Where have the Wendling's been? Hiding? Running for cover? (Just like Mia is demonstrating above.) It has been a while since they have posted anything on their blog.
To be honest, they have been busy with school and life in Korea. The last days of October marked the end of 1st Quarter and with that came marks, parent-teacher conferences, (not interviews because you are not asking the parents for a job or interviewing them to help in your classroom), and the end of various sports seasons at GSIS.
This past fall Matteya and Kyara have been playing elementary soccer. Justine played Middle School Soccer and was coached by Rosanne. While Kevin, with Rosanne's help, coached Boys' Varsity Volleyball. (Again, Rosanne has not changed...and it is even tougher to find Ritalin in Korea then in Canada - but there is lots of Diet Coke here to keep her going.)
For elementary soccer Matteya and Kyara practiced for 4 - 6 weeks before playing in two tournaments - or Jamborees. Jamborees are about having fun - as you can see in the pictures. Scores are kept and then forgotten and all players get a participation certificate in the end. The girls enjoyed playing soccer with their friends and representing GSIS.
Soccer is Korea's national sport and many students played for GSIS. The girls played either defence or goalie during the jamborees which happened in Taejon at TCIS and here in Suwon at GSIS.
Justine played Middle School soccer. Being in Grade 6, Justine had to play against boys and girls in Grade 7 and 8 as well as other 6th graders. Justine played in 4 different Jamborees which took place in various International schools in Korea. She even scored during her last game - with thanks to James for the beautiful pass - leave it to a fellow Canadian to help her out.
Rosanne was also involved with the Middle School soccer as she coached two teams and traveled to 3 Jamborees. Again, the goal of the Jamborees is not to win, but to play and have fun with your classmates and people from other schools.
To watch the students at these tournaments was to truly see International schools at their best. There were students from all over the world, as seen by the students and heard by the languages they spoke. Yet, kids are kids, and they played and most of all had fun.
Besides being a soccer player this term, Justine, seen above, was involved with the Middle School choir. In October, Justine and many other students at GSIS performed in the Fall Concert. Pictured below is Jason - who is in one of Kevin's Geometry classes - who can play at least three or four musical instruments. 
In the picture above, Jason is accompanying Elizabeth who is playing a traditional Korean string instrument. During this evening the String Band, HS Band, MS Band and HS/MS Orchestra all played and represented GSIS well. Neither Rosanne nor Kevin has ever seen a band come close to what this group of students can do - in Korea music is truly a priority for their children.
Justine also sang with the choir and will be singing again at the Christmas concert as she has been asked to sing, 'When Christmas Come to Town'.
Finally, after a number of years Kevin - assisted by Rosanne (this was a first) -decided to return to coaching volleyball. Last year the GSIS volleyball team did not win a game and by their own admission was not very good. The volleyball season for GSIS consists of a regular season and a final tournament. The GSIS team had only Grade 9 and 10 students while the other teams had students from Grade 9 to 12.After seeing the hand he had been dealt Kevin realized that this team had a lot of potential and set two simple goals for the boys:
1. Play volleyball properly - bump, set and spike
2. Make the Finals of the year end tournament.
The boys went 5 - 6 for the season - not bad.
Then at the year end tournament they caught fire - they won their first game and then lost to the first place team - who to that point was undefeated. Then the boys won three straight games in order to advance to the finals of the tournament.
The they beat Centennial Christian School in 5 games in the finals. However, the tournament was double knock out - so in order to win they needed a second victory - but they couldn't do it. With a short bench due to injury and a death in a team member's family - the boys could not win a 5th game during their 7th hour of playing volleyball.
So in the end the boys got second place - not bad for being last the previous year. In all of his years of coaching, Kevin has never had an experience like this in sports. These boys worked hard - learned how to play volleyball and grew up as athletes in a very short period of time. Both Rosanne and Kevin are very proud of GSIS Varsity Boys' Volleyball Knights.
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