North Korea Update

I'm sure some of you are wondering what's going on and what the impact is over here.

For those who don't know the recent news, yesterday North and South Korea got into a military skirmish. South Korea was doing military drills- firing West. North Korea claims they fired North (they didn't) so they started attacking with shells. 2 South Korean marines were killed, 15 soldiers, and 3 civilians were wounded. This took place on a small island off the west coast.

It is not believed that this will turn into a war or be a big deal. This isn't the first time that North Korea has done something like this. Some believe it is because of the U.S.'s push for 6-party talks on de-nuclearizing the North. Other analysts say it is because the current leader Kim Jong-Il is shifiting his power down to his son.

One thing is for sure- the situation is not as bad as the American media would have you believe. The Media does a great job of hyping people up and making things seem worse than they are.

North Korea knows it is not in their best interest to start a war. In fact, in the event that they did, they would quickly be destroyed. South Korea has so many other countries backing them up; it would quickly be over. Nobody wants to go to war.

We are fine. We are safe. Pray for peace between the 2 countries. Maybe even 1 day, North and South Korea will re-unite. That would be a miracle.

Picture Updates

One of the readers asked for more pictures so here they are.



One of my students doing his best to give a sad face. He was begging to watch a movie in class instead of having class.This is what happens when you leave your personal computer unattended in the classroom.

One of my student's brain projects for AP Psychology. This was the best one.

Poor poor puppy. I don't know if my aunt Cristy reads this but if you are reading, I feel the same way you do!

Rice Fields in August

September October

Taekwondo and PTC

In the last post, I mentioned the Pepero holiday. Here's one of my favorites from a student. I'm starting to save notes from students. I keep them on my desk and pull them out when I feel overwhelmed or ready to give up.


Two weeks ago we had our first parent-teacher conferences. It took place on a Saturday. Since we are a boarding school, many of the parents do not live close-by and have to travel some distance to get here. This was a very interesting experience. Sometimes there weren't enough translators to go around, so the unfortunate children that were with their parents had to translate about themselves. Some of them really did not want to. They found it embarrassing to repeat back to their mom or dad that they were a good student (if that was the case). I had a few students that I absolutely did not trust to translate to their parents exactly what I was saying, so I waited until one of the bilingual staff was available. Overall, it was a good day.


Unlike the U.S., people tend to dress more formally for everyday events. It is not uncommon to get on a bus or train on a Saturday and see men in suits, or women in business attire. Parent-teacher conferences obviously warranted some extra fancy attire. Here's Taylor, Cody, and Allan at the end of the day.

I (Ashley) am proud to say that I earned a yellow belt in Taekwondo tonight. I went from the beginner white belt to the second yellow. I don't really feel that I deserve this- seriously my form was terrible! But, I am happy nonetheless. Taekwondo is a lot of mental activity in addition to physical activity. I was not aware of this. It actually requires a lot of memorization. There are over 8 different forms to memorize. Luckily, the test for yellow belt only required the first two. I was so focused on getting all the moves in the form right that I did not focus on my actual form- my punches were weak and kind of sloppy.



Here's a nice action shot:


This is my attempt to upload a short video. I don't know why it is so small but maybe you can get a little glimpse of Taeguek-2. Yay for yellow belt.


Well, it looks like the video didn't work. :( Maybe some people will be able to watch it.


Happy Thanksgiving to all our friends and family. I was thinking this morning that Thanksgiving is either #1 or #2 on my favorite holidays list. It's pushing for #1 over Christmas because it is all about family, celebration, and thanksgiving. Lately with Christmas the emphasis has been too much on gifts. I am definitely missing my family this Thanksgiving.

Eat some turkey and homemade pumpkin pie for us!

Photo Holiday Cards from Shutterfly.

I hadn't given much thought to sending out Christmas cards this year. After all, we are halfway around the world and postage is not cheap. However, I just learned of an awesome promotion going on with Shutterfly. They are giving 50 free cards away to bloggers. And they'll even directly mail the cards for you!
Shutterfly has a wide range of designs and offers folded greeting cards, flat stationary cards and flat photo cards. There is no minimum purchase for the folded greeting cards. Flat photo cards can be purchased in sets of 12. There are lots of great designs this year, including Story Cards.

Last year we used Shutterfly to make photo books of our wedding for our parents and grandparents and we were so pleased with the results. It was an expensive way to make a very meaningful gift. This year, I'm excited to try out the photocards!

P.S. How cute is that little girl? There are so many great options for these cards, and I'm looking forward to trying to narrow down the choices. If you have a blog, you can qualify for 50 free cards too!

Let me know if you want to be on our Christmas card list. :)

Happy Veteran's Day/ 빼빼로 Day

Thank you to all the veteran's who have served our country. Also a big thanks to those who are currently serving our country. A special shout out to the men in my family who are currently serving- my 2nd cousin Brandon, who just left for Afghanistan and his wife Morgan. Also my cousin-in-law Chris and my cousin Jennifer in Guam. And to our friends Chris and Lacey Stevens serving in the Navy. I cannot even imagine being a wife of someone in the military or having that lifestyle. We are so grateful for your sacrifice. I read the following quote on somebody's facebook status today and wanted to repost it.

"A Veteran is someone who at one point in their life wrote a blank check payable to the United States of America for an amount up to, and including, his or her life.That is beyond honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer remember that fact."

Korea celebrates an entirely different holiday on November 11. Pepero Day. Pepero is a type of snack/candy. It's basically a biscuit-like stick dipped in chocolate, covered with chocolate and nuts, or filled with chocolate. You might be familiar with the Japanese version called Pockey.

Now, America has its fair share of commercialized holidays, but they all seem to be in commemeration of some special date or event, right? Pepero Day is basically a holiday celebrating candy- similar to Valentine's Day but much more commercialized if you can believe that. It is rumored to have started in Korea by a bunch of school girls in 1994. There is no historical or religious significance to this day. Even more impressive (that may not be the right choice of words here) is that Pepero is manufactured by one company- Lotte. Lotte is like the Walmart of America but even worse. Pepero Day is therefore a monopolized holiday. In fact, Lotte does about 55% of their Pepero business in November. There is some speculation as to whether or not Lotte started this holiday to increase their sales or just started marketing after they heard of the Pepero trend. Regardless, their marketing scheme has been quite effective. We participated.

We were told that you give a 빼빼로 stick to people that you really like- your close friends, family, favorite teacher, etc. So we decided that we would buy a bunch of 빼빼로 and give it out to all of our students. They were very appreciative. We even got a few back from them.

One crucial factor that allows people to accept Pepero Day as a holiday and not a fraud is the day it falls on. It's not just celebrated on any random day. If it were, it wouldn't be a holiday. It has to be celebrated on November 11. Why, you may ask? Think of the numerical writing: 11 11. Looks like a bunch of 빼빼로 sticks lined up. This simple numerical representation has lead to a genius marketing campaign by Lotte.

Here's the 빼빼로 that my husband gave me. I love the cute little package. This is quite possibly one of my weirdest smiles.

Just imagine what next year will be like: 11.11.11