The Helquist's Visit!

So, about a month ago, I had a spur on blogging and wanted to write about a lot of things. But, as June went by, I stayed off the blog. I don't know if our life was less exciting or what, but I had no inspiration for blogging. So, sorry about not having any update in a month.
But, since our last blog, we had some visitors: my parents! I saw my parents briefly at Christmas, but that was a little while ago. So, Jon and I both were very happy to have family see our life here and bring a little bit of home to us. Well, maybe it was a little more than a "little bit". My parents packed about two extra suitcases with things for Jon and I. Some of these things included Velveeta blocks, Velveeta shells, deodorant, a KONG and treats for Molly from Chippie, fresh rhubarb bars and pistachio bread, Cheetos (also used for padding in the suitcases), vitamins, and my very much missed Clark leather sandals! Whew! Being that they brought these things for us, they could also bring a couple things back to the States that we did not need anymore as well as their own souvenirs. So, we were so excited to see my parents and have them visit our home as well as being very happy to have these special treats from home!

My parents were in Seoul from June 17th-25th. It was a good amount of time, but it went by so fast! My parents arrived on Wednesday night and on Thursday spent the whole day at school with us. That afternoon, they also tried Korean food for the first time. I ordered them my favorites: bulgogi and bibimbap, this of course came with kimchi! On Friday, my parents, Jon, and I went on a Seoul city bus tour that dropped and picked up on many tourist points in the city. This was very convenient because they could go to many places and see the city for 10,000 won rather than using the subway and going to only one or two places. Jon and I had to leave early to go to work, but my parents were able to navigate and later get back to their hotel in Yeouido. Speaking of their hotel, I was able to stay their several nights and boy was I happy! First of all, this hotel room had many things that our apartment doesn't, like a clothes dryer, a dishwasher, a great bed, a full bathroom, a rice cooker, a microwave, and well, it looks great. Although, I didn't use all of these things, I was quite excited. When I opened the closet where the washer and dryer were, I think I screamed in amazement. I got to dry a load of clothes that never seem to dry in our apartment; how wonderful! But, on the same level of excitement, I was also able to relax with my parents after a day of work. One of my other surprises was the DVD set of Anne of Green Gables, so my mom and I were able to spend some comfort time together watching it. These nights at the hotel, often felt like I was back in Arden Hills staying at the Marriot with my parents as they came to see a concert of mine. Surprisingly, I often do forget that I'm in Seoul and being in that hotel room, really made me forget where I was living.

On Saturday, it rained all day and so we thought it would be a good day to take my parents to the war memorial and museum. This museum is one of the best museums I have been to and I thought especially my mom would appreciate it since her dad was in Korea for the Korean war. Afterwards, we had some good Korean galbi BBQ and then hung out with Miss Molly. Sunday, we were able to go to church together as well as growth group. After church, I had a surprise for dad because it was Father's Day! Last year, we were able to go to a Brewers/Twins game at Miller Park and so we thought it'd be nice to continue the tradition. So, we took mom and dad to a Mokdong Woori Heroes (formerly Hyundai Unicorns) baseball game. I have heard that the Heroes are one of the worst teams in the league, but we ended up winning 9-6!

On Tuesday, my parents went to the DMZ for a day tour. I only got to hear a couple of stories and see a few pictures, but it sounded like a great experience. One thing that they were able to do was travel down into the tunnels the North Korean's dug to try to secretly attack Seoul. Jon and I have not visited the DMZ yet, but we are hoping to go in the next few months.

The last two days, my parents were able to make a couple of other short trips around the city as well as having dinner with us at night and babying Miss Molly. Molly was so excited to have two new friends to play with. She especially liked the extra tummy rubs and treats! Jon and I have finally decided that we will take Molly to the States with us later this year. This should be a happy thing as well for the many friends and familiy who have been asking about this since day one. Yes, our dear Molly Pocket will immigrate to America and meet her other furry friends in Birchwood.

**Mom and Dad, thank you so much for visiting Jon and I, your love and encouragement was a wonderful gift to us in Seoul. I am so happy that you were able to come and see where we have been living and working. But, we do look forward to seeing you later this year! Love you!**

Anyways,
hopefully I will be updating more frequently. Sorry for the dry spell throughout June. One exciting event that is coming up is our Fourth of July dinner at our place. We are expecting to have some teachers from school come as well as friends from church. This meal will include Johnsonville Bedda Cheddawursts! So, stay tuned for a July 4th update!
Thank you so much for your comments when I do write posts, I love seeing them!
Anika

Taebo

Three months ago, Jon and I got new classes of students because of the semester change. I now teach two 1st grades (one that is a 2nd grade in Korean-), 3rd grade, and a 4th grade. My 2nd graders are very difficult because the majority of the class is boys. I have tried many things, especially with my more difficult boys, but it seems like whenever they come in, it's like starting all over again on the first day of school. Because of this, at the end of class I am often quite frustrated. One day after this I walked into classed and pulled out a Billy Blanks video and did some stretching and Taebo exercises. My students had fun and it helped me loosen some of my tightness as well. Later that week, I used it as an end of the day reward for my 2nd graders and they loved it. But, since they like to punch each other, I had to lay down the rules of no hitting each other or they would be out of the room. They all did great, had a fun time and liked their reward.

I only got one video of them and it's cloudy, sorry.

My "Fixer-Upper"

This last Friday, I had a scary moment.....my Mac acted like it was dying. It wouldn't connect to the working internet and the screen suddenly turned blue and black and shut down. But, luckily, I have a smart computer boy! (even though he dislikes Macs-lucky I married him!) Jon and I have had a running argument over PCs vs. Macs since the first time he came to visit my dorm. Anyways, Jon decided it was probably a problem with my network card or something and that my computer might be overheating and soon to die because of its old age. So, on Saturday, Jon and I went to Yongsan Electronics Mart to get some things to clean out the computer. Yongsan is basically electronics heaven. First of all, there is a building at least five floors full of any and everything. Then, there is also a huge outdoor market with even more computer parts, video games, DVDs and many other things.

Pics from google

Jon found his cleaning supplies as well as a wireless modem so that I could use the internet, now that my port would no longer work. After wondering around we were quite hungry and decided to try out a new BBQ place and it was wonderful. You know a place is great when there's a self-serve side dish table and you leave with a wonderful taste of onion, garlic, and grilled beef on your breath. I'm truly thankful for a husband who loves garlic and onions because we sure eat a lot of it!
After BBQ we went home to work on my lappy. I was quite scared because I am protective of my PowerBook, but I trusted him while keeping a close eye on his work. Jon did a great job working with my Mac and I think he had a fun time finally having some sort of computer work to do.

Focused

Poor baby! Don't worry, it got put together afterwards.

Molly's Maiden Voyage

Sooo,
Jon went to see Star Trek this week with two of the other teachers. Later on, I saw it with him as well because he really liked it. Although I'm not a Star Trek fan (and neither were my parents despite naming me Anika Borg), but I thought I would watch it and spend some time with my Boy. I don't even know how this happened, but after the movie, we decided to reenact a little Star Trek of our own with our dear Molly Pocket.

We're hoping Molly's ready to make the voyage across
the Pacific in a couple months.

Teacher's Day

Yesterday was Teacher's Day in Korea. Last Tuesday was also Children's Day and it was nice that we got the day off. But, we were sad that we didn't get Teacher's Day off as well. The repeated question I have asked my students is, "Why do you get off of school for Children's Day, but teacher's have to go to school and teach on Teacher's Day?" My students usually didn't know how to respond or they said, "Because you adult, I child and you to work." So because I am an adult, I am not allowed to stop working, I guess. But, at least on Teacher's Day, students bring you gifts (or are supposed to). Jon's Teacher's Day started off with parent teacher conferences and got a 100,000 won gift certificate to Hyundai Department Store. Hyundai is a huge expensive department store (obviously) that is a ten minute walk from us. They have all the major name brands as well as all the high prices you would expect. But, also have a foreign food mart and electronic section, so we'll see what Jon chooses to spend his won on.

When I got to school, all the teachers were given cupcakes from a student. These cupcakes entertained me the most that any cupcake ever has! Each cupcake had bright blue frosting with tiny flowers on top and flowers stamped into the frosting as well. But the best part was that on top of this blue frosting, there was a white head and face with either short or long brown hair! Under this head there was a sign that said the teacher's name-how exciting! We thought they were very cute! There was one cupcake we needed to make a little more accurate, though. One of our teacher's buzzes his head and so has very little hair. We decided while he was out of the room, to take off the puffy brown frosting and make it look more realistic, he got a kick out of our prank.

Throughout the day, Jonathon accumulated several gifts including a box of Mister Donut donuts (he was sooooo excited), handkerchiefs (less excited...), tea, a handful of suckers, and boxful of colorful Korean rice cakes. Whereas, I received a jar of honey. But, this is no regular jar of honey, as you can tell by my picture of it. It was a timely gift, since just that week I finished our bottle of honey making some spicy, sticky, and sweet chicken! So, I guess the Lord even provides these little things through children on Teacher's Day! After the work day our boss took us out for Korean BBQ. I hadn't had BBQ for over a month and so it was nice to have some good Korean food.

Below are some pics from Teacher's Day as well as some pics of my classroom.

Mr. Jonathon

"Ms. Annika"


Big eyes, big smile!

My honey; notice its size in proportion with my hand.

Mr. Gary McDermott and his bald cupcake.


My 2nd graders whisper reading and completing
a comprehension worksheet.

My main decorated wall. My students have to regularly read
what it means to be a good friend and what are good choices. Every
day at the start of class, I also have my students put their "hand guns"
in their holsters. I try to diminish the fake shooting in my classroom.... :)

A Taste From Italia.

A couple of months ago, I had a huge craving for my Nona's Oyster Cracker's. I'm sure many of you have had oyster crackers covered in dill and garlic, but I am sure that none of you can cook like my Italian Nona could! Nona would make the best gingersnap cookies and other grandma-like treats. As a child, I remembered when Nona would visit, these treats being brought into our house bag after bag. And if Nona couldn't drive to our house eight hours away, she would send big boxes of coffee cans filled with goodies. My mom said, "No junk food!" and put them in the freezer to be portioned over time to Anders and I (or at least this is how my Sweet Tooth saw it). Oh goodness, they were all so good!

So, being in Korea, I have really missed good Italian home cooking along with certain treats. I have tried my best here, but some supplies are not available or very expensive. So, when I got my craving for Nona's Oyster Crackers, my mom lovingly surprised me with a box of oyster crackers, lemon pepper, a copy of Nona's handwritten recipe, Velveeta and shells, some devotionals, deodorant, poppy seeds, and a Pug puppet (most of you should know why these are all important to me). All I needed to get was dill weed! I thought it would be easy to find, at least in Itaewon (the foreigner heaven). But, alas, there was no dill weed. Finally, I asked around the teachers and one has it shipped from Canada and she gave me her last couple of teaspoons. These little things are like gold to us teachers! So, I ran home with my treasure and mixed everything together and started my baking. That is, baking in a toaster. It took about five times to bake it all, but I have the final product and it is great! Thank you Nona and Mama for the recipe and ingredients, you have given me a taste of home and it's wonderful!

Protection From the Elements

Many of you know, I am a big fan of being in decent shape or at least exercising regularly. Well, since I have been in Korea, this has been much more difficult. First of all, I don't have a nice community center like the one in New Brighton. Second of all, there are no open fields and trails and third of all, the air is horrible here. My asthma was already a frustrating thing in the States, but here, it was multiplied. I am just so thankful that I have the medications and machines here to help me deal with flare-ups. Because of the bad pollution, I haven't exercised as much as I like to, but I have been walking quite a bit. My preference is to jog and so I have been going crazy. Finally, I just decided I would put away my feelings of superiority and don the "Asian mask". Anders especially kept telling me to cover up my face, so here, are you satisfied?

Tangent to Childhood: (Besides I love you), two phrases that were said/shouted/yelled/lovingly said, stick in my mind from when I was a child. These two phrases were "Anika, use tools the way they were designed to be used," and "Anika, don't run (in the house, up the stairs, down the stairs, on the dock, in church, etc, etc)!" I liked and still like to get places quick, even if I'm just walking. And despite the multiple warnings from my dad about tools, I still find myself using a rock or shears to pound things open (oops). But, my dad's voice will always come back to haunt me either during the act or after I have broken the object or injured myself. Thanks dad! So, needless to say, I was (possibly) a dangerous, wild child.

Now, returning from my tangent....
Tonight was also Costco Night! We went with Betsy, another coworker and started off eating at the food court. The food court has some of the best food and we all get really excited about it. Tonight, we had American style pizza, American style hotdogs, and Bulgogi bake. Bulgogi bake is basically Korean bulgogi seasoned beef with cheese inside a bread stick; it's pretty wonderful. After filling up, we wandered and found the normal necessities of cereal, oatmeal, chicken and some other things, nothing too exciting. But, I remembered a long lost picture from our first visit to Costco!

A busy but fruitful Sunday

This last Sunday, Jon and I had a very full day. First of all, Jon was preaching for the first time! I was very proud of him and I thought that he did a great job preparing and delivering the sermon. To be honest, if someone had asked me to deliver a sermon, I probably would have run away and hid. But put me in a class of thirty crazy kids and I'll be fine. I am so thankful that God gives each of us different talents to further his kingdom and bring glory to His name.


Jon's message was on God's love and was a great reminder of how great His love is and how He has shown us His love. I'm glad that He spoke on this topic because I had been thinking a lot about it. Jon is planning on putting the sermon on here, so hopefully he does it soon. I meant to video record some of his sermon, but was so focused and distracted by him and only managed to record the prayer. Oh well. So, you will have to be satisfied with that until the sermon recording is up.


After the sermon, Jon and I led our normal English Bible Growth Group and then went to Michael and Sarah's (a couple from Ohio that joined our church a couple of months ago). We went to Michael and Sarah's to have a snack and practice a song that we were asked to sing an hour later at the New Member Banquet. So, Jon was an especially busy boy, experiencing what a pastor's day might include. Oh, forgot to mention, this new member banquet and sermon night was all in Korean. The banquet had some good food, but very spicy kimchi and there wasn't a drink in sight! The foods that cooled my burning mouth were the seaweed soup and the brightest and sweetest orange slices I've ever seen; it was literally like a Fanta orange!


After the supper, we went downstairs to the main sanctuary and the head pastor, Pastor Joe,
preached. Along with Pastor Joe, there were other members who gave testimonies and musical numbers. In between these special things, the new members were called up about 10 at a time and were greeted by the congregation and given roses as well as gifts. Jon and I were called up and several Koreans from our English congregation were there to support us and give roses to us. It was great to see their smiling faces! I have never seen a welcoming such as this and it made us feel like we were truly part of a family and loved, even though we were separated by language and culture. We set down our armful of gifts and roses and went back up to the stage to sing our song (You can listen below). We had a lot of fun worshiping and being with those who love God. I love being in other countries and attending services and worshiping in other languages because I think it's so powerful. It's amazing to see how God's love is translated and can be understood by everyone-I love it!

Anyways, this was our Sunday; I hope you enjoy the pictures and videos!
Anika

Jon preaching!


Jon's closing and prayer.


Korean worship.

Being welcomed by other members and friends.

"Beautiful One"



Introduction of Jon and I.

"Cute!" (very Korean sounding)

The group after it all. L to R: Pastor Ahn,
Latasha, Michael, Sarah, and The Engers.

And to end, a random video of Molly learning how to sit and stay.
Where Chipper is still learning, Molly learned in a couple hours. :)

Extreme Makeover: Doggy Edition

Our dear little dog, Molly lives quite the life in our studio apartment compared to the animal shelter. There, she was surrounded by about twenty dogs in one cage, not to mention the other two hundred around in other cages. When I saw her, she was cowering in a box, not even coming out for a treat. But, I yanked her out and soon we became great pals. Anyways, three months later, I hope she has forgotten where she came from and maybe even the people who treated her poorly. After today, I hope that Molly doesn't think we also mistreated her; because she definitely got an Extreme Makeover-Korean Style.


When we got Molly, she had a bare spot of skin on her side and back above her tail. Over the last three months, it has grown a little to where it is(was) about a centimeter long. We were quite proud at this accomplishment and happy for Molly to finally have some "butt fur". The rest of Molly's fur has grown much more and so she could hardly see out of her gray curtain. Because of this reason as well as her getting hot, I decided Molly should really get her hair cut.
I was a little concerned with the language barrier and finding a place to get her hair cut. Finding a place turned out to be no problem-there is a vet in our building. But, trying to speak in simple English mixed with Korean as well as the language of "dog haircuts", proved to be more difficult. Normally, I have no idea what to tell my hairdresser to do with my own hair let alone a dog's. So, I handed over the trembling Molly to the hairdresser and they told me to com back in 2.5 hours (does that seem like a long time to you?).


I came back expecting that they shaved all of her fur off and that's just about what they did. I've always wanted a makeover, but after seeing Molly's outcome, I might think twice about drastically changing my look. POOR Molly! She was given a buzz cut but left with fluffy pom-pon ears, some cheek fluff, and a pom-pon for a tail. I was quite shocked seeing her in this state as well as looking like she dropped ten pounds. The vet carried her down to me and said, "You like?" I replied, "Uhhhh, I guess?" What was I going to say and how would the problem be fixed? Thinking back, I probably should have tried to tell them to trim her ears so she wouldn't look as ridiculous, but oh well. I was holding her a little scared wondering if I had the right dog and what Jon would say. I opened the door to our house and tried to prepare Jon because he really loved her fluffy face and fluffy feet. Jon was quite shocked and is still shocked.


Molly's new look is difficult to get used to, but we can tell she is the same old Molly, plus it is nice to see her cute eyes! Anyways, that is the story of Molly's Extreme Makeover: Doggy Edition. Below are some before and after pictures as well as some videos of her. Some pictures and videos show Molly's Dolly, her only toy that she likes to play with. But, looking at the latest pictures of Dolly, it looks as though she will need to be replaced....

Our fluffy face puppy!

Our non-fluffy puppy!

The current state of Dolly: armless and almost legless.
She tends to tear it apart.

Molly, still going after Dolly's arm.

A Visit from Family and a Baseball Game

It's been a while since I've posted here, and there is much to tell! Since my last update my parents, along with my cousin Michael, have come and gone and Anika and I have since seen our first match of, “America’s favorite pastime” Korean style. First, I will share a bit about my parents and Michael’s visit.

The three of them spent about a week here with Anika and I and it was a very special and meaningful time. Together, the five of us were able to celebrate the first crossing of the Pacific Ocean by the three travelers, as well as my father's birthday on March 30th. Unfortunately, Anika and I had to work five of the days that our visitors were here with us, but we were able to enjoy the mornings and evenings with them.

We had a number of enjoyable experiences and adventures together. We managed to visit Gyeongbuk Palace, N Seoul Tower, Insadong Market, Namdaemun Market, Yongsan Electronics Mart, and the Korean War Memorial all in the few hours that were available to us during the week. Michael and my parents were able to do some other exciting things without us and they enjoyed their time exploring Seoul. The five of us ate dinner together a few times after Anika and I were done with work. The food and conversation was great and it was comical and entertaining for Anika and I to watch three Midwesterners struggle with chopsticks (pictures are below). We were also able to have a nice breakfast of bacon, eggs, and roti buns (a sort of leavened pancake) and on dad's birthday we had a desert of ice cream cake from Cold Stone at our apartment.

Anika and I were sad when the week came to a close and it was time for our guests to head back to the U.S.A., but we are greatful that they traveled so far to spend a little time with us. Mom, dad, and Michael... your visit was truly a blessing to Anika and I and we will always cherish the memories of the time we spent together in a far away land. Thank you for helping to make our adventure in Korea a special one!

And now, a brief review of Korean baseball.

If any of you watched or read about the World Baseball Classic, you should be aware of the fact that Koreans know how to play baseball. Not only did the Korean team advance farther in the tournament than team U.S.A., but they also challenged the defending champion, Japan, in the final round. As some of you may know, Korea lost to Japan in the championship series, but the fact that they made it so far is itself a testament to the quality of Korean baseball.

Unfortunately, the match featuring the hometown team, the Woori Heroes, was anything but quality. The Heroes hosted Incheon’s SK team at Mokdong Stadium this weekend, and Anika and I were in attendance at the Saturday evening game. The final score was 3-10, and though the result was disappointing, the game was still fun to watch and for a short time it almost made us forget that we weren’t actually in the United States.

Other than that, things have not changed much. The weather is getting much warmer and the temperature has been staying around 70 degrees all week. The cherry and magnolia blossoms have been at their peak this week, and soon the trees will be green and the heat and humidity will rise to near intolerable levels paired with copious amounts of precipitation. So, we are enjoying the climate while we can and making the most of the short window of beautiful weather.

That’s all for now! Thanks to all our readers for following our blog and for giving us motivation to write about and share some of our experiences. Following are some pictures. For more recent pictures see my flickr site here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30160499@N03/

Cleansing From The Yellow Dust

Every March about this time, East Asia experiences what is called "Yellow Dust Season". The yellow dust comes from the deserts of Mongolia and northern China where high speed winds pick up the dust causing the fine dust to be carried east. To add to the nasty yellow dust, the pollutants from China and India are combined with it to make it a pretty nasty cocktail of air. According to Wikipedia, there are many things that are combined in this cocktail such as, "Sulphur (an acid rain component), soot, ash, carbon monoxide, and other toxic pollutants including heavy metals (such as mercury, cadmium, chromium, arsenic, lead, zinc, copper) and other carcinogens, often accompany the dust storms, as well as viruses, bacteria, fungi, pesticides, antibiotics, asbestos, herbicides, plastic ingredients, combustion products as well as hormone mimicking phthalates". Doesn't this sound wonderful? I finally realized why Koreans are so crazy about having umbrellas. Me, I don't really care much and love to run in the rain, but maybe I should stop being a tightwad and spend the 50 cents on an umbrella. Also, the yellow dust has been known to cause healthy people to develop asthma and other respiratory problems. But in the case of people who already have asthma and respiratory infections....it can be fatal. Things are looking good. But, never fear, I can wear an Asian medical mask and strap my nebulizer to my back and go about my business. If you would like to see more stats on Asian/Yellow Dust, Google it. I posted a satellite picture of yellow dust drifting over east Asia.



With all this dirty dust and cold temperatures trying to hang on, I thought it would be good to go to the Jjimjilbang (찜질방), the Korean public bathhouses, saunas and hot tubs. Most Jjimjilbang's are open 24hours and Korea families love to go there to relax on the weekends. The men and women have separate, fancy locker rooms that have many sit-down showers and stone hot tubs in varying temperatures. In the locker room, you usually don't wear much for clothes and in the hot tubs, you do not wear any clothes or suits. I think that these places are very relaxing and enjoyable and I am sad that we do not have them in the States. But, the difference in cultures is what allows them to be in Korea. Many Koreans will just lounge around the room and lay on the big wooden benches while watching tv, putting on face masks, and other various beauty activities. The locker room is only one experience of the Jjijilbang. When you pay (about $4.50, by the way!), they give you a bulky set of shorts, t-shirt, and towels, therefore matching everyone else there. You put these clothes on to go into the main sauna area. The Jjimjilbang that I was at on Sunday night is one of the better ones in the area. It has five different temperature saunas that you lay down in and have special massage rocks on the walls to push your feet or back against. The floor is covered in grass mats and you have the traditional wooden blocks to put your head on (with a towel). Some of the saunas are heated with wood and some are electric. The first time I opened the door and started to enter one of the wood saunas, I shouted out, "It smells like home!" I was quickly shushed because I did not realize the Koreans were in there sleeping. The Koreans will fall asleep in the saunas, but they also sleep all over on the floor outside of the saunas. The stone floor is heated and some have special glass parts where there are heated light bulbs to lay on and relax back muscles. Also, there are usually big-screen tvs in these areas and families or couples will curl up and hang out together. Along with these things, there are also mini caves you can sleep in, exercise rooms, a lap pool, massage chairs, and bunk beds if you want to stay the night. Jjimjilbang's are hard to explain and I hope you get a picture of what they look like and how it feels to visit one. If not, here are a couple pictures below to help you.


Outside of saunas.


Ice Room!


TV room with mats and heated flooring.

Costco Celebration!

This Saturday was a very exciting day; it was "Costco Day"! Costco Day comes about once a month after payday. This was our third time going to Costco. The week before, I find myself thinking and dreaming about my Costco list. Should I spend our Costco budget on cheese? bacon? bulk candy? US meat? bulk kimchi? Oh, the possibilities! The first time we went to Costco, I think I was in such shock, I stood with my cart marveling at all of the goodness before I was pushed on by an impatient Korean. To begin our shopping, we need sustenance. So, the logical solution is to eat at the little cafeteria before you enter the food area; this is also really exciting! Here, you can get a hotdog set with a soda for 2,000won, which is about $1.25! Also, you can get a huge piece of American style pizza for about 3,000. Not only is the price excellent, but it's a little piece of America on top of it. But, there are definitely things in the cafeteria that are far from an American experience. First of all, this is a huge two level Costco and I couldn't even begin to imagine how many people are crammed into this store, but they decide to have crammed bench seating for about 75 people. And then, if finding your own seat wasn't difficult enough, you get to play the game "Find Your Cart" after it is all done. Costco has a special worker that gets paid to line the carts at the cafeteria in rows of 7, side by side, so you can't get to any of them. It seems that my cart somehow gets put in the middle and I end up pulling out cart after cart to get to mine. Because it is so hard to find your cart, I have tried to make mine more noticeable and create some sort of flag. The other thing that is definitely not an American Costco experience is the onion salads that Koreans love. At the condiment bar, there is a machine that you crank and out comes diced onions. Now, usually we use onions, ketchup, and mustard as condiments, but Koreans love to put them together and eat them straight-like a salad. It is one of the oddest things I've seen here. And let me tell you, these are not sweet onions, but the eye-watering, nose burning onions. Needless to say, I did not try this salad.
But, on to shopping! I knew that by finding Costco, it would help Jon and I eat a little more normally (maybe). Not that eating here is difficult, but we certainly do miss foods from home. For instance, when I saw the 4x4 box of cheese in the fridge, I wanted to sprint and leap, push over anyone in my way and put the whole box in the cart for myself. I guess that that is a true mark of a Cheesehead. And although I didn't get the whole box of cheese, we did buy a 2 lb. block of sharp cheddar and Jon and I tried to savor and not completely devour it. Among other things that we got, were oatmeal, Honey Nut Cheerios, Special K, Johnsonville Maple Bacon, ground beef, pasta noodles, celery(which you can't seem to find anywhere, now my spaghetti is complete!), V8 and Prego. The V8 actually ended up being a surprise for Jon's birthday and he was thrilled. Clearly, we are easy to please. We are very thankful to have Costco and look forward to getting great food to fill our cupboards and freezer with until next month.
One other quick update; a sad update. Molly has had two inquiries for adoption. :( Jon and I both love her very much and are sad at the thought of giving her up, even though that was why I began to foster. Giving up animals and saying goodbye is always extremely difficult and I hate to do it. We need to find out more about the people and see if either are a good fit.
Below, I posted a few videos from earlier in our stay here.

Overdue Once Again

I can hardly believe that an entire month has passed since the last time Anika and I posted an update on our blog! I hope that all of our dedicated followers can forgive our lack of updates. Even now, I feel like there is not much to report that is too exciting. Yet, I will do my best to keep you informed and hopefully interested in the events that have taken place over the last month.

As all of you know from the previous post, Kari was here to visit us at the end of January, and we are very glad that she came. Anika and I don't get out to do the tourist thing very often, but while Kari was here we were able to do just that. We had a lot of fun with Kari and we were very blessed to have her here. We are looking forward to having some more visitors in the near future!

There have been three celebrations in the past month. Those being Valentine's Day, Korea's Independence Day, and my birthday. We really didn't do much for Valentine's Day other than simply enjoying some relaxing time with each other. Independence Day was drastically underwhelming compared to Independence Day in the United States. There were no picnics, parades, or fireworks. Other than vast number of Korean flags being raised throughout the city there was nothing to signal that there was anything important taking place. My birthday was unfortunately on a Wednesday, so there was little time to do anything. Anika did spoil me by bringing me donuts and coffee in the morning and cheesecake in the evening. Some of my students brought me treats, the most significant of which was pizza.

Other than that, Anika and I have been kept busy with work and church. Anika continues to sing with the worship group, and the two of us teach English "growth groups" after worship on Sunday's in addition to attending Thursday night Bible study. Our working hourse have changed slightly. We now start at 1:00 PM and end at 8:50 PM. Students arrive at 2:30 and we teach fifty minute blocks with five minute breaks in between. Previously we started at 12:40 and ended at 8:25 with forty minute blocks. This week was the first week of the new semester. It was busier and more stressful than usual as we had new students, new schedules, and new materials. So far we have had a much needed restful weekend.

Unfortunatley, Anika suffered a bout of food poisoning this week. She was sick most of the night on the 4th on into the morning of th 5th. She stayed home to recover on Thursday and was back on her feet teaching again on Friday. She seems to be fully recovered now, but she is still getting over a cold that she has had for a couple of weeks. Unfortunately, she has been sick a lot more than I have so far, but she has done a good job of taking care of herself (and I have tried my best to take care of her as well).

The weather is beginning to get a little warmer. We've had rain a few times in the last month, and though we've had plenty of wintery days, we have also had a few springlike days as well. This weekend has been in the 50s and I am looking forward to putting my winter coat away!

Well, that's all I can think of to report at the moment. If Anika has soemthing else to share I'm sure she will add some good stories!

A little bit o' reflection

Many friends have mentioned that they are in need of an update of our lives. But, this won't be as much of an update, but more like a reflection.
I'm going to jump back to Christmas break when we were in The States. As some of you know, we had some "difficulties" coming back to Seoul. We were thankful for our tickets, but unfortunately, it meant that we could be bumped off of our planes. And we did. We said our goodbyes to our family at the airport, but little did we know we would see them about a half hour later. We were bumped off of our Twin Cities flight to Tokyo. But, we were thankful to have a little more time with family and ended up staying in The Cities one last night. The next day, the same flight was overbooked again and we decided to fly to LA to catch a flight to Tokyo that looked more promising. We waited at the gate for forty-five minutes only to see the gates close and the plane take off without us. Oh, did I fail to mention the airport had lost my luggage and so after wearing the same clothes for two days and stressed from the travel, I was getting tired. **Little bit of advice, always pack an extra pair of undies if not a set of clothes in your carry-on. One day, you'll need them** Anyways, Jon and I stayed cooped up in semi-scary hotel room, prayed, watched TV, ate Pizza Hut, and tried to contact the teachers and our director in Korea to tell them we would not make it in time for school. All of this craziness (and this is bits and pieces) was going on and Jon and I wanted to make sure that we were praying and thanking God for where we were at and that he was going to take care of us. When we stayed over night in the Twin Cities, Jon's parents brought us to the MOA to shop and eat. Since I didn't have any clothes, I decided to make a stop at Old Navy and pick out some clearance rack goodies. The cheapest shirt I could find happened to be one that said "Give Thanks". I saw it and laughed out loud! "Really, God! You're going to speak to me through a T-shirt in the Old Navy clearance section? Okay." So, the Give Thanks shirt was my only other piece of clothing that I had on and would continue to wear for four days straight....
But, as I was wearing this shirt, it really made me think. "Am I being thankful for where I am? Am I taking advantage of this special extra time I get with family as well as my husband?" It is so easy to blow up and get upset at things when they don't go your way and so I think God also taught me a lesson in patience. I had to keep checking myself and asking if others would be seeing God through my actions and my words. Sometimes, I am not as aware of this question as I should be.
Also, being content can be a difficult task and it translates to us in Korea as well. In my study group I lead after church, we were talking about how the Israelites were not content in I Samuel 8 and decided that they wanted "a king like all the other nations". They were discontent with their special identity that God gave them and wanted to be like the world around them. Now, although we might not be looking for a king, but we might instead be discontent with our clothes, living conditions, jobs, or even the country we live in. Jon and I are learning to be content with where we are and what we are doing, but it is still normal to miss our "normal" home and our family and friends.
I hope that my ramblings will cause you to think a little bit about thankfulness and contentment. And as you remember us, I would love your prayers for us in these areas as well.

And now for a short update of our present lives...
Jon and I were blessed to have Kari (Jon's sister) visit us! It was wonderful to show a family member where we live and what the country is like. We were able to go to a lot of touristy places that we haven't been yet. Kari also loved the traditional Korean BBQ so much that we ate it three times within a week! If you do not know, traditional Korean BBQ is where you cook slabs of meat on a coal grill. Then, you dip it in a special red sauce, put it in a leaf of lettuce with balsalmic sesame vinegar onions, grilled garlic, and stuff the whole thing in your mouth. It's beyond wonderful! You can get many different kinds of meat to cook, but most restaurants give you about 5 sides to share with everyone. If I could, I would probably eat there every day. In March, Jon's parents and cousin Michael will visit and then my parents will come in the early summer. We are very blessed to have our family visit us in such a far away land. I already picture all of them walking around exploring Korea and I am excited!
Here is a picture of the BBQ we usually go to "Maru". Although it is not a traditional coal and floor sitting place; it is still great!


Kari, Jon and I at Gyeongbokgung Palace


Jon and my work is going pretty well, but it is very tiring at times. And, we are still trying to get used to working with Koreans who seem to conduct business as well as communication differently than we are used to. Because of this, frustrations can come up that need to be taken care of. Regardless of these frustrations, I have loved seeing my students grow in their English as well as in their character. Some of my students that hardly knew any English to communicate, are talking up a storm and imitating my speech such as "Oh, my goodness!" in their little Korean accents. They are so cute. I look forward to seeing them grow even more within the next several months.
Thank you so much for your prayers and loving support. We miss you all and love hearing from you!
With love,
Anika

The Tale of Two Saturdays

Hello again friends and family. It has been a while since our last blog update, but the time has come again for a new posting, and you can now set your eagerness aside.

First and foremost, I would like to give a heartfelt thanks to all of you who have been praying with and for us, wondering, caring, and perhaps even longing for us. It is so comforting to know that all of you have so much affection for the two of us. Just last night, Anika and I read through a few of the wonderful letters that you thoughtfully prepared for us prior to our departure for Korea. The words of encouragement that you prepared so lovingly touch our hearts every time we read them. They have helped us beyond comprehension during times of strife and struggle and they will continue to do so for the rest of our travels, wherever they may take us. We are blessed every time that we read one of your letters. They fill us with excitement for the things that God will do as they remind us of the powerful things that God has done in our lives and yours. So again, thank you sincerely for your loving and encouraging words.

And now, back to the adventures of Jonathon and Anika. Over that past week or so, Anika has shown a distinct interest in fostering needy animals (dogs in particular). After some discussion, she decided that she would volunteer at a dog shelter here in Seoul. Anika conspired to bring me along, but I declined. Instead she brought a mutual friend, coworker, and Minnesota comrade named Betsy. The two ventured out into the unknown parts of the territory on Saturday, the eighteenth of January, around 9:30 a.m. Secretively, I was hoping and praying that Anika would return with at most, one dog. I was pleasantly surprised at her return, as indeed she appeared with only one dog. In the less than 24 hours that the dog has graced us with her presence, we have already become quiet fond of her. We have discovered that she is not fully potty trained, but we will make sure that her shortcomings are reversed before she is discovered by her future owners. She is extremely loving and well-behaved, and, to my enjoyment, very quiet. (We also discovered that she likes Maple Bacon).

Here she is:

While this expedition was taking place I was sleeping. Well, at least for the first hour or so. At 10:30 a.m. I ventured off to meet my friend and fellow Bethel Alum, Reuben Haggar, for an exhilarating adventure to the National Museum of Korea. There, we met up with two of Reuben's friends and fellow believers by the names of "Ten Mile Brit" and Megan. Together, the four of us explored the first floor of the Museum for about two or three hours. Being that there were yet two more floors, a children's exhibit, and a special exhibit we decided to depart in search of some provisions. The museum happens to be the sixth largest in the world, and none of us possessed the energy or intellectual capacity to probe the remainder of the structure that afternoon. After a nice meal at a Korean Barbecue, the four of us split up and went our separate ways. Reuben and Brit set out for a gathering with some church friends, and I stayed in Yongsan to explore the seven story electronics mall. Thankfully, I had enough self-restraint to walk away without spending a single won. After Anika's return home, the two of us shared a meal and spent the rest of the night relaxing with our new furry friend.

That is the whole and truthful account of our weekend up until the present moment. We hope that you enjoy reading about our episodes as much as we enjoyed experiencing them. Once again, thank you for all of your love and prayers, and for taking interest in our lives and our experiences!