Thomas journals

Culture! We attended a piano recital at the IlShin recital hall, hosted by the Ecuadorian Embassy -- two brothers now attending Chicago Conservatory performed a dozen pieces (arranged for piano and viola) by latin american composers.   The key piece was a dramatic tango by Astor Piazzola.  A beautiful concert hall, a creditable performance, very pleasant evening had by all.  Afterwards we all repaired to the art gallery/atrium of the IlShin building for a very civilized glass of wine to sip while admiring the modern art and discussing the music.   The IlShin building is a 15-minute walk downhill from the school. 

Energy conservation notes made while at Woodstock Energy Conservation Ideas for energy conservation and/or greening at Woodstock Conservation is simply using less energy – typically electricity – regardless of the source. Greening means to use renewable energy sources as a substitute for less-renewable sources.    Renewable sources Solar – sunlight Water, hydropower Locally-sourced biomass such as leaves or paper or compost or sewage Muscle power, from people or animal Lighting Incandescent to CFL to LED Incandescent bulbs are cheap to manufacture but expensive to operate Incandescent appropriate Some lamps only fit this size Some lampshades are designed to clip onto a spherical bulb Publicly-accessible: because of the great cost differential, CFL bulbs are easily stolen Dimming necessary, as incandescent bulbs readily vary light output by voltage Heating: most of the electricity of the incandescent bulb is used in heat; only part results...

Attending new staff orientation all this week.  Tech Tuesday includes a self-made photo-tour that allows us to use the school's cameras with the school's MacBooks and iPhoto, to make this slideshow

Friday around Seoul, with our tour guide Asst.Principal Garman.  He relished the opportunity to show people around the neighborhood, and guided us to the office of Santa Fe Relocation – the company shipping our household goods from Saudi and from Ossining – so we could sign the papers.  Then a walk down InSaDong shopping street, an upscale pedestrian mall of art galleries, handicrafts, and street vendors. We watched young vendors demonstrate the making of spun-honey sweets, called Dragon's Beard. They were very cute, so we bought a 7-dollar box of sweets, not that delicious, but it was a great performance!    He also took us to our new apartment: 3 (small) bedrooms, 1 and a half bathrooms, a tiny laundry room, and a large central kitchen/family space.  It is a "floor-through" apartment, with glassed-in balconies on both sides so we get good cross-ventilation.  The weather is pretty hot and sticky these days.  We will move in tomorrow.

Arrived at Seoul, after helpful and happy times with various family and friends in Texas, New York, and California.  We departed Seal Beach at the crack o'dawn for a quick van ride before rush-hour to Santa Ana airport, then a short flight to San Francisco to take United's flight 93 to Incheon Airport at Seoul.  School administrators met us, and some other new staff all arrived around the same time, so we could together ride in to town, to the Capital Hotel for a brief debriefing and lots of rest.  A few of us new folks joined for dinner at a nearby Korean Noodle restaurant.   No pictures yet.

A few days stopover with Barb's parents in Seal Beach, for some final touches of shopping and packing. Dinner with Luke and Grace Kim, receiving gratefully their good wishes, and their lists of contacts in Seoul.  Meeting with Meg and Lyle at The Hangout and Wahoo Fish Tacos for farewells. To Fry's for a quick purchase of an Obi100 phone router that allows me to connect a telephone to answer my Google-Phone from any internet connection.  It really works! Departing early tomorrow for real.

The Ogden family arrived for a weekend at SpringHill Suites in Tarrytown-- sisters came to help sort and view the fashion show of winter clothing. Sister Jaime is famous for the expression “It'll be fun!” – in this case, it was fun gathering together for meals and family stories. We also treasured worship at  Pleasantville Presbyterian Church  -- Jeff and Cole sang in the summer choir, too.  Pastor Debbie commissioned us for our upcoming mission service in Korea.