Sun 22 Mar 2009
Anyeong Haseyo!
Ruby’s napping now, so I finally have some time to sit down and write this. I’ve just realized that a month and a half has gone by since the last update. Wow. I haven’t forgotten about you!
Seoullal/Lunar New Year Celebration
Since I wrote last, we have experienced our second Lunar New Year in Korea, or Seoullal, but our first with a baby. It is tradition during the Seoullal holidays for children to bow to their parents and other relatives for money, so we did that at church, too! Ruby was invited to go up, along with all the other kids, to bow and receive money, so I carried her up and made her bow.
From L to R: Ruby bowing with the rest of the kids; Mom and Ruby with her gifts
Also during the service, I was exposed to my first danger with a baby nearby, and was disappointed with my reaction (as I normally am pretty cool and collected during an emergency). There is a little area that is set up for mother’s with babies, and an electric blanket is put under the cushions during the winter months. I suddenly noticed smoke coming up from under the blanket, and instead of plugging out the blanket (which would be obvious!), I semi-frantically tapped the mother next to me to alert her to the potential disaster. She calmly motioned to unplug it, which I promptly did, feeling rather sheepish. I just lost my head a bit, as my baby was sleeping right beside the area in question.
Valentine’s Day/White Love Day
Ah, Valentine’s Day. If you think it’s over-done in NA, don’t come to Korea. Valentine’s Day is loved SO much here, they made a second day just like it, White Love Day, the former being for men, the latter for women. During our 3.5 years of marriage, Will has picked up on my affinity for puzzles and games, and has gotten quite good at copying the style of games I like, for occasions such as these. So, this year, he hid a bunch of mini Twixes around the apartment before he left for Seoul, and I spent that morning looking for them with childish ecstasy. In one room was a box of chocolates, with a lable that epitomizes some of the fantastically bad English sentences we have come across here. This is what it said (spelling mistakes intentional):
The sun will shed light a lot level in the ocean and me it will be extensive and it thinks. huy The American one moonlight will be floating above the spring water and me it will be extensiv and it thinks.
The final display that I found
Ruby Update
Ruby is growing quickly and thriving. People still comment on how big she is, which is music to my ears, given the fact that she was unusually small when she was born, and was slow to gain weight in her earlier months. The common thing for people to say to us has switched from “She is cold!” to “Does she know/recognize you?, which seems like an odd question to ask. It seems like the answer should be obvious, “Of course! I’m her mother!” But it also seems odd, because what if she didn’t recognize me? As her mother, that would be quite sad, I think. I think it would be similar to asking someone if they are still married. Either it’s an obvious “Yes!” or a sad “No”, leaving an awkwardness undoubtedly to follow. When people ask I usually just say, “I hope so!” and leave it at that. Another popular reaction to seeing Ruby, mostly by strangers, is “?? ?? (Inhyang Katthe)” (sp?) which means, “She looks like a doll!”. 9 out of 10 people will say that, and that is NO exaggeration. Either while walking by, from across the street, or while standing and cooing at her after having stopped me in the sidewalk, which often happens.
We can’t go to any department store without store clerks and customers gathering around us to get a closer look at Ruby. You’d think a respectful time to stop a couple from shopping to look at their baby would be a matter of seconds, but here, I think it lasts as long as it can until we walk away. Will doesn’t mind so much, but I don’t like the attention, so I often wander off to continue my shopping, and sometimes by the time I get back to Will and Ruby, the crowd is still there! Ruby also has started babbling now, and once I took her on a walk with me up the nearby mountain, and she was in a mood to babble constantly, and really loudly; So loudly, that this elderly couple about 50 metres up the hill stopped, looked back, and waited for us to catch up.
Ruby is a daily source of laughter for us, sometimes because of the scraps she gets herself into. One night she squirmed and wiggled so much in her crib that she ended up perpendicular to the side bars of her crib. Because she didn’t fit comfortably in that position, she had wiggled her feet through the holes between the bars and had fallen asleep like that! She also talks to herself in the mirror, which I find hilarious.
From L to R: I can’t see! Oh wait, my hat’s covering my eyes!; Playing with her rattles; Enjoying a walk in the cool winter air; Proud of how tall she is; Sitting in my breastfeeding pillow
Cell Group Switch: Love to Joy
For the first time since JVC’s existence, the church leaders decided to switch all the cell groups around. I’ll admit I was quite reluctant at first, as we have come to love our “Love” cell group a lot, for various reasons. First of all, every family spoke English and were willing to speak English at least half of the time; Second, almost every family had travelled abroad, so they could relate to us on that level; Third, our cell group had the most young children, which was wonderful for Ruby; Fourth, we all seemed to have the same worldview, opinions and religious convictions; Fifth, I felt my gift of music was honored and enjoyed, as I was invited to introduce and accompany English hymns every week. However, having had 2 meetings with our new cell group, Joy, we are just as happy to be in this new group, too. And, the English hymn singing will certainly continue with this group, so I’m quite pleased. We had a farewell potluck with the Love group, and shared blessings and things that we were grateful for in other members, which was a meaningful and emotional time.
Spring V-School Term
Spring is here and lo the new V-school term has begun. We have some new students, in both the Day School and After School programs, and they are eager to learn…mostly. Although, I think one of them is embarrased by me, cause when I walked by him on the sidewalk the other day (he lives in my apartment complex) he completely ignored me, even though I said “Hello Joshua!”. Sigh. I expected as much, though, as a lot of children we know are very shy.
The V-School program is growing in popularity, cause apparently there was a waiting list of students for this term. We have more students than the last few terms, and an additional Day School class. This is my first term teaching since Ruby was born, which means I need a babysitter in the evenings. This was a hard adjustment at first, for ME, but for Ruby…no problems! Basically, all the students’ mothers are on a rotating schedule to watch Ruby, so I was concerned about her having so many different people to deal with, but she just loves people, strangers or not. That is something I am VERY thankful for with her. If she wasn’t a people person, things could get very awkward for us, since so many people want to see her and hold her.
Guitar/Cooking Class Resurrected
After a 5-month hiatus, my guitar/cooking class has started up again, and the ladies’ are very keen. I think the class will be a breeze for me, cause the ladies will spend half of the class cooing over Ruby. On the menu for cooking class next week: Twen-Jang Jjige (bean-curd soup, which is much more delicious than it sounds!)
From L to R: Ana and one of her students, ready to eat; Twen-Jong Jjige and Kamja Jon (potato pancake)
Will’s Happenings
Will is back at hockey, and sustained his first hockey-related injury (just a contusion in the rib), which took him out of the game for a while. Although he’s on a break from his YWAM and early morning English classes, he is now about to start another English class with prospective missionaries. He also has been busy trying to get Ruby a passport. We realize we are doing this a bit late in the game, and are doing our best to get this done asap. This is hard to do, however, since the Canadian Embassy here is ONLY open from 8:30-11:30am, it’s IN Seoul, and they are closed for all statutory Canadian AND Korean holidays. Needless to say, it has VERY inconvenient hours. In aggravation of these inconveniences, Will has already tried TWICE to get our application processed, unsucessfully. The first time, his train from Chuncheon was just too slow and he missed the open hours. The second time, he had all the proper documents, but needed my signature on something and, of course, didn’t have it. Murphy’s Law. He also has joined an early morning mountain climbing group, with a few men from church, which is a good avenue for discussing church matters and mutual language practice. It’s also good exercise. This is good. In addition, Will’s many hours and hard work on the KAC website have borne fruit, as he is near the completion of the new and improved library book search page.
Ana’s Happenings
I have picked up swimming again, for the enjoyment, but also because I would like to fit into more than 2 pairs of pants. The hymnal project had been on the back burner for a while, but the members of our new cell group have embraced the idea of helping me with this project, particularly with translation, in connection with the the hymn singing we are already doing. Aside from teaching and child care, I am preparing for our seminar on Anabaptism that is coming up in April.
Phew! That’s all folks!