The Roberts in Korea

HS Chapel

I (Ryan) went to the first TCIS high school chapel of the 2011-12 school year.  It was good to see the 300+ students that make up the TCIS high school all gathered together in one place.  I enjoyed hearing the Student Life Ministers, Mr. Craig and Ms. Brenna, welcome the students to the new school year and I loved hearing the voices of the teachers and the students singing praise to God as Becca and the band led them all in a time of worship.

Cheeja Dakgalbi

One of my (Ryan's) favorite foods here in Korea is a fried concoction of chicken, spicy sauce, cabbage, chunks of pressed rice and mozzarella cheese.  To order this delicacy I say, "cheeja dak galbi" and the culinary masterpiece begins to take shape before my very eyes.

First, an enormous pile of raw chicken, spicy sauce, raw cabbage and chunks of pressed rice are dumped onto a hot skillet in the center of the table and the cooking process begins (and my mouth begins to water).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The server stirs, mixes and prepares the food as our stomachs growl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As the cooking nears completion the server adds the mozzarella cheese.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A heavy metal lid is placed over the hot plate to melt the cheese (yum).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And seconds later, "voila," the eating begins.

Dina's Kids

Dina (Mrs. Roberts) has a new crop of Kindergartners this year.  She has six kids in her class and they are from the various countries of Canada, Belgium, Japan and the USA.  If it is true that all we ever really need to know in life we learn in Kindergarten, then Dina's kids are fortunate to have her as their teacher.

First Day of School

Here it is, the official "first day of school" picture.  This year Becca is a senior and Sarah is a sophomore.  Wow, time flies.  A week before school started Becca went to a spiritual retreat in Seoul with some friends and the theme of the gathering was "Be Real."  Becca and her friends decided to wear their shirts from the retreat on the first day of school.

Becca and Sarah keep things "real" around our house.  They are such a blessing to their parents and we (Dina and Ryan) celebrate them as they embark on the adventure of a new school year.

Last Day of Lounging

School started at TCIS on Monday, August 8th.  On the Sunday before, we went out to lunch with the Miller family and after lunch the kids ended up on the seventh floor of the Timeworld Galleria Department store lounging in the $10,000 massage chairs.

Green Teamwork

In our apartment complex there is a large patch of grass located in the center of a ring of apartment buildings.  One day as we were walking through this area we were surpised to see a small army of "ajoshhis" (ajoshhi is a Korean term used for refering to a middle-aged man) going to work on the section of grass. The group was composed of the security guards/caretakers in our apartment complex and they were lined up and moving together through the yard weeding the grass.  They were working diligently, talking together and seemingly having a good time.  Teamwork and community--what a great alternative to the chemicals found in a bag of Weed and Feed.

Kittens in Korea

Much to our surprise the other day, we came across a group of kittens that were meowing loudly and playing together in the parking lot near our apartment.  We don't see many cats here in Korea, let alone kittens.  Most of the cats that we see are wild, roaming the streets, eating from trash bags on street corners and can be heard fighting or caterwauling in the middle of the night.

These kittens were very cute.  We gave them some scraps of bread that we happened to have with us and we enjoyed watching them eat and chase each other's tails.  Of course, Sarah and Becca wanted to keep one for a pet, but their mean old dad said "no."

Back to Korea

This is the underside of a cicada.  This three inch long monster was sitting on the screen of the window on our sixteenth floor apartment in South Korea.  The buzzing sound that these things make, especially as a group, is much "bigger" than their bodies.   Our summer break in the USA ended and we flew back "home" to the buzzing sounds of cicadas, to the heat of high humidity and the spicy food of Korea.  This blog post stands as the completion of our blog memories for the 2010-11 school year.  For the past five years we have made a memory book out of our blog using blurb.com and we start each memory book in August and end it in July.

The 2010-11 year has been a great one.  We have enjoyed so many grand expereinces together as a family and we thank God for the blessings.  It is now time to get out the camera and dive into recording memories for next year's book.  Thanks for being interested in our lives.

The Roberts Reunion

Our summer in the USA ended with a great day at the Roberts Family Reunion in Twin Falls, Idaho.  Aunt Letha (Ryan's great aunt) organized and hosted the event.  The last get together of this nature was seventeen years ago.  Becca was only six months old at that time and Sarah wasn't around yet.

The Reunion was a treasured time of reconnecting with family: aunts, uncles, cousins and friends.  It was a day full of stories and remembering.  The gathering on that day branched out from the lives of Beamon and Abby Roberts. (they were Ryan's great grandparents)  Ryan's grandfather, Ben, was Beamon's oldest son.  It was fun to see all of the Ben and Hazel Roberts kids together in one place--that included my father, Robin and his siblings.  The Reunion was a great time.

Dierkes Lake

Up the road aways from Shoshone Falls is a place called Dierkes Lake.  It is a place of docks, diving boards, jumping cliffs, ducks, geese, a sandy beach and lots of memories for Grandma and Granddad.   We had a good time sitting on the edge of the dock together, soaking our feet in the cool water and making more memories.