I'm gonna execute a button-hook pattern, super slo-mo.

Welp, it's been a while since I've done one of these thingys but I've actually surprised myself with the fact that I'm still posting stuff 7 months later! So, I'm going to be positive and say "good job Ash!" instead of telling myself I stink at keeping up with stuff like this. I could very well be writing to myself because all of you back home got bored...or because you whine that my posts are too long and need to be broken up into days in order to finish them...Darby, you're a turd:) But since school started in August I've been pretty busy and I'm pretty stoked about it! As I've told most of you, I'm coaching volleyball at an international school here in Daejeon which is the most amazing thing ever. First of all, the story of how it all came about is kind of crazy because back in April, my friend Christi told me about this church that meets at Taejeon Christian International School so I started going. The first day I went I met a teacher from the school who was also the assistant volleyball coach. She told me that she was leaving Korea at the end of the school year in May and that if I was interested in helping out I should get in touch with the head coach who happened to be one of her good friends. Sooo, long story short, the head coach somehow decided I was cool enough to not only coach BUT be her friend too! Double win! I'm super good at fooling people.

The girls that I coach are an amazing group of girls though and I love that I get to hang out with them after school everyday. Since it's an international school all of the students speak english and while it's primarily Korean students there's also kids from a bunch of different places which is a pretty cool experience. As much as I love my students, it's so nice to be able to go to practice and be able to talk and joke around with them. The head coach has been there for the past 5 years since she graduated from college so her program is really solid. And she runs it really similarly to how Kev runs things at PLU...it's just a super positive environment and the players have fun while still having really high expectations set for them.

It really is crazy to me though how small this world is...and how lucky I've been since I've been here. Actually, I take that back, I definitely don't think it's luck at all but rather God being super intentional and awesome with the people he puts in my life. First, I get placed in the same city as my friend Christi who also went to PLU but I had never met before I came here. So weird that we went to the same college and never hung out but then become friends all the way in the middle of Asia. Then, I'm walking along some random street in a beach town back in April and meet my friend Bethany who is the sister of a friend who I went to college with and she lives only 30 minutes away from me so it's so super easy for us to visit each other. That one honestly blew my mind-what are the chances of being on the same street in the same teeny city in Korea and finding out that you not only are pretty much from the same place in Washington but also know the same people? Insanity I say! Then, I go to some random church and meet the volleyball coach who is one of the coolest people on earth AND coaches volleyball AND actually knows how to play volleyball (not that you have to have played to be a good coach but you know what I mean...hopefully...she's super legit and makes me look like a bumbling fool as a d.s. which isn't hard but still) AND wants me to help her coach? Craziness.

Also, Im gonna have some pretty awesome videos to post here in a couple of weeks. My girls' middle school has this school festival coming up next month where one day is basically a talent show. Last week I got to help judge the auditions to determine who got in and these girls are INCREDIBLE. Most of them did some kind of choreography for a K-Pop song (Korean pop...think Backstreet Boys or NSYNC) but they are stinking amazing dancers and so so entertaining. One group did a skit based on a Korean drama and they were so funny that I had to sit there with my legs crossed to make sure I didn't pee in my pants. These girls are definitely another thing that I've been so blessed by. Although I catch myself complaining about the Korean school system (mostly because the kids are driven into the ground and rarely given a real break) my school is awesome, my main co-teacher is wonderful, and I'm excited to see my kids everyday...especially the girls, mostly because I'm with them 4 days a week and by the time I get to the boys on Friday I want to throw them out the window...occasionally. But since we started a new semester, I decided to do with all of my classes what I did with my three 3rd grade classes (8th grade-ish) last semester which is have them all pick english names. I know the kids in 1st and 2nd grade who already have english names from their english academies but other than that it's been hard for me to learn Korean names. All of the girls I've talked about before, Donald Duck, Crazy Minzy, Elderly, etc are third graders and so it's been nice because I remember their names which I think is kind of an important part of being a teacher obviously, it's just hard when you have 800 students. ANYWHO. The second week of classes we choose names and I gave them lists and lists of suggestions for popular english names so I have a ton of Sarah's, Elizabeth's, Kelsey's, Melissa's, Erin's (a ton of them named themselves after my PLU girls that wrote pen pal letters last semester, haha) Ashley's, Katie's and the list goes on. But, I have some that are so ridiculously funny. The girls sit in teams of four for my classes which is out of the norm because in every other class they sit in rows. I have one group who named their team "team baby" and their names are baby dolphin, baby bear, baby cat, and baby dog. Three girls in one team are named Tom, And, Jerry. I have a Beyonce Gaga, Marilyn Monroe, Lisa Simpson, Spongebob, Peter Pan, Lady Gaga, Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt and a bazillion others. My favorite though is one team who's names are Cream, Cheese, Spaghetti, $1.

Sorry no cool pics of anything crazy this time! Hopefully soon though I'll have some amazing vids for you:) Adios amigos! And go watch some PLU volleyball if you're in Tacoma!

Now this is stinkin funny stuff...

So if you ever come to Korea one of the first things you'll notice is that couples match each other. Like reeeally match each other. Sometimes it's just their shirt and other times they are dressed head to toe and are probably wearing the exact same pair of jeans. And carrying the same purse...or murse (short for "man purse"). So when Beth and Hannah came it was funny all over again because they were seeing it for the first time and we saw some pretty crazy matching couples. I mean, it's totally ok with me just not something that would fly in the states which is why it seems so weird. Guarantee you would get eaten alive for wearing the same jeans as your girlfriend. Anyways, when we were in Jeju, Beth and I both bought the same t-shirt and didn't really think anything of it. When we got back to Seoul though we thought it would be hilarious if we threw our shirts on one day and posed as a matching couple. After they left I sent the pic along with a googled image of a matching couple to my good friend Heather who is a photoshop genius and this is what she sent me. Most awesome thing ever? Yes siree Bob.

It's not really supposed to look like we're pointing and laughing we were just trying to look natural when we felt kind of...unnatural:)