Koreanadventure

2010-10-17T20:26:00.000-07:00

Keep checking about to announce anew direcrion we're takin.
Pieter and Rykie

Rykie's book

2009-09-18T20:35:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T20:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T20:16:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T20:06:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-09-18T19:56:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-18T19:49:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-03-29T03:44:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-29T03:37:00.000-07:00

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

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

More photos

2009-03-29T02:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-29T02:26:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-29T02:17:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-29T02:01:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-25T04:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-25T04:09:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-03-25T04:03:00.000-07:00

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.

Summer in Korea and the 2nd Semester

2008-09-21T04:12:00.000-07:00

When we walk down the main street, we pass the JoyYang Gate. It was part of the ancient wall, and entrance to the old city.

On the other side of this gate is down town, Hong Seong. This is 7 minutes from our apartment and then another 7 minutes slow walking, we are in the centre of town.

After being in Seoul for the long weekend last week, we realised what a big city it is. We are happy that we don't have all that traveling to do here in our town. We can reach most places by walking. For anything further, a taxi is not too expensive.

Summer in Korea and the 2nd Semester

2008-09-21T03:49:00.000-07:00

We have been in Hong Seong now for 7 months. The Summer here gives HOT a new meaning. We tried to walk slower, do less, and just do the minimum. Any effort resulted in a feeling of being in a Sauna after a long exercise. Well, almost. And then, one fine day, it was cooler and it has been cooler ever since. The Autumn here is fantastic. We really enjoy our early evening walks in the neighbourhood. We greet all the older ladies sitting on the sidewalks, having a chat with their neighbours. We try and dodge the truck spraying a white cloud of "stuff" for the mosquitoes and after crossing the bridge, we're back at our apartment.

During the Summer vacation, we did Summer Schools for 3 weeks, out of the 5 weeks. It was heavy going, but rewarding in a way. We did not do our regular curriculum, but tried to do fun things like making puppets, skits, and songs.

I (Rykie) am now trying to learn Archery, after seeing it on the TV a lot during the Olympic
Games. My School, Hong Ju Elementary, has a coach who is helping me, while I teach her a bit of English.

We still run a 2Him Fellowship on Thursday evenings. Pieter does a Bible Study on basic christian values. There are a few regular school children who attend, as well as 7 adults. We need prayer for these evenings. We hope that more will join us. Joseph is our interpreter and we appreciate him and his family's commitment to us. He also teaches with Pieter.

The new semester has started. We find that the students are now used to our way of doing things. We are also now used to their loud way of going about in the passages. They have settled down and we are enjoying the teaching.

BIG NEWS: We have DV two weddings coming up at the beginning of 2009. We are looking forward to our first leave in S A. Sune is planning to get married to Dewald Fourie and Erik found his future match, Marguerite Swart. We are very happy about the new developments. Pray for us that all the plans to put things in place (e.g. finances and practical issues), will go smoothly.

Hong Seong and Us

2008-06-08T03:46:00.000-07:00

All's well with us here in our town, Hong Seong. We have settled into a comfortable routine of planning and teaching and weekends off. The weeks tend to be a bit hectic, but we are getting used to it. We find the children and schools noisy, but very busy with activity e.g. singing, music, loud voices, instruments like drums banging, shouting in the passages, etc.

I (Rykie) had a demo lesson with a co-teacher, and the lesson was visited by 14 principals from other local schools. Pieter will soon have the same experience. They are going all out to monitor the English progress in schools. The Korean teachers window dress and rehearse the lessons for a few weeks before such an outside visit by people from the Department.

We have a very kind neighbour who is now part of our English 2Him Fellowship on a Thursday night. She took us to a Botanical Garden in Gwancheon - 30 minutes drive outside town. We enjoyed being outside on a beautiful day and walked quite a distance to get a view of the area. The plants and flowers were just so beautiful. Our neighbour bought herself an English Bible and is starting to read it for the first time. We are very happy about that.

The 2Him Fellowship needs to expand. We are getting a new person now and again, but we need a strategy from the Lord and drastic growth. Pray with us for it to happen. We are trusting God for conversions etc.

We are now ALIENS in Korea

2008-05-03T01:49:00.001-07:00

We are so pleased that we are now finally registered as a foreigner and alien here in Korea. This is a great event, because now we could buy cell phones. We could also register our Medical Aid which means we can benefit from their very good health care system.

Friends here gave us the name of a very good Doctor. We needed medication and we only had South Africans prescriptions. He helped us to get the right medicine which we are familiar with. He is also a christian and after a very friendly conversation (he speaks a little English) he presented Pieter with a Bible. It is a Korean and English version and we are sure we will be able to put it to good use as we speak to people.

Cell group

2008-05-03T01:34:00.000-07:00

When we came to Korea we prayed that we might have an open door for the Gospel too.
We were invited to attend Church and felt at home straight away. The Pastor and his wife opened their hearts for us. We approached him about starting an English Cell Group and he gave us the Church small hall as a venue. We have started on a Thursday night and 27 people came the first night, then 12 and last night, there were 10. This should still pick up as it gets known in the community. We have seen that it can be a real tool to make Jesus known and for believers to get to know Him better.

The fellowship is great and we have Joseph Kim, an interpreter and friend who helps to interpret when Pieter talks. This is a great blessing as many people want to learn English, but their knowledge of the language is still limited.

Photo of children

2008-04-19T04:51:00.000-07:00

This is me(Pieter) and the smallest children I teach.
The Grade 1 and 2 class at Yong Bong Primary, they are such darlings and cannot wait to be spoken to or even to be hugged. The kids like all children love attention and where ever I walk, I hear: "Mr Pieter, Mr Pieter!" All they want to do, is to say the only word they know, i.e. "hello" and get a hug. A truly wonderful and rewarding experience.

Part of the reason we are here, is we believe that God want to use us in the community. We have a passion to spread the love of Jesus. We would like people to stand with us in prayer and trust that we'll see this happen.

2008-04-18T20:15:00.000-07:00

After our taxi ride from Seosan, we arrived in Hong Seong. This is a large town and our apartment
is only 5 minutes walk to Rykie's one school, Hong Ju Elementary School. The other school is 20 minutes out of town, surrounded by farms, and is Jong Ho Elementary School. Pieter also teaches at two schools, about 15 minutes out of town and he takes the bus every morning. The one is called Jong Bong and the other is Hong Buk Elementary School.
We are very happy there and enjoy the classes, now that we have the curriculum sorted out. We prepare and is an assistant teacher in the morning and in the afternoon, we do extra curricular English classes.

The weather has changed from very cold, to warmer, as it is now Spring. The cherry blossoms are
out and we eat a lot of strawberries. The rest of the food takes some getting used to! We have been invited to a traditional Korean Restaurant or two. That means you sit on the floor on a cushion, at a very low table. There are about 40 small dishes between the people around the table. Some dishes are very hot and spice and we now know to avoid it. We stick to the one or two dishes we like.

Our apartment is really very comfortable. We have quite a large bedroom, a small study, a larger kitchen area and a bathroom with a toilet. It is fully furnished and have underfloor heating and aircon. We are on the first floor. Around the corner is a very nice supermarket. They even deliver your goods if you buy more than a certain amount. It really is very safe here and we feel O K to take a walk down town - another 15 minutes down the road. On a Friday night we enjoy going to a "sort of Mc Donalds". This gives us a taste of Western food again.

The Korean children take music as a subject and all play recorders, small desk keyboards, violins, drums and even saxophones. They are taught to read music. They love singing.
The people are very friendly and helpful. Although no one speaks English, they often try and understand us - with many hand signs from our side.

Later we'll tell more about the Church we go to now. We started an English Bible Fellowship and will share our wonderful experience with you.

Arrival in Korea

2008-04-18T19:44:00.000-07:00

Hi Welcome to our BLOG journal.

Hope you will visit us often and enjoy your time with us!!!

ARRIVAL:
Well we arrived here on Monday 3rd March 2008.
Honestly we could have been led anywhere on Earth!
We arrived in Seoul, from Singapore where we spent 2 days to try and focus, late the afternoon at 17:30. All we had was the name of a Mr Lee and his cell no. [In Korea it is called a hand phone].

He met us, put us on a bus to Seosan and said something in Korean to the driver whom spoke zilch English. Well there we went, after 30 minutes it got dark so we could only see a freeway and car lights. The bus ride with all our baggage, took about 2+1/2 hours. There we waited on the bus until we were stuffed into a taxi who took us for another 1/2 hour. Stopped in a dark street and were met by 4 Koreans some spoke English while the others could hardly speak. We then walked up a little incline and into a building where we found our apartment on the 1st floor. It looked very comfortable but we had no bedding and it was about 3 degrees outside.

It was very interesting as we spent our first night in a Spa(their version of a motel).
The central heating was so hot that we first cooled the room off with the air-con. The next morning we were picked up for our first day at school at )8:10, so there we went.
watch for next blog