Pop Chinn Stew. That's what Ken called his circumstantial evidence case he tried in 1983 as a young Deputy DA. I listened as he painted a wonderful word picture of his father putting together various ingredients to make a delicious pot of stew. It's been 30 years but that image of his father making the stew hasn't left my mind. In honor of Ken's dad, Vernon Chinn, we want to make some Chinn Stew of our own. Stop by from time to time and enjoy some Chinn Stew as we share some of our family happenings.

Monday, November 11, 2013

It's All About the Relationships!



It’s all about the relationships.  Even when it comes to the apples.  

We have an apple guy that comes to the campus every week.  He has a large apple orchard and my suspicion is that he makes a pretty good living from it.  Yet, every week, he drives an hour each way to sell apples to Handong students at 3 or 4 apples for a dollar.  By Korean standard, this is almost free.  He does this because he knows the students have very little money. 

His two sons graduated from Handong in 1996 and 1997.  There was no campus store then.  Nor the new road.  It took twice as long to get to town to pick up any food.  So he brought the apples onto the campus in order for the students to have some apples to snack on while they studied.  It's been over 15 years since his younger son graduated from Handong.  Yet, he still comes because he wants to give something back to the school.  He wants the students to be able to have some fresh apples.  It’s not about making a few dollars.  It’s about the students.  It's about giving back to the school that trained his two sons to obtain jobs at two top companies in the country.  

So when he said we could come visit his apple orchard on a field trip, we jumped at the chance.  All 50 plus of us.  They fed us.  They taught us how to spot the apples ready for pickin'.  They let us watch the apples being sorted by weight.  When it was time to go, we all lined up to buy the apples we picked to take home to eat, to bake, to make apple sauce, and to dry them for snacks.  
Sweet, crispy and wonderful apples!

For us, it wasn’t only about the apples.  It was about the new relationship we were developing with the “apple man.” 

Since I didn't do very well taking pictures, please visit my new favorite blog to view some fun pics.

Susan