The Roberts in Korea

from the sidelines of a TCIS soccer game

Nearly every day is worth remembering--and I like to take pictures.  So, here are some memories, frozen in time, from the sidelines of a TCIS soccergame.

He will use the excuse that it was a hot, sunny day, but...

Everybody loves cheerleaders.

Half-time in the shadow of the city.

I sure love this cheerleader.

Misc. Pics for remembering

A couple of nights ago the moonrise was amazing--so much bigger that what is realized in this picture. 

One of the main reasons I blog is to remember.  I blog about our adventures in Korea so that family and friends can keep up with us, but mostly so I can record some of our life here in this place.  Each year I transfer my blogging over the year into a book--so my blog serves as a memory/scrapbook.

This post is about miscellaneous pictures that I want to remember.  One is a picture of my office in the new campus.  It is a nice place.  Soooo much bigger than my office at the old campus.  My favorite part of my new office is the table and four chairs (that you can barely see in the pic).  It is a great place for working meetings.

Spring flowers are amazing in Korea...I never tire of them, even after seven years.

 

Thanks for indulging my remembering.

LASA video - India trip 2013

As a follow up activity, one of our school chapels is dedicated to the LASA (Love All Serve All) spring break service trips.  Each team shows a short video clip about their trip and a couple of students from each trip share with the school what the trip meant to them.  Ryan Synn and Sarah Roberts shared in chapel how the trip to Bangalore, India impacted them and then we showed our team video.  Justin Moon put our video together this year.  He did a great job.  Here it is:

a Windy Sunday BBQ

On Sunday afternoon a group of us from TCIS got together for a picnic and BBQ alongside the river near the Expo apartments (where we used to live) in Daejeon.  We all gathered, in large part, to celebrate the return visit of our friend, Marg Gobius, who was back "home" for a couple of weeks.  She left our community to begin a job teaching in Australia and her husband and daughters have been here in Daejeon, finishing out the school year at TCIS.  Needless to say, were were all glad to see Marg.

It was a windy Spring day, but a great day to enjoy the cherry blossoms, observe the birds on the river and stand around the "barbie" with friends from all over the world.  Some of the folks that were  at the BBQ will be leaving TCIS at the end of this school year.  They will be sorely missed.  Here are some pics to help us remember.

more "Thoroughly Modern Millie" at TCIS

The TCIS musical this year was "Thoroughly Modern Millie."  The show was directed by Heidi Zickefoose and the production involved well over one hundred students and staff members.  This was the first year for the school musical to be held in the new TCIS Performing Arts Center, complete with an actual pit for the pit orchestra, a fly loft for the various drop down sets and a virtual kaleidoscope of lighting.

It was a great show--full of laughter, dancing, singing, romance, intrigue, 1920s costumes and fun.  Sarah had a couple of characters in the show fall in love with her, but her character (Miss Dorothy) only fell for one of them.  She actually dipped one of the characters (it was the roaring twenties). 

All of the students did a great job.  It was a three night event filled with so many great memories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Break 6 - India (in the dark)

What would you do if your electricity went out right now?  If you were reading this post on a desktop computer you would no longer be reading this post.  Your screen would be black.  If you were using a laptop computer your battery would be hard at work, but your wireless signal would be gone.

What if the power went off and it was nighttime?  Would you scream?  Freak out?  Panic?  Would you use the light of your cell phone to dispel the darkness?  It is likely that your plans for the evening would be changed--along with your attitude.

Electricity is one of those things that you don't notice . . . until it is gone.

Due to extreme heat and drought conditions in India, electricity is in short supply.  Rolling blackouts are a daily occurance.  You never know when the power might go out.  Sometimes it goes out multiple times a day. We spent a good portion of our week in India without electricity.  

Each evening at the Beulah Home we would have a craft time with the kids.  We brought all kinds of supplies with us to India and we did string art, Origami and sculpting with quick drying modeling clay.  The kids loved it.  They worked so hard on their projects.

Twice during the week we were all sitting in the building making crafts, talking, laughing and creating together and the electricity went out--total blackness.  Out of the 100 of us sitting there in the dark it was only those of us from Korea that freaked out.  The Beulah Home children, ages 3 to 19, just sat quietly--waiting for one of the older kids to get up and turn on the rechargable floodlight and to pull out the matches and the candles.

In the pale hue of candlelight, the children kept working on their crafts . . . and they kept talking, laughing and creating together. 

It was an amazing display of power.

Sarah in the TCIS Musical

We are in the midst of the school musical here at TCIS.  The program is "Thoroughly Modern Millie."  There are three scheduled performances and they are going wonderfully.  (Tonight is the last night.) The director of the musical is Heidi Zickefoose.  Her daughter Alexandra is a part of the cast and her husband, George, is playing drums in the pit orchestra.  (I am playing my saxophone in the pit orchestra.  It is fun!)

Sarah is playing the part of Ms. Dorothy in the musical and she is doing a fantastic job.  We are so proud of Sarah!  Take a look. . .

Spring Break 5 - India (laughing and playing)

Our days in India were all about spending time with children--teaching school, singing songs, making crafts and playing--lots of playing.  We took some soccer balls, volley balls and tennis balls to India for the kids to play with and we took some new jump ropes too.  Those were a big hit, especially with the girls. 

Here is a short video giving you just a taste of what we did each afternoon at the Beulah Home.  The weather was hot, but not too hot to play.  The new balls and ropes got lots of use--immediately.  We had a great week of laughing and playing with precious friends.

 

Spring Break 4 - India (an oasis of love)

As they make music they will sing, "All my fountains are in you.” –Psalm  87:7

There are seven wells that have been drilled on the Beulah Home plot of land—all of them have gone dry.  The children’s home is located outside the city limits and there is no access to public water, so water must be purchased and delivered on as-needed basis.  The water is kept in an underground water tank at the Beulah Home.

When electricity is available, the water in the tank is accessed via an electric pump.  Unfortunately, electricity is almost as scarce as water at the Beulah Home.  The nation of India is in the midst of a drought and the extremely hot and dry conditions have left the nation’s power grids lacking. There just isn’t enough water or electricity to go around.

Without complaint, the children at the Beulah Home draw water from the tank via rope and bucket.  They draw water to wash their clothes.  They draw water to bathe. They draw water for the cook to use in the kitchen.  They draw water to hydrate the plants that make up the gardens that the children have planted with their own hands. They draw water to drink.

The children hauled buckets of water up two flights of stairs to our living quarters to meet our needs.   The wells at the Beulah Home have dried up—yet the life-giving waters of joy, gratitude and service continue to bubble up from that place where deep calls to deep.  It is an oasis of love in the desert.

Sarah turned 17...in India!

During the week of Spring Break, when we were in India, Sarah celebrated her 17th birthday.  It was a glorious day for a special young lady.  On her birthday she enjoyed a precious birthday song from the children at the Beulah Home.  Take a look at the video.  Happy Birthday Sarah! You are loved.