December 18, 2007

The ESL Days of Christmas

I'm sure the most memorable event this Christmas season will be the presentation performed by my after-school ESL (English as a Second Language) kids.

I agreed to help out as ESL instructor this last semester and am sure glad I did. I sure loved getting to know these young Korean kids and helping them with their English. An added benefit is knowing what it’s like to be an elementary teacher. Wow, I had no idea the amount of energy needed to keep these kids learning! It sure is a lot different than teaching high school where I can assign a project and my kids will run with it on their own... well, most of the time =)

The kids were divided into six classes with six teachers. Shown from left to right: Emily Nelson, Christine Kim, Sara Huffman, yours truly and Bob Griffon. I know, I said six teachers, but Loretta Griffon didn't make the shot. As you can see in the photo taken a couple weeks ago, it still feels more like autumn around here than winter... not so good if you want a white Christmas but great for the kids who loved to run around outside during activity time.

I believe the final Christmas presentation was enjoyed by all. During the performance, I had my kids read a poem in English and then show they knew their numbers by doing actions to 'The Twelve Days of Christmas'. At first I didn’t know whether these typically-shy kids would perform in front of an audience – especially when it came to ‘nine ladies dancing’ and they needed to twirl around – but they really came through and did a fantastic job.


December 17, 2007

'Tis the Season (here too)

It's December 23rd and I am finally catching my breath from an incredibly busy month at Taejon Christian International School. Technically, we ended our school semester on the 20th but I've been playing catch-up on work and personal projects since, trying to complete as much as possible before Christmas. I wondered whether the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas was as busy here in Korea as it tends to be back home. Well, I can emphatically say "it is so".

I could write pages (or should I say posts) about all the activities that have kept me busy this past month aside from my job of teaching and coordinating technology at the school. Not to worry, I won't bore you with all the details but permit me to share a few of the highlights...

For instance, I thoroughly enjoyed accompanying one of our high school choirs at a Christmas concert a couple weeks ago. The closing number was the '12 Days After Christmas', a comical rendition detailing how the true love responded to all the Christmas gift-giving. If you're interested in hearing a choir perform this number, check out this YouTube video ... it isn't our choir and is poor quality but it will give you a good idea of how our choir sounded.

A few days after the concert, I organized a carol sing at a friend's house which turned out to be a wonderful time for faculty and staff to kick back, drink wassail and enjoy the season in song.

Another highlight was my attending a youth choir concert at the Daejon Arts Center last Friday. What an incredible facility for the performing arts! This is the place I heard my first rendition of ‘O Danny Boy’ in Korean. Admittedly, I was culturally challenged listening to an Irish tune with Korean words, but I made it through to hear perhaps the best youth choir concert ever. Their sound was so smooth and seemingly perfect that I sat through the concert in awe.


Click on the picture for a bird's-eye read of the program. Select the Back button to return to the blog. Hey, at least I could read the order of the program =)

I expect the next couple days will be equally as busy as the previous month. So far my Christmas Eve schedule shows lunch at the Outback Steakhouse, playing for a service at our local English congregation and visiting with friends in their home later in the evening. As for Christmas Day, we'll start with a brunch at a fellow-Canadian's home followed by a turkey dinner at friends from Idaho. I sure am blessed with friends here in Korea who love the Lord and love being part of community as much as I do.

At the same time, I wish I could be transported to the US and Canada to be with family and friends there but that is simply not a possibility this year, especially since I will be heading to Malaysia the day after Christmas for a couple weeks! This will be my first time in Malaysia – the first week on a mission trip to the inner areas of Borneo and the second week kicking back at a hotel along the beaches in Kota Kinabalu. Apparently Borneo is only 4 degrees north of the equator so I'm guaranteed a tropical Christmas and New Year this year. I’ll make sure to update this blog with further details when I get back.

(Christmas lights near City Hall in Seoul Korea)

In the meantime, allow me to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas season and all God's best for the year 2008. May it be a year of deepening your relationship and resting in our Lord, the Giver of Life and Author of Love.

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation." (Psalm 91:14-16)

December 14, 2007

4 Degrees North of the Equator

An advantage of living in Korea is our proximity to other countries in this part of the world. And an advantage of working at a Christian school is having opportunity to join organized mission trips throughout the year. Having a 3 week break at Christmas seemed the perfect time to go with a team to Malaysia.


After our arrival, our team spent the first week in the city of Tawau (south east part of the island) to help lead services and encourage fellow Christians in area churches. Pastor Fred, native to Malaysia who established over 50 churches in the area, arranged our itinerary and graciously served as tour guide. By the second week, I ventured to the other part of the island to get in a week's worth of vacation before the next school semester starts mid January. All in all, this schedule enabled me to experience Malaysia from the 'local' perspective in Tawau and as a 'tourist' in Kota Kinabalu.

Our team consisted of the pastor family and four of us from TCIS. Here we are in the downtown region of Tawau. Beside me is Jim Armentrout, Hannah Mukri (pastor Fred’s wife), Sandy Armentrout, Colin Mukri (Fred’s son). Other photos in these posts include Heidi Buchegger and Fred Mukri, other members of our mission team.

During our time in Tawau the four of us foreigners were able to stay in a 3 bedroom condo, complete with pool, fitness center and one confused rooster that crowed continually. The poor rooster did its job by waking us up at 5 a.m. but then crowed the rest of the day! I'm just glad it knew enough to stop when the sun went down so we could get some sleep at night =)


What can I say about Malaysia, except that I found a fantastically beautiful country both in nature and people! I was most impressed with the warmth of the Malaysian people. I can’t tell you how many new friends I made on this trip in just two short weeks. Most everyone we met were so friendly and wanted to learn about Canada and the U.S., as I was intrigued by their stories. Here are some shots of a young man named Meritz selling electronics at the local market, a plantation worker we met New Year's Eve (see next post), Jonathan Tse who is music minister at an Anglican church in Kota Kinabalu and, of course, new members of my family Hosea and Colin Mukri.






Malaysia is a country of vibrant color, an endless sea of palm orchards, laid-back schedules, incredibly cute kids, rich food, exotic plants, dangerous animals, constant temperatures (never dips below 28C throughout the year) and drivers who drive on the wrong side of the road.





Coming from a planning and architectural background, I am prone to take an interest in how the Malaysians build and design their living space. An interesting observation was construction workers wearing straw hats to shield from the sun rather than hard hats! I guess over exposure to sun rays and heat exhaustion is more of a danger to them than anything falling from above.

I found jungle infrastructure equally fascinating where most of the older buildings sit high above the ground on stilts. Raising buildings helps protect them from flood waters and wild boar that roam freely. The poles that hold up these structures are from the Belian tree which is termite-resistant wood and are square (not round) so snakes can’t climb into the upper living space.


It only dawned on me a few days into my trip that all the restaurants are completely open areas, like big patios. No doors to speak of... and why would these restaurants need to be enclosed because it’s always warm here both day and night.



I'm not sure how easy it is to get these food items in North America but they are sure easy to find here, including smoked stingray, fish lips, chicken feet, bishop’s nose, wild boar (cooked in bamboo sticks), shrimp the size of lobster (literally about a foot long) and a green vegetable only grown in this part of Malaysia called 'fern'. I particularly enjoy the fruit juices of watermelon, guava, papaya, star fruit and coconut (presented in its own shell). A famous dessert here is 'ABC' or 'CBA', depending on the choice of fruit and vegetables you want in a mixture of ice and milk. A perfect ending to cool down from the spicy food and warm temps.






As the restaurants are open-air, so are many of the markets and shops. Just open the overhead door to the street and you’re open for business. The more modern department stores, however, resemble stores in the west complete with escalators, discount bins, customer service and checkout. I wouldn't exactly classify me a 'bargain shopper', but I was pretty proud when finding 36 western-name-brand toothbrushes for $3.50! I think I have enough toothbrushes to last me for the year 2008. Good thing toothbrushes don’t have an expiry date =)

To add to my shopping experience, I enjoyed hearing 'Frosty the Snowman' over the store PA system with outdoor temperatures of 35C, along with a 3 minute broadcast of Dr. Dobson talking about raising children and a word of advice from store management not to buy on impulse but rather make sure you compare shop! I can't even imagine announcements encouraging shoppers to compare shop in western stores.

December 13, 2007

Video of Mission Trip to Malaysia

Click below to view a video of our mission trip to Malaysia. It has sound so turn up your speakers! It's best seen with a hi-speed internet connection; you may want to start then pause for a few minutes to fully load before playing.

December 12, 2007

Jungle Fever

What an incredibly memorable way to bring in the year 2008. As part of our itinerary to visit churches in the region of Tawau Malaysia, we got to meet the wonderful people in a jungle village called Brantian on New Year’s Eve.

At first I was concerned because we were scheduled to meet these people around 7 p.m. but wouldn’t arrive till after 8 p.m. In the course of time, I learned that I need not have been so concerned because we were on Malaysian time. In other words, people typically start the service when Fred or other visitors get there. There are times people don’t even know he’s coming and will drop everything to come listen to him when they see his truck.


So how can I adequately share my New Year's experience with you? I suppose I can start by summing it up: I found this evening a mix of simple surroundings, amazing generosity, preparation, genuine loving people and a good dose of personal humility.

As we drove 4 hours to get to this remote area of the jungle, Fred informed us of the history of the people we were about to meet and his relationship with them. Apparently many years ago when Fred first traveled to this region of the jungle, he approached the leaders of this head-hunter tribe and asked for some water because he was thirsty from travel. The leaders gave him a glass of water but, unknowing to Fred, they had poisoned the water hoping to kill him.

When Fred grabbed the glass of water it burst in his hand! A miracle of protection displayed for all to see. Needless to say, the tribal leaders were taken back and asked Fred what power came with him - a perfect opportunity to explain that he came with the power of the risen Jesus Christ. Not only did Fred explain that he came with God the protector, but the same God of love, relationship and salvation from sin.

Since that time, the leaders and many in this tribe have come to follow this God of the Scriptures and Fred is now a close friend to the very people who tried to kill him! In my short visit with them, I found evidence of God living in these people. The spiritual bond we shared and love they demonstrated was truly amazing.

Shortly after we arrived, for instance, we found out this group of some 60 people built a tent-structure especially for our service. The structure was made of bamboo with a plastic material to cover, complete with wiring to the generator. These people put a lot of work into preparing for our evening and we as the visiting team were truly humbled.



Not only did they provide a new structure but spent days preparing dinner for us, hunting wild boar as well as picking and preparing vegetables.



The evening had its moments of humor as well. Before we knew they had built a separate structure for our time together, we were expecting to meet in someone’s home on stilts. Since we typically take our shoes off whenever entering places of worship in the jungle, Fred warned us that we should leave our shoes at the top of the stairs rather than the bottom so that the wild boar don't run away with them =)

On another note of interest, I couldn’t believe my ears when we first arrived. Way off in the distance I heard this very familiar music and there under the tent stood a stack of speakers hooked up to an MP3 player blasting a Christian contemporary song titled “One Way Jesus”. I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear a ‘hit song’ playing miles and miles into this remote part of the jungle!

And I certainly was not expecting to see a hog show up at our service! Too fun. A huge hog ventured in from roaming the grounds. My guess is if it had come any closer to where we were sitting then chairs and people would be flying because that was one HUGE animal!

After the service and the meal, we got together to shake hands, take pictures and pray for one another. Since many of the tribe who attended had walked hours to get to the service, I was happy to see many of them pile into the back of a pickup as we prepared to leave. At least they would get a ride and wouldn’t have to walk the full journey contending with the likes of pigmy elephant, cobra and crocodile. I had a fairly romanticized image of the jungle (must be from my kidhood days of watching Disney's 'Jungle Book'), but after seeing it firsthand and hearing so many stories of attacks by these animals I have a healthy respect for this environment now.

This New Year’s Eve service was just one example of the eight churches we visited. Every other congregation was equally as warm and friendly. Almost everywhere we went we were welcomed by kids and adults waiting for our arrival. Here are some pictures of kids waiting for us the next day as we visited a church on a plantation. Other pictures are from the dedication service in Tungku.




In addition to giving of themselves personally, these Malaysian people also give of the little possessions they have. These incredibly poor people wanted to make sure we received the best of their hospitality. Pastor Fred mentioned how these people can barely provide for their own daily needs yet they don't think twice about giving to others. This act of love reminds me of the passage in 2 Corinthians when Paul writes about the brothers and sisters in Macedonia:

They have suffered a great deal. But their joy was more than full. Even though they were very poor, they gave very freely. I give witness that they gave as much as they could. In fact, they gave even more than they could. Completely on their own, they begged us for the chance to share in serving God’s people in that way. They did more than we expected. First they gave themselves to the Lord. Then they gave themselves to us in keeping with what God wanted. (2 Cor 8:2-5)

People in this remote area of the world are so thankful when fellow brothers and sisters in Christ come visit. According to Pastor Fred, showing up in person is THE best way we can contribute because it allows us to personally encourage our fellow believers in the Lord by literally standing beside them. It is something seemingly simple for us to do yet means so much to them.

December 11, 2007

Shrimp Anyone?

Our excursion to the shrimp farm was a little less life-threatening than the crocodile farm but equally as fascinating.


What struck me first was the incredibly beautiful location of the farm along the coast of Malaysia. Purpose of its location is to utilize the rise and fall of tides to fill and drain what I'll call 'shrimp ponds'. Quite ingenious, actually, using Mother Nature to do the grunt work!


The owner of this operation outside of Tawau literally perfected the waters and conditions so shrimp will grow in his ponds. It takes a total of 3 months for them to grow to maturity and, judging by the number of shrimp he pulled out of the water from tossing a 6 foot square fish net, he definitely produces enough to make a good living and ship worldwide.


This operation is gated and protected with guards because the locals know that one pail of shrimp from his ponds would provide them a daily wage. Here are a few shots of workers maintaining the ponds, the first showing the floodgate between a pond and canal that directs the water to and from the ocean.