Mingling with Nature

Ahhh... another quarter done :) I love 90% of the material I've been studying, but I really do yearn for these slow days when I can sleep in, stretch out, and walk around our toasty apartment in my wooden shorts (Joo's aunt bought me a pair of Korean shorts that are made out of some wooden fiber that is incredibly comfortable!)

My courseload this past quarter was fun, but even better were the fine lot of professors I had (and just in case you're wondering, grades are already submitted and I don't think any of them have the blog address!!) I took Theory of Statistics with Dr. Lin, which was a challenging yet inspiring class; I think I finally found my mathematical niche. I loved Modern Algebra and Coding Theory, but found it hard to justify the long hours I spent on proofs, because the connections with life were rare and mostly based on my eccentric analogies (which I still do... and still enjoy of course!). Statistics is just as interesting, but almost every problem is situated in some real life context- when I walk around now, I find myself constantly estimating risk, reward, lifespans, distributions, etc.

Another fun course- mostly because of the professor- was qualitative research methods. John Hitchcock (shown below) uses both qualitative and quantitative methods in his research, which seems to be the most suitable path for me. Kind of like when I was in high school and decided to never get married because Jesus' take on singlehood was, "the one who can accept this, should accept it" (Matthew 19:12). In other words, the most powerful researcher is the one who can flexibly use whatever method is most directly suited for the question. Like I said. Eccentric analogies.

The foods Joo brings home from her culinary labs continue to be just as delicious as ever, but they are getting progressively more appealing aesthetically.

One of the highlights of this past quarter has been having Drew attend Ohio University. He lives about 45 minutes away from Athens, so our home has become his base camp here. This creates lots of opportunities for solid conversations as well as adventures in DIY home repair (he just bought a cabin in a woods and I'm still mostly clueless when it comes to such things). One recent project was a trip to the junkyard to discard the accumulating pile of stuff around our house- we found a little friend nesting just outside one of the windows...I assume it's a garter, but if anyone knows differently, let me know :)

Just as cute and slinky, but perhaps more rare was a creature (caterpillar, I assume?) we found while taking a hike in Hocking Hills Park... anyone know what this is?

Every now and then, Drew brings along Roxy. Without fail- she gravitates straight to the spiny Korean foot mat we have in the kitchen. Mom recently gave us a little chair matching our other porch chairs specifically for Roxy. She seems to like it although she feels no need to be limited to conventional sitting positions.

With a slightly reduced workload this quarter, Joo has had some extra time to become involved in what I'm studying. Occasionally, she reads one of my assigned papers and then discusses it with me which is a real treat. I recently heard a statistic about the high divorce rate among couples where one of them is studying in a doctoral program... I could see how this could happen since the work can be all-encompassing. However, with Joo being open to discussions on any topic, we have much less of that separation (not that our marriage would be in danger otherwise, but it is a pleasant bonus :)

Speaking of happy marriages, the newlyweds Heather and Bob are doing well. Bob's a welcome addition to the family (as I've mentioned frequently before), and Heather's happier than I've ever seen her before.

Heather and Bob came done awhile back so that we could spend some time together in Hocking Hills before all the leaves fell. I didn't plan on going with them because I had so much work to do, but eventually we worked a strategic way for me to focus on my readings on the trip to and from the park...

I'm glad I ended up going because the views were gorgeous.

Bob was a biology major for quite some time and so he provided us with lots of cool trivia along our walk.

Joo, on a random whim, acquired a short-lived but intense fascination with fungi on our hike and was amazed to see how many kinds there are that she had never noticed. But then again, maybe it's because she married a fun-guy? (lame, I know; my brain's a bit fried at this point).

Chris and Allison drove down to spend a night and catch up a bit. Joo gave us a lesson in rolling kim-bap (Korean sushi). As you can see, Chris was a better student than me (his rolls are on the left).

We also did some fire and suction therapy (that's two separate things thankfully, although I hear they do combine the two in China).

I think I'll save my reflective piece on the last few months for the next entry since I'm still a bit anxious to get ahead of my research schedule.

Daily life and my 15-year reunion

Joo has three main "worlds" outside the house this quarter: (1) She is a full-time student again in culinary school with classes like Garmeget, Baking, Personal Finance, and Accounting (2) She remains active in the Korean church by teaching Korean to the 4- and 5-year old kids and women's prayer group, and (3) She works one evening a week at Salaam (the Middle-eastern/Asian restaurant downtown).

Above is Joo making up some ginger tea mini-buckets for the women at church, and below is one of their fellowship and prayer meetings.

On my side of things, aside from leading the youth group on Sundays, I can basically be found sitting in strange positions as I highlight up articles related to math education, teacher education, or educational research methods.

I have to say, I love the discussion-rich atmosphere of several of my education classes. There's a fairly wide range of cultures represented in most of my classes also, which is rewarding for a xenophile like myself.

Although I'm taking my first full-on dive into the world of education, I do still have one class over in the mathematics department - statistics. Mathematically, I find it just as stimulating and interesting as Modern Algebra, but its myriad applications means that I will have an easier time tying in place-based education with statistics. Anyway, I plan to continue taking statistics courses the rest of the year and will hopefully find ways to tie it into my research and career beyond that.

In other news, I attended my first reunion ever - a 15-yr high school reunion. It's fun to think of how my anticipation for a class reunion has shifted over the years. The first few years after high school graduation, I rarely ever thought of my classmates because university was a much better fit for me in many respects. Two weeks into my first semester at EMU, I had already formed friendships that were much deeper than the connections I had made with my primary/secondary school classmates of 13 years. However, as the years passed, I became more nostalgic about that decade plus of memories, and I began to wonder what my old classmates were up to and how they had changed. I felt a personal desire to return and show them how I had matured socially (as I had been somewhat socially awkward in high school). Those ambitions died off four years ago when I married JooYeon (actually, in general, a lot of my need to impress others faded away once I had found someone I knew I would enjoy spending my life with). So, by the time this fall reunion finally rolled around, I decided to attend mostly out of psychological curiosity - "How much do people change throughout their formative twenties?"

Saturday night turned out to be quite fun with two of the class clowns taking over as MCs and narrating us through the past and present. There was a lot of alcohol there, and I had never gone to drinking parties in high school, so I saw a bit of a different side of some classmates in that sense. Outside of that though, I was amazed at how much both people and dynamics between people were the same as what they were 15-20 years ago. Is it simply that being in the same environment with each other naturally warped us back to who we were then? Or have most of us really not changed very much? I even found myself struggling with some of the same social insecurities that I had in high school (albeit to a much lesser degree since I was anchored by my current, stable life).

Which is not to say it was a negative experience; on the contrary, I found it fascinating. The great majority of my classmates have continued to live in rural areas and so I had the opportunity to put faces to stereotypical rural roles that I've been constantly reading about in my rural education studies. That sounds a bit odd, since I'm technically living in a rural area myself, but somehow Athens (or at least MY life in Athens) is so different from the rural areas that surround us that I don't necessarily feel like I play a significant role in a rural community like the smalltown grocery owner, or the farmer, or the postman, etc. In any case, it was a wonderful time of reflection on where I was 15 years ago, where I am now, and where I hope to go in the future. As Nathaniel would say, "Thundercats Ho!"

Remedies for Excessive Studying

Needless to stay, I've had my head buried in the books for the past couple months, but I did want to at least post a small entry here mentioning three potential remedies for studyitis. The top one is the one I've used by far the most (and no, this has nothing to do with corporal punishment). When Joo told her mom that my back and neck muscles were getting quite sore from studying in the same position too long, her mom had the perfect solution in the mail within a day - suction therapy cups. The concept is quite simple - you invert the cups on any area of your body where you want to increase the blood flow as shown below and then let them flip out and latch on.

Then, you let them suck for about 20 minutes, pop them off and voila!

It looks painful, but it's more of a strange sensation - like giving a piggy-back ride to a scared octopus who is clinging as tightly as he can. And I can't argue with the results; my back and neck tension has decreased to an imperceptible level over the past month or two. Another interesting thing is that the suction cups no longer leave much of a mark anymore (the above pictures were taken when my capillaries were naive and inexperienced).

Of course, I mentioned three remedies for studyitis and the second is, of course, quality family time :) Especially when one has parents like this...

With Heather and Bob living in Ohio for a year, we've set a goal to try to get the whole family together once a month if possible. One of our first meetings was a black raspberry cooking contest out at the Harris household.

Joo and I whipped up some sweet potatoes with black raspberry sauce (unpictured for some reason), Heather and Bob made a pie (also not pictured, but I do have the delicious veggie stromboli Heather made)...

...and the winner for the most creative dish was Mom with her creation of an ice bowl with herbs to keep the fruit cold.

And the third remedy for excessive studying is taking an occasional step back to reflect and catch my breath before diving back into my studies. So, that's why I wrote this quick blog entry :) Now, back to Paul Cobb and his ideas on how to cope with multiple theoretical perspectives in mathematical education research - ta ta!

Recognition for a Lifetime of Momliness

In addition to her 63 years' worth of biological mothering (33 for me, 30 for Heather), Mom has been a maternal figure at Green Hills for the past 34 years. While her real rewards have come through the relationships forged with patients and fellow staff members, this past week she was officially recognized at the 2011 Leading Age conference in Columbus for her lifetime of service.

Humble as always, it was a challenge to get her to pose for pictures or even admit that she truly deserved the award despite the fact that she has dedicated over half of her life to serving others at Green Hills.

Her recognition was sweetened when the artwork of her friend, Pat Zook, made it to the state level for a necklace that she dedicated to Mom. It was displayed in a gallery just outside the banquet hall.

We enjoyed a lovely meal, thanks to the kindness of the Green Hills administrators who had gotten special invitations for Heather, Bob, Joo, and me. The kind deed was rewarded when the Green Hills CEO, Mike Ray, won the $1,000 door prize!

Immediately following the meal, 13 awards were presented to people and facilities that had done something exceptional involving retirement homes in the state of Ohio. For example, one facility was awarded for a grassroots-level movement to sew thousands of stuffed animals for soldiers serving abroad. Another facility won an award for creating a program for dementia residents to express themselves through artwork that was then framed and displayed in an exhibit.

Mom was awarded the Caring Indirect Award which goes to "an outstanding indirect care professional with supervisory responsibility and who has demonstrated a commitment to the employer, service to older Ohioans, and who has engaged as a role model and mentor."

Mom was a bit overwhelmed by all the hugs, compliments, and photos that followed the ceremony, but was a good sport about taking it all in.



I was a bit slow on the draw, but I did manage to capture the second half of the short video that was made about Mom, so I've posted it here below.

I feel so fortunate to have such an incredible role model as a mother - thanks Mom!!! I love you!