Hollywood? No, Halloween! + October and November in Review

Greetings faithful readers!

We'll start off with a snapshot from the past month:

Fall leaves on fall trees...

It was a crisp Saturday night, and we were heading out for our weekly date night dinner. As we walked out the front door of our building, we ran into our Iranian neighbor.
"We're going to Hollywood!" he told us, joyfully.

 "Oh!" we exclaimed. "You're going to the United States?"
"No..." he responded. "We're going to Hollywood here in Itaewon."
"I didn't know there was a Hollywood in Korea..." Joy said, now feeling confused.

At that moment, the door of the building opened and out stepped a young witch holding a sparkly orange wand. 

"Oh, Halloween!" we said, finally putting the pieces together. 

Our neighbor was surprised that we were not celebrating this popular American holiday. We learned the value of properly interpreting accented English and walked away with a fun "lost in translation" story to share with you. 

The beautiful colors of fall.

Welcome to the latest edition of the Benjoy Times.  As always, much has transpired since our last post.  In no particular order…

-       The first quarter has come to an end, many tears have been shed, and extra credit assignments begged for.  Alas for the cold hearts of teachers.  We had a marathon of grading the last weekend of the quarter to get everything punched in by Monday.  Parent-teacher conferences went pretty well.  More parents show up for these than we saw in the States, and, in a cultural norm that we enjoy, many come bearing gifts!

-       Classes:  we are busy as always with planning.  As mentioned in previous posts, Bennett is developing two new AP physics courses while Joy is teaching a host of different subjects for the first time.  We have moments of feeling weary, so please pray that we will have peace in the midst of busyness, and trust in the Lord’s provision.    We know that “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint” (Isaiah 40:30-31), and we want to depend on God’s strength, not our own.

A scene from "Shadowed Stories",
a student drama production of
five short stories. 

-       Life Study Group:  We have now completed four 40-minute sessions with a group of 15 students (instead of our usual weekly chapel) on the topic of biblical relationships and marriage.  To our surprise, our group was comprised of roughly equal numbers of guys and girls (due to the machinations of the high school chaplain).  It seemed that the students were engaged and got something out of it.

-       GWAM: our school’s spring break mission trip program.  After several days of uncertainty (“We’re going to Manila!”  “Well, we really need people for Bangkok.”  “Okay, we’ll go to Bangkok!”  “Wait, actually Hong Kong might be better…” “Nope, Hong Kong isn’t happening.”) and prayer, we have determined that, we will be heading to Trinidad in the Philippines over our spring break.  We have our team, and our trip will be focused on running a Vacation Bible School, and helping Christian students share their faith.  We’re looking forward to this opportunity to invest in our students and, hopefully, help them grow in their faith.  Another request for prayer!

The courtyard filled with families for
the annual FunFest. 

-       Bible study:  we’ve been meeting up with a couple of other couples (hehe) to study 1 John for the last few weeks.  It’s been a good time to delve into God’s Word and reflect on our need for Christ.  Pray for continued growth individually and in fellowship.

-       Other events:  We’ve had a good time over the last couple of weeks going to the high school orchestra concert, Shadowed Stories (a production of short stories via shadow puppets, narration, and music – very cool), volleyball games, and the ever-popular annual Funfest, a gala of food and gathering for students, parents, and staff.  Many good times had with friends, coworkers, and students. And, in other news, Joy's journalism class has published its first digital newspaper - http://www.yissbeacon.org/.  

So…that’s what’s been going on!  Please be in prayer for us for everything above.  Please also continue to pray for our decision about what to do next year – that we will have wisdom, be following the Lord’s direction, and choose on the basis of serving and pleasing Him, not for what we might want for ourselves.

Until next time….

Love,

Bennett and Joy

The "August" Edition: Back to School

Picnicking by the river

Welcome back, faithful readers! We're here today to share the highlights from our first month of school with you.

Our fridge is mold-free, school is in full swing, and the weather is bee-yoo-tee-full!

As you might recall, Joy is teaching high school this year. Her badge about sums it up: "Joy Parkhurst - High School Math/Spanish/Journalism." The most common response to seeing Joy's job description is, "Wow. That's a lot. What don't you teach?" The answer to that question, of course, is Physics. That's Bennett's job.

Ben Horne speaking at Lock-in

So, how is Joy liking the change to high school? She loves it! Although she misses the fun of working with 4th graders, she's really enjoying what she is teaching, and she loves working with the high schoolers. She hasn't told them that she uses some of the same strategies she used with her fourth graders with them.

For example...
Monday, 7:50 a.m. - E Block: Math Lab

Situation: Students walk into class looking like a pack of zombies after the weekend, stare blankly into space, do not respond to stimuli.

Response: Mrs. Parkhurst greets class loudly, walks through rows, and tells students to stand up behind their chairs. "Ok, everyone! I'm going to give you some directions. When I say go, do ten jumping jacks, hop on one foot five times, turn in a circle three times, then give two people a high five. Go!"

Bennett está asustado. 

Mrs. Parkhurst loves seeing her tenth-grade boys hopping on one foot and snickering to start the morning.

In Spanish, Joy enjoys playing "La Maestra Dice..." (The Teacher Says...) with her students to wake them up and review various words and commands. Other fun highlights of teaching Spanish: teaching the class a lesson on the verb "decir" using an adaptation of What does the fox say? (¿Qué dice el zorro?) and writing funny stories to help students to practice reading comprehension (i.e. Bennett, the responsible teacher, meets a lion in school and runs away.).

We don't really know what this is.
We think it might be a loom of sorts.

Journalism takes the most up-front planning, but Joy is learning a lot! In Algebra I, Spanish, and Math Lab, most of Joy's students are freshmen or sophomores, but in Journalism, the class is evenly split between juniors and seniors. The start of the year has been filled with lessons on journalism in history, the ethics of journalism, and what makes something newsworthy.

Meanwhile, Bennett has two brand-new physics classes to teach.  This brings his schedule to one section of precalculus (he's had three previously), two sections of regular physics, and one each of AP Physics 1 and AP Physics C.  This has led to multiple déjà vu experiences:
"Haven't you guys already learned this?"  "No."  "Oh...well...it must have been another class..."

Traditional Korean sleeping mat
A.K.A. "yo"

Korean darts?

In any case, physics is a lot of fun, and teaching more classes of physics means smaller class sizes, older students, and more opportunities for great quiz questions:  "Mr. Parkhurst gets really mad when Fred talks back and throws him out the window with an initial velocity of..." or "A velociraptor is chasing Grace with a speed of..."  Bennett also gets to do labs more often, which is exciting :)  You know...for nerds...like him.

This year does require a bit more work for Bennett because of the new classes, but it's more a matter of rearranging and re-pacing things he has already done than creating things from scratch, so there's still plenty of time for him to tease his wife.

We're both enjoying working with the same population of students this year, and a few students have the great privilege of learning from both Parkhursts in one day. A few weekends ago, we had the opportunity to work together for two "extra" events.

On that Friday night, Joy shared her testimony at the high school lock-in. The theme for this year is "Be Sure," and the lock-in introduced this idea to the students that attended. The focus of this year's chapel times will be helping students to develop confidence in what they believe.

Kimchi pots. We see these everywhere.
Want to know more about them? 

Korean warrior Bennett

After a late Friday night, Bennett headed out on Saturday afternoon for the annual Senior Retreat. His weekend was filled with swimming in the stream, hiking the mountain, capture the flag, and some good conversations with this year's seniors. Lots of fun and exhaustion all around. Joy joined the group for the Sunday hike, but didn't stick around for the Monday morning events. She even missed her husband's rise to victory as the YISS Staff Chubby Bunny Champion. But alas, she had class to teach.

Bennett and Joy in traditional
cardboard cut-outs.

Whew! We're almost done with this month's novel...
This week has been one of our favorite weeks of the school year so far. Korea is celebrating Chuseok (Pronounced something like 'chew-sock'). Chuseok is traditionally a harvest festival, and Korean families celebrate by gathering together to eat and (potentially) to honor their ancestors. Want to learn more? Click here! We've spent the 5 day weekend cleaning around the house, hanging out with friends, picnicking by the river, and visiting a Korean folk village. We'll be back to school tomorrow for a long two-day week of work. ;)

Some things that are on their way...

• Staff Retreat - We will be heading down to the beach (maybe) in a week and a half for our annual Staff Retreat. Ah...Relaxation...We always like getting out of the city. 
• Life Study Groups - We'll be leading a small group during chapel in the month of October on the topic of "dating relationships and marriage."
• High School Retreat - We might be joining the high school retreat toward the end of October. 
• Decisions, decisions... - We're praying about whether to go on a Spring Break missions trip with the high schoolers again this year. We're also praying about what to do for the 2015-2016 school year. We'll be giving the school our decision sometime around the end of November. You can be praying with/for us in making those decisions. 

And that's that! Stay tuned for the next edition of "Days of our...", I mean, wait...never mind. 

Fun "Ingrish" pictures: 

Hm...is it supposed to say that?

Why yes, I would like the "body sliming care."

The Rest of the Summer, Back to Korea, Mold, and Jet Lag

Rain is falling outside of our window as we sit on our couch to write another life update from Korea. Bennett is only half-awake right now, having taken a "short" afternoon nap to tackle his jet lag. Joy was supposed to wake him up at 2:00, but she wasn't "mean enough" (Bennett's words) to do it and let him sleep until 3:00 instead. Oops!

We're here today to tell you more about our summer vacation.


First of all, it was great! All around, we had a wonderful time visiting with friends and family around the country, and we finished the summer feeling refreshed and ready to come back for another year of school.

Here are a few highlights from the second half of our summer in the States:

1. Michigan - Lounging on the beach by day, playing games by night, and cleaning up every type of dog-made mess known to man. 
2. Little Cousin Visits - A few of Bennett's cousins (all of whom are middle school girls) came out to stay at the farm in Illinois for about 2 weeks. The house was full of laughter and fun and perhaps a bit more mud than usual. 
3. Hanging out in Illinois - Hiking, disc golf, board games, a guys' night of video gaming fun, a visit to the Field Museum, deep dish pizza, Jessie's birthday celebrations...Good times all around!
4. A Long Road Back to Florida...With a Few Stops - First stop, Champaign, IL, Bennett's college stomping grounds. Second stop, Johnson City overnight (Thank you, Sidney!) Third stop...Congratulations Ross and Abby! This couple met at the same training that WE met at 3 years ago. They were married at a farm near Boone, North Carolina with cows mooing in the background on July 26. On the day of the wedding, we were busily hunting for an open tire repair shop given that we had just discovered one of our tires was leaking! We were thankful to finally find one Clark's Auto that was open until 4:00 on Saturdays. They fixed our tire, we rushed back to the hotel, and we hurried to get ready for the wedding. Thankfully, we arrived just a few minutes before the ceremony started. We are thankful for God's kindness to us in his timing and provision. He takes good care of us on the road. :) 
5. One Last Visit - After a full day of driving on Sunday, we spent Monday unpacking and repacking for our Tuesday flight back to Seoul. We did manage to squeeze in some last minute visiting with grandparents and Joy's cousins, Scott and Ashley, who also live and work overseas. What a treat! 

Last night, we arrived back in Seoul after a very, very long day in flight. Long lines greeted us at the airport, and we were more than ready to hit the hay when we got back to our apartment. When we reached our apartment, we discovered that our power was out. Further investigation revealed that someone (probably our well-meaning landlady) had turned off the main breaker, helping us to start a mold colonization in our fridge and freezer. Yuck! This morning, while cleaning out the colony, we got a real-world lesson in which foods are mold's favorite mediums. For example, frozen fruit is an excellent breeding ground. Mold also loves Tabasco and BBQ sauce. On the other hand, ketchup was less appealing. We didn't dare open the whipping cream. If you're ever interested in learning more about mold and its lifestyle, you can follow our example in leaving food in your un-powered fridge/freezer for a few months. Very enlightening. 

Our internet was playing hide-and-seek when we arrived, but it came out of hiding soon after we called our provider. And that brings us up to the present. The rain has stopped, the sun is shining, and the fan is blowing. We have a few more days of summer vacation before we have to report for "duty." Please pray for us as we prepare for the new school year - time management, loving our students, and depending on the Lord day by day. 

We love you all and look forward to our next visit to the States! 

With love,
Bennett and Joy

We're back! + FAQs

Dear Faithful Readers,

We’re back! We know it’s been a while since our last blog entry, and we could make a bunch of excuses about being busy and why we haven’t written…but, instead, we’ll just thank all of you who are more faithful to read our blog than we are to write our blog.

This blog entry is full of FAQs we’ve been getting from people across the country this summer.

What are you doing this summer? 

Our summer started with a 5-day layover in San Francisco. We had a great time exploring the city, visiting Yosemite, visiting Alcatraz, and hanging out with some fun friends and family. During our stay, one of our taxi drivers told us about his former life as a Sherpa in Nepal. It was a great time to relax after a busy school year.

Following our vacation in San Francisco, we took a long* flight to Florida, where we spent time with the Pitcairn side of the family (minus Caleb). Bennett was thrilled to be in the States to see many of the World Cup matches. We also celebrated our 1^st anniversary on June 22^nd! (Best year EVER!)

We are currently in transit, making our way from Florida to Illinois. We’ve already made a few stops in Florida to visit more friends and family, and we are currently enjoying some time in Tennessee before we make our way to Michigan for some time at Bennett’s favorite beach (He finds the icy cold lake water refreshing somehow. “None of that icky salt,” he says). Today, we took a beautiful hike up the side of a mountain. We both got a little bit sunburned ("It's good for you," says Bennett. False...) 

 

We’ll spend some time in Michigan before heading to the Parkhurst homestead to spend time with the Parkhurst side of the family.

To finish the summer, we’ve got a wedding to attend on our way back to Florida. We jet off to Korea again at the tail end of July.

How was your year?

We had a full year. There were some challenges, as well as many great blessings and experiences. One great part of the year has been building community with friends in Seoul (in and out of school), and we also have had a great year to grow in our friendship in marriage. One of our biggest challenges this year was figuring out how to balance investing in school, church, new friends, old friends, family, and each other. This is still a work in progress, and it’s something you can pray about with us in the year to come as we continue to determine how to best serve God with our time.

What are you teaching now?

Good question! This past year, Joy was teaching 4^th grade. However, next year, Joy will be moving up to join Bennett in the high school! She will be teaching Spanish 1, Algebra 1, “Math Lab” (individualized math help for students in Algebra and Geometry), and Journalism. Yes, she is excited about it1 Yes, she sometimes feels nervous about it. We’re both really looking forward to working more closely with the same general group of students. Joy is also excited to get to use and maintain her Spanish in the upcoming year.

Bennett has some changes, too, but nothing so dramatic. Bennett has been teaching 3 sections of Pre-calculus and 2 sections of Physics (1 AP). Next year, Bennett will be developing 2 new Physics classes, for a total of 4 sections of Physics and 1 of Pre-calculus.

How long will you be in Korea?

Another good question! And the answer is…we don’t know yet. We will definitely be there for this upcoming school year. You can join us in praying about what to do next. We will be making a decision by around November/December about whether to return to Korea for the 2015-2016 school year.

Do you like living in Korea? Do you like Korean food?

Yes and no, and yes and no! We do enjoy living in Korea. We love our school, our community, our students, and, of course, bulgogi! That being said, we don’t love “big city living.” There is lots of air pollution in our concrete jungle, and we miss open skies and a little more green. We also miss many of our friends and family members, and we wish we could be in 50 places at once to get lunch with everyone or play a game of cards.

We have tried many different Korean foods! We like many of them – kimchi, bulgogi, Korean pancakes, Bip bim bop, etc. We also dislike many of them, namely dishes that are heavy on the squid and fish-food flavored entrees. We have yet to try (and probably won’t) the live octopus or dog soup. Neither sound particularly appealing to either of us…

Babies?

Not yet! We’ll keep you posted! J

So that’s that!

Thanks again for keeping up with us via our blog. We really love sharing life with you, even when we don’t live in the same neighborhood (country, continent…you get the idea!).

With love,

Joy and Bennett