Miscellaneous

Funny post office situation:
I was mailing a box Monday and saw a COB faculty I know. He was mailing kimchi to his brother in Seoul. I joked with him about the availability of kimchi in Seoul. But it was his mother's kimchi! And another person in line was also mailing kimchi. When I met with one of the small groups of students for English practice and told them, they said it's not unusual. One of them said her grandmother makes the best kimchi. I told them I like kimchi (though a big incentive to eat it is that it seems like it must be healthy) but that it all tastes the same to me. It is served at every meal... rice too.

It reminds me of Samoans taking an umu (literally oven) box (pre-printed boxes come in 3 different sizes) back to the States or NZ from Samoa... the boxes are checked as a luggage item.

Nice indirect compliment:
One of my students asked me today if I would try to teach Advanced Accounting spring semester. I am scheduled for Intermediate I. It's not just about me, however. He said a lot of the concepts are easier to understand in English, which I thought was interesting.

My mom:
My mom's progress at the care center seems to be quite slow with some additional complications like a bladder infection (and now antibiotics with their own side effects). Food does not stay in her, so gaining strength is very difficult. She is trying her best with 1 hour of PT and 1 hour of OT a day, but it is difficult for her. There is a medicine they might start in the next couple of days that would be aimed at her colon. Also, they are supposed to consult with a surgeon Friday. The end of the week should bring an official progress report too, from what I understand. She is very fortunate to have so many family members to help and look out for her - my dad, both brothers, and sister-in-law. A situation like this one has got to be almost hopeless for someone by himself or herself. Please continue to pray for her and the family in AZ.

Christmas season:
May your season be focused on Jesus Christ. We have almost no holiday events, obligations, etc. here (not even a tree or baking), so it's a different feeling. We are reading an Advent book that is historical fiction with main character about 10 to 12 years old. It's the third book by this author and so now starting to be an Advent tradition. It's neat because the characters overlap between the books. It is set right before the birth of Jesus and leads up to the characters being present at his birth. The story for the day tends to end with intrigue that has made Michael say, PLEASE, can we read tomorrow's?" My reply: "Of course not... we have to wait for tomorrow so we are on the correct day!" And, really, Michael is good at waiting and savoring things. God's perfect timing and his providential care are communicated in a lovely way in the book.