December 2016

December 2016

FUNNY:   As a Friday evening activity, Friday evening being free, I started cooking biscuits.  Basic stuff, flour, baking powder, butter, eggs, sugar etc. so in 45 minutes we are sitting eating hot biscuits.
The first night the students were very cautious.  Then the following Fridays freedom reigned.


Remember these are adults.

"Let's add coffee!"
"Butter is bad for you so let's use olive oil."
" Here's some colouring so let's make them pink."
We also added dried persimmons, raspberry milk flavouring and chocolate "hundreds and thousands".
We are then sitting eating them and they asked, "Where did you buy the eggs for the cookies Robin?" 
"At the Supermarket." (Obviously!)
"Robin,  didn't you notice?  (I can't read Korean!!!) These are very famous eggs.  They are garlic flavoured eggs and very good for your health."  ?  Curtis Stone (Coles) eat your heart out.  I expect our son to mention this to Curtis Stone - soon.

The gift

                                               
 I was out walking in a somewhat remote village.  There were some people sorting small dried fish (they call them Anchovies.)  I took some photos of the man doing the sorting and he fed me tiny dried squid.  Then I gave them a small gift.  They rushed off and I got some dried anchovies - lovely people.

 ==//==

The Inspirational Students (my friends):

D and his wife are headed back to L.... He is a sports coach.  He has coached the National youth team of L... and before his marriage, coached in the country of T.....  He's a happy guy with a charming wife.  Life is not easy where they are going but they are aware of the issues.

M is visually impaired.  He has been married 10 months.  About 7 years ago he was a missionary in Africa for a year.  Then he worked as a missionary in the Philippines for 6-7 years.
His friends told him.  " You're blind.  You'll die!"  - He didn't.  Next year they will go to **.. with the aim of staying long term.  He preaches with passion.

E and W are a young married couple (3years).  They have found a church that will support them and are certain they are going to one of the poorest countries on Earth.

Y and E have served as missionaries in C.. and an African country.  In the African country he was beaten very badly.  He had broken bones and a fractured skull and cheek bones. In the African country they stitched him up but he returned to Korea and they put plates in his cheeks.  His eyesight was, miraculously, undamaged.  He no longer has pain and is slowly recovering.   Financially they are on the edge but plan to return as soon as possible in 2017.

B and E are going back to C..  They already speak the language.

J and his wife and child are headed for the Middle East.

Y... is a specialist in a medical field.  She is trained and experienced in  very complex procedures. Unmarried and strong of character, her passion is social justice.  She is planning to go to a country where justice, particularly for women, is of some question.  

There are several charming young families with kids and they are off to various places around the world.  Some know where they are going and have the financial support.  Others struggle with leaving aging parents, finances, destinations, visas or other issues. They will work as teachers, nurses, builders, translators, social workers or whatever their gift is.  They will be Ch... miss ..... serving the people with love. They have heard God's call, they will go.

Me:
I miss both Aileen and not seeing my new grandaughter but at the end of December Aileen will be here with Katy, Emily and Max.  ****Actually they have arrived***

Christmas Eve I went on a boat trip.
 It was a gift from a church member and I was included.  Steak, Spanish wine, and stone cold vegetables.  A floor show and at the end I got to dance with the cartoon characters. The idiom "There's no fool like an old fool" was well demonstrated that night.

 Christmas dinner was noodles, spicy kimchi, rice and stew.  Dessert was after church when we had a cream cake cut into pieces, served in a paper cup and eaten with chop sticks - the red decorations on the top are actually tomatoes!

Food:
Always interesting.
Excitement in the kitchen as the news is out.
We are having live squid for dinner.  The live squid comes out of the large plastic bag and is chopped up and served.  "Robin, chew it well as some people have died when eating live squid." (They stick to your wind pipe!)  Talk about over-rated.  The best description I can come up with is tough "jelly babies" with ZERO taste, that wriggle a bit in your mouth.
There is a very famous Korean movie with a scene where the hero eats a live squid.  Don't watch if you have a weak stomach.  I did NOT eat my squid like in the video, but then again I'm not a famous Korean movie star.

 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz_a_XoNgsY


 
SOME PHOTOS:

Ladies after a church service in traditional Hanbok.


In a restaurant you pay for the main dishes. In this photo it is the black pot and the fish on the flat white dish, everything else (side dishes) are free and they will top them up free.

 Grave site.

 Very typical ocean scenes around where we
live.

We will be back in Australia on Australia Day 2017.
That means heat and humidity.  At the moment it is 4 pm and 6C. Aileen is in Seoul where it is -4C and she is out ice skating with our grandchildren (watching!!)
Prayer points:

• Health as the Asian* flu is here - 2 types
• Health for our daughter Katy and grandchildren Max and Emily who are running an English Kid's program in the church.
• The program they are running.
• Wisdom in Robin's interaction with students.
• Protection for all here at MTI.

Peace and grace
Robin
* Yes they call it Asian flu!!!

 PS There are no photos of people for security reasons. The grey person above is NOT a student!


 PPS More cake: Cost $10 approx.
Let's start a business?

Korea MTI 2016 November

 I, Robin, am here alone.
Aileen will be coming after Christmas as she will be in Australia for the birth of a new grandchild in December.  She will come and run a Kid's Camp at the local church.  Actually she will be a helper for Katy, Emily and Max who will also come.
                                                                              

Yes ........ it's lonely.  It's just a false smile.

KOREAN FACT
It's fall or Autumn and the trees have started to have some colour.
Each day it gets a little cooler.

So something about Korea:
Health and natural remedies and natural food is VERY important.  Ginseng as a root, tea or powder is an example.  Aileen has her own unique stories so ask her!
   The first week of teaching I developed a head cold.  The usual things; coughing, sneezing and a sore throat but there was nothing serious.  The first question I was asked was, when was I going to the hospital?
What? This is a cold nothing more.  My students asked me to take something.  Fine I've taken all kinds of stuff, liquids, special teas, powders the list is long.  "You know bee propolis Robin?  It's famous in Australia."  ??? "Yes is very good" and a few drops were placed on my tongue.
Famous in Australia? was certainly new to me.
The next day I was still sick and then there was an independent offer of propolis.  Okay so I tried it again.  " It's really good for you Robin."  "You'll better tomorrow."
   I still had no idea what it was, so I looked it up. "Propolis or bee glue is produced by mixing saliva and beeswax as a sealant for unwanted open spaces in the hive."  Wow.  A bit weird but it must be good for you.  I read on,  "The National Institute of Health rates propolis as "possibly effective for treating cold sores, genital herpes, and post-surgery mouth pain."
   And I thought I had a sore throat!!!
Some fellow teachers gave me paracetamol.  Now I'm no doctor but if any of you reading this have a sore throat ---- try .... paracetamol -first.
MTI
The students number 32.  They are an eclectic mix.
We have engineering students,a mathematician,  a soccer coach, several missionaries home on furlough including one who was almost beaten to death in Zambia.  There is one young man who is a graduate of a modern dance department.  He is big in K pop.  There are Pastors (one of whom is a traditional artist), people who speak Chinese fluently, and a vascular surgeon (seems to do kidney transplants a bit.)  There is one man who is totally blind. All these  people are seeking God's path for them and are willing to go anywhere in the world.

They are all wonderful committed people who are teaching me much about commitment and faith.  I teach them a little about English.
My class is great.  They are, as usual, motivated and kind to "grandfather" (that's me.)

MY Class 3 "Special Angels" plus "grandfather".

We had a men's retreat.  It was only Friday night and Saturday morning.  We ate a lot (a barbecue in the rain), watched an action Movie, "Jack Reacher" (spoiler alert - all the bad guys die), and made closer friendships.

Men's retreat prayer time - no chairs.

Oysters at the retreat.

Retreat breakfast + a lot of rice

ME
   I'm fine.  I've taken a few bus trips trying out my Korean.  I got lost a few times but you will all be pleased to know that when I ask, in Korean, where is the toilet  they understand.  I also told a nice friendly man at the fish market, again in Korean, that, no I was not American, I was an Australian person.  He was a little confused because he then said "You speak Korean very well!" But then realised his mammoth error when he started speaking Korean and I understood Zero.
 Please pray for :

• health and safety for me and the students.
• creativity and sensitivity in my English teaching
• the Nation of Korea and the political crisis it is in at the moment 

• Today is "Thanksgiving " day  in Korea.  I give thanks for my family and friends like you

Finally some food.

Mustard greens for spicy kim chi.

Street food.    I think of it as like sausages made from fish leftovers -------but it tastes good.

The view from where we had breakfast after the retreat.

Peace and grace to you all.

Korea 2015 - 2016 January

KOREAN FACT

Korea has a unique housing rental system called Jeonse, which is very unusual for most foreigners. Instead of paying a monthly rent, the tenant hands over a large sum of deposit money, sometimes as much as 50 percent of the housing price, to the homeowner. The owner puts the money into a bank account to earn interest, invest in stocks, or do whatever he or she wants. The tenants get back the full amount of the deposited money when the contract ends.

This system has been popular as the high interest rate guaranteed the homeowner an income equivalent to monthly rent, without worrying about the delayed payments by the tenants, who were happy to get the full deposit money back when the contract expires.

An increasing number of people, however, are turning to monthly rent these days due to falling interest rates.

US

In one week we will be home.  We are busy saying goodbye to old friends and new.  We always feel sad at this time.

We have had a wonderful time -- again --- in a fascinating country.  We thank all those old friends/family we have met again.  We are overjoyed with our new friends/family.  Actually in a country that is confusing, physically beautiful, exciting, rich in food, art and history and yet ultra-modern  --  the best part is the people.

Anybody interested in volunteering here?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ia8QGZA78U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7sUWmdwj4M

Thanks for reading.

R & A