Today was Founder's Day at our school which means that we celebrated the opening of our school by having a school-wide field day all afternoon. The high school leadership class planned games and activities for the last two hours of the day, and we got some great shots of our kids.
Maria, Ilia, and Ryan with the parachute
Jade, Brianne, and Timothy
I love Timothy's face in this picture. The other girl is Yena
Ethan, Maria, and Timothy
Ethan, Maria, Timothy, Amber, Jade, Yena, Ahata
Aziz, Lydia, Brianna, Tiana, Ilia
The four in the front, not including Aziz, are the four in my class.
Erika and Robert (on the far right) are in Justin's class
Some of Justin's students from last year
Timothy
Brianna
Timothy and Maria
Danny and Dylan
Reenha and Veronika (the two in the middle) are in Justin's class
For Laura’s birthday this year we went to a high ropes/zip
lining course in Daegu for the day. The night before, we had a girls’ night
dinner at the most authentic Mexican restaurant we have found here.
Megan, Laura, and Nikki
Saturday we took the train up to Daegu (about an hour and a half away) with a group of 13 people. We had lunch at an American diner, which was fantastic. They had burgers, macaroni and cheese, French fries, American breakfast, and even Mountain Dew (a treat for a restaurant here). We then set out for the ropes course. This place was really cool. There is a big park on the side of a mountain, but we really only saw the one part. We geared up and took off on our 16-course adventure. There was a rock wall, several zip lines, nets to climb up/down, ladders to go up and across, tight ropes, bridges, and more. Justin was in charge of the camera, so most of the action shots ended up being of me.
At Busan Station ready to get on the train
Doing what we do best - making lots of Koreans give us weird looks
Lunch at the Lazy Diner
Posing with a gorilla at the park
The whole group
Little did I know that I would be terrified of this one...
Our eight days in the States were marked by some incredible
memories over such a short amount of time. We landed in Fort Wayne on Friday
evening and Justin’s parents took us straight to Casa Grande, our local Mexican
restaurant that I have been craving, where we also met up with my parents for
dinner. It was a sweet reunion and all of a sudden felt like we hadn’t been
away for so long. It was hard to believe that it had been nine months since we
were last in Upland.
We quickly began noticing differences around town and felt a
bit more culture shock than we did last time we were home. It was strange to be
able to understand peoples’ conversations all around us and to realize that
everyone else could understand us which meant we needed to speak quieter sometimes.
My Aunt, cousin, and her daughter came to visit that first
weekend, so after dinner we headed over to my Grandma’s house to see my
Grandma, her husband, and my family. I’m not sure how we managed to stay awake
and relatively alert for so long considering the fact that I only slept 2 hours
on the way home and Justin only slept 5 hours. Saturday morning was spent with
my family. My brother, Tim, and his wife, Lissel, were in town by
lunch to spend 2 days with us from their current home in Nashville. We spent
the afternoon chatting, playing games, and eating lots of delicious food.
Justin’s parents joined us all for dinner.
My serving of mashed potatoes. I'm still learning how to share.
Sunday we went to church and were blessed to hear Justin’s
Dad preach – it’s always refreshing to be there and have that privilege, and it
was even more fun to see our family take up an entire row in the Sanctuary.
That weekend was the first time my parents, brother/sister-in-law, and Justin
and I have all 6 been together since Justin and I got married. We also got to see
several families that we love dearly and touch base with them quickly. After
church the 6 of us (my parents, Tim, Lissel, Justin, and I) drove down to Indy
for the Colts’ game. Even though they lost we still had a blast!
Before the game
Awesome view, including that horseshoe
All of us except Lissel
GO COLTS!
With Tim and Lissel. :)
From there Justin and I went to his sister’s house and spent
the night with her family. We finally got to meet their new baby girl – Emma –
and got to see their almost 2 year old son, Caleb. They have been teaching
Caleb our names, so to be greeted right away by Caleb definitely brought a smile
to our faces. Katie knows how to get to us, in a good way. ;)
Auntie Meggy with Caleb
Uncle Justin and Caleb
The next morning Justin’s Mom picked us up and drove us to
Urbana where we saw all of Justin’s grandparents. His Grandpa isn’t in great
health and they were unable to travel to Upland for the wedding, so we wanted
to make sure we saw them. It’s always a blessing to be around his grandparents,
and I so appreciate the way they have all welcomed me into the family and how
they treat me as one of their own. From there we drove back to Indy and Justin
had dinner with his best friend from college.
With the Miller Grandparents
Sounds busy, huh? We’re only 3 days into our trip so far!
Tuesday was much more relaxed as Justin and I just ran some
errands and bought some things to bring back to Korea.
Sisters - Me, Katie, and Keren with Emmalyn and Caleb
Wednesday afternoon I was able to spend time with one of my
dearest and oldest friends, Kate, and I got to meet her newest little one,
Keira, who was just a week old! Justin’s brother flew home for the wedding that
afternoon. We were able to squeeze in a quick tour of TU that evening to see
some of the changes that took place over the summer, and we also got to watch a
great volleyball match. Thursday we started setting up the gym at church for
the wedding and Justin’s sister came up. I had lunch with another dear friend,
Renee, and her son Simon, and Justin had Andrew’s bachelor party that night.
With Keira
Friday we finished setting up for the wedding and had a
great time at the rehearsal dinner. A lot of Justin’s family was in town by
that point and it was great to catch up with as many of them as we could. If
you read our blog often, or really ever, you probably know about our friend
Laura in Korea. Her younger sister is looking at playing volleyball at TU, and
she had her first campus visit on Friday afternoon. I got to meet them briefly with
my Dad – it’s so fun to make those connections and it was extra special to meet
Laura’s family because she is so much like family to us in Korea.
At the rehearsal dinner, holding Emma
All of a sudden it was Saturday! Laura’s parents and sister
came over for breakfast before they had to head home, and then Katie and I went
off to our hair appointments for the wedding! The day flew by and it was an
absolutely beautiful, God-honoring wedding. Justin stood as Andrew’s best man
and I was honored to be one of Keren’s bridesmaids. We are beyond excited for
Andrew and Keren and can’t wait to see how God uses them and works through them
as a married couple.
Best man and Bridesmaid
Love these two!
Our trip home was wrapping up quicker than we were ready
for. Saturday night came to fast and our goodbyes were difficult. We won’t see
anyone in Justin’s family for at least 9 months. I am convinced that we are
blessed with the most amazing families when you put our two families together.
I know I’m biased, but honestly neither of us could have ever dreamt for
anything more from our siblings, parents, grandparents, and extended families.
We are truly blessed among men. With that blessing, though, goodbyes are
harder. We rest assured in the fact that we are bound through Christ in a
deeper way than just as family members. We are still all part of the same Body
of Christ even though we are thousands of miles apart. I definitely shed many
tears saying goodbye, but oddly enough that somehow brings me comfort.It reminds us of that blessing and the bond
we have through our faith.
Sunday morning we said our last goodbyes and went to the
airport with my parents, and we began the 24 hour long journey of travelling
back to Korea. I have to admit that I was not looking forward to going back.
Home was almost too good. But we both know that God has called us to this place
for this time in our lives. Being home was wonderful, but being where God wants
us is far more important. We wouldn’t change our life in Korea for anything. We
have grown beyond words – as individuals, as teachers, and as a couple.
Sorry for the short novel I just wrote. If you made it
through, props to you. You can be praying for us as we deal with jet lag again,
especially since we have jumped right back into work. Also pray that while we
look forward to being with family again in the future, that we wouldn’t wish
away any of our time in Korea. Pray that we remember and focus on what God is
calling us to right now.
I leave you with a song that we sang at Andrew and Keren's wedding - it was a new song to us, but is now one that we love.
With our quick trip home just around the corner, we thought it was time for an update about life in Korea before we head out.
We are in our third week of school now. I currently only have two students with two more coming in the next few weeks. Justin's class is up to 21 right now, which is a big class for our school. Having the new building this year has been fabulous - our cafeteria allows my class to sit at child-sized tables and take their time to eat, and the new gym has been helpful as well for PE classes and recess on rainy days. My classroom has also doubled in size this year. It was prettttty small last year, so I'm VERY happy with my space now. We have been bad at taking pictures of much this year, so all I have to share are a few pictures of my room. Take a look back at our previous blog posts BFS Classrooms and Meet the Teacher Night to compare my new room to my old room. It's still a bit of a work in progress, but it's definitely an improvement!
In other news, church is going really well. Justin is officially a deacon, so that's exciting! Our Community Group is growing - we had 9 people this past week and are hoping to gain a few more people as well. We are so blessed by our friends here and by the Body of Christ we have found. Justin has started a Men's Bible Study through the church as well, and they had their first meeting last weekend - he was pleased to have 8 guys there.
We leave on Friday morning (Thursday evening EST) for our journey home. We'll arrive in Ft. Wayne on Friday evening and will spend the week with family before Andrew and Keren's wedding the following Saturday! So are SO grateful that we are able to be home for their wedding - especially because it's difficult for our school to find subs. They have been incredibly gracious to allow us to take extra days off in order to be home! I can't say it enough - GOD IS GOOD!
We hope to see many of you while we're home, but our time there will be short, so if we don't get a chance to see you, please know that it's not because we don't want to!
We have been studying Hebrews in church, so I leave you with Hebrews 7:25
Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through Him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.
Let us fearlessly proclaim Him as we live out our lives!
We just wrapped up our last week of Summer School and are gearing up for the start of the school year on August 26th.
For Summer School Justin taught 3rd grade and had 9 students, most of which will be in his class this coming year, so it was a good opportunity for them to get to know each other and for him to gauge where they are in their academics. I worked with 1st grade and 4th grade. In the afternoons we got to teach different enrichment classes. Justin taught science and did several different science experiments with each group of students. I taught basketball and PE - we are loving the fact that we have a gym this year and definitely took advantage of that during these 3 weeks.
The first Friday we had water day and played several water games out on our new field. It was a great relief from the insane heat we are experiencing in Busan. The second Friday we took field trips. I went rock climbing with the older kids and to the petting zoo with the younger kids. The last Friday we had a showcase in the afternoon for parents to come see what their students did at Summer School.
Justin has a new student whose Mom is Honduran, and I got to meet her on the last Friday and chat with her a bit - she is also from Tegucigalpa, where my sister-in-law Lissel is from. I never thought I would meet a Honduran in South Korea!
It was a really fun three weeks and was a good way to ease us back into the school routine. This coming week we have Teacher Workshops and time to prep our classrooms for the upcoming year.
This weekend we had a Marriage Retreat with other couples from our church. Justin and I even tied in winning the Newlywed Game by matching 8 out of 10 questions. It was hilarious for sure. Our Pastor spoke about marriage for two sessions about husband/wife roles as well as spiritual unity and the purpose of marriage. It was a great evening spent with some of our dearest couple friends in Korea.
I just want to leave you with my favorite worship song at the moment. We have been singing this in our church for several months now, but when Nikki, Laura, and I called into K-Love a while back they hadn't even heard of it yet.
I (Megan) have always wanted to get LASIK. I also tend to be a realistic, logical person (just ask Laura and Nikki which one of us brings our conversations back to reality!), so I never thought I would ever have the procedure done since it's so expensive (remember, I'm also Dutch). So my LASIK dream has always been just that - a dream.
Then we moved to Korea, when many of my seemingly unrealistic dreams began coming true. In late May/early June, this LASIK dream became something I thought about more as our friends Cody and Arin had successfully undergone the surgery and came out with perfect vision, and all for a fantastic price. It took a while to convince Justin just how great this opportunity was, but with time, research, and the help of his parents (Justin says we ganged up on him), he finally agreed to go to the free consultation.
We walked into a pristine doctor's office where we each had 6-7 tests done on our eyes before we met with the doctor and got approved for surgery. We schedule them both for a week later, mine on Friday and Justin's on Saturday.
The doctor's office even displays the surgery on a large tv screen in the waiting room, so Justin snapped a few pictures of my eye during surgery, but it's hard to tell what's going on. He didn't watch the entire thing, which is probably good since we was going the next day. I, however, watched his entire procedure on Saturday and even video taped it. I'll get that uploaded as soon as I can, but if you get queasy easily, you may not want to watch it.
The day after my procedure I was already seeing 20/15, and as of our 2 week appointment this week, we are still both seeing about that. I remember the day I got glasses and discovered that the lights on the scoreboard at my brother's football game were actually numbers. Now, roughly 17 years later, I can see perfectly without any glasses or contacts. What a blessing!
