17 Thank-Yous to my Amazing Mom

I saw a version of this on Carlos Whittaker's blog, Ragamuffin Soul.  I think it's the perfect answer to my Mother's Day post.  (It's still Mother's Day in its country of origin, so leave me alone.)

1. I was so excited to go to Kindergarten, so excited to formally learn.  I ran into that classroom, and I don't think I even looked back to see if you'd left; if I did, it was to make sure you had.  You never let me see that bother you (I'm still not sure that it did).  Thank you for fostering a love of learning in me.

2. In first grade, I was tired of being the only kid who read with expression.  All the other kids stuttered their monotone ways through our readers; I thought that must have been the cool way to read, so I started doing it, too.  I brought the style home, and you immediately scheduled a meeting with my teacher to discuss my declining reading level.  She subscribed to an older version of teaching that encouraged all students to learn at the same level and would not budge to give me more challenging work.  You took me to the public library and assigned me weekly chapter books to go through.  Thank you for protecting my skills.

3. In second grade, I began to lose my first "best" friend.  We had moved across town, and I was still clinging to the friendship, even though it was pretty much gone already.  Thank you for patiently arranging play-dates and making the drives to and from her house.

4. In third grade, I got accepted into an alternative school and that friend did not.  I was devastated and didn't want to go without her.  You made me go anyway.  Thank you.

5. In fourth grade, you got up almost every school morning to drive me to said alternative school instead of making me take the hour-and-a-half bus ride.  We used that time to attempt to cram my spelling words into my head.  None of them stuck, but the methodology you used to teach them to me did.  Thanks for teaching me how to study.

6. In fifth grade, I began to experiment with everything, including how to do laundry.  I attempted to wash my costume for the school play on my own.  It was white, and I wanted it to look amazing, because I felt fat, dumpy, and ugly.  I wanted people to see me and think I was pretty.  So I added bluing to the wash, but I didn't realize it needed to be diluted.  You stayed up making me a new costume for the play.  Or maybe you bought it... but I think you made it.  I know you made the jacket, but either way, it was your time and money that you lovingly gave to prevent the ridicule and reprimand for my actions.  I'm grateful.

7. In sixth grade, I was asked to join with the high school orchestra for their Spring trip to New York City.  You said I could go, but only if you went, too.  I was horrified that you wanted to chaperon, but no amount of begging or attitude would change your mind.  After having been on those trips as a high-schooler on those trips, all I have to say is that you made the right choice.  Thanks for sticking to your guns.

8.  In seventh grade, I went out of my way to hurt you.  We'd moved again, and I didn't want to.  You knew I was planning to run away.  You called my likely refuges and warned them.  You told them not to send me back if I left; you knew I'd do it again and in a more dangerous way.  You told me later that you had been planning to sign over custody if I left.  For the sake of my safety, you were willing to give up your rights to me.  I'm astounded.

9.  In eighth grade, I had the opportunity to tour the country with a singing group.  You didn't feel comfortable with me being away for so long with a group you didn't know well, but still you drove me the day and a half out to training.  When my phone calls started sounding fishy, you showed up at every one of our shows.  You let me finish the tour, but you still looked out for me.  I felt safer because I knew you'd be there.

10.  In ninth grade, we were dealing with my on-going night-terrors.  They were so intense.  They still scare me to this day, and I know they scared you then.  Thank you for not making me feel like a freak for having them.

11. In tenth grade, you made better costumes for ALL the madrigals.  You stayed up later than I did a lot of the time.  That couldn't have been easy for you, but I really appreciate it.  It helped me stop being so much of a social outcast, which was (is) important to me.

12. In eleventh grade, you were working again.  I knew you wanted to be working, but I didn't realize all your reasons.  There's so much you did for me with the money you made from that job that I'm only realizing now.  You give and give and give.

13. In twelfth grade, you gave me my space.  I did a lot of things that I needed; those things probably hurt you, but you could also see why I needed to do them.  You stood up for me, and fought the big battles WITH me (not for me).  Words cannot express how truly grateful I am and always will be.

14.  In college, you helped me move in, you giggled with me about boys, you talked to me when I called, and let me go without talking when I didn't.  You sent me care packages (more than most kids got).  You made the 14-hour drive whenever I had an important concert.  You fought the urge to fly down every time I ended up in the ER and let me find my own two feet.  You cheered for me as I flew around the world, and you didn't panic when I told you I'd be leaving again in a matter of  weeks.  You fished me out of the waters when I got in too deep, but never coddled me.  AND helped me pay for toiletries.  You win.

15. You were nothing but nice to my boyfriends, even when you told them to get lost.  I really appreciate that.

16. I'm sure you cried when I told you I'd be moving to start my adult life out of the country, but you never let me see it.  I needed that more than you can know.  You came to visit me, I came to visit you, and we began to iron out our relationship as adults.  It's not an easy process, but I'm sure we'll get it.  Thank you for respecting me.

17. Recently, we've really begun to talk about faith - REAL faith.  Sure, we talked about "faith" as a kid, but not like this.  I appreciate that I can talk to you about things that are deep, and I'm floored by the extent of the faith you have.  When we lost Pop-pop, I felt like I lost my rock, my anchor - the thing that would helm me back in if I floated too far away.  I'm beginning to realize that I only lost one of a number of anchors, the exact number of which I can never be fully sure.  Thank you for standing firm and for opening up to me.

Psy's a Gentleman?

This is my preemptive strike at your questions, dear American friends.  You just can't get enough of Korea these days, can you?  Let me assure you, they're loving that over here.  Frankly, it's about time, too.  Korea is where the 90's went to hide from you.  90's music is over here.  90's clothes are over here.  90's computer games are over here... All of you 90's kids who complain because you miss that decade... How come you're still over there?  So Korea just had to leak a little Psy onto the scene.  Now, I don't think that Psy is an accurate representation of the full scope of Korean culture these days, and I know I'll be slaughtered if I even try to suggest that he's anything like the 90's, but I love that you're getting into him, and I hope that you'll use him as a gateway to other aspects of Korean culture.

So "Gentleman."  Let's hear it for the man that knocked Justin Bieber out of a record-holding position!  In just 24 hours, Gentleman had over 18.9 million YouTube views, as compared to The Biebs' then record-breaking 10.6 million views for his collaboration with Nicki Minaj on "Beauty and the Beat."  It's been a horrible week for that kid, and I can't help but feel slightly bad for him... that is, until I realize that it's pretty much his ego that's been causing all his troubles.

I'm hesitant to post the music video for Gentleman, considering the outrageously vast number of Americans who have already taken it upon themselves to watch all four minutes of the video before jumping to conclusions about what it means, but, since you're here at my blog, I'm assuming you're looking for a slightly more Korean perspective on the Korean singer's song that came out of - where? - Korea, rather than the perspective of an American who may or may not have even bothered to translate the lyrics before jumping into an in-depth analysis.  (Yes, that is an actual article.)  I'm going to put the video here, trusting that you will continue reading it even after you watch it.

Even as I put that here, this thing has a jaw-dropping 137,001,850 views.  Holy crap.  Sadly, it looks like we're going to have to put up with drop-crotch jeans a bit longer, because if that many people have watched the video, I don't think we're going to have able to keep them a secret anymore.  Seriously... why are you people wearing those things?  They look horrible.

Okay.  Let's start where it's easy... well... easy-ish.  The translation.  Thanks to a tip I got from a comment on an article with a translation, I realized that most of the translations you're going to find are missing a lot of the nuances of the song, going for word-for-word translations instead.  The best translation is (unfortunately for you, fortunately for Psy) found in the video of Psy's press release of the song.  Way to go marketing team, right?  So... if you want to get a good feel for the lyrics, you're going to need to listen to the song again.  Sadly, I've heard that there are some word plays in the song that I just don't have enough Korean language under my belt to be able to point out if there are any in the Korean of the song, but most of the English (like "mother-father" and "party mafia") is punny in Korea.  Here you go, listen away:

Now, did you notice the other difference?  Without the video, the song seems... less confusing?  Less poignant?  That's on purpose.  If you paid attention to my other Psy post, you already know that Psy loves the satire.  So I don't think anyone should be surprised when I say that he's done it again.  Let me clarify.  Psy is not condoning this mistreatment of women.  Psy is protesting it.

I've seen an article that I'm pretty sure is out of Canada mention that it could be a slam against rappers and the culture of violence (especially toward women) that seems to spring up in association with them.  Maybe he is, but I doubt it.  I've surveyed about 40 of my students (yes, for those of you who know my class sizes, that means I surveyed the one class I've had since I decided to make this post), and not a single one had any clue what was going on in the song.  They all knew what the word gentleman meant, and they all acknowledged that the words in the song didn't seem to match that.  But when I asked "So, why would Psy write it that way?"... crickets.  I gave my opinion, and they agreed it could be an option, although, I don't know how much of that was just a teacher-pleasing tactic.

Basically, I see it like this:  In Korea especially, there is a big problem with the inequality between genders.  Certainly, Korea isn't the worst country on this front, but it's far from the best.  Koreans my age and younger are really beginning to speak out about their distaste for this.  Based on his history of tongue-in-cheek exposés of topics he felt needed to be addressed in Korea, I think this song could easily be about the way men treat women in Korea.  There are many men who parade around, claiming to be gentlemen, while terrifying their families into submission, abusing their wives, and having affairs.  This is, unfortunately, somewhat normal, showing up even in one of the most popular dramas in Korea - My Daughter, Seo-Young - with quotes like "No normal man stays in love with his wife for three years."

Similarly, the general word out of Asia seems to be interpreting the song as a commentary on celebrities and their lifestyles.  It could easily be this, too, and, as I am in no way, shape, or form Asian, I would be more than happy to submit to that option, however, this is the word out of China and not yet the word out of Korea, so I am still waiting before resigning my opinion.  (Korea has remained rather silent on an interpretation.)

Now... that phrase you hear over and over - "mother-father" - is exactly what you're hoping it's not.  He is, in fact, saying "mother-father" and not some slurred/mumbled/un-enunciated version of "motherf*****", but these days "mother-father" has become a Korean euphemism for it's more colorful counterpart, much like dang or darn can be substituted for d***.  So, all these people who are wondering if he's trying to say he's the kind of man you can take home to mother and father... well, they're apparently not up on current Korean culture.

Finally, to answer MTV, he is most definitely saying "Wet Psy," not "West Side."  Although Psy did go to college in the States, he would have no reason to yell out "West Side" for his predominantly Korean audience.  Let's stop being ethnocentric and thinking the world revolves around American culture.  Simply because we chose to borrow a song from another does not mean that its writer will kowtow to ours.  "Wet Psy" has nothing to do with what you're fearing it is, incidentally, and everything to do with his sweaty armpits.

And that, friends, is my preemptive answer to your upcoming Psy questions.

Incidentally, if you're interested in looking at several hilarious-looking (I haven't watched any yet) parodies of this song, you can find a bunch here.

Well, I've been brainwashed.

It's true, I have.  I went to a recital tonight, and, while I was there, I was overwhelmed with the urge to write a review of the event, as I had to do in college for my listening credit hours, which I generally tried to meld with my recital credits, when possible.  As a result, I have a couple of notebook pages worth of a paper, and no on to whom I should give it.  So, although you can't give me college credit for it, I'm going to share my "assignment" with you.

First, the program, which you need as proof of my attendance:

Then, my review (It may be a little disjointed, as, since none of you can give me any kind of grade for this that will affect my future, I'm only typing out for you what I wrote at the recital and not editing it much at all):

The program opened with an elegantly dressed violinist playing Vittorio Monti's "Csardas," which had me utterly captivated  by its haunting melody, that is, until we got to about the halfway part.  Upon hearing the change to a section done entirely in harmonics, I became quite convinced of his insanity.  The only question that was left for me to debate was whether or not the violinist could qualify as more insane than Monti, as she willingly selected and practiced this monster of a piece for hours on end, somehow conquering it, and making it through the piece with only the harmonic section giving her any grief, as it would anyone.

I must say, I was disappointed in Korea's apparent constant need for electronic "enhancements."  While the reverb added by the sound technicians was esthetically pleasing, for the hall was somewhat lacking by way of acoustics, the coast was found in blocking the faces of the performers with a microphone.  It is rare indeed that a classical performer actually needs one, and many of them were actually backing far away from it, so its presence was rather a frustration for me more than anything else.

The appropriate attire for accompanists seemed to be a matter on which Korean and American cultures also differ.  The many hot pink gowns that flowed over the piano bench often not so much as took away my attention from the performer at hand as they screamed for it, occasionally seeming to grab me bodily and turn me toward themselves.  Add to that sequins, multi-colored skirts, and yellow tule, and you have a sure-fire recipe for culture shock.  Luckily, G-d invented eyelids to be closed, and close mine did, allowing for my renewed focus on the upstaged performer.

And then came the Schubert, the hope of which had been sustaining me since the moment I heard of this event.  It brought with it, of course, another hot pink gown, but it was at least worn by the soprano, 신정헤, this time, so all attention was forcibly placed on the correct person, and, oh my, was it due.  This woman was the possessor of the single largest voice I have ever had the pleasure to hear live in my life.  She was obviously singing with only a fraction of what she could, making it look and sound as easy as if a child, fresh out of the womb could sing Schubert.  The only hint of nerves to be found showed itself only in her hands  which balled themselves into fists or stretched into other odd contortions when she was resting for long passages.

To my pleasure, the first half ended with a Baritone aria from Verdi's Attila.  While I have no great love for Italian (as I do for German), Verdi does hold a special place in my heart.  Furthermore, Baritones rarely fail to steal away my breath, and 박재명 was no exception.  His luscious tones filled the room in a nature most counterintuitive to his stiff mannerisms on stage. In spite of that, it was a satisfying end of half, and I felt somewhat warmed, a feat, as I'm almost positive the auditorium remained unheated tonight, thus proving the extreme welcome of the velvet blanket his tone and timbre cast over me, if only for a moment.

After the intermission, I began to wonder if I had  perhaps missed a theme, as, yet again, a hot pink dress walked across the stage, this time adorning the body of a solo pianist, 박유선.  She was no David Finney, my accompanist in college (nor will anyone ever be, is I allow my very biased opinion be known), but so far as I could tell, she was very good.  However, as my piano training ended in the seventh grade, I can't pretend that I'm a very good judge.  I can tell you, however, that she was both pleasing to listen to and watch, which is an accomplishment, as many musicians get carried away on the ocean waves of their music, consequently causing seasickness in their poor listeners/viewers.  Luckily, that was no the case in this instance.

I was disappointed in the omission of the promised "O mio babbino caro" from the program that was originally advertised, a disappointment further hightened by a severe lack of recital training of my fellow audience members.  Although I loathed the time we spent officially learning it in university, I'm now extremely grateful.

[As the cold set in still deeper, I found myself writing less (and what I did write got severely edited), as the cold tends to shorten my temper and sharpen my pen, so much of the second half is missing from my recounting, I did leave alone my commentary on the finale.]

Nothing less than cuteness shone though in the finale, Galop March for 1 Piano, 8 Hands by A.J. Lavignac, which was a little sad, or perhaps impressive, since there was an immense amount of talent on the stage as several of the evening's accompanists performed together.  They were truly charming, and would have left the evening feeling nothing more than adorable, had there not been another performance unmentioned in the program.  All of the evening's performers found their ways back on the stage to sing and ballroom dance their ways through one final piece eluding to days long past, and, somehow, convince the hear that we may not have come out entirely on top for their loss.

All in all, it was a delightful evening, and I would gladly attend any other put together by the lady and organizer of the event, 강성애, although, preferably, with a working heating system or heavier coat.

Me, the program, and my writing

Right here for your very much wish-fulfillment.

Way back in my freshman year of college, I was in Covenant Choir, which took a trip to Orlando, Florida.  My friend Kara and I ended up being rooming partners, and we stayed with an absolutely amazing family (Andy, Lorri, Sydney, and Carter); I still think about them sometimes, actually.  We had so much fun.

For example, I think this is one of the most adorable dogs ever.

Well, the amazing family came with their crazy dog, Ziggy, who just felt too much of a need to exert his dominance.  After watching him chase Kara's legs around the house for a half hour or so, I, half jokingly, half seriously, said I wanted a similarly awkward dog when I got older.  (Actually I want a more awkward dog, because not only do I want a dog that exerts his dominance, I want him to be so ugly it's cute.  It's okay.  You can go ahead and call the people with the jackets that help you hug yourself.  I won't hold it against you.)

For some reason, I feel like the more awkward a dog is, the more endearing it is.  I can't explain it.  Maybe I shouldn't think that absolutely awkward things are cute.  Maybe that will lead to uncomfortable situations.  Or... maybe it will make for excellent stories later.  I guess it just depends on how you see the glass.

So, yes, I challenged G-d and/or life to give me a dog with a need to exert its dominance. May I just throw it out there that you shouldn't put those kind of challenges out there without expecting them to happen.

Kara and Ziggy

Tonight, I had my friends Thomas and Bethany over for a long over-due dinner/hang-out time.  The food was delicious, thanks to The Awkward Chef.  (I made her veggie burgers again, and I finally got them all to turn out correctly!  It was a momentous occasion.)  Manila was out and running around when they came in.  (To be technical, she was the only one here to greet them; I had to run to the store for a second.)  They hit it off to begin with, but Manila must have felt threatened by Thomas' masculinity, because, by halfway through the evening, she had felt the need to mark a corner as her own.

Manila, trying to figure out her species

But that wasn't enough; she had to move on to his arm, and she didn't just chin it or something.  No, she had to go and exert her dominance.  But she wasn't too good at it, though, because he couldn't figure out what was going on.  It was pretty amusing, but I put her away anyway.  Poor, over-stimulated bunny.  We'll try again anyway.

Be careful what you wish for, I guess.

In spite of the weirdness of having a rabbit that thinks she's anything but a rabbit, we had a great night (and it's been good to see her acting fully healthy again - she's even eating her pellets... occasionally).  We had veggie burgers (yum).  We had watermelon (yum yum).  We had Oreos and peanut butter (yum yum yum!).  We found the faces of Mary, Jesus, and Satan in the peanut butter.  We played Fluxx until we were laughing so hard it hurt.  I don't think anyone can deny the quality of the night, and I can't wait to have Bethany and Thomas over again.  :)


PS. Identify the quote from the title of this post.  Why?  Because life it more fun when you realize how much of what I say is actually quoting something.

Blimey Cow photo-a-day 22. Your favorite superhero (AKA Batman).
Lucky for Blimey Cow, my favorite superhero generally is Batman, although he is occasionally challenged by Wolverine.  

Looking for a new worship song?

My friend Emy and her fiance, Hamil, wrote this amazing song that I'd like to share with you.  Here, it is being performed by one of Trevecca's PR groups Refuge, although Emy and Hamil do appear in the video (Hamil is the first man you see outside of the band, Emy is the first woman).  Give it a listen, I think you'll find it changing your day.

Be Thou my Vision

On Sunday, I sang my favorite hymn in church... in Korean.  They've been on me to sing/play a solo in church for a while now, but I've been hesitant, because I didn't see how I could do that without drawing the attention toward me and away from G-d, but then I figured it out: a melody that I know really well, paired with words my churchmates can understand (i.e., Korean).  So, I sang.  Don't get excited.  There's no media for you today.

From the best I've been able to understand, it's not an incredibly popular hymn here.  No one has recognized it when I've hummed it for them, but holy cow, did G-d speak through it.  Whether it was the shock of Korean coming out of my mouth or the power of the song (or both), I had their attention from the word go (or 가세요, more appropriately).  They "amen"-ed as much as they do during a normal sermon - loud, unashamed, and heart-felt.  G-d was moving.

We often don't pay attention to the words we sing, but what if the person who you could never understand before, suddenly stood up and starting singing one in your language?  You'd probably listen differently.  I think we need to start paying attention to the words we sing like that all the time.  I mean, in Korea, these words are so important that they're included as part of their Bibles.  That's a big deal.

My Pop-pop had a habit of making us read certain verses of songs when he really wanted us to pay attention to their meaning, and you know what?  I can still quote you the verse he did it the most on. (And when I think, that G-d, His Son not sparing, sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in.  That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin.)

So, in the spirit of truly looking at the words we sing and the message they're trying to give us, I'm going to post the words of this song for you (as printed in the Wesleyan hymnals I've seen), coupled with the Korean, since I seem to have a decent amount of Korean visitors.  I hope you will take the time to read it all.

Be Thou my Vision, O Lord of my heart;

내 맘의 주여 소망되소서

Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art.

주 없이 모든 일 헛되어라

Thou my best Thought, by day or by night,

밤이나 낮이나 주님 생각

Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.

잘 때나 깰 때 함께하소서 

Be Thou my Wisdom, and Thou my true Word;

지혜의 주여 말씀으로서

I ever with Thee and Thou with me, Lord;

언제나 내안에 계십소서

Thou my great Father, I Thy true son;

주는 내 아버지 나는 아들

Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

주안에 내가 늘 살고지고

Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise,

세상의 영광 나 안보여도

Thou mine Inheritance, now and always:

언제나 주님의 나의 기업

Thou and Thou only, first in my heart,

주님만 내 맘에 계시오니

High King of Heaven, my Treasure Thou art.

영원한 주님 참 귀하셔라

High King of Heaven, my victory won,

영원한 주님 내 승리의 주

May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s Sun!

하늘의 기쁨을 주옵소서

Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,

어떠한 고난이 닥쳐와도

Still be my Vision, O Ruler of all.

만유의 주여 소망되소서

Amen

아멘

Somebody That I Used to Know - Gotye

This is currently my favorite song, and it seems to be the world's, too.  There are so many excellent arrangements of it, and I've selected quite a few of them, for varying reasons, and, yes, I realize that two of these videos may make people uncomfortable (the 2nd, which is the original, and the 4th, which is the gLee cover), but fear not, in a fun twist (as pointed out to me by my friend Becca), the gLee video is sung by two brothers.  have selected each video for either its emotional portrayal of the song or its musicality or both.  Your heart will be able to identify them for you.

I've put my favorite arrangement of it first, followed by the original.  Next is my first exposure to the song.  The final is evidence of the world's adoration of it, and probably the one that tears at my heart the most.

I hope you can enjoy this song as much as I do!

Pesach 5772

Clearly, I'm catching up on my posts today. I have today off work, as it's election day, so I thought I'd take advantage of it. Many of you have been asking how my Seder turned out, and I thought I'd share the whole story.
I went to a Fat Tuesday dinner at the International Church on KNU's campus.  I went up to their head pastor, Josh Broward, meaning to thank him for the event, and, instead, said, "Hi, I'm Jewish.  Would you be interested in having a Passover Seder at your church?".  I knew from the get-go that this was a G-d thing.  I think that's probably why I didn't stress as much about it.  Yes, there was stress, but not nearly as much as I expected.  In fact, during the all-nighter the night before, there was no stress at all, just exhaustion.  In the end, roughly 2 dozen people showed up, so I had a bit too much food, as I was planning for 40 (thus my Passover recipes that have been using it up).  However, they all seemed very interested and blessed by the event.

Here are some pictures from the night that my friend Taylor took for me:

Pastor Josh, opening us in prayer.

Raising the first glass for its blessing

The table

We did a hand-washing where we washed each other's hands,
in memory of how Christ washed his disciples' feet.

Everyone got involved.

Emma played the role of the youngest child.  Her parents told me how excited she was and how she wanted to get dressed up to fit the part.  They explained how Jewish girls in Israel today wear pretty much the same clothes as they do in Korea.  I gave her my scarf to cover her hair, to help her out a bit.  I had been debating whether or not I would cover mine, but seeing her smile made my choice for me.

Observing the piercings and stripes of the Matzah; Yeshua HaMashiach is our  Afikomen!

Lent: Double Header

Blessing #9 - My students
Yesterday, the new semester started.  I wasn't really looking forward to it, but I even got there early.  I was afraid it was going to set the tone, when, as I was walking in, one of my students recognized me, and we had the following conversation:

Student: 안녕하세요.

Me: Hi!  How are you?

S: I'm bad.

M: Bad?  Why are you bad?

S: ... ... ... You.

M: Me?  Why me?

S: ... ... ... *runs away*

Oh goodness.  But I decided to work on convincing myself that he was attempting to have a sense of humor, while I also tried silencing the rant on respect that was threatening to overtake my brain.  I'm glad I was able to keep both to myself.

I got the pleasure of meeting all of my co-teachers for this semester.  They all speak almost fluent English and are rather nice.  I'm looking forward to working with them.

I got my schedule for this semester: I will be teaching third through sixth grade, and only see each class one day a week.  While I think that is unfortunate for their language-learning, it's nice for me, because my role is now very clearly defined.  It will be very hard to replicate the issues I had last semester, where no one was really sure who was in charge of the class.

I got my new textbooks for this semester:  While I'm still not thrilled with the student textbooks and supplement videos, the language they're learning actually looks like it's pretty good, so I'm feeling a bit better about the book choice, even if it was only coincidental that they will teach the kids language that will challenge them  (The books were only bought because they were a continuation of the third and fourth grade series).

As I was leaving lunch, I looked up to see a line of my 4th graders from last semester (now 5th graders). Their exuberance at seeing me made my heart leap and a smile grow on my face.  I was even more excited to see that one of them was the boy from that morning.  I went over to talk to them.  The first comment that they made was how my hair looked different (It grows astoundingly fast), and, for the first time, I found myself incredibly appreciative of Korea's rather "feminine" men and began trying to plot how they could teach American men to notice such things.  Then, one of my more memorable/excitable/IknowI'mnotsupposedtohavefavoritesbuthekindofisone students  (shown in the picture) looked at my and asked, "불고기가 맛있어요?" ("Is bulgogi delicious?" AKA - "Do you like this special Korean meat that we all like a lot?")  It was loud, so I didn't hear him clearly, which made me sad, because that's a sentence I learned how to answer recently: "네.  맛있어요.  하지만, 저는 알레르기가 있어요." (Yes, it's delicious, but I'm allergic.) But, one of the kids translated before the words processed in my head, so I responded in English, asking them if they knew what an allergy was.  I was impressed to find that they did.  I explained that I'm allergic to meat, and they were properly (although hilariously) horrified.  At that point, I realized how much I'd missed them.  I genuinely like those particular boys as people, and if they never grew up more than they have, I wouldn't be upset with them until they were about 23.  

I'm looking forward to Monday, that's for sure.

Blessing #10 - Music
Today, I went to my church translator's house for lunch with him and his wife.  I got really confused about their intentions, thinking they just wanted me over to practice some violin stuff for Palm Sunday, but, as I will be doing something with the International Church that day, I explained I wouldn't be available, and didn't bring my violin to the lunch.  As it turned out, the wife just wanted to make sure that I had friends in the church who were willing to speak English to me, because she remembered what a blessing it was when her church in America provided her with a small group of Korean-speakers.  Then, they gave me a Korean-English hymnal, which brought tears to my eyes.  I love the hymns, and I have missed them so much.  

The wife is the choir/music director at church, so she's pretty musical.  Nonetheless, I was surprised to see a piano in their home.  She asked me if we could do a couple hymns right then.  I picked the first one, deciding on "The Love of G-d is Greater Far."  She picked the next one, our church favorite: "How Great Thou Art."  This, of course, sent me into a wave of tears, which horrified them, but I pulled myself together, explaining that it was my grandfather's favorite hymn, and, even though he had passed two years ago, I still can hear his voice singing that song.  I haven't been able to sing that song since then, because I miss him so much.  But I wanted to sing it.  He would hate us not singing it.  So we sang it, and I closed my eyes and drank in the sound of his voice in my ear.  And, although I got choked up at points, I sang every last word.

I couldn't stop smiling all day.  My grandfather was with me today.

What are your grandparents' favorite hymns?  When was the last time you sang them?

Classroom Christmas Parties

So, I had this brilliant idea to throw a Christmas Party for the kiddos... all 320 of them, split across 10 classes, of course.  The plan was golden:

1. Sing a Christmas song as a warm-up
2. Decorate Christmas cookies
3. Make Christmas ornaments while we
4. Listen to the Christmas story
5. If time, take Christmas photos

There was just one problem: I severely underestimated the amount of work that goes into making 640 sugar cookies.  Oops.  It resulted in this:

But all that work resulted in this:

Some people call it "chaos;" I call it love.  

Anyway, this love resulted in my Christmas tree going from looking like this:

To looking like this:

That is my brother, whom I call Bug, and my beautiful Christmas tree, which we spent all of 15 minutes decorating.

This picture was simply so you could understand the vertical challenge we had.

The moral of this story:
Love freely.  It's worth it.

(Yes, I know I didn't really write enough words to condone that moral, but each picture is worth a thousand of them, so go back and find the in-between parts that will justify the moral.)

:) <3

My Christmas card to you, because I don't like not doing them.

May the joy of a child-like spirit fill your Christmas Season this year.

Handel's Messiah... part 2 (ish)

I saw this video today, and while, at first, I was tempted to be annoyed, I watched it all the way through and have decided that I find it very funny.  Enjoy:

Click the title of this post to see what I saw when I went to see this here in a Korea a couple weeks ago.

Going in circles

You know, when you're a kid, it's fun to go in circles.  For example, see my third graders in the video of today's "snack party" below:

However, when you're adult, it usually isn't all that fun.  In particular, I despise running in circles, like on a track, but I've always hated that.  "It's just that I'm not GOING anywhere!", I'd always say.

It's funny, though: My life seems to be circling back around to some old plans that I had made but never had the nerve to throw them on my bucket list, and, for once, I'm decently excited about it ("it" being the act of circling).  It would be nice to have some long-term goals again.  For now, I'm still in the planning stages, so I don't especially want to say too much about it, but I would (as always) appreciate your prayers for wisdom, guidance, and a child-like faith that's not afraid of enjoying the circles.

<3

Handel's Mesiah

I got the opportunity to go to hear Handel's Messiah performed live yesterday.  How?  Well, I saw an advertisement for it while I was on the bus, so I took note and showed up later the next day.  Now, I don't mean to slight anyone's hard work over in Nashville, but never in my life have I heard a more glorious performance of this work than I did last night... and they did it without intermission... and added an encore performance of the Hallelujah Chorus.  I was in tears... partially from the beauty of it, and partially from the realization that if I was in Nashville I would be doing the same thing in about a week.   Either way, it was good enough that I had to share.

The cover of the program

I live in Korea.  There's a line for everything.

Tenor 최승진, singing his heart out on "Every Valley Shall Be Exalted."

Mezzo-Soprano 구은서, with an absolutely stunning performance of "O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings To Zion."

Mezzo-Soprano 구은서 and Soprano 박영자, singing "He Shall Feed His Flock Like a Shepherd."  It was too good to cut down, so this is the entire song.

Hallelujah Chorus - I was very pleasantly surprised to find that everyone stood for this, despite a lack of ties to England and its former King.

Bass 류현승 was not my favorite, but only because I'm incredibly picky when it comes to basses.  He clearly is very well trained and has put many hard hours of practice into his profession.  He is singing "The Trumpet Shall Sound," featuring 정권수 on solo trumpet.

I hope you were able to enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did!
<3