***Warning*** This has the potential to be a very long post, so only read if you've got some time, and you're actually interested in giving feedback on my life and its goings-ons.
I've only got about 5 minutes before class starts here, but I thought I would at least get started on this post so I can finish later. This is simply a post to try and jot down some of the concerns that I'm struggling with recently.
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1) Graduate Degree:
While there are plenty of schools to choose from, there have only been two that have stuck out to me, and for pointedly different reasons. FSU's School of Social Work is a great program at an even greater school. I spent the first two years of undergrad in Tallahassee, and I still consider them to be some of the greatest times I've had while attending college. The social work program is highly regarded, and the atmosphere on that campus is something that I've really missed these past 6 years (though I've made several trips back since leaving). Tallahassee had always felt like a place that was just far enough away from home to feel truly independent, but also close enough to where I wouldn't have to spend an entire day driving down to visit. But having not been able to complete my undergrad program there, I still feel like I have unfinished business in Tallahassee, that it would mean more to me to complete my schooling career back where it started.
However, I'm also considering the School of Social Work at USF, which is a good school in its own right, as well as being the school where I eventually finished my undergrad degree last year. I'm familiar with the majority of the professors there, and there's also the advantage of having my core faith community in close proximity (along with my family, of course). Staying at home would save a considerable amount of money, which is a factor that I'm begrudgingly aware of (money, that is). Speaking of money, it would seem at least a little easier to find a part-time weekend job in a place I know with people I'm familiar with rather than a new environment with people I don't yet know. This is all assuming I decide that grad school is ultimately the path I want to take, since I'm still torn about that decision as well.
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2) Teaching in Korea (and how long for):
This is an increasingly-pressing issue, because the time is coming for us [the school, my dad & uncle and I] to make a decision. For those of you who weren't aware before, my teaching situation became a bit complicated last year even before I went began my trip over. The schools offer one-year contracts to native English teachers, with the school year starting in March. However, I wasn't able to come when school here started since I was still in the process of completing the last semester of my degree back home, which I would complete at the end of April after finals. So my sister was brought here first, agreeing to "hold my spot" and start teaching until I finished school, at which point I would come over and resume teaching. My understanding was that I would simply complete the one-year-contract that I thought my sister had signed, and would be done the following March. However, when I arrived, my dad and uncle both told me that I would be signing a whole new contract, from May 2009 until May 2010, while my sister had only signed a 2-month contract with the schools. While this seemed like an okay idea at the time (what's two more months?), it's now becoming a problem.
The main issue for me is because May is right in the middle of their first semester, which means that, without a contract extension, I would leave the schools in May, leaving them to: a) find and hire a new native English teacher that can accommodate their schedule immediately, or b) go the rest of the semester without a native English teacher. The first option is not unthinkable, since mid-semester changes had been made before. However, with my situation last year, it was pre-arranged, so there were much less headaches than there would have been under normal circumstances. Besides, I would be lying if I said I wouldn't feel like I was "abandoning" the kids if I jumped ship in May.
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3) How #2 affects #1:
Quite obviously, if I decide to extend my contract until March 2011, that would put a hold on grad school until I can get back. But the other issue that's at the back of my mind is the GRE, which I'm preparing for, but I've yet to take it. I've taken the practice exam twice here on my own, but the opportunities to focus my studies solely on this test have been few and far between. And it's been a looong time since I last had a math class (senior year of high school), so there's a little catching up to do. The GRE is offered here in Korea, but it's only twice a year (November and June, if I remember correctly), and it's around $350 to take it. Aside from the test itself is the issue of when I can start grad school, if I do get accepted. If the option arises to extend my contract until only August, which is when the students here finish with their first semester and go on summer break, then starting grad school in September would still be a near impossibility. Even starting in the Spring of 2011 would be difficult, with testing and the application process. Ideally, I would come home in May, take the test several times and apply to start in Spring 2011 and be done by December 2011. But again, this is all assuming that I decide to go to grad school in the first place.
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4) Factors affecting decision regarding #1 and #2:
There are numerous factors on both sides that are drawing me both towards home and staying here. If I stay here to continue teaching, the biggest advantage is the fact that I not only have a fairly-well-paying job here, but with the signing of a new contract comes considerable benefits (pay raise, twice as many vacation days, etc) as well as job security. Hearing the horror stories of friends still looking for work 6 months, 12 months, even 18 months after graduating certainly haven't helped convince me to put my confidence in the economy back home. I've built up a good rapport with both the teachers and students at my schools (I teach both elementary and middle school during the week), and I've had minimal conflicts with the people here. I've gotten to know some of my previously-unknown relatives, as well as made some really good friends, both at the church by my house and other native English teachers (sorry that I can't name you all here). Also, it's exponentially easier to eat healthy here than back home because of all the vegetables they eat on a regular basis (this is excluding my mom's cooking, which was always both delicious and healthy), and since I don't have a car here, I'm more or less forced to walk everywhere. At first, I hated it, but now that I see the results of it (losing weight, feeling better, not feeling sluggish after sleeping, all that good stuff), it's become a very positive thing for me (aside from the blisters).
However, if I end up deciding to go home in May, there's the obvious advantage of being around my family and friends again, who I've missed a lot and thought about quite often. Before coming here, I hadn't given much thought to the fact that I would miss the gatherings of family and friends for the next 12 months. But it hit me like a brick right around Thanksgiving, realizing that I felt more alone than I had when I first came here. While I'm grateful for the few friends who were able to answer my calls, it became increasingly more difficult to spend the majority of my time on the phone having conversations with friends' voice mailboxes. Weddings, graduations, birthdays, funerals, retreats, holiday celebrations, all things in the past 10 months that I wasn't able to be there for. While it seemed like a year would pass by quickly, the cost is definitely not to be overlooked. Also, going home would allow me time to get prepared for either entering grad school next Spring, or possibly pursuing my passion and working towards a degree in worship (post on that later).
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These are just some of the things that are running around inside my head at the moment. Thanks for taking the time to read, and any advice you can offer on any of these subjects is greatly appreciated. Hope everyone has an awesome weekend!
Friday, March 12, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Posting-Lite
School's finally started up this past week, and it's felt good to get back into a rhythm where I feel at least semi-productive throughout the day. With that said, I only have half an hour before my first class of the day, so I'm gonna try to keep this short before I add more to it later on.
During the past 10 months, I've spent an obviously-large amount of my time engaging (and often struggling with) Korea's educational system from within. And there is one thing about the educational system here that has consistently come up as the wall on which I find myself continually banging my head. This particular issue is something that I've affectionately dubbed the "pass-pass" policy, and it's created some huge problems.
The "pass-pass" policy (obviously, this is not the "official" policy name; it's simply something I've come to call it) refers to the educational practice of passing students on toward the next grade regardless of whether or not they have demonstrated even the most minimal grasp of the things taught throughout the school year. Without completing a single assignment, at the end of the school year, these students are passed on to the next level. Now, there are things like qualifications tests to see if a student is able to go to a particular school (Korea did away with entrance exams for middle schools back in the 60s). However, at the end of the day, their marks have little meaning other than simply placing the students in a self-imposed rank for their class and/or school.
So what is it exactly that has me irked about this policy, you ask?
[to be edited later..]
[later]
The biggest problem that I have with this policy is that it compounds frustration for everyone involved. In order to help you get the picture of where I'm coming from, I'll pose a hypothetical (but unfortunately all too common) situation:
Student (herein referred to as "S") enters elementary school as a first-grader, having never been taught the English language. At this level, the vast majority of Ss are on equal ground: ground zero. S is taught the basics of the English alphabet (identifying letters and correct order). S moves on to second grade, where they associate sounds with the letters, as well as the foundations for word structure.
In my opinion, first- and second-graders cannot be expected to be writing and understanding anything more than the alphabet and short, simple words. However, starting from when they begin the third grade, I believe it is detrimental to not have consistent comprehension checkpoints (that actually MEAN something [i.e. you fail, you can't go on] instead of it being seen as merely a formality) for the students.
If our teachers and staff hold an attitude that the only responsibility they have as TEACHERS is to "teach" the material from the front of the class oblivious of any struggling students, and those who want to learn will learn while the rest fall by the wayside, then there is little to no hope for anyone who is having trouble with their class material. Just as in the Korean social system, there seems to be no room for differing methods of teaching, or even for a different opinion on what is important for the Ss. Spitting out answers on tests is what's stressed for these kids, and with the overwhelming majority of teachers following the exact same books and teaching the exact same way, students everywhere (who might otherwise become brilliant in their studies) are falling away and giving up sooner and sooner.
To illustrate my point further, let's say that the student graduates from the 6th grade (Korean elementary schools go from 1st to 6th, middle school is 7th through 9th, and high school is 10th through 12th), and moves on to middle school. During elementary school, he learned nothing about English at all due to it being difficult to learn. During English classes, all he would do is put his head down, look out the window, or daydream. He knows little more than simply waiting for the teacher to tell him what to say, then audibly repeating it back, while having no clue about what he's actually saying. All the while, each English teacher he's had hasn't expressed any concern over the fact that he's not learning the material (or even trying for that matter), and doesn't feel the need to offer him any extra help that he may need on the material outside of regular class time to try and understand it.
THIS is the disastrous domino effect that is the result of:
1) The subject material becoming more and more difficult with each grade level,
2) The student becoming more and more disillusioned and turned off by English with each passing year, and
3) Each of his new teachers becoming more and more frustrated that he doesn't already know the material that he should have learned in his earlier courses.
Since the student is so difficult to teach, the teacher starts to see them as hopeless, and eventually ceases to call on them to give answers or to use them as an example. The student has already begun to accept the "fact" that they can't learn English, and goes into auto-pilot mode when class starts ("I can't do it, so why should I try?"), regurgitating answers without meaning, repeating things to the teacher like an audio recorder, all while hating their experience with English.
So what should be done about the situation? Would it ultimately prove meaningless to try and place blame on someone in the equation here? Should the student just try harder? Should the teachers advocate to their administrators for a change in the school system that creates these black holes of hopelessness?
During the past 10 months, I've spent an obviously-large amount of my time engaging (and often struggling with) Korea's educational system from within. And there is one thing about the educational system here that has consistently come up as the wall on which I find myself continually banging my head. This particular issue is something that I've affectionately dubbed the "pass-pass" policy, and it's created some huge problems.
The "pass-pass" policy (obviously, this is not the "official" policy name; it's simply something I've come to call it) refers to the educational practice of passing students on toward the next grade regardless of whether or not they have demonstrated even the most minimal grasp of the things taught throughout the school year. Without completing a single assignment, at the end of the school year, these students are passed on to the next level. Now, there are things like qualifications tests to see if a student is able to go to a particular school (Korea did away with entrance exams for middle schools back in the 60s). However, at the end of the day, their marks have little meaning other than simply placing the students in a self-imposed rank for their class and/or school.
So what is it exactly that has me irked about this policy, you ask?
[to be edited later..]
[later]
The biggest problem that I have with this policy is that it compounds frustration for everyone involved. In order to help you get the picture of where I'm coming from, I'll pose a hypothetical (but unfortunately all too common) situation:
Student (herein referred to as "S") enters elementary school as a first-grader, having never been taught the English language. At this level, the vast majority of Ss are on equal ground: ground zero. S is taught the basics of the English alphabet (identifying letters and correct order). S moves on to second grade, where they associate sounds with the letters, as well as the foundations for word structure.
In my opinion, first- and second-graders cannot be expected to be writing and understanding anything more than the alphabet and short, simple words. However, starting from when they begin the third grade, I believe it is detrimental to not have consistent comprehension checkpoints (that actually MEAN something [i.e. you fail, you can't go on] instead of it being seen as merely a formality) for the students.
If our teachers and staff hold an attitude that the only responsibility they have as TEACHERS is to "teach" the material from the front of the class oblivious of any struggling students, and those who want to learn will learn while the rest fall by the wayside, then there is little to no hope for anyone who is having trouble with their class material. Just as in the Korean social system, there seems to be no room for differing methods of teaching, or even for a different opinion on what is important for the Ss. Spitting out answers on tests is what's stressed for these kids, and with the overwhelming majority of teachers following the exact same books and teaching the exact same way, students everywhere (who might otherwise become brilliant in their studies) are falling away and giving up sooner and sooner.
To illustrate my point further, let's say that the student graduates from the 6th grade (Korean elementary schools go from 1st to 6th, middle school is 7th through 9th, and high school is 10th through 12th), and moves on to middle school. During elementary school, he learned nothing about English at all due to it being difficult to learn. During English classes, all he would do is put his head down, look out the window, or daydream. He knows little more than simply waiting for the teacher to tell him what to say, then audibly repeating it back, while having no clue about what he's actually saying. All the while, each English teacher he's had hasn't expressed any concern over the fact that he's not learning the material (or even trying for that matter), and doesn't feel the need to offer him any extra help that he may need on the material outside of regular class time to try and understand it.
THIS is the disastrous domino effect that is the result of:
1) The subject material becoming more and more difficult with each grade level,
2) The student becoming more and more disillusioned and turned off by English with each passing year, and
3) Each of his new teachers becoming more and more frustrated that he doesn't already know the material that he should have learned in his earlier courses.
Since the student is so difficult to teach, the teacher starts to see them as hopeless, and eventually ceases to call on them to give answers or to use them as an example. The student has already begun to accept the "fact" that they can't learn English, and goes into auto-pilot mode when class starts ("I can't do it, so why should I try?"), regurgitating answers without meaning, repeating things to the teacher like an audio recorder, all while hating their experience with English.
So what should be done about the situation? Would it ultimately prove meaningless to try and place blame on someone in the equation here? Should the student just try harder? Should the teachers advocate to their administrators for a change in the school system that creates these black holes of hopelessness?
Friday, February 19, 2010
Being in love with the idea of being in love with..well..love..
Sorry, the post title is simply one of the endless thought circles I end up putting myself in, usually resulting in me getting just about nothing done when I should be focusing on other things. It's not necessarily indicative of any particular feelings I've been experiencing towards any specific people. Or is it?
Now, I'm generally critical of "bloggers" when they spend the first part of their posts talking about "Wow, it's been [a measure of time] since I've posted!," followed by excuses for why they haven't written. Therefore, all I'm going to say on the subject is the fact that it's been 6 months since my last real update, a lot has gone on, and obviously I'm not going to get the chance to cover everything. That being said...
I've decided to start posting here again as Attempt #[lost count] to implement the practice of having a productive pattern in my day-to-day activities. Sometimes what I write here will be vague and unclear (sorry, was that redundant?). Other times, the posts will be offensive or angry. I can't always promise that this blog will be "reader-friendly" for everyone, or that I'll practice restraint and maintain composure for every post. But I will try to remain productive in whatever is written here.
And it's 4:30 a.m., so I'm going to sleep.
Now, I'm generally critical of "bloggers" when they spend the first part of their posts talking about "Wow, it's been [a measure of time] since I've posted!," followed by excuses for why they haven't written. Therefore, all I'm going to say on the subject is the fact that it's been 6 months since my last real update, a lot has gone on, and obviously I'm not going to get the chance to cover everything. That being said...
I've decided to start posting here again as Attempt #[lost count] to implement the practice of having a productive pattern in my day-to-day activities. Sometimes what I write here will be vague and unclear (sorry, was that redundant?). Other times, the posts will be offensive or angry. I can't always promise that this blog will be "reader-friendly" for everyone, or that I'll practice restraint and maintain composure for every post. But I will try to remain productive in whatever is written here.
And it's 4:30 a.m., so I'm going to sleep.
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Simple...
"I asked God for strength that I might achieve.
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing I asked for, but everything I hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am, among all men, most richly blessed."
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things.
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked for riches that I might be happy.
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of men.
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life.
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing I asked for, but everything I hoped for. Almost despite myself, my unspoken prayers were answered. I am, among all men, most richly blessed."
Friday, August 21, 2009
Peace Be The Journey
So, I realize that I haven't updated this since late June, so I'm going to spend just a few minutes catching you up.
-Summer English Camp for the elementary school was chaotic, with absolutely no adherence to the lesson plan I'd made for it :-P At the middle school, it was a little more chill. I actually might have taught the kids a thing or two there, but we ended up just watching American movies with Korean subtitles.
-Hung out at the church here during the Summer English camp they had for the kids in the community. Fun stuff, got to know some really cool people from California and the East Coast. Even got to jam with my boy Eugene, which is something I haven't had the luxury of doing very often ever since I arrived back in May.
-Visited home for approximately 10 days. Loved it :-) Getting to see my family and friends again was like taking a huge breath of air after being underwater for so long. I honestly couldn't ask for a better community of people to come home to.
-Flew back here to Korea on the 15th. Now trying to get readjusted to the time change, and getting ready to start the middle school next week, along with the elementary school the week after.
Now, on to the reason I started writing this post in the first place.
So I recently watched "Cool Runnings" again for the first time in years, and it still had all the Disney charm it was known for back in the day (it was released back in 1993). The movie itself was pretty good (if you aren't familiar with the storyline, simply check out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106611/plotsummary), but one scene in the movie really stuck out to me.
Near the end of the movie, when the Jamaican team is poised to medal in the Winter Olympics, the team's driver Derice (whose father was an Olympic sprinter) asks their coach Earl (played by John Candy) for the reason why Earl had cheated during his time as an Olympic bobsledder, and consequently been disgraced and kicked off the Olympic team, even after winning two gold medals previously. Earl responds with this:
"Derice, a gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without it... you'll never be enough with it."
The reason this stuck out to me is because of how much it goes against what is taught to these kids that I'm teaching. The vast majority of them seem to have been taught by their culture that it's the things you achieve that define you. And if you don't achieve what you're going for, then you've either done something wrong, or (the more popular opinion for the younger ones) someone else did something wrong.
Now, the American part of me understands where my place is here. I'm the visitor, the tourist, the foreigner here. I have to see things through the lens of the cultural reality here, instead of my theoretical idealism. I can't possibly expect everything here to run the way I think it should.
And then...there's the part of me that recognizes this possibly goes beyond just one culture's methods of raising its collective children. Maybe it has something to do with the consumer mentality we've all been sucked into. Maybe what I'm seeing here isn't the source of the problem, but rather the byproduct of it coming from outside the borders. Maybe we've all been brainwashed already! *** >_< ***
Now, to try and catch myself before I begin ranting again, let's refocus. The reason this stuck out to me as much as it did is because over the past three months, every single time I've tried to play a game with these kids to get them to loosen up (as well as using the games as ways to help the kids learn the material), at least in the elementary school, there is always, ALWAYS at least one kid that ends up crying because he or she didn't win. Always. And I want to shout in the classroom at the top of my lungs, "WINNING ISN'T EVERYTHING! IT'S NOT EVEN THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!" But I don't, because I have to adhere to the rules and boundaries of the social reality here, and that is that if these kids don't learn to excel in competition, they'll be left behind with no one to care for them. I know it sounds grim, and some of you might be thinking, "Stop being so dramatic. There's no way the situation there is as bad as you say it is." You're entitled to think so, but you'd be wrong. Sorry.
I titled the post "Peace Be The Journey" because that's the meaning of Cool Runnings. I know it's cliche, I know it's overplayed, but please don't forsake the joy of the journey for the intended goal. If you do, you only end up with half the reward, sometimes not even that.
Peace be de journey... ~_~
-Summer English Camp for the elementary school was chaotic, with absolutely no adherence to the lesson plan I'd made for it :-P At the middle school, it was a little more chill. I actually might have taught the kids a thing or two there, but we ended up just watching American movies with Korean subtitles.
-Hung out at the church here during the Summer English camp they had for the kids in the community. Fun stuff, got to know some really cool people from California and the East Coast. Even got to jam with my boy Eugene, which is something I haven't had the luxury of doing very often ever since I arrived back in May.
-Visited home for approximately 10 days. Loved it :-) Getting to see my family and friends again was like taking a huge breath of air after being underwater for so long. I honestly couldn't ask for a better community of people to come home to.
-Flew back here to Korea on the 15th. Now trying to get readjusted to the time change, and getting ready to start the middle school next week, along with the elementary school the week after.
Now, on to the reason I started writing this post in the first place.
So I recently watched "Cool Runnings" again for the first time in years, and it still had all the Disney charm it was known for back in the day (it was released back in 1993). The movie itself was pretty good (if you aren't familiar with the storyline, simply check out http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106611/plotsummary), but one scene in the movie really stuck out to me.
Near the end of the movie, when the Jamaican team is poised to medal in the Winter Olympics, the team's driver Derice (whose father was an Olympic sprinter) asks their coach Earl (played by John Candy) for the reason why Earl had cheated during his time as an Olympic bobsledder, and consequently been disgraced and kicked off the Olympic team, even after winning two gold medals previously. Earl responds with this:
"Derice, a gold medal is a wonderful thing. But if you're not enough without it... you'll never be enough with it."
The reason this stuck out to me is because of how much it goes against what is taught to these kids that I'm teaching. The vast majority of them seem to have been taught by their culture that it's the things you achieve that define you. And if you don't achieve what you're going for, then you've either done something wrong, or (the more popular opinion for the younger ones) someone else did something wrong.
Now, the American part of me understands where my place is here. I'm the visitor, the tourist, the foreigner here. I have to see things through the lens of the cultural reality here, instead of my theoretical idealism. I can't possibly expect everything here to run the way I think it should.
And then...there's the part of me that recognizes this possibly goes beyond just one culture's methods of raising its collective children. Maybe it has something to do with the consumer mentality we've all been sucked into. Maybe what I'm seeing here isn't the source of the problem, but rather the byproduct of it coming from outside the borders. Maybe we've all been brainwashed already! *** >_< ***
Now, to try and catch myself before I begin ranting again, let's refocus. The reason this stuck out to me as much as it did is because over the past three months, every single time I've tried to play a game with these kids to get them to loosen up (as well as using the games as ways to help the kids learn the material), at least in the elementary school, there is always, ALWAYS at least one kid that ends up crying because he or she didn't win. Always. And I want to shout in the classroom at the top of my lungs, "WINNING ISN'T EVERYTHING! IT'S NOT EVEN THE MOST IMPORTANT THING!" But I don't, because I have to adhere to the rules and boundaries of the social reality here, and that is that if these kids don't learn to excel in competition, they'll be left behind with no one to care for them. I know it sounds grim, and some of you might be thinking, "Stop being so dramatic. There's no way the situation there is as bad as you say it is." You're entitled to think so, but you'd be wrong. Sorry.
I titled the post "Peace Be The Journey" because that's the meaning of Cool Runnings. I know it's cliche, I know it's overplayed, but please don't forsake the joy of the journey for the intended goal. If you do, you only end up with half the reward, sometimes not even that.
Peace be de journey... ~_~
Monday, June 29, 2009
Where no one knows my name...
Wow, has it really almost been 4 weeks since I last posted? I guess I'll try to catch you up on what I can remember.
June 7th, I went to an English language weekend camp that one of the other schools in the area was hosting. My co-teacher and I were assigned the task of storytelling, which meant I would read a short story, and my co-teacher would ask a few questions to the kids to check for comprehension and understanding. Overall fun time. It was also my first time meeting some of the other foreign English teachers in my area (I'd gone about 5 weeks without meeting anyone American), since I live in the country with my family. This means after school gets done at 4:30, I go directly to the bus stop, to the train station, to home.
Later on that same week, I went to a training orientation for all of the new English teachers in our area that are employed through the GEPIK program (Gyeong-Gi-Do English Program In Korea). On the bus, I ended up sitting next to Keith, who reminded me an awful lot of a quiet, glasses-wearing Greg. Through our conversation on the hour-long bus ride, I found I had a lot in common with him. We were both fans of Shane Claiborne and Rob Bell, and he was a piano major from a Christian College in the Midwest, so we chatted up music also. I honestly believe God heard my prayers of anxiety and uncertainty, and reminded me before I even got to the training site that this was an opportunity for me to meet some really cool people and develop friendships that will help me through this time away from home. To make a really long story short, I ended up meeting some incredible people. While I imagine everyone believes that they were in the best group, I honestly believe that the group I was put in was no accident. It was full of warm, intelligent, funny and crazy people who made my time spent there infinitely better than if I had not met them. So I have to take this time to give a shoutout to my A-3 crew!
After that, things swung back to the day-to-day grind at school. I've started to take more of an active role in co-teaching the middle school classes, as well as the conversation class that I teach at the end of the day with all 3 grades. I've also starting working more closely with my main co-teacher at the elementary school. We finished making the lesson plans for the summer camp every English teacher is required to complete. Speaking of summer English camp, I told my principals that I would only be able to teach 7 weekdays of the English camp out of the required 10. Normally, that would be a problem. But my principals have both been really cool about the situation, and they understand, so they're letting the other 3 days slide. Praise God!
It's getting really hot here. I mean, REALLY HOT. I know all of you in Florida are probably rolling your eyes at me, but I am not kidding when I tell you that this kind of hot is something with the potential to drive people insane. And the icing on the cake: the problem isn't that there's no air conditioning. It's almost everywhere. But almost no one uses it! This is infuriating. I wish it was back in May again, when the weather was a mid70s high and a mid50s low, all day, everyday. There's nothing better than that. When it was in the 50s at night and in the morning, I could sleep for 5 hours and wake up completely refreshed and ready to start the day. Now, when the temperature at night and the morning is around the high70s, even if I get 9 or 10 hours of sleep the night before, I'm groggy and irritable when I "wake up" the next morning.
Well, there's been so much spinning around in my head, but I don't have the time to write them all down here, so I'll post again a little later (hopefully). Take care, everyone. And thank you so much for your love and prayers.
June 7th, I went to an English language weekend camp that one of the other schools in the area was hosting. My co-teacher and I were assigned the task of storytelling, which meant I would read a short story, and my co-teacher would ask a few questions to the kids to check for comprehension and understanding. Overall fun time. It was also my first time meeting some of the other foreign English teachers in my area (I'd gone about 5 weeks without meeting anyone American), since I live in the country with my family. This means after school gets done at 4:30, I go directly to the bus stop, to the train station, to home.
Later on that same week, I went to a training orientation for all of the new English teachers in our area that are employed through the GEPIK program (Gyeong-Gi-Do English Program In Korea). On the bus, I ended up sitting next to Keith, who reminded me an awful lot of a quiet, glasses-wearing Greg. Through our conversation on the hour-long bus ride, I found I had a lot in common with him. We were both fans of Shane Claiborne and Rob Bell, and he was a piano major from a Christian College in the Midwest, so we chatted up music also. I honestly believe God heard my prayers of anxiety and uncertainty, and reminded me before I even got to the training site that this was an opportunity for me to meet some really cool people and develop friendships that will help me through this time away from home. To make a really long story short, I ended up meeting some incredible people. While I imagine everyone believes that they were in the best group, I honestly believe that the group I was put in was no accident. It was full of warm, intelligent, funny and crazy people who made my time spent there infinitely better than if I had not met them. So I have to take this time to give a shoutout to my A-3 crew!
After that, things swung back to the day-to-day grind at school. I've started to take more of an active role in co-teaching the middle school classes, as well as the conversation class that I teach at the end of the day with all 3 grades. I've also starting working more closely with my main co-teacher at the elementary school. We finished making the lesson plans for the summer camp every English teacher is required to complete. Speaking of summer English camp, I told my principals that I would only be able to teach 7 weekdays of the English camp out of the required 10. Normally, that would be a problem. But my principals have both been really cool about the situation, and they understand, so they're letting the other 3 days slide. Praise God!
It's getting really hot here. I mean, REALLY HOT. I know all of you in Florida are probably rolling your eyes at me, but I am not kidding when I tell you that this kind of hot is something with the potential to drive people insane. And the icing on the cake: the problem isn't that there's no air conditioning. It's almost everywhere. But almost no one uses it! This is infuriating. I wish it was back in May again, when the weather was a mid70s high and a mid50s low, all day, everyday. There's nothing better than that. When it was in the 50s at night and in the morning, I could sleep for 5 hours and wake up completely refreshed and ready to start the day. Now, when the temperature at night and the morning is around the high70s, even if I get 9 or 10 hours of sleep the night before, I'm groggy and irritable when I "wake up" the next morning.
Well, there's been so much spinning around in my head, but I don't have the time to write them all down here, so I'll post again a little later (hopefully). Take care, everyone. And thank you so much for your love and prayers.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
The Greater Things...
There was an old woman who used to say, "We can do no great things, just small things with great love. It is not how much you do, but how much love you put into doing it." It was Mother Theresa.
In the midst of reading "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne for the "n"th time (I really have lost track), the section he dedicates to talking about his experiences working alongside Mother Theresa among the leper colonies of Calcutta struck me with such force that I had to try and put my speeding thoughts down on "paper," so please forgive me if the post seems rushed or doesn't make sense at some points.
Jesus says in John 14:12, "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Shane writes that though he was hard at work during his time in Calcutta, he "hadn't healed any lepers yet. Even though I touched them, they still went home lepers at the end of the day." But then he begins to realize what the "greater things" are:
"The miracles that Jesus performed were not simply showcases of His mighty power; they were the full expression of His LOVE for those He healed. It wasn't that Jesus healed a leper but that He TOUCHED a leper, because no one touched lepers. And the incredible thing about that love is that it now lives inside of us. In fact, the power of miraculous spectacle was the temptation He faced in the desert - to turn stones to bread or to fling Himself from the temple. But what has lasting significance were not the miracles themselves, but Jesus' love. Jesus raised His friend Lazarus from the dead, and a few years later, Lazarus died again. He fed the thousands, but the next day they were hungry again. Jesus healed the sick, but they eventually caught some other disease. But what we remember is His love."
It pains me to think of all the times I've looked at the shoreline covered in starfish (another Mother Theresa reference), and thought, "There's nothing I can do here." And as she begins tossing the starfish back into the water one by one, I can imagine her saying, "It's not about being successful in doing great things (like saving all these starfish), but rather it's about being faithful in doing each small thing with great love and devotion." Oh, how often I've measured myself by success as the world would measure
Another thing about this section that encourages me is that Shane talks about all of us (collectively) being the Body of Christ, and that the "greater things" Jesus talks about are because the radical love that lived inside of Jesus now lives within each of us, and it is when we come together to serve others in love that those "greater things" can start happening.
After Shane would help treat and bandage each of the lepers he met in the clinics of Calcutta, they would whisper in his ear, "Namaste." While there is no real Western equivalent to "namaste," roughly translated, it means "I honor the Holy One who lives in you." I believe when Jesus said that where two or more are gathered in His Name, He is there with them, He wasn't just talking about being among us as a separate spiritual entity. I think He was also talking about each of us seeing Him in each other, that WE would become "Jesus with skin on" for each other. I know this isn't a new concept, but it's just something that God brought to my mind, and I can't help but feel that, for far too long, I've taken that responsibility for granted, to love my neighbors the way Jesus loves them, to become Jesus with skin on for them whenever possible.
Becoming "Jesus with skin on" first became very real to me while I was working at Metropolitan Ministries, every day encountering new people who were not so different than you and I when it comes to our inseparable need for love. Looking back, I can't even begin to understand how God brought me through that period in my life, and while it was often difficult, I'm also very grateful for Him revealing a part of Himself to me each and every day through the eyes of the poor. And the conversations I had with people as I sat with them in those offices, as they poured their hearts out, those will always stay with me. There were plenty of times when I would cry alone in my office at the end of the day for a good 5 minutes just to find a release for the brokenness I felt for the people who came to us, and many times I felt like I was staring at the shoreline covered in suffocating starfish. But my supervisors also taught me to take great joy in the small victories we had, and those were the shining moments that got me through the difficult days. We are called not to be successful [in great things], but to be faithful [in little things].
Wow, I had no intention of this post getting to be this long. Haha. Sorry, guys. Be safe.
In the midst of reading "The Irresistible Revolution" by Shane Claiborne for the "n"th time (I really have lost track), the section he dedicates to talking about his experiences working alongside Mother Theresa among the leper colonies of Calcutta struck me with such force that I had to try and put my speeding thoughts down on "paper," so please forgive me if the post seems rushed or doesn't make sense at some points.
Jesus says in John 14:12, "Very truly I tell you, all who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." Shane writes that though he was hard at work during his time in Calcutta, he "hadn't healed any lepers yet. Even though I touched them, they still went home lepers at the end of the day." But then he begins to realize what the "greater things" are:
"The miracles that Jesus performed were not simply showcases of His mighty power; they were the full expression of His LOVE for those He healed. It wasn't that Jesus healed a leper but that He TOUCHED a leper, because no one touched lepers. And the incredible thing about that love is that it now lives inside of us. In fact, the power of miraculous spectacle was the temptation He faced in the desert - to turn stones to bread or to fling Himself from the temple. But what has lasting significance were not the miracles themselves, but Jesus' love. Jesus raised His friend Lazarus from the dead, and a few years later, Lazarus died again. He fed the thousands, but the next day they were hungry again. Jesus healed the sick, but they eventually caught some other disease. But what we remember is His love."
It pains me to think of all the times I've looked at the shoreline covered in starfish (another Mother Theresa reference), and thought, "There's nothing I can do here." And as she begins tossing the starfish back into the water one by one, I can imagine her saying, "It's not about being successful in doing great things (like saving all these starfish), but rather it's about being faithful in doing each small thing with great love and devotion." Oh, how often I've measured myself by success as the world would measure
Another thing about this section that encourages me is that Shane talks about all of us (collectively) being the Body of Christ, and that the "greater things" Jesus talks about are because the radical love that lived inside of Jesus now lives within each of us, and it is when we come together to serve others in love that those "greater things" can start happening.
After Shane would help treat and bandage each of the lepers he met in the clinics of Calcutta, they would whisper in his ear, "Namaste." While there is no real Western equivalent to "namaste," roughly translated, it means "I honor the Holy One who lives in you." I believe when Jesus said that where two or more are gathered in His Name, He is there with them, He wasn't just talking about being among us as a separate spiritual entity. I think He was also talking about each of us seeing Him in each other, that WE would become "Jesus with skin on" for each other. I know this isn't a new concept, but it's just something that God brought to my mind, and I can't help but feel that, for far too long, I've taken that responsibility for granted, to love my neighbors the way Jesus loves them, to become Jesus with skin on for them whenever possible.
Becoming "Jesus with skin on" first became very real to me while I was working at Metropolitan Ministries, every day encountering new people who were not so different than you and I when it comes to our inseparable need for love. Looking back, I can't even begin to understand how God brought me through that period in my life, and while it was often difficult, I'm also very grateful for Him revealing a part of Himself to me each and every day through the eyes of the poor. And the conversations I had with people as I sat with them in those offices, as they poured their hearts out, those will always stay with me. There were plenty of times when I would cry alone in my office at the end of the day for a good 5 minutes just to find a release for the brokenness I felt for the people who came to us, and many times I felt like I was staring at the shoreline covered in suffocating starfish. But my supervisors also taught me to take great joy in the small victories we had, and those were the shining moments that got me through the difficult days. We are called not to be successful [in great things], but to be faithful [in little things].
Wow, I had no intention of this post getting to be this long. Haha. Sorry, guys. Be safe.
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