The Roberts in Korea

A Crystal Evening

Last Saturday night TCIS hosted a Gala event.  It was a fundraising dinner and concert for the new TCIS Techno Valley Campus.  The dinner event has held at the Riviera Hotel Dynasty Grand Ballroom.  It was a formal event that included TCIS alumni, staff, parents of current students, business partners and interested friends. 

The meal was excellent and the entertainment was delightful.  Parents, students and friends of the school shared their talents for the entertainment portion of the evening.  I (Ryan) was involved in the "Admin Quartet."  The Gala Event Committee requested a quartet number for the evening by the four administrators, Dr. Penland (Headmaster), Mr. Frazier (Director of Residence), Mr. Choi (Director of Business Affairs) and Mr. Roberts (Assistant Headmaster).  We sang a rousing version of "Oh When the Saints."  It was a lot of fun.

The Crystal Evening was a grand event and a huge success.

Memories Yet to be Downloaded

Thanks to all for your care, concern and well wishes as it relates to me and my health.  Every email, comment, and Facebook post mean a lot to me.  I am feeling better every day and thankful for every energetic moment I get.

I finally got around to downloading the final pics left over in my camera from my trip to Bangkok, Thailand.  As I looked over the last few shots that I took in that fascinating place I found myself reflecting upon a couple of fond memories from my adventure.

The first picture is a picture of "mango and sticky rice."  It is a delicious dessert from the country of Thailand.  The mango fruit is soft and delicious and the rice has some type of sweetened coconut milk drizzled over it that is amazing.  The combination of the mango and sticky rice results in one of the tastiest treats I have ever eaten. 

On the day I was to fly out of Thailand and head home to South Korea I arrived at the airport early and made it through security unusually fast.  In the inner sanctum of the airport there were a few "authentic" Thai Restaurants.  I went in one of the eateries and ordered myself a big plate of mango and sticky rice and ate it all by myself.  (I know what you are thinking...no wonder I came home and spent a week in the cardiac ward at the hospital.)   Needless to say, the mango and sticky rice were delicious--a memory that I won't soon forget.

The next picture is a shot I took of Bangkok just before I checked out of my hotel room and headed for the airport.  It is a fascinating city.  As I rode alone in a taxi, through the massive city of Bangkok, I remember feeling very small.  I had been away from Dina and the girls for too long.  They, along with God, provide a very significant and meaningful dimension to my life.  Big cities and world travel are great, but there is no place like home.

A Setback...

Sorry about the lag in blog posts.  I (Ryan) got home from my travels and teacher recruitment activities in Australia and Thailand and was just settling back into the swing of things at work when I experienced a setback, a health setback.

I will spare you the gory details and just tell you that I recently spent three nights and four days in a hospital in South Korea.  My diagnosis was pericarditis.  In late December, just before we left for India, I had an "episode" that was related to pericarditis, but the doctors didn't diagnose it as such.  I took some tests, took some meds and went on my merry way.

Last week I had a similar "episode" (they happen in the middle of the night and are a bit unsettling).  Because this episode was identical to the earlier incident it was obvious that there was a problem.  After many tests the doctors diagnosed my problem as "pericarditis" which is a big word for "inflammation around the heart."

I went into the hospital on January 15.  As I sat in my hospital room on the morning of January 16 I read from Proverbs 16 (I like to try to read a chapter of Proverbs every day).    In Proverbs 16 I read verses like this:

vs. 1   "We can make our own plans, but the Lord gives the right answer."

vs. 9   "We can make our plans, but the Lord determines our steps."

vs. 33  "We may throw the dice, but the Lord determines how they fall."

I had big plans for the weekend--important plans and good plans like watching my daughter play in two basketball games, hanging out with friends and playing in the worship band in church on Sunday...but, you never know.  I didn't get to do any of those things last weekend and I was bummed, but the Lord was with me.

I am thankful for God's presence with me in the hospital.  I had a lot of time to reflect upon His goodness in my life and upon what a privilege it is to be a player/participant in what He is doing in the world.  Both God and the doctor reminded me that burning the candle at both ends gives off a bright light, but only lasts for awhile.

I want to do all that I can to be a present and steady light for the Lord.  I am trusting the Lord to determine my steps and I am following the doctor's orders to eat three healthy meals a day, get regular and adequate sleep and work out on a regular basis.

I want to love the Lord with all my heart, soul, mind and strength (health).  I am thankful to be out of the hospital and back at home, at work and and back to blogging.

Busy in Bangkok

From Australia I flew to Bangkok, Thailand to attend another teacher job fair.  I am here in Bangkok busy interviewing and recruiting teachers to teach at our school next year.

Bangkok is an interesting place.  It is very crowded and there are motorcycles every where.  There are many rivers and waterways running through the very hot and humid city and our hotel sits on the edge of one of the rivers.

My hotel room is located on the 24th floor so I have an amazing view of the city from my room.  The boat and barge travel on the river is constant and like many of the other big cities in Asia, the city does not sleep.

The food here is distinctive and delicious.  In my short time here in this country I have already enjoyed some Thai food and some Indian cuisine.  The Thai language is beautiful and the people have been kind and accommodating.

As the holiday season winds down I am sure that we are all busy getting back to school and to work.  I am thankful for the opportunity to be busy in Bangkok.

Sydney Sights

I (Ryan) am in Sydney, Australia recruiting teachers for our school, Taejon Christian International School.  The recruitment fair has been a blast.  I am meeting lots of talented teachers and fantastic people from all over the world.  Most of the folks that I have talked to have been from New Zealand and Australia.  We are offering teaching positions to some great people and hope they are able to join our TCIS community next year.

The other morning I took a walk with my colleague, Jason Cooper, down to the famous Sydney Harbour.  It is a spectacular place.  I enjoyed seeing the world famous Sydney Opera House and I carefully checked the water for Nemo, Dori and friends.  I couldn't find them.  I will just keep looking (or swimming).

The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a beautiful sight.  I have learned that there are tours of the bridge where people get to walk up and over the arch of the bridge.  Wouldn't that be fun.  I don't think I will have time to look into that, but you never know.

The city of Sydney is so engaging.  The buildings here are beautiful, diverse and full of character.  This is a vacation destination.  I am thankful to be here, even for just a short time.

Singapore Sights

We spent five days in Singapore.  It was a blast.  Singapore is a very green, warm, clean and pristine city.  The primary language is English and it is a city of people that come from multiple ethnic groups from all over Asia.

We stayed in a hotel that was just a block off of the well known Orchard Street in Singapore.  Orchard Street is filled with some of the most elaborate shops, malls and eating establishments in the city.  We walked up and down the very crowded street many times, enjoying the lights and decorations of Christmas, the elaborate buildings and watching the internationally diverse mix of people.

The weather in Singapore was warm and humid.  We enjoyed many hours at the rooftop swimming pool of our hotel.  It was fun to hang out together as a family and tour the amazing city.  We went and saw a couple of movies and visited lots of fun places like Arab Street and the Hard Rock Cafe.

It was a real privilege for us to meet up with and have lunch with Verne and Natalie Ward.  They live in Singapore and are the directors of the Church of the Nazarene in the Asia/Pacific Region of the world.  They are a great missionary couple and people that Dina and I are thankful for and whose work for the Lord we regard highly.

Singapore was a delightful place to visit.  We learned a lot about the city and will share some pictures from our visit to the Singapore Zoo in a later post.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody!  We celebrated the transition from 2009 to 2010 in Singapore.  We have had a very nice time in this very warm and beautiful place.  We have lots of pictures and blog posts to share from our trip to India and from our time in Singapore and we hope to post those in the coming days.

From this point our Christmas Break takes a bit of a turn.  On New Year's Day Dina, Becca and Sarah will be flying back to South Korea and Ryan will be flying to Sydney, Australia to interview prospective teachers for TCIS at two different job fairs that are being held in that city.

May the grace and peace of Christ be yours in 2010.