Saturday, November 21, 2009

Giving Thanks

I am certain that these days many are taking time to give thanks in light of the coming holiday. Of course, we know that we are to "give thanks ALWAYS" - but at this season we are reminded to share with others what we are thankful for.

This post is actually about a month overdue, and would be much better if coming from the fingertips of my better half, but as he is so busy these days, I, Jen, decided to share how God has so graciously provided for us.

Cory finished up his 2nd contract at Gumgye Elementary School in August. He had been commuting about an hour one way for 8 months and planned to find work closer to our new home. He had several plans - you know, there's always a fall-back. Well, even his fall-back plan kind of fell apart due to paperwork issues.

So, August came and went and we really didn't know what we'd do. If I remember right, the week he finished his former job, my principal asked me if he'd be available for substitute teaching. We were in need of a 2 week sub. The timing was perfect and Cory was able to fill the spot.

Not long after that my school hired Cory part time to help with the registrar/records work in the office and to be available to sub as needed. Cory is so good with organization and data, so to his wife, it was perfect!

Cory has also started to look into Masters programs here in Korea ... so working part time seemed like it would free him up for taking classes and studying.


In mid-October Cory got a call from a Korean friend of ours who is a professor at a nearby Korean University. They were looking for a native English speaker to fill a part time position in their career counseling office. After some pushing paperwork and several visits to immigration, Cory now has an afternoon part time job at Chung Ahn University!

What a blessing it has been! Cory stays really busy between his 2 jobs, access to the university fitness center, an evening Korean class once a week, and working on our church's website. However, we are SO thankful! He is thankful, I think, for a break from the classroom, AND he might enter the Masters program at the university he is now working for!


Well, you must be on information overload. And you must also be wishing Cory had indeed written this post himself. It certainly would have been more succinct. Oh, well.

We thank YOU for reading our blog and wish you a lovely Thanksgiving holiday! We are blessed with some military friends who we'll be joining for a turkey dinner this year! Cory has to TAKE the day off, but he gets the day nonetheless!

God Bless!

Monday, November 9, 2009

A Weekend Away ... Seoraksan National Park

Before the hike




A group of teachers from our school went away this past weekend on an overnight hiking trip. We left Friday evening and drove about 4 hours east to Seoraksan, the 3rd highest mountain in South Korea according to Wikipedia.




We slept in a hotel Friday night, rose early the next morning for breakfast and then started on our trek! Although it seems that Fall is passing us by quickly, the colors were still quite vivid!



We hiked several hours up towards a unique rock formation called Ulsanbawi.

After quite a hike to the base of these rocks, Jen was ready to consider the trip successful. Above us rose metal staircases that seemed to disappear into the rocks.


Deciding she had come too far to turn back, she hiked up the steps (we've heard there are 800 total) and we happily made it to the top!



After descending all those steps and the mountain trail, we took a much easier trek to the cable car which took us to a different peak where we could enjoy the view and a bit more exploring.


We had a great time with co workers and enjoying God's creation! What a way to spend the weekend!