The Eulogy

Damian Paul Daniel Dyck

April 23, 1975

February 11, 2010

If you knew Daniel for very long then you would know the answer to this question: Why do blond nurses carry red markers? And the answer of course is “In case they have to draw blood.” Don’t remember that one? I’m sure if you think back you will recall at least one of the many jokes he loved to tell.

Daniel was born April 23, 1975. He has an older sister Tawny and two younger brothers, Justin and Cory. He went to school in Derby, where he graduated in 1994. After public school, he completed a course in independent living in Topeka, Ks. He tried out his newfound skills when he took up residence at the Timbers in Wichita and then several different apartments after that. Before leaving home he found work by starting his own businesses, one called Scoop-a Doo, and the other was Washing Windows. Once he was out in the workforce the jobs he held included Metal Fab, Center Industries, Goodwill, Ottaway Amusements and just about all of the fast food franchises. He became a father when his daughter Hailey was born on March 30, 2004, which was about the same time he took up residence in a nursing home for the first time.

The disease Daniel dealt with all of his life is called Neurofibromatosis, also known as NF. NF causes tumors to grow anywhere there are nerves in your body. Daniel was 3-years old when his condition was diagnosed. At that time we were told children born with the disease would not live past 2 years old. This is the first of many times Daniel went against the odds he would be faced with. Every new tumor presented its own unique challenges to his abilities and his life. Daniel met each of one those challenges head on. At the age of 13, radiation treatment on his optic nerve affected his eye sight, but Daniel enjoyed the drawings on the side of his head and his new medically induced mohawk. 12 years later another tumor resulted in the amputation of his left leg just below the knee, so Daniel would turn his prosthesis around and have one foot facing each way. In 2007, Daniel had the tumor on his spinal cord removed. Even with the possibility of paralysis, Daniel was joking with anyone who walked into the pre-op room. In January 2009 Daniel had one last surgery to remove the tumor on his cerebellum, which after 2 pathology reports, we were told it was cancerous. The prognosis of 9 months to 2 years did not affect Daniel’s determination to live each day the best that he could.

In spite of the many challenges Daniel faced and all that he accomplished as mentioned before, these things do not truly define the Daniel we all know. The Daniel we know always had a smile on his face. What he loved was life, people, and telling jokes to make people laugh. He was ornery and not afraid to try anything. Daniel was the little boy who lit a fire in Grandpa’s garage, in the trash can behind the shed out back and on the dining room table. He took a hammer to dad’s fifteen year anniversary watch (to fix it), and pumped up his bike tire so far it exploded. Even though he COULD NOT swim he loved to be in the water and would have a smile on his face the whole time he was going under. You may have answered the phone at 6 o’clock in the morning on a Saturday only to hear Daniel singing Happy Birthday to you. He managed to get himself and his bike to Moline, Kansas (a trip of about 86 miles) to visit a friend. Some of you may not be aware of the summer he joined the circus and visited 3 cities in southern Kansas. When asked by the circus if he would like to continue on with them to Florida, he respectfully declined saying, “My mom would not be very happy if I went that far.” He would go just about anywhere and was always open to new adventures, but at least in this instance he knew where to draw the line. I’m sure each of you could tell me of a time when you turned around to find Daniel in the least likely of places. We never knew what was next or where each day would lead us where Daniel was concerned.

But Daniel was also the guy who stopped in the middle of the race that he was winning at Special Olympics and went back to help his fallen opponent get up so they could both cross the finish line. He finished that race in last place, behind the runner who fell. He was the guy at church who passed out candy, gum or graham crackers to all the children. His junior year in high school Daniel earned one of his prized possessions, his school letter jacket, when he served as the girls basketball team manager. He was always ready to give a hug or tell a joke to make someone smile. He would be at the doctor’s office to learn about the severity of his latest tumor and what the treatment for it would be and Daniel would start the visit out by telling the staff all of his jokes. When the visit was over what he left behind were smiles on the faces of those he met.

Over the last few days the thing about Daniel that has been mentioned the most from those who knew him was his Smile. Here‘s another one of Daniel‘s jokes to leave you with: Why do the nurses tip toe past the medicine cabinet? “So they won’t wake up the sleeping pills.” It may seem Daniel did not have a lot to give, but he gave what he had without reservation. We hope the memories of Daniel leave you with a smile.

Daniel's Photeo

Taipei, Taiwan (Part 1)

Japanese airline workers are some of the nicest people in the world. Every time you fly through there, they all wave to your airplane as you taxi away from the gate! I wonder if they ever feel weird about it?

The weather in Seoul around the turn of the year was pretty (bitterly) cold. So when I made plans for Taiwan and saw that the weather should be in the fifties and sixties the whole week, I got super excited about wearing shorts and t-shirts. Now, either I haven't recovered from island life (it's been two and a half years!) or I get confused about the difference between F and C temperatures, but 50's and 60's aren't as warm as I thought they were. I told Eddy that "we packed like idiots." I had one pair of pants and Jen had three, but she's always colder than I am anyway. Regardless, my jeans were in desperate need of a wash by the time I came home.

The weather ended up being pretty rainy the whole week we were there, but it ended up working out pretty well. We didn't have to use an umbrella very often. We landed on Saturday and just chilled out on Sunday. But Monday was supposed to be clear and sunny so we decided to get the good stuff in on that day. We hopped a bus and then a train to Taipei 101 which was at one point the tallest building in the world.

Its name is derived from the fact that there are 101 floors in the building (the highest habitable floor is 94, but that's pretty high). We got to go up the day before the new skyscraper in Dubai opened up to the public. There was lots of interesting information about the tower on the observation level, but I won't bore you with the details. Check out the wiki on it if you're interested.

Even though it was a clear day, this was our view from the top.

Because the building is so tall, they have created a wind damper inside that is three stories tall and weighs 660 metric tons. The damper is suspended on cables and cushioned with hydraulic shocks to limit pendulum effects. It is designed to counteract the wind's effects on the skyscraper. It was also the first damper (many skyscrapers have them) to be opened for public viewing.

So what does a skyscraper look like on the inside? Well, in Taipei it looks like a ritzy shopping mall. We found out quite quickly that if Taipei had one overpowering characteristic, it was shops. You can buy just about anything, anywhere, at anytime. They have several night markets catering to different segments of the population and food to go along with it.

Jen loved it. She was able to find some shoes that actually fit for a reasonable price as well as some other things that we (she) hasn't been able to find in Korea.

Here's a question for you all: where is Taiwan? Could you explain it to someone?

And one more: is Taiwan a country or is it governed by another country?

Korea Makes the New York Times

It's really not that exciting. I've seen articles about Korea in the New York Times quite frequently. This is, however, the first time I've seen a Korean company get openly mocked by such a high profile website. See it here. I appreciate this little bit of fun-poking! Mostly because we see crap like this all the time from large companies like Samsung and LG and I've often wondered if the same ignorance occurs in my native land. Sure enough.

Since we're bashing Korea, I'll mention something else real quick. I recently purchased a PC monitor from the local tech market. I bought it for the church to use and I wanted to see what it looked like/would it work for what we needed it for. After connecting the cables and setting it up on the desk, I ran my fingers lightly around the frame to wipe off the dust, styrofoam, etc. I noticed a quality control sticker flutter down to the desk and picked it up just to make sure it wasn't important. It read, "Warranty Void If Removed." Crap hahaha. Yep, it's probably pretty crappy. This is the quality of inexpensive merchandise here.

Jen and I recently went to Taiwan and LOVED IT. Sure we packed for 80 degree temps and found 50 degree temps, sure it rained 5 of 7 days we were there, and sure there's only two things to do there, but it was fun! We'll try to put up some pictures. The pics I took on the iPhone have been uploaded to facebook. Jen took a lot more pictures with our point-and-shoot, and those will come later. We'll only put the best on this site, so check back again.

Happy New Year!

Catch UP!

Hello all you disappointed readers and followers! I know you check this blog every 3 hours or so to see if anything new has come up, and you're countenance falls multiple times each day. CHEER UP! It's the holidays! Christmas is breathing down our necks and New Years is lying in wait just a few days later! Be merry, but go easy on the eggnog.

What's been going on here in Korea! (Hold on, let me check the last time I posted.) WOW! I haven't posted since Sept. 23rd! It's been a full quarter of a year. Yikes. Well, it wasn't too long after that post that I began working officially as an office staffer at Jen's school. I head in with her in the mornings and contribute as much as I can before leaving at Noon. At first (through October), I donated a lot of time in the afternoons because there was stuff to be done and no REAL reason to go home (other than Xbox and blogging). Halfway through October, I received a call about a job opportunity in the afternoons working in the career development center of a local Korean University. I meet with young potential graduates to discuss their resumes and give tips about job interviews in English. It's a great job that gives me steady hours, good pay, and a visa so I can stay in the country with my wife! The university just happens to be one of the universities I had chosen as a potential Master's program in International Relations. I've been accepted to their school and will start classes around the beginning of March. I'm pretty excited about it. There are lots of things you can do with a International Relations degree, but I'm most excited about opportunities to travel and learn about other cultures. I just might even get the chance to make a difference in the world. The longer I live, the more I feel like I have ideas and methods to contribute.

Well, that pretty much brings us up to today. Christmas is the day after tomorrow. Both of our sets of parents were kind enough to ship us boxes for Christmas and we've been busy shopping for our families and each other. The tree might lose it's bottom layer of branches to make room for the rest of the gifts. :) We are blessed to have such awesome parents and siblings. We certainly feel loved.

So what else has happened lately? The United States Congress is "flipping the bird" to the American people by ramrodding a catastrophic bill through the legislative process (quote is from RNC Chair Michael Steele). President Obama seems bent (not a reference to his inexplicable bowing habits) on having something on his resume for the SoU address next month. Unfortunately for him and the rest of America, it's a crippling load of paperwork that will burden an already weak economy. I don't understand how the folks in power can look at all the other examples of socialist healthcare and think it's a good idea! People wait over a year on average for referrals in the UK. Canadians flee the country  (but not for long) to get the services they need. If everything works out according to plan, the only positive effect of this disaster will be the Mexican government halting it's promotion of free American health care facilities and Americans might begin heading south for health services!

Health care here in Korea is pretty cheap. Heck, people have surgery for everything! Extra fold lines in your eyelids, calf muscle extraction, tummy tucks, cheek bones, you name it. But there isn't nearly as much protection for the people in this system. Malpractice just doesn't seem to be an issue. I wonder if fixing the litigation system in America would help bring health care prices down?

In other news, America is losing friends and being mocked by its enemies. Brazil's de Silva being the most recent in my understanding. Pardon me if this is incorrect. Incidentally, our president considers de Silva a friend WHILE de Silva mocks our country. These are interesting times.

This is the last paragraph. (Sorry for vomiting so much politics onto your screen, but it's become an interest of mine.) I wonder if Obama is rethinking his decision to abandon the Eustern Europe Missile Defense plan now that Iran (who doesn't care how many deadlines the West throws at it) has built a missile that is powerful enough to reach parts of Europe. Perhaps Bush WAS on the right track there.

It's great to be back on the web. Thanks for reading. See you next time.

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!

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!