Random things left out

So these are the most recent pictures from tonight!

Cameron, Me, and our new friend, Pak In (he is a security guard at the boys' apt)

Pak In got a new car so he was showing it off for us!

One more pic in front of the car!

So basically I just had some pictures that I never posted or forgot to post, so here they are. The next post will probably be after I get back from HONG KONG this weekend! yay!
Just in case you were wondering, I am aware of how gay I look in this picture. But, we were eating bibimbop (basically rice, meat, veggies, spicy red stuff all mixed together) so I thought I needed to show that I do actually eat some Korean food! haha.

This is when our friend Andrew Wong from DBU (Far right) came to Seoul with his family. We met them for dinner. It was yummy!

Us with Andrew's parents and sisters.

This is Erik, Cameron, and Anthony with their "man bags" or "murses" call them what you like. It's still a purse for men. EVERY guy wears them here. You rarely see a guy without a man bag. Anthony just bought his, so he's proud. Cameron's so proud, his eyes are closed.

Me and Max from the DBU reunion party!

Anthony made friends with one of the security guards in their apt building, so this is us eating samgyupsal (pork) with Pak In and his (now ex) girlfriend, Halla. We went to see Transformers after this dinner.

Before the movie we went and got these famous strawberry drinks. They were truly amazing. From the left it's Halla, Caroline, and Me.


Ok That's all for this update. I'm leaving for Hong Kong on July 4th (2 days away yay!) Instead of a song, I'm posting this link to a video that everyone should watch. So good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYKa9E1xzao

Wake Up!

So sorry for the sudden influx of entries... I just have a lot to share. Don't get too used to it.

So, this post is a devotional that I wrote as requested by my aunt for a mission trip devo book. Let me know what you think... I really enjoyed writing it. I think I want to try to do this more often :) I also rarely write serious things, so I thought you (my 3 faithful readers) might appreciate it.

Wake up!!!

As you go throughout your days, do you ever find yourself in a dazed stupor of endless routines, never-ending deadlines, or unfulfilling relationships? I think at some point, we have all found ourselves in circumstances in life we weren’t necessarily thrilled about. So many times I catch myself thinking, “I just have to get through today.” How do we let ourselves get to the point where our days become just about “getting through”?

In chapter 5 of Ephesians Paul speaks clearly and boldly about this issue. In verses 14-16 he writes, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall shine (make day dawn) upon you and give you light. Look carefully then how you walk! Live purposefully and worthily and accurately, not as the unwise and witless, but as wise (sensible, intelligent people), making the very most of the time [buying up each opportunity], because the days are evil. ” (Amplified Bible)

He is essentially saying, “Snap out of it! Don’t watch your life pass you by. Use the days God gives you wisely and purposefully! Pay attention and make the most of every moment you’re given!”

I am at a point in my life where I often hear myself saying, “just get through it.” I have found myself halfway across the world working at a job I don’t consider myself really good at. However, every day God is slowly revealing the reasons why I’m here if I can open my eyes wide enough to see.

I have a special needs student in one of my pre-K classes. The first couple days I met him were spent with him crying in a corner and running out of the room because he was terrified of me. When he finally began to be able to bear the sight of me, he still couldn’t seem to participate in my class the way the other kids could. While the other children drew pictures of airplanes, all he did was write hundreds of numbers all over his paper. As embarrassing as this is to admit, I had altogether given up on teaching this child, and I spent my class times focusing on the children who could learn “normally.” Last week, we were coloring a “shape house” that had very specific directions as to what color each shape was to be colored. My 4-year-old ESL students had a really hard time with this, so I was walking around the room responding to the sounds of “Teacher! Teacher!” As I approached the desk of my special needs student, my heart nearly stopped. There he was meticulously and ever so carefully coloring the shapes the exact colors I had specified. I was so ashamed and so quickly humbled looking at the gently colored red circles and blue squares. I had become so set in “just getting through” that I was missing so much! God was calling, “wake up, Ashley! Can’t you see I am at work here?”

Don’t let yourself go through life so dazed that you can’t pay attention to the details God is so carefully laying before your eyes! He has created each day purposefully and designed it specifically for you! How amazing is that to think about?

What vital details in life are you missing by just “getting through”? Ask God to give you clear eyes and an open mind and heart as you go throughout your day today. Ask Him to help you live your life purposefully, truly making the most of your time serving Him.

I'm fresh out of title ideas

Just in case you ever wanted to see the back of Cameron's throat. This is us after karaoke last weekend. Basically Anthony ruined every picture prior to this, so then we decided to take a funny picture, and this is what he did. Awesome, Tones.

So basically, we had a big DBU reunion at the boys apt last weekend. It was for all DBU alumni and present DBU students who live in Korea. There was about 25 people there, so it was a great turn out. Basically, everyone who's anyone was there (which is why Cameron was not). Haha. Seriously though, Cameron didn't come... but he had a decent excuse, he had band practice for church. I don't know if I mentioned it previously, but he is trying to get into the praise team at Suwon Central Baptist church playing Saxaphone.

Here are pics from the partay:

All of the shoes lined up in the enrty way. Very Asian.

Me and the Lee children, Lucas and Tobey. They were the hit of the party. Tobey is a kindergartener at CCA.

NaRae, Moses, Me, and Kate (she was my roomate for a summer)

All the Koreans ganging up on the white guy

Marty, Me and Marty's BFF (sorry I can't remember his name)

Me trying to pose like a Korean. Obviously Anthony liked it.

This is the part where Erik and I get locked out on the pation thingy. So that's what it feels like to live in a zoo.

Erik and I making the most of our time locked out :)

The group minus quite a few who had already left.

Anthony and the creepiest puppet ever that they have in their apt goodness knows why. Anthony likes to hide this in Cameron's room at night.

This is definitely a winning picture.

Talking to the fam on skype this weekend. Basically it was them describing the amazing food they were eating and how much fun they were having without me at the lake :)

This is the real treat. This is a video of Cameron singing in the choir at church on Sunday. He had to as a part of his trying out process to be in the praise band. It was awesome. He is on the far left halfway up in a brown/blue shirt. Please enjoy. :)

Song of the day: "Beautiful Lord" By: Leeland

When the storm is raging all around me
You are the peace that calms
My troubled sea
And the cares of this world
Darken my day
You are the light that shines
And shows me the way

Oh, the beauty of Your majesty
On the cross You showed Your love for me!

Beautiful Lord
Awesome and mighty
I’m captured by this love I see
Beautiful Lord
Tender and holy
Your mercy brings me to my knees
It’s Your mercy that has made me free
Beautiful Lord

"The Drawing Show" Field Trip

So these are pictures from our field trip on Friday... we went to this really amazing drawing show. It was basically just 3 artists drawing in different ways and they made a production out of it. So amazing. My new Korean lunch box :)

I made sandwich rolls... the top are PB&J and the bottom are ham and cheese. Usually student's parents pack kimbap (similar to a california roll)... which I don't like, so I packed my own lunch to share this time.

One of my kiddos

All the kids lined up waiting to go inside. These are their casual uniforms usually worn on PE days.

One of my special needs kids... he's so cute!

The artists at the show.

The last drawing they did. So amazing.

All the kids fell asleep on the bus ride home... they're precious!

And the VERY best thing... a fake traffic man. Why hire real humans when you can have a mannequin standing there? Way to go, Korea.

This is a video of some of my kiddos playing rock, paper, scissors (they play that ALL the time here). They're just so cute I couldn't resist.

Song of the post: "I Would Die For You"-Mercy Me

And I know that I can find You here
'Cause You promised me You'll always be there
Times like these, it's hard to see
But somehow I have a peace, You're near
And I pray that You will use my life
In whatever way Your name is glorified
Even if surrendering
Means leaving everything behind

Without.

Everything looks so different, but it still feels the same
I thought I let you go... I wanted to so much
But here you are standing in front of me in that shirt I bought you
How can my heart still be stuck in this place?
I wanted you to be nothing more than a memory
but I find myself wanting you in my future
If it wasn't for your smile and the way you make me feel
if it wasn't for your laugh and the way you get so passionate about some things
You said move on, but where do I go?
You have every piece of my heart
How can I guard something that I don't have?
You will always wait for something better. Something I don't have.

Ode to my 아빠 (dad)

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, DADDY!

My top 5 favs about my dad:

1. He always came home at night and left work at the office.

2. He's not afraid to try new things! How many dad's do you know that wakeboard??

3. He never missed a single dance recital, choir performance, voice recital, piano recital, or special event. This means a lot since he didn't have any boys! He always had to sit through these girly things :)

4. He loves his family like Christ loves the church.

5. He taught me to always persevere and to do everything 100% and to not be a quitter!

I love you Dad, and I miss you so much!

I will leave with this:

God took the strength of a mountian,

The majesty of a tree,

The warmth of a summer sun,

The calm of a quiet sea,

The generous soul of nature,

The comforting arm of night,

The wisdom of the ages,

The power of the eagles flight,

The joy of a morning in spring,

The faith of a mustard seed,

The patience of eternity,

The depth of a family need,

Then God combined these qualities,

When there was nothing more to add,

He knew his masterpiece was complete,

And so, He called it ... Dad

-Author Unknown

First I thought I'd start with a few of my favorite things about summer in Korea:
1. It's sandal season! But hey, don't worry, you don't have to give up your socks. It's perfectly acceptable to rock the socks with sandals.
2. Why wear a regular visor when you can buy one that bends at the top so you can cover your entire face with it. I'm serious. They have these. A lot of people wear them. They look like sun helmets.
3. Yes. Please put your garbage out in the morning after the trash collectors have already come. That way it can bake in the afternoon sun and smell up the entire street. Brilliant.
4. There's nothing I love more than extremely sweaty children hugging and rubbing all over me.

So this weekend, Anthony, Caroline and I went to Itaewon since none of us had ever been there. It is an extremely touristy place with more foreigners than I have seen since I've been here. It was strange being able to understand what the group walking next to you was saying. Weird. Here are some pictures from that adventure.


First of all, we went to the crocs store... and we finally found some shoes in Korea that would fit Cameron :)

This is a street in Itaewon.

I took this one just for you, Chelsea Calcatera :) I miss you, My Chelsea.

Anthony and I in front of a cool painted wall.

Shiny suit alert!

Where we had dinner (on the left)

The restaurant we ate at. My Thai China.

Inside of the restaurant. It was such a neat spot! Also, every waiter that worked there was EXTREMELY good looking. Anthony claims I was distracted all night... he said he could just see my eyes moving back and forth the whole dinner. Sorry Tones!

Me and Carolina. aka Caroline. I don't really know why I call her that. We made jokes all day because she's Korean, so it looked like she was Anthony and I's tour guide. Too bad no one knows she's really Canadian...

Our really yummy food!

And afterwords we went to the amazing waffle place. Caroline had never been there, so we took here. We mixed it up a little bit though... apparently they have chocolate waffles now. I don't like chocolate stuff like that, but that's what they ate. I got pot bing su, which has ice shavings, milk, ice cream, rice cake, fruit, cereal, and some other stuff in it. I really like it.... usually it comes with red bean crap in it too... I definitely said no thank you to that!

Now fast forward a couple of days to Thursday at school. We are in our "water" unit, so today we made little aquariums for the kids and gave them all a little fish to put in it. Fun times.

Jean with her fish and her aquarium.

Rae Won and Alice with there aquariums and fishies.


I thought I'd show you my awesome sticker chart. This is from one of my classes. Notice they don't have many stickers.... this is my "difficult" class. You might see some Xs over stickers. I'm sure you can guess why.

And lastly, this is another craft we made this week. This is Miss Ashley's example. I know, I'm so talented.

And lastly, I just really miss these girls and have been thinking about them a lot lately, and this is for them for old time's sake :) I think this is one of the first pictures we ever took together. LOVE YOU. (Oh, and thanks for letting me leave the house like this)

Ok that's all for this update. I hope everyone is well... 26 days until Amy comes!

And the song choice is Meredith Andrews' "You Invite Me In"

I’ve been searching
Wandering and hurting
Ashamed of the shape I’m in
Afraid you’ll see who I really am
But you invite me in
Doesn’t matter where I’ve been
Your arms are open wide
There’s nothing left to hide
How can this be
A love so unfailing
Reached down and lifted me
From ashes to beauty
And you invite me in
Doesn’t matter where I’ve been
Your arms are open wide
There’s nothing left to hide