Departures

A few weeks ago Mr. Frodo disappeared. I came into my classroom and did my usual morning search for him but couldn't find him. I looked in all the usual spots. However, there was a report that a student had found a frog that looked just like Mr. Frodo in the hallway and released it. I have hope that Mr. Frodo is out there somewhere and safe in his natural habitat. But still sometimes I look out my window with the hope that I'll see him waiting on the other side of it.

The sad departure of our dear friend has served as a way for my students and I to bond over a common interest. Sometimes they'll come into my classroom as I am grading papers and they'll tell me how much they miss him. Yesterday I had a student, whom I don't know, come up to me with the most serious face and say, "Mr. Sam, do you want another frog? We'll catch you one." He looked like he was ready to take a vow, stopping at nothing until Mr. Sam's classroom was restored with a new frog.

This is finals week and we have only 2 more days until summer vacation starts for the students. So in honor of my students and the closing of a good first semester, here are some pictures, some funnies, and brutally honest but equally hilarious essays from my students.

My Students and Me

They call me Mr. Potato

In memory of Mr. Frodo

Where did "food" come from? 

The students had to write a paragraph describing a person of their choice. A few of them chose me. I don't know if they were trying to grease the wheels for easy points or if they were trying to be funny. But they certainly accomplished the latter.

This one is touching. 

Kids are so funny. 

And finally, in honor of Mr. Frodo, here is a cool video of him vs. a grasshopper on my laptop screen. This was the day before he left us.

Recent Happenings

Summer Missions Trip

The past month has seen quite a few new developments. On the forefront is that I will be going on missions this summer to Jakarta, Indonesia. If you want to read my support letter and are interested in supporting me, click here.

New Believer

While on the matter of church, I want to report that a recent friend, Grant, has accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior a few weeks ago at the New Philadelphia church-wide retreat, the very same weekend that I couldn't go and got in the car accident, which was chronicled in my previous entry. His story is one that is very dear to me because I got to witness the little steps that brought him to the critical moment, though I wasn't there for it in person. Grant is an undergraduate student at an exchange program in Seoul. He hadn't been going to church but met a brother, Thomas, on the street who had invited him out to church one day. Grant accepted his invitation and came out. New Philadelphia has a reputation for being a bit scary with the charismatic style of worship (rightfully so). Grant said that he would probably not return because of it. But for some reason he kept coming. Chris would be instrumental in including Grant. He would call him for football fellowships and invite him to hang out when we did. Over the course of weeks and months, Grant witnessed powerful testimonies and saw the loving, open, and utterly different community that is the body of New Philadelphia Church. He himself, though not a believer at the time, couldn't deny the power that was present in this congregation. Two weeks prior to his salvation, I'd met with Chris and Thomas. We were having some bbq with makkoli and having good conversations. It led to prayer. Though we had some spirits in us, we were Spirit-filled and prayed. Our prayer spilled outside onto the side street as the restaurant was closing. Imagine three guys praying on a side street at about 1 in the morning. I think we got honked at by one car that wanted to pass. We prayed specifically for 3 people. One of them was Grant. We thanked God in advance for the work that He was going to complete in Grant at the retreat. I would later hear that it was Chris and his roommate Danny who helped lead him through the prayer.

Accident Update

As for my accident, I went back to Cheongju last week and gave my testimony for the accident investigation. Because I had made an illegal right turn, which caused the accident, I am found guilty and need to pay a fine. I've never been in a major accident before so I don't know what to compare it to but I was told by the investigator that my fine could be anywhere from $2000-$3000(USD) or more or less. I've never heard of anything like that before. So now there is not much else I can do but wait for the bill in the mail. Then I can try to appeal but I don't know if I have a case to do so. It just seems a bit unfair to have to pay that much. I thought that the most one would ever pay for a traffic violation is a few hundred dollars.

Mr. Frodo - My New Classroom Pet

On a lighter note, while walking a few weeks ago near the school grounds, I found a tree frog on a pedestrian bridge. Meet Mr. Frodo:

He is now my classroom pet. Mr. Frodo does wonders for delinquent middle schoolers. Now I have earned some of their attention and even respect. Mr. Frodo has helped me capture their hearts as they utter, "ooh, he's so cute!" I've got 'em. I only wish I'd had a magic frog in the beginning. Can amphibians really be suitable pets? Look at this and try to deny it:

He matches my wall color. Sometimes he likes to camouflage himself against it. 

I haven't had the time to get the necessary equipment but I intend to buy and build for Mr. Frodo a nice home. I've got grand designs for a self-sustaining vivarium that features running water, moss, decomposers, fish, snails, plants, rocks, and things for climbing. All I would need to do is find him food, which I've gotten pretty good at. I've developed ninja-like skills in capturing insects without killing them (tree frogs don't eat dead things [but I've learned a trick to make Mr. Frodo think that a dead insect is alive by blowing on it - then he attacks it like Yoshi]). But until then he lives in a plastic to-go iced latte cup with a straw-hole for air. He escapes through the straw-hole and it's a game every morning to find where Mr. Frodo escaped to. However, he's usually very good about staying close by. Most of time I just let him loose. He responds very well to humans and sometimes he even likes to perch on my shoulder as I hack away at my lesson plans. Sam and Frodo - it's going to be quite an adventure. I'm glad he's with me.