The Crooked Shall Be Made Straight

Re-entry

Re-entry is a traveling woman.  She's a bit agitated these days due to a long flight where she arrived back in LA before she actually departed Seoul -- the evils of the international dateline. She finds it odd to lose a day and never get it back and weirder still to live through the same day twice!

It seems that Loneliness and Sleeplessness took up residence in her humble but charming apartment while she was out gallivanting around the globe. Re-entry tried to kick them both to the curb, but they'd moved into her bedroom and were chanting, "Possession is 9/10th of the law!" Re-entry decided to move to the couch to get away from them, but they just followed her.  

Loneliness lifted up the couch pillow and crawled in underneath Re-entry's head in order to be as close to her thoughts as possible. She was busy plotting all the lies (many of them real doozies!) to tell Re-entry, while Sleeplessness lifted up Re-entry's legs and started thumping on them, causing them to throb with pain. "Surely this will keep Re-entry awake for hours more," she whispered to herself! Re-entry decided to kick and scream and toss and turn to get these witches to leave her be, but nothing seemed to work.

Her best friend, Bathtub, called her several times and invited her to come over. Said she could help her recover and feel more relaxed.  Re-entry resisted at first. Seemed like too much work to walk from the couch to Bathtub's home just down the hall. After many hours and lots of tears, Re-entry finally decided to listen to her friend. Bathtub prepared some hot, bubbly water for Re-entry to relax in and then she tossed in her favorite bath pillow.  Bathtub is a good friend like that!  

Re-entry's legs loved this hot water the most. She could feel the throbbing begin to subside. And since Bathtub had locked the door to her home, Sleeplessness wasn't allowed to come inside. Re-entry found herself unable to keep her eyes open and finally succumbed to the sweet sleep her friend, Bathtub, had promised.

Only sleeping in Bathtub's house can only go on for so long. Eventually, the warm water turned cold, and Re-entry stumbled out of the tub and fell into her bed where she slept for hours -- FINALLY!  

She woke up several times, but still, it was better than not sleeping at all. Unfortunately, Loneliness was there staring her down each time Re-entry opened her eyes.  

Re-entry keeps pulling the covers over her head so she doesn't have to face Loneliness. So far it's only sorta-kinda working!

The end.

PS:  When Re-entry is done with her re-entry, she will catch up on her blog reading!  ;-)

Snapshots

Okay, I'll admit it.  I've been too tired and way too lazy to keep up with the posting while I'm here in Pohang.

So, I hope these snapshots make up for my negligence!  ;-)

There are dragonflies everywhere on this campus, and the kids make a sport of capturing the poor things!

This is the cutie patootie kiddo who came to class bearing this lovely gift!

This is the public bath we went to last week and ARE GOING TO AGAIN tonight!

This is a snapshot just before we went inside and got nekkid!  (That part was a bit nerve-wracking, but I got over it pretty quickly.  Turns out it's no big deal!  Nobody looks and nobody cares!)

Then we got what translates as a "dead skin" scrub, and let's just say it was fan-tab-u-lous!  OMG!  I was smooth and silky soft all over!  (That's why we're going again tonight!)

This is FRESH raw fish from the downtown Pohang fish market.  They kill the poor things right in front of you and then you take them home and eat them raw!  I love sashimi, so this was to die for delicious.  Greta doesn't do raw fish!  (She doesn't know what she's missing!)

Here we are enjoying the raw fish!  It's really good wrapped in lettuce!

A closer look!  YUM!  I grew up eating raw oysters from a can at my grandma's kitchen table, so this was no big deal to me!

And this is a snapshot of a few girls walking to lunch!  They hold hands all day long!  It's really cute!

Writing Psalms

Today we wrote psalms!  Below are a few of our first drafts.

A Psalm of She

Hasten, O God, to save me!

O Lord, come quickly and deliver me 

from my technological difficulties.

I sink into the depths of depression

when I cannot be connected 24/7.

I now know with certainty that I am, indeed, 

addicted to my cell phone.

It is broken, O Lord, 

and I am beside myself with panic.

I am worn out from troubleshooting

all night long.

My eyes are weary,

my vision is blurred,

and my thumbs are cramped

from soft resets, hard resets,

and the loss of all my data.

I have failed at reestablishing 

my connection with the world.

It is like I've been erased too, 

and exist no more.

A red light flashes inside my chest, 

"Battery is low.  Recharge now!"

Just as my poor Palm Centro

fails to synch with my computer

and restore all that's been lost, 

I, too, am out of synch with you, O God.

Beam me up, O Lord!

Do it wirelessly

via your Holy Spirit

because my connection cords 

have failed me, too.

Rescue me from the trappings

of the 21st Century, O Most High God.

Don't let me fall prey

to the snares of technology

for even one more moment.

Come near, O God, and return me 

to a life of simplicity and contemplation.

Selah!  

 A PSALM of J.M.

2009-07-13

 

I can’t reach,

I can’t reach with my strength.

I shout, I scream

Until my larynx hurts.

I’m here,

The same place, the spot

Until you come.

 

You were the one who came to me first,

Who reached to me first,

Who whispered to me first,

Who answered me first,

Who raised me up,

Who wiped my tears.

Thank you and thank you again

A thousand times!

 

I am trying to reach, with all my strength, soul and heart

I dance, I sing, I pray with all my passion.

AGAIN, AGAIN and AGAIN

For you

because you are the one!

 A Psalm of K.J.

 

1. O help me, My Lord

  I am in need of your grace.

2. My Lord, you know I am tired

  my eyes weigh 100 kg, and I feel dizzy.

  My ears are starting to hear nothing.

3. Lord, I am so hungry.

  Give me McDonald’s like

  you gave manna to Moses.

4. O Lord should I do my homework every night?

  Save me from studying.

  My brain is breaking, my fingers are tired of typing,

  and my whole body is too tired that

  I can’t even play!

5. Lord, save me from coldness and mosquitoes at night.

  It feels like they are poking my whole body with sharp needles.

6. O my Lord, let me have good relationship with everyone else.

7. Lord, debate class is so hard.

  It is so confusing, and hard to research,

  and I become to be frozen in front of  an audience.

8. O Lord, give me inspiration to read the Bible, so I can pray to you every night.

9. Lord, let me be your child

  so that I can do everything

  by your power!

(I love that this kid added verse numbers!  How cute is that?!)

High point:  Spaghetti for dinner!

Low point:  Waking up and discovering a

strange and unfamiliar bug crawling on the wall next to my pillow.  

I smooshed it between my fingers using my sock!  YUCK!

PS:  I've never had students write psalms before, but it seemed appropriate given this is a VERY Christian school!

PPS:  I had to look up "Selah!"

Odes

Ode (or maybe not) to My Box Springs
by She

You Box Springs!  I remember
when you were first flopped down
onto the hard, wood floor,
bare and sheet-less.
How we glared at each other
and the panic that gripped me
from neck to shoulders to lower back
as I knelt beside you, broodingly,
in this foreign land
that first night with hesitation
and disbelief.  Now,
a week later to the day,
you have grown softer
with my make-shift
pillow top.  I’m fine.
And you – I’m proud of you, too,
now layered with blanket upon
blue blanket!  Every box spring
should be so cushy.
Listen to me.
I never thought
I could sleep on you,
not for one moment.
But I tell you
last night I only
woke up once, finally!

Go here to see Raymond Carver's "Soda Crackers."

Ode to the Twilight Series
draft 1
by M.

Ode to My Twin Sisters
draft 1
by S.

Ode to McDonald's Fries
draft 1
by K.

High point(s) of the day: 

Skipping breakfast and eating oatmeal I brought from home!

Blowing off steam with these "water guns," compliments of my 10th graders!

Listening to the kiddos read their odes out loud.  It was a hoot!  They wrote odes to air conditioners, Converse shoes, Canon cameras, Macbooks, iPods, and "the air I breathe." 

And walking to the university store after dinner to stock up on yogurt, bananas, granola bars, and Coke One!  (The food is REALLY spicy!  And that's okay for one meal a day, but they serve Kimchi for EVERY meal!  I keep walking around saying in my best Texas accent, "Help me, my mouth's on fire!")

Low point:

Dinner!  It's like eating school cafeteria food, only Korean style!  (Actually, it's not like it, it's EXACTLY what it is.)  Also, have I mentioned that this school is in the middle of nowhere?!  

-------

So, if you're up for it, join us by writing your very own ode!

Pablo Neuruda's "Ode to Socks" is a fun one to imitate as well

So, it's Friday morning in the USA, and I'm heading to bed on Friday night!  Did I also mention that we teach on SATURDAYS?  Yep.  That's right!  These Koreans are serious!

Today in review ...

Each day the students must write a daily log and send it to me via email.  I'm now sitting on my "bed" with my computer reading their logs, and I thought I'd share one with you just so you get the idea of what we're up to on the other side of the world.  ;-)  

In the log, students are expected to reflect on what we did in that day's session and how it impacted their learning.  I often ask them the question: "What do you now know that you didn't know before ...?"  

The following log was written by a 10th grade girl. I copied and pasted it just as it was written to me. Also, this school is a Christian school. (THAT fact is important to keep in mind!)

I read them my piece called, "Meeting JC and the Flat Panel TV," which can be found in my sidebar, and in her log, she makes reference to it.  It's a draft, but I shared it with them anyway.

Today’s class was very fun. And we learned many things. Honestly, because I am not a native speaker and also I never have learned English deeply - English is my 3rd Language.

I didn’t understand the whole class, but anyway, I think I got the main point of the class. So I want to write what I have learned on class today.

First, when I sat at the desk, my teacher gave us a topic to write about and told us to write the "Say, "Mean,” and “Matter.” It was very interesting to think and write about. I think this activity is very helpful to me because it makes me to think and look back how do I treat people and act. 

By thinking about the topic and writing, I could think about myself. It was a good experience to do.

Also, we wrote a poem. Our teacher gave us a new poem for assignment. The assignment was to change the poem. I really love poems! I extremely love poems! Especially, I love writing poems. I wish that we will do more assignments like this. Writing poems is a very fun and difficult thing. It gives you a chance to express you and also think about vocabulary words that you learnt before. It was so good!

After that, we saw a short video clip of the writer, Don Miller. I didn’t really get the things from the movie, but there were many things about the story like; how the story should be, how the main characters of the story should be, what a story is, and what is the effects that the story can give, and etc. by writing some important things of the movie in the note, I could be more closer with the ‘story’ and I think I could do it well. I am really exited to write a story. And I’m thinking a lot for my story.

And then, my teacher read us a story. The story was about ‘me’ and the television. ‘Me’ wanted a new television, but eventually, she gives the television to another woman. 

I don’t really remember all the details of the story. But the only one thing that I remember is that the story was very interesting. I couldn’t sleep, because it was very interesting. 

Anyway, my teacher told me that it’s her story, and it’s a real one. I was very surprised to hear that she felt God in her life. I also have some moments in my life which I felt God working in my life. But the point is that God worked so closely with my teacher. 

I wish I will also have those moments in my life. I will wait for the moments which God will work strongly in my life.

Finally, we learned about Image, Moment, Event, and Story. I have never thought about those things before. It was a new experience to think about the moments of life, which finally builds up my life. 

It was very interesting to think about the moments of my life, which shaped my life and my personality. And then, we learned about repeating voice, head voice, and deep voice. 

We got also some home works to write them. It was interesting. I’ll use them actively when I’ll write my story.
The writing class for today was very interesting. 

And I wish that it will continue to be interesting for last 2 weeks. I’m really thankful for Miss. S, and I’ll try to do my best at the wirting class. Thank you!

And now, as promised, a sampling of their "If I Were in Charge of the World" poems.

If I Were in Charge of the World

by E.

07/09/09

If I were in charge of the world

I’d make a “no racial discrimination” policy,

No more poverty or premature death.

 If I were in charge of the world

There’d be equality between men and women,

Women presidents, and

Houseworking men in every home.

If I were in charge of the world

You wouldn’t have trauma

You wouldn’t have fighting or war.

Or environment pollution.

You wouldn’t even have insecticides.

If I were in charge of the world

Everyone would be Christian.

All people would be a family

And people who are female and young,

Would still be allowed to be

In charge of the world.

If I Were in Charge of the World

J.

09-07-09 

 

 

If I were in charge of the world,

I’d save teens from all the academies.

I’d make everyone to smile all the time

I’d make a lot of sweet things,

Which makes people happy.

 

If I were in charge of the world

There’d be big laugh sound for each house,

More holidays, cities would be less crowded, and

No failure of the College Scholastic Ability Test.

 

If I were in charge of the world

You wouldn’t have slavery

You wouldn’t have discrimination of the races

You wouldn’t have poverty

Or “The World War III is started!’

You wouldn’t even have weapons.

 

If I were in charge of the world

All the criminal problems would be cleared

All people can drive a car

And a person who is passive

And a person who is a fearful

Would still be allowed to be

In charge of the world.

""If I were in charge of the world

I’d cancel mosquitoes,

Fat

Negligence and also sorrow"

 

If I Were in Charge of the World

By J.O.

 

If I were in charge of the world

I’d cancel illness

Monday,

Mushrooms and also mosquitoes

 

If I were in charge of the world

There’d be bigger and brighter stars

Daily rain morning showers

And a Idol star as my boyfriend

 If I were in charge of the world

You wouldn’t have lonely

You wouldn’t have sorrow

You wouldn’t have gaining weight

Or “Don’t fight with your brother”

You would not even have a brother

 If I were in charge of the world

All clothes would be mix and match to me

All mathematics would cease to exist

And a person who is always afraid horror movie

And sometimes is afraid bugs

Would still be allowed to be

In charge of the world. 

 

(See!  Orange hair!  Ugh!  Horrible photo of me, but isn't she cute?!)

If I Were In Charge Of The World

by J. P.

If I were in charge of the world

I’d cancel school

All realism in this world

Mosquitoes, and also Paris Hilton or even Thomas Malthus

 

If I were in charge of the world

I’d fly over the bright lighthouse

Touch the sky, and

Basketball hoops would be thirty feet wider

 

If I were in charge of the world

You wouldn’t have ugly

You wouldn’t have holy

You wouldn’t have politics

Or “Time to study”

You wouldn’t even have study

 

If I were in charge of the world

A chocolate ice-cream would be a vitamin

All movies would be G

And a person who sometimes forgot to do the laundries

And sometimes forgot to turn in a daily prayer

Would still be allowed to be

In charge of the world

For what am I most grateful? 

I'm grateful to have the opportunity to be in a foreign land with a foreign people and to connect with them through writing.  It really doesn't get much better than that.

I'm grateful that the university bookstore sells Coca Cola One because I'm addicted to Diet Coke and this has to be the next best thing.

I'm grateful for the rain showers that I woke up to and the breeze that blows through my room each night.

  I finally made it to the city of Pohang which is a half hour bus ride from the international school.  I wrote about it yesterday.  Here's the evidence. That is the Starbucks right behind me!  And they have this really cool liquid sugar!  (No Splenda or Sweet 'n low)  ;-)

For what am I least grateful? 

Being yelled at.  (That's all I'm going to say about it.)

The ache in my lower back that won't let up.  (I don't think I'll ever get used to sleeping on a box springs on the floor!)

That these kiddos are forced to work so hard -- 9 hours each day. (I see them for 3 hours. They go to debate for 3 hours.  Then they have 3 hours of mandatory tutoring from 6-9, and during that time they are actually locked out of the dorm.)  

That they don't have access to a printer to print their work for writing groups.  

That there have been many breakdowns in communication (all is okay!), but Korea is culturally very different from America and negotiating values and expectations is time consuming and exhausting.  

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I apologize that I don't have time to comment on your blogs while I'm here. It's a miracle that I can even find time to post at all.  I love you all.  Thanks for sharing my adventure.

If I were in charge . . .

 

If I Were in Charge of the World

by She

I'd cancel politics,

Fear based education, 

"Do what you're told," and also liver and onions.

If I were in charge of the world

There'd be more hand holding

Longer hugs, and 

Schools filled with books students WANT to read.

If I were in charge of the world

You wouldn't have hungry

You wouldn't have poverty

You wouldn't have "haves" and "have nots"

Or "The rich get richer"

You wouldn't even have richer.

If I were in charge of the world

A school in South Central LA would offer the same education as the ones in Beverly Hills

All children would have computers

And a woman from the South

Who sometimes forgot the rules

And often refused to obey

Would still be allowed to be

In charge of the world.

Go here to imitate Judith Viorst's poem, "If I Were in Charge of the World"

Steven, the computer genius, is on the right.  He's the reason I can write this post! ;-)

I so want to write more.  I have so much to say, but I'M STUPID, CRAZY, INSANELY TIRED.  

High point(s):  Listening to the kiddos read their writing.  I actually teared up.  I will post pieces of their writing soon, so you'll know what I mean.  Connecting with Greta. Taking a 30 minute bus ride into the city, finding a Starbucks, singing with three guys playing their guitars on a street corner.

Low point(s):  My feet are STILL swollen!  And I feel so bloated that I should just lie down and roll from place to place!  It's that bad!  The drain in the shower!  I don't like standing in water while I bathe.  It's kinda yucky.  Just sayin'.  And, no more white rice, please!

Korea -- First day of class!

A day in photos!  

 

Introductions!  Isn't she adorable!

Cute!

Prewriting!

 

Sharing "Where I'm From" maps in pairs!

 

First draft!

Writing groups -- first attempt at revision

The strategy:  Add, Subtract, and Rearrange!

Sharing their first drafts!

Aren't they the cutest kids EVER!

  

Evidence of adding, subtracting and rearranging!

Break time!

See how I arranged the room so that we can meet with the whole groups and then break out into small groups!  

How incredibly awesome is that!  

Sweet!

Red bean ice cream after 6 hours of teaching!

Delicious!

 

I had an awesome day!

I'm going to try and practice the examen process each night while I'm here.  It is explained below.

It is about asking ourselves two questions: For what am I most grateful? For what am I least grateful? These questions help us identify moments of consolation and desolation. For centuries, prayerful people have found direction for their day and for their life by identifying these moments.

The two questions can be asked in other ways, such as: When did I feel most alive today? When did I feel life draining out of me? Or, what was today's high point? What was today's low point? 

So, here goes ...

When did I feel most alive today?

I felt most alive working with the 8th graders who make up my first class, which runs from 9 am until noon.  They were funny and joyful and creative.  We made name tags and discussed three objects/symbols that reveal what we most wanted everyone in the room to know about us.  

Then we wrote "Where I'm From" poems, worked in writing groups on revision, and read aloud what we'd written.  It was delightful.  There are only 10 students in the class, and the classroom is big enough for us to have a place to sit as a whole group as well as three separate tables for us to break out into writing/sharing groups.  

Can I just say that it was TEACHER HEAVEN, pure and simple!

I also felt ALIVE and WELL when a kid named Steven figured out how to get my MAC to connect to the internet.  Whoohoo! 

(Insert "happy dance" here!)

I had thought I was going to be "suffering" using a PC with all the desktop icons labeled in Korean!  

(Insert jumping for joy and clapping my hands here!)

Steven is my ROCK STAR!  Making it work involved IP addresses, Pinging, Routers, and all kinds of other rigamarole that I know nothing about!

When did I feel the life draining out of me?

I don't know if it's the same thing as "the life draining out of me," but I feel utterly exhausted right now.  My feet are swollen and I'm physically POOPED from the long day(s).  

But it is a GOOD tired. 

The second class period wasn't as fun as the first period.  The students were more reluctant to participate, and it was a bit more like "pulling teeth" than it was with the first group. The class just had less energy due to the fact that it is held after lunch from 1 pm until 4 pm. (Or was it, perhaps, that I HAD LESS ENERGY?!)  ;-0

So that's it for today!

Ta da!

 

TA DA!
49.6 pounds!

If I weren't brain dead (completely!), then I'd tell you about

1.  My bladder turned kidney infection and how I'm waiting for a new antibiotic prescription to be filled. I've NEVER had a bladder infection before!  Owww!  (MOSTLY, I'm better.  Just some lower back pain at the moment, so that's good!)

2.  My orange hair (and the 5 hours last Thursday and the 3 hours yesterday that I spent in the salon!)

 

(This is when it's waaay better!)

3.  My TV and how it blew last night while I was packing and how the guy who is house-sitting for me was SO excited that I have cable and pay-per-view, etc!

4.  Or, maybe I'd tell about my 3 trips to the dry cleaners to pick up my clothes and how on my third attempt to fetch my favorite blouse, they admitted they couldn't find it.

5.  Or, I might even bore you with the fact that while I was making xerox copies of the instructional materials that I need for Saturday (my first day of teaching!) that my printer ran out of the ONE cartridge that I did not have a replacement for!

But, if I told you about all that, you might think I'm overly dramatic and all, and I wouldn't want you to think that -- even though it's TOTALLY true! ;-0

My friend, Julie, showed up at 8 pm and talked me down from the ledge!  It's always good to have a cheerleader! 

My flight leaves at midnight tonight, and I will arrive in Seoul on Friday morning at 4:30 am.  They are 16 hours ahead of me and Cheri, 14 hours ahead of Blognut and 13 hours of Diane who lives in Pigsnuckle. (Just so you know when you're missing me!) 

I will LOSE Thursday and NEVER get it back!  Now, that's just weird.  I'm glad it's not my birthday!