It's a Boy!

Liam Jae Henry will be joining us in August 2012!!! 

Sarah and I are beyond excited and are enjoying this incredible and surreal 9 month roller coaster affectionately known as pregnancy. It hasn't always been easy, especially on Sarah, but we know that all of the anxiety and uncertainties (not to mention morning sickness, discomfort, and the pain of childbirth) will all be worth it when we're holding our little boy in a few short months. 

Thank you to every one of you who has been such a source of love and encouragement to us during this exciting and new chapter of our lives! We are also SOOOO grateful (beyond words) for the constant prayers. 

We'll continue to keep all of you posted over the next few months as Liam's arrival draws nearer, and in the meantime we hope to post some more exciting adventures that we embark on over our final 5 months here in Korea!

 Sarah and I celebrated at Bennigans shortly after learning we're having a baby boy

BABY, BABY! OH!

So in my absent-mindedness, I just realized that I completely forgot to post some of the most exciting news on the planet in this blog about Sarah and my lives here in Korea.

Sarah and I recently learned that we are going to be parents!!! We're having a baby!!! We're extremely excited and thank God for blessing us with this incredible gift, blessing, and new chapter of life.

(not Sarah's belly....just a picture for emphasis...LOL!)

Sarah is roughly 12 weeks along as of now and her due date is August 31st. We will be having the baby in Korea, and then we hope to be back in the states by sometime in late September or early October.

The decision to go through the pregnancy here in Korea was an easy one to make. Not only is healthcare extremely affordable for us here, but Sarah's Korean doctor is also incredible and extremely professional. The hospital here is top-notch, AND we have a good friend here on staff as a nurse as well.

Not to mention, Sarah would have had to travel back to the states in her 8th month (a big NO-NO) and would have had to find a new hospital/doctor without healthcare for the final month of the pregnancy and the delivery.

Bottom line, our first baby will be born here in South Korea. This in and of itself is an incredibly unique experience that we will carry with us the rest of our lives, as will our child.

We ask you all to keep us in your prayers over the next few months. We're SOOOO excited for this new part of the journey on our already exciting journey abroad!

VACAY...Korean-style!

Cool artwork in Seoul's subway underground

One of the coolest perks while teacher with EPIK is that you get a hefty amount of vacation time during the winter break.


Sarah and I were blessed enough to have off of school from January 19th all the way through February 6th (we combined our 10 alotted vacation days with some long weekends due to South Korea's Lunar New Year holiday).

Sarah and I overlooking Seoul near the base of Seoul Tower

Sarah and I traveled up to Seoul during the first few days of our vacation. We had held out in going prior to this, and therefore we sort of lumped a lot of the anticipated sight-seeing of hot spots all into one all-inclusive trip.


For those of you who don't know, Seoul is roughly the size of New York and London combined. There is too much to see and do all in one trip, so it's always best to plan your visit in advance and map out the subway line stops in an efficient way.

Sarah walking down a street in Insadong

We got to see many cool areas of Seoul,  including Itaewon (hot spots for Westerners) and Insadong (small-town strip with lots of local touristy markets). We also got to visit some historic sights, including the Korean War Memorial and Cemetary and the historic Gyeongbok Palace.

Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul

We finished off our time in Seoul doing some shopping (H&M baby!) and seeing an incredible theatre performance called "Nanta" (thinking Jackie Chan meets Hells Kitchen meets Stomp).

Sarah got called up on stage during the performance of Nanta!

From their we head southeast to an area known as Hwatcheon for their annual Ice Festival. There we had the chance to go ice fishing, ice sledding, and walk around ice sculptures...all along a really cool river/canal that runs through the town.

Hwatcheon Ice Festival

We ended the vacation by spending a week back home in Daegu, lounging around, watching movies, hanging with some friends, and finally spending a day at Elybaden Spa pampering ourselves with some much needed TLC.

While many people choose to use their vacation time to travel abroad in Asia (China, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam), we were struck by how much Korea itself has to offer for travel and leisure. No matter which you decide, you will have a lot of fun and a lot to do!

All in all it was a FUN vacation, and we feel re-energized and are rearing to get back into teaching!

2012 baby!!

"It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine..." - R.E.M.

It's 2012... Happy New Year from South Korea!

Our New Years Eve was a blast! We started off the evening with some good friends eating at one of our favorite joints, The Holy Grill, in downtown Daegu.

The whole gang at The Holy Grill restaurant in downtown Daegu...best Cajun chicken sandwich on the planet!

For those of you living or planning to live in Daegu, you MUST eat at The Holy Grill. The owner Aaron is a cool guy and also the chef, and his dishes are finger-lickin' delicious! I recommend the steak burrito or the open-face Cajun chicken sandwich. YUM! They also have Red Rock beer on tap, which is my absolute favorite brew in Korea!

We hung out at the restaurant for several hours, mingling and playing one round of "Left, Right, Center". Sarah's friend and co-teacher Young Ji (on the far left of the above photo) was the winner of the game and collected a nice sum of 30,000 won, which is the equivalent of $30! Not bad for one round of a dice game.

Afterwards we went out for drinks at a lounge where we played a hand of the Phase 10 card game followed by several exhilirating rounds of Jenga, which is all the rave here in Daegu!

Me, right before knocking over the Jenga stack...terrible!

We finished off the evening perfectly, with our grand finale at the downtown park in Daegu ringing in 2012 with music, the ringing of the bell at midnight, and an incredible fireworks display to send us in to the new year in style!

All in all, we hope all of you had a safe and fun New Years this year, and we are SOOOO excited for all that awaits us in 2012...gonna be a BIG year! ;)

English Camps

In South Korea, students enjoy "summer vacation" in winter, usually between December 24th and sometime near the end of February. It's sort of the reverse of how school is done in the states.

And when I say "vacation", it is certainly not the vacation American kids are probably used to. Students here in Korea spend most of their vacation studying English, math, and science. They attend winter camps and many of them still attend their hogwons (night school for students) during the break. Needless to say, these poor kids never stop working.

Sarah and I with my students at the Seodaegu winter camp

For us as teachers, though, our time during the break is quite fun and light-hearted. When we aren't desk-warming (term used for sitting at our desks all day with no work to do waiting for the last bell to ring), we get to plan English camps.

English camps are basically a time in which the students still come to school to learn English, but the classes are more like activity times comprised of games and other fun exercises to allow students to have a ton of fun while learning.

Me disguised as a superhero for Sarah's "Superhero Camp"

Sarah and I had the incredible (and incredibly unique) opportunity to co-teach both of our school's English camps and plan the events together.

Sarah doing a puppet skit at "Superhero Camp"

During my camp, which was Monday December 26th-Wednesday December 28th, students from grades 4-6 came for 3 hours a day and got to do a whole variety of fun things. We made fake passports, played Twister and Simon Says, watched movie trailers and reviewed them with simple English sentences, and many other fun things. Students even got to pretend to be meteorologists, and Sarah and I had the chance to teach them all how to play Uno, an American favorite!

Students making their superhero capes at "Superhero Camp"

Sarah's camp took place from Wednesday January 4th-Friday January 6th. Her 3rd and 4th graders had the incredible opportunity to partake in a "Superhero Camp", which Sarah designed and orchestrated herself. Students got to learn about different superheros, make their own super hero masks and cape, play capture the flag, and color and create their own fictional superhero. Needless to say, the kids had a blast! I wish they had fun stuff like this when I was in school...he he he!

One student's superhero mask...NICE!

After Sarah's camp ended, we all went out for some pizza to celebrate the successes of the camps as well as the fact that they were over.

The teachers celebrating the end of camps with some PIZZA!!

Though it was exhausting at the time, it was fun and kept us busy during this nice long break.

Now, Sarah and I have nothing to do but desk-warm from now until the first week of March when classes begin again. Unfortunately, we still have to come in and sit at our desks for 8 hours...BRUTAL!

If you've ever wanted to write a novel or learn how to knit, desk-warming in South Korea is the way to get it done!

Merry Christmas from Daegu!

We wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone who reads this blog a VERY Merry Christmas and a blessed holiday season!

Sarah decorated our apartment for Christmas!

This year was Sarah and my first Christmas ever away from our families, and Christmas in Korea was certainly an adjustment for us. Thank God for the community of friends we have come to know and love here, as being near to others is such a valuable part of this holiday and time of year.

Our Daegu friends (L-R: Fraser, Tom, Ann, Sarah, Jen, me, Soo Yean, Chris, Sydney, Kat, & Tyler)

Sarah and I were able to host a group of our friends on Christmas Eve for a very fun and festive Christmas party extravaganza.

Tom & Chris decorating Christmas cookies

The afternoon and evening were filled with plenty of fun things, not to mention some delicious food (honey baked ham, pesto pasta, 7-bean chilli with pineapple, mashed potatoes, buffalo chicken dip, etc.). We had a lot of fun things we did, including a white elephant gift exchange, baking and decorating Christmas cookies, doing a Secret Santa gift-giving time, and watching "A Muppet Christmas Carol".

Christmas cookies from our Christmas Eve party

On Christmas Day, I woke up early and cooked Sarah a traditional American Christmas breakfast- A broccoli and cheese omelette with crispy fried bacon and orange juice. We then got our day started by reading the Christmas story from Luke 2:1-20 and taking time to pray and remember why we celebrate this season.

Next we got to have a special Christmas just the two of us, taking time to give each other gifts and celebrate the blessings we have as a married couple. You can see several photos below for some of our "highlight" gifts.

I got Sarah the book "Pyongyang: A Journey In North Korea" by Guy Delisle

Sarah bought me some nice-smelling cologne

I bought Sarah a matching hoodie and sweatpants "Chick Chick" outfit...haha!

Sarah bought me a Cleveland Indians hat to represent my hometown team in the U.S.!

After that we spent a few hours Skyping with our families back home, and then it was off to church for a Christmas service and dinner.

We hope that everyone back home had an equally relaxing and blessed Christmas weekend, and we truly wish you all the best as we look forward to the start of 2012.

Love and blessings,
Brad & Sarah

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas...in some ways

The lights are all around us here, and the feeling in the air is that it is most definitely the Christmas season, but only recently... surprisingly.

Sarah and I in front of the huge Christmas tree near Duryu Park in our neighborhood

Sarah and I were not to sure what to expect around the holiday season, as it is both of our first Christmas away from our families and a hard time of year (especially) to be away from the ones you love.

 Sarah and I enjoying some warm holiday drinks at a cafe downtown

We've really enjoyed walking around downtown in Daegu, looking at all the Christmas lights, and even becoming a little nostalgic about things as ridiculous as the commercialism of Christmas. It's amazing what you appreciate when you're away from home, even the least favorite parts about the holidays. Haha!

It had only recently started to even feel like winter here in Korea. In fact, last week I went on a mountain hike with my students, and I didn't even wear my jacket. It felt like fall!

A few of my 3rd and 4th graders on our climb up Apsan Mountain last week

School has been busy for the both of us the past few weeks, as we've been simultaneously wrapping up our school years (Korean public school end in December and begin new in March) as well as preparing for our winter English camps, which are a whole different beast of their own.

I just had my last English festival for the school year, and this time around our kids put on an English song festival. My students, grades 3-6, picked a wide variety of English songs to perform. From traditional Christmas music to pop songs like Justin Bieber, The Backstreet Boys, and The Beatles, I was incredibly moved by the amount of time and effort they all put into their performances. Their English was incredible, and the artistic talent is also evident among so many of them.

Some of my 6th graders performing "Party Rock Anthem" at this week's English song festival

Sarah and I have both been fighting off the recycled colds that seem to bounce around our friend circles and our schools, and in so many ways it feels like another holiday winter as many of you might find back in the states (except for the fact that everyone hear speaks another language...LOL!).

Sarah and I are still putting together our vacation plans for this January, when we'll have about 2 1/2 weeks off for winter break. Our plan is to travel to different parts of Korea and explore other parts of the country. We're both very excited about this!

One piece of advice to people planning to come over to Korea and teach. Travel around Asia is not as easy or cheap as it is in other parts of the continent. Traveling to Japan, China, and even Vietnam can run you hundreds upon thousands of dollars for flights and accommodations, not to mention food. For China, it costs $150 just to get a special Visa to travel their during your break.

We've found that the most popular travel destinations for ESL teachers are Thailand or simply to stay put and travel around South Korea.

More to come in the weeks ahead, and we'll be sure to give you all another update on or around Christmas Day.

Until then, God's blessings and peace. Enjoy the season, and stay warm!!!