Hello,

I think we're going to update our blog once a month near the beginning of the month. I'm sorry it's been a month and a half since our last update.

Here's some quick highlights beginning from the most recent going back in time:

Snow: Snow is usually rare in these parts, but on Monday we received between 4-6 inches of snow. It definitely makes the city look less ugly and the park across the street is really pretty.

New Year's Eve: We got three days off for New Year's so we had a 5 day weekend (Thursday-Monday). On Friday we took a trip to Daegu, the third largest city in S. Korea. They had a larger selection of Western food and clothing stores there, so we enjoyed a French/Mediterranean meal and some shopping. On Monday, amidst a snowstorm in Ulsan, we took a trip to Busan and ate some Thai food and went to Costco. Overall, the holiday was relaxing and fun.

Christmas: We didn't get any vacation time for Christmas. On Christmas Eve was had a Christmas "party" at our schools. Scott dressed up as Santa for his kindergartners, and at both campuses the kids had a potluck and a coupon exchange party. On Christmas day we had a relaxing morning Skyping with family and then went to an evening candlelight service at church. Afterwords we had a few friends over to play our new favorite board game Settlers of Catan.

December: Amy has had several class changes, and now has the privilege of teaching the kindergartners, a beginner class of 8-10 year olds, and a class of 10 4th-5th grade boys. She is loving teaching her young beginners and is finding her boys' class to be loud and sometimes frustrating, but not completely unbearable.

Thanksgiving: Since Thanksgiving is obviously not a holiday in Korea, we did not have any vacation time. However, the Saturday after Thanksgiving we headed to Busan in search of a traditional Thanksgiving meal that we heard was served in a restaurant there. Long story short, we were unable to get the meal, and ended up eating some Indian food which Scott was very happy about.

Parent's Meeting: Scott had his kindergarten parent's meeting in late November. The kids did well and the parents and Scott's bosses seemed pleased.

Church orphanage visit: In November we went to a different orphanage in Busan with the church. The orphanage is really nice (it even has an indoor swimming pool). There were a lot of volunteers from the church and not many children so the we didn't have much to do most of the time, but we were glad we went and got to see it.

Sick: Amy's been sick for last two and half months with a cough and occasional fever and stuffy head. We think it is the cold weather that is causing it and hope it will go away when it gets warmer. The doctors here are unwilling to give anything stronger than a decongestant and antihistamine which don't do anything except make her dizzy and groggy. If you could please pray for her health, that would be appreciated.

That about sums up the major things that have been going on in our lives. We continue to keep going. We are more than half way done with our year here and hope that the second half goes a little faster than the first half. We do have more vacation to look forward to in the second half, along with a visit from Amy's best friend at the end of February. Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers.