o holy night

This Christmas, my sisters, my mom, and I sang O Holy Night for a Christmas Eve service. This is one of the run-throughs during practice and is fairly decent.

During the candle-light service, we completely missed the key change. We stopped the song, refound ourselves with the piano and then finished singing...not quite the ideal performance. It was frustrating to spend several hours practicing just to mess-up in front of the live audience. However, Jesus did not come save a perfect world. He was not born to come along and say, "Good job! Keep up the good work!" [Insert thumbs-up]. Being reminded that I am not perfect, even when it is a small thing like missing a key change, helps me keep my mind on the big picture.

christmas pics!!!

It is Christmas in Montana! I am home for the holidays and having a fantastic time with friends and family. Here is a photo-journey of locating the perfect Christmas tree and decorating the house!

 Should we get this one?

 The perfect tree!

 Cutting down the tree.

 Hi!

 Going back to the truck.

 Lunch time

 The tree is safely in the house.

 Untangling the lights.

 Lighting up the tree.

 The ornaments are ready to put up.

 Jacki behind the tree.

 Mom putting up ornaments.

 Dad, "Where should this one go??"

 Jaime adding to the tree in between getting ready for winter ball.

 Putting up my contributions.

 Jordan is decorating too!

 The angel!

 Jordan and Jaime got side-tracked from hanging beads.

 Jordan is putting up stockings.

 I love decorations!

 Mom is setting up the nativity scene...

 

...while dad is sampling Jacki's Almond Roca.

 

The wrapping station!!

We are having fun so far! More pictures to come!

5%

Why is it that the last 5% of a job seems to be the most difficult? I am down to one paper and one exam (and the exam I just need to show up for). When these are completed, my first semester of grad school is over. Done. Finished. I can finally sleep. Yet I find myself cleaning instead of working on the paper. Cleaning? Really? I want the satisfaction of checking this paper off my google tasks to-do list, but my motivation tank is depleted. And I even like the subject. It is just that the last segment of a job is the put-your-head-down-and-just-get-through-it kind of work. It's like when I hiked up to Warren Lake this summer with my dad and sister. We had already climbed over Cutaway Pass and had a steep set of switchbacks before we could set up camp. Part way up the trail, I simply did not want to move a step forward. I knew that the view from the top would be beautiful. I was sure that once I had climbed to the lake I could sit, rest, eat a clif bar and rehydrate. That last bit of hiking was grueling. But I did it anyway. Like a certain individual has told me on a number of occasions (*cough*Dad*cough), "You can do anything for a short period of time. You can even stand on your head for a short period of time." In less than seventy-two hours I will be at home in Montana with family. I am not sure that I could actually stand on my head for that long (I usually get a headache after about a minute...and it wouldn't really be helping me finish this paper...), but I know that I can finish this semester well during my last couple of days of 2011 in Boston. Even if it means logging out of facebook so I can chip away at a paper.

a lesson from a children's book

From The Tale of Despereaux (If you haven't read the book yet, you might not want to read this post)

And then the princess took a deep breath and put a hand on her heart.

I think, reader, that she was feeling the same thing that Despereaux had felt when he was faced with his father begging him for forgiveness. That is, Pea was aware suddenly of how fragile her heart was, how much darkness was inside it, fighting, always, with the light. She did not like the rat. She would never like the rat, but she knew what she must do to save her own heart. 

 Occasionally a passage in a children's story will strike me as meaningful and applicable beyond the children to whom the story is read. This is one such passage. The Tale of Despereaux is a beautiful story of a mouse finding courage in his circumstances and of light encountering darkness and changing different characters in the process. People are not naturally good. There is a bent aspect to our nature that fights against attempts to do the right thing, a darkness that wants to keep the light far away. Yet there come pivotal moments when we can choose to follow the light, God's light, and overcome this darkness. As we live daily, making one choice at a time, we can learn to protect our fragile hearts.

another transition

It is difficult to believe that two months ago tomorrow I arrived home from my journey to South Korea. Changes have taken place in this brief segment of time, and the amount of trust I have had to give to God has been surprising.

During the first couple of weeks home (after the obnoxious jet-lag dissipated and Jaclyn returned from Spain) I went on a family vacation with my family. The beginning was epic, as we started by camping in the Pintler Wilderness with Dad, Jordan and I bisecting the Wilderness on a backpacking trek to Warren Lake. Hiking about twenty-five miles in two days (over a pass and up a mountain), the sights were spectacular and the trip definitely worth the effort. The toughest aspect of the adventure was the killer-mosquitoes that stayed in a small whining swarm around our heads-especially my head. After coming down from the mountain and tearing down camp with the rest of the family (and Grandma and Grandpa) we switched from backpacks to suitcases and drove to Yellowstone National Park. The geysers were fantastic and the falls were breathtaking. I loved experiencing the park with family.

Soon after we got back from vacation, Jordan left for Vanguard and my college roommate Danielle came up from California. We spent some time in Glacier National Park and then around Deer Lodge. One of the best days was when we rented kayaks on Lake MacDonald in Glacier. Paddling out into the lake was fun and relaxing. Then we turned around and realized that we had to paddle back against the wind. I am pretty sure we rowed for fifteen minutes straight and did not make any progress. Fortunately, we gradually gained against the elements and made it back to shore.

At the end of the summer, Danielle came with me from Deer Lodge to Boston on a four-day insane road trip. Driving about twelve hours a day (and letting the GPS lead us astray, but that is another story), we finally reached Massachusetts and my new apartment.

For the past couple of weeks I have been experiencing the transition from teaching to grad school. As usual, there have been a few ups and downs. Some days I tell myself that I have everything under control and that I will be able to handle the course load and other days I feel overwhelmed and in over my head. I want to know for certain that I will be able to succeed in my classes, my student teaching, and my part-time job (that I don't have yet). I want all the details that come with living, like housing, friends, money, food, and transportation, to be perfectly aligned. But then I remember that it is not my job to have life under control. That one is up to God. I can attempt to persuade myself that stressing out will make a difference, but I don't think that is very productive. So I attempt to give my anxiety to God each day. I guess that is all I can do right now.

Pics: 

 

a day in Yellowstone

 Yellowstone Falls

family shot

 a little geyser

a little bit bigger geyser (Old Faithful)

a mountain goat at Glacier

bighorn sheep at Glacier

sunset on Lake MacDonald

Danielle and I kayaking on Lake MacDonald

hiking the Warren Pass loop

To those praying for me: I need a part-time job(s) that fits around my school schedule, there are still some apartment details that need to come together, and I need wisdom regarding where I will become part of a church community. Thanks for your support!

Changes

Greetings, world! I know it has been far too long since my last post, but I thought I would at least mention where I am right now.

I finished my year in Korea and had a wonderful time at home in Montana. A couple of weeks ago I made the insane decision to drive my little 5-speed out to Boston, Massachusetts where I am attending grad school at Boston University. Email me if you want my street address!!

Thanks to those who supported me and prayed for me while I was in Korea!

scattered sisters

This is the current arrangement of the widgets on my dashboard:

In case the print is too small, I have the time, weather and currency conversion rates for Hongseong, South Korea; Deer Lodge, Montana, USA; Madrid (soon to be Valencia), Spain; and Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania!! Am I currently trying to obtain a position at the UN? No. Am I planning a trek around the world? Again, no. I am simply attempting to keep track of my three crazy sisters! As of approximately eight hours ago, four Baker girls are located on four different continents. (And it is not because we got into a huge fight! I promise!)

To straighten this out:

I am still teaching English in South Korea (Asia). Jaclyn, the next oldest, is on a study abroad program in Spain (Europe), Jordan, third oldest/second youngest-take your pick, is on a short-term missions trip to Tanzania (Africa), and Jaime, the youngest, is holding down the fort in Deer Lodge, Montana (North America). My parents are probably going insane. I am not sure how I should feel about this whole situation.

At least by the time everyone returns to Montana we will have a few stories to share :).

playground moments

Life has been rather hectic with school changes, weekend travel, and a teacher's conference at Jeju-do, a Korean island to the southeast of the main peninsula. But in the midst of the chaos, I have a couple of stories from teaching. Enjoy!!

There are two girls in my sixth grade class who have taken to giving me random pieces of candy, or chilling in my room during school breaks. They are delightful to chat with, despite my having to request that they do not practice the recorder while I am lesson planning. One of the girls came up to me after one class and gave me this following picture. It definitely made my day!!


A couple of days ago, after a particularly trying class, I was frustrated with certain circumstances. I figured maybe I could just go hang out with my first graders, who were playing on the school's jungle gym. The students were very surprised that "Miss Joelle" was coming outside and made a big deal over my sun glasses (which I let them try on). I had flashbacks to elementary school when I climbed on the jungle gym with the kids and did flips on the pull-up bars. Let's just say that doing flips on the bars is a little more painful now....

A final fun moment with my students this week was when I brought my frisbee to school. I grabbed a couple of my not-so-obedient second graders and taught them how to throw (and say the name of) a frisbee. Hopefully some of that camaraderie will carry into our next class together.

Right now, life is great. I love my students, my host family, and my friends. I am super-excited that the weather is getting warmer (yay for spring!!) and the flowers are making an appearance. We will see what the next couple of months have in store.

first week teaching pictures!

The first week of teaching has certainly had a few ups and downs!! Here are photos that can tell a couple of stories. 

This semester, I got desks and chairs for my classroom:

The structure this provides for the students has helped considerably in class discipline issues.

Much of my first couple of days was spent preparing my classroom for the year. Arranging the white board:

Creating posters:

And printing/laminating/cutting the flashcards to use for the first couple of units:

 

(On a small tangent-these flash cards are from mes-English.com, an incredible site for flash cards, BINGO boards, phonics activities and tons more. English teachers, check it out!)

I have also been having tons of fun with my students.

Here are some first graders playing a "make-the-letter" game (gotta love TPR):

My first through fourth graders all made name tents where I helped them write their English names. I then took pictures of the students with their name tents so that I might be able to learn my kids' names.

Some cooperated for the picture:

And some did not:

 

 This week has been incredibly productive compared to my last semester teaching. So while there have still been rough patches, I am better equipped to deal with them!

I have even had time to make a paper flower bouquet for my desk (thanks for the lesson Alanna), although my students keep asking if they can have the flowers...

Happy Friday!

back in the classroom

March has come and with it my second semester of teaching at Galsan Elementary School! After a glorious two month break during which I went home to Montana for a couple of weeks, ran an English camp, traveled in Korea, and participated in a Korean language class, I have come back to a school filled with changes. To begin with, I now have a new principal, vice principal, and coteacher. Approximately fifty percent of the school staff has changed, so while I miss some of the old teachers, it is exciting to see new faces during lunch at the school caf.

I finished last semester a little burnt out on teaching and running low on creativity for my lesson plans. For the last several weeks, however, I have been brainstorming new activities and games and have been antsy to see my students again. This only intensified as the school start date approached. In Korea, students change grades at the beginning of the calendar year instead of in the fall. This means that all of my second graders from last year are now third graders and so on and so forth. My goal for this first week of teaching has been to maintain a firm and strict attitude, keeping a very controlled classroom environment. Now, I had this same goal at the beginning of last semester, but at that point I did not know what to expect from my students (or myself!). Accompanied with my newly enhanced Korean language skills, my confident teaching persona has been met with success.

The greatest teaching change this semester will be working with a coteacher. Last year, the homeroom teachers were occasionally in the classroom to help with discipline, but the responsibility for planning and executing lessons fell to me. Now I will be teaching six classes a week (my fifth and sixth graders) with Mr. Lee. On hearing that I would have to "share" my students, I found out how possessive I am of my teaching time. However, this will ease my lesson planning burden and give me an opportunity to try a new style of teaching. I hope we can teach together successfully.

Even though the administration may have changed, my students have not. Stepping back into the classroom and seeing their faces has reinforced my desire to teach. The first day back, I loved having students run up to give me a hug or shout, "Hello, Miss Joelle" from down the hall. I enjoy the feeling of potential that the start of a semester or a new class of students brings. (Not to mention the excuse to shop for school supplies...) It has also been relieving to find that the whole concept of "teaching" and "teaching in a foreign country" is now a relatively familiar idea. After 239 classes completed, I can anticipate how these classes and this semester will run. Sure, there will be surprises, but I am better equipped to effectively meet them. I can't wait to see what will happen this term!

room 503

The month of February consisted of me taking a second swing at learning Korean. While the classes I took during my six week orientation gave me a grounding in the language, I wanted an opportunity gain a firmer grasp on conversational skills. So filled my suitcase and headed back to Jungwon University (the original orientation site) along with forty-two other ETAs. Not only have the last three and a half weeks helped my language ability, but in them I have deepened friendships with other Fulbrighters and created friendships with Korean university students.

I was nervous entering the CLEA program. I did not feel confident in my Korean, especially my speaking, and this course was daunting. Korean language for six hours a day, six days a week, totaling 126 hours of class seems like a mission of insanity. But the anxiety dissipated as the classes began. Life became a strange timeless routine of waking up, going to class, eating, studying, sleeping, and repeating. I brought games and activities, thinking I would have a couple of free hours. That thought was a little too optimistic. Instead of playing games with friends every night, I grabbed my books and notes and headed to study room 503 for three to five hours of reviewing/practicing the material covered in class.

The study rooms were one of the few places that students could actually hang out at Jungwon. Room 503 had a consistent group of five to eight students every night. While the focus was primarily studying, we had our share of conversation, goofing off, and ordering pizza throughout the weeks. Some of the best evenings were when we invented games to learn the different Korean concepts. Not only were there American students, but we had a couple of  Korean students who came by to work on English (and were more than willing to help me with my Korean homework!!).

Leaving at the end of CLEA was tough. There was an odd mixture of relief that the class was over, excitement to go back to my students, and sadness that I was leaving some incredible friends.

On the whole, my second attempt at learning Korean was a huge success. Not only did I understand what was happening during class and on the exams (!!), but I was able to use my newly developed skills as soon as I got back to my homestay, and when I started teaching again. It was definitely worth the investment of twenty-four days of class with only three days off!!

 

here is a class photo

  some of the primary 503 members

 with my two instructors