The Roberts in Korea

Sarah Doing the Wave...

Soccer in Daejeon

Last Saturday night we made our first visit to the Daejeon World Cup Soccer Stadium.  We went with the Millers and the Zickefooses--the Idahoans converged on the Soccer Stadium.  We went to watch the professional soccer team called the Daejeon Citizens.  The stadium was very large, but only one quarter of it was filled with people. 

We had a good time watching soccer.  It is amazing what those soccer players can do with their heads and their feet.  It was an exciting game with lots of action and lots of goals nearly scored.  Finally, with only two minutes remaining in the game, the Daejeon Citizens scored a goal.  They ended up winning the game and everyone was happy (except for the other team).

We had a blast at the game--listening to the cheering section sing songs, blow horns and watching them light flares.  The soccer game was during dinner time so we planned on eating dinner at the soccer game.  It was an interesting meal as all that they had for snacks and food at the stadium was Ramien (noodles), fried chicken, roasted squid and kimbap. 

Not only did we enjoy watching soccer but we also enjoyed watching the people at the soccer game.  Soccer is the most popular sport in South Korea and people get very animated in their cheering and in their remarks that they make to the referees.  You don't need to be able to understand Korean to know what they are saying.

There were lot of kids at the soccer game.  Some of them were watching the game and some of them were just running around and playing.  We enjoyed watching this cute little girl with yellow glasses.  She was adorable.  Soccer in Daejeon--good stuff.

A Blur

Wow, time really flies!  The days and weeks go by in a blur.  That is a reality that I came to understand awhile ago and my efforts to slow time down a bit and remember the moments in life are realized in my daily discipline of journaling and in taking pictures.  I try to always have my camera with me.  It has been five days since my last post, but I have a few memories of the week retained in my camera.

I started the week off by playing my new bass guitar in the Onurri English service worship band.  It was a blast.  It was a busy, but good Sunday for me because not only did I play in the worship band but I had the privilege of preaching in the morning service.

On Tuesday of this week the entire school got in on celebrating our Headmaster's birthday.  Dr. Penland enjoyed numerous cakes, pies and celebrations of his birthday throughout the day.  At one point in the day he got a call on his cell phone and it was all of the students in the high school chapel singing to him the happy birthday song.  In the afternoon we had a little cake and candles for Dr. Penland in my office.  It is fun to laugh and celebrate one another in the midst of a busy work day.

On Wednesday Becca had a home volleyball game.  It was a tough match and unfortunately the TCIS Lady Dragons lost in the fifth game.  They are now tied for first place with three other teams in the league.  The second half of the season promises to be interesting.

Sometimes, when you carry your camera around a lot you get lucky and get a good picture every once in awhile.  I like this picture of Dina, David and some of the Miller and Roberts kids.  It almost looks staged to me--but it isn't.

On Thursday night we crashed a birthday party for Minji at the Miller's house.  It was fun to see some of the TCIS students in a casual setting.  They were having a good time playing Guitar Hero on the Wii and Levi was busy poaching eggs in the kitchen (don't ask).  Good times.

The time in between the pictures is filled with life--work, play, not enough sleep, homework, friends, practice and people.  We are thankful to God for it all.  He is the clarity in the midst of the blur of life.

Guitar Shopping

This year we are becoming more and more involved in an English worship service that is being held at the Onurri Church in Daejeon.  It is a small church that is staffed by a Korean pastor.  His desire is to reach out to any and all foreigners that are living in Daejeon.  He likes to have local English speaking pastors preach at the church, so I am scheduled to preach there one time a month.  They have a worship band that is composed of primarily Korean people.  They are a great bunch.  They sometimes need some help on some instruments so we have made ourselves available.  They are currently in need of a bass player (and a bass) so I volunteered to play for now and this morning I hit the road in search of a bass guitar.

Usually when I get into a taxi I have a name and place in mind and I tell the taxi driver where I want to go.  If he understands my poor Korean, it all works out.  In the case of guitar shopping I didn't know the name of the place that I was going, but I knew the vicinity that it was in.  So I told the taxi drive to go "straight" (pronounced cheek-chin) and off we went.  After a while of driving and lots of right and left turns I was finally dropped off on a street that hosted a row of music stores. (It is funny, but it is common here in Korea for all of the stores that sell the same products to be in the same place.  It makes for some interesting sales competition.)

After some looking and playing, I found what I think is a good bass at a fair price.  After bass shopping, I was hungry.  The music stores were located on a main thoroughfare in the city.  In the picture, if you look clear back to the mountain, that is where our house is located.  I walked between some buildings and away from the main street and found myself in a quaint little area full of narrow streets, lots of shops and lots of little Korean restaurants.  I found a place and went in.  I did my best at reading the Korean menu and ordered some good food.  It was great.

Shopping is a great adventure in Korea.  I hate say it, but it is almost fun.

Becca's Busy

Becca has been keeping busy, in a good way, these days.  The Girls' Varsity Volleyball Season is well under way and Becca is right in the middle of it.  The team looks great this year.  So far they are 3-0 on the season, which is amazing, and one of their wins was over the International School power house--Seoul Foreign School (SFS).  It was an exciting match against SFS.  The match went to five games and TCIS won it 15-12 in the fifth game (in volleyball the first four games go to 25 and the match goes to the first team to win three games--the fifth game is the tie breaker and only goes to 15).  Needless to say we are watching lots of volleyball these days...it is great.

A first, happened on Tuesday.  Becca played the piano, sang and led the worship band in one of the high school chapels.  From this Dad's perspective it was amazing.  She did a beautiful job and she did a great job of leading the band.  Their combined efforts were very conducive to worship.  Becca has always been involved in the chapel worship bands, but she has always played the bass guitar (because that is what the band needed).  This year they needed a lead vocalist and a piano player and Becca made herself available to be used for the Lord.  Ernie Thompson always says, "When it comes to serving the Lord, it is not about your ability--it is about your availability."

I am glad that Becca makes herself available to the Lord both on the volleyball court and in the chapel worship band.

Feelin Good in SK

We were in a Starbucks in Daejeon, South Korea.  I bought a cold cranberry drink.  The label said take a picture and send it to us--so I did.  See this link-FEELGOOD

Baseball Fun

On Saturday we took time out to go to a Korean Baseball game at Hanbot Stadium, the home of the Korean professional baseball team, the Hanwha Eagles.  It was a perfect night and a ton of fun.  We ran into a bunch of other TCIS people at the game and had a kick cheering and singing with the Korean crowd. 

The Eagles were playing the LG Twins.  We left the game at the top of the eighth inning and the Eagles were winning 8 to 4.  As we were riding home in the taxi, Becca and Sarah were receiving text messages from their friends saying that the Twins were scoring runs and catching up.  We didn't believe them--thinking they were hassling us for leaving early.  I wish they were.  The Twins ended up winning the game in nine innings with a score of 12 to 8.