My New Little Rebel

This week I took the plunge and invested in a new DSLR camera.  What does that mean exactly?  Well, this camera is still digital and has a fully automatic mode, but now I can switch to a manual mode where I'll have to learn how to be a real photographer and do all of the adjustments myself!  I am just beginning to learn the language of photography so things like shutter speed, aperture, and f-stops are still foreign words to me but I think with some time to research and time to play I can figure out the basics.  Artsy friends, I'm counting on you for some guidance too!  Anyway, I took my shiny, new Canon Rebel T3i out of the box for the first time today and took a few shots in my parents' yard.  Here's what I ended up with!

The Close Up setting on my camera is so cool!

This one is my favorite!!

I was shooting these photos at twilight, so the light wasn't great, but I'm really impressed with the sharpness of the details in my photos and I'm excited to start playing around with the other pre-set modes to see what they'll do.  I've also started looking at lenses, filters, and other fun accessories.  I can feel a new obsession coming on!!  Hopefully I'll have time to take some more pictures around Junction City before I head back to Korea in August.

The Year in Review

Another school year is in the books!  That makes seven total in my career as a teacher--one year at Lewis and Clark HS, four years at Ferris HS, and two years at Seoul Foreign HS.  In my mind, the last day of school is a bit like Christmas.  It is always much anticipated and filled with special gifts (hello, no more school until August) and special friends.  As we celebrated the end of another successful school year, we also said final farewells to cherished colleagues and a good deal of "see you laters" to the friends who will be heading off to spend their holiday in many different corners of the world.  


About this time last year I anxiously awaited my departure to China with my friend Erin.  Now that I think about it, I've covered quite a lot of ground this year....
So, here's the year in review:


June 2011--Finished first year of teaching abroad, whew!  Flew off to China for a fun week in Beijing and Xian.  Returned home to Oregon.  Mom & Dad move to Eugene.  Daniel moves into his first apartment.


July--Visited friends in Spokane, WA.  Jetted off to London for a week of sightseeing before spending a fabulous week in Oxford learning about Jane Austen.


August--Back to Seoul for the start of year 2!  Rain, rain, rain...work, work, work!  Joined a bible study full of lovely ladies to study the Tabernacle and a Woman's Heart.


September--The James family visits Seoul...lots of sightseeing ensues.  Work, work, work!


October--I honestly have no recollection of anything exciting happening in October.  Work, work, work?!  Oh wait, the first of two high school theater productions debuts.  Shakespeare in Hollywood, what a treat.


November--Off to Hong Kong to celebrate Thanksgiving with Rebecca.  Hong Kong Disneyland!


December--Back to the States for Christmas.  Logged a total of 50,000 miles flown in 2011 which scored me gold status on United (that means I get to travel with three 70 pound suitcases--when you live overseas, this is a big deal!).


January--Froze my buttocks off in Seoul.  Work, work, work!  Enjoyed lunar new year in Seoul!


February--More freezing, more working (can you see a theme here?).  Saw Notre Dame de Paris, the first of three musicals this year.  Scored tickets to see my second musical this month, Mamma Mia! entirely in Korean and loved it!  Saturday yearbook sessions go down every weekend.


March--Daniel visits during spring break and we take a trip to Tokyo!  Tokyo Disneyland!


April--Spring has finally sprung!  Cherry blossoms are in full bloom!  Back to the 80's school musical.


May-- Finish this year's Yearbook and get it off to the printer by some miracle from God.  Discovery Week Venice finally happens after months of planning.  Venice was absolutely fantastic!!  My second year IGCSE students take their science examinations (fingers crossed that they'll get good results!). 


June--See my third musical of the season and it was Wicked!  Finish my 7th year of teaching!


When I first moved to Seoul I made it a point to get out into the city much more.  This year I felt like I had so much more work to do and much less time for exploring, but as I recap the year I guess I did manage to get in a bit more fun than I thought.  Three musicals, two high school theater productions, one yearbook produced, three overseas trips, 66 students taught, hundreds of papers graded......the numbers make my head spin.  All-in-all, it has been a really good year and I'm looking forward to what the future holds!