Day 1: Off to Geoje Island for Holy Joy Center's Two-Day Church Retreat!

Some time ago, you might have read this post about my first-ever trip to Geoje-do, where I tagged along some church members to check out the location and accommodations for an upcoming church retreat. That retreat has now passed! Many Korean families came, with only a handful of foreigners in the mix. That was a bit of a bummer since the theme was something along the lines of "Diversity in the Body of Christ." Those of us who were able to make it made the best of it though, so - I don't know how to put this lightly but - it was your loss if you didn't come out! =P

The following is a photo story of our first day on the island.

DAY 1: HOUSE, WORSHIP, LUNCH, BUS

Russel entertaining the little ones on the bus on our way to an excursion

Beautiful and peaceful countryside

We took the church bus - it was the only way to fit everyone!

THE TREK TO THE HOUSE

...and the berry-picking begins

We passed by some adorable and beautiful houses on our way up to the house

Our worship leader carrying his guitar and a few other things up to the house

 ARRIVING AT THE HOUSE

Here we are (again)!

This is the bed I ended up sleeping on this evening

Shoes galore. Can you guess which pair is mine?

It was very green outside, reminding me of Washington State!

THE WOMEN MAKING THE PLACE HOMEY

One of our lovely jibsanims before joining the whirlwind of other women who prepared our food for lunch

A view of the first floor from the stairwell before I headed up to the second floor

WORSHIP ON THE SECOND FLOOR

Some time spent in worship after arriving and before lunch

Some of the men went berry-picking and came back with this much in just a few minutes!

Jibsanim chillin on the deck, where it was quieter

Picking berries using Pastor/Professor Gabriel's hat

 EATING LUNCH BEFORE HEADING OUT

Korean food is very colorful...

Happy to be hanging out with church friends AND eating a yummy meal!

Everybody was crazy about these berries!

LEAVING FOR OUR FIRST EXCURSION

The property was pretty large. You can see the van the older folks took to the main road while the rest nonchalantly walked on foot

CHILDREN ENJOYING SOME MAGIC TRICKS

Pastor Gabriel's daughter is very outgoing and was making friends left and right!

This is why I have a "Cute Children" tag on my blog!

Russel performing some magic tricks for the kids on the back of the bus

This girl is the granddaughter of the house's caretaker. She was very shy at first, but
quickly made friends with the other little girls. She decided to join us for our trip and had a blast!

We had left fairly early in the day and arrived at our destination by noon-time, so I was feeling pretty tired and ready for a nap in the early afternoon. However, the view, the kids, and the conversations and laughter on the bus renewed my energy enough to carry me through bedtime.

Stay tuned for how the rest our day went traveling to Geoje-do's historic POW camp!

Yeongdo Girls High School Goes on a Field Trip: Broaching the Sensitive Topic of School Field Trips in Light of the Recent Sinking of the Sewol

THE SINKING OF THE MV SEWOL

I have been back blogging this past week. In light of the recent tragedy of the MV Sewol sinking, there is one particular topic/event that I have been hesitant to post about for the past two weeks: school field trips. 

Yeongdo Girls High School students bused to the Busan Museum in Daeyeon-dong, Nam-gu for their annual field trip five days before Danwon High School students boarded the ship that would ultimately never reach Jeju Island, the destination of their own field trip. 

A small percentage of my students from different classes posing for a photo after exploring the museum

The whole of South Korea is in agony over this tragedy. While some passengers were rescued, many more were not - including hundreds of students just one year older than the ones I teach and have the privilege of continuing to teach. 

THE AGONY, THE ANGER, THE SHAME, THE GRIEF

 I can relate to only a very small percentage of it all. Culturally and linguistically, I am many levels removed from directly experiencing the full gravity of this loss, and so I feel unfit to even broach this topic. However, because I am here in Korea, continuing to teach high school students, and basically daily encountering and re-encountering the ghost of April 16, I suspect that I will have opportunities to write more about this later. For this post though, I simply want to accomplish two things:

     1) Acknowledge the aforementioned heavy feelings shrouding the heart of the nation, and
     2) Without detracting, distracting from, or devaluing the aforementioned, celebrate:

THE HOPE, THE UNITY, THE STRENGTH, THE LIFE

of South Korea. I continue to be impressed by this nation's ability to unite together and stand its ground. Unity may crumble, strength may wane, life may be lost, but, no matter how bleak the hour, I believe Hope still reigns at the end of the day.

As Korea grapples with the reality of hundreds of [young] lives lost, may she also not lose a beat in continuing to love and care for the millions of young people who are with us today.

Here are my students, who, everyday, I will learn to love more and more. 

YEONGDO GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL FIELD TRIP TO BUSAN MUSEUM

Students traveled in groups, boarding buses from our island to the mainland.
I bused down with a group of students living in my neighborhood and, thus, was able to find the museum.

There were other school field trips this day. The girls got excited over the sight of an all-boys high school also roaming around the museum grounds

This student gives me the deepest bows every time she sees me! Extremely respectful and polite - I adore her!

Teachers half-heartedly trying to create organized lines out of the hundreds of students milling around the square

Alright - you got me. Putting away the camera now...

This green-jacketed man perfectly matching the well-maintained shrubbery

It was a Seattle weather kind of day

Stella agreeing to be the girls' personal paparazzi

The silliness memo did not reach me or the older, male teacher to my left...

A PRAYER FOR SOUTH KOREA
Lord, give South Korea a Hope so extravagant as to pierce through this overwhelming current of despair. Enable her to, once again, rise from the ashes, assured of the beauty of Your plans for her and, especially, her children.