Two + weeks in...

My good pal Gabby is in the midst of making some goodbyes herself, and reminded me of a great song by Rend Collective that encapsulates a lot of the feelings and thoughts that we've both had about big transitions in our lives. Have a listen! The Cost by Rend Collective.

Settling in somewhere is always by increments, until one day you wake up and realize, "Hey...I feel at home!"
I am not quite there, but I think the freedom that comes from knowing that I won't be gone in a year has helped me to do the little things that make a place feel home for me. In the past two weeks I bought three succulent plants for the window by my desk in the teacher's office, and I bought a soap dish.

I've realized how much physical environment effects me, in the "making something my own" side of things. Actually as I write this I realize that I need to do some things to my classroom to make it my own. I think that will help me settle in there well too. Decorating time!

The past two weeks have been a lot of fun as well as Hope was here for 10 days, from May 9-17. I can't speak for her, but it was such a feeling of wholeness to have a piece of the people of I love in the U.S.A here together with the people I love here. I hope more chances like that can happen fairly often in the future! I was so thankful to everyone here for making her welcome, especially Yoonseo and Jae and Karen. You guys are wonderful!

Two highlights stand out for me from Hope's visit--the first was at the Jjimjilbang, the public baths. When you visit the public baths, they give you a locker to put all your things in while you are bathing, and the kiey to the locker is on a little bracelet that you wear so that you don't lose it. It also serves as a mini credit card of sorts if you want to buy anything at the bath shop (shampoo, soap, scrubbies, lotion etc) or in the common area at the snack shop. When you leave, they scan the little key and you pay the tally off. It's generally a good idea to not misplace it, so naturally I did. Somewhere between my last rinse off from the sauna and going to my locker, the key disappeared from my wrist. Standing clothes-less, I thought perhaps when I took off the sauna clothes, I had also pulled off the key. Cue digging through the laundry basket. No dice. The lady from the bath shop came over to help, and still we couldn't find it. Then I remembered that I had put it in a different laundry place. The bath shop lady fetched a master key in the meantime and let me into my locker so that I could stop searching in the nude, and then sent me and my friend Anna down to the basement and out into the parking lot to a spot where laundry was dumped. We search through the small pile of laundry there but the key again eluded us.

By this time, I was just planning to pay the $20 ish replacement fee and be done with it, but as we were preparing to leave, the bath shop lady suddenly asked me the number of my locker.
"348"
She held up a key with the matching number that had been on the bath shop counter, probably brought in by someone after it fell onto the ground. She told me to put out my hand and she gave me two smacks. It was hilarious and I definitely deserved it. So ended the saga of the missing key.

The second highlight was our trip to Insadong to the Poop Cafe. As many already know, poop is cute and funny here, not gross, and is fair game as a theme for a cafe, or decoration on notebooks or erasers or anything. I had heard about the cafe from Michaela, and looked up some pictures. It looked pretty fun, so off we headed on Saturday morn.

 It did not disappoint. Poop hats for crying out loud!

Also a mint chocolate latte in a toilet bowl mug. Classy city.

Another really great time was visiting Yangpyeong and Dumulmeori, the same place I went in the winter with Josiah the last time I was here. Yoonseo took us after church on Sunday, even though it was kind of rainy. It was still beautiful and we had a really nice time together the three of us. Later that evening Hope and I went to Dalkkalbi together, and then Yoonseo picked us up and we all went to see Captain America: Civil War.

The next morning Hope was set to go to Gimpo airport early in the morning to get to her 9:25 flight, and was planning to just take the airport bus there, but Yoonseo volunteered to drive her there, which was a really amazing gift. I was able to come along and see her off that way. I thought I would do pretty well, since I've been saying goodbye a lot recently, but goodbyes never really get any easier. I was glad Yoonseo was there to cheer me up.

On the Connexus side of things, there have been both really heartwarming times so far and some struggles. One class was were able to work through some conflict with minimal input from me. My 5:30 Blue class had a disagreement over a game before class started and so during conversation time when I asked "How are you?" they both said "Annoyed."
"Do you want to talk about it before class?" I asked them. "Do you want to talk about it with a different teacher, Minji teacher?" I thought maybe they might want to speak in Korean, and I wasn't sure if I knew enough Korean to facilitate a good conversation.
"Yes talk, no different teacher."
So I decided to just have them each tell their side of the story, which they did in a mix of English and Korean. They had been playing a dice game, and had added the numbers differently. I wasn't sure what to say, so I just said,
"So you thought of different numbers, so it was annoying because you disagreed? But, it's ok if we think of different numbers. We're all part of the same class. We can play again tomorrow and try to get the same number."
After that I asked how they were feeling, and they both said, "Not annoyed." So we started class, and it went very well! I was really proud of them that they were willing to talk about the problem instead of just staying annoyed. I was also amazed and thankful that the mish-mash of English and Korean was enough to communicate well.

My 6:30 class is struggling a little bit with the two boys in that class going overboard with jokes and being too rough with each other. Hyundo and Woochan like to play pranks like hiding behind doors to scare each other, and daily rush the door, pushing and shoving each other. At first, I thought they had come to a good compromise. Hyundo, the older of the two, suggested they do rock, paper, scissors to decide who gets to go out the door first. I thought that was smart, and I was glad to see his leadership in that. However, it became apparent to me that there is underlying annoyance going on there. We tried to have a little talk about it in class today, but it seems like trying to get to the bottom of it only made them more annoyed at each other. The atmosphere in class is starting to get tense. I think I will need some help with this class soon to try to ease the hurt feelings. They both told me today that "they don't want to get closer" to each other, which was really sad to hear, but I think born out of being totally annoyed at each other for the pile of not-so-funny jokes they had been playing.

So those are some things that are happening here! Also:

Community News:
- Prep for Yoon Gushik's wedding on Saturday is going well, but there is still a lot to do. We've done a lot of construction and landscaping projects. Pictures to come of the sweet new lawn area by the parking lot!

- I'm starting language exchange with Hyesun next week...we will meet on Wednesday evenings! 기대할게요!^^

- Karen and I are hoping to start Bible study back up...really in need of that, I think!


Quotes from the Community:

Miseon: Lomie, how well to you know Abby imo?
Lomie: I know everything. She even came to Pennsylvania with her mom to my gwandma's house and had a tea party.

Yoonseo: Aurie, do you love me?
Aurie: No.

Yoonseo: There is a Korean saying that all the the food you don't eat you have to eat in heaven...
Abby: That's not really a problem, since you would have forever to finish it.
Yoonseo: Then with poop on top, how about THAT?

Hyundo: Teacher, what is your ideal type?
Abby: I like a funny and kind man. What is your ideal type?
Hyundo: My ideal type is ramen.

Korea 2.0

Well, well, well....Look what we have here! Since I have now returned to the land of Morning Calm (misnomer at times...although from the third floor up, we're above a lot of the noise!), it is also time for the revitalization of this blog.

Since this time around it is more like a every day life blog as opposed to a "let me document this year abroad blog" the format might change. But for now, I will continue with the tried and true format. So here's the blog music, which I have been humming as I unpack and get settled. As I will mention in this blog post, I feel especially like welcoming Jesus in with praise to my life here in Korea after the events that happened on the way here: Here For You by Matt Redman

So let me begin with painting an image for you: 5'8" young woman in a large straw hat and knee high boots sitting on the floor of an airport with a guitar and overloaded carry-on suitcase bawling her eyes out because of a flight that has been cancelled.

Not my best moment.

I arrived in San Francisco to discover that my Singapore Airlines flight to Seoul, the one that would get to Korea in time to be there for a dear friend's wedding, had been cancelled. But how did I find this out? I randomly met an old Korean man who looked as lost as I was looking for the international terminal. Turned out he was on the same flight as me (God Moment No.1). He asks me as we got onto the shuttle together, "Did you get the text message about the change for the flight?"

No I had not. I would also not get any communication personally until after the time that the flight would have been taking off, so unless I had met this man, I wouldn't have known one thing about what was going on at all. Jesus likes to outdo himself sometimes in the whole "miraculous meeting" arena.

We arrived at the Singapore airlines counter to find that the flight had been cancelled and the next Singapore airline flight wasn't until the next morning at 8:40 am, which would mean I would miss Sarah's wedding. They also seemed reluctant to look hard for another flight from a different provider. Cue tears, lots of them. Thankfully, Yoonseo was still awake, so I was able to let him know about the problem, and Josiah and Ana were available as well. Josiah called me and prayed with  me, and set about looking to see if another airline or airport nearby had any flights. He found one right away, and with those specifics in hand, I was able to ask if the airline could get me onto that flight. It took some waiting, but soon a woman came back and said that they had booked me onto a flight to LAX, and from there to Incheon (God Moment No. 2). I would arrive at 6 am Saturday morning, giving me six hours to get to the wedding in Cheongju. It was possible!

All the running around in Airports (can you say going through security THREE TIMES) got me so whooped that by the time I was on the Korean Air flight in LAX at 11:55 pm, I was almost completely asleep before takeoff. I have such a hard time sleeping on planes, but this time I was able to sleep 5 whole hours (God Moment No. 3). This meant that when Yoonseo picked me up at the airport, I had plenty of energy for the wedding, and didn't feel unbearably tired until around 9 pm, which was an ok time to sleep. I ended up sleeping straight through the night, from 9:30-5:45am...a good 8 hours of sleep (God Moment No. 4). On Sunday I took a brief nap in the early evening, but again was able to sleep the whole night. Not having to deal with bad jet lag has been such an incredible blessing.

On Monday, Hope also arrived in the evening, and I didn't realize what I good thing that would be for me, even though I wondered if having a visitor so soon after arriving would be stressful or not. Having someone to "show around" has enabled me to revisit all the places here that I knew and loved, and somehow through that I feel like I've 'rediscovered my roots' in a way, just by walking the ways I used to, and doing the things I used to do.

For instance, today I bought a bag of apples from the apple/fruit seller who always was outside the old Connexus building. It still cost 5,000 won, and he still gave me an extra apple with a smile like he used to. I know he didn't recognize me, but I knew him, and that was a really happy thing. I felt the same way going back to my favorite stationary store, Papearl, and seeing that the same guy worked there.

So adjustment is going well, I think, but I know that there is still more ahead, little by little. Today's added adjustment is my first full day of teaching. I feel ready!

Reading
Nothing yet, but will start El Deafo on the bus to Jamsil tomorrow morning!

Plans with Hope:
Wednesday Evening: Dalkkalbi or Samgyupsal and maybe 2nd Floor Cafe
Thursday morning: Jamsil and Olympic Park
Thursday evening: Dalkkalbi or Samgyupsal
Friday Morning ???
Friday Evening: Jjimjilbang with Anna!
Saturday: Hongdae, Insadong (?) (subject to change)
Sunday: Yangpyeong (?) (subject to change)

Community News:
* Sarah and Noah stopped by with Sarah's family on their post-wedding tour. They brought hugs and chocolate!!
* Plan is in the works to visit Gangneung (Yoonseo's hometown) with Connexus teachers in early June. I have heard that a zipline will be part of this. Cue fanfare!
* Gushik Yoon's wedding is on May 28 (Mom's birthday!), so there are a lot of wedding preparations going on. It looks like I will be a co-MC with Yoonseo to do the English translation of some of the wedding (don't worry, it will be from written material--my listening comprehension in Korean is not even close to that good haha).

No community quotes yet, but they'll be here when people start saying funny stuff. *hint hint*

-Abby

Korea Bound....in May!!

The title says it all!  It's been in the works for over a year, but I realized that many of you might not have heard much about it, so I'd like to fill you in so that you can be in prayer for me as I make a big transition!

Questions you may have....

When?

No official leave date yet, but it's looking like the first week of May I will be on a plane to South Korea!

How long?

Definitely a year, and most likely longer!

What? will we never see you again?

Of course not! I hope to be able to make annual visits back to the U.S. I'm also always open to visitors and South Korea is a super fun place to explore...not to mention how good the food is! *salivating already*

Where?

I'll be working as an EFL teacher again back at Connexus Language Institute in a small town in Namyangju. I'm connected to Seoul by subway and can get into the city easily, but will live in a more slow-paced area. This time I'll be moving into Connexus's new building, which also houses the Korean Peacebuilding Institute, Northeast Asia Regional Peacebuilding Institute, a coffee shop, and our living quarters. That's right, I can shuffle right down from my bedroom to my classroom lickety split! I'm really excited to teach again, and to continue to investigate more how language education, restorative practice, and peace education can work together. 

Aren't you pretty chipper even though you're leaving us all behind?

If I told you I wasn't trying extra hard to focus on the positive, I'd be lying. In reality, this is a huge step, since it isn't just a one time thing, and there isn't really an "end date" this time. I will miss you all so terribly, I know! I know that some of you I might grow apart from, too, and that is really, really hard to think about.

But I am also excited for what is ahead, and I also know that God is faithful, and that he takes care of us--I experienced that first hand in Korea the last time I was there. I was fearful I wouldn't make friends or fit in; but I did! I'm still a little fearful of that this time around too...and feel fearful of the pain of losing fellow teacher friends who leave Korea while I stay on. But I also never have felt the draw to go back to a place like I have experienced with being a teacher in Korea. So I'm going to follow God's nudging, and trust that he will provide again. I'm also pretty pumped at the thought of being in the same country with my best guy and support, Yoonseo. :-)

How can we pray?

* Pray that I will be able to go well--to have the chance to say good bye to all the people I'd really like to in person, and spend some last meaningful time with my family before heading of on a new adventure.

*Pray for a great transition back to life in Korea. Pray especially for the ability to learn to speak (not just read!) Korean quickly and to make a great group of friends who will be around for a while.

 *Pray for Yoonseo and I as we transition into being the same place again after a long time apart. Pray that our relationships with each other and with Jesus are strengthened and deepened by being together again.

* Pray for opportunities and places for me to be spiritually fed in English. I want to be fluent in Korean, but that is going to take a little while, so I want to be sure that I get spiritual food that I can understand well.

* Pray for finances and opportunities to come and visit friends and family back in the U.S. once a year.

How can we contact you?

Facebook, Whats App, Kakao talk, email, snail mail, carrier pigeon etc. The snail mail address is:

Abby Long
1st Floor Korean Peacebuilding Institute
25 Goongchonro, Wabu-eup
Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do
South Korea 12269

Friends for the Journey part 1

 I am inspired today by Carolyn's post about living with some good people, and it's got me thinking about some of the fantastic people who I've shared living space with throughout my life, and the goodness they've put into me. So here's a song about friends that is just the level of cheese I like; 1980's cheese: That's What Friends are For by Dionne Warwick, Elton John, Gladys Knight and Stevie Wonder.

The first thing that puts life into you when you're young is play, I think. And nobody knows about that better than my siblings:

From my brother I learned that bunk beds make good fake mole burrows, and that Legos, stuffed animals, rubber reptiles and Star Wars action figures are some of the very best toys. You know it's good times when we actually tried to record ourselves with the tape player while playing because we wanted to experience those those games again. We would end up laughing so hard we cried playing games like these,: The Ghost of the Broccoli Spirit, Bob and Larry and the Mario Mansion, Han Solo and the Wrench of Love, Newt Gunray the Annoying Junior Skiff Operator, or the running joke, "Oh, you're a beer bottle? No, I'm a person and my name is Anakin!" (Ok, so we were weirdos).

None of these fancy guys when we were young.

 Just stick these three together and you've got yourself a beer bottle...I mean baby!

We perfected our aim throwing stuffed animals through the window of the "reading cubical" (aka little carpeted cubby hole that could be a fort or whatever else you wanted).
As very youngins, we had the running games of Belly Button Man and Captain Pants-Fall-Down, as well as the chipmunk pal pair, Chippy and Nuttly, who went on to have their own self-produced Chipmunk Radio Station created by yours truly using a TalkBoy. We also had a game called "George and Bobby" in which we were two middle aged men who lived together and argued a lot so that they had have "fights." Basically an excuse to put pillows in our shirts and crash into each other. (I bet you can guess that Josiah invented all of these).

As my sisters and surrogate siblings Gabby and Fickett boys well know, at least 50% of the time we
were outside, maybe more, we were mice, or other rodents. That's just how it was. And every day was National Rodent Day which meant extreme feasts made from "resources."
We learned the code of the outdoor kitchen:
Sand=flour/vanilla flavored things. You want a vanilla cake? use sand. But watch out for cat poop...gotta sift that stuff.
Dirt=chocolate. The dirt pile in the back yard was "chocolate mountain." The finest varieties meant that you spent at least a half hour sifting the dirt through an old window screen. Wet days meant hard times for sifting. But the smoothest chocolate mousse was only possible with the sifted stuff. The sheen on the mud wasn't quite right unless you had it.
Soft, dry rotting wood=chicken. You could finely shred it for a salad, or just use it in chunks. It was especially gourmet if you drizzled it with Black Walnut Sauce, procured in this method:

Recipe for Black Walnut Sauce
1 old dog's water bowl
3-4 blackened and slightly wet black walnuts from the ground
Enough water to cover said walnuts

Soak the walnuts in water for a few hours, until they turn the water a rich red brown. Use to add delicious rich flavor to all your favorite wood-based dishes!

(my mind it tasked like pork adobo sauce, ok?)

Other common Rodent Day fares: sourgrass salad, or wild onion soup (if you chew the stem your spit turns green!)

We also cannot mention outside games without these three important factors:

Ours had significantly less depression.

Shanty Town: the little shacks we built using Dad's odds and end of lumber and window and old doors from the shed. Our own personal Hooverville, conveniently located right across from Chocolate Mountain and just a few steps away from the Daffodil Patch.

The Sump Pump Spigot: cooking for Rodent Day involved some water needs, and the creek was just too far, and the hose was too twisted. So the our ally was our frequently flooded basement and the sump pump that channeled the water out into the yard. We were pros, listening for that tell-tale gurgle that signaled that a gush of water was coming. Quick with the buckets!

Livestock: When you have three dogs of different sizes, you need to make use of them. Obviously you have a goat, a horse, and a cow. You can herd the around with a broom and feel pretty productive. Sam was pretty small, so I guess he ought to have been more of a pony than a horse, but cow was spot on for Goldie, the fat and rather vapid golden retriever, who conveniently ate grass quite often. Gabby the shih tzu brought up the rear as the baby goat.

Outside games also didn't paint over the harsh realities of growing up. I won't forget the day that I realized, after cracking my head on the same branch three times in a row, that I was too tall to play under the lilac bush anymore. I like to think my feelings echoed those of the early settlers--sadness about leaving the old homestead, but resolute that "the country was gettin' too crowded!"

So we went West. To the back corner of the yard to the grove of tree and bushes. No more playing bent over or in a full squat! This move probably saved me from growing a hunchback.

So my siblings are the first "friends for the journey" in my life. Next up...the Adventures of Abby and Gabby. Sounds like a book series waiting to happen. I claim that right now, nobody better steal that idea!

Thanks for reading!

In Preparation

IT'S CHRISTMAS TIME! Here's a new song that dear Marisa posted that I had never heard before. It's really lovely! Winter Snow by Audrey Assad ft. Chris Tomlin.

This blog has sort of fallen off the face of the planet. Whoops. Now that NaNoWriMo is over I kind of have been feeling the itch to write some more, but not necessarily editing the tangles mass of 50,000 words that vaguely resembles a story. So this blog is the lucky winner! Actually, I have been meaning to get it back up and running. I had a draft of a post about Fiction and Wonder started, but it's going to need a little more thinking through, so instead how about just some updates and general musings?

It's probably the most narcissistic thing ever to assume you all want to read those, but I'll comfort myself with the old Gwendolyn-ism--at least later I will have something "sensational to read on the train."

As most of those who are close to me know, I love Christmas. Well actually, the whole Advent/Christmas bundle. Last year in Korea I did some new fun things since I wasn't here to celebrate with my family, but this year I'm home and there is such a coziness in old traditions. Of course, it looks a little different this year too, because most of us Long types aren't at the homestead any more, but being in Korea prepped me for looking for the bits of tradition wrapped up in the new.

This year I am once again working through the O Antiphons Advent booklet written by John Fickett, and it is still just as good. It has been challenging me in big ways, and building up my anticipation. I am remembering part of a Children's time message my Mom gave the other day in church. She talked about how when someone special is coming, part of the way we know they're special is because we make special preparations. We clean the house for Grandma, we get fresh sheets on the bed, etc. Going through the devotional booklet is helping me to "get ready." And in the "getting ready," the gift coming seems even more glorious and wonderful.

It strikes me that maybe that's the purpose of liturgy and tradition; a pattern of preparation that helps us realize the beauty of what we are preparing for. If I think about it, usually (at least in American culture) we tend to view things that take lots of preparation as things that have a lot of worth to us, or symbolize something special. A wedding for instance, or an exam. If we don't believe it's important, then we don't prepare for it. That challenges me during this Advent season! Jesus is important. I need to prepare myself!

Talking about preparation, many months of it will come to fruition this weekend with the performances of Three Wise Men and a Baby! It has been just the cats pajamas to work with the kids on this Christmas play. I always go into a Wednesday night rehearsal feeling burdened, but by the end it has melted away and I feel really energized by all the fun we're having working on it together. The last rehearsal we had was a little rough, but hopefully it will all turn out well come Saturday. With it all coming to and end soon, I thought I should perhaps reflect on some things I've learned, in no particular order of importance.

1. You should always have extra pencils and folders. Because the kids will remember if they didn't get one.

2. It's good to assume that there will just be a mob of Shepherds, Angels and Barn animals. Extra kid shows up after audition week? 3-4 grade? Shepherd. K-2? Angel or Barn animal. Done. 

3. Even if you offer a whopping 45 gold coins for memorizing lines, the kids will still not know them until the week of the performance. Maybe if they were 45 chocolate gold coins...

4. Nearly everyone will be too short for their costumes.

5. The Shepherds will need their headdress things retied at least 3 times during rehearsal. They might even start wearing it as a dandy neck scarf.

6. It's a good idea to not "wing it" for a rehearsal, especially when it comes to blocking. "Actually no, go out that exit and come in here...no wait.."

7. If you have a group of K-1st grade, stop trying to do activities that involve reading. They couldn't read last week, they probably won't be able to this week either. It took me way too long to get that into my head.

8. You may need to remind a small Angel that we don't hit people, and a Cat that this is a safe place so we don't threaten to break a shepherd's staff for the fun of it. Could it be the Herdmans are a part of our play too?

9. Many actors with interpret the instruction of "take off your costume and hang it carefully in the costume room" as "strip it off and just leave it wadded on the floor."

10. Apparently, the most opportune time to ask to get a drink or go to the bathroom is 2 minutes after we start rehearsing the song/scene.

11. We Three Kings is a hard one for the little guys...overheard during rehearsal: "Westward leading, still perceiving..."

12. Laughing at all of this instead of getting stressed about it is the way I should respond.

So, it's been fun! And I guess this is kind of advertising, but you should all come see the play! Dec 13 at 6 pm and then on this Sunday morning in Church at FABIC. Should be great, and even if it isn't, it will probably still make you laugh because the kids are too cute.

Thanks for reading!

Language learning

I wasn't sure what music to put for this blog, since half of it is taken up with my classical music suggestion. So instead of linking something here, just have a listen to some of my suggestions.

I've been thinking a little about language learning lately. I've been slowing trying to translate a children's book from Korean into English, but it's kind of difficult, and I often feel like the meaning I am understanding is missing the mark. Even more so, when I try to speak Korean it's like I'm creating almost a caricature of what I want to say. Like someone making a cartoon version of a live action film. I wish I could make Korean "live" for me the way English is.

I wish also that I could somehow get a big picture of Korean as a whole--what kind of communication is favored? what are all the parts of speech and what goes in each category? Some of the trouble I think I have is expecting an equivalent Korean word in meaning to and English word to also have the same usage and part of speech category. For instance -에서 can mean "from," but it doesn't by any means ONLY mean that, and I'm not even sure it's in the same speech category as 'from.' Also, I don't even know if Korean even has the same categories or tenses or what-have-yous that English has; doe sit have more? less? different ones?

I also thirst for the between-the-lines meaning that only intimate knowledge of culture can give one. I think that's one of the saddest parts for me--not being able (at least not for some while yet) to read and understand and use figurative Korean language. I'm shut out from poetry and picture-painting prose for years at least, and perhaps for always, who knows.

I suppose it's all fairness though. If we can't completely enjoy each other's languages and literatures there is at least the consolation that I can enjoy quite fully own. I can revel over T.S. Eliot's poems without a dictionary. I can watch a Wilde play without watching my other audience members to know when to laugh. English language and literature is by no means the pinnacle of Humanities in the world, but it's still good stuff, and I like it a lot. So I'm glad I don't have to miss out on it...even if it makes me realize how much I must be missing in other languages and literatures.

Oh to be bilingual from birth! That is one of the best gifts parents could give a child, I think--the ability to move between worlds.

* * *
Changing gears a bit, I recently finished Stephen Fry's Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music and throughout my reading of it and after I have been listening to tons of pieces. Here are some of my favorites:

My current favorite classical-ish pieces (in no particular order):

1. Erik Whitaker, October

So I guess this is pretty contemporary, but I just needed to include it. This is one of my all time favorite pieces, combined with Whitaker's Alleluia, which is a choral piece set to the music of October. I like October because it's well, so 'autumn-y.' It sounds like a goodbye and a hello, but in the kind of wrenchiest and joyful way I've ever heard. I listen to it and want to cry almost every time, but it's hard to tell whether it's because I feel so melancholy thinking of the past adventures I've left, or so hopeful for what is to come. Play it loud and let your emotions kind of swim in it.

2. Saint-Saëns, Symphony No. 3 in C Minor, 2nd half, Allegro moderato-Presto-Maestoso-Allegro 

Josiah told me about this one a while ago and then it came up in the book. Remember the song the Mice sing at the end of the Babe movie? That pop song borrowed its tune from the main theme in the Maestoso. Love it!

3. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Swan Lake - Ballet Suite

I thought I had heard this before when I started listening to it, because parts of it sounded familiar. Apparently, it is suspected that a composer borrowed from this when composing the music for a certain film. Have a listen and see if you can figure out which one :-)

4. Erik Satie, Trois Gymnopédies

These three piano pieces have such a delightful quiet angst-y feel to them. It makes me feel a sort of wistful melancholy, like after you look at too many pictures from a delightful trip and realize you can't go back to that...it's passed and gone. 

5. Frederic Chopin, Complete Nocturnes

You can listen to all of Chopin's Nocturnes in about an hour and a half. It is my opinion that these are some of the loveliest btis of piano music out there. I also am wowed every time I hear one, since once upon a time I learned to play *simple* one, it took me about half a year and the counting you have to do is wiggedy wack. 


6. Delius, On Hearing the First Cuckoo in Spring

Short little piece that is the perfect thing to play in the early morning, when the light is kind of pale still. Other times as well, but it just sort of sounds like pale, clear, light to me.


7. Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet

You can really hear the story in this, and it is just lovely, but really I am recommending this because I want to recommend a certain version of it, and that for the Maestro.
Please watch this video of the London Symphony Orchestra performing this piece under the conducting of Maestro Valery Gergiev. The whole thing is great, but from 11 mins on, you can enjoy both his fluttering bat-like hands and his mesmerizingly awful, sweating and stringy Franciscan monk 'do. You just can't look away!

I listened to/watched many pieces conducted by Gergiev, and he was so fascinating that I decided to read up on him on Wikipedia. There I found this tidbit: "He often conducts with a toothpick." You better believe I went immediately to youtube and watched that. Hilarious!

Well, I suppose that's the end. Get listening!

Goings on

I still haven't bought the new Coldplay album. New as in, this past Spring. Oops. Any way, I've been enjoying this track from Ghost Stories: A Sky Full of Stars.

I thought it was about time for a little update!
I'm sure you are all dying to know what it's like being an administrative assistant as an NP.
It's like this: you have way more files then is probably necessary because how the heck can you even decide what folder to put something in? If it could go in one of three folders then it gets its own spot. Also what about those little notes to oneself with info that could come in handy one day? I assume there is a better method than a patchwork of sticky notes/ pieces of paper paper clipped together. But I haven't figured that out.
But those are the really the only struggles. I've been so lucky to get to help edit a book, which is one of my favorite things to do, and impress my boss with my "look stuff up on the internet" skills. Bet you didn't know that tracking down info on the web was a life skill, but it certainly makes me look good when I can come up with a phone number deemed lost forever--because like me, my boss writes important information on little pieces of paper. Oh brother ㅋㅋㅋ

I've also gotten the chance to do a little tutoring on the side many days after work with a Korean staff member here. Mostly just conversation based, giving help with pronunciation and article use and such, but it's been so very nice not to give up all my teacher-y doings.

Which brings me to another fun thing I've been up to: being one of the acting coaches for our church's Kids' Club/Christmas play program. I've been dragging my memory for every fun activity I can remember from Voice and Drama camp and Spotlights and Showstoppers and all that. (Some of the games I realized also could be modified for ESL use as well, which is super...always trying to expand the toolbelt!) This week we're holding auditions, and I am super pumped! It is really fun to be around kids again, but I have realized that American kids are more squirrelly than Korean kids...or at least they take a longer time to listen. So I need to practice being a little firmer. I also have been so used to speaking slowly and clearly with young kids that when other more seasoned teacher types get up and give instructions, my first thought is, "Woah slow down no way can they understand!" then, "oh right...native speakers..."

So I'm trying out some new sections, mostly for myself to keep track of stuff, but maybe you'll enjoy it too! The first one is a book review:

September Books (and why you should read them too!)

1. Anne of Green Gables Series by L.M. Montgomery

Beside's Montgomery's delicious descriptions of landscape and her fantastic dialogue, let's talk about the main character. Anne Shirley/Blythe is one of the most glorious characters in fiction--s a woman who is smart, witty, wise, imaginative, ridiculously caring and decidedly not boring. You know how sometimes you read books and there is a character who is flawed, definitely, but who you still want to be like? This is one of those for me. I've dreamed of being a combination of Jo March and Anne Shirley, because both of them grow. They know where they're weak, and the strengthen those areas. And they listen to criticism. The Anne series also is such a lovely picture of growing up, and how each stage of a person's life has its own wonderful people and places. You think no other place but Green Gables and the people of Avonlea could be so wonderful, but then you go to Redmond, and Windy Poplars and the House of Dreams and then Ingleside and each one is full of joy and beauty. A good reminder to me, who so often looks wistfully at the past, that what is to come has its own unknown delights.

2. The Little Book of Restorative Discipline in the Classroom by Lorraine S Amstutz and Judy H Mullet

If I could write a subtitle for this powerful 70ish page book, it would be "How to treat students like they matter a lot--even when they mess up big time." With those not familiar with restorative justice practices, in a nutshell it's looking at justice (and discipline) as primarily an issue of broken relationships, not of broken rules. That means that when misbehavior happens, the focus on discovering what relationships have been broken and how to restore them. That means that victims and offenders both have a voice in the proceedings and Zero-Tolerance strategies that cause more harm than good are done away with. Basically, it's a call to be more creative in discipline so that instead of simply receiving doled out punishment, students receive an education in how healthily resolve conflict and understand their responsibility in the relationships around them. It's a quick read, but I really recommend it, especially to teachers.

3. Stephen Fry's (In)Complete and Utter History of Classical Music as told to Tim Lihorean

My favorite way to learn stuff is while I'm laughing. Making a joke about something helps you remember right? Gabby was telling me the other day about a joke her class had about a composer, Hildegard of Bingen, and you can bet your socks they aren't going to forget about that feisty nun anytime soon. So besides this being written by Stephen Fry, one of the funniest guys out there, it's actually quite informative and I am learning a lot about music history! Here's one of my favorite bits about composers who were quite popular in their day, but are kind of unknown now:

"Of course, I have a personal theory, which I am willing to share. You see, Gluck...largely out of fashion isn't he? Hmm? And Dittersdorf? Also, more or less forgotten. And now Hummel. Revered by Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Liszt in his day, but now the dodo of classical music. And why? Well, my theory...mildly amusing middle names.

Karl Ditters von Dittersdorf

Cristoph Willibald von Gluck

Johann Nepomuk Hummel

Need I say more? QED, as the French call the famous cruise ship." (pg 114-115)


So happy reading! I hope you enjoy those books as much as I do!
And of course, wouldn't be a proper post without out a few quotes:


Quotes from the Community:

"My whole body is smarting!" --Yoonseo bemoans having to ride his bicycle home after playing soccer.

Gabby: "Do you know why the Wise Men went to see Jesus?"
Nicholas: "To give him some....valuables?"

Gabby: "I spy something red."
Nicholas: "Your cheeks?"