Jonah and Sara (Readjustment)

Exploring the Delta (Pics)

2011-07-10T17:14:00.000-04:00

Andrew and I toured around the Delta on Saturday. We had a lot of fun and saw some interesting things.

Click below if you would like to view the pictures from it:
Exploring the Delta

Nawlins

2011-07-10T16:09:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, three weeks into my Mississippi stint, Sara was able to come down and visit me. She flew into Jackson, Mississippi, and it was absolutely wonderful to be reunited with her. It was Fourth of July Weekend, and we had a nice extended weekend together.

We quickly realized, though, that there is absolutely nothing to do (well almost nothing anyways) in Jackson, so we decided to spend our time in New Orleans. It was a three-hour trip down to New Orleans, but we were both so glad we decided to do that. New Orleans was way fun.

I had little understanding for how huge the French Quarter is. There are just blocks and blocks of shops and restaurants. We spent most of our time in this area, walking around and enjoying the culture.

We headed first to Jackson Square to see the cathedral there. It was pretty beautiful. I didn't like all of the flags hanging up, though.

Then we headed to Cafe du Monde to get the much talked about beignets. Beignets are essentially funnel capes folded up really tightly. They are oh so delicious, though!

Of course, my wife looked absolutely adorable the whole time...

One of my favorite things about New Orleans was the constant musical goodness. Whether in a jazz club or on a street corner, great music was heard the entire weekend.

The duet below mesmerized us on two separate occasions. They were incredible.

Good music consumed the weekend, but so did wonderful eating. New Orleans seriously has some of the best food ever.

We had po' boys, red beans and rice, beignets, calzones (these were incredible), and much more delicious fare. Here's Sara eating a catfish po' boy (yes, I said catfish).

I was pretty skeptical about Angelli. It was grungy, like most of the rest of New Orleans, but it was recommended by a friend. I am so glad we stuck to her recommendations. I got a meatball and pepperoni calzone, and it was the most delicious calzone I have ever eaten. Phenomenal!

The river provided the perfect setting for a peaceful walk together at the end of the day.

Here's another shot of the cathedral.

Again, could my wife be any cuter?

It was a wonderful time, and I would highly recommend New Orleans to visit. Lots of fun!

Jack and Jill

2011-06-13T23:15:00.000-04:00

My mind wandered a little on my hour long bus ride this morning.....

Woke up this morning to a long line to get my meal
Ugh and frustration was what I feel
But it's okay because fixing this achievement gap is the real deal
You see, like Neo, I took the red pill
to open my eyes to all of society's ills
Too many students students stuck on the hill
like Jack and Jill
trying to fetch that pail of education
Which leads to liberation
And their liberation is worth a bit of my ughs and frustration
Cuz one day
yes One Day
Every child in our nation
will get a quality education

Faith, Hype, and That Blasted Bible Belt

2011-06-13T23:02:00.000-04:00

Tonight I sat in an auditorium with 1000 other people who were completely fired up about making a difference in the world. They were not just fired up, though. No, they have all chosen to work toward eradicating the absurdly unfair and unjust achievement gap.

Before the opening ceremonies for Teach For America's Summer Institute started, there was hype all over the auditorium. Chants erupted from all of the regions represented. The Delta Region had the largest number of attendees, and this was very clear from their booming chants that were paired with synchronized dance moves.

Now, I have to say that I have been a part of many many many auditoriums with hyped up attendees like this. I have experienced thousands of people chanting and getting excited together. But all of those experiences were some part of a Christian convention of some sorts, and this experience tonight did not have that in common.

As I sat tonight reflecting on all of these experiences, I had to admit that the hype tonight was certainly the most exciting that I have ever experienced. This was sincere hype about making the world a better place.

Don't get me wrong... I am not opposed to people getting hyped up for God.

But it just seems that the hype often stays just that. What good is hype for God to a world that is hungry and poor?

As I was thinking about all of this, one of the speakers was talking about his experience with education reform in Mississippi. I was blown away by what happened next.

The speaker said, "Now I have to tell you that working towards reform in the buckle of the Bible belt is not an easy task."
The crowd, including everybody around me, erupted in cheers. The cheers were an ironic "amen" to what the speaker was saying. A huge majority of the crowd was expressing its frustrations with Christians and the Church and their inability, and even hinderance, of making the world a better place.

Frustration welled up inside me.

Not with the people cheering... No... My frustration lay with the image of Christianity that a vast majority of these people, whom many I would call friends, had experienced.

Since when has Christianity and the Church been symbols of opposition to making the world a better place? When did the Church become an obstacle, instead of a pathway, to fighting the social injustices of this world?

Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror" is playing while I type this. The song is an excellent reminder that I have the power to change these images with the way I live my life. "I'm looking at the man in the mirror, and I'm asking him to change his ways."

You can be sure that I will be giving this topic some more thought.

In the meantime, if you are not a Christian, may you realize that there are many faces of Christianity and none of us mirror our Creator very well. I am sorry that you have experienced Christianity's worst role models, though.
If you are a Christian, may you become a pathway to fighting the injustices of this world, and may you stir up others to positively reflect our faith well.

Paramount

2011-05-04T10:57:00.000-04:00

The school that I am teaching at in the fall was on the news. Take a look at the video below!

School Placement!

2011-04-19T21:48:00.000-04:00

Great News! Great News! Great News!

I had a second interview today with a school, and I just found out that I got the job!

So starting this fall, I will be working at Paramount School of Excellence in downtown Indy. When I was looking at the school online before the interview, it definitely did not look like an inner-city school. So much so that I was second-guessing my potential to have a big impact at the school. I mean, this school has six wind turbines, a garden for each grade, and has a huge emphasis on technology (with the eventual goal of being paperless).

Check it out at paramountschool.org

The school is definitely an inner-city school, though.

I was with some of the teachers today, and they are fantastic.

I... am... just... so... excited!

Cancun

2011-03-28T12:43:00.000-04:00

Ahem...

Next week you might ask yourself, "Man, where are Jonah and Sara?"

Well, this is where we will be, along with Sara's family:

First stop: JW Marriott and Chitzen Itza (These pictures are of the actual hotel that we will be at).

Next stop: All inclusive resort in Riviera Maya.

Wahoo!

And Justice for All

2011-02-28T23:17:00.000-05:00

One of my favorite classes in seminary thus far has been my Old Testament class. The most exciting thing that has come to my realization is that God's heart for the poor and needy is not an exclusively New Testament idea. We are studying the prophets right now, and every one of the prophets, yes every one of them, says that Israel, Judah, or their enemies are failing because they are not taking care of the poor or that they are taking advantage of the needy. There are also some mentions of moral offenses such as stealing and lying, but the overwhelming majority of wrongdoings involve injustices to the poor and needy.

Christianity is certainly about reconciling oneself to God, but that is only the beginning. We must must must be in the business of reconciling others. This does not mean that we merely seek others to join our Christian club. No, it means that we meet the needs of those around us. It means that we truly care for the needs of the poor. It means that we empower our neighbors. It means that we love.

Our worship to our God on Sunday mornings is utter meaningless if we are not living out his commands to care for the poor.

We must fight for justice... even for those who we think don't deserve it.

Mumford and Sons says it best:

Love it will not betray you
Dismay or enslave you, it will set you free
Be more like the man you were made to be
There is a design, an alignment, a cry
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love as it was made to be

Teaching Pool

2011-02-22T21:53:00.000-05:00

One of the many things that I have always really appreciated about the church that I go to is its involvement in a Teaching Pool. Since the inception of the Mercy House, my pastor has met with a group of ten or so other pastors every week to collectively talk about the passage of Scripture that they will be teaching. I love this concept. Scripture can be so difficult to interpret, but when there are ten people trying to dissect it together, it seems that a more balanced opinion would develop.

This group of churches has been doing this for seven years and recently decided to stop meeting together. The decision was made because a lot of the churches had started their own teaching pools within their churches. The Mercy House had also been gearing up to do the same thing.

So last week was the first Teaching Pool for the Mercy House, and it was great. There are about ten to fifteen of us that sit in a little room and try to hash out the text that will be taught on Sunday mornings. We usually have several disagreements with each other, but at some point we come away with a general consensus of what the text could be saying. It's so refreshing to be with a group of people who are genuinely concerned with the truth of the text, instead of trying to make the text say something that it doesn't.

All that to say... I just love the Mercy House and its Teaching Pool.

Teach For America

2011-02-21T22:43:00.000-05:00

I received some wonderful news last week. I found out that I have been accepted for Teach For America!

Many of you might not know how big of a deal this is for me. This was actually the third (yes, the third) time that I applied for TFA. The first time I applied was several years ago, and I didn't realize how vigorous the application process was. My application was weak, and I didn't deserve to be admitted.

Last year, however, was very different. I poured everything into my application and interview process, which by the way is super intense. I nailed both the application and interview and thought for sure that I would be admitted. Well, I was... but I was also unexpectedly put on a waiting list. Month by month went by and I kept expecting to get taken off of the waiting list. It never happened, though, and I became pretty bitter.

Bitter is an understatement I suppose. The rejection from TFA was only the beginning of a long 13-month journey to find a full-time job. I am not exaggerating when I say that I put in at least 50 job applications in that time period. Out of those 50, I was only called in for 2 interviews, which both ended in the same disappointment.

Mild depression set in. There were days when it was a struggle to even get out of the bed in the morning. I would just lay there... paralyzed. Evil thoughts filled my mind. The faintest thoughts of suicide even crept in, but thankfully they didn't last very long. My wife had to suffer through my emotional ups and downs. I must confess that before all of this, I didn't believe in depression. I can confidently say now that it is 100% real and 100% an evil disease.

It honestly seems silly reflecting on this. It's crazy that being turned down for job after job would affect me like it did. However, my identity was (and is) so closely tied to my ability to have a good job and provide for my family. Being rejected time after time wore me down.

Eventually, the bitterness started to fade away, and I began to be content with every job application. I began to be confident that if I truly had faith in my Creator, it would eventually work out. Instead of being bitter, I tried to find lessons that I could learn from all of this. When I made this decision, it seems like a new lesson came every week.

Through all of the lessons, I realized that I needed to enroll in seminary to pursue a Master's degree. It was a subject that I was passionate about, and I just knew that I needed to do it. If that was the only positive thing that came out of this whole struggle, I would be okay with it. I can't believe how much I have grown in my faith with God through this endeavor. I was a little nervous going into the program that I would rationalize God out of the picture. Fortunately, the opposite happened, and I can honestly say that I have not been this close to the Father in a long time.

Through my Old Testament classes, I became more aware that God's heart is truly for the poor and needy. This was not just a message of Jesus; it's written throughout the whole Old Testament. Prophet after prophet chastises Israel and Judah for not bringing justice and kindness to the poor and needy. I went into seminary so that I could teach religious things at a university level. However, the more I learned about the heart of God, the more I realized that before I started teaching people, I needed to put my faith into action.

After realizing that rejection could indeed come again, I decided it was worth it to apply for Teach For America again. The need they address is just too important, and it is a very practical way for me to live my faith. 40% of students graduate in Indianapolis, while 95% graduate just fifteen miles north in Fishers. My faith compels me that I must at least try to positively affect those numbers.

Additionally, on a more practical side, we will be in a lot better financial situation because of this. I know teachers don't get paid a lot of money, but they get paid a lot more than I am currently getting paid (which should let you know something). It will be nice to be in a better situation.

While I am doing TFA, I have to take Master's classes at Marian University. I will thus need to put seminary on hold for a little bit. It's definitely something I will finish, though. It makes me come alive, and it's a subject that I know I need to pursue.

For those of you who have been in similar situation as I have, I hope this can be a reason for you to have hope. I looked for employment for 13 months, and the hell has finally ended. Though it was rough the whole time, it was lot more manageable when I became hopeful... hopeful that my situation just had to get better at some point. May you be encourage to have the same hope.

I have an intense summer's worth of training coming up. I have to go down to Mississippi for five weeks, and then there's some other time that I will have to spend in Indianapolis. Then, this fall, I will be teaching in one of the schools in downtown Indianapolis.

Pray for me (and for Sara) in any way that you feel led.

PhD Programs

2010-10-19T22:52:00.002-04:00

I have started the process of searching for a school to do my doctoral studies.

I am wanting to get my PhD in Church History, and all of the programs that I have come across so far require knowledge of several languages before admission.

Duke and Princeton require: Greek, Latin, German, and French.

Notre Dame doesn't specify which languages are required, but plurality is definitely emphasized.

I am glad that I am researching this a little bit in advance. It gives me some goals to aim for. Previously I had set a goal for my life to learn four languages by the time I am 35. Looks like I have some motivation to help get me there now. I am studying Greek right now. Maybe I will try to add some German in here and there.

Most PhD programs that I have come across admit only a handful of people each year... like 10 at the most. This handful of people, though, gets full tuition paid for. In addition, they get a stipend of at least $15,000/year. Plus there are fellowships where you can teach undergrad classes or assist professors with research and earn some decent money. Sounds pretty sweet to me.

My current seminary projects include:

Exegesis of Ten Commandments

Research Paper on: "What Type of Book is the Holy Bible?"

Research Project on: The Didache and its relevance, or lack thereof, to us today.

While grad school is overwhelming at times, 95% of the time I am thoroughly enjoying myself and what I am learning.

Here's to being a lifelong student!

Violence in Bible & Qur'an

2010-10-14T22:30:00.002-04:00

While researching a little for one of my grad. classes, I stumbled upon some interesting information. Below is the gist of a discussion post that I had to do:

Unfortunately I have yet to read the Qur'an, so I am definitely pulling texts out of context.

Anways, I found the following interesting:
"The LORD is a man of war."- Exodus 15:3
"Fight in the way of Allah."- Quran 2:244

There is a lot of talk lately that Islam is a religion of violence. A lot is taken out of context in these debates, and in my opinion the Bible is not much better. In my Old Testament class, we are reading through Judges. Wow, talk about explicit violence. I cannot imagine that the Qur'an is any more violent than this book. I have been a little shocked actually at this rereading of Judges. The Israelites, and the God they serve, are indeed violent.

The Bible has 1121 recorded instances of cruelty or violence. The Qur'an on the other hand only has 520. Again, I do not know the complete context of those 520 instance, but that is a huge difference.

However, the Bible is quite a bit of a bigger book. Compared to the rest of the Bible, it is 3.6% cruel or violent. In a similar comparison, the Qur'an is 8.3% cruel or violent.

I researched this information from: http://dwindlinginunbelief.blogspot.com/- I am aware that it is not scholarly, but the website looked like it had some sort of merit to it.

Kickstarter.com

2010-10-04T22:17:00.002-04:00

Isn't my wife awesome?

Anyways, have you ever heard of Kickstarter.com. I just stumbled across it on two separate occasions last weekend. Basically it is a website for people to help fund creative endeavors. If you pledge to fund a certain amount, you only pay it if the project receives 100% donations. Plus, you usually get something in return for your funding.

Here's two projects that I would highly recommend you looking at supporting. I did for both.

First, Dan Deitrich is a friend of mine who lives in St. Joseph, Michigan. He's putting out a new album and is seeking to raise $2000 for studio costs. If you know Dan, you know that he is creative musically, and you also know that he usually has something worth singing about. For a pledge of only ten bucks you get a copy of the cd plus some other goodies. You are going to buy the cd anyways, so just pay upfront and support Dan in the process. Do so here: http://kck.st/bC6YV7

Project two comes from one of the most influential authors in my life: Donald Miller. His book, Blue Like Jazz, completely changed the way I view my faith. His other books have challenged me as well. Well he was approached to make Blue Like Jazz into a movie, and they have written the screenplay. They have even got a few stellar actors for the cast. Unfortunately, because of the economy it is especially hard to get funding for movies right now. Their funding fell through. But they are on their way to raising enough money to get this movie into production. Give back to Donald Miller by clicking here: http://kck.st/a0WPar

There you have it. Two great endeavors that you can rally around and support.

Now back to studying.....

Surprise, Surprise...It's Sara

2010-10-03T20:28:00.002-04:00

Can you believe it's me?! I can't even remember the last time I blogged. Shout out to my bro-in-law, Timothy, for encouraging me to blog more often. So here I am. Thanks man.

Little update on me... I now have a new job that I'm PUMPED about! Have you heard of the Montessori philosophy of education? In short, it's a way of teaching that builds up independent, self-confident, helpful children. At school they serve themselves lunch, wash their own dishes, clean up their own messes, etc. The teacher is more like an observer than "in charge." It's really beautiful to see these little kids act like little adults. They learn in a very natural, wholistic way. All that to say, Jonah and I have fallen in love with this method of teaching as well as raising children. And now I'm a teacher of it... and it's awesome, for lack of a better word.

The word freedom has been popping up in my life a lot lately. I love that word and all that it implies and entails. Yet, I'm realizing there are many areas in my life where I am not free. Not free at all. In fact, I'm in captivity. Why do I get uptight and anxious, why do I care what people think, why is it so hard for me to just sit in silence or do something for myself? I have this need to constantly move, to be doing something, to "make the most" of every second. I'm craving peace...calm...contentment...loosened chains. I want to pull a William Wallace and shout "FREEDOM!!"

Behind the Blue Curtain

2010-09-25T22:55:00.003-04:00

I have written several times how much Sara and I love going to the horse races. I love the thrill of trying to pick the winner. I love cheering for crazy horse names and acting like my cheering matters to the outcome of the race. Most of all, though, I just love horses. They have become my favorite animal over the years. I think they are so beautiful and majestic. I love the strength that they radiate, and I love how fast they go.

This afternoon we went to Hoosier Park with our friends Amy, Jared, and Lindsay. We got there around race eight. We bet on several races, but nobody won anything except Amy. As the afternoon was winding down, we went outside to watch the twelfth and final race. It was to be a short sprint down the straightaway.

I bet a trifecta box bet, which means I tried to pick the top three horses. The bugle sounded, and the horses were corralled into the gate. The starting gun boomed, "And they're off!"

"Come on Sir Jim! Come on River Roan! Come on Winter Holiday!"

Seconds into the race, tragedy hits. Something happens, and one of the horses gets tripped and falls. The contortion of the horse's body was horrible. The jockey gets a little trampled and then hurriedly crawls to the side of the track. Oblivious to what has happened, the rest of the horses race on to victory. Meanwhile, the injured horse lays on the ground without moving a muscle. Without moving at all! Just laying there helpless!

A rush of important people run to the horse and to the jockey. A horse medic truck pulls up and we all just stand and watch in shock. The jockey soon walks away, but the horse is not so lucky. Two men begin to unroll a big blue tarp-like curtain. They hold it up so that we can no longer view the injured horse. "What the heck? Why are they blocking us from being able to see this poor injured horse?" I ask to myself. And then it hits me... They're killing it. Killing it!

After we wait anxiously, the blue curtain is finally rolled up, and the now dead horse is in a trailer that we can't see. The trailer pulls away, and that's that.

Afterwards, we talk with a worker from the horse track. "Did they really just kill that horse?" I ask.

"Yeah they did," he responds.

"Well why?"

"It probably broke its legs. Maybe it broke its neck. But it certainly can't make any more money for the owner. It would cost tens of thousands of dollars to repair the legs, but even then it wouldn't be able to race anymore. A racing-horse owner can't afford to maintain a horse that doesn't bring in any money. It's just not worth it."

The last words ring in my ears. It's just not worth it.

When did we decide to be God and decide which lives are worth saving and which lives aren't?

I found out that five or six horses die every year at Hoosier Park. Granted, with thousands of horses racing here every year, five or six is a small number. Yet it still seems ridiculous.

Knowing what happens behind the blue curtain has definitely tainted this sport for me. Can I really support an industry that murders horses simply because they can no longer generate income? Or is this just another example of a general good thing that is abused on occasion?

I feel like I just found out the truth about Santa Claus.

Seminary

2010-08-25T22:32:00.002-04:00

Today was one of the most life-giving days that I have had in the last ten months.

The last several months have been pretty rough. After transitioning home from South Korea (almost a year ago!), I began the search for employment. I had two very promising leads that would have had me working in inner-city schools. One of those options kept me on a waiting list for about seven months, and ultimately both options didn't come about.

There were several other positions that I applied for, too. There was one in particular at my alma mater, and I thought I had nailed the interview. I thought I would have this job for sure. Nope. Denied.

Dozens and dozens, probably around forty, applications later, and I was still left without a permanent job. I still had my job at the Census and was thankful for it, but I knew time was running out there. I needed to find a job, and I needed to find it soon. Profanity and frustration left my mouth as I vented to God. "What the heck, man? I'm dying down here."

Not finding any good jobs, I figured I would at least go back and further my education. So I signed up to take online classes from Taylor to get my teaching license. Through several encounters with several different people, though, my life began to slowly change directions.

I asked myself, "If I could go back to school for anything, if I could study one thing, what would it be?"

Immediately the answer was: theology.

That answer didn't seem very feasible. I needed to make money so that Sara and I could start a family. Theology didn't really seem like a track that would help accomplish that goal.

Remembering my first commitment to teaching, I asked myself, "If I could teach any subject, what would I teach?"

Hands-down. Theology.

It began to become clear to me, yet still was very confusing, that studying theology was the choice I needed to make. See, I feel very ignorant when it comes to deeper theological questions and ideas. I also feel that we, as the body of Christ, have done some really stupid things throughout history because of our ignorance on theological issues.

The past couple of years, my faith has taken a new theme of "redemption". Redeeming culture, redeeming my city, redeeming poverty, redeeming individuals, etc. An even newer theme is now developing: redemption, education, and edification of the church.

So I enrolled in seminary at Anderson University to get my Masters in Theological Studies, and I did so for two reasons. First, I yearn for a deeper understanding of my faith, God, and the religious texts associated with God. I ache for it. Second, I believe that graduate school academia should be made available to everyone, and I want to make that happen. I want to teach it in and out of the college level. I eventually want to be a professor, but I also want to teach to people who can't make it to college. I want to teach everyone who wants to learn (and even those who don't).

Today was orientation for seminary. The day consisted of many meetings and handshakes. I found myself getting emotional several times during the day. I have no idea where this is going to take me or where I'll be a year from now, but this is where I am supposed to be right now.

Thank you God for closing forty doors in my face, so that I could reach this point. I know that in the turmoil is where we often find you. Forgive me of my attitude that past couple of months. While the struggle is certainly not over, would you please fill my heart with love, hope, and understanding? Stay with me and guide me through the turmoil.

I haven't felt this good in a long time.

Gifts

2010-08-02T19:39:00.002-04:00

Three ways I felt blessed by God in the last three weeks:

1) I worked on a commercial with Peyton Manning and made some really decent money. Time at the census is dwindling down, so it was nice to get some reserves in the bank.

2) Two nice end tables left over from the shoot were given to me...making our living room feel more cozy.

3) Some friends of ours gave us their car. That's right, they gave it to us. We were going to take out a loan this week to get a car. Then, out of the blue, our friends email us asking if we knew anybody who needed a car, because they wanted to give it to somebody. What a blessing.

The Elms: I Bid You Farewell

2010-08-01T14:53:00.004-04:00

On Friday night (through Saturday morning) I attended the last concert of one of my favorite bands: The Elms.

I was first exposed to their musical skills on Wednesday nights when I was in sixth grade. Two of the guys in the band led worship for my youth group. They soon formed a band called Just Visiting and were an instant small town success. They were in high school when I was junior high, and I looked up to them.

Fast forwards a couple years. Some drama happened within the band, and they ended up going separate ways. Shortly afterwards, though, two of the band members joined up with two other guys and formed The Elms, named after an estate their uncle has in Wales. I distinctly remember riding home from high school with Ben Marks, a friend of mine, when he popped in their first full length album. The chorus of hand claps and "hey hey" was intensely catchy. I couldn't believe the musical maturity that had already occurred.

Their popularity and musical talent grew with each record. They toured the United States numerous times and even did several shows outside of the country. Whenever I met somebody new, I would tell them I was from Seymour, Indiana, home of John Mellencamp and The Elms. I was a much more proud of the latter.

Their records were great, but their live performances were beyond description. This band knew how to rock out. They performed every show with extreme fierceness. This was pure rock and roll.

When we spent time in South Korea, we started getting really ready to come home during our last couple of months. It was then that I first heard their single, "Back to Indiana" during commercials for the Indy 500. There could not have been a more perfect anthem to get us excited about going home.

The personal connection to the band and their music made their farewell hard to take. I anxiously looked forward to their last show, knowing that I just had to be there but didn't want it to end. I got tickets immediately, and the show soon sold out. As I was getting ready to go to the show, I couldn't find my tickets. Crap. Frantic, I looked in every nook and cranny in our house. They were gone. Thankfully, the doorman at the venue had pity on us and let us through.

The concert was held at Radio Radio, which is a fairly small venue. I was kind of surprised of the small venue choice at first, but soon was thankful for the intimate experience. Owen, Chris, Thom, & Nathan took the stage at 10pm. The crowd showed its immense respect with endless emotional clapping. The boys of the band were emotional, and it was obvious that this was going to be hard for them. Finally, they were able to get going and proceeded to go for four and a half hours. Playing over forty songs, it was one of the greatest nights of rock and roll. Interspersed with emotional words of gratitude, the band delivered endlessly.

At 2:30 in the morning, they had played their last song. Not surprisingly the majority of the crowd stuck with them the whole time. It was a wonderful and tiresome evening.

Thank you Owen, Chris, Thom, & Nathan for delivering raw rock and roll and staying true to your image.

Click here for pics from the show...

Shadows of the Empire

2010-07-02T21:24:00.002-04:00

One of our favorite places to eat is Ripple Bagel. It's a little shop in Broad Ripple that steams loads of different kinds of bagel sandwiches. We usually end up getting a reuben sandwich. It has to be one of the best reubens I've ever had... and I've had a lot of them. We both got one tonight again, and it didn't fail in its deliciousness. We also always get a whole dill pickle (as opposed to spears). They just taste better that way.

It had been a while since we've ventured down to Broad Ripple. It's a really cool artsy community just outside of Indianapolis. There are tons of good restaurants and shops. A bunch of new ones have sprung up since we were here last.

We were strolling around past the Jazz Kitchen, past Red Mango and Monon Coffee, past Cornucopia and around the corner we came on to the main drag again. Right after Half Baked Pottery (a place where Sara took me for some special occasion to make some sweet pottery), we came across the mecca of all stores... McVans.

McVans is a used video game store. Oh it was magnificent! They had Ataris and Super Nintendos and Segas and even the dreaded GameCube. There were also some systems that I had never heard of. I walked past Chopper Command, Dig Dug, and Frogger. I was in my childhood's glory. Then came NBA Jam, StarFox, and Yoshi's Safari.

Oh I could go on forever about the gloriousness of the occasion! The best part was that many of the games were only $1.99. Even better: buy one get one half off! So a measly 3 bucks for two games!

Of course, I wanted to buy everyone of them at that price! Thankfully, my patient wife was there to calm me down, saying that maybe I should only get a couple.

As she rolled her eyes, I gave an I-guess-you-are-probably-right sigh. I walked away with Pac-Man 2 and Yoshi's Safari for Super Nintendo, as well as NBA Jam 2000 and Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire for Nintendo 64.

I'm especially excited about Shadows of the Empire. That is a killer game.

I kind of go on spurts with video games. I get obsessed in the nostalgia and can't get enough of the old-skool games... and then I remember that while I might have just helped Skywalker save the Universe, I just spent a lot of precious time that could have been used to better the world around me.

Bare with me as I dive into another spurt.

Core Values

2010-06-03T15:36:00.001-04:00

Got out of work early. Thank God. I hate that place.

I’m sitting here at Starbucks, trying to get motivated to write something. I was checking up on Donald Miller’s blog, and he said something interesting. He was asking “what are your core values?” He said a good way to figure that out is to find out what makes you angry, and your core values are often the opposite. “Mine the things that make you angry and find the core values you can use to tell a great story.”

So what makes me angry?

Stupidity and Ignorance

Twisting the truth (aka lying)

Misuse of power

Wasting time and resources

Being forced to work a dead end job

Violence and hatred

Unhealthy familes

So a quick glance at those would make my core values:

Truth and the quest for it

Honor

Respecting myself, others, and our resources

Productivity

Peace and love

Wholesome families

Teach For America

2010-05-21T16:38:00.002-04:00

It's official. Teach For America is no longer an option. Just got the final word. I'm majorly bummed, of course. I wish I could have found this out six months ago, instead of being on the waiting list for months and months.

..ugh...

I have felt very stagnant, job wise. The Census Bureau is a most certainly dead-end job, and I just don't even enjoy it. So I'm happy that I can at least move in SOME direction now. I'm going to be spending a lot of time earnestly finding a new job now. Also, I will be enrolling in Taylor University's Transition to Teaching program immediately. It's actually a pretty sweet program, because it's all online except for the student teaching. I can start when I want and go at my own pace, too.

So new job and teaching certification program. That's what in store for me...

.

2010-05-02T22:11:00.000-04:00

We are here for more than just existence.

Pedro

2010-04-27T20:52:00.001-04:00

"i could buy you a drink
i could tell you all about it
i could tell you why i doubt it...

and why i still believe it

i can't say it like i sing it
i can't sing it like i think it
i can't think like i feel it"

-Pedro the Lion

A Challenge

2010-04-26T22:11:00.002-04:00

I would think that by now it is a bit obvious that I am passionate about education. I think negative aspects of our society, such as poverty and crime, could be eradicated if there was proper and passionate education. While I think that educating others is extremely important, I have to hold that same importance for myself. I have to educate myself...continually.

I've stumbled upon something wonderful called Open Yale Courses. Yale University offers select classes online... for free. Within a couple mouse clicks, you can be watching a whole semester's worth of a particular Yale course. The goal of this project is to expand education to all who want to learn, not just those that can afford to attend Yale. You don't get any kind of college credit for taking the course. It is just knowledge for knowledge's sake. I think we get so caught up with our degrees and the requirements to get there that we sometimes forget that we are supposed to be learning something.

At the moment, I'm listening to the first class of "Game Theory". Unfortunately, though, the class isn't about playing games... that would have been really sweet. Rather, it is an economics/business course. Another course I've been listening to a lot is "Introduction to New Testament History". I've loved listening to this course, and I even bought an older version of the textbook online really cheap. To be honest, it's shaken my faith a little, but I welcome the shaking if it means understanding my religious text better. Somehow the shaking always produces more strength, too.

So my challenge to you is to pursue education in some new way...whether that means reading a new book, researching something online, enrolling in a college course, or something else. If you are interested in Yale's Open Courses, go to http://oyc.yale.edu/. Also, iTunes U (through the iTunes store) offers tons more free courses from virtually every university.

I leave you with this short video clip:

Educate

2010-04-22T22:58:00.004-04:00

It seems as if more and more people are realizing the ridiculous state of our schools. Budget cuts are being made across the country. Our teacher friends are getting laid off. More importantly, though, students will suffer.

The easy solution is to run to our local, state, and federal governments and plea for help. While I believe this to be a necessary task, I also believe that it's time to start taking things into our own hands. There is so much power in education, and there is just too much at stake to sit around and wait for somebody else to solve the problem.

If I were a student right now, all these budget cuts and teacher layoffs would make me think that nobody cared about my education... so why should I?

Our students need to be empowered, to be believed in, to be challenged, to be educated.

You and I are fully equipped to impact the lives of students. Fully equipped.

So what are you going to do? How are you going to help solve the education crisis going on? How are you going to educate?

Check out this video to one woman's answer to these questions...

Colorado

2010-04-21T22:20:00.002-04:00

This blog is a little late, I know. We've been so busy working on our new home lately. Anways, a month ago we went to Colorado. Sara was asked to be in Jolynn's Wedding. Jolynn was one of our fellow teachers in South Korea. We got really close to her while we were there. Because it would be a bit cheaper to drive, we decided to make a road trip out of it, and we decided to make a week-long trip out of it. We just had an awesome time.

First we stopped in Denver. We got a hotel downtown and really enjoyed some relaxing time. Downtown Denver is just awesome... and beautiful too!

After some chillin, we drove up to Boulder for some free tours. We toured the Coors Brewery and the Celestial Seasonings tea plant. We definitely like our beverages:) Both tours were really cool. We got to experience the mint room at Celestial Seasonings. They keep all of their mint leaves in one room where the door is constantly closed. There are just crates and crates of different kinds of leaves. It's quite overwhelming to the senses, enough to even bring water to my eyes! They said that if they left the door open, you would be able to smell mint in a 5-mile radius from the plant. Crazy!

Next we headed to my cousin Lucas, and his fiance Jessica's, house. We had a great time with them and enjoyed getting to know Jessica better. We stayed with them two nights, and they hooked us up with some cheap passes to ski Breckenridge. Oh man, that was an adventure. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about skiing Colorado mountains. They were quite a bit different from ol Paoli Peaks here in Indiana. Lucas took us on some easy routes first, but we were soon at the top of the mountain skiing all the way down. It took us over an hour! Whew, that worked our legs for sure. We went back to some of the easier routes next and were swerving between trees, always blazing new trails. What a rush and what an incredible way to be in nature!

We bid our farewells and hooked up with a good friend from college, Eddie. We met up at Starbucks and caught up for a bit. Great seeing him.

Then we headed down to Colorado Springs for the wedding. We pit stopped at the Garden of the Gods and took in some hiking there. We were one of the first of the wedding party to arrive, so we got some real quality time with Jolynn and her family. It was great.

Then several of our friends from Korea started arriving. There were seven of us in all. It was so good to be with these people again. None of us had ever seen any of us in this country! Crazy huh?! We had a blast with them throughout the weekend, while we took part of Ben & Jolynn's festivities.

It was such a great trip! Here's some pictures from the trip:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050767&id=56200896&l=c7f288f7a4

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2050768&id=56200896&l=f1d87038b7

A Pet Peeve

2010-04-12T22:33:00.002-04:00

I enjoy listening to music on my iPod, but I hate untangling my headphones every time I want to listen. Hate it. I've been yearning for some retractable headphones for quite some time. One time when we were in Korea I paid 30 bucks for a pair, but later realized that they weren't in fact retractable. Finally, after much searching, I found a pair on the internet about a month ago. They came in the mail and I was so pleased to finally have retractable headphones. I could pull out my iPod and my headphones weren't all tangled up. Ahhh...what a relief!

Unfortunately, after only a couple of uses, they broke. Yeah... they freaking broke.

So now, I am back to the turmoils of constantly untangling my headphones. Oh life's sorrows...

Fire!

2010-03-21T23:52:00.002-04:00

I had a dream last night that our hotel was on fire. Smoke was filling the hall, and we were trapped in our second floor room. Thinking quickly, we busted the window open with a wooden chair and threw the mattresses and pillows out the window. They would provide a softer landing for us than the nearly frozen ground. Next we tied together sheets to make a long rope to climb out the window. Sara climbed down quickly, and I followed her. We were able to get out safely and even got our suitcases out with us.

At 7:00 this morning, I was awoken from this heroic dream with the obnoxiously loud buzzer of the fire alarm.

No more dreaming, our hotel really was on fire.

...Or so I thought...

At the sound of the alarm, Sara and I immediately jumped out of bed. I anxiously and unsuccessfully tried to find the light switch in the room. Remembering my dream, I was in position to rip the sheets off of the bed...

and then the alarm stopped.

"It would still be going if it was for real, right?" Sara asked.

"Yeah I think so."

I called down to the front desk, and they said something about a coffee pot overheating.

False alarm.

Our nerves were pretty shaken, but I tried to go back to sleep.

Thirty minutes later the ridiculously loud alarm goes off AGAIN. It shuts off after about fifteen seconds. I call down to the front desk. "False alarm?"

"Yeah false alarm," the unapologetic worker responds.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to do anything cool like climb out of a window with a rope made out of sheets. We did have a great day in Denver, though.

Create

2010-03-15T19:55:00.002-04:00

I don't sit in coffee houses enough.

They are one of my absolute favorite places to 'escape'. My Sara gave me the gift of sitting here at Starbucks while she goes and gets the groceries. Oh, It's the little things...

Life just gets too busy for us all, I think. We get so involved with life that we can't find the time anymore to sit and drink a double-tall, four-pump vanilla latte.

Don't get me wrong, being involved in life can be very fulfilling too.

With the help of my father-in-law and grandfather-in-law, I constructed my first pieces of furniture this last weekend. Well, I hesitate to say "I", because it was definitely a group project. Over the course of two weekends, two beautiful nightstands were constructed. It was a lot of fun, and they were so helpful in getting the job done. There's just something about creating stuff, isn't there? I can paint a picture, take a picture, make dinner, build legos, build furniture, etc, and when it comes down to the joy involved, it can often be resolved down to the simple fact of "I created this". I love using my mind for things and take great joy out of thinking up stuff, but I don't think it quite compares to using my hands for things.

For me, it connects me to my Creator, and I love how it does this. Isn't it interesting how things like building nightstands can connect a person to God? I think so many things can do this if we alter our mindsets.

Go create something and be connected to your Creator.

Still Waiting

2010-03-08T22:38:00.002-05:00

And so I continue to wait.

Today was another Teach For America deadline. Nothing has changed. For those of you who don't know, I applied to TFA back in August. I was accepted, but ultimately put on a waiting list. They have six dates throughout the year to update my status on the waiting list. Today was the fourth of those dates, and I'm still on the freaking waiting list.

It's pretty frustrating.

I've kind of put my life on hold for TFA. I haven't been pursuing anything career-wise because I have just really wanted this to work out.

So TFA is plan A. Teaching Fellows, a similar program, was plan B, but that is no longer an option. It's time to start preparing for plan C-- going back to school in the summer to get my teaching license.

Granted, plan A is definitely still an option, but I can't put all of my eggs in one basket I suppose.

I guess I could get mad at TFA, but I'm not really sure I can. TFA has a huge desire to bring about change in education, and they are being quite successful at it. They have their formulas to make this change happen, and I guess their formulas are working.

I just really want to join their team.

I just really want to do something that matters.

I just really want them to choose me.

Working for the Government

2010-02-10T23:41:00.002-05:00

Jonah:

On Monday, I got sworn in as an employee of the federal government. I started work for the Census Bureau. I work in an office that can only be accessed by census workers. It has a bunch of windows, but the blinds are always shut to ensure confidentiality. We all have to wear ties even though we will never come in contact with anyone outside of our office. I even have to wear an ID badge at all times when I'm in the office.

We've only been doing training thus far, but I have already come across many bureaucratic inefficiencies.

It's great to have a full-time job again, even though it will only last a few months. It's crazy how much work defines oneself. I've been feeling pretty lazy lately, due to minimal employment. It was doing wonders to my ego for my wonderful wife to be the only person bringing in much of an income. Thankfully that has changed (I do miss my lazy mornings, though).

Thanks for paying your taxes so I can have a job. You pay my salary. :)

Opposition

2010-02-05T10:48:00.001-05:00

Opposition is tricky.

At what point do you say "To hell with it" and give up, and at what point do you keep pushing through?

The Word

2010-02-02T19:05:00.000-05:00

Is the Bible the Word of God? Why or why not?

It all started when...

2010-01-31T22:49:00.005-05:00

Jonah:

When I think of the beginnings of my faith, I generally refer to two different events. There were definitely things that led up to these two events, but these are the defining moments in my history.

It all started when I was four or five or six-years-old. For some reason unknown to me, I was led to crawl under the kitchen table and ask Jesus into my heart.

The second event occurred in Huntsville, Alabama. During the summer between middle school and high school, a group of middle schoolers headed down to Huntsville to help lead a kid's camp. Led by our fearless leaders, Joellen Martin and John Simms, we spent the days hanging with inner-city kids. I remember third-grader Dominique showing all of us how to dance to Kirk Franklin's "Stomp". He was hilarious.

Our nights were spent with teachings from Greg Devries, a gifted man that I still respect. Something in me changed over that week. By the end of the week, I knew it was time to re-commit myself to living a life like Christ. By this time in my life, I had been going to church, as well as being involved with youth group, for years. But I wanted to really dedicate myself to God now. I wanted to fully serve him. I decided to get baptized as well. I had been baptized before, but it was when I was really little. I wanted to do it again, to publicly declare that Christ was Lord of my life.

I guess you could direct my 'salvation' to these two events.

But what does salvation mean anyways? Am I in the club now? Do I have the golden ticket to heaven?

Maybe...

Paul talks about continuously working out his salvation...daily.

I don't believe that following Christ means praying a prayer of salvation. I think even the notion of being 'saved' is a weird phrase. Indeed, Christ has saved us from the depths of despair, but I think we get too comfortable with 'being saved'. Being saved makes us think that we are better than those who aren't. Being saved makes us think that our salvation is finished.

I don't think the point of being 'saved' is to get to heaven when we die.

To be honest, I don't think it should even matter if heaven exists or not. Then the emphasis is put on heaven, instead of living a life like Christ.

Rather, I think that living like Christ means trying to make our current world like heaven, redeeming hellish situations. I think Christ saves (in the present tense) us from ourselves.

"I got saved in 1990."

That phrase implies that it was a past occurrence. It implies that it was a one-shot deal.

Rather, I think we should be living each day, wrestling with our 'salvation'.

There was definitely a turning point during that week in Huntsville. Definitely. But I don't think I got saved then. I don't think my salvation was finished...or ever will be.

2:00 Movie

2010-01-29T16:19:00.002-05:00

Jonah here.

It might seem obvious that the other people in the theater at 2:00 on a Friday afternoon were all over seventy.

I just got back from watching Extraordinary Measures. I was overall pleased with it. The tears were coming down at several points. When you watch a movie by yourself, you have permission to cry your whole way through it. Haha! I thought Harrison Ford was too angry with his outbursts. While Brandon Frasier was a little unbelievable at some points, I was actually impressed with his acting for the most part, which is something I wasn't expecting.

I think we're going to see another movie tonight. What can I say, it's my job to watch movies, and I must say that I'm quite good at it.

I'm a Yalie... kind of

2010-01-24T11:33:00.003-05:00

Recently I was watching one of my favorite movies, "A Beautiful Mind". I absolutely love this movie. Love it.

The movie takes place at Princeton University and tells the story of mathematical genius John Nash. I used to want to be a mathematical genius, but I don't desire that as much as I used to.

After seeing a glimpse of life at Princeton, I decided that I wanted to make it a life goal to attend to that university someday.

I began researching what that would look like. How do I get in, how do I pay for it, etcetera. In the process of doing so, I stumbled upon iTunes U.

iTunes U has college courses from virtually every college. They're online... and they're free. The only catch is that you don't get credit for taking the course... you just take the course for knowledge's sake.

They only have like 10 courses from each college. The universities still have to make money after all. I researched Princeton's courses, but didn't really find one that I especially liked. Then I checked Yale's courses, and I found a course that intrigued me: New Testament History and Literature.

I just watched my third lecture, and I must say that I am thoroughly enjoying it. It is reviewing the New Testament from a historical perspective, rather than a theological perspective. I have desired to delve into this subject for quite some time.

I emailed the professor and asked him about the textbook they used. I found an older version of it online for five bucks.

So you can call me a Yalie now.

Well I guess you can't really call me that... but it's fun to imagine.

I have developed a deep conviction regarding courses like the one I am taking. I have gone to church for 20+ years. You would think that I would be an expert on New Testament history by now, both historically and theologically. But I'm most certainly not.

I wish topics like this were covered more on Sunday mornings.

Instead, we get topics about how to be a good Christian.

Indeed, these topics are necessary to dialogue about, too, but I think our faith would have more depth and understanding if we studied our roots and underlying meanings a little more.

Bed (Sara Style)

2010-01-20T21:36:00.006-05:00

I love going to bed. I love it.

I don't find this weird or ironic for the following three reasons:

A. We just bought a new bed and it's WAY more comfortable than the last three beds we've 'owned' since we got married.

2. I have a stud of a husband I get to sleep next to every night.

D. I am not a night owl, I'm an early bird.

So when the alarm clock goes off in the morning, I love getting out of bed. For all the same reasons that Jonah loves the night... the stillness, being the only one awake in a home full of sleeping bodies, the calm that it brings... I love the morning. I enjoy my cup of coffee, or two, and moving slowly. I like that it's dark and quiet. I like wrapping up in a blanket. Mornings are just cozy to me.

Funny how two people that like each other so much, and that have so very many things in common, could also like the exact opposite things, huh? :)

Bed

2010-01-19T23:51:00.002-05:00

I hate going to bed. I loathe it.

I find this to be weird and somewhat ironic for the following three reasons:

A. I love to sleep.

2. I have a beautiful wife to snuggle up with.

D. We just bought a new bed that is super comfortable.

When the alarm clock goes off in the morning, however, I hate getting out of bed. I hit snooze probably five times and love to slowly wake up, and I could just read for hours.

Going to bed is so final, though, ya know. I am officially saying goodbye to the present day. I am letting the sleep monster take control of my life.

And I like to be the one who controls my life. Going to bed gives up that control, and I lose eight hours. Eight hours that I could be writing or reading or checking my email or updating my Facebook or working on the house or running or watching a movie or skydiving or playing Freecell or looking at the stars. Okay, so some of those aren't that meaningful, but they're enjoyable nonetheless.

Maybe part of the reason too is that I just love the night. I love the stillness, and I love being the only one awake. It's calming, soothing. It's good for my soul.

It's now midnight, and I'm just not quite ready to say goodnight yet. Donald Miller's book has been keeping me company. I think I'll read just one more chapter and enjoy the silence before I close out this day.

La Belle Lucie

2010-01-15T12:36:00.002-05:00

Sara and I love to play Spider Solitaire. Unfortunately, our new Mac didn't come with the game, so we purchased it online, along with like 30 other solitaire games. One of these games is La Belle Lucie.

I have become addicted to it. You have to move cards around. I often can't accomplish my goal, though, because I need to place the 4 on the 5, but the 7 is on the five, and the 8 is on the 4. Yeah, okay, that didn't make very much sense, but the gist is that I can't move a card because another card is in its place, and I can't move that card because yet another card is there.

I feel like organizing our house right now is a giant game of La Belle Lucie. I need to put my clothes on the shelf, but the blinds are on the shelf, and I can't put the blinds up, because there's boxes of clothes in front of the windows, and I can't put away the clothes, because the blinds are on the shelf....

I haven't been too lucky at La Belle Lucie, but I will win this game of it.

Jaded

2010-01-15T00:43:00.001-05:00

Jonah:

I would call myself a jaded Christian. I was raised in a great Christian home and attended a great Christian church and was involved in a great Christian youth group. By my freshman year of college, though, I started to grow tired of it all. Tired of all the rituals, tired of fundamentalism, tired of one side of the story of Christianity, just tired. So a weird love/hate dichotomy formed in me for church. I loved what I thought church should be and began to hate what I thought it was. It’s weird, because I think this same phenomenon was happening to many students on my college’s campus, and even around the country. People who grew up with conservative roots rebelled. We became cynical at anything resembling our conservative origins.

Gone was the love for the Left Behind series and being ‘on fire’. Gone were the days of screaming “we love Jesus yes we do, we love Jesus how ‘bout you!” Being a Christian no longer meant being a Republican, too. Church was no longer about being passionate for Jesus on Sunday morning. We laughed at those silly evangelicals who still did church and Christianity the ‘old way’.

Our conservative ideals were replaced with mantras from Donald Miller, Rob Bell, Jim Wallis, Anne Lamott, and Shane Clayborne.

Fast forward to now, five years later.

I find that my life is often like a pendulum. My beliefs are often at one end of the spectrum. Then an ‘awakening’ occurs, and my beliefs swing to the opposite direction. Over time my beliefs eventually end up somewhere in the middle of spectrum, having a little more balance to them. I have learned that one of the greatest challenges is finding balance in anything we do. That is what I am attempting to do now.

I still have some of the same feelings that I had my freshman year of college, but I also realize that there are many things about my conservative upbringing that I love and still hold as true.

It’s late, and it would take days and days to articulate specific beliefs that I am talking about.

So this is what I am going to do. Over the course of the next year, I am going to put down my beliefs in words. My spiritual, religious, economic, and life beliefs. Maybe, I’ll even through some of my political beliefs out there. :) Hopefully, I will then have the courage to share them with you. You can then chastise, praise, disagree, or challenge me.

Of the many wonderful things about being married, I think one of the greatest is “to know and be known.” I think we don’t let other people know who we are enough.

Home Sweet Home

2010-01-14T23:31:00.003-05:00

I just got home from a long day of work. It was a 16-hour commercial shoot for Johnson Memorial Hospital. Not at all difficult, just long. I actually kind of enjoy the long days. Kind of...

So we are in to our new home! We've done so much in the last 2 weeks. Two front doors have been installed. All walls have been repainted. New flooring (laminate hardwood) has been installed in the bedroom and the living room. Many many many thanks to the friends and family who sacrificed time to come and help us out. You really made our projects go so much faster.

We still have to unpack a bunch. Actually, we've been sleeping in the living room, because we have so much stuff in our bedroom right now. We don't even have a bed..hah... we've been sleeping on an Aerobed for the last week.

Hopefully we will be able to find a good bed this weekend.

After we get settled more, I think the next project is going to be repairing our bathroom.

It's been a lot of work, but I love being a homeowner!

Online Surveys--Make Some Extra Cash

2009-12-20T15:00:00.001-05:00

I’m writing this message in response to the numerous responses about my post concerning online surveys. If you are still interested, here is some preliminary information on how to make money taking surveys online.

First, create five to seven new email addresses. The purpose of this is because of two reasons. First, you will get a bunch of spam, and I have found it better not to clutter my normal email inbox with a bunch of spam. Second, to get more offers to confirm, you need to use different email addresses. I tend to pick new emails that are similar. For example: email1@gmail.com, email2@gmail.com, email3@gmail.com, etc.

I belong to several sites that generate income by taking surveys. You have to belong to several, because each individual site generates small amounts. Two that I have been especially successful at, though, are Vindale and Cashcrate. Use these links to sign up:

http://www.cashcrate.com/1446523

http://tryvindale.com/VLoJBVRC9

Okay, so set up some new email accounts and sign up for Vindale and Cashcrate using the above links. Each of these sites have tricks that I have learned that will help make you money faster. If you are still interested, email me or let me know, and I will further explain these sites to you.

With a little bit of time involved, you can easily earn a little extra cash.

Cheers and happy money making,

Jonah

Pittsburgh

2009-12-14T16:24:00.004-05:00

On Saturday morning we started our mini winter road trip. Stocked with Gushers, Starbursts, and Capri Suns, we started our six hour trip to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We cranked up the Christmas music and just really enjoyed each other's company.

We checked in our hotel (thanks to Scotty) and took off to Mount Washington.

Pennsylvania used to have a lot of migrant workers to work in the steel factories. These workers lived on Mount Washington and took a tram up and down the mountain (big hill) to go to work. We took the tram up and were able to look out on Pittsburgh. It was pretty cool.

Then we headed back down the mountain and had dinner at an Irish pub. It was delicious.

So why in the world did we come to Pittsburgh for the weekend? We came to see the infamous Steel City Christmas. It's a 265,000 light display synced to music. They are on a house nestled in a small cul-de-sac. The pictures don't do it justice, so check out the video from the website.

It was pretty sweet.

The next morning, we woke up to every interstate out of Pittsburgh closed, due to ice. Luckily we were able to maneuver our way around the back roads to start our trek back home. We stopped in Caldwell, Ohio at Lori's Family Restaurant to see two very dear friends of mine from my year at the Honor Academy, Jeremy and Puky. It was so good to see them. We ended up staying much later than we intended, because we were all just having a good time talking and catching up.

Spontaneous weekend getaways are fun and needed. It was such a fun time.

Extra Moola

2009-12-09T14:16:00.003-05:00

I received a check in the mail last week for $39.60.

I take surveys online and do mystery shopping for a little extra money here and there. If you would like to be educated on how to do this, let me know....

House

2009-12-07T15:50:00.000-05:00

Come on already.

Let's close on this house.

[Hopefully next Monday or Tuesday]

Three Cups of Tea

2009-11-23T15:55:00.006-05:00

I just finished reading Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen. While the writing style makes it not an easy read, the story is incredible. The book recounts Mortensen's efforts to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some interesting enlightenments occured for me while I read the book.

There is such a power in education. Mortensen writes about how Saudi Arabia is funding a massive amount of madrassas in Pakistan. Madrassas are schools that teach fundamentalist, militant Islam. Because no other schools are available, children are sent to these madrassas, essentially being brainwashed to militant Islam. The best students are then sent to Saudi Arabia for more studying, and then told to return to Pakistan, take four wives, and multiply like crazy. The uneducated militant form of Islam is then passed on to generation and generation. It's crazy the power of education. If decent schools were available, children would not attend madrassas, and therefore would not be as prone to follow militant Islam.

Mortensen is doing just that. While he can't compete with the thousands of madrassas that are started every year, numerous well-rounded schools start every year because of his initiative. It should be noted that Mortensen also respects Islam a lot, making it clear that not all Muslims are terrorists.

I feel like education is powerful in all contexts. It has the power to overcome poverty, to unite individuals, to bring hope and purpose to one's life, and to empower a city.

Quality education should be something that we, as a society, demand for everyone.

It's Christmas time in the city

2009-11-22T19:30:00.004-05:00

I went Christmas shopping with my mom this weekend. We listened to our favorite Christmas music, drank Christmas hot drinks out of red cups from Starbucks (something that always signifies Christmas time to me), walked the streets of downtown Indy all lit up with Christmas lights, and bought Christmas gifts for our loved ones. It was a wonderful, perfect time.

I love my mom... and I love Christmas time, it's my favorite :)

Three things

2009-11-20T15:08:00.004-05:00

1. I won at poker last night. I love playing poker, and I love winning at poker even more.

2. The seller of the house we are buying has agreed to fix everything that we asked them to fix from the house inspection. We should be able to close on the house in like 2 weeks. Wahoo!!

3. Tonight I get some quality time with my beautiful wife. We are going to have barbecue sandwiches, watch Prison Break season 3, start a new puzzle, go to Starbucks, watch more Prison Break, and just have fun. I love being married to my best friend.

Life is Good

2009-11-19T16:08:00.002-05:00

The past week has been... awesome.

Let's start with last Friday night. The Elms rocked out at the Vogue. I mean they really rocked out. A lot of friends were there. I was especially excited to see Uncle Hywel and Aunt Ruth. They were in charge of children's stuff at church when I was kid. Two of the warmest people that I know. They aren't actually my aunt and uncle, we just called them that for some reason.

On Saturday we drove to St. Joe, Michigan. We spent a great afternoon with Grandma and Grandpa Bradley. Then we decided to call all of our Korean kids that we taught in Korea. We got on Skype and called each of their houses, one by one. It was the most precious, rejuvenating time. They were so excited and shocked to be talking to us. It was great.

Sunday was pretty cool. One of Sara's kids from Korea, In-wang, was vacationing in America. We met him and his dad in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is just outside of Detroit. We went to Panera and a petting farm. And then they treated us to a Korean restaurant. It was just like eating in Korea==AMAZING!

The next day we spent hours at Chocolate Cafe with Ma and Pa Spitters. The guys of courses dominated at Spades. Of course.

Settlers of Catan was played numerous times during the weekend, as well.

Tuesday and Wednesday, I worked on a commercial for Goodwill. It was kind of boring, but it paid well.

Today I got some really really really good news when I got online. We have FINALLY received our Korean pension. When we left Korea, our employers still owed us about $7,000. We have been getting pieces of it for the last 2.5 months and today we received the final part of it! Wahoo!

Tomorrow we find out if the sellers of the house we are buying accept our response to the house inspection, so hopefully I will have more good news tomorrow.

Good News, Bad News, & No News

2009-11-10T21:06:00.002-05:00

Today we were expecting news on three pretty important things. We received good news on one, bad news on one, and no news on one.

Good News: Kid's College Pension
It's been 2.5 months since we left Kid's College, and they still have owed us a pretty big sum of money. They had paid our severance, but hadn't paid our pension yet. Today was the final deadline for paying our pension. I just got off the phone with the Korean pension office, and they informed me that most of the money is in our account, and that we will receive it by the end of this month. The fact that there is money in our pension account is a miracle. Our employers have been lying to us and pulling us along for quite a while now. While all of the money wasn't there, this is still very good news.

Semi-bad News: Termites
Recently we accepted an offer to buy a house on Chestnut Street. Inspections were today, and everything is pretty much okay... except that we have termites in our basement. While there is not huge damage, there is still some that definitely needs fixed. So the seller of the house has to fix it or else we can get out of our contract and don't buy it. From what I hear, it's a no-brainer for them to fix it, because nobody will buy the house until they fix it. So hopefully we get word soon that they agree to fix and treat the termite damage.

No-news: Teach For America
I applied for Teach For America like three months ago. I made it to the final round of interviews, and I felt like I nailed the interview. Today, I was supposed to hear about whether I got accepted or not. Well I did get accepted, BUT they placed me on a waiting list. They said that the current economy is pretty uncertain as to how many teachers will retire this year and how many new teachers schools will be able to hire. So I wasn't quite good enough to get fully accepted, but they like me enough to keep around. I won't hear anything more until January now. This seems like an eternity, after already having waited for three months. So I'm going to pursue plan B.
Plan B is Teaching Fellows. They're pretty much the same concept as Teach for America, and actually it was started by Teach For America alumni. So I'm going to pursue both Teaching Fellows and Teach For America now. We'll see where they get me.

Peace.

Substitution Day 1

2009-11-09T13:10:00.003-05:00

I'm writing this blog from Miss Hawes' Kindergarten class room. I got a call this morning at 8am. The woman said that a substitute called in sick. Being called later than normal, I arrived 30 minutes after class had already started. With no time to prep, I was kind of thrown into it. I had no idea where anthing was or what the heck everyone was supposed to be doing. Luckily, with my experience at Kid's College, I am well aware of how to burn time.

By lunch time I started to have things figured out. They're at P.E. right now.

There are 21 kids, which is quite different than the 10 than I am used to. They are a handful for sure, but they're pretty cute too. Well I have to go pick them from the gym now. Next it's recess, then snack time, and finally movie time.

Offer Accepted

2009-11-05T15:39:00.002-05:00

We have an offer accepted on a house to buy. It's at 911 Chestnut Street. We got it for under half of the original listing price! Now we just have to wait for all of the paperwork to go through. We are super excited about it!

Processing

2009-10-30T14:15:00.004-04:00

People ask me all the time, "How was Korea?" or "How is it being back in America?"

We left Korea two months ago, and I still haven't fully processed both of those questions. I'm at Starbucks right now, one of my favorite 'processing' places. So I'm going to let Amos Lee sing to me and attempt to process some more. One of these days, I'll be able to give you a good answer when you ask me those questions...

House Offer

2009-10-29T14:29:00.002-04:00

Last night we looked at two houses to buy.

We're putting in an offer for one of them tonight.

It's a duplex, and it's tiny.

But it's cheap.

Pumpkins, Heartland, and Chainsaws

2009-10-26T11:40:00.004-04:00

Last weekend, Sara surprised me by taking me to a pumpkin patch. I had never been to a pumpkin patch before, and it was loads of fun. It was chilly, so we grabbed some hot apple cider and then headed through the corn maze.

Then we grabbed an old Radio Flyer wagon and took off to the pumpkin patch. We picked out two perfect pumpkins that are now sitting in front of our house.

Last week was also the Heartland Film Festival. Heartland is one of my most favorite times of the year. They show numerous independent films throughout the week. WQME hooked me up with several free tickets. I went with Sara twice, Chris once, and then one time with my family. I made my family watch a movie about the life of a college mascot. It was humerous. Last year, in Korea, we were longing to go to Heartland.

On Friday we made the trip up to St. Joe, Michigan. The men went to the lakehouse to get it ready for the winter. I don't think there could have been worse weather to work outside. It was cold and rainy... but we got the jobs done. We spent about two hours on Saturday trying to get chainsaws to work properly. Finally we got them up and running and cut three truckloads worth of wood. The work was intersersed with three games of Settlers of Cattan and a game of Spades.

The weekend finished nicely with a relaxing time at Grandma and Grandpa Bradley's. Grandma always fixes the most delicious meals. We finally got the rest of our stuff down from their attic. It sits in the van, beckoning me to go unload it. We just have a few more boxes at my parent's house, and then we'll have all of our stuff in one place. That will be nice.

We're house hunting on Wednesday. We hope to make an offer on a house by Friday to try and take advantage of the tax rebate deadline.

Happy fall to you!

Extremes and Colors

2009-10-11T16:58:00.005-04:00

Hello from America!! It's Sara here, and this is the first time I've posted since being back. I'm realizing as I sit here that I've missed writing to you; it's been a while :)

Man, America is wonderfully awesome and insanely crazy. It has been such a relief and so very good to be back... yet incredibly hard. The adjustment period has been and continues to be rough on me. America is so different than Korea, in good ways and bad. It's weird that a month ago this is exactly where I was craving to be, yet now that I'm here, I'm missing 'there' immensely. (Why can't I just be in the moment, fully appreciate where I'm at??)

I miss Lotte Mart, Whoever, the Arts Center. I miss my dinky apartment and living simply. I miss public transportation. I miss Saturday morning McDonalds. Oddly enough, I miss being the foreigner. I miss my kids, oh do I miss my kids. I miss being with Jonah all the time.

At the same time, I'm loving having community again. I've loved being with family and having normal every day conversations on the phone with them, playing our favorite games, eating our favorite food. I've loved seeing familiar faces and places, walking in the valley on AU campus, going to Walmart.

I'm just having such extreme feelings about being back. I appreciate America, yet look down on it at times. Love being here and miss being there. I can't get a hold of my emotions and don't always know how to relate to people and what to say when I'm asked how I'm doing. I feel like I'm slipping back into an American way of life, and I don't want to lose Korea or lose the way we lived there. More simple, slow, where 'things' didn't matter.

I'm realizing as I write that this may sound like I'm not doing well, but I really am. I start my new job tomorrow morning. I'm a lead teacher for the one-year-old class at Park Place Children's Center. Nervous and excited for that! It will be weird going from 5 year olds to 1 year olds. They're a little bit different :) I'll also be going back to the school in January for my master's in early childhood education. Pumped about that!

We came back to America during my favorite time... fall. Love the weather, the changing of the leaves, pumpkin spice lattes, and having mums and a pumped outside my house. The transition from summer to fall is so true in my life right now. Everything transition. I'm working hard at embracing it and living in the moment, even though change has always been hard for me.

So in a nutshell, I would say my life is experiencing extremes, yet it's good. I hope you and I are able to appreciate the colors today- the reds, oranges, yellows, and browns. Happy fall to you. Sending love, my family and friends.

Wanting

2009-10-09T18:48:00.002-04:00

I traipse through Barnes & Noble's aisles of every genre... wanting. Ooh I'd love to have this book on civil rights history. A new Rob Bell book? Count me in. This book of art will go great on a coffee table (someday I'll get a coffee table to put the book on). I need to pick up this Digital Photography magazine to better my skills. I'd love to add Axis & Allies to our game collection. The 70th Anniversary of The Wizard and Oz, newly remastered?! It's got to be better now, so I should get it.

When just a month ago, I was sitting in my dinky apartment in Incheon, South Korea satisfied. I was satisfied with what I had.

Now part of it is just because I love to learn new things. But I could accomplish learning by going to the Anderson Public Library and choosing several books to borrow for free.

There's just something about owning the book. I like to know that it's mine. I enjoy buying used books too, but it's different than buying a brand spanking new book. I like the way new pages feel.

Or maybe there's a status to it.

And it's not just books.

Roaming through the aisles of Target will produce the same feelings of want.

Maybe I feel good about myself buying new things. Acquiring new things. The more stuff I have, the better person that I am.

I feel like this wanting feeling could be put to a more productive use...

Peyton Manning and Oktoberfest

2009-10-03T23:40:00.002-04:00

Seymour has been treating us well. Tonight was the final night of the beloved Oktoberfest. Oktoberfest is a festival in my home town that I have gone to for over twenty years. It's the place to see old friends and eat deep fried twinkies. I accomplished both of those things with much satisfaction. I value a lot of people in this area. A lot of good people are here that have been a part of my life, as well as heavily influenced it. Cheers to you Seymourians!

This past week, my brother Samuel hooked me up with a sweet gig working on a Mastercard commercial. Peyton Manning was the start of the commercial, and I got to meet him. He's a really chill guy, and he was sporting some sweet cowboy boots. At one point I had to run and get him an omelet. He also told me that he didn't want to drink the blue Gatorade because it would make his mouth blue for the commercial. That was pretty much the extent of our interaction, but it was super sweet being in the same rooms with this guy!

After the shoot, the producers needed some props driven to New York City, so Samuel and I took up the offer. We drove a U-Haul for 16 hours to the Big Apple, spent the night in a sweet hotel downtown, spent 45 minutes in Times Square, and then caught a plane back to Indianapolis.

That was the quickest I have ever earned $1000.

I'm going to work on another Mastercard commercial with Peyton Manning next week. It's going to be at the Lucas Oil Stadium, so I'm pretty pumped about that.

My siblings are in for the weekend from college and Indy. It's great to all be together. I've got a great fam.

Crunchberries

2009-09-16T10:46:00.002-04:00

Yesterday, Sara and I walked into Martin's Grocery Store. I soon realized that this was the first American grocery store that I have visited in the last year. Let me say... it was amazing! Aisles and aisles of food that was familiar to me. Clerks who could understand questions like "What aisle are the canned goods in?" or "Is this beef or pork?" Then, I turned the corner of an aisle and pure extacy shot through my whole body. I was in the cereal aisle!!!! The aisle was full of delicious sugary cereals. Apple Jacks and Cinnamon Life and Crunchberries... oh my! I could hardly contain my excitement.

It's good to be back in America...

U2 360 Tour

2009-09-14T09:39:00.002-04:00

U2 rocked our face off Saturday night. They sang hit after hit. It was a spiritual experience at times. So many of their songs have spiritual undertones. During "Walk On" they did a cool activist piece about the woman in Burma who's been under house arrest for 10 years. We were on the back part of the stage, but this was the 360 tour and the stage was a full circle. My only complaint was that they didn't go around the whole stage as much as they could have. We were in the second row and right next to where the band entered and exited, though. It was pretty cool to be 10 feet from Bono and his cohorts.

Campfires, U2, and Taco Bell

2009-09-12T10:12:00.003-04:00

I woke up this morning with the glorious smell of campfire plastered to my body. It hit me that I haven't woke up with this smell for over a year. There's just something peaceful and comforting about the smell of a campfire. We had one last night in the Spitters' backyard.

It's good to be home, for sure.

It's been a bit overwhelming adjusting to the American way of life, though. I try to pay for things two-handed. There are people speaking English all around me. I can't concentrate reading in Starbucks due to my desire to eavesdrop on everyone. There are a lot of 'big' people here. It's been hard trying to relate with a bunch of people again; I feel like I'm an awkward middle-schooler.

On the other hand, it has been absolutely fabulous spending time with people. We had a great relaxing time with Uncle Mike's family in San Diego. Then we flew to Chicago and had a wonderful day with both of our families. Now we're in St. Joseph, Michigan hanging with the Spitters and the Bradleys.
I had a Grilled Stuffed Steak Burrito from Taco Bell the other day. Oh my goodness====delicious! Best Buy was an overwhelming delight to wander around. And of course the home-cooked meals have been wonderful.

We're slowing crossing things off of our re-adjustment list. We got cell phones hooked up. We bought a new car yesterday new. It's a 2004 Dodge Neon; we like it a lot. The next big things we need to find are jobs and houses.

We're going to see U2 tonight at Soldier Field in Chicago. It's a super last minute thing, and we are stoked!

Living it up in America!

Don't take for granted where you live...

Stuck

2009-08-31T21:24:00.003-04:00

I'm sitting in the Tokyo Narita airport at the moment, desperately trying to get on a stand-by flight. All United flights were cancelled yesterday because of a wimpy typhoon. We spent the night here yesterday, and we quickly realized that this is a very expensive country to be stuck in. It's been a little bit of an adventure which is fun, but we're ready to get out of here.

Japan definitely feels cleaner than Korea, and from what we can see, it looks like some cool cultural stuff.

Hopefully we'll get out of here today, though. If not, we've got a flight booked tomorrow.

Un young ee kay say oh - Korea

2009-08-29T23:23:00.003-04:00

Finished.

Totally finished.

A whirlwind of emotions has surrounded me the past couple days. Friday was awful and thrilling. It was awful to abandon my kids. Awful to see half of them crying as they walked to the bus. Awful to see one embarrassed that he was crying. Awful to not know if I will ever see these beautiful children again. Awful to hand over my kids to new teachers... I'm sure they'll be excellent teachers, it's just difficult. Awful to leave my coworkers (and good friends who have been like family) behind. Awful to think about leaving this country... a country that I have called home. Awful to get the following email from one of my student's moms:

"Herie...

crying...

and already she longs for you..."

and Thrilling to not have the exhausting schedule of teaching anymore. Thrilling to leave the politics of Kid's College. Thrilling to be free. Thrilling to have a lot of $50 dollar bills in my wallet. Thrilling to think about seeing my family very very soon. Thrilling to experience American culture again.

I have left countries many times. I have left America, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Canada. But I have never felt this depressed about leaving. I wake up every morning and can't get out of bed, because my thoughts go to my kids and my friends and this country and the memories here.

It has been an exhausting year for sure. But it has been so much more than that. It has been exciting, rewarding, fun, thrilling, adventurous, full of growth, bonding, emotional, and intimate.

Korea, you have been good to me. Thank you. Thank you for caring for me. Thank you for the galbi. Thank you for the adventures. Thank you for your mountains and your neon city lights. Thank you for caring about education. Thank you teaching me to be okay with less. Thank you for helping me appreciate my home country. Thank you for having awesome health insurance. Thanks for paying me well. Thanks for having beautiful, caring people in your country. Thanks for having great public transportation. Thank you for not having any guns. Thank you for letting me feel safe in your country and for feeling safe about my wife walking outside alone. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Until we meet again 사랑해요 and 안녕.

I will miss you.

2009-08-23T09:27:00.004-04:00

We had a great day today with Brett, Abbi, and Ferrin. First, we started the afternoon off with some grilling in the park. We don't have a grill, but we made a make-shift one and had delicious burgers and hot dogs. I love grilling. Love it.

Then we headed to Munhak Stadium to watch a baseball game. The SK Wyverns (Our home team) were playing the Kia Tigers, and it was a packed house. There were no empty seats so we all had to sit on the stairs. I don't think they really pay attention to fire code here...haha.

After seven innings, sitting on the stairs wasn't enjoyable anymore so we left with the Wyverns down 2 to 1. I had to get a Wyverns hat before we left, though.

Yesterday, we had a going away party for our kindergartners. We brought ice cream and just played on the playground together for two hours. My kids love to play "Monster". I am the monster and I run after them, trying to eat them. Fun. :)

Mrs. Sara's Class:

Mr. Jonah's Class:

Both classes and their parents:

The parents of my kids made a small book for me. It's got little notes, drawings, and pictures from all of my kids. I started reading, and it made me get a bit emotional, which made many of the parents get emotional. They were very appreciative of both Sara and me. It felt really good to connect with them one last time.

So here we go. Our LAST week at Kid's College. That statement just brought simultaneous elatedness and sadness to me.

And then we're going back to America. Back to Michigan. BACK TO INDIANA!

I think these videos hit home the point. They are must-see.

The first one is by The Elms:

The second one is by Jackson Five. Click here to see this awesome classic:

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

Lots to tell

2009-08-21T09:51:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone! I know it's been a while since we've posted for ya'll. It's been crazy here, trying to get in last minute dates with people, saying sad goodbyes, packing up, etc. It blows my mind that a year has gone by already. Here's a few updates.

Jonah had a goodbye pizza dinner with his last elementary class this last week. They are a cool group of kids and speak fluent english. They've gotten close over the year. They've all talked about visiting us in America and I wouldn't be surprised if it actually happened. They are all leaving Kid's College after Jonah leaves; just goes to show what a great teacher he is!

My kids painted yesterday; they love painting days. I walked out of the class to get some paper and walked back in to this. Could they be ANY cuter or more perfect?! All in a line, helping each other tie their painting aprons. Oh how I love them.

The fourth girl back in the pictures is a new student I just received two weeks ago. Her name is Joycelyn. It's been a little annoying to have a new girl the last three weeks of being here. She speaks practically perfect english, but can't read for the life of her. And she doesn't speak Korean, so it's just put a different spin on my class.

Speaking of newbies at Kid's College, we also haven't updated you on our new teacher. We had a teacher who ditched us over summer vacation. So Ferrin is his replacement and a way better teacher than the guy who she replaced. We get along great with her! Here are the girl teachers; we unknowingly all wore the same colors the other day. Ha!

Last night, the three of us girls went out for tea and Dr. Fish. You stick your feet into this pool full of little fish, and they eat away at the calluses and dry skin on your feet. It's hilarious, one of the weirdest sensations, but it really works!

Abbi's feet :)

Check out this video of our Dr. Fish experience :)

We have five days left of teaching our kids. It's just weird and comes up in class about every day. We're all dreading the goodbye. But we're just so ready to be done with Kid's College and the politics of working in Korea. It's ridiculous and so frustrating right now, fighting with our employers to get the money we deserve before we leave the country. It's like, "Come on. We've worked hard for you for a year. You told us we have been good teachers. So give us what you owe us!"

I can't believe a year has just about passed. I've learned so much since we've been here. Grown so much. Made some special relationships and bettered others, like with Jonah. I've seen the world. Grown up. Worked on and bettered myself. It's been a good year. I'm so thankful for it. And now I'm ready to go home. So one more week, and then it's back to you all! Pray that we'll finish strong here.

XOXO

Sara

Major Payne

2009-08-12T09:02:00.000-04:00

This is one of my all time favorite moments in a movie.

It's hilarious. Really.

My family should especially appreciate this video clip:

I made my 5 year olds cry

2009-08-10T06:07:00.003-04:00

So it's been an emotional day today...we told our kindergartners that we're leaving soon, that we have 3 weeks left together. I have honestly never experienced anything like that before. I've had my share of tears, heartbreaks, tough conversations, and hard goodbyes...but I've never experienced the emotions I had today during 4th class.

I gathered them all around, we sat on the floor together. As I started to share my "sad news," all four of their little eyes started welling up with tears. Lucy started it, a long 30 minutes of crying together. Just full out sobs at times. I lost it when InWang tried to communicate to me that he didn't want me to ever forget his name. It didn't help slow down my tears when he said, "When I am 100 years old, I will still think about you."

I explained a penpal, and that I would love to be penpals with them. Talked about when they are old enough, they can come see us in America. Told them how proud I am of them, how much I love them, how I will miss them and think about them every day. That I will never forget them (I explained that one with the help of their favorite game, Memory. "We all have such good memories. We can remember each other every day, just like Memory.") Oh those four kids... just precious to me.

It is a really hard thing to take, to make a child cry. I don't think I realized how much I mean to those kids. It was eye-opening. I knew they liked me, but I think the five of us share more than just liking. I love those kids so very much and, after today, I think it's mutual :)

Can't believe we have less than 3 weeks left of this country, this job, these people. One year really does fly. Such mixed emotions about leaving. Keep us in your thoughts as we strive to soak up every second of these last weeks here. Can't wait to be on your side of the world again :)

The Last of Bali

2009-08-02T04:39:00.003-04:00

So Bali was awesome. Here's a video recap of our trip:

Back to work tomorrow. This is officially the last month we will be in South Korea. Crazy, sad, and wonderful all at the same time.

Bali Post #3

2009-07-31T05:20:00.011-04:00

We are back from paradise...sadly. Though it actually feels good to be in Korea again. I think it's the anticipation of giving our all for the last leg of our year here. 3 1/2 teaching weeks to go. We are definitely refreshed and rejuvenated for it from our time in Bali. I'm gonna continue on where Jonah left off from the last post.

Something I loved about our time in Bali was eating almost all our meals right on the beach. Toes dug in the sand, waves crashing just feet away from our table, and eating under the sun.

Traditional Indonesian music is really beautiful, different than anything I've ever heard before. We vegged on some couches outside, listening to these guys do their thing.

Eating out of coconuts... pineapples... you name it... that's just how we roll in Bali.

Admiring the Indian Ocean; it's breathtakingly beautiful.

This is us after having an hour long massage with two people working on us at the same time. So I had someone rubbing my shoulders and my legs at the same time. Amazing. Can't beat a Balinese massage for $13!

On our balcony, in our couple shirts that Gyeong Hee got us for our trip. So Korean.

This was our favorite pool at our hotel, one of three to choose from :) We spent lots of our time reading next to this pool and taking a dip when we got too hot. Here's Jonah taking his daily morning dip before breakfast, which we ate right next to the pool.

We went sailing in a traditional Balinese sail boat. And get this... snorkeled! I overcame one of my worst fears- being stuck under water with loads of fish and sea creatures all around me. I swear they were charging me a few times, but I did it! I was amazed by what was under me; it was just incredible.

We spent our last hours in paradise at Tanah Lot, Bali's 2nd largest Hindu temple. It was one of the most beautiful sights I've ever seen, seeing this temple carved from rock at sunset. Oh and here's us in front of our hotel too.

We really had just a perfect time in Bali. It's so fun traveling the world with my best friend. We enjoy each other so much. Our trip was filled with lots of reading, relaxing, playing cards and Cribbage, laughing, eating yummy food, drinking lots of fresh squeezed stuff, swimming, playing, and did I mention relaxing? Simply perfect.

May you find a piece of paradise where ever you are in the world today.

Sunrises, Sunsets, and Monkeys

2009-07-28T21:19:00.018-04:00

As the sun was setting Sunday night we hit up one of the beach restaurants and grabbed a margarita pizza.

I got a strawberry drink, and they served it in a bamboo shoot. Pretty sweet.

Relaxing the night away:

The next morning we got up super early for the sunrise. It was beautiful watching it come up.

Then we took naps in one of the many places to chill.

Jet skiing was next, and what a blast we had doing it! We both took turns driving. It is super fun jet skiing on the ocean.

Lunch was at a cafe on the beach, still dripping wet from jet-skiing.

By the way, one of Sara's goals for the trip was to drink out of a coconut. Well here she is at our pool bar accomplishing just that:

Next we headed to the Kuta area of Bali. This is the super touristy part of the island. There were TONS more people than at our quiet Sanur Beach. Kuta is known for its beach and sunsets, though, and both didn't disappoint.

We were able to grab some burgers at Hard Rock Cafe beforehand. Soooo delicious!

And yes, my wife is gorgeous.

We walked through the Hard Rock Hotel afterwards. Oh my goodness; I have never seen a hotel like that one! Huge! Freaking huge! The pool itself was the biggest pool I had ever seen; it was bigger than some whole hotels! Fun to walk through, but we were happy we were staying at our quiet luxury.

We spent the rest of the night at Starbucks.

Tuesday, our driver took us to Ubud. Ubud is the artsy area of Bali, and it also has Monkey Forest.

Words cannot begin to explain the experience we had at Monkey Forest.

There are wild monkeys everywhere.... everywhere. We bought a bunch of bananas so we could feed them, but we were a little timid at first. We'd hold one in our hand, and they'd come charging after the banana. Freaking out, we would just throw it to them. We got the hang of it soon, though. Many times they would come and take it right from our hands.

Sara was getting some up close pictures of some monkeys, and one jumped right on the camera. Then it started climbing all over her. She got a little freaked out about it, but had a lot of fun too. This would happen several more times during our visit: wild monkeys jumping on us and climbing all over us.

Right before we were leaving, another monkey jumped on me. I was having fun, but then he started biting my head! Being wild monkeys, I got a little nervous for rabies, but thankfully none of my skin was broken and there was no blood.

Here he is gnawing at my skull...

We spent some time looking at Hindu temples too.

Driving back to the hotel, we passed rice terrace after rice terrace. Beautiful!

More to come from Bali!!!

Welcome to Bali... I mean Paradise

2009-07-26T01:30:00.011-04:00

I'm writing this blog from some comfortable outdoor furniture next to a pool, overlooking the beautiful blue Indian Ocean. Let me just say... it is amazing here!

Here's Sara and me on the plane over here. We were really excited.

We arrived late last night to the Segara Village Hotel.

Here's our driver picking us up from the airport.

The hotel is in Sanur, the southeast part of Bali. Even after endless researching, you never really know what a hotel is going to be like when you book it online. We have been more than pleasantly surprised with this hotel, though. It's like no hotel I've ever been to before. The rooms are in numerous buildings all around the hotel grounds (contrary to having the rooms in one building like every other hotel I've been to.) There are cozy places to sit and read all over the place; couches and outdoor beds are under many open-air huts. Palm trees are interspersed everywhere, as well. The beach is 20 yards from the end of the pool. Just around the corner are numerous cafes and places to eat, up and down the beach. Of course there are also numerous people on the beach who want to sell you massages or other items as well. That will get old fast.

Here's Sara and I chillin under a hut. Sara found Diet Coke today. We haven't been able to get it in South Korea. She was really excited.

I bought "The Google Story" at the airport, and it has been a great read. Google has a really interesting story. We've been sitting and reading for too long, though. Time to go get some lunch. Then probably we'll sit and read some more or go sailing or jet skiing.

Michael Jackson and Bali

2009-07-24T08:10:00.004-04:00

"Hold Me
Like The River Jordan
And I Will Then Say To Thee
You Are My Friend"

I splurged and bought "King of Pop" tonight. It's got 35 Michael Jackson hits. I've been listening to it for like the last hour. It's wonderful. Weird, yes he may have been, but he definitely generated some feet-tappers.

We lost one of our teachers today. He decided that he couldn't take it anymore here. It's gonna be rough trying to take over his duties until a new teacher is found. He was pretty negative though, and changed the whole office atmosphere. So the atmosphere will definitely be better.

Sara's getting her nails done right now with Abbi for our trip. We leave for Bali tomorrow afternoon. We are SOOO ready to laze on the beach and drink out of coconuts. We'll be there for five nights. When we come back, we will only have three and a half weeks left. I think it's going to be an emotional couple weeks. Our kids have definitely grabbed a place in our hearts.

Couples are a big thing here in Korea. It is not unusual at all to see couples wearing the same clothes. GyeongHee thought we needed matching shirts too, so she brought over some "couple shirts" yesterday for us to travel in. :)

Hope you are all well. We can't wait to see your faces!

"Don't stop till you get enough"

Mud Festival

2009-07-20T08:37:00.004-04:00

We spent the weekend covered in mud in Boryeong, which is on the east coast of South Korea.

We went with a tour group here called Adventure Korea. They loaded 200 of us foreigners on a bus and trekked 4 hours or so to the coast.

We arrived at the mud flats the first day. Here we experienced mud rugby and other mud games. We even ran a 5k... in the mud. It was a total blast.

Next we headed to our accomodations, a one room flat with only four blankets to use as a mattress. Shabby, but we made it through.

It was a sprinkling a bit and super windy, so the waves of the ocean were huge. It was quite majestic.

We headed to the main fest area and there was a group playing called DJ D.O.C., a pretty well-known group here in Korea. We watched for awhile, and then headed back to our four blankets.

The next morning we stumbled upon some elephants. You could pay to ride on them around this dinky field. Nothing like when I rode them through the jungles of Thailand, though, so we passed. We were walking by the edge of the field, and the elephants noticed that we were eating nectarines. There trunks swung in our direction, and they were pleading for the fruit. Sara first sacrificed hers and placed it in the elephant's trunk. He swung it into his mouth. I followed her lead, and it was pretty cool to watch. They're cute animals, for sure.

There were a lot of inflatable games that were covered in mud, along with mud pools and even a 'mud prison' for those clean people to get splashed with mud. So fun!

We rinsed off in the ocean and had fun riding out the waves for awhile. Such a blast to share such a memory with my best friend!

Here's a really short video recap for you:

We leave for Bali on Saturday, and we're so stoked to go lay on the beach for a week!

Cowboys and Brushing Teeth

2009-07-15T07:16:00.003-04:00

Hello my family and friends! Just a quickie to update ya on something and send a few fun recent pictures.

Piece of info for ya: our manager told us today that she's quitting. Her last day is on Friday. We wouldn't mind this... it's been a rough road with her since November... but it makes us nervous to have such a big change in the last few weeks of our time here. We'll see how it goes.

Other stuff: Our kids brush their teeth every day at school. I never did that in elementary school, did you? But we're in Korea where they do different things... and it's so cute! I love going over there to watch them. They finish lunch and head to the little baby mirrors next to the bathrooms with the midget toilets... and brush their little teeth. Here's some of mine and some of Abbi's kids at it :)

We were spelling words with our bodies. Can you guess what this word is?

Today we made cowboy hats and badges for arts and crafts class. They LOVED it! We galloped around the room on our horses, yee-hawing like crazy. They wouldn't take their hats off all day. Oh the big things in life, right?! They are "lassoing" things in this first picture.

I hope this blog finds you all well. We are thinking of you often and loving you from afar. Still living it up here in Korea... but we're ready to come home to you. Soon enough!! XOXO

P.S. The word is 'ox'

A Brief Observance

2009-07-11T07:48:00.002-04:00

It's Saturday night, and I'm sitting at Starbucks with my hot wife. I look around and realize something profound...

Everybody has black hair in here except us.

2 weeks 'til Bali

7 weeks 'til Ireland

Bungee Jumping & Rafting

2009-07-05T09:32:00.008-04:00

Happy Fourth of July Everyone!
We started our July 4th white water rafting. We took a bus ride to Ganwando, an eastern province, with a bunch of other foreigners. Karel and Briggita, our friends from our China trip were able to join us too.

The rapids were fun but weren't too intense We had a lot of fun playing around in the water, too. Sara though it was pretty funny when she pushed me out of the raft. Needless to say, I had my revenge:) It was gorgeous scenery too, with at least 15 waterfalls along the way.

Here's Sara and I on the bus before rafting:

Next we grabbed some lunch and headed to the BUNGEE JUMPING bridge. It's the only bridge in Korea that you can bungee jump off of.

Me, right before we got to the bridge:

We got to the bridge, and then I climbed up several flights of stairs to get to the platform. Next they put these straps around my ankles that were held on by VELCRO.

Finally it was time to take the plunge, and I about pooped myself.

It's so scary, because when you're free falling, you don't feel the bungee until it pulls you back up, and then you just keep repeating the free falling over and over. I ended up spinning a lot at the bottom. Combine that with hanging upside down for a few minutes, and I had a little headache afterwards. It was worth it, though. What a rush!

Here's a video of the jump. I would recommend watching it in full screen:)

To conclude our Fourth of July celebration, Sara and I grabbed some Baskin Robbins and headed to a park to let off a few fireworks.

Sara made some cool designs in the air with her sparklers.

Here's a video of our night:

It's July, so that means we are leaving Korea NEXT MONTH! What a crazy thing to say that we have been here for 10 months and that we are leaving our home here next month. Many mixed feelings about it, but we are SO ready to be back in America. Also we head to Bali, Indonesia in just 3 weeks. We're so stoked about that trip.

Much love coming your way!

5 Dollar Bills

2009-06-28T07:05:00.004-04:00

Hello fellow Migukins (that's 'Americans' in Korean)

So I put on a pair of shorts this morning to go grocery shopping. It's the first time I've pulled them out since we've been here. And guess what I found in the back pocket?? A five dollar bill!! It was a beautiful sight to my eyes. I haven't seen a 5 dollar bill in months. Man, I miss America and REAL dollars. I am very ready to be home. Very ready. However, it's not a "get me out of this country" ready to be home like I have felt a few times since being here. In fact, the thought of leaving here saddens me. But I'm ready to be there. Ready for 5 dollar bills to be a normal, everyday thing...not rare and exciting.

We had a good weekend here. Went out for Mexican food for Brett's birthday on Friday. Had a great time with that group of friends. You know you're a foreigner in Korea when you travel 2 hours there and 2 hours back just for a Mexican meal. But it's WELL worth it! We also went out with my Korean friend, Gyeong Hee, and her boyfriend Saturday night. They took us to the restaurant that InBong owns. And I ate shrimp... and actually liked it :) It was good to be with them. Went to a jazz club afterwards and then they treated us to Krispy Kreme donuts. They are such generous people. How can you repay someone who is consistently giving to you? I'll forever be indebted. Such a gift to know them and have them in our lives here. Watched a few movies this weekend. Spent the afternoon today on the 2nd floor of McDonalds because the water is shut off in the whole city so all of the coffee shops are closed. Boo. But we enjoyed milkshakes, our books, and a rainy afternoon.

Well, just wanted to give ya quick update. Doing well here, but missing you like crazy. Sending love.

Jejudo

2009-06-22T06:48:00.005-04:00

Anyeong haseo from Korea! We just spent the weekend at the "honeymoon island" of Korea and want to share it with you if that's okay :) It was kind of a last minute trip; bought cheap tickets this past week. The weather called for rain, but we figured we'd brave it. Jeju Island (Jejudo) is a 50-minute plane hop away. We set out at 6am Saturday morning and made it home in time to call our dads for Father's Day at 10pm on Sunday. Short and sweet.

Started off by picking up a scooter for our two-day adventure. We can proudly say that we "scooted" around the entire circumference of the island! We had SUCH a blast driving around on that thing. It's made us rethink buying two cars when we get back to the States :) I'll let you know that, yes, I did drive the scooter... in the safety of a parking lot. I was too nervous to drive it on the road after I tipped it a few times, but I enjoyed myself. And I was content to be the passenger behind my man.

Spent a few hours on the scooter, stopping to gaze at the ocean when we felt like it. Finally pulled out and spent a few hours at a Hyeopjae Beach... where we fried ourselves. (We're hurtin for certain and Inan called me Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer today if that tells you anything!) We were blessed with an incredibly gorgeous day. Read our books, chilled in the sun, ate some Korean ice cream, and took a dip.

We took off on our bike once again, glad to be feeling the wind in our faces again :) Stopped at a Chocolate Museum when it started getting cloudy. Hopped on our scooter. Debated for a while if we should pull over at a jimjilbong for a few hours, due to the cloudy weather. Rain or shine REALLY makes a difference when you have no car and all your belongings for the weekend exposed to the rain as well. Risky! So we treated ourselves to a jimjilbong to let it blow over. Jumped back on the bike and hit a few sprinkles, but pushed through. Pulled over at a cute looking downtown. Thanks for our mad Korean reading skills, we found ourselves a minbok (Korean-style lodging). Trucked down the ocean side for a bit and than hit up a coffee shop for a few hours. The minute we walked in and ordered our drinks, it started to downpour. Ha! Here's Jonah losing at 2-handed euchare. Pitiful, huh?!

We started off the day eating some fresh fruit off a tree outside our minbok. Layered ourselves in clothes for the cold ride ahead. Note to those of you who will drive a scooter someday: if it's foggy, even if it's not raining, you WILL get wet! Here's us at the Jeongbang Falls, the only waterfall in Asia that dumps right into the ocean. Beautiful, even on a foggy day!

So even though it wasn't a sunny day, we made the most of it. We were so thankful that it never rained again. Stopped at Pyoseon beach... in jeans and long-sleeved shirts, unlike the day before. Found a little hamburger joint for lunch. Oh P.S. By this time we were about 3/4 of the way around the island.

After another drive, or scoot, we stopped at Manjangul Cave. Years ago, the volcano on the island erupted and the lava created these "lava tubes" around the island. It's insane! Way under ground, so it was really cold. It's crazy the forms that the lava left after it cooled. It was quite a sight, hard to even explain.

All in all, it was a wonderful trip! A great mix of driving along-side the ocean (the smell took me right to Prince Edward Island), seeing some sweet sights, beaching it, relaxing, and enjoying each other's company. Oh and did I mention the island is covered in palm trees?! It really is a beautiful island. Here's us, saying goodbye to Jeju and mourning the loss of the scooter, back at the airport.

Jonah made an awesome slide show! Check it out if you want to see a bunch more pictures from our trip. Saronhayo... I love you. Each of you.

P.S. In real life, we're doing well too. Can't believe that we're just about down to 2 months left here. We're trying to soak up our time with our kids and with this country. We'll miss them and it. Okay, I'm prolonging the goodbye. It's like I'm stalling to end this blog. So I'm out.

Love, Sara

To Jejudo

2009-06-18T09:29:00.004-04:00

We booked plane tickets today to go to Jeju Island for the weekend. We're going to rent a scooter and spend the weekend on the beach. Hopefully the rain will stay away.

(Jejudo)

Whoever

2009-06-14T03:42:00.002-04:00

It has been quite a lazy weekend here in South Korea.

We've spent the last 3-4 hours sitting at Whoever, one of our favorite little coffee shops. Reading, talking, and web surfing have dominated this relaxing afternoon. Sara's reading the third 'Twilight' book, and I'm reading the second "Mysterious Benedict Society" book. I must say that I thoroughly enjoy the book I'm reading. It's great; you should check it out.

We have been talking about what the heck we are going to do when we leave Korea. We are finally able to see plans somewhat taking shape, but there is still a lot unknown. That can be a little frustrating, but it will come together (or maybe it doesn't even need to come together).

Thanks to everyone who gave suggestions about where to travel. We finally decided that Ireland is where we want to spend a week. We're so excited about both of our upcoming trips. First we are headed to Bali, Indonesia at the end of July, and then Ireland at the end of August. We've been spending a lot of time online researching both destinations in hopes that we can make the best of our time in each place.

Yesterday we spent the morning at the hospital. No worries, though, the hospital is visited for basic doctor needs here. Sara's back has been messed up, with pain shooting up her whole right side. I messed my right knee up in rugby in college, and it's been causing me some trouble since our 108 prostrations at the Buddhist temple.

I must say that the costs of hospital visits here are awesome. Before insurance was taken into account, it cost a total of $70 for both of us (and I got x-rays taken). Insurance will cover all of that too. I hope the US can come up with a similar system soon. Had it not been so expensive, I would have got my knee looked at in America when it first happened, and I wouldn't still be having issues with it.

We have 11 weeks left here in Korea. We started with 52 weeks, and now we only have 11 weeks. It's definitely zooming by. It's going to be torture leaving this place and our kids, but it will certainly be nice being with friends and family and Taco Bell again.

The laptop battery is about to run out. Much love to you all!

Any Suggestions?

2009-06-09T10:24:00.002-04:00

We are trying to figure out somewhere to spend a week or so when our time is finished in Korea. We are wanting some 'debriefing' time before we are back with everyone. We are wanting somewhere relaxing, probably by mountains or the ocean, and that is in a somewhat close time zone to Indiana. Some of the place we've talked about are: Seattle, Vancouver, Denver, Portland, Quebec City, or Costa Rica.

Any suggestions???

2 Years

2009-06-08T09:52:00.011-04:00

We are celebrating two years today. Two years of blissful marriage spent together. It's the most wonderful thing to live life with your best friend. I'm so thankful for the beautiful, loving wife that God gave to me. She is such a gift. A treasured gift. Cheers to you and to us, Princess...

Our Guest

2009-06-04T07:06:00.026-04:00

Hello all! Sara here. Well... we just sent my mom back to America after her two weeks in Korea with us. Sad face. It was an incredible time with her! Just couldn't have been any more perfect. We all felt so blessed by the time. Thought I'd give ya a little peak into our Korean-style party together.

Here's us on the subway right after we picked Mom up from the airport. What a reunion!! I'll never forget freaking her out because I practically jumped on her when I saw her. We both screamed at the time, her out of fear and me out of excitement.

We celebrated my birthday together that night with Fannie May (our favorite American candy)

Mom's first Korean meal... galbi! She was great at trying new food and rocked at using her chopsticks :) She's showing off her mad skills here.

At the bus stop, on our way to Mom's first day of school with us.

Mom fell in love with our kiddos. I think I can safely say that these three are her favorites. Julie from Jonah's kindergarten class, my kindergartner Lucy, and Danny, the only boy that I have in my 4:00 elementary class. The feelings were quite mutual for Danny, who wanted to play his violin for my mom. So endearing. Mom loved seeing us in teaching action and meeting our kids after hearing all our stories about them. She spent lots of time in our classes and went to the park with us during our outside classes. It was so fun to share this part of our lives with her. Here's her with both of our kindergarten classes too. (P.S. Mom got some great pictures and footage of us with our kids while she was here. For another post.)

We spent our first Saturday together in Insadong. We saw a palace that once belonged to kings and queens. Got to see a few cool reenactments. Went to a Buddhist temple. Did a bunch of souvenir shopping and enjoyed a Korean tea shop.

My Korean friend, Gyeong Hee and her boyfriend InBong, took us out for dinner the next day. They introduced us to this quaint, traditional Korean place. TONS of food. I'll brag for a moment and let you know that I ate a silk worm here. I don't recommend it :) They bought all three of us hand-made pottery from the restaurant. They are two of the most giving people I know. It was a precious time with them and I'm so glad Mom got to meet my Korean friend.

Mom spent her days, while we were teaching, in and out of school. And just having some must-needed relaxing time. Found "her spot" where she started off each day with a Dunkin Donuts coffee. I think it was quite refreshing for her. It was fun to know that she was just down the street from me while I taught... and fun when she randomly popped into my room in the middle of class. Loved it. One day, she even faired a taxi on her own and went to see the General MacArthur statue and Chinatown.

Galbi #2- our last meal with Laura and first meal with Graham (our new teacher)

Other things we did during the week: my yoga class, three-handed cribbage, Mr. Pizza, our favorite chinese place, laughing fits, Whoever, dancing (thanks to Cristi), and girl time manicures. Check out those nails :)

Our second Saturday we spent all day in Suwon at the Korean Folk Village. It was a gorgeous day and there was tons to see. It's set up like Korean villages would have been back in the day. We saw quite a few cool shows too: traditional dancing and music, see-saw acrobatics, old military horse routines, and a traditional wedding ceremony.

We had to do TWO shopping trips for Mom because she loved it so much. Ha! She was fascinated with the escalators that lock the carts in place. "Look, no hands!"

Mom and I woke up Sunday morning and hiked the mountain that's a five minute walk from our house. It was a fun mommy/daughter time. And seriously, we couldn't have had more perfect weather for her entire trip. Spent the afternoon all together at a park, reading and throwing the frisbee. Gyeong Hee and InBong came over for one last goodbye, of course with gifts, those sweethearts.

Here's our last picture together... awww. On our way to Mom's last day of school with us.

It was just a beautiful, incredible, refreshing, perfect time with Mom in Korea. We couldn't have asked for anything more. It was just wonderful. Thanks, Dad, for sending her our way. I will treasure the memories of Mom in Korea with us forever and ever.

Until next time, love to you all.

Laughing

2009-05-31T09:38:00.003-04:00

We have had so much fun with Sara's mom the past two weeks. We have been treasuring every moment with her. She only has one more day, but we'll make sure to blog about our adventures afterwards. Here is a video that depicts our time together pretty well. I've never seen two people enjoy losing at cribbage so much...

Also, my baby sister Mary is graduating from high school today. We're so proud of her! If you know her, send her some love.

A Little Dream I Have

2009-05-21T08:22:00.005-04:00

I have grown up with a family that loves to garden. Every year, my dad produces quite the vegetables. Tomatoes and lettuce and peas and broccoli... and strawberries too! They are unbelievably delicious. My dad gets out the rototiller every year, toils at the soil, and plants the many seeds. My family actually began to munch on the succulent strawberries this past week.

Both of my parents also like to landscape around our house. They are especially fond of the corner of our property, where beautiful flowers and bushes surround an evergreen tree. I'm thankful that they care about flowers and gardening and such.

I have a dream to have a garden too. I want to have a huge, somewhat secluded garden. I always find spiritual renewal when I am in nature, particularly great gardens. I want my garden to be like a temple. I want my garden to offer spiritual renewal to myself and others. I want Buddhists and Christians and Hindus and Muslims and Atheists and everyone else to come and be refreshed. I picture shrub walls with benches in cozy places. Trees with fresh fruit on them, free for the picking. Places to kneel, places to walk. Places to be silent, places to talk. Maybe a library nearby with various books of wisdom and spirituality.

Sara and I want to own a coffee shop one day, so maybe this will be an add-on to that. Or maybe we'll have it on our property somewhere. I've had this dream for several years, but it's come to my mind numerous times recently. I'm reading The Odyssey right now, and for some reason, reading it continues to re-prompt this desire.

I'll let you know when the garden is in the development stage. Maybe we can then grab a cup of coffee together and talk about how we can make the world a better place.

How can we make the world a better place? How can we bring heaven to Earth?

On another note, Sara's Mom is here, and we are having a great time. We had galbi tonight, and we're taking her to the jimjilbang tomorrow. She's also going to come to Kid's College with us tomorrow. It's such a treat to be able to truly share our experience with her. If you don't know her, you should; she's fun.

Field Trip and Mexican

2009-05-16T05:02:00.004-04:00

It's been a rough week here at Kid's College. We've mentioned problems with management before, but we are really getting tired of being taken advantage of. While we wouldn't trade this experience for anything, our employers have made it pretty difficult for us at times. That being said, we did have a rather good day on Friday.

It was Field Trip Day. Field trips are always looked forward to by us teachers. We can be with the students we love outside of the classroom. For this field trip, we went to Incheon Grand Park, which is a ginormous park with tons of flowers and trails. The kids had a lot of fun, and it was time well spent with them. They are the ones that keep us in Korea.

Sara and her kids:

My kids:

Afterwards, we headed to Sinchon to eat at On the Border. It was Abbi's birthday Friday, and it will be Sara's birthday on Tuesday. We celebrated with the most delicious Mexican food.

Sara's Mom is coming to visit on Wednesday, and we are so excited to share our home with her. So excited!

We just finished watching "Good Night and Good Luck", and we really enjoyed it.

My brother Timothy's birthday is on Sunday and Sara's is on Tuesday. Make sure to wish them happy birthdays.

Peace to you.

China

2009-05-06T06:37:00.010-04:00

Nee how! (That's 'hello' in Chinese) I, Sara, do have to say... I feel like quite the world traveler these days. We spent four days in Beijing this past weekend. Traveled with two of our co-workers and another couple, along with our driver, Master Dong, and our tour guide, Sarah. A great group; we got along very well.

Had a two hour flight; just a hop, skip, and a jump away from us. The weather was perfect in China, sunny and hot. We flew in and hit up The Temple of Heaven right away. This is where the emperor went a few times a year to pray for good harvest. It kept blowing us away that we were walking along places that were made so long ago. Such history... we sure don't have that in our own country.

From the temple, I had my first taste of REAL Chinese food. Incredible! Jonah has always talked about how American Chinese food doesn't compare to the real stuff... he's right. Saw the Chinese acrobats afterwards. Yet again incredible. Checked into our hotel next. So, we somehow ended up in a 5-star hotel. The most beautiful hotel I've ever been in. Needless to say, we felt like an emperor and empress every time we "came home" throughout the weekend.

Jonah, here. We started the next day with the Summer Palace. This is where the emperors chilled. It was this incredible complex that surrounded this massive lake. I decided here that I want to be an emperor when I grow up.

From the Summer Palace, we headed to a pearl factory. We were educated on pearls and how to tell real ones from fake ones. Sara got herself a beautiful pair of pearl earrings here.

Next, we headed to a Hutong. Hutongs are areas of old old China that haven't been changed as the rest of China is modernizing. The streets are just big enough for a rickshaw to get through, and the houses are dinky, sharing a common area in the middle of them. We rode through the alleys on a bicycle cart. It was fun and romantic.

From here, we headed to the Forbidden City, also known as the Imperial Palace. This is where the emperors lived other parts of the year. It has 9,999 rooms. Yes, it was huge. It was so ornate too. I feel like the palaces here in Korea don't compare to how ornate they are in China. We got to see the massive courtyards and the emperor's throne and oh so many other beautiful buildings.

From here, we headed straight to Tian'anmen Square. I've seen so many pictures of this important place in China, and it was so crazy to be standing in front of the famed picture of Chairman Mao (the guy who brought Communism to China). Just crazy.

Next we went to a silk factory and were again educated on another one of China's products. I was so ignorant about silk. Silk comes from the cocoon of the silkworm. It takes like 2000 silkworms to make one silk dress. We bought Sara this gorgeous red and black dress. Thank you silkworms for giving your lives for us... :)

Afterwards we headed to the Peking Opera. The music was... awful. Just awful. I've never heard sounds like that before, and I don't ever want to do so again. There were some cool costumes and acrobatics in it, and the male singers were actually pretty good. But the female singers..... holy moley.... they were terrible.

We went back to our palace of a hotel and started bright and early the next morning. We started off with a hike on the Great Wall. THE Great Wall. It was amazing, incredible, and breathtaking to be hiking on this wall. It was built before Jesus even came to Earth. Over 2000 years old. Now that's old. I've always pictured the Great Wall as flat, but the part we were on was a steep climb up the whole time. It was well worth the effort, though. What an experience it was!

Next we went to a jade factory and were again educated on another one of China's products. Nothing was bought here, though, as it was all quite a bit out of the price range. Quite a bit.

We headed from here to the site of the 2008 Olympics. We got to see the Bird's Nest and the Cube, as well as other Olympic buildings. They were spectacular, much cooler even than they were on television.

Sara's back. All in all, we had just an incredible trip (I know I keep using that word, but it's the best one to use to describe it all). It's bizarre to me that just the other day I was in another country, one very different from the one I'm currently in. China is a beautiful country. Here's our final picture: the group, along with our super sweet tour guide.

Jonah created an AWESOME slide show of our trip. You're in for quite a treat :) Keep in mind, we took 500 pictures during the trip... so sometime we'll have to show them all to you. But until then, Jonah did a great job slimming the amount of pictures down. The quality is not the best on YouTube, but you'll get the idea. Enjoy :)

China here we come...

2009-05-01T10:39:00.003-04:00

Hey all! Just wanted to remind you we're heading off to China in the morning :) We're super excited. Who says that... "We're going to China tomorrow" ?? We're living a crazy life over here. Can't wait to tell you all about it. Love to each of you from your world-traveling McDonoughs.

My Korean Friend

2009-04-27T05:26:00.004-04:00

I had lunch with my new Korean friend yesterday. Her name is Gyeong Hee. She is a friend of Jolynn's and Jolynn kind of "passed her on" to me when she left Korea.

I planned to buy her a bouquet of flowers on my way to her home. (That's what you do in Korea, you always take some sort of gift if you are going to someone's house. I love that bit of culture here and want to take that home to America with me). But both of the flower shops were closed. I was feeling a little embarrassed, but I picked her some flowers on the way instead. She LOVED them! However, it's 'illegal' to pick flowers off the street here... so we had a good laugh over that cultural mistake.

I can't say how nice it is to have a Korean friend outside of work. There are really wonderfully incredible people here in Korea... I didn't realize that :) I think I get such a stereotype of Koreans due to only interacting with the ones that we work with/for. But Gyeong Hee is just a beautiful women, inside and out. She is giving, so very giving, and caring. Loyal.

We had a really special time together; we were together for 4 hours. Her English isn't perfect, and of course neither is my Korean, and we pulled out the Korean/English dictionary quite a few times to aid us in explaining ourselves. But it wasn't the work and effort that I thought it was going to be. It was comfortable and refreshing. We gave each other "lessons" on our own languages. Got to know each other a lot better; I feel so close to her already. Anyway, just wanted to introduce you to my new special friend, Gyeong Hee.

May you meet a few friend today that you can love on and feel love from.

Love to you from Korea.

Ray Stevens

2009-04-26T02:43:00.003-04:00

My family used to watch these videos all the time when I was younger. They're ridiculous, and yet they still make me laugh.

Enjoy some McDonough favs...

Saturday Afternoon

2009-04-25T01:45:00.002-04:00

It's 3pm, and I must say, I've been quite productive today. I've had a nap and watched a movie! We were planning on going to Insadong tonight for the Lantern Festival, but 4 hours on a subway didn't sound the greatest. So we watched Little Rascals and then I took an hour nap. Last night, we went to Popeyes for some fried chicken and then to the movies. We hadn't been to the movies since before Christmas, so it was a nice night out. We saw "Knowing" (Nicholas Cage movie). It was good a good end-of-the-world movie and it had an interesting ending.

I'm not really sure what our weekend entails, probably a lot of lounging around and reading.

Life's been seeming a bit monotonous here lately, and I don't like that. We go to school, come home and eat, read a little, go to bed, and then wake up and do it all over again. The weekends are nice to break up the monotony, but I'm just ready for a change.

We go to China in a week, so that will be a nice break.

Books I'm reading:

"The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" by John Boyne

"Jesus Wants to Save Christians" by Rob Bell

I just finished "The Mysterious Benedict Society". It was a great novel, and I would highly recommend it.

Oh I almost forgot, I've got a little crush in my kindergarten class. On Thursday she handed me a picture she drew of me and her. On the top of the paper she had written some Korean. I asked someone to translate it, and it said "Mr. Jonah and Julie, Congratulation on Marriage". Hahaha.

Much love to you!

-J.

Bukansan and Jonah's Accident

2009-04-19T00:52:00.004-04:00

Hey there! It's Sunday afternoon, a beautiful spring day, listening to a little Beethoven as I type to you. We had a fun adventure climbing a mountain yesterday that I wanted to tell ya about. Did a pretty intense hike with the other English teachers and Mr Lee in Seoul. It's weird... right in the middle of this huge city is an incredibly huge and beautiful mountain. So yeah, about 5 hours of hiking. A little scary even at times, pretty hard. These beautiful purple flowers are in bloom and covering every inch of the mountain right now so the view was just gorgeous. And it was a perfect day for a hike: warm with a nice breeze. I even got the first sun burn of the year!

Jonah throwing rocks at us down below... how typical of him :)

Here is what's at the peak of the mountain. This huge rock; the pictures don't do it justice. Koreans call it Love Rock. It's a reminder to love others around us. It was quite the rock, just sitting on this mountain peak.

The men, trying to push the rock over the side of the mountain. Unsuccessful.

Jonah finding a better, more sneaky way down.

So had just at awesome hike and a great day with co-workers. Good conversations, good weather, good company, good exercise. However, the day didn't really end as we had hoped. Jonah had a nice spill on a slippery rock next to the creek and landed on his wrist right at the end of the hike. We ended up in the hospital for three hours. And Jonah walked out with a micro-fracture in his wrist and a huge, bandaged arm. It's not as bad as it looks, but he is in some pain. And it's totally an inconvenience, especially working with kids. He's not looking forward to school tomorrow. But you know Jonah, he's having a great attitude about it all. Hopefully he'll lose the "cast" after a few weeks and the injury should just heal on it's own. Look how pitiful he is :)

Other than Jonah's sad arm, we're doing great though. The weather is just awesome these days and makes everything seem more bearable :) We're pumped about heading to China in less than 2 weeks, and then my mom will be here a few weeks after that. Just loving life: soaking up our last 4 months here (crazy, huh?!), loving on our kids, enjoying each other's company, making more friends, seeing the world... what could be better, right?! Well... maybe Cinnamon Toast Crunch and our family... but we're doing well here :) Love to you all from the McDonoughs.

China

2009-04-17T07:28:00.002-04:00

Blindside is screaming in my ear, and I'm at one of my favorite places sipping on a caramel white mocha. The weekend has finally arrived. Oh, I get so antsy to get out of work on Fridays. It's nice to be free... for a couple of days. We're going hiking in Seoul tomorrow with the other teachers and Mr. Lee. Should be a fun day.

We just found out that we are going to get two days off in May for Buddha's birthday and Children's Day. This is great, because Korea usually has a bunch of holidays, but all of them land on a Saturday this year. We decided to take advantage of the four day weekend, and today we booked a flight to Beijing. So in two weeks, we're going to be seeing the Great Wall of China, Tian'anmen Square, The Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, and other fun things of Beijing. It's funny that we're just hopping over to China for a couple of days. No big deal. Ha. We're pretty stoked about it.

I love the weekends!

One Last "Happy Easter"

2009-04-14T07:56:00.003-04:00

Hey ya'll! In all the hubbub of the temple stay, we didn't get to post any pictures of our Easter egg hunt at school, and most importantly, the cookie decorating contest. Story behind this: at Easter time, my mom has always made the best sugar cookies in shapes of bunnies and carrots and then our family decorates them together. For fun, my parents sent us a "cookie decorating kit" with a some cookies and decorating supplies, since we weren't there for it this year. So now we want YOU to vote on the best cookie. The first cookie is Jonah's, the second is mine. What do you think... who should win?!?!

It was interesting talking about the real meaning of Easter with our kids. How do you explain the story of Jesus dying and coming back to life? It was a challenge but very rewarding. We also had an Easter egg hunt at school. Here's a few of pics of the kids hunting for eggs.

Here's my kids coloring boiled eggs (Not with dye, with crayons. Boo :( But it was still fun. They enjoyed it and were really into it.)

I'll leave you with this. Check out this quickie video that I snuck of my kids while they colored their eggs. They didn't know I was taping. Twinkle Twinkle is a "family favorite." I know I'm a little biased, but... could they be ANY cuter?!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgGqVJ8uMPQ

Love to you each of you.

Buddhist Temple Stay

2009-04-12T07:19:00.010-04:00

(This is quite a long post, but we hope you find the time to read about our enlightening experience...)

Happy Easter to you (yesterday). Ironically, we spent our Easter morning reading the Bible on the steps of a Buddhist Temple.

We spent the last two days at a Buddhist temple, getting a taste of Korean culture and religion. It was quite an experience, so we're going to write this post together.

S: Hey all! I'm here too :)

Started the trip off with a short hike up to an old Buddhist pagoda and laid around on these ancient looking rocks for a bit. It was a beautiful spot.

J: The view was incredible...

J: We arrived at the temple and were given monastic wear. Very stylish.

S: Our first thing after orientation was a Silent Walk. We walked through the woods in complete silence and extremely slow. It's a three step walk- pick up your foot, move it forward in the air, set it down, next foot, etc. We were told to think only of the work that our feet are doing, to strive to clear our minds of all stress/other thoughts and think only of the present. Here's the thing... I almost never think in the present. I feel as if I am always thinking about the future: "I need to plan my classes for next week right now... I should go to the bathroom now so I won't have to go next break... What the heck am I gonna be doing in the fall?" Always thinking in the future. It was awesome to be in the woods (a place where I feel God the most), telling myself "That tree is beautiful... I hear birds singing... I am walking." Everything in the present. I want to live in the present more.

J: We were near the front of the line, so we were able to see everyone else coming out of the woods. It was a cool sight to see this line of people walking so slowly and so quietly. Then when we got to the field, we yelled at the mountain three times to release the rest of our negative feelings. They told us "When a cup is full of water, you can't put more water in the cup. Similarly, when you are full of negative feelings, you aren't able to put positive feelings in your body." I really liked focusing on clearing my mind. I feel like my mind is so cluttered a lot of the times.

S: Buddhists are very into bowing: to each other, to the monks, when they walk into any room. I've always thought bowing was an act of worship or form of hierarchy for them. However, it's about showing respect to others and humbling yourself. I like this. What if we were always acting out of humility and respect for others?

J: Yeah, when I bowed, I felt like I was honoring the person or place where I was at...

S: Very other-centered and not self-centered. Here's the temple building that we spent the most time in.

J: There were also several other buildings/temples on the premises. One of them housed a huge drum, and another one housed a huge bell. They ring the bell several times in the morning and at night to save the beings in hell. I'm not sure how a bell saves someone from hell, but we got to ring it, and it had a very huge resonance. It was cool.

S: Dinner was next. Monks eat very blandly and non-extravagant. They are also very cautious about not leaving even a grain of rice. I can proudly say that I ate every single bit of all three meals :)

J: So after dinner, we went back to the temple for tea-time. We chanted a little first. It was something in Korean, and I'm not sure what we said...ha.

S: It was eerie.

J: Lotus tea was served to us and the monk asked us all what our dreams are. This was one of my favorite parts. Everyone (40 of us) went around the room and said our life dream. Some were more specific and personal, and others were more broad. I felt like it was so powerful for people to truly think about their life dream and voice it to others. We all have dreams and I think they vary from one stage of life to another. Several of the activities that followed were concentrated on helping us fulfill our life dream. I think so many times, as a Christian, I ask God to help me with something, but I don't take any personal action on it. I think it's great to ask God to give us strength, but I think we need to put forth that strength. It was neat thinking about my life dream, and thinking of steps to achieve that.

S: Here's what we walked into the temple to after dinner. Almost creepy-looking, huh?

J: Yet, somehow sort-of reverent.

S: So let's talk about prostrations. This was the coolest thing of the whole weekend for me.

J: Me too.

S: It's getting on 9pm, we're getting sleepy and thinking about how freaking early we're going to have to wake up the next day (3am), and we still have to do our 108 prostrations. 108 is a significant number in Buddhism, but too long to go into. Now we're not just talking about 108 bows and you go on your way... we're talking on your knees, on the floor, on your face, hand motions, back on your knees, stand up, and do it all over again... 108 times. Intense. The purpose of prostrations can vary, but it's mostly to humble oneself. We also were asked to focus on our dreams as we went through the process. Monks sometimes do up to 10,000 prostrations a day... I don't know HOW they do it. My legs are killing me.

J: Yeah my legs are still hurtin for certain (that's for you, Dad). So my life dream, the purpose of my life, is to have a happy, healthy family, as well as to somehow help others do the same. 108 prostrations are really felt on the body. It's hard. But so is life and achieving one's dream. It takes work, humility, and perseverance. I felt all of those in the midst of the prostrations. It was cool, too, because here I am bowing in a Buddhist temple, and I'm crying out to my God to help me achieve my dream. With every prostration, I focus on something particular. God, help me be a good husband. Prostration. Help me be a good daddy. Prostration. Oh God, help me be a good son, a good brother. God help me have a healthy marriage. Help my marriage reflect your love for humanity. Help me help others. And all the while, I'm not just crying out to God, but I'm setting within myself a desire, a purpose, and perseverance to achieve this. My knees hurt, but by golly I'm going to do 108 prostrations. Life sucks sometimes, but by golly I'm going to achieve my dream. I feel like our dreams are the core of our existence, and we should be focusing on achieving them every day. What's your dream?

S: Well Jonah, I'll tell you mine :) I feel like I have so many dreams for my life; things I hope to accomplish. I was having a hard time narrowing down to one. In all of my dreams however, in every stage of my life, I would hope that I would be a joyful, positive person. I considered myself a positive person... and then I came to Korea. I feel like I've somewhat lost it here. Like I've become more negative, more "complainy." No matter what dream I'm accomplishing at the time being, I want to be positive, be joyful in trials and frustrations, be happy and content in the moment. It's easy to be down, to be negative, to complain... but it's the harder, and more rewarding road, to be joyful no matter the circumstance. It was interesting to be focusing on this dream as I was "hurtin for certain" over prostrations. I was not only going to do every single 108 prostration, but I was going to do it with joy in my heart. The joy of the Lord is my strength, I was reminded of that this weekend. I, too, found myself praying through my prostrations, humbling myself before God, wanting to have His joy in my life. Wanting His joy to bubble over in me. How different would my life look if I didn't sweat the small stuff... if I would let small things slide... if I would have a positive outlook instead of a negative one (especially in my current job)? The joy of the Lord is my strength.

J: That banner was among many on our way up the steep hill to the prostration temple. I thought it was really comical. Every time I see it, it brings out a chuckle. :)

On another note, we went to bed at 10:30 and woke up at 3am. It was early. We did some more chanting and prostrations. This time, there were other Buddhists there. Here I am prostrating next to someone who subscribes to this philosophy. This is all very real to her.

S: Next, we did 20 minutes of silent meditation. The monk had a stick to slap our shoulders with if we fell asleep. If this happened, we were told to bow to the monk in thankfulness that they had woken us up. Such dedication these people have; I so admire it. 20 minutes of silence is so hard. I tried hard to clear my mind, but drifted many times. However, this is a practice that I hope to incorporate into my life more. I don't clear my mind enough; it's so often a cluttered, chaotic mess. I like the idea of combining meditation and pray in my life.

J: 20 minutes is difficult, but 20 minutes in a yoga position with your legs falling asleep and back aching is a little more so. Though, I too hope to practice this more in my life. There's something about being in that position that makes my mind more aware or something.

S: Here's us having a traditional Buddhist meal. It's extremely strict, no talking, don't waste a thing, eat from this bowl, clean this bowl first, ya da ya da. Cool experience.

J: Then there were three of us who got to drink tea and chat with one of the monks. I was fortunate enough to be one of those. We just sat and talked about life and Buddhism. It was really cool and 'enlightening'.

S: Next, we made lotus lanterns. They are symbolic for purification and are usually lit up in temples and such.

J: Arts and crafts time. It was fun.

J: Finally, we were given a string with 108 beads to make a necklace. Buddhists wear these beads as a reminder of their dreams and a couple other reasons. We didn't just sit and make the necklace though, we did the prostrations again. One bow for one bead. Did we mention our legs are in a lot of pain today? :)

S: This was a pretty cool process. I prayed over my beads as I strung them and prostrated for each one. Prayed over dreams that I have, desires, our future. It was a very cool time of prayer. My necklace hangs in our kitchen and will forever be a reminder of this incredible weekend. I snuck a picture of Jonah stringing his necklace and prostrating.

S: There are so many beautiful things about this religion. Namely, it's respect for others and it's humility of the self. I appreciate certain acts such as meditation and prostration. The devotion and care that they put into their belief is so incredible and powerful. I desire it in my own life. I do feel there's still a bit of emptiness to it, namely, not having God in the picture. I love that I've had this experience because I love the idea of putting the two religions into one, in a way. Jonah and I were talking before this weekend about finding bits of truths from all over, and I feel that this happened. I feel that I have acquired a little bit more truth to add to my journey. What if all religions have pieces of truth to offer to the others?

J: Such a cool experience. As we mentioned earlier, we took some time to read the Easter story from our Bible on the steps of the following temple. One of the Buddhist helpers came up to us and asked us what we were reading. We told him it was a special day for our faith, and we were reading the Bible. He smiled and told us to enjoy our time and walked away. I was struck by this, because I don't think I would have had the same reaction if a Buddhist was doing something similar in a church. Sara and I yearn for religious respect, though. My God is not housed in a church, and I don't think he would be any more offended if a Buddhist was doing their thing in a church or a Buddhist temple.

I feel like there were some really valuable things that I took from this weekend that I will apply to my faith. I would think that if I lived life alongside a Buddhist, we would be able to mutually benefit each other's spiritual life.

I passed by a school today on the way to work and the students were outside, standing in lines with their heads bowed. I don't think that a specific religion was being enforced, but rather a time to honor their individual spirituality.

I think that America has been so wounded by religion, particularly by some who profess Christianity, that many in our nation hate anything to do with religion. I think we need redemption in this area. We need to be able to honor our spirituality and be okay that everyone doesn't believe the same thing as ourselves. We need to realize that religion doesn't have to be negative. Not shy away from our faith, but not be forceful, and let the way we live our life do most (very near to all) of the talking.

S: Here's us with the monk that Jonah got to hang out with. What a beautiful woman.

J: So the temple experience was amazing, but we had an even more amazing experience on our way back.

That's right. Papa-freaking-John's Pizza. We didn't know that it existed here in Korea, and boy did it exist. 108 prostrations are great and all, but it doesn't get any better than Papa John's and a cold Coca-Cola.

It's cherry blossom season here, and there are trees everywhere full of the white blooms. Some streets are just lined with tree after tree. So beautiful.

Thanks for taking the time to read our thoughts. May you find Truth today. May you chase after your dream. May you clear your mind from negativity. May you bring peace to yourself and those around you. May you love.

-Jonah & Sara

Good Friday and Buddhism

2009-04-10T09:27:00.002-04:00

Good Friday.

This Easter and Good Friday are quite a bit different than ones I've experienced before. It was a good day at school today. It was challenging, but good, to try to explain the Easter story to children who speak minimal English. Being children, their attention span is generally pretty low, but they were all alert and quiet when we tried to explain the story to them. I think they sort of understood.

That being said, we leave tomorrow to stay two days at a Buddhist temple. Kind of a weird way to spend Easter, I know. We are going to experience the life of a Buddhist monk for two days. We're nervous and excited about having this opportunity. Nervous because we have no idea what to expect. Excited to better understand the culture here, and maybe have some spiritual moments.

I think for my whole life I have had this mindset that it's the Christians versus everybody else. I have thought Buddhists and Hindus and Muslims and everybody else were all enemies of my faith. In fact, my first trip to Asia in 2000 was to convert these heathen Buddhists to my faith........

But what if we aren't enemies at all. What if we all have bits and pieces of the truth. What if we are missing truth because of the source it comes from. My views on all of this are changing a lot.

Don't get me wrong, I believe that Jesus is The Way. THE Way. (Side note: The Way has brought new meaning to me recently...but that's a different post for a different time). I just think that we are missing out on certain truths.

So if you think about it, pray or think or do what ever you do for us this weekend. Pray that we would be open to truth, regardless of its form. Pray for peace and rest. That's always needed after a week of teaching at Kid's College. We'll be sure to post about our experience.

Happy Easter to you. May it be a time of reflection and spiritual renewal for you.

-Jonah

Missing

2009-04-07T07:51:00.003-04:00

I'm missing home and my family and my friends and chocolate chip cookies and familiar streets and good restaurants and English and campfires and Lake Michigan and Anderson University and Texas Roadhouse and Scatterfield and living in the same time zone and people people people and familiarity and live television and going to the movies and an oven and living in a house and Walmart and couches and dryers and America and....

I'm missing.....

Old Skool

2009-04-05T03:00:00.004-04:00

For my birthday this year, I got an iTunes gift card and bought a bunch of old songs I used to listen to back in the day. It's Sunday afternoon here, and we turn on our Old Skool playlist on our MacBook computer. The Red Hot Chili Peppers sing to us, as we start our game of Farkle. Farkle is a dice game, sort of like Yahtzee. 10,000 points wins the game. Sara has 9,800 points... and I have 9,800 points. We go back and forth and eventually she rolls a straight. 1-2-3-4-5-6. 1500 points. Ahhh.... she takes the victory.

Being the loving husband that I am, I give her a long, well-deserved victory kiss. We lay on our hardwood floor, and I grab our pink blanket to use as a pillow. She puts her head on my shoulder, and we just lay, listening to our Old Skool playlist.

Jewel sings to us. "You were meant for me, and I was meant for you." I look down at my wife and can't think of a better line for the way I am feeling.

"Beverly Hills" by Weezer comes on. My mind drifts to Oktoberfest 2006. Sam Cone's band is covering this song. They sound great, and the crowd loves them. Oh, what I would give for a deep-fried twinkie right now.

Whitney Houston joins the fun, and I remember working at Starbucks (2007), trying to make my job more enjoyable by bursting out "and I will always love you". Erin Sprunger and the other baristas just roll their eyes at me and laugh.

I'm jolted from my day dreaming by "Can't Touch This". My mind drifts again to Cornerstone Festival--some time in the late nineties. MC Hammer is supposed to be on stage, but he's hours late. Finally, at like one o'clock in the morning, he takes the stage. This was in his post-bankrupt, I'm-a-Christian-now days. My older brother Samuel somehow manages to get on stage with the Hammer and does a little dance with the man himself.

"Good Riddance, Time of Your Life" by Green Day comes on, and my mind goes to Community Drive, 2003. I'm in my 1987 maroon, old-lady, Buick LeSabre. The fabric from the ceiling is drooping, hitting my head, and I'm driving home from school. My last semester of high school is almost over. I try to imagine what I'll be doing or where I'll be in a couple years. I never would have imagined I'd be in South Korea in 2009.

Hootie and the Blowfish start singing, and my mind goes to Kip Ude's house, sometime in the late nineties. Kip lived across the street from Zach Tatlock, one of my best friends when I was younger. Kip had a nice house, and he had cool things to play with. He had a pinball machine, a pool table, and a coke bottle machine in his basement. He also had an old Pac-Man arcade game in his bedroom. I loved that game. Kip also listened to good music. I borrowed his Hootie CD, as well as his Green Day CD. I took them home, put them in Samuel's big black stereo, and recorded them onto cassette tapes. The good old days.

Aerosmith's "I Don't Want to Miss a Thing" comes on, and I snap to the present, thinking of the woman in my arms. She's drifted to sleep. She amazes me how she can fall asleep anywhere at any time. I hold her, and I can't tell the difference between my breathing and hers.

At the current moment, I don't want to be any other place with any other person.

Rocket Launched

2009-04-05T00:07:00.002-04:00

Well North Korea launched their rocket, and we're not dead yet. That's comforting.

2009-03-28T08:29:00.002-04:00

For you old skoolers..... Michael Tait is the new lead singer of the Newsboys....

what??