I apologize for taking so long to provide an update, but I hope my new-found love for Instagram and Jeju has given you a glimpse of our new life here (I hope I'm not annoying anyone with all of my Instagram-ing....it's like a disease...I can't stop sharing my jeju joy!). So much has happened since we've been here, which means yes, this will be a blog on the long-ish side. So, if you want the abridged version, you can read the next sentence and then just scroll through the pics :)
Lava rock walls, grandfather statues, gigantic spider webs, mist and fog, mini-mountains jutting up through every view, bike lanes, horses, "Annyeonghaseyo," dragonflies, orange groves, speedy internet, tractors, murals, tour buses, Hangul, Korean BBQ, school mazes, and friendly new neighbors- these are our first impressions of Jeju Island life.
To try to simplify the complex entirety of what we think our life is turning out to be here, I've made categories :)
Our home:
We live in a super nice apartment in the middle of nowhere! We were shocked when we were picked up from the airport the first night and then dropped off smack dab in the middle of farmland. We are surrounded by orange groves and kiwi green houses (which are actually white). The first view we noticed from our windows were the hundreds of dragonflies zooming around. Then, once the fog of the first few days faded, we were able to see a few large mini-mountains from our windows as well. We've been enjoying getting to know what living in the country means for our lives: dark nights, the sounds of crickets and frogs, stars on non-cloudy nights, manure, and, learning that walking is no longer a viable means of transportation. So, after we'd been here a week, we got BIKES, and after three weeks, we got a CAR! We love both means of transportation, and still can't believe how independent we get to be! We love riding our bikes along the farm roads to get to the beach after work, and it's been such an adventure exploring the island with our little white Rezzo....especially since we still don't have phones or gps, haha! That's the next item on our "settling in" list. Fun fact: our car runs on liquid propane! Wooohooo! It's basically half the price of gasoline, which is good, since gas is $8/gallon here! The Farm Road behind our Village (actually one of many, but that's it's name around here :) <--- |
Our school:
KiS Jeju (Korea International School-Jeju Campus, to be exact) is a newer school bursting with technology and space to grow. It's a 1 to 1 Macbook school, and Steve and I have been on a steep learning curve figuring out the amazing benefits and interesting challenges that come with that. KiS is a boarding school with over 90% of the student population being Korean. Steve is teaching 7th grade Social Studies and co-leading a middle school MUN club (Model United Nations). His favorite class right now though is his Psychology and Ethics elective....right up his alley of interests! I am teaching in the KiS Prep program, which is the most international part of our international school. My program helps students advance their English language skills to the point where they can enter the mainstream school. I'm teaching PE and ART! Very exciting times :) We are both also happy to be coaching tennis together again! We heard that last year's team only had 5 players, but 26 students came out for tryouts this year! Not a bad start for growing the program :) While it's been a lot of work, we are so thankful to be employed here and we both feel that we are growing professionally as we continue learning how to be the best teachers we can be :) And doesn't Mr. L have a great view? --> |
Our church:
Definitely not the easiest thing to find, but the ball is now rolling! The closest English speaking fellowship is an hour away, which is not an easy commute, but is do-able with our new strategy: twice a month at our place, and twice a month in town. Anyone who is interested is welcome, and today was our first day hosting. It was great community, great worship, and even left us enough time in the day to go worship afterward via cliff-jumping!
All that to say, we miss our Shanghai church and youth group, but we are excited to see what God has in store for us here as well!
All that to say, we miss our Shanghai church and youth group, but we are excited to see what God has in store for us here as well!
Can you see me? Leap of FAaaaaaaaaaaiith......
Aaaaaaaaaaand everything else:
We are stoked beyond belief that we get to live on this small island in Korea. The phrase, "I can't believe we get to LIVE here!" is pretty much a daily occurrence in our conversations...usually happening as we are climbing around beaches, hiking up mountains, or finding the best places to watch the sunset. It's almost like this island was made for us: ocean, mountains, different country/culture/language, new sports to learn and old favorites to play (did I mention we have joined an Ultimate Frisbee league?), a few fun restaurants to enjoy, and the rest of Asia to explore on holidays! We just had a holiday actually, and we chose to stay here! Why leave when you live at a destination spot?
Yesterday we had "Adventure Day" with our students. The Prep team went to the giant buddha on the hill and then down to the beach for lunch and team building activities. As I was supervising beach time, I was overcome with thankfulness that this is my job, and that I have been put here. My God knows my heart, and my heart is overflowing. We are so humbled to be given this amazing gift of living on Jeju for two years.
Speaking of God, I'd like to give him a shout-out for these awesome works of art we've seen so far:
Speaking of God, I'd like to give him a shout-out for these awesome works of art we've seen so far: