Sometimes I feel like a toddler boy...I just can't help but be fascinated by all of these big trucks and equipmenty things!
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
생일 축하합니다!
Yesterday was my birthday. I didn't have any official plans, but it turned out to be an awesome day regardless.
I don't go to the church I used to go to anymore. Instead I now attend the church I used to cycle to to dance on Tuesday nights. It takes about forty minutes to get there by bicycle, but I really like it a lot.
When I was in Korea before, I attended a Baptist church that was against dancing even as a form of worship. After a while I was starting to go crazy because I needed to worship God with more than just words. But at the time I felt like I should keep attending the Baptist church, and my schedule at work was really packed, so I didn't have a lot of time to go to weekday meetings. So I prayed that there'd be some sort of meeting I could go to during the week to recharge and feel the presence of the Lord, and it just happened to come up in a conversation with one of my Korean co-workers that I was looking for something like this. And she told me about this church I go to now, because her mother had attended there one time. Sure enough, they had a meeting on Tuesdays that went from 9:00 a.m. to 12 midnight, so I could go after work when I felt up to it and still make it.
The first time I went I just showed up. The people there don't speak much English, and my Korean is atrocious. But when I got there I saw there was a section roped off, and it said, in English, "Worship Area," and nobody was using it. So I danced.
And they invited me to keep on coming back. Another time the pastor there gave me a bottle of oil. Sometimes a Korean woman would play the piano and sing Misty Edwards-style, and sometimes they would pipe music in from the International House of Prayer.
So when I came back to Korea this time I began attending this church. This past Sunday was only my third Sunday there, but they celebrated my birthday like all get-out. In Korean churches there's almost always a big meal after the service, and they had spaghetti on Sunday because it was my birthday and I like spaghetti. And a bunch of the girls in the youth group there gave me presents. They led me to a room with the lights out and brought me a chocolate cake with a lit candle and sang happy birthday to me in English - except for the middle part, because they didn't know the words. I can't fault them for that, though - I don't know that part in Korean, either. They gave me pens and notebooks and whiteout and a cookie and the cake. And one girl gave me a bracelet she'd gotten at IHOP in America. And one guy gave me a worship CD in English from IHOP. And one of the girls' fathers gave me a can of juice. And the pastor gave me four books in English (!).
It was really nice. It really made my day.
Afterwards I spent some time with my friend (the one I went to Saemangeum with) and we watched Oz the Great and Powerful. It wasn't as good as I expected, and after working in a movie theater every weekend last year, I have to say I'm much more easily disappointed by movies, screens, and theater sizes than I ever was before. Oh well... It was still a lot of fun, though. Then we went to Popeyes together, which is cool, because when I first came to Korea in 2011 she took me there for my first meal. I became a regular there the last time I was here, and I always got the same thing. I would always take the pickles off, and one day I noticed that they'd made my sandwich without pickles. I never said anything, but the guy who runs the place must have noticed. So I was eager to see if he remembered that about me after all these months that I've been gone, and sure enough, there were no pickles on my sandwich on my birthday. It was excellent.
It's really good being back. Some of the shopkeepers at places I always regularly went have commented to me that it's been a while. And my Korean's better now than it has ever been, so I can say more than just "hello" and "thank you." I'm really enjoying being here and looking forward to staying here a while.
Anyway. This is a long and rambly post. But I had a good birthday and I thought that I should mention that.
I got Internet in my apartment this afternoon but I still don't have phone service, and all my pictures are on my phone. So I apologize for the long, wordy posts without anything exciting to look at. I've also been busy (two kindergartens does that to you), which is why I haven't posted anything in two weeks even though all kinds of post-worthy events have happened. Hopefully once I get my phone service up and running I'll be better at updating you with more exciting posts and pictures!
I don't go to the church I used to go to anymore. Instead I now attend the church I used to cycle to to dance on Tuesday nights. It takes about forty minutes to get there by bicycle, but I really like it a lot.
When I was in Korea before, I attended a Baptist church that was against dancing even as a form of worship. After a while I was starting to go crazy because I needed to worship God with more than just words. But at the time I felt like I should keep attending the Baptist church, and my schedule at work was really packed, so I didn't have a lot of time to go to weekday meetings. So I prayed that there'd be some sort of meeting I could go to during the week to recharge and feel the presence of the Lord, and it just happened to come up in a conversation with one of my Korean co-workers that I was looking for something like this. And she told me about this church I go to now, because her mother had attended there one time. Sure enough, they had a meeting on Tuesdays that went from 9:00 a.m. to 12 midnight, so I could go after work when I felt up to it and still make it.
The first time I went I just showed up. The people there don't speak much English, and my Korean is atrocious. But when I got there I saw there was a section roped off, and it said, in English, "Worship Area," and nobody was using it. So I danced.
And they invited me to keep on coming back. Another time the pastor there gave me a bottle of oil. Sometimes a Korean woman would play the piano and sing Misty Edwards-style, and sometimes they would pipe music in from the International House of Prayer.
So when I came back to Korea this time I began attending this church. This past Sunday was only my third Sunday there, but they celebrated my birthday like all get-out. In Korean churches there's almost always a big meal after the service, and they had spaghetti on Sunday because it was my birthday and I like spaghetti. And a bunch of the girls in the youth group there gave me presents. They led me to a room with the lights out and brought me a chocolate cake with a lit candle and sang happy birthday to me in English - except for the middle part, because they didn't know the words. I can't fault them for that, though - I don't know that part in Korean, either. They gave me pens and notebooks and whiteout and a cookie and the cake. And one girl gave me a bracelet she'd gotten at IHOP in America. And one guy gave me a worship CD in English from IHOP. And one of the girls' fathers gave me a can of juice. And the pastor gave me four books in English (!).
It was really nice. It really made my day.
Afterwards I spent some time with my friend (the one I went to Saemangeum with) and we watched Oz the Great and Powerful. It wasn't as good as I expected, and after working in a movie theater every weekend last year, I have to say I'm much more easily disappointed by movies, screens, and theater sizes than I ever was before. Oh well... It was still a lot of fun, though. Then we went to Popeyes together, which is cool, because when I first came to Korea in 2011 she took me there for my first meal. I became a regular there the last time I was here, and I always got the same thing. I would always take the pickles off, and one day I noticed that they'd made my sandwich without pickles. I never said anything, but the guy who runs the place must have noticed. So I was eager to see if he remembered that about me after all these months that I've been gone, and sure enough, there were no pickles on my sandwich on my birthday. It was excellent.
It's really good being back. Some of the shopkeepers at places I always regularly went have commented to me that it's been a while. And my Korean's better now than it has ever been, so I can say more than just "hello" and "thank you." I'm really enjoying being here and looking forward to staying here a while.
Anyway. This is a long and rambly post. But I had a good birthday and I thought that I should mention that.
I got Internet in my apartment this afternoon but I still don't have phone service, and all my pictures are on my phone. So I apologize for the long, wordy posts without anything exciting to look at. I've also been busy (two kindergartens does that to you), which is why I haven't posted anything in two weeks even though all kinds of post-worthy events have happened. Hopefully once I get my phone service up and running I'll be better at updating you with more exciting posts and pictures!
Cycling to Saemangeum: A First (and Incomplete) Attempt
The day after our excursion to Saemangeum, I decided to trek out in that direction on my bicycle. If I had left earlier (I left at maybe 2 p.m. or so) and if it hadn't been lethally cold out with face-numbing wind gusts, I very likely could have made it at least to the beginning of the seawall. With the conditions as they were, though - and with my decision to make sure that I was back and not out in remote and freezing areas after the sun had disappeared - I only made it part of the way. It was pretty far, actually, considering that I went by bicycle. I can't wait until the weather warms up for real. Once the strangling humidity of summer hits that seaspray on the seawall would really feel amazing. And now that I know Gyeokpo is full of motels, a cycling trip across the whole wall isn't totally out of the question.
Saemangeum
March 1st is Independence Movement Day in Korea, so we had a three-day weekend. On Friday I went with my friend, her husband, and their daughter to Saemangeum, the longest seawall in the world. They have a car, so we actually drove the length of it and ended up visiting a really picturesque area on the southern coast that we found out was Gyeokpo. It was so beautiful. We stopped several times on the seawall to stop and look at the waves crashing in from the Yellow Sea, but the wind was insane and the water - which did splash us quite a bit - was very cold. Of course, my phone's battery was low, so I couldn't take any pictures! What a shame! We saw some marvelous views from the cliffs of Gyeokpo and just in general the sea has always been amazing for me personally.
I always wanted to live by the sea, and now I did. Even when I studied abroad in Senegal, I loved Saint-Louis more than Dakar because the time we spent in Saint-Louis was so much closer to the water than where I lived in Dakar. The sea always has a strange effect on me - it's both beautiful and terrible, mortifying and yet mesmerizing. I'm notorious for just stopping and staring at the waves for long periods of time whenever I get too close to the pull of the sea - like it has some sort of invisible force that draws me in and compels me to be fascinated by it.
I tend to think that one of the things I love about the sea is that it's such a good (albeit small in comparison) parallel to God: so beautiful you can't look away, but so powerful you can't help but feel fragile and small.
Anyway. My friend said she'd e-mail me the pictures that she took, since her phone was fully charged, but she hasn't yet. Maybe at some point I can post them here. It was an awesome time.
I always wanted to live by the sea, and now I did. Even when I studied abroad in Senegal, I loved Saint-Louis more than Dakar because the time we spent in Saint-Louis was so much closer to the water than where I lived in Dakar. The sea always has a strange effect on me - it's both beautiful and terrible, mortifying and yet mesmerizing. I'm notorious for just stopping and staring at the waves for long periods of time whenever I get too close to the pull of the sea - like it has some sort of invisible force that draws me in and compels me to be fascinated by it.
I tend to think that one of the things I love about the sea is that it's such a good (albeit small in comparison) parallel to God: so beautiful you can't look away, but so powerful you can't help but feel fragile and small.
Anyway. My friend said she'd e-mail me the pictures that she took, since her phone was fully charged, but she hasn't yet. Maybe at some point I can post them here. It was an awesome time.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Spring Is in the Air
Today the weather was amazing. After work my co-worker was kind enough to invite me out to dinner and then treat me at a porridge shop, and after that I took advantage of the warmer weather to go bike riding. I hadn't been downtown yet since my return, so I rode downtown and then kept going. It was just so beautiful outside and riding my bike was so enjoyable I didn't want to come back yet. I rode and rode and then the air began to feel moist and I could smell water. It actually smelled sweet and reminded me of Saint-Louis in Senegal. I rode across the train tracks (where do they come from? Where do they go? Still a mystery to me...one of these days I'll have to follow them) and a bridge.
I was thoroughly enjoying not knowing where I was, riding through the sweet scent of water, basking in the warm spring breeze, when suddenly I came upon an intersection that I recognized, one I ride through on my way to the church where I can dance. (The church is about forty minutes from my place by bike, so I knew I was far, but not as far as I'd imagined.) I'll admit I was quite disappointed when I suddenly knew exactly how I could get back. So I didn't come back right away, but rode around some more, then finally came back.
All in all it was a pleasant trip and really satisfied my craving for adventure on my bike. I rode for about an hour and a half to an hour and forty-five minutes and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Ah, how I missed my trusty bicycle...
One of the nice things about Gunsan is that I really don't have many qualms about going out exploring. I've ridden around so much by now that I never really get too lost. I may be unable to find a particular place, or I may not know where I am for a while, but ultimately all roads take me somewhere that I'll recognize eventually. So I cycle with abandon, all day and all night, because I know I'll always end up right where I belong: here, at home, in Gunsan, South Korea.
I was thoroughly enjoying not knowing where I was, riding through the sweet scent of water, basking in the warm spring breeze, when suddenly I came upon an intersection that I recognized, one I ride through on my way to the church where I can dance. (The church is about forty minutes from my place by bike, so I knew I was far, but not as far as I'd imagined.) I'll admit I was quite disappointed when I suddenly knew exactly how I could get back. So I didn't come back right away, but rode around some more, then finally came back.
All in all it was a pleasant trip and really satisfied my craving for adventure on my bike. I rode for about an hour and a half to an hour and forty-five minutes and it was thoroughly enjoyable. Ah, how I missed my trusty bicycle...
One of the nice things about Gunsan is that I really don't have many qualms about going out exploring. I've ridden around so much by now that I never really get too lost. I may be unable to find a particular place, or I may not know where I am for a while, but ultimately all roads take me somewhere that I'll recognize eventually. So I cycle with abandon, all day and all night, because I know I'll always end up right where I belong: here, at home, in Gunsan, South Korea.
On Biting Off More Than One Can Chew
Today we had galbi for lunch at work. The kindergarteners graduated on Monday, so this week has been free of wee'uns in the mornings. We've been stripping and redecorating all the classrooms and have enjoyed delicious homemade lunches together (we usually eat with our kindergarteners).
The galbi was delicious. Unfortunately, it was still attached to the bone in many pieces. I tried to chew carefully until I could determine the presence of a bone in my meat or not, but in one bite I had a very small piece of bone, so I thought there were no bones but found out the hard way (oh, was that a pun?) I was wrong.
Then, while trying to find it to remove it, I accidentally bit down on it again. I think I did some damage to my tooth, because all afternoon and evening it's been hurting when I drink water or chew on that side.
I should have my health insurance soon enough. I don't think it really covers dental, but around the same time I get health insurance I should also get paid. So I'm thinking a trip to the dentist is in order...
The galbi was delicious. Unfortunately, it was still attached to the bone in many pieces. I tried to chew carefully until I could determine the presence of a bone in my meat or not, but in one bite I had a very small piece of bone, so I thought there were no bones but found out the hard way (oh, was that a pun?) I was wrong.
Then, while trying to find it to remove it, I accidentally bit down on it again. I think I did some damage to my tooth, because all afternoon and evening it's been hurting when I drink water or chew on that side.
I should have my health insurance soon enough. I don't think it really covers dental, but around the same time I get health insurance I should also get paid. So I'm thinking a trip to the dentist is in order...
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