Quick Overview:

Well, we're finally back on the blog again!!! We've been waiting for the internet to get set up at our house since blogging is blocked at the school. We've still been able to email from the school, and have enjoyed receiving emails from several of you. It's been about 2 weeks now since our last entry, but I've been keeping a "diary" of sorts, so I'll copy that over now...


Saturday, March 22nd (con't):

Well, the house was ready for us when they picked us up at 10:30am, but it took a lot longer to transport all the luggage from the apartment back over to the house and begin to settle in. The flooring and walls had all been re-done, so except for the kitchen and bathroom, it was pretty clean. Several teachers from the school helped us move in. The house is very small...it feels kinda like playing house!! There are 2 bedrooms, 1 very small bathroom with a toilet, sink, nozzle, & drain. You stand in front of the toilet to shower. The whole thing is tiled. Then, we have a small kitchen and living room. The living room doubles as a dining room since there is no room to eat in kitchen. They took us out to eat at Lotte's for lunch, which looked suspiciously like McDonalds! The children got what would equate a $1 chicken sandwich, John got one similiar to a double cheeseburger, and I got something that's not on the American menu...a vegetable hamburger! Basically a hamburger with lots of veges on it, including a slice of yellow pepper! It was very good. Then they must have gotten the meal-deal because we all got fries and some kind of dark soda. The soda was not as sweet as in the US, neither were the fries as greasy. That was great! After lunch our "furniture" came...2 large wardrobes, one twin bed for the children to share, one 3-drawer dresser w/mirror, and 2 bookcases. No bed for John and I. :( We were told that our bed would come on Monday. Okay........I guess we can wait that long...the floor is heated, after all! A teacher from school dropped by and invited us to her church for Easter. Told us to be ready at 10:50am to be picked up. Then, before leaving, one of the teachers stayed to show us how to make rice in the rice cooker and how to cook up bulgogi (beef dish) for supper. We had kimshi from shopping already, so we were set for our first meal in our "new" old house! Oh, yes, we are also set for dishes, chopsticks, bowls, tupperware because a teacher at the school supplied us with those! Now to attempt to teach the kids how to eat with those chopsticks!!!!!...........


Sunday, March 23rd (Easter):

We were picked up promply at 10:50 for 11am Easter service. Which was all in Korean, so we understood very little. They had an Easter Program which we could tell they were singing through Christ's death and ressurection. Many of the songs we recognized, including "Up From the Grave He Arose." It brought tears to my eyes just to hear the familiar songs being sung. It is amazing how worship around the world can unite simply in song. After the sermon, we were invited to stay for lunch downstairs in the church. Everyone goes through cafeteria style and then sits on the floor around tables that are approximately 2.5 feet x 3.5 feet rectangular and about 10 inches high. 6 adults fit around comfortably. We found ourselves squirming to get comfortable throughout the meal. We noticed that no one else had that problem! Our behinds are spoiled by the cushioned chairs in America!!!! Everyone was given 2 decorated "Easter eggs."...brown eggs (we've not seen white eggs here) with one of those plastic decorations shrunk around the middle. Everyone was very friendly. The children are nice...noticeably respectful. Not many spoke English. One girl was our "translator". They want us to come again next Sunday for Sunday School at 9:00am. We are going to see if there is an English speaking church nearby...if not, it will be good fellowship just to be around the people here. We crashed when we got home. Then we got up, made our first Korean supper ourselves and took a picture to blog later. John and I had issues getting comfortable again on the hard floor through supper...and then I just couldn't help myself afterwards when I hear this loud grunt emanating from the region of James...and I laughed uncontrollably when he sheepishly admitted that he was a little stiff getting up from the table!! I guess it'll be an adjustment for all of us! :)

Monday, March 24th:


John left for school at 9am. The children and I slept in and then met him there for lunch and to email. His classes are going well. (I will have to have him write personally about it.) The kids love him! In the hallways, they are always calling out "hi! hel-lo!" As for the size of the school, it is large. There are about 650 kids. There are 2 buildings with walkways between. John's English room is on the third floor...no elevators! We are hoping to get our internet soon so that we can use the webcam. John finishes school at 5pm M,T,Th,F. Wednesday is early dismissal at 2pm. I was "asked" if I would also teach some extracurricular classes at school before/after hours. Sure, why not??? I've found that there's not much else to do since housekeeping sure won't take long!!! I think it will be fun, too. For the most part of what we've seen, the children are obedient to teachers, cheerful, and respectful. Not to say they're not children! They certainly have a lot of energy!! We've also decided to let the kids go to school here...since both John and I will be here anyway. I plan to still do some homeschooling with the kids to keep them up on the English and such. After lunch, the school "bell" rang and James wanted to know what it was and what it meant. You see, it didn't sound like any school bell that he'd ever heard!! "It sounds like church bells," he said. And so it did. It's rather nice! ....Well, great disappointment!!! Our bed did not come today. :( It will come "tomorrow." We had supper again of rice, bulgogi, and kimshi. You wrap all of those three into lettuce leaves or kim (seaweed) and then enjoy! The kimshi is spicy hot, but good!! All of us like it, especially Jesse! It is served at every meal and is very good for digestion. (Kind of like America's condiments were originally meant to be!) At this point, I am still feeling like my head is in the sand from jet-lag. I am very tired during the day and then have a hard time sleeping at night. Jesse is getting over his cold, and Joy is picking one back up. :( James seems to be doing well, and John is doing great!

Tuesday, March 25th:

We are nowhere near a "schedule" yet. The closest is that John is at school from 9-5. However, even then, he is bopping in/out of the house for short periods during breaks or to get/do something. I have been getting to school by 11am to email while the kids play with the other children on the playground. Then, we have lunch together at 12:30. It's really nice knowing that lunches are covered from M-F!!! Really cuts down on the grocery bill, for all of you who are familiar with our kid's appetites!! (However, some of you would not have recognized them for a few days there while they were jet-lagged, because they did not finish their plates, ask for seconds, or anything!!! It was an amazing thing to see! They have resumed their normal appetites now and James even goes up to the cafeteria counter for seconds(that is allowed, thank goodness!!). Guess what?!? Our beds will come tomorrow, now!! Oh, well...at this point, a hard bed does not sound nearly so bad now! Today was a hard day for me physically. I felt like I had to drag myself everywhere I went. Joy is still struggling with a croupy cough. We mostly stayed home today except for emailing and lunch. The boys went out and played while Joy and I went through all their clothes and got things "put away" the best we could. Their suitcases are their "dressers."

Wednesday, March 26th:

Ahhhhhhh!!! Today is such a better day!! I am finally feeling like I'm pulling out of this jet-lag and just might live!! Joy's cough is improving, and the sky is (not) blue!!!!!!!!!!!! But our spirits are much better!! Even if we did not get our beds... I took my first shower and cleaned the whole bathroom while I was at it. Ahh! A clean bathroom feels so much nicer! Today was early dismissal at 2pm. All the teachers met in the gym at 2:30 to play volleyball. We've found that they LOVE volleyball here!! The female teachers all play for an hour. Then they break for a snack (Chinese food today!) and resume with all the teachers playing. The men are much more into the spiking stuff. We had a good time watching them play. They pulled John into it. He did fairly well. The rules are similiar with a few twists...you can use your foot (to kick it out of a spike) and there does not seem to be a "3-hit" limit before getting passed back over the net. When we broke for Chinese food, they were very interested if we ate Chinese in the US and which one tasted better. My answer...the "Korean" Chinese, of course!!!!!! Again, the sweet & sour was not nearly as sweet as in the US. The kids were told that they need to learn to eat with chopsticks instead of their fingers! We told them that at home tonight they will only get chopsticks. They did better than we anticipated, though it was fun to watch them eat slowly for once! Here is a funny note(at least, we thought so!): Kendra had a hard day on Tuesday (just like we had) and so she emailed to ask what Wednesday "would be like." :) We emailed back that Wednesday was much better than Tuesday for us, so she should look forward to Wednesday!!! As it turned out, Wednesday
did go better for her! The whole thing seemed a little bit like "time-traveling!" After supper, we listened to a sermon on CD before going to bed. Then, a disappointment...my clean bathroom did not stay clean very long. The caulking around the toilet is coming up and so it leaks when the toilet flushes, keeping the floor wet. Well...there's a reason why they had us buy plastic flip-flops to wear into the bathroom. And we use them!!!!

Thursday, March 27th:

Today...we did not get our beds...or our internet. God has his ways to make us thankful for the little things! For lunch today at school, we got our initiation into what looked like octopus soup. They say it is Korean squid, but it certainly looked and felt like octopi legs with the suction cups!! Needless to say, we did not "clean up our plates" with that one! James wouldn't even eat it! Joy tried a couple pieces and reported that it was "very chewy and not good." Unfortunately, neither John nor I could get past the visual in order to enjoy the delicacy! After lunch we were taken on a tour of a very small island school that is a branch of the bigger school here. It is about a 20 minute drive, and you have to go at certain times to get across when the tide is out. You cross over on a very narrow (one-car-wide) concrete road. On our way back, the vice-principal (who took us) started on it, only to stop and have to back up to let an on-coming truck through. All 5 of us went on the tour, and once we got there, they asked for an impromptu first English lesson! So, John gave it to them...numbers, colors, objects, names, greeting dialogue. There was a piano in the room, and they asked me to play. I agreed, but then was unable since the piano was in need of a tune-up and did not work. :( Afterwards, we were taken for a tour around the island. It was interesting because the vice-principal knows very little English.. However he is very energetic and friendly and I love how he says "O-Kay!!" He showed us the fishing boats & sites and where they catch the sea salt. He took us out to where the inlet(correct word?) goes to meet the Yellow Sea (toward China). Once we got back, John finished out school til 5:00 and then we went walking down the "main street" of town along the many little shops. We did a little shopping at a small grocery, but it was very expensive! $3.00 for 3 apples and $3.00 for 6 oranges! But we were sooooo hungry for fruit! We decided that we will ask where a larger...and cheaper!...grocery is located. The weather has been cooler, overcast, and a little rainy. Typical spring weather, I'd guess.

Friday, March 28th:

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!! Our beds arrived!!!!! They came after school, and I'm telling today out of order, but THIS was the most important!!! They gave us a queen size, and we brought along queensize sheetsets, so it's a perfect fit! They also gave us a second twin bed, just for Joy! So now, even though they all share a bedroom, Joy has a separate bed. She's tickled pink about it, and says that A. Kendra can now sleep with her when she comes to visit! Ready for that, A. Kendra?!? So...today, I got all the rest of the house unpacked (mainly all kitchen stuffs) and put "away" the best I can. There is not much for cupboards or cabinets. I am using boxes as shelves. One box worked perfectly to put upright on the small sill above the sink to put spices and cooking oil on. Now, my little house is all set up! I felt kind of like a kid again, playing house! I can keep the sweeper plugged into one outlet and sweep the entire house...and it's not a very long cord! The only thing I could long for now is a chair. But the beds make nice sitting spots above the floor anyway! Our phone also got hooked up today. It was exciting and yet occurred at a very inopportune time! Kendra had just emailed that she was online and I had just answered excitedly, "Here I am!!! I'm here!! Talk to me!!!!," when I got called away to unlock the house for the phone serviceman. Then I had a great thought!! I'll call Kendra as soon as the phone's hooked up! Which didn't take long! (Contact Kendra or email us if you'd like our phone number.) Eagerly, I found my calling cards I'd brought with me and began to place the call. What a disappointment when I discovered that the calling cards only call from the US out! So, I raced back to the school to email Kendra only to find that she had already had to leave. :( I was very sad and was quite a bit homesick because we'd thought we would have the webcam much sooner than this and be able to talk to each other, but now, her internet is not working, and it looks like it will be up to another week before ours is hooked up. Well, praise the Lord anyhow that we at least have some communication with email! We also got 2 loads of gravel dumped in our "front yard" since it's all red clay and gets really messy when wet. A couple teachers came over from the school to level it out with shovels. It was hard work! Now, I just need to scrub off our entry way and patio. I went to the music room at school and played the piano there for about an hour. I didn't realize John had told the kids I was going to come over and play, so when I arrived I had quite the audience waiting for me! The children would also come bopping in while on their recess. They recognized and sang with me "Jesus Loves Me." Mid afternoon John did not have any classes, so his teaching assistant took us to a larger grocery here in Daesan where prices are more reasonable. We didn't take our grocery list, so unfortunately didn't get everything we needed. Meat is still very expensive here in Daesan, and so she advised us to buy that in Soesan. One problem...we just have to figure out the bus schedules and such in order to get there! It's a problem not being able to understand any of the written language. There's no way we'd be able to drive safely!!

Saturday, March 29th:

We slept in until 10am. Then had a late breakfast. We had no more than finished and was discussing what to do today when a big banging on the door accompanied by lots of laughing and giggling ensued. It was a group of 4 girls who had just finished up with some sort of Saturday study at school. They brought snacks and invited themselves in. We had a good time dialoging with them. They were ages 11-12..."English names" June, Cony, Kana, and Sally. The English teacher gives the children their "English" names. Some of them come up to John in school for a name. June is very outgoing and the leader of her group. They wanted to go play soccer, so John & the boys went to the school playground with them for awhile. I stayed with Joy and she got the first Bowen therapy treatment here to address her congestion and breathing. I was glad when it helped. She seems to be on the mend. Thank goodness children get over things quickly!! When the girls came back, they proceeded to "serve" the snacks they brought. Then, about an hour later, they said their good-byes..."sorry" that they "had to go home." :) We took a backpack and hiked to the large grocery again for a few items we had missed on Friday when we went. It's a good 20 minute walk and hilly. John found some pants that were on sale and fit! That was exciting! Once home again, we made supper...sticky rice, chicken, and kimshi with lettuce and kim. We had some fruit and fresh bread from the bakery for desert. Then, the kids experienced their first showers here...lots of laughter as they learned how to do things the first time!

Sunday, March 30th:

We were picked up for church again at 8:50am. Sunday School was basically the same as things they do in the US...sang for awhile (recognized some songs), teacher told a Bible story with pictures from a computer on a screen, then broke up into age groups for coloring/paperwork. Finished with a little snack and drink. S.S was mostly all kids plus the teachers. Then, later, the adults come for church services. The service is an hour long. We decided that we need to take along our Hymns of Zion songbook we brought because a lot of the songs they sing are out of there. Then we can sing along better. We found it's hard to sing English while hearing Korean! Again, they had lunch after the service. We found that there is an English-speaking church in Soesan, but we have to figure out transportation and times. At church we met some people who we may be able to get together with more. One would like to learn more English, and I told her I'd like to learn Korean. She is our "translator" at church. Her husband works at a gas station in town. They are a very nice couple. After church we had some fun "family time" with the few games we brought ("Phase 10" and Battleship) and teaching Jesse and Joy my all-time favorite brain-worker...SuDoku! Wow! Joy picked up on it quickly, and Jesse really surprised me! The night ended in an all-n-out tickle fight. I think everyone was exhausted by the time we hit the beds! (My time clock is finally improving and letting me go to sleep earlier than 2am!)


Monday, March 31st:

First day of school for the Kinsinger Clan!!! John escorted James to his class...he's back in the 1st grade! Yes...even though he's one year older here, he dropped "back" in school. Two reasons...1) he technically would be in 2nd here (finishing up 3rd in US) but he needs to learn the Korean before going ahead, and 2) children do not start 1st grade until they are 8 years old. They can start Kindergarten anytime between 5-7. If they start early, they simply stay in Kindergarten until they are 8, then move up to 1st grade. The 5 & 6 year olds go to Pre-K, or "K-1" and then the 7 year olds are in Kindergarten or "K-2." Since Jesse and Joy are "7" here, they are in the "K-2" class. I went with them today and became a teacher's assistant! I cut squares for them to make an April calendar each. That took the morning. After lunch, I went to email. Jesse's & Joy's report is that they sang some songs and cut paper and glued. James had computer class this afternoon. This morning, he learned some Korean words and has some homework to practice writing it. At 3:20, school let out and the teachers had a meeting. John had no further classes but must stay in his classroom (time for preparing classes, busywork, etc.) until 5:00. So we went up to visit him. We figured out how to time-cook the rice cooker, so we had rice this morning for breakfast, and we also had it ready for us when we got back home at 5:30 for supper tonight.

Tuesday, April 1st:

Today John took the children to school with him while I slept in. I could not believe how exhausted I was after having our 1st full day yesterday! After getting some extra sleep and showering, I felt more refreshed. I met John over at the cafeteria for lunch and then the kids and I went back home. After yesterday, I didn't know if they were up to another full day and decided to make it a half day today. I guessed wrong apparently as Jesse kept asking why he had to leave school! (He wants everyone to know that he loves school!) So we'll try a full day again tomorrow. The school office is still working on getting the serviceman out to work on our internet, so hopefully it will not be too much longer... As soon as it's working, I will post this diary I've been keeping. I still do not have details on my "teaching" yet. I did find out that I do not start until April 15th. Tonight, some people from the church we have gone to the past 2 Sundays came over at 5:00 for a visit and to take us out to eat. It was our first time to formally "entertain," and we were not quite sure the proper way to go about it. It seemed right to offer and serve coffee & tea...which we did. They proceeded to burn their fingers on the new stainless steel cups we had bought just for company! The cups had no handles and we didn't think about them getting so hot! We will have to go get paper cups for the next time! They brought presents with them...toilet paper, snacks, and a beautifully decorated cake loaded with fruit on the top. We are going to celebrate Joy's birthday early with it since it came with candles and matches. We visited for about 45 minutes. First they offered John a teaching position next year at their new church school they are currently building. Second, they asked Wanda to teach some English classes out of school hours for 2 hrs. M, T, Th, F. Third, they requested for John to have a service in English on Sunday afternoons following the morning Korean service and lunch. (We're not sure yet if they mean Sunday School, Bible study, or sermon-type.) We said 1.) We'll think on it. 2.) Yes, if we can work something out with the schedules, and 3.) Yes, but who is going to understand the English??? They assured us that the high-school ages will understand quite a bit, and that a lot of the others want to learn. We are finding that
many here wants to learn English! ((They are starting after-school English classes at the public school (that's what I will be teaching) since I agreed to teach some. It's sounding like it will be about 2 hours sometime between 2-5 on M, T, Th, & F, starting on April 14th.)) So, after visiting, we got to choose what we wanted to eat. Our answer? "Bulgogi!" So they took us into Seo-san to a restaurant that is owned by a parishioner of the church. It was delicious! There were a new dish that we had not yet been served until now...raw liver. John was the brave one to try it. But after seeing his face, I put some pieces on the grill in the middle of the table and cooked mine first! Overall, though, we really love the food here! The coffee is awesome...they serve you a paper cup filled half full after a meal...it is sufficient. There is no super-size here. We got home about 8pm. We had successfully bought a calling card back to the US earlier today since our internet & webcam are still on "backorder." So, we called Kendra and really surprised her! We talked for an hour and she was late for work! We had sooooo much more to talk about that we made an "appointment" to call her again tomorrow night/her morning.

Wednesday, April 2nd:

Things are starting to take on a form of "normal." John and the kids went to school at 8:30. I cleaned up and swept house, then met them for lunch at school. Today was the most "American" lunch we've had so far...chicken & rice soup, sweet potatoes, kimchi, and a slice of rice cake with peanuts in it. Lunches always consist of sticky rice, soup(usually fish), and kimchi. Then there's also a meat dish of pork, beef, or fish. The meals have been (for the most part) very good and filling. Since today is Wednesday, it is early dismissal and all the teachers exercise with volleyball. Afterwards there is a snack. But today, the principal of the school provided a wonderful supper (at least, I'm sure that is what the Koreans would think!) We Americans cringed a little at the eensy, weensy, tiny stringy fish atop a beautiful plate of lettuce and vegetables. It actually looked like light-grayish spaghetti with poppy seeds at first and I probably would have eaten it except that they told me it was fish first. It's too bad what our minds do to food!! Also for the Koreans enjoyment were boiled squid legs (with suction cups), squid heads, clams, oysters, and perhaps some other things. Unfortunately, I am not well versed in sea-food. After we got home, we called Kendra again, and talked for another hour. Ohh, how nice it was to hear her voice!!! We also decided to check how much rates are for calling
from the US to Korea.

Thursday, April 3rd:

Today, we began to feel the results of our meal last night...we all got sick. We think it is because they rinsed the food in the tap water there at school, and we have been very careful to wash everything we eat raw in bottled water. Anyway, John was sent home from school this afternoon and the kids were sick tonight. I slipped back into my PTA mode and performed therapy on John and the kids tonight. They all got Bowens! And the report was that it really helped! Thankfully!

Friday, April 4th:

The kids did not go to school today. They do seem to be doing better now, and John is back at school. A girl from church, Ae-Ran, came over for about an hour to "swap languages." She wants to brush up on her English and I want to learn Korean. She spent a year in New Zealand...her uncle is a pastor there. She is newly married...7 months. Her husband owns a gas station here in town and works long hours. She teaches 100 piano students M-F from 12-5pm!! Twenty students per hour...ten at 10 pianos, and 10 learning theory for 30 minutes...then swap for the next 30 minutes. Then repeat 4 times! Wow! That's a lot of students! Her husband, Kyung Hee, generally works from 6am-10pm, so that's why her mornings are free. The gas stations here are full-service. As Ae-Ran and I dialogued in English, we "toured" our house. She saw a note on the fridge for the "big mart" in Seosan and offered to take us there tonight so we would not have to take a bus. We took naps this afternoon since they picked us up at 8pm. We did not get back home til 11pm, but got a lot accomplished off our list! The Lord has been so good meeting our needs through the people here.

Saturday, April 5th:

We slept in after getting to bed so late. Then John gave me a much needed Bowen!! Ohhh, I felt so much better afterwards!! We then went on a long walk, touring more of the town and taking side streets to see where they lead. Then, we went to bed early for church tomorrow.

Sunday, April 6th:

Sunday school at 9am, church at 11am. The overhead powerpoint had English added in paretheses where before there was only Korean. This way we could follow along somewhat on knowing when to pray, when to sing, and where to read in the Bible. We still could make nothing out of the sermon yet, but I was excited to be able to follow along and pronouce some syllables in the songs today. After church and lunch, we were dropped off at home to change to go mountain hiking with Kyung Hee & Ae-Ran. The kids were especially excited since they've been drooling over the mountains and asking when we'd climb them ever since we arrived. We went to Pal Bong San...8 Point Mountain. We climbed to the first peak...or rather the 8th one...the shortest one, that is!! As it was, it took over an hour to get up there, and it was steeper than the climbing we've done on Mt Hood in OR and Mt St Helens in WA. Just looking at the 2nd peak up was nauseating! We could see a vertical ladder of at least 100 steps to get from one plateau of hiking to another. And there were several more ladders and steps beyond that. With 3 kids...no thanks!!! Joy was slipping and sliding enough as it was! We took pictures and will post them. Just from that first peak, we could see all the way to the Yellow Sea! Also, all around Seosan. It was beautiful! After hiking back down, we ate a snack there and came on home. It's about a 20-30 min drive from our house. Next on our list is to go to the Yellow Sea.

Monday April 7th:

John taught English in Jesse & Joy's class today. There were 31 little kindergarteners (ages 5-7). It went well. Jesse & Joy came back laughing as they reported how the kids would copy-cat John when he would say, "Hmmm...", "Okay....", or "Ummmm..."! Ae-Ran came over again today. I have a pretty good start on my numbers and letters now. I can now recogize their letters and sound most of it out. (although I do not know most of what I am saying yet!) When we walk around town now, I practice reading signs. I feel a little like a 5 year old when learning English! This morning, our toilet quit flushing for good! It has been giving us fits since last Wednesday, but finally has refused to flush any longer. I think it's backed up from way down there. We have alerted the school, so hopefully it will be resolved quite soon! We also got our webcam today!!! We called up Kendra and really surprised her...again! However...we soon figured out that we could hear her, but she could not see or hear us. She could not figure out how to turn on her camera, and upon further inspection, John found out that he accidentally ordered us only a camera, not a webcam! So...we have reordered and this time it
is a webcam! However, we still "talked" to Kendra for awhile! We just had her talk and then typed right back. Jesse and Joy got a kick out of it when they came into John's classroom after dismissal. (Yes, it was 2pm our time, midnight Kendra's time!!) They had a hard time remembering that Kendra could not hear them! Then, I had to leave to meet the internet-man at our house to get it hooked up. After I left, Kendra & John figured out how to turn on her camera, but I missed that! The internet-man was here for awhile then stated that he could not finish it today. :( He will return tomorrow afternoon. Tonight we had a "French" meal...all Korean food, but spent the whole evening at the table discussing a topic from the Bible: the seven things God especially hates...a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that are swift to run to mischief, a false witness who speaks lies, and those who sow discord among the brethren. Since they did not understand what a witness was, we role-played and had one be a true witness and one be a false witness. Then, we played "Telephone" to demonstrate gossip as an example of sowing discord among the brethren. It was interesting how they thought that if they just tried harder, they could pass along the information correctly. It didn't work! Then they understood how if you're even saying good things and it gets messed up, how harmful it can be when something bad gets worse.

Tuesday, April 8th:

Kendra was scheduled to call me at 6am. (We found that phone cards from the US to Korea are only 1.5 cents/minute!! So Kendra got a $20 phone card and has 22 hours to talk!!!) But unfortunately, she was unable to dial in. We did not understand all the international codes and such. Finally, around 9:30, she was successful!! After while, John called her on Skype from school inbetween classes. So she was talking to me over the phone while talking/typing to John over the internet. Then, my Mom called up Kendra on her cell phone...so Kendra had a phone at each ear and talking/typing on the computer!! Cyrena was downstairs sewing, so Kendra called her to come up for a minute...at that point Kendra was holding 4 conversations! It was too much to realize what is available with technology these days!! A funny thing, too, was that if Kendra held the phone up to the webcam, then John could hear Mom (and I), too! Then, the cell phone cut out and Kendra called Mom back 3-way. From there, it was starting to get later her time and she had some things to do around the house. So, she just set the phone down and Mom and I were able to continue talking. It sounded as if I were right there in the US. Then, Bob and Renae also took turns on the phone. It was quite the deal!! And to think...all that communication between landlines, cell phones, and computers for 3 hours for only about $3.00! Amazing! After I got off, I headed over to school but was late and missed lunch. Jesse and Joy got out early today so we went home and cut up pineapple. Then, the internet-man came again and "Voila!"...we are now up and running! So I emailed John to see if someone was going to come fix the toilet. Within 30 min., a teacher came over and tried to plunge it, but to no avail. He left, making motions to NOT use it...go to the school if necessary! Approx 30 min more, and a "Roto-rooter" type-van pulls up and the guy tears the toilet off and uses something that looks like an air compresser to clean the line. It worked! Afterwards, he put the toilet back on and with gestures and few words indicated that the he was going to the school for cilicone to caulk the toilet back up. Quite a while passed, and he did not return. The bathroom was a mess and stunk! Finally, we figured that I had misunderstood him and that he must have gone to the school to tell them that they need to caulk the toilet back up!! Anyway, that left the bathroom cleaning to "Moi"...Me!!! And what a messy job that was! Then, before I could start supper, Ae-Ran called and said her mother-in-law was inviting us to supper tonight. (at the gas station so Kyung Hee could join us.) There is a kitchen in the back at the station where she cooked the meal. It was very good! The pastor and a few others from church also joined us for the meal. After supper they left and we visited and had a good time. Ae-Ran searched the internet and found some storage shelves for us. She's going to order them for us and we'll pay her back. It's free shipping and should come within 3 days. After we got home, we got on the internet here at home for the first time and "talked" to Matt Gerber in Mexico. Again, we could hear him, but we had to type back. It was still really nice...probably nicer for us than for him! but we can't wait til we get our webcam and can hold a real conversation and see everyone else!

So now since we have the internet, I am (FINALLY!) updating this blog! I hope you have enjoyed it and do not get too bored by the details. We're just so excited and everything is so new and different here. As it is, I usually go through and edit or it would be 3 times longer than it already is! For those of you who have emailed and not gotten answers for a week...we will now be able to be more timely with our replies!! For anyone interested in a phone card...the web address is www.callingcards.com ...make sure it is plural to get the correct site. The smallest denomination is $10.00, I believe, which gives you about 660 min.(11 hrs) We are going to try to download some pictures as well. If we don't figure it out, we will see if Ae-Ran can help us tomorrow.

Enjoyed sharing with you!
Wanda