BAKING!!!

Justin bought an oven, it was delivered today! Immediately after putting it in it's new home Justin made banana bread, and then we made 2.5 dozen chocolate chip cookies! I love baked goods!! :)

Here's to you Dordt Maintenance!

Today the lock on my office door broke. A gust of wind slammed my open door shut and 3 of 4 screws holding on my lock came out. Fortunately, a maintenance man was able to come with new screws and put my lock back on. Unfortunately, an internal piece was positioned incorrectly when he secured the lock into place. Even more unfortunately, I didn't discover this until I left my office and locked the door. When I returned at 5pm I discovered that I could only lock my door from the outside but not unlock it. By this time the maintenance workers had all gone home and would not come until the morning. Not a problem except my wallet and apartment keys were inside, and I had students coming Friday morning for thier midterm conversation tests.

So what did I do? I did exactly what the son of a dordt maintenance man should do; I grabbed 2 screwdrivers, hunted down a ladder, broke into my second floor office through the window, and reassembled the lock correctly.

What's my point? I'm simply trying to highlight the fact that the Dordt maintenance crew could possibly be one of the top crews in the entire world. Dordt maintenance would have been there at 10pm to help a professor get into thier office (but they also would've assembled the lock correctly the first time).

Here's to you Dad, Arnie, Paul, Phil, Vern, Lyle, Stan x2, Doug x2, Lee, Cindy, Kevin, Duane, Brian x2, Carol, Jeanne, Judy, Eldon, and Wilma! Keep up the amazing work!

JOY

Kosin is built on the side of a small mountain, so to go from building 1 to building 2 you must go to the fourth floor of the first building and then walk outside to enter the first floor of the second. It leaves many people gasping for air daily as they climb the steep incline.
The other day, a student named Violet was ascending the stairs of building 1 ahead of me. As she climbed she looked out from the dimly lit building upon a beautifully sunny day and saw the path outside veiled in falling cherry blossoms. She instantly let out a giggly squeal of intense joy and leaped up the remaining 5 or 6 stairs into the rays of sun. She dashed 20 feet down the sidewalk and plunged her nose into a branch covered with sweet, white blossoms. Then, after inviting the beauty and aroma of the blossoms to settle into her memory and fill her heart with delight, she literally skipped down the sidewalk and up the stairs into building 2!
I walked up to my office with a warm heart and huge smile, feeling blessed to be a spectator to such pure and beautiful joy. Thanks Violet. :)

Australia = America (sometimes)

As I left the office yesterday, I wanted to have nothing to do with Korean food for supper. Don't get me wrong, I love Korean food, but I was just sick of it. I also didn't want to make any of the semi-American food that we had at our apartment; you can only eat toast, or eggs, or pancakes so many times. Upon arriving home, I found Justin laying on his bed, looking beaten down and tired (it's been a long week). Last semester, at times like this, we would go to the United Seaman's Service; a restaurant that serve's awesome hamburgers, fries, and imported beer. However, the USS became a members only establishment, so we were denied service the last time we went. So, last night we opened up our wallets and went to Australia (or the Outback Steakhouse) with Gary and consumed a ton of BREAD and shared a pitcher of Foster's draft beer (Korean beer is terrible!). Oh, Gina came too, but just for the company b/c she already ate. She's good company. :)

PNU

A Saturday of discoveries began alone in a usual place; the busy shopping district of Nampo Dong, twenty minutes from Kosin.


After some wandering and a heart-shaped donut with pink frosting and both cream and strawberry jelly filling, I called Gary. Gary was watching TV, lame! So, we decided to meet in Someyon (a newer, and possibly more popular, shopping district). The big discovery there: the MacBook Air! Ridiculous! It is so light and so thin, but probably not very practical (still cool though).

After the Mac store, Gary and I headed to the PNU (Pusan National University) area. It's the newest popular shopping district, frequented mostly by the college crowd, and an area of Busan that I've never been to. We met our friend Gina there, ate some awesome spicy chicken and rice combo for supper, explored the university campus, and drank some coffee at an Italian coffee shop.




What a great day of exploration and friendship! :)