteemed Colleagues,

Please indulge me for a moment, or skip down to the bottom of this missive (where it says, "TL;DR").

On a recent trip to HomePlus, one item on my shopping list was 1 kilo of tomatoes for our latest experiment in home cooking (tomato soup!). I found a lovely tray of round, red-orange, luscious-looking fruits and brought them home.

The time came to cut up the tomatoes for the soup. Leslie was chopping apples for apple crisp across the counter from me. The tomatoes were surprisingly soft--like no other tomatoes I had ever held in my hand before. And then, Leslie said the last words that any man with a kilogram of tomatoes in front of him, all ready to make tomato soup, wants to hear:

"Honey, why does it say 'Fresh Persimmons' on the box?"

Stunned, I replied, "These aren't tomatoes?"

Leslie examined one with a practiced eye. "Look at the green thing on top. Tomatoes don't look like that."

"Don't they?" I replied, eyes widening in disbelief.

Disaster was averted by means of a quick trip to a nearby roadside vegetable vendor. The tomato soup was made and consumed amid much rejoicing. But there remains a kilogram of the most tomatoey-looking non-tomatoes I've ever seen in my life taking up precious space in our refrigerator.

And this, my friends, is where the Happy Ending comes in--and you can have a part to play in this happy ending!

TL;DR: Leslie and I have a bunch of persimmons in our fridge that we won't use. I'll bring them to the fridge in the faculty lounge tomorrow (Tuesday, Oct. 19), and you are welcome to as many of them as you like, or the whole tray--first come, first served.

Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely,

Daniel

P.S. TL;DR = "Too long; didn't read."

First Weeks of School

Hi everyone!  Daniel and I have survived our first three weeks of school!  I feel like I'm finally getting into a rhythm in my classes and getting to know my students.  This year, I'm teaching 9th grade English (38 students total), 11th grade History in Literature (14 students), 6th grade Creative Writing (8 students), and 8th grade Creative Writing (3 students).  I started out with 14 8th grade students, but I lost 11 of them during the first week as they switched music classes.  It's an interesting situation now, but I guess it means that those three will get a lot of individual attention (and unfortunately, it also means that Daniel and our friend Lee, who teach during different periods, have huge creative writing classes).  The 6th graders are so cute and, overall, really good writers, so class has been a lot of fun with them.  The 9th graders have been enjoying the Greek myths and the Odyssey so far, though 3/4 of the students in each class are boys, and some of them can get really rambunctious during the breaks between classes.  I am enjoying teaching the 11th graders, some of whom I taught last year.  We're reading The Fixer by Bernard Malamud and watching Fiddler on the Roof.  It's been fun so far--they knew almost nothing about Jews or the Russian Empire in the early 20th century--and I'm trying hard to foster better discussions.  The hardest thing for me the first couple of weeks was to see my old 9th graders (current 10th graders) in the hallways and to know that I couldn't teach them this year (even though I really wanted to).  Running into them is nice, but it's not the same as seeing them in class every week. :(

This year, I'm advising the literary magazine with Lee, which I'm looking forward to, and supervising the club that helps animal shelters (so I'll get to see more dogs!).  I'm also a homeroom teacher for 11th graders this year (instead of 9th graders).  I held short meetings with all of my homeroom students the past few weeks, which was helpful for me to better get to know them and their concerns about the year.  I certainly do not envy the fact that they are taking the PSAT, SAT, and SAT IIs (and possibly a couple APs) this year.  This week, we'll be gone for three days on an all-secondary retreat.  We're actually going back to the same place where we had our faculty retreat this year, which is on the East Coast.  I hope that all of us will have fun (it seems like most of the time, we'll just be supervising the students).  Daniel, Lee, Meghan, and I wrote a faculty skit for the retreat, which I'm hoping will be funny.  We've enjoyed hanging out with our friends so far (so much fun!), though some weekend nights I've been too tired to do anything.  The first weeks of school are so exhausting--mainly because we have to get used to standing on our feet most of the day again and waking up early.  I also still have to get completely used to my schedule this year.  Last year, I had the first two periods free every day, which was really nice, but now I teach 1st period every day, which means that I have to be ready for when my students start coming in 10-15 minutes early.  And now that my free periods are later in the day, I have to get better about using that time productively (instead of just wanting to relax after a long day). 

The only other piece of news I can think of is that we also survived a typhoon on Thursday.  When I woke up, the wind was blowing so hard (I've never seen trees shake like that before).  I went to the bus stop and got on the bus, but after one stop, the driver started yelling at us in Korean and everyone else starting getting off--it turns out that trees had fallen and blocked some of the roads.  I walked quickly to school the rest of the way, trying to avoid branches and leaves on the sidewalks.  By the time I got to school, my hair was very messy (after blowing around in the wind) and my face was red.  I quickly got ready for class, but when the bell rang at 8:10, I only had two of my eight students (almost all of the buses were late).  By the end of the period, everyone else had shown up, but it was a little hard to teach that morning.  Oh well!  We hope you're all doing well!

Love,
Leslie

School Starts in Three Days!!!

Hi everyone! School starts in just three days!! I'm trying to disregard this scary thought for a little bit longer by adding a quick follow-up to Daniel's post from earlier this week. We just returned from our three-day faculty retreat, which took place on Korea's east coast. I was excited that we would be staying right next to the ocean, but it unfortunately rained the first two days we were there, and although it was almost nice outside today, we only had about half an hour of free time before we returned to Seoul. I still managed to spend most of that time happily with my legs in the water. :) I wish that I had had the last few days to prepare for my new classes (instead of what we spent most of our time doing in our sessions), but I'm glad that I am much better acquainted with the new teachers now than I was before. So before my life gets even more crazy the next few weeks, I thought that I'd put up a few pictures from the places we visited during our fantastic summer (you can see the progression of Daniel's beard). We hope to be better about blogging this year, so we'll see how we do. Love to you all!!


My homeroom on the last day of school. :)



Our first day (of our two-week Asian tour with Sarah) in Beijing.


At the Ming tombs.


The Great Wall at Mutianyu.


At an amazing dim sum dessert place in Hong Kong.


Visiting Kelson in Singapore.


At a large Buddhist temple in Penang, Malaysia.


At the beach in Langkawi, Malaysia (before Sarah's jellyfish sting). :(


Langkawi.


On Mount Rainier with my family.


Visiting Seattle. :)


Grandma's early birthday celebration.


Sarah and Ben in Grand Marais, Minnesota.


Lutsen, Minnesota. :)


Seeing Ashley! In the Carleton arboretum.


Sailing with Dennis!


At the "pizza farm" in Wisconsin with Phil and Jill.


Harvard!


In Cape May, New Jersey with my family.


Danny burying Robby in the sand.


My cousin Julia!


Playing the piano with Julia and Uncle David.

We're Back!

Here we are again in Korea! We arrived yesterday (Saturday) afternoon, Korea time. Leslie went to bed early last night; I went out shopping for groceries, etc. A few highlights from my evening:

• I went to Costco first, then to HomePlus. I took public transportation to both places, and taxis home. I needed to put my purchases in the trunks of the taxis. Both taxi drivers opened their fuel tanks by accident before finding the right button to open their trunks.
• Speaking of taxis, all taxis here are equipped with navigation devices that are freakishly advanced. It's absolutely standard for taxis to have little computer screens that have all of Seoul and its vicinity completely mapped out in 3D. The one in the taxi we took home from the airport would show a picture of any potentially confusing intersection or exit as it would look through the windshield, with an arrow pointing to the correct lane. The one in the taxi I took home from Costco would beep whenever the car exceeded the speed limit, and flash the speed limit in large numerals on the screen.
• Getting Honey Nut Cheerios out of the package in which they had been shipped to Costco: this involved tearing through several sheets of plastic and then wrestling with the tightly-wedged boxes to get one out. Finally successful, I turned around to see a Korean woman behind me looking at me expectantly. I offered her my box and she took it. Then I had to go back and wrestle another one out. The Korean woman's husband helped me.
• Most Koreans I've encountered are extremely helpful, even if there's little shared language. We had more luggage than the two of us could easily handle coming back from the airport, so the taxi driver left his car to walk with us to the front door of our apartment, pulling one of our suitcases. Asking for help in a store often leads to the person you ask going on an expedition to find another employee with better English to help you. That's how I got my Brita water filter in Homeplus. The English-speaker had a hard time pronouncing "filter" (it sounded more like "pulter") so I went into a detailed explanation to make sure he understood me--hopefully I didn't come across as too much of a jerk. Then he relayed my request to the first employee I'd found, who brought me right to what I wanted. A guy I passed coming into my apartment with all my Costco bags offered to help me carry them up the stairs when I found that the elevator was out of order. He was walking out; I pointed over my head to my apartment on the second floor to tell him I didn't have far to go, and would be fine on my own.

Today we can spend the day in, relaxing and maybe getting a little work done; we'll go out for dinner and drinks to celebrate a colleague's birthday this evening.

It's good to be back!

Spring!!

As Daniel said, it is finally Spring in Seoul!! We had lovely magnolias, then gorgeous cherry blossoms, tulips, and red buds, and now lilacs. I've enjoyed walking home from school the past few weeks and seeing how the trees and bushes change a little each day. We've had a very busy last few weeks--first my friend Ashley came to visit and then Daniel's friend Kelson came to visit, during which time we also had Classroom Without Walls (a chance for the teachers and students to explore things outside of school) and parent-teacher conferences. We loved spending time with our guests, and we look forward to visiting Kelson in Singapore in June and seeing Ashley back in Minnesota this summer. :) School itself has been very busy; I'm currently working with my 10th graders on long-term research papers, and it's even more work than I remembered. I've spent so many hours checking on their sources, helping them with their thesis statements, making suggestions on their outlines, and giving them a lot of direction on their writing. I really hope they're pleased with the end-products (the final draft is due in a week)! Meanwhile, we're also trying to cover the 1920s and 1930s in class. The 9th graders completed fantastic creative World War I projects last week--I love it when they do much more than I could have imagined. We just finished studying the Soviet and Chinese Communist Revolutions, and now we're starting with World War II. I can't believe that we only have four real weeks of classes left! The Spring semester definitely passes more quickly than the Fall--it's hard to fit everything in. We're really looking forward to traveling with Sarah (Daniel's sister) after school finishes in June--we'll be visiting China, Singapore, and Malaysia for a couple of weeks, before Daniel and I spend the summer splitting time between Seattle, Minnesota, New Jersey, and St. Louis (I'll also be in Cambridge for two days if any of you are there!). We love and miss you!!

P.S. In case any of my students are reading this--hi!

Here are some pictures from the last few weeks:


Visiting Changdeokgung Palace with Ashley.


The main building (with the king's throne).


I love the colors.


By the queen's quarters.


Cherry blossoms!








At Yeouido (in front of one of the only cherry trees in bloom that weekend)


Shopping at Myeong-dong


Walking dogs at an animal shelter for Classroom Without Walls


I loved the dogs--I really wanted to take them home with me!!


Back at Yeouido for the Cherry Blossom Festival




A fun afternoon with friends


Visiting Dream Forest (near our school)