getting back to normalcy

so i don't want to write volumes and volumes in this entry, but its been so long since i've written anything, that its going to be hard to shave everything down to the essentials.

volleyball has finally ended.  my team made it to state for the second time in the 100 year history of the school.  the first time was last year, so i don't take full responsibility, but we did better this year than last.  all that's been on my mind the past three months is volleyball so i'll say no more on that subject.  now that the season is over i can actually focus on my classes.  i'm actually really looking forward to that. 

we just got back from california for thanksgiving.  as much as i miss living overseas and traveling to tropical paradises for vacation, its really fun to see zoe get to know her cousins.  don't know if that's going to be enough to keep us here forever, but its why we came back to being with.

sorry to all those i haven't been keeping in contact with through email.  school, volleyball, moving, and poor internet access are my excuses.  i've been sucking it up in the fantasy football league too.  haven't had any time to learn how to do it so i haven't done anything with it.  lost my last match 126-22.  for those of you who have played fantasy football you know how bad that is.  for those of you who haven't, the appropriate response to that score is...OUCH! 

we're in our new house now and its great.  i've got my Dish Network hooked up and a car in the garage and a three-burner grill on the back porch.  in the midst of the american dream.  we'll see how long that lasts.

hope all are doing well.  talk at ya later.

it's been a while

  so i don't really have any time to write this, but i figured to take some time out of all the things i have to get done in order to do something that is completely unnecessary would be therapeudic. 

this summer was nice.  we did a lot of traveling around visiting family and re-introducing zoe to the american lifestyle.  to prove this to you, here's a picture of zoe less than a week after getting to the US:

yes, that's a burger king hat.  she loved it.

we spent some time in colorado with my parents, sister and her family.  here's couple shots from our time there:

upon our exodus from korea in june our hope was to be moving into a house in mid-july, giving me plenty of time to get settled in and ready for classes.  as of today we are still not homeowners.  we are living in temporary housing (a trailer).  its somewhat reminiscent of teaching in an RP.  the hope is that by the middle of next week we will be moving into a brand new house.  we have been involved in all of the finishing touches like paint, countertops, carpet, plumbing fixtures, the sink, and appliances so that has been nice.  at this point we are just a little anxious to be moving in though.  it's hard to go "home" after work and let loose when you know in the back of your head that you home is only temporary.  maybe i'm just too picky, but this is quickly leading me down the path of little refreshment and lots of hard work.

my course load is pretty heavy.  physics, chemistry, and biology.  and leaving physics out of it since it is an elective and only one course, my class size average is about 24 students.  on top of that i'm the girls volleyball coach which means 3:30 to 6:00 every day unless there's a game and then it's later.  i'm excited about the season though.  the girls are coming back from a great season last year, making it to the state tournament for the first time in a while and this year they look even better.  its a little challenging to figure out how my coaching fits the team, but its slowly coming along.  its also strange to deal with parents that actually care about their kids performance on the team.

we've had a rough end of the summer as probably most of you have heard.  laura jo's brother died in Iraq in a helicopter accident and we just had the funeral this past weekend.  its been a shock to the whole communitry here but there has been a lot of support for the family both locally and from korea.  it makes it just a little difficult to see the importance of my everyday job of teaching high school science in the light of such a tragedy.

its been difficult coming to a new job after 5 years in korea.  it was so comfortable there.  i didn't have to prove myself to anyone and in general the student population new who i was and my reputation.  here it's starting all over again.  though i like the school and the community, its hard work getting yourself stable in a school

its interesting though because we have a korean exchange student at the school here and she completely blows everyone away.  her name is jennie lee and from what i'm hearing its like a jane lee clone.  i still haven't met her, but i find it interesting to see the reputation she had built for koreans in general.  i think most of my students accept that i must be really smart solely based on the presumption that i taught in korea and must have had students that were all as top-notch as jennie.

okay, so i should get going now.  we don't get internet service in the trailer now so my access is limited.  hopefully when we move into the house, we will be able to get more regular with contact.  i also can't access facebook from the school network so i haven't been able to keep that up very well.  i don't know how i can remedy that problem seeing as that even after i move into the house i will still most likely get my internet access through the school's network.  any suggestions?:

adios amigos

Currently Watching Heroes - Season 1 By Hayden Panettiere, Masi Oka, Ali Larter, Adrian Pasdar, Milo Ventimiglia see related

life in a box

as i sit here, our belongings are being packed into countless orange and white and black boxes.  well actually, at the current moment the two packers are standing 10 feet away from the open door of our apartment in the stairwell smoking.  yeah, korea hasn't yet jumped on the western "smoke is awful" bandwagon.  this country is still under the impression that if you have a smoking side of a restaurant, it magically keeps all the effects of second-hand smoke away from the people on the other side of the restaurant.  amazingly this also applies for the tables that actually hug the line.  well now that i think about it, smoking in restaurants in korea is generally determined by the type of restaurant.  noodle and sushi restaurants do not usually allow smoking, but restaurant where you grill your own meat do.  coffee shops are split.  large chains are no smoking and individual shops allow it.  i really don't notice it anymore, but the smell coming from the two packers made me consider it more.

its strange seeing what you accumulate over the years; wondering why you decided to keep one thing over another.  packing makes you reevaluate what you've collected and decide what's worth keeping and what is just unnecessary baggage.  i tend to be a pack-rat, but when it comes to moving, i'm all about throwing everything away.  (except for yearbooks and that drives laura jo crazy)  it might sound rather cold, but moving makes you got through the same process with your "friends".  i would say that i'm friends with alot of people here in korea.  moving to me is kind of a "gleaning" process (i use the word gleaning to mean that you separate worthwhile material from unwanted material...i'm not a farmer or natural cultivator in any way so i may be way off on the use of this word).  back to relationships, i never really get sad saying goodbye to people, because i see the world as a small place, and if the relationship is worth crying over then most likely we'll stay in touch and our paths will cross again (no need to cry then).  the relationships that will end here and in the future may amount to a total of 3 facebook comments and 1 email really don't deserve a cry either.  there's nothing bad about those relationships, they're just temporary mutual accomodations.

do you see how i have made the emotional side of moving and leaving into a cold, intellectual calculation?  many psychologists would probably tell me that this method is not very healthy but hey, it's got me this far and i seem to be fine.

what i do get somewhat emotional about is the place i'm leaving and the things that i'll most likely never experience again.  after tomorrow i won't ever drive my scooter to dunsan dong to get my hair cut at mister by miss pak.  i won't ever coach a volleyball game at the TCIS gym.  i won't ever have my arms pet by korean kids who have never seen so much hair on a person.  the list goes on and on.  the past month i've been doing things, everyday things, with the thought in the back of my head that i may not ever experience it again.  that part for me is harder than leaving the people.

so for the last fews days we'll be living like we were for the first three days we were here.  all of our personal creature comforts are gone and we're living with what came with the apartment in the first place.  the old dishes and the old phone are coming out for one last hurrah.

a bientot

the end of an era

so i taught my last IB classes today.  technically i still meet with the students after they take the exam this week, but officially the teaching is done.  actually its expected that the workload on the students drops since they will be preparing for their other exams.  i can't believe its actually done.  i remember two years ago beginning the class...it seemed like such a huge mountain covered with clouds so that you couldn't see the top, and the climb seemed like it would take forever.  and now its pretty much over.  for me, at least.  the students are taking the exam the next couple days.  i personally can't imagine taking a single test that covers two years of material.  i really hope they perform well on the test.  there are quite a few of them that have put in a lot of effort, but in my opinion the deciding factor on whether they pass or not is on how psychologically well they take the test.  so many of them deserve to pass it, but often passing a test has very little to do with your knowledge of the material.

oh well.  it's out of my hands now.  i just pray that they all do their best and get the grades they deserve.

on other things, the house hunt still continues.  nothing serious happening yet.  lj took a personal day last week and for some reason it was really nice to know that she could stay home and take care of zoe.  it really makes me look forward to the fall when she won't be working.  the pay cut is worth it.

last thing i'll mention is that i went to see spiderman 3 tonight and it was freakin awesome.  won't say much else because i'm sure most people haven't seen it yet, but i recommend it.

au revoir

Currently Watching The Simpsons - The Complete Seventh Season By Doris Grau, Marcia Mitzman Gaven see related

woo hoo!

ok, so its been a while since i posted here.  i don't really know why.  its not like nothing's been going on, for some reason i just haven't been motivated enough to make a post.  well the big news is that I HAVE A JOB!!!!  yeeehaw!!  rehoboth christian school in new mexico offered me a job about a week after spring break and i gratefully accepted.  it will be a bit of stretch for me since i will be picking up chemistry for the first time as well as getting back to biology which i haven't taught for a little while.  i'm excited about the change though.  teaching 5 different classes of physics this year shows me that i need a little variety in my job.  so now we're in the fun task of looking for a house and car and all that other fun/expensive stuff.  its crazy how perspectives change at certain points of life.  before now, a big expenditure in our family would be anything over $500.  a house will be at least 150,000.  i can't even wrap my head around that yet.  its interesting to think of money as an investment instead of just a means of trading.  fortunately we have a lot of people helping us out.

well, i would write more, but i'm tired and i need sleep.  now that i broke the ice with this post, i'm hoping i'll get back to being more regular here.

before i go, here's a pic of zoe that i took in malaysia over spring break.  she was enthralled with this huge funnel that you rolls coins into.  i caught this picture of her looking into the funnel.  this picture cracks me up every time i look at it.

adios