Some music you should check out

I had a chance to sing my song "Open My Eyes" at church on the day before New Year's. You can check it out at the following link: http://myiwe.com/iTV/?type=10%20AM%20Worship&id=817&action=display. When you get to the page, click "Offering Music: Marc Hogi." It usually takes a minute to download.

Also, I promised to include a link to my newer version of "Yes, You Are" from November 12. I'm much happier with this version. You can find that here at http://myiwe.com/iTV/?id=801. I've been trying to stop making funny faces when I sing, but I'm not always successful. So you may get a good laugh in addition to a good song. Ha ha. (Note to Mac users: If you have a Macintosh, you may not be able to view these videos.)

I've been listening to a lot of music online, particularly on MySpace and PureVolume.com. Right now I'm listening to Sean Feucht's "Away." This is an incredible song, especially the last two minutes. His bio says that his personal mentors include Jason Upton, and man does it show. You can check out "Away" and three other songs at http://myspace.com/seanfeucht.

I've also been enjoying the alternative bands Turn Off The Stars and Future of Forestry. The latter band includes the lead singer and guitarist from the now-defunct Something Like Silas. You can check out those guys at www.purevolume.com/turnoffthestars and www.purevolume.com/futureofforestry.

I've also been listening a lot to an independent urban gospel singer named Juanita Wynn, whom you can check out at www.myspace.com/juanwynn. "Never Knew Love..." and "What We Need 2 Do" are definitely head-bobbers, while "Where Would I B..." is just a cool old-school soul jam--the kind that makes my heart smile every time I hear it. Check out them horns... I've also been stuck on Fred Hammond's "Keep On Praisin'," which you can hear at www.myspace.com/therealfredhammond. "This Is The Day" is also pretty cool. I've also been listening to a number of worship artists on the soaking.net Web site. I will write more about these later.

My sixth month

I have somehow found myself in the sixth month of my teaching gig here. In the short amount of time I've been here, I can say without much pretense that I love my job. I also love living in Seoul. That's not to say that life and work have been easy for me. It seems that every two or three weeks I experience another personal crisis. However, this is not necessarily related to the fact that I'm in Korea. My issues exist in spite of Korea, not because of it.

Toby's work schedule has changed and so far it doesn't look as if we'll be able to meet much if at all this month. Fortunately, I've learned how to type in Korean (it's actually much easier than you would think) and we will be e-mailing each other with our language questions. In the meantime, I continue to seek out ways to improvise my Korean study.

A couple of weeks ago I was able to make small talk in Korean with a kind old woman on the subway. It made me feel like I'm actually getting somewhere with all of my studying.

Much of my life here, in and out of the classroom, continues to be a delicate exercise in figuring out Korea's unspoken cultural assumptions. One significant insight I've learned is not to panic when I encounter silence and hesitation in the classroom. I'm learning to better appreciate how difficult it is for students to speak in English in front of a foreigner in a classroom setting. I've discovered through numerous conversations with Koreans that many of them are quite intimidated by speaking with foreigners. This sounds like an unfair generalization, and I wouldn't have written if so many Koreans hadn't told it to me.

The New Year's holiday weekend was particularly nice for me. I was able to spend some enjoyable time with some old and new friends. Sunday afternoon at church I became friends with David, who teaches English in Japan but was visiting Korea for a weeklong vacation. After service we hung out for a couple of hours, and had a very enjoyable conversation over dinner at a restaurant in Myeongdong after church. Unfortunately we got ripped off at the restaurant with a sky-high bill (which doesn't usually happen), but we still enjoyed ourselves. Later that evening, I went to Pastor Bill's apartment for a low-key get-together with a few other folks from church. I took my guitar and a few of us shared songs with each other, some serious and some humorous. We also watched a video of the joint English worship service from Christmas Day (it was more like a concert actually) and a DVD of "A Charlie Brown Christmas." I don't watch much TV anymore, and I sometimes forget how much I like certain cartoons. I was laughing hysterically at the rehearsal scene involving Lucy and Snoopy. Everyone else was laughing at me laughing.

Then we watched the countdown on TV just before midnight. Normally at this time of year I'm at a get-together with friends in New York and we watch the countdown in Times Square on TV. It was interesting to be watching it here and hearing a screaming audience counting down in Korean.

Monday I went out to Suyu to visit Samuel (his English name), the music director for my church's 3 p.m. service, with whom I've recently become friends. It's been a long time since I've just relaxed, and I got to do just that at his house. I had a great time out there. A few people have asked me about my New Year's resolutions. I avoid resolutions that I can't keep. I prefer to set goals and make determinations. I guess these are like resolutions, but somehow they seem more attainable. They are many, but the ones I'll mention here are becoming a better teacher, improving my Korean, exercising more and updating this blog more often.