Rykie's book

It often happens that we have free time during the morning if classes are suddenly cancelled etc. and I decided to make use of it in a constructive way. I enjoy writing songs, but never attempted to write poems or plays. I started writing a Christmas Play for Primary school children. I included songs and translated it into English. Now the play is in both languages. I then wrote one poem after the other and it became such a wonderful experience that I wrote about 20 English and 20 Afrikaans poems (not translations). We decided to have it printed and bound into one book. So now I have a few copies of my book called: Sing, say, play and Sing, se, speel. Later I hope to have a CD with the songs on as well. A friend helped me to do the songs on the computer with a very amazing song writing program.

Johan and Susan Loubser came to visit us (teacher's in Korea from Mooreesburg) and bought my first copy.

Pieter's surgery

It became necessary for Pieter to undergo surgery. He has been struggling with a hernia for some time. On the Internet he found a hospital: Seoul National University Hospital, and called them. They have a department for foreigners and it turned out the Lord led him to the best hospital and best surgeons, according to Koreans. The surgery occurred on the 2nd of Sept and by the grace of God he is doing extremely well and is back at school. We are very thankful to the Lord for undertaking for us.

The Professor who did the surgery could speak English well and most of the nursing staff too. The receptionists at the International Health Care Section is fully bilingual. That helped a lot to make us feel comfortable. We stayed over in a hotel for the first night after Pieter was released from Hospital. So it turned out that the operation was on Wed and he came out on Thursday. On Friday we travelled back by train. All went very well.

Pieter's birthday

Every Summer and Winter holiday we have to conduct Vacation Schools. Pieter did a Summer School at Yong Bong Elementary School which was well attended. It so happened that the last day of Summer School, coincided with his birthday. So the students and teachers gave a big birthday party for him. They gave him a Pierre Cardin fountain pen (which he hasn't had for years) and a huge cream cake - not that he should eat cream cake.

School Life

Every now and again we have a highlight at school.

Pieter is at a new school which has 2000 students, but also teaches at a "farm school" with 70 students. Rykie's "farm school" was too small and closed permantly. She is now at one school, close to our home and enjoys it.

Rykie: One of the things I always wanted to do, was pottery. I had the opportunity to go with a Grade 6 class and enjoyed it.

Martus came to visit. Praise the Lord!

It was wonderful to have Martus here for 3 weeks during his Summer holiday. We did many things together, such as visit Seoul (twice) and stay over for the weekend. He came to visit our schools and attended some classes with us. He also took the train and had his own adventures by train. He visited Daejeon and Yongsan and found the browsing around in the electronic market very interesting. Time went by just too quicly.

Soccer is one of Martus' passions. He found the World Cup Stadium and took us there as well. What an impressive place!

Back again

We are back again in Hongseong for the 2nd year. We are still teaching at the same schools and things are going well. We are right now attending an English Church in a city, Cheonan, which is an hour away by train. We try to go regularly.

Proud parents at Dewald and Sune's big day.

The 31st January 2009 was a wonderful day for all of us,
especially for Sune and Dewald. Also for proud Mom and Dad.

Our grandsons at Sune and Dewald's wedding etc

Left: Darren, spreading rose petals for Sune's entrance.

Right: Joshua, the ring bearer, with proud Mom and Erik in the background.

More photos

This soccer stadium, stretching into the water, was taken from the Singapore Flyer. It looks like a floating soccer field.

Visit to Seoul and church news

The second weekend back, we went to Seoul to try and find a warm jacket for Pieter. Usually around here they say: "No size" when he walks into a shop. This time we were determined to find a shop with larger sizes. After our legs were tired and we were on our way back to the hotel, we stopped a man in the street and asked him about a large size jacket. He took us into a shop where Pieter could pick and choose between four jackets. So after mission accomplished, we were satisfied. The next day we went to the Seoul Tower where we could see Seoul from a very "dizzy height". It was an awesome view.

This year we are planning more visits to an English fellowship in Cheonan. They meet on a Sunday morning and have good Bible Studies and worship. Pastor Oh from the Presbyterian Church in Hongseong has asked Pieter to preach at the 2pm service once a month, in Hongseong. This is where we visisted every Sunday last year. We are glad for more ministry opportunities.

Via Singapore to Hongseong

We stayed over in Singapore for two days. This gave us time to do a bit of sight seeing e.g. go on the Singapore Flyer. It is the largest and highest "big wheel" in the world, with a view over the city.

Back to Hongseong was O K, until we missed the first bus to Cheonan. This meant that we also missed the last bus from Cheonan to Hongseong. We had to drag our many heavy bags up and down stairs and into a taxi to do the last part of the trip by train. Many Koreans were friendly enough to help us drag the load. We arrived back at our apartment at 11pm. The geyser malfunctioned and we did not have heat for the first two days, but we could have it replaced after that. The temperatures in Hongseong were still below freezing.

We had snow the first week we were back, but now Spring has come. Slowly we see higher temperatures e.g. 9 degrees C, but the mornings are still 0 degrees C. We don't mind, because we remember the very hot weather in Summer.

Leaving Ladismith via Port Elizabeth to Cape Town

When we wanted to leave the farm at Ladismith, the clutch of the Peugeot was non existent. Pieter and Marlize Van der Merwe (owners of Spera), offered the Tel No of a very good diesel mechanic. It would take a few days for the spare parts to come from Cape Town, so we hired a car at Oudtshoorn to do our trip to Port Elizabeth. We had a lovely visit with Dick and Anne Forster and on the way back, visited our sister-in-law and husband, in Jeffereys Bay. Rienie is doing O K, but chemo therapy takes its toll. Pray for her health and restoration.

We took a rest for two days at the Tsitsikamma Lodge on the Garden Route. We also visited our family beach home, Loeloeraai, at Glentana near George. Via Ladismith again, we collected our Peugeot and headed back to Cape Town. We enjoyed the last few days with our children and grandchildren. We so appreciate their love and commitment. This time went flying past and too soon we had to do last minute preparations to come back.

Erik and Marguerite's wedding

The second wedding was on the 7th February (1 week later) in Ladismith, Cape. We enjoyed the luxury and hospitality of the Van der Merwes at Spera Guest Farm, in the beautiful Hoeko Valley. It was a hustle and bustle of activity as the family and friends of Smiley and Charlotte Swart prepared for their daughter's wedding to Erik.

It stayed very hot during the week, but the afternoon of the wedding, a thunderstorm hit the area and cooled everything (I mean, everything)down. By 6pm when the wedding was scheduled, it was nice and cool. The drizzle now and again was just enough to keep us happy and dry. The garden looked amazing with all the lanterns, candles and everything ready for a big celebration. Marguerite looked stunning and Erik could not keep his eyes off his beautiful bride. He decided to go for a more casual, but still smart outfit and really looked very handsome too.

The band with many of Erik's friends added a festive atmosphere.

Vacation, party and Weddings

We left Korea on the 17th January 2009 and had a wonderful stopover in Singapore. We stocked up with last minute gifts for the family.

We cannot describe the joy of meeting our loved ones at the airport. It was also very special to meet our future daughter-in-law, Marguerite, for the first time. The re-union of the family will always be like a treasure in our hearts.

On the 22nd January we celebrated Rykie's birthday. Many friends joined us for dinner at our home. We enjoyed fellowship, fun and love, with God at the centre of it all!

Everything was in highest gear to prepare for Sune and Dewald's wedding on 31st January. Morne and Gerdia did a tremendous job to organise everything so well, (little did we know we had such good wedding coordinators in our midst). The wedding was in the garden of the Logos Church with plenty of shade against the Summer sun. Brenda Heyns and her team did a splended job to provide stunning food. Sune was a truly radiant bride and looked like a princess. You can judge for yourself. Look at the beautiful photo at the top. Now they are Mr and Mrs Fourie and they have a lovely cottage-like home in Durbanville.

At last we're back on the Blog!

Sorry for our long absence. We would like to update you with all the latest news.
We are back in Korea for our second year after a wonderful time in South Africa. It was a busy, but very fruitful time, ranging from holiday, to weddings and visits to friends.