Pictures (Story is under the title: Over the Weekend)

Lotte World

So yesterday, Don's roommate James, who works for the local Christian Broadcast (CBS), gave Don free tickets to one of his concerts. Don invited me to go. The concert was at the local Amusement park, Lotte World, that looks alot like an indoor disneyland. Don and I got their a little early so we could eat before the show started. We even had enough time to ride one of the water rides before the concert started. The concert was nice. They had about 8-10 popular Korean pop stars perform and even though I only understood a couple of words here and there it was still pretty entertaining.
Last week, I was my first day actually teaching at the daycare and it went very well. It's intimidating enough to have to teach, but to have to teach twenty five kids at a time that doesn't speak your language is very scary. Fortunately it went well. The director was very surprised that the kids interacted with me so well. He said, "we took them to a African heritage museum once and they were very scared of everyone who worked there, but they were very comfortable with you surprisingly."
I try to make sure that I always make every experience in life a learning exerience. Here are some of the things that I've learned here in Korea. Ironically, a lot of it has nothing to do with me being half way around the world. First, I have learned a lot about Korean history. Even though I've learned a lot about the culture too, history has always been my favorite subject so the history aspect just registers more with me. Second, I've learned alot about the Middle East and it's history. Taking Don's New Testament Backgrounds class has not only enlightened me on the history of Israel, but it has also sparked my curiosity and has caused me to do some extra learning outside of class. From the foundational things that I have learned, hearing what the news say about the Middle East just makes more sense now. Not only that, but when I read the bible and I compare things like Jerusalem back then to what it is now is fascinating. Lastly, Dr. Moon's practicum has taught me a lot about ministry as a whole. I think the reason I enjoy his class is because it is full of practical stuff that is vital to a successful ministry and not just a lot of scholarly writings that I probably will never reflect on. His class really compliments my views on Chrstian education. I didn't double major in ministry to memorize a lot of dates and facts. I did it to understand the big picture. I could always look up dates and facts as I go along. How things relate to each other is my bigger concern. And I'm definitely learning that.

Over the Weekend

So Friday, one of the guys in my dorm took me and a couple of his friends to his home town for the weekend. He lived in a small town about two hours away from Seoul called Chuncheon. He had been describing his town to me for the last couple of weeks and he would always use adjectives like "small, clean, rural, and even quiet." One thing I forgot to consider was he was comparing it to Seoul. On an American scale it was none of the above. Saturday morning two people from his church had a wedding and we were able to make it to both of them. It was really neat. In many ways it was much like an American wedding, but it was also different in many aspects also. John, the guy who invited me, conveniently forgot to tell me that we were going to a wedding so I had to borrow one of his dad's suits for the day. One of the things that I thought was pretty funny is that they played the Pomp and Circumstance as well as The Bridal Chorus. I wasn't sure if it was a wedding or graduation. In Korea, most weddings are taken place in wedding halls that are especially made for weddings. Very few Koreans get married in churches, but this trend is actually starting to change with the younger generation. The neat thing about these wedding halls is that since they're built for that particular purpose it makes the wedding that much more exciting. When we first walked in, I saw this room that had an opening and people were crowded all around it taking pictures. As I got closer I noticed that it was the room where the bride and her bride's maids were standing. No one was able to go in the room, but everybody was able to walk by and take pictures before the wedding. It was the neatest thing because other than the opening where people came to take pictures, on the side there was this huge door that opened up to the sanctuary. So basically, the bride would stay there and let people take pictures of her until it was time for her to walk down the aisle. On the other side of the door there were ushers, or more like bodyguards who stood post at the door until the exact time for her to walk down the aisle.
After the wedding started, it kind of got crazy. As the bride walked down the aisle, lights started flashing, the floor started lighting up, and fog started coming out of the floor. I never been to a Vegas elopement, but in my mind that's exactly how it would look. At the end of the ceremony, I was able to take part. Since my friend was one of the singers in the wedding, they gave him these "poppers" to pop as the bride and groom came down the aisle. He gave one to me and showed me how to use it. It was neat.

It's Been A While

Wow, it’s been a really long time since I last posted and honestly I don’t have a good reason why. It’s probably because things have slowed down around here and living in Korea is starting to seem more like a lifestyle rather than an experience. I guess that’s a good thing since learning the lifestyle is what I came here for. These last couple of weeks have been very interesting. I’m getting to a point to where I know a lot people around campus and around the neighborhood.
Last weekend I was able to attend the Passion World Tour. Louie Giglio, Francis Chan, David Crowder Band, Matt Redman, and Chris Tomlin made their way to Seoul for a weekend conference. While I was standing in line to receive my ticket, I met a Korean American from New York City who attended Yongsei University. Yongsei is one of the two biggest and most prestigious universities in Seoul. After talking for a while, he told me he was standing in line to get the tickets for his whole group. He was part of a campus ministry that met at the campus on Tuesdays. It’s called the Yongsei International Christian Fellowship. This group is open to anyone, but Korean Americans who decided to come to Korea, either for college or as an exchange student, made up the majority of them. Since I was there alone he invited me to meet the group and sit with them in the concert. Most of these students were either from Seattle, Southern California, or New York. It was probably the biggest group of Americans that I’ve been able to interact with for a long time. This past Tuesday I went to Yongsei University to worship with the group and we went out to eat afterwards. I’m thinking I’ll probably be spending a lot of Tuesday nights with these guys.
Now that things are slowing down a little, life kind of has a routine to it. I thought I would run through it quickly.
Sunday: I usually hitch a ride with Don Kinder, one of the American professors here, and James, his roommate, to Hanmee Church of Christ. Church usually lasts from 11-12, then we eat lunch at the church from 12-1, and we have bible class that lasts from 1-2. Since most churches in Korea, especially ones that are catered to English speakers are later in the evening it gives me the opportunity to worship with other churches in the city also. After worship, I usually spend the rest of the day lounging around in my dorm.
Monday: I have my Korean Culture and History class at one o’clock with Dr. Park. Dr. Park is a Korean who has a doctorate from Harding Grad. She teaches English, but the school chose her to teach me culture and history. A couple weeks ago, Dr. Park directed me to a website that had at least a hundred essays written by Korean professors in English. She told me to pick about 7 essays that I found interesting and I was to read them before class and then we would talk about them during our session. It’s really interesting because she’s always asking me these simple questions that I have a hard time answering. It’s funny (and quite sad) that some of the fundamental things I believe in I actually don’t fully understand. And it doesn’t just happen in her class, it happens to me all the time here. People are always asking me, “Why does America do this? Why does America believe that? What do you like about your country? What don’t you like about your country?” And even though those might seem like remedial questions, it’s not easy having a conversation about them with a person who didn’t grow up believing in the same ideology that you did. Ironically, I can say that this semester has taught me more about America than it has Korea. Monday nights is also the time for cleaning the dorm. Every month each dorm room picks a certain tasks out of a hat which tells them what they will clean for the next four Mondays. Luckily, I haven’t had to clean the bathrooms yet (knock on wood).
Tuesdays: I don’t have any classes on Tuesdays, but my Korean language teacher has me come to his daycare and teach his 6 and 7 year olds English for a couple of hours. I teach four classes, twenty minutes each. Each class has about 20-25 students. It’s pretty fun and the kids are the most hilarious characters I’ve ever seen in my life. Afterwards I kind of just walk around the city and find random things to do until it’s time to head to Yongsei University. It would be a waste of time to go all the way back to KCU and leave right back out. That night, our dormitories have small groups which for my group start at 10:20. There are all different kinds of small groups, but since I’m a native speaker, they placed me in the “I want to learn English” small group. They also have a movie small group where they watch movies and they have a small group where they play games…just to name a few.
Well this post is already extremely long, so I’ll finish my weekly schedule in my next post. Thanks for your prayers!

Bring Back Alan Greenspan

One of the reasons I haven't been posting a lot of post on my blog is because I really haven't had much time to do anything lately. My eyes have been glued to CNN.com trying to get my mind around the financial calamity that has hit the United States. It's so weird to be so far away and have to hear about bad news like Hurricane Gustav, Hurricane Ike, and now the sickness of our economy. Our country is in a very scary condition right now.
Since I've been here in Korea my prayer life has been exceptional, but I feel like that's only the case because I have less distractions, less issues, and less worries. I mean I'm glad that I'm practicing good habits, it's just I think it's ironic that we call on God when we need him the least. I wonder how many of our national leaders have consulted with God about our problem at hand or has all their faith been put into a $700 billion dollar bailout plan? I hope and pray that people who are dealing with losses from the hurricanes and people who are making decisions in the next couple of days are asking God for his opinion, because in the midst of our shortcomings as well as our prosperity, his is the only one that counts.

First Video

Here' s my first video blog. I think sometimes the guys think that if only guys are around then they don't have to wear clothes. That might change after this video. And don't worry, permission was granted.

One Month Down...

Well I'm going to have to apologize for not updating in the last couple of days, but things have just been crazy around here. Book reports due, 21st birthday was last Thursday, and now I have a new addiction, watching my favorite television show online. Thanks to Ted Simons, who showed me where I could watch Law and Order:SVU on the internet, I haven't stopped watching it. As far as my birthday goes, it was literally an all weekend celebration. Thursday, some of the guys bought me a cake, and after we ate that we ordered Chinese food. How backwards is that? Friday, my Korean language professor took Samuel, Winter, and I back to VIPS for my birthday, and as always that place was great. He also bought me a cake. Saturday, Ronda invited me to her house for pizza and she made me a cake from scratch. So in all, I had four birthday cakes. That has to be a record somewhere.

On Sunday, I went to an evening worship at Yongsan Church of Christ after I left Hanmee Church. Yongsan was the congregation where most of the military personnel go. It was a good day. After worship Ted Simons and I went and ate at a Korean fast food chain called Kraze Burger. It was pretty good, but it wasn't worth the money we paid for it. So to say the least, that was a one in a lifetime experience.

Things are going well here. I can't believe I'm one month into this thing. Before I know it, I'll be on a plane back home. I'm so glad I'm able to do this.