NEW ARRIVAL!!!

     For the last week of my life I have been on cloud nine. All due to the arrival of my first child and new baby daughter! It seemed like it took forever for her to get her. From almost day one my wife has to endure several complication, scares, and even being separated from me since July. Well I have to say that it all is very much worth it. In honor of my mother, who passed away last year, we decided to name her Janet. All of the nurses kept asking us the same question over and over, "why such a big name for such a little person?" So I had several opportunities to explain why. That whole day is one that I will never ever forget. I have to give a huge shout out to Facebook, yes I said Facebook.  Facebook was the first place that my wife sent me a message saying that her parent's were taking her to the hospital.  As I getting ready to call home via Skype, yes Skype, I was filled with nervousness and excitment. Nervousness because I knew that my wife had had issues before and that she was still about 4 weeks early! The nervousness was not enough however to kill my excitement as I thought about the possibility of being able to finally see, smell, and hold the little person that we had been waiting for. In a matter of about an hour's time my wife had given birth through emergency c-section.
     With the help of the staff at my job, THANKS SOOOO MUCH, I was able to find, secure, and be on a flight that very same day. Twenty-four hours later I was walking through the door of my wife's hospital room! What a whirlwind! When I arrived, I learned that my wife had been put completely to sleep and hadn't been afforded the tradition of being able to hold her new baby moments after she arrived. Instead, we both were taken to the NICU where we met her for the first time together. She was sooo small, which was really a shock because she looked so big in the picture that my mother-in-law had sent me to "tide me over'.  I have to say that she is the most beautiful baby that I have ever seen, I am probably biased however. All in all, help me welcome baby Janet into the world:

Born: October 12, 2010
Weight: 5lbs 14 oz

 The following is one of my favorite worship songs!!!! Enjoy.

In Christ Alone

Teaching: Korean Style

     Hello it's me again. I'm sitting here in my classroom reflecting on a conversation that I just had with a group of students from one of my classes about a group project that I assigned them. A couple of years ago when I first started teaching in an alternative school, no one would have ever been able to convince me that I would be in Korea one day teaching kids in a private school. But, here I am! I can't help but to wonder what God has planned for my life at this stage when I consider the steps that it has taken me to get here: a)Started teaching four years ago at an alternative school b)started teaching 2 years ago at a regular middle school c)teaching at a very expensive private school in Korea. Do you see my point? This experience has been very eye opening for me. In some ways I can see why the American school system just does not produce the type of students that Asian schools seem to pump. On the other hand I can see how if one tried to institute a lot of the methods that Asian people use to teach, that it wouldn't work in America any way.  The kids here are amazing to say the least. At first glance they seem like your typical middle school students. I quickly learned however that there are those who would do just about anything to ensure that there grades are satisfactory, even to the point of sheer and utter annoyance of the teacher....lol!  I have never had students who will email me at all, let alone email me late at night to ask about assignments. That certainly was not the case at my first job where I had days where whole classes would be absent!

     Being a private school of this caliber I have to admit that the kids are a lot more down to earth than I expected them to be. They are very respectful.....going so far as to send me apology emails for any misbehavior on their part. In the states misbehavior would only be answered with....well.....more misbehavior to say the least. I have to say that I was already a fan of uniforms in school, but being here just accentuates the need that I see for this idea. Sitting here typing this, I am trying to recall one conversation that I have heard which reflects the teenage obsession with fashion. I simply can not. This is quite different to me when I think about the fact that in the American schools that I taught in, fashion was the cause of much aggravation for many a teacher, myself included. Although I am sure these students are very much into fashion, it doesn't seem to overshadow the school day. Don't get me wrong, every child isn't the model of the typical Asian stereotype. But even in those cases, they are still probably light-years ahead of the average American public school student.