Class Notes

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64

Eddie ’64 and Jim DeCamp ’67 returned to SFS with their families in September. Not only did they reminisce about their time at SFS, having spent their entire school years here, they managed to spot their aunt in a basketball picture dating back to 1925. It was an absolute treat to welcome them back and hear their stories. One of many special stories is that they were both part of the cohort who first moved to the Yeonhui-dong campus, back when it was a single story building and lots of gravel!

71

Brooks Frazier ’71 has published his second book, 4200 Days in Africa, a memoir that recounts his extraordinary childhood spent over 12 years in three African countries—Libya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. You can learn more about the book at www. brooksfrazier.com.

72

Siblings Jim Hawley ’72 and Margaret (Hawley) Chung ’76 returned to SFS in September for a walk around campus. Margaret, now a retired teacher, joined SFS as a Kindergartener, and her favorite teacher was Ms. Suttie in G2. Jim joined SFS as a 2nd grader and was on the soccer team. They both live in Canada.

75

Lori Reed (Basinger) ’75 and Lillian Prince ’77 came back to campus to revisit their old high school, only to be greeted by new buildings. They were surprised by how much the campus had changed but felt the same familiar energy from the students, who seemed just as engaged as they remembered. Their favorite new spot is the Art Room on the 4th floor of the High School building, with its natural light and stunning 180-degree view of the Seoul landscape. During their trip to Korea, they also visited Daecheon Beach, reminiscing about their visits there with SFS. Lori, who now lives in Iowa, recalled living near campus when her family was in Seoul. All five Basinger siblings attended SFS, with her brother Brian graduating in 1976 and her sister Denise in 1978. Lillian, now retired, lives in Texas, where she earned both an MBA and an MA in Communications during graduate school.

76

Glenn McGhee ’76, along with his wife Sherrie, returned to SFS, where everything seemed both different yet familiar and comforting. He fondly recalled playing soccer on the dirt field and chasing after the ball when it was kicked off, worried they might never get it back if it went over the hill. Glenn was named the soccer team’s MVP in 1976. Since 1993, he and Sherrie have lived in Ecuador, serving as missionaries with the Baptist Bible Fellowship. For the past five years, they have been working in the jungle of Ecuador, building a retreat center for their church. They have three children (in Missouri and Tennessee) and four grandchildren.

80~84Long time friends having dinner in Seoul this summer.

From left to right: Jimmy Rhee ’80, June Milliken ’81, Jennie Purvis ’83, Sam Lim ’83, David Park ’84, and Jay Theis ’80

81Sisters Rose Byrd Gifford ’81 and June Byrd ’81 reminisced about their school and home as they walked around the campus in September. It was Rose’s first time back in Seoul in more than 25 years. Rose lives in Colorado, and June lives in Seoul.

82Georg Breidenstein ’82 and his wife visited SFS in September, marking his first trip back to Seoul since he left in the early ’70s. He attended SFS for first grade in 1970-1971, during which time his family served as German missionaries. His memories of SFS mainly revolve around the elementary school and the back gate leading to Yonsei University. Despite the long absence, he is delighted to return and witness the many changes on campus. He is currently a professor at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg in Germany.

90

Bruce Richter ’90 hadn’t been on campus since 1991, when he visited his parents while he was in college. At the time, his father was the Elementary School Principal and his mother was the High School Guidance Counselor. Returning after more than 30 years, Bruce was excited to see how much had changed. The soccer pitch, once just a dirt field where he used to play in the mud on rainy days, is now a healthy turf. He was also thrilled to finally see the swimming pool—something promised during his time as a student but that didn’t open until after he graduated. The gym, which he still calls the "new" gym, felt like a time capsule. He reminisced about all the time he spent there as both a basketball and volleyball player. In fact, Bruce was on the first men’s volleyball team in 1989. Before volleyball, he ran cross country. Drama was another big part of his SFS experience. He was in several plays directed by Edie Moon. However, he humorously admitted that he was too intimidated to take Jack Moon’s biology class, opting for chemistry instead. Bruce now lives in North Carolina with his wife, Angie, who is visiting Korea for the first time. Determined to give her the full SFS experience, Bruce insisted they walk up the infamous hill to campus—but found it wasn’t nearly as long or as steep as he remembered it from over 30 years ago. 91~92mini-reunion!

Wittig ’91, and Ralf Wittig ’92 reunited in Los Angeles, where Malin and Ralf recently moved. The group had a fantastic time attending Celebrity Jeopardy tapings as Ken’s guests on October 20, 2024. What a memorable day with friends and fun!

93

Larry Park ’93, our gracious host for the Los Angeles mini-reunions, is still proudly serving as a Police Sergeant with the LAPD. He is the Officer In Charge of radio communications and police technology, keeping the force connected and up-to-date.

95 visited SFS during their trip to Seoul. Louise had lived in Seoul from 1990 to 1994 and attended SFS from 8th to 11th grade before returning to Geelong, Australia, to finish high school. She has been with Spencer Travel for 22 years, where she met Dale while working in the travel industry. They married in 2022 and now live in Sydney, Australia, where they share a love for travel.

97

Yoon Ha Lee ’97. After years away from music, Yoon Ha began an M.A. in Professional Media Composition (focused on film, TV, and game scoring) through ThinkSpace Education, accredited by Arts University Bournemouth. He is deeply grateful for the patience and guidance his SFS teachers provided during what he considers his messy teenage years. He’s never forgotten how Mr. Raatz taught him to trust his ear, Ms. Preuss’s direction in the orchestra, or how Mr. Huyge allowed him to sit in and listen to the band. Featured in this photo are Yoon Ha and his daughter, who is now in college. Yoon Ha is married to his college sweetheart, and they live in Louisiana.

99During a business trip to Seoul, Jenny Kwon ’99 made an impromptu visit to SFS. It had been 30 years since she last stepped on campus, and she was struck by how beautiful it had become. Walking through the hallways of the Middle School building brought a wave of nostalgia, as she remembered her math and science classes with Dr. Cook and the many conversations she had with friends while sitting on the wooden bench. Jenny now lives in San Francisco and works as legal counsel for the University of California College of the Law, San Francisco.

00

Louise Vesterby ’00 visited SFS on July 9, 2024, with her husband, Jon, and their two children, Asbjoern and Thea. Louise attended SFS from 1986 to 1988, and she reminisced about her time as a kindergarten student while walking through the Elementary School hallways and classrooms. Currently living in Denmark, their visit to Korea was part of a months-long educational and experiential trip around Asia.

06

Martin You ’06, returned to campus for the first time since graduating, accompanied by his wife, Zoe, and their daughter, Bella. He works in cancer diagnostics in the biotech industry and lives in San Diego, California.

Will Lee ’06, returned to Korea this summer and visited campus for the first time in almost 10 years. Will has been teaching middle school science in a New York City public school for 10 years and serves as the advisor for the robotics team. As a student at SFS, he participated in many different activities, including student council, swimming, and music—his numerous appearances in the yearbook say it all! He values the work ethic he developed during his time at SFS, as well as the lessons about belonging and community, which are central to his work as an educator.

09

Kate Mahler ’09 currently lives in Australia with her husband, Kyle, and is expecting a boy in February 2025. She attended SFS from 2002 to 2005, moving to Singapore after completing 8th grade. It was fun to go through the Middle School yearbook, which she created during her time as a student here!

Jimin Lee ’09 began her school journey at SFS as an elementary student before moving back to Northern California for 11th grade. During a recent visit to campus with her parents, they spoke fondly of their 12 years here. Jimin spotted familiar faces in the photos lining the halls, while her mother reminisced about setting up for the International Fair, and her father recalled the many conversations he shared with Dr. Linton. Now living in San Francisco, Jimin works as a pharmacist at UCSF, but the memories of her SFS days remain vivid.

10

Clayton Baker ’10 and Ben Erny (SFS faculty 2016-2018) were part of the coaching staff for Concordia International School Shanghai during the Super APAC Boys Volleyball tournament, hosted by SFS on October 17-19, 2024. Clayton was a star athlete during his time at SFS and currently holds the school record for Boys Volleyball with 756 career kills and 387 single-season kills. Pictured with Clayton and Ben is Paul Rader ’04.

14

Ysbrand H. Lamers ’14 returned to campus, excited to give his partner, Dahran Çoban, a tour of the British School where he attended from 2001 to 2004. As they walked through the familiar hallways, he shared fond memories of racing down them as a student and had fun flipping through old yearbooks, spotting photos of himself and his sister. After leaving SFS, Ysbrand’s journey took him to Japan and then China, where he completed his IB Diploma. He studied law at Leiden University in the Netherlands, where he met Dahran. He currently lives in Germany but plans to move back to the Netherlands soon.

16

Omer Argamon ’16 attended the British School from 2009 to 2012, completing Year 9 before moving away. Reflecting on his recent visit to the school, he described it as a long-overdue return and a true trip down memory lane. Omer now lives in Tel Aviv, Israel.

18

Ilona Rodriguez Reed ’18 was filled with joy as she toured the SFS campus with her friends. Although she didn’t get the chance to study in the new high school building, she fondly recalled painting the walls of the old one before it was torn down. After graduating from SFS, Ilona went on to study Drama and History at Brock University in Canada. During her visit, she was thrilled to reconnect with Mr. Elish, expressing gratitude for his patience during her rebellious teen years.

21

Hojae Lim ’21 completed his BSc in Physics with Theoretical Physics (Hons) at the University of Manchester and began an MPhil program in Scientific Computing and Atomistic Modelling at the University of Cambridge this fall. Before leaving Manchester, he was awarded the ’Best Experiments’ prize by the Physics department, the sole recipient from his graduating class.

Annette Hong ’21 was excited to reconnect with her former teachers and reflect on her time as a high school student at SFS during her recent visit to campus. As an active member of STUCO, she was a student leader during her years here. Annette is now studying Economics at UC Irvine.

23

Yale University! Janice, who is majoring in Biomedical Engineering, is on the pre-med track and has started volunteering in the Yale New Haven Hospital. Kate, who is majoring in Cognitive Science and English, has recently joined an on-campus lab where she studies computational cognition and works on the board of the Yale Literary Magazine.

JJ (Jungjin) Kim ’23 spoke to the High School Discipleship+ group about what it means to be an ambassador for God, just before his upcoming enlistment in the Korean military. During his time at SFS, JJ was an active member of the Vida Nueva community and served as a Student Rector in his senior year. After completing his first year at Northwestern University, he has taken a leave of absence to fulfill his military service.

24

Cho ’24 started his undergraduate degree in Environmental Science and Computer Science at Duke University. He is currently working as a sports and news photographer for the Duke school newspaper

The Chronicle and as a staff photographer at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens. Ethan is also working as a research assistant at the Duke Donohue Lab for a project investigating how seed dormancy influences adaptation to different seasonal environments in order to extrapolate how climate change impacts seed biology. He is excited to take advantage of all the amazing opportunities relating to environmental science, computer science, and marine biology at Duke!

Yunjeong Choi ’24 is currently in the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) program at King’s College London. YJ took part in interviewing and asking questions to a past UK ambassador to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at an event hosted by the Foreign Policy and Security Committee at King’s College London. It was a great opportunity for YJ to learn more about the political structure of North Korea and the ambassador’s experience during his time in the country. It was especially meaningful to YJ as she is South Korean, and has always been interested in North Korean politics, as well as how ambassadors work in the climate.

Amelie Rosenberger ’24, currently a firstyear student at the University of Amsterdam, conducted an interview with a licensed psychologist and shared her findings. She created interview guides focused on exploring different career paths across several psychology specializations, including clinical, experimental, and developmental psychology. Amelie interviewed a psychologist who specializes in conflict mediation, assists individuals in resolving conflicts, and teaches lawyers about the communicative and ethical aspects of the legal profession. Amelie is loving university life so far!

26Jenny Wang ’26, a British School alumna, revisited the SFS campus on July 30, 2024. While exploring, she recognized herself in several photos, including one highlighting the arts program. She ended her visit by enjoying some time on the swings in the British School Playground. She is now in her junior year in Beijing with aspirations for a career in Chinese politics.