Return to Changwon

Last weekend, I returned to the city that I called home for two years, Changwon. Because I only had a few days to visit, I wanted to meet with as many people as possible, including my host family, friends from church, friends from language class, former colleagues, and even a former student. These were all people who changed my life in some way or another during my time in Korea, so I was very happy to meet them again. Happy is actually an understatement: from the moment I stepped off the train and saw my city with my own eyes once more, I felt a deep contentment and familiarity that must have come from a different level than the one that produces such fleeting emotions as happiness.

The familiarity was a curious feeling, too. From things as simple as getting on one of the city's insane buses again and remembering my old route home, to moments of reconnection like catching up on my host brother's now-terrifyingly enormous insect collection, to joyous reunions with old friends that included meeting new ones, every moment was tied to something or someone I'd known well all of eleven months ago. As quite a few people remarked, it was as if I'd only left yesterday. I think one year is not really that long a period of time, and most people did not visibly change (with the exception of my taekgyeon master's son, who is now in his terrible twos!). So it was indeed easy to kind of fall back into the swing of things. Except that never in my two years in Changwon did I have such a whirlwind of a weekend, consisting of reunions with dozens of different people.

Selfies galore, with: Eunjin, the CSHS English department, a former student, my taekgyeon masters, and a Fulbright buddy!

So here's what happened in detail. I took the KTX high-speed rail down to Changwon on Friday after class, and arrived in the evening in time to get dinner with Victoria, a fellow volunteer for Changwonderful, at TGI Friday's (how appropriate). Later that evening, I reunited with my taekgyeon 관장님 (gwanjangnim) and 사범님 (sabeomnim), the director and master/trainer at my old martial arts gym, and did the whole Korean drink-and-eat-and-drink-some-more thing. I had a wonderful time with them, and also discovered the greatness of flavored soju! I really cherished the opportunity to catch up with 관장님 and 사범님, because aside from people at school and my host family, I spent more time with them than anyone else in Korea. (관장님 even let me crash at his house over the weekend, and I spent a lot of time playing with his young son. 관장님 is like a big brother to me; I love his family and owe them so much.)

But even better, through my broken Korean, I was able to relate to the both of them some of my concerns about graduate school or about life in general, and they gave me some much-needed advice. You see, I often have doubts about my decision to continue in academia, partly because it's so hard and partly because I wonder if I'm actually doing anything meaningful with my life. I'm quick to point out that even though I am grateful to be back in California, I was actually happier on a day-to-day basis when I lived and worked in Korea. But 관장님 said something that reminded me of what many of my friends advised back when I was initially deciding on grad school: that I had to leave Korea to move on with my life.

I guess I don't like to be so blunt about it, but either way, since I've turned the page on that chapter, it's no use trying to go back to it as if I haven't already started the next one. I was also touched when 사범님 told me, or perhaps admitted to me, that in his many years of training in taekgyeon, he never worked so hard or enjoyed it so much as when I attended the gym. Heh, that definitely could have been the 순하리 talking, but I appreciated it nonetheless.

On Saturday, I joined 관장님 for his Saturday youth sports classes, including soccer, jump rope, and dodgeball. I met up with my old language partner Eunjin for lunch in the Garosu-gil area, and we had a great time catching up and discussing everything from our past baking adventures to movies staring 빵형 (aka Brad Pitt... brownie points if you get the joke!). I am so grateful that even though Eunjin's English is better than my Korean, she is always patient with me and will let me struggle through an explanation of how the book and movie versions of World War Z are completely different but good in their own ways without embarrassing me at all. And in the evening, I had dinner with my host family (I lived with them for my first year of Fulbright) and caught up on old times. Their dogs are still super cute and super annoying.

On Sunday, I met up with one of my former students, JW, who is now in his second year of university! He contacted me on Facebook and said that he was going home to Changwon, so he wanted to meet up. I was thrilled, because I don't have many opportunities to meet former students, especially those who don't currently live in Seoul. JW really wanted to practice his English, and I felt just like I was back in school doing lunchtime conversation club again. Except this time JW was really eager to talk about university life, and he asked for American TV show recommendations.

I also got lunch with Courtney, who is the Fulbright teacher who has taught at CSHS for the past year, and we discussed life in Korea and the ways she's grown and learned this past year. We also talked about religion and sexuality. I am so impressed with the way Courtney's mind works. It's wide open and ready to listen to anything and everything, as if everyone she encounters is a vendor giving out samples of food she's never seen or tasted before, and it is all delicious. She has embraced the differences of others, as well as the discomfort and the weirdness of living in a foreign country, far from home for a year, with as much energy as a kid at an amusement park who might not be tall enough to get on all of the rides but doesn't care a bit.

In the afternoon, I went back to Redeemer Changwon, a small church that meets at a cafe in the downtown area. I began going to the church a year ago when it was just a handful of friends wanting a fresh, community-based church experience. I was happy and encouraged to see how it's grown since then. And my old friend Traylor gave the sermon, too! Good on him. He preached from 1 John, which, curiously, is a book that I've heard quite a few sermons on in the past few months. It can't be pure coincidence... It was great to catch up with the church folks again, and meet some new friends. We all went to dinner together afterward at El Loco, an excellent Mexican restaurant with prices much more reasonable compared to here in Seoul.

Monday was the long-awaited day in which I went to visit the school where I taught for two years. As soon as I walked on campus, I felt really... in place. As if it were just any other school day and that I should probably get to my classroom or office in a minute. It was exciting to bump into old teachers and students and see them do a double-take. Many of them stopped to greet me and chat in Korean, and they kept saying, "어떻게 왔어요?" Those two words literally mean how and came, so I interpreted it as, "How did you come here?" So I told them that I took a train. To my embarrassment, it's actually, "How come you came here?" So I modified my answers: "I'm here to visit." And to reconnect. And to relive some amazing memories.

Courtney was gracious enough to let me visit her classes that day, including her two classes with the third-year students, who were my second-years last year. I was excited to see them, and they were excited to see me, and they kept commenting about my hair, so I told them about topknots and 상투 and they vacillated between thinking it was cool and thinking it was horrible. Yet for all the thrill of the reunion, let's be honest: it was still English class, and they were still pretty loathe to speak English! Not that much has changed, I suppose! It was actually a bit sad to see how these third-years seemed so tired after so much time stuck in the grueling high school routine. I am looking forward on their behalf to four or five months from now, when they will have finally finished. I also got to meet and play a game with a class of first-years, i.e. students who had no idea who I was. That was a riot, too! They are just the same as my old classes of energetic, not-yet-jaded first-years. They associate California with beaches and CalTech, wail when I tell them that I don't have a girlfriend (and don't want one), and think that my being able to write a few words in hangul on the board is worthy of infinite admiration.

Besides visiting students, I also got lunch with Courtney and the other English teachers, Saerona, JJ, and a new teacher I hadn't met before. It was so sweet of them to be so welcoming and hospitable. Saerona also made me a small gift. (I'd brought some chocolate from the US, but I wish I'd brought the San Francisco coffee again, as I did once, because the teachers in the main office still remembered how good it was... haha.)

And then, too soon, the day was over, and I got on a bus to go back to Seoul. After seventy-two hours, my heart was full.

- - -

I really want to go back to Changwon again, but I don't really know how feasible that will be, as my schedule gets busier and busier, and the time I have left in Korea is already winding down. I wanted to write more about this fantastic, nostalgic, much-needed weekend. Every meal and every conversation deserves its own post, actually. But most of it wouldn't be of very much interest to anyone but myself. I've just spewed out a lot of words on the Internet about something that is very inconsequential to the world at large... what's the point. Well, if there's anything you take from the post, I hope it's this: there was nothing that I loved in Korea more than the people that I met here and formed positive relationships with, and they are the only thing that will keep me coming back.

Scattered Thoughts

Me with friends at El Loco!

Well, I got hit by a car while riding a bike today. It was bound to happen, I think. I'm lucky, though: the guy was waiting to make a right, and he inched forward just as I was passing in front of him, so he only clipped my back wheel. I regained balance quickly and kept going after throwing him a dirty look.

Twelve hours until I vacate my apartment and leave Changwon for good. Time to start packing.

I've had a great weekend. Even I'm meeting people to say goodbye, it's not so much sad as it is fondly reminiscent. I finally went to El Loco, Changwon's rave-reviewed Mexican restaurant. Not bad! Portions kind of small, margaritas very very strong. Said my goodbyes to Soo, Eunjin, and Yeongbin.

Oh, and Friday night was my last outing with taekgyeon folks. I brought a tub of Baskin Robbins to the bar! We stayed out until around 1:30, and they got really drunk and kept telling me not to go back to America. Aww.

Taekgyeon folks and our two masters (on my right and left)

Today was my last day at church, my third and last time playing keys for the worship band. I'm grateful for the opportunity to have been part of Redeemer, even though it was for a short time. I had a nice sendoff, then a nice meal at Bombay with church folks. I'll miss them.

Moving out is a pain in the neck.

It's been rather amusing coming up with ways to use up all the food left in the pantry. I make my own jjajangmyeon with spaghetti and boxed jjajang. I've been eating cereal with peanut butter because I'm out of milk. Well, actually I've been eating cereal with peanut butter because I love peanut butter and would add it to anything.

Season one of Orphan Black was incredible. Tatiana Maslany is a genius.

I'm going to pierce my ears before I leave Korea. It's an idiosyncrasy of mine to get a piercing after a significant life milestone, and I think two years of teaching can qualify.

And to think I still have lesson plans to finish... Sigh. Okay, but I really must start packing now.

Redeemer International Community Church in Changwon

For the past few months, I have been attending a new church in Changwon called Redeemer International Community Church, or Redeemer for short. Redeemer was founded in Busan; I visited the church when I was in Busan with my parents a few months ago. It was during that time that preparations for a new campus or branch were underway. Just a few weeks after my visit, a small group of Christian expats in Changwon began to meet weekly in various cafes downtown to hold simple Sunday services. And after a few months of this, we finally found a permanent spot for our church, in a Korean church-owned cafe located in the busy downtown area!

I feel very blessed to have found this church. Pastor Dan is a really gifted speaker, and I've learned a lot from his witty yet hard-hitting sermons. The timing is bittersweet, though: because I was becoming increasingly bored/frustrated with my old church, I'm happy to have finally found a better source of spiritual nourishment. But the church launched in its new location at the beginning of July, and I'm going to leave Changwon at the end of July. 아쉽다! It's too bad!

Although my time is limited, I've stepped up to serve where I can: namely, as a part of the worship band. I really miss having music in my life, so I'm thankful that I had this small opportunity to help out. Also, Pastor Dan preached from Hosea 2 today, and one of his points was that we believers -- represented by Hosea's unfaithful wife Gomer -- have received beautiful and lavish gifts from God but too often squander them and, even worse, fail to recognize that they are blessings from God and not from the other lovers we chase. It's important for me to remember that with all that I've been given, I should be giving back even more.

I'm excited about the future of Redeemer Changwon. There's a huge potential for growth, and I think this church can offer the English-speaking community of my city something it really needs. May God bless the efforts of this congregation and allow them to bear fruit!

Pastor Dan delivering the message at the "first launch" service last week.
This photo was taken by a Korean church member, Mr. Ha.

Redeeemer Changwon info

The cafe we meet in is called Cafe Send (카페 센드). Services begin at 4pm and end around 5:30pm.

Korean Address: 경남 창원시 상남동 3 마디미동로 4층

English Address: Gyeongnam Changwon-si Sangnam-dong 3 Madimidong-ro 4F

Website: http://www.redeemerbusan.org

A Church and a Temple

Day 3 (Jan. 26): Talat Phlu Baptist Church, Wat Traimit, and the Golden Buddha

I woke up bright and early on Sunday to meet my father's friend for church. He invited me to visit the small church on the outskirts of Bangkok where he gives sermons from time to time. The church is in Talat Phlu; we took the Skytrain all the way to the end of the line then walked quite a ways to get to it. The neighborhood was quiet in the morning; it seemed so distant from the bustle of downtown. Everything, in fact, was quiet in some sense for me: we arrived an hour before the service for a prayer meeting, but I could not speak the language, so I kept silent. I realized that I was about to sit through a church service and not understand a single thing. It would be a sort of spiritual listening exercise.

Of course, being an outsider meant that I drew attention, and a few people came over to talk to me. As it turns out, a handful of the older congregants, including the elderly woman in charge (perhaps an elder or deaconess?), could speak Mandarin. I mentioned before that Thai and Mandarin are both tonal languages; thus, I was unsurprised that the woman's Mandarin, while not completely fluent, was nearly flawless pronunciation-wise. I was grateful that I was actually able to communicate some. Later, during the post-service lunch, I met some of the youth and young adults in the congregation who spoke English fluently, and they proved to be invaluably helpful and friendly. The church gave me a gift and even bought my train ticket to Chiang Mai for me. I actually felt burdened(1) by it, but they just said, "Please pray for us, and come visit again!" Such generosity...

I explored the humble neighborhood around the church with one of the youth after lunch. It was very interesting to see a part of the city that had absolutely no foreigners in it. At least, no foreigners walking around. As multicultural as Bangkok is, the expats are limited to certain districts. Here, the only foreigners I saw were passing through on rainbow-colored boats cruising through the narrow, polluted canals. Every so often, they would stop to feed bread to frighteningly large fish that somehow survive in the dirty water. When I left, I braved the ancient, loud city buses and rode for an hour(2) to get to the train station; that evening, I was to travel north to Chiang Mai. However, I had a few hours to kill...

Wat Traimit in the late afternoon. The man in the portrait is the current Thai king (he's everywhere).

So after getting lousy directions from a tuk-tuk driver who wanted to scam me into a tour, I walked to Wat(3) Traimit, the home of the famous Golden Buddha. This was the first temple I went to in my travels, and what a precedent it set!

The Golden Buddha is the world's largest statue made of solid gold. That's right: solid gold. It's at least six hundred years old, although the temple it's currently housed in is a new construction. I walked straight past it on my first day in Bangkok (it's located in Chinatown), not realizing what was inside. This time, I had a good look around. It was undeniably impressive.

I do wish I'd paid more attention during my Eastern religions course in college, though, because I know embarrassingly little about Buddhism and couldn't tell you anything you can't learn on Wikipedia. Anyway, here's a photo I snapped of the Golden Buddha:

Three meters tall and five-and-a-half tons. Nine pieces of solid gold. Extravagance.

What you can't see is the constant stream of tourists taking photos with their phones and iPads. I was just as guilty: I tried taking a selfie with the big guy but with my dSLR, and it didn't turn out too well. Whatever! I think the designs of the rest of the temple were just as fascinating, including the doorway you see up at the top, and the rows of small metal bells ringing in the wind outside. Oh, and at the base of the temple there was a monk giving blessings, and he was so perfectly framed:

Buddha and a monk!

Temples are everywhere in Thailand, as numerous as churches are in Korea. I felt odd about visiting them for a couple of reasons: first of all, they're supposed to be places of worship, so isn't it disrespectful or at least inconvenient to have tourists constantly streaming in and out and breaking all of the rules? If I were trying to pray at a temple, I would get really annoyed at loudmouthed Americans treating my sacred space like a public park. It's a similar feeling to the one I had when I tried to walk around Notre Dame de Paris in respectful silence, but the people and their cameras were just too ubiquitous -- to say nothing of the priest trying to perform Mass at the same time. Secondly, due to my unfamiliarity with temples, they tend to look the same after a while. Only the really unique ones leave an impression on me.

So that's that. I'll leave you with some photos I took around Talat Phlu, the foreigner-free neighborhood where I spent the morning, and others around Bangkok, since the next time I'll write, it'll be about leaving the capital for Chiang Mai!

A woman selling delicious-looking fruits beneath an overpass in Talat Phlu. Look at those giant pomelos!

Photos of the king abound, even on the tin walls of outdoor living rooms.

Tourists on colorful boats cruise down the canals that also serve as dumping grounds for local residents. Charming.

Just... because.

My last meal in Bangkok: chicken noodle soup from a food cart. $1.50.

- - -

(1) I suddenly have memories of studying Marcel Mauss in my religion seminar...

(2) The length of the trip was partly due to absurd Chinatown traffic, construction, and the shut down of some major roads. However, it was only like twenty cents, and I saw quite a few interesting things from my seat. I'm a fan of buses in Southeast Asia.

(3) "Wat" means "temple" in Thai (and Lao).

Bangkok is One Big Food Court

And now, I will attempt to recall my two weeks of travel in Thailand and Laos with one blog post per day. It will probably take more than fourteen days.

The Chinese Gate in Bangkok.

Day 1 (Jan. 24): Travel.
I first flew from Busan to Kuala Lumpur with AirAsia, a super low-cost airline that leaks advertising out of its pleather seat cushions and turns its aircrafts into billboards. They know the importance of branding. Stepping out of the plane in KL was my first experience in Southeast Asia, and it was muggy. Waiting in line at the international transfers hall for over an hour was my second experience in Southeast Asia, and it was annoying. Beginning and finishing The Things They Carried while waiting five hours for my next flight was my third experience in Southeast Asia, and it was alternatingly confusing, captivating, and boring. I was pleased to leave the KL airport.

I arrived at Don Muang Airport in northern Bangkok near 11:00pm. This was when I actually felt like my travels had begun: exchanging money, seeing signs everywhere in the Thai script, which I can't read at all, and walking around with my heavy backpack on: all of this certainly kicked my wanderlust into high gear. I'm somewhere I've never been before! I'm alone! I have no strict schedule! This is going to be awesome.

Bangkok travel tip: don't take a taxi from either of the international airports to downtown. From Don Muang (DMK), take the A1 airport shuttle for 30THB and 30 minutes to the Mo Chit metro station. From there, take the subway or the Skytrain (BTS) downtown. From Suvarnabhumi (BKK), take the airport link. I don't like taxis. Use this transportation website to help you plan.

So I caught the last airport shuttle (11:30pm) heading out and then the last Skytrain heading downtown just after midnight. Bangkok's metro system seemed really clean and modern; on the other hand, its streets are not. And it was these dark, dirty, post-market, traffic-fume-clogged streets I walked through for twenty minutes before finally arriving at my hostel.

Bangkok hostel rec: New Road Guesthouse (run by Visit Beyond). +1 for $7 dorm housing, +1 for proximity to Chinatown and Sukhumvit Road and distance from the craziness of Khao San Road, +1 for computers and wifi, +1 extremely friendly and helpful staff (among the best I encountered in my entire trip), and +1 for the cool map of Bangkok they gave me.

My first night, I actually stayed up long past when I should have passed out after a day's travel, because I met some local Thai guys working at the hostel and chatted with them at the bar. Like I said, friendly and welcoming staff!

Bangkok Chinatown: gold stores and red charms for the Lunar New Year.

Day 2 (Jan. 25): Bangkok is one big food court.
So, my first "cultural" experience in Thailand was in the Chinatown of Bangkok. It was a pleasant half-hour walk away from my hostel, full of different sights and sounds than the ones I'm used to in clean, organized Korea. I wended my way through streets overflowing with vendors as the early morning traffic turned into late morning traffic. I bought a whole sliced mango for a dollar! There were tons of food stalls, restaurants, and a string of gold shops. Many vendors were selling red lanterns and gilded decorations for the upcoming Lunar New Year. It was funny that I was surrounded by the symbols of Chinese culture rather than Thai culture, but obviously the cultures have influenced each other greatly, so who's to say what icons and traditions belong to whom?

For breakfast, I met up with two fellow South Korea Fulbrighters who happened also to be in Bangkok, although they were going to leave for Cambodia that day. I really enjoyed catching up with Taxi and Jessica and hearing their thoughts on Southeast Asian culture as they'd experienced it so far. What they told me -- and what I eventually came to experience for myself -- was that the poverty was so dire at times as to be physically arresting, and that I could expect to be made uncomfortable by the tourism industry's complete lack of subtlety. Although our time together was brief, it was nice to start everything off with a set of friendly, familiar faces.

Taxi, Jessica, and me in front of Wat Traimit.

For lunch, my dad set me up with an old colleague of his from Taiwan. Dr. Weng moved to Thailand five years ago to do Christian missions work. He had gotten to know many Thai immigrants to Taiwan(1) whose accident-prone industry jobs landed many of them in his hospital. He had ministered to them and encouraged them to bring the Gospel back to their rural hometowns in Thailand.

Later, he heard that they were having trouble establishing Christian communities in this 90% Buddhist and 0.5% Christian country, so he felt called here to help. Fortunately for him and his wife, they found support at the Bangkok Christian Hospital, where he is now based. He travels regularly to other cities in Thailand, especially rural areas, to aid their church congregations and also preaches (in Thai! He found it easy to pick up the local language, partly beacuse it is pentatonemic, just like Mandarin). Dr. Weng gives sermons regularly at a small community church in Talat Phlu, and he invited me to visit the following day.

Also, lunch was delicious. We had papaya salad, steamed fish, sticky rice, and a variety of spicy dips for the rice. I found it easier than I expected to get to know my dad's colleague, since we spoke for most of the time in Mandarin, which I haven't used in years. But anyway, I was happy to get to know him and his work and was blessed by his gift of a Thailand-shaped wall hanger.

After lunch, we took a walk in a nearby park. That park turned out to Lumphini Park, one of several sites of the anti-government protests that have taken over the capital city. More on that later...

For dinner, I made a date with two Americans I'd met in Changwon. Chris and Leah were teachers in Korea for one year, but then moved to Thailand, where Leah now teaches at an international school she loves and Chris is starting up a sustainable carpentry business. They are such a lovely couple.

Chris and Leah in Soi 38 of Sukhumvit Road, with burgers from Daniel Thaiger's food truck.

They took me to the area around Sukhumvit Road, which is famous for its food alleys. Soi 38 is a dead street(2) during the day but comes alive with restaurants and food stalls at night. It is home to what Chris calls the best burger truck in all of Bangkok. I didn't get a burger, but I did try Thai noodle soup and coconut-mango sticky rice for the first time (and fell in love). "Well, this is a neat little food court," I remarked.

"All of Bangkok is a food court," said Leah. She is so right.

In the evening, we went to their church. It's called Newsong, and I thought that that name sounded very familiar... Then, one of their members made the connection for me: they're a church plant of Newsong in Irvine, CA! That's the megachurch my missions team visited every single summer before and after our week-long service trip in Tijuana, Mexico. I was really astounded by how small the world became; however, I wonder how many people at Newsong are actually aware of this passionate, sixty-odd-strong group of urbanites over eight thousand miles away?

Anyway, Newsong Bangkok was delightfully friendly and welcoming, expats and local Thai alike. I liked how comfortably they squeezed into a renovated space the size of your average Korean cafe, how everyone wore flip flops and a smile, how energetic the music was -- and they sang some songs in Thai! I was touched when one of the guitarists shared a song he had written during a time of depression, and I was impressed with the simultaneous interpretation of the sermon (given by their super chill bro-y American pastor) and announcements into Thai.

By the end of just one short service, I really missed church. I attend an international fellowship regularly in Changwon, but it's not the same by a long shot. Yes, I love my community, but to be honest, I haven't felt like I've received much spiritual nourishment from the services for several months. Newsong has a lot of the typical factors that appeal to Christians of my generation and a definite hip (or hipster) aura: young congregants, Saturday-evening services, relevant teaching rooted in real life, and even a fair-trade coffeeshop. Its diversity is also stunning; not just in having a congregation that is 50% local Thai, but also the wide variety of foreigners.

As Taxi and Jessica had told me earlier in the day, and as Chris and Leah reiterated when I asked them, Bangkok's diversity is pretty difficult to rival, and its foreigner population(3) is comprised of all sorts of unique and awesome people. It's not like Korea, where most of us waygooks are English teachers. People come to Bangkok from all over the world to study, to sell jeans, to start businesses, to "find themselves", to teach, to learn, to open up gyms, to get married, to do missionary work... Bangkok is crazy multicultural. I suppose it's comparable to Seoul, but Jessica said that even Itaewon has nothing on Khao San Road.

Mmm, and with cultural diversity always comes a smorgasboard of delicious food. So that was my first full day in Thailand: I met awesome old friends and made new ones, and I got just a taste of something "different" that would come to define the next two weeks. Oh, and I also went to the Bangkok anti-government protests, but that's a story for tomorrow.

Mango with coconut sticky rice; this stuff is amazing, and it only costs a dollar or two!

- - -

(1) Confusing, isn't it? Even a lot of Koreans mix up my ancestry, thinking I'm from 태국 and not 대만.
(2) Soi means "alley", and many streets in Bangkok are numbered and referred to as Soi 1, Soi 2, etc. of the nearest large road.
(3) So we're not even counting the dozens of different ethnic groups that are all Thai by citizenship.

Merry Christmas from Korea!

And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."
- Luke 2:10-11

A jar of homemade cranberry honey butter I made!

Merry Christmas! (메리 크리스마스!) This is the first Christmas I have ever spent away from home. 그래서 조금 고향과 가족이 그리워요... But I've had a great day and a very cheerful holiday season overall, so no complaints. To get my dose of holiday spirit, there was the Santa Bike Ride and a holiday White Elephant party at a church friend's home. At school, I wiled away free hours by cutting paper snowflakes and trees and showed Elf and Christmas YouTube videos to my students. To top it off, of course, baking Christmas cookies, listening to my Christmas playlist all day, and Skyping with my family, are really what make me feel "at home".

Today, I went to a service at my church, followed by bacon and pancakes at a friend's house, and then ice skating in the afternoon! The day ended with dinner and hanging out with a bunch of 솔크* friends. I'm heading to bed early because tomorrow morning I'll get up early to bake (more!) and go to school to attend my school's festival (it's like an end-of-the-year talent show). After that, it's winter break! 드디어!

Holiday party at a church friend's house last Saturday.

* In Korea, Christmas is all about couples and being romantic. It follows that being single on Christmas Day is considered to be one of the saddest things that can happen to you all year. The Konglish for this is "솔로 크리스마스" (Solo Christmas), which teens have shortened to 솔크. I like this because it sounds like the word "sulk". Got no one to hold hands and watch the pretty snow fall with? No one to buy you chocolate and a new scarf? No one to *gasp* match your red reindeer sweater with a green snowflake one? Too bad! Go sulk about it and better luck next year. Ha.

Pentatonix's "Little Drummer Boy" 
The Piano Guys' "Angels We Have Heard on High"

WestJet Christmas Miracle. Good advertising that brought me to tears.

Yaenoeul Choir Concert and Easter

Yaenoeul Choir (얘노을 합창단) at their 12th annual concert. Can you spot the white guy?

My friend and fellow Fulbrighter Adam has busied himself this past year with teaching at a large middle school, studying taekwondo, and singing in a choir. I thought that that alone was cool. But then I learned that this choir was, like, seriously legit: directed by a famous Korean maestro and everything. And I learned that Adam was the first foreigner to sing with them in their illustrious twelve year history. Dang! All of this made me even more excited that I was going to their annual concert!

The choir rehearses all year for just one performance. (One large performance, for an audience of thousands.) Their repertoire was incredibly vast: one set of traditional choral pieces, one set of arranged Korean songs, one set of gospel music and spirituals, and one set of modern pop music done in glamorous show choir fashion. Ten of us Fulbrighters came to support Adam, watched him rock the bass parts like a boss, and squealed in delight when he stepped out to deliver solo lines as Javert in the final piece, "One Day More" from Les Mis.

The whole thing really was wonderful. As Cecile put it, if there were anything that really epitomized the notion of "cultural exchange" that we Fulbrighters are supposed to promote, it's this talented white guy from the States taking part in a first-rate performance that itself represented a hodgepodge of cultures and musical styles. Good feels all around, not least due to the quality of the music that night.

Adam's in the center, with the black bag. On his right is his conductor, a nice man with a magnificent perm. Surrounded by friends!

Videos will come soon, I promise.

Well, after the concert, we all went out for dinner and drinks (extremely late, just like the day before). I had "scoop pizza", a ridiculous concoction of dough, cheese, bacon, and French fries, that was heavenly and quite sinful at the same time. So much cheese... We stayed at the restaurant until after midnight, and back at the hostel, I chatted with Adam, Julia, and Alanna until four in the morning. Ridiculous. No wonder I've been so drained this week...

On Sunday afternoon (Easter!), I went to church at Dongshin's English service. There, I met up with Jaeyeon and Bridget, and we also ran into Megan, whom I did not expect to see there! The Easter service was really nice, like a breath of fresh air. It felt great to sing and worship and feel a bit of joy again, after so many weeks of going through the motions, in a sense. I think Megan is very lucky to have a large and vibrant church community in her city. I do have a church community in Changwon, but it's not quite the tight-knit family that Megan seems to have found. Well, I'm not going to complain. The visit was really nice, anyhow.

Me, Jaeyeon, Bridget, and Megan at Dongshin. If we look a bit tired... you know why.

Then, it was time for goodbyes! I'd already parted ways with most of the dozens of friends I'd met over the weekend, but for all of us it was only a brief valediction, since this weekend we will all gather again for spring conference on Jeju Island! Woohoo! It's going to be great.

종려주일 - Palm Sunday

Hosanna! It's Palm Sunday, but I could easily have missed it. I woke up a little bit late this morning and considered not going to church on account of my tardiness. In addition, I knew that today would be a special joint service for Communion with the main church which hosts the international para-church that I go to. This meant the entire service would be in Korean, with interpretation provided. I didn't know what to expect from this, and I wasn't 100% willing to go. But I went anyway, and I even enjoyed it, so there I go again, proving myself wrong.

Here in Changwon, I've been attending Hanbit International Christian Fellowship, which is not a church, but a para-church that is maintained by Hanbit Presbyterian Church. Services are conducted entirely in English and take place on Sunday mornings at the same time as one of the main branch's services.

This is why I've never had the opportunity to see what the big church itself is like for the past six months (since I arrived in this city) until today.

It's legit: they have a choir, big screens, over a dozen people in their worship band, and three floors to accommodate all their congregants. They also serve sponge cake as the bread for Communion (heh). Most importantly, they had a simultaneous interpreter for the entirety of the service, narrating the order of worship and translating all of the pastor's words through a headset given to every somewhat-confused foreigner. She did very well, considering the demanding nature of an interpreter's job.

I had a hard time following the songs, though, since they were being sung too fast for me to understand the lyrics, and too loud for me to hear the interpreter explaining the meaning. But the sermon was good. The pastor showed a clip from the recent Les Mis movie and talked about how it is difficult for some people to accept grace when it is given to them. Jean Valjean accepted grace (and mercy) from Monseigneur Bienvenu and dramatically turned his life around as a result. Javert, on the other hand, was granted his freedom by Jean Valjean, and it caused him such deep internal conflict that he committed suicide.

The pastor compared the two characters to Peter and Judas in the Gospels, where Peter disowns Jesus (Matthew 26) but is later forgiven and goes on to become the founder of the Church, but Judas, who was "seized with remorse" after betraying Jesus (Matthew 27), tried to undo his actions, was refused by the high priests, and then hanged himself. ...

Hm, actually, I'm beginning to question the parallel being drawn here, especially because Judas wasn't shown grace by anyone. He's always painted as a pure villain who deserved what he got. Javert, on the other hand, is Valjean's antagonist but he's not a villain. He's not evil. He's just fanatically devoted to an impossible ideal of justice.

Okay, well, this is beside the point. The point is we must be able to accept grace even when we know we don't deserve a shred of forgiveness, otherwise our lives will never change. Christians can go around saying they love God all day, but you know they haven't really accepted the reality if their actions don't reflect God's grace at work in them. If you can receive grace, like Valjean, you can live with peace and love and do great things. If you can't receive grace, like Javert, then... it may be difficult to live at all.

... Oof. And I was expecting a typical Palm Sunday sermon about joy and rescue and donkeys and kids with big leaves dancing around, but hey.

So that is how church went today. I tried very hard to use the simultaneous interpretation to pick up some new words or phrases, but it was difficult because of the delay. Instead, I flipped through the program and listened closely to the songs to pick up new vocabulary:

십자가 (shipjaga) means "cross", like the shape or Jesus' cross.

귀하고 귀하다 (kwihago kwihada) means "scarce and precious", and it seems to be used most often in reference to the idea of "amazing grace", especially in the Korean translation of the famous hymn.

예수의 피 밖에 없네 (yesuye pi bakke eomne) means "nothing but the blood of Jesus", again taken from a line in a hymn. It seems rather unfortunate that the Korean word for "blood" sounds like the English word for "urine", doesn't it? :\

종려주일 (jongryeo ju-il) means "Palm Sunday"!

Have a blessed Holy Week (성주간/Sungjugan)!

Stopover in Seoul

On the morning of the 12th, all of us who had enjoyed the Ice Fishing Festival came back down from the winter wonderland and returned to Seoul. We played a lot of Contact on the subway.

In the capital, we met up with Jonathan and Liam, two fellow ETAs. It was Jonathan's birthday, and he was going to celebrate by watching a Korean basketball game. I didn't go (but if you want an idea of what that was like, you can read Maggie's blog or Ammy's blog), having planned instead to visit the Yongsan Electronics Market to buy a replacement lens cap. I had lost mine at the festival when I gave my camera to a kind stranger to take photos of me going nuts in a pool of freezing water. He gave the camera back, of course, but both of us forgot about the lens cap; doubtless it is still in his pocket.

A heaven of cameras at I'Park Mall. Photo from this Korea blog.

Anyway, I went with Adam and Katelyn to Yongsan, and upon entering the market (I'Park Mall), I was flabbergasted by the sight before me. There must have been thousands of cameras of all different kinds, and tons of sellers who immediately started calling out to me to try out whatever they had. I'd done my research, though, I knew that these guys on the first floor were the ones most likely to try to rip off customers, especially foreigners. To check, I asked the first merchant I saw how much it would be for a lens cap. He punched some numbers into a calculator and showed me 23,000₩ ($21.50). Heck no! I quickly left that area of the market, even though it was beautiful to behold... and we found a different market.

There are actually several different markets (more like department stores) in the neighborhood, and I decided to try Electronics Land (전자렌드). Luckily, I found my lens cap without too much trouble there. I was looking for anything below ten bucks, and a guy working a videography shop dug in some drawers and found a Canon lens of the right size for me, for 10,000₩ ($9.50). I took his offer.

Later, I saw another camera merchant downstairs and wondered if I'd be able to bargain down. I tried using Korean with limited and awkward success. (Koreal life, people!) So, when this second merchant offered 10,000₩, I said that it was too expensive and asked for 8,000. He didn't miss a beat and lowered the price. I was caught by surprise, because I'd already bought my other lens cap, and obviously I had to find a way out of buying this one, too. So, I said that that was still too expensive and said that I could find it elsewhere for 5,000₩. Then the merchant snapped at me and said that I should just order it online if I wanted it that cheap. (When I checked later, Amazon does indeed have my lens cap for cheaper. Whatever, though!)

At Baskin Robbins

Adam and Katelyn and I went to get ice cream at Baskin Robbins, partly to celebrate and partly because, well, I think that if you don't go to the Yongsan Electronics Market specifically to get a certain item (having done price comparison research beforehand), then it's really too overwhelming for simply browsing. So we weren't interested in looking for anything else. Not even all of the bootleg DVDs being sold on street corners!

The next part of our adventure took place in the mall connected to the Yongsan Train Terminal. With about an hour to kill before Katelyn's train back to Iksan, we decided to do a spontaneous photo scavenger hunt with our handy smart phones. Items to be photographed included: PSY, Engrish, other foreigners, the Korean flag, and groups of people standing in a circle but all on their phones. It was such a perfect time-killer.

At Ho (好) Bar in Hongdae. Photo courtesy Maggie.

Then, Adam and I traveled to Itaewon, Seoul's international neighborhood, to meet up with the others for dinner. For Jonathan's birthday, he wanted to go to a Nigerian restaurant called Mama Africa (he is of Nigerian descent). When we arrived, we discovered that the owner of the restaurant had the same first and last name as Jonathan. It was pretty hilarious. For dinner, I had jollof rice, which was my first taste of Nigerian food.

After dinner, we hung out in the hostel for a bit before going out to some bars in Hongdae. I'm not much of a bar person myself (too much noise and smoke), but I still had a good time with Jonathan, Liam, Maggie, and Ammy. One of the bars we went to had some pool tables, and it was fun! Even though I suck at pool. Like, I'm really, really bad. But that is unimportant when you're having fun with friends, right?

Not only was this a fantastic omelet, they had COLORING PLACEMATS!

The next morning, Ammy and I went to Jubilee Church, a church with English services that I hadn't been to since last summer. I enjoyed the service a lot, mostly because it closely resembled the church services that I was accustomed to growing up and in college. It's been so long since I've sung worship songs with such gusto.

After the service, we headed back to Itaewon for lunch with the rest of them at Suji's. Suji's is an American restaurant with several locations in Asia, and it's very popular with Fulbrighters as the place to get American "diner food" while in Seoul. This was my first time going, and it was well worth the 45-minute wait.

The food was good, as was the birthday cake that Ammy and I got for Jonathan, and the five of us had a great time enjoying a slow afternoon with delicious food and wonderful company. Also, the placemats were colorable and we got crayons. Simply sublime. I tell you.

Birthday boy Jonathan (left) and Liam (right) at Suji's.

I wished that that afternoon could have stretched on longer (and especially that the food could have magically reappeared to be eaten again...), but Ammy and I needed to get to Cheongju that afternoon, so we peaced out and went to the express bus terminal to begin the next part of our adventure: skiing!

Afrikaans and DVD방s

It was raining when I woke up this morning. It was also already 11:00am when I woke up, meaning that I was late to church! But I'm glad I decided to go anyway, one hour late as I'd be, because Elani had mentioned that her birthday is today and she wanted to go out to lunch with friends from church.

Due to the rain and its associated problems (I couldn't find my 우산 (umbrella), there was a lot of 교통 (traffic), the bus driver was, as usual, insane and pulled into the wrong lane to make a left turn rather than wait for the light, etc.), I arrived at church at around noon. I was just in time to catch the last fifteen minutes of the strangest sermon I've ever heard. But anyway...

After church, Elani and the cohort of South African expats that I've been hanging out with went to her favorite eatery in Changwon, which was a burger joint! It's called Sangnam Burger, in 상남동 (the Sangnam-dong neighborhood). I was hesitant at first, because I don't know if I want to get into "fast food" at all while in Korea. But I couldn't have under-estimated the quality of these burgers more. My burger was small, but made with love, and had some magical sweet sauce on it that made every bite absolutely amazing. With the meal set came crispy fries and a soda that I decided not to drink. All of it was less than $4.50; a good deal in my book. Service was slow; there's only one guy working there, but he makes each burger, as I said, with love. It shows! Super-맛있어요! I'll be back soon to try their potato burger, tonkatsu burger, and more.

Sangnam Burger! Though small, it was the best burger I've had in a long time, which includes the two years during which I didn't eat any meat at all.

During lunch, I realized that I was the only American sitting at a table with five South Africans. I decided that it might do me good to learn a bit of Afrikaans! Though most all South Africans can speak English fluently, the portion of the population with Dutch ancestry speaks Afrikaans, as well. It could be loosely described as a mix of Dutch and English. "Hallo, hoe gaan dit met jou? Ek is goed, baie dankie!" It was fun; looks like I might be dabbling in more than just Korean while I'm here!

Then, the group joined up with some Americans and we went to a DVD방 together. A "DVD room" seems to be a Korea-specific or Asia-specific thing. Similar to the 노래방 ("singing rooms") that are plentiful all over the country, a DVD방 is like a mini-cinema with hundreds of DVDs, where you can hang out with friends in a comfortable private room to watch any movie you choose on a huge screen! The selection was vast, with lots of recent American titles as well as Korean and other Asian movies. For our group of eight, the price came out to 4,000 Won each. 와우! That was cheaper than my lunch!

Church friends having a movie afternoon! I admit the photo's of pretty poor quality, but I took it on my phone (and I've only just figured out how to transfer photos from phone to computer via Google+).

We decided to watch a movie that Elani really likes, called We Bought A Zoo (2011), starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson. I'd never even heard of it before, but it was a good movie! The cinematography in particular was just beautiful, and the soundtrack (composed by Jónsi!) was fantastic.

I'm pleased that I've found two great new things in Changwon: burgers and DVD방s! As they say in Korean: 짱! And as they say in Afrikaans: Lekker!

On Identity - Christianity (기독교)

This is part 1 of a series I wrote on my self-identity in Korea. You can read part 2 here and part 3 here.

My thoughts are just going to be ramblings in this post, I expect, because it's been a long day and I just want to go to sleep. Taekwondo has left me sore in muscles I didn't know I had (anyone heard of hip adductors?), and I've done a lot of lesson planning the past few days, so I'm tired. 피곤해요 (pigonhaeyo)!

But I've been thinking a lot about identity lately, so -- you know me -- I want to write and share.

Aside from Korean language education and teacher training and practice, Fulbright also provides a host of "cultural workshops" for the ETAs in order to better acquaint us with the country in which we'll be living for one year. The workshops have been on a huge variety of topics, from the Korean education system (within whose constraints we must work), to eating etiquette, to volunteering opportunities, to the K-pop phenomenon. Most of them are lectures or discussions led by current and past ETAs who are simply sharing their experiences. And overall, they've been a mixed bag. Some are simply awful and feel like an unfortunate waste of two hours. Others are informative but boring, or interesting but useless. And then there's the magical workshop that's a combination of informative, engaging, and relevant. There haven't been too many of those.

Anyway, three of these cultural workshops I've attended have got my brain going on issues of identity in Korea. Specifically, issues of my identity (or identities) while I'm in Korea. They are: my identity as a Christian, my identity as a gay man, and my identity as a Taiwanese-American, or more generally as a non-Korean Asian.

(I've decided to write this post in installments, partly because I'm really tired right now and need to sleep, and partly because it's just way too long already. So... Part 1: Christianity. Part 2: Homosexuality. Part 3: Asian identity.)

Christianity in Korea
The workshop on Christianity in Korea was given by Stephen, this year's Program Coordinator. He shared a little bit about the history of Christianity in Korea, explaining that its roots don't go back that far (first Chinese Catholic priest arrived in 1795, first New Testament in 1882, etc.). At least, there have been missionaries in Korea longer than in Taiwan, which is my basis of comparison. Similarly to Taiwan, U.S. missionaries began arriving in the mid-nineteenth century, and with them came schools (Yonsei University) and hospitals (Severance Hospital), those positive aspects of Western influence. After the Korean War ended in 1953, many Christians fled the northern half of the country and resettled in the south. Today, about 33% of South Korea is Christian. Another third is Buddhist, and the last third is simply culturally Korean, which to me means vestiges of Confucian ethics tinting an otherwise atheistic worldview.

After the history review, Stephen went over what it's like to be a Christian ETA. He said that it was likely that our homestay family would be Christian and want us to come to church with them, which ordinarily I'd gladly do. Unfortunately, churches with English-speaking services are rare, only found in large urban areas. He did give us a directory of good (Protestant) churches in Seoul, Busan, and Daegu. But if we're not willing to make an hour-long weekly commute, weekly church in an intelligible language is going to be hard. For example, Anthony, who was an ETA this past year, was placed in a rural environment without a church to go to. He admitted that it was difficult keeping up his spiritual disciplines because of the isolation. But at least he had his network of Christian ETAs (for me this year, it'll be those who have been coming to our weekly Bible studies) to lean on when times got tough.

As for me, if I don't have access to a church whose services I understand and a tangible community that can help me grow, well, I'll be frank: my spiritual life is probably going to suffer for it. I'm not that strong. And when it comes to my relationship with God, it's not really at the point where just Him and me alone together works out perfectly. My whole life I've been surrounded by a Christian community in the places I've called home, but when I was away or abroad for months at a time without a church, well, I lost sight of myself. One of my more pinpoint-able worries before coming to Korea was that if I didn't get plugged into a Christian community, my spiritual life would go downhill.

Being spiritually alone while abroad can be a wonderful chance to challenge myself spiritually and see some growth. In the end, I can't always keep relying on others to maintain a relationship with God. But that doesn't mean I'm not anxious about the prospects of one year without a church.

Proverbs 3:5-6 comes to mind: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will direct your paths." I'm going to remember this, and also that God is with me wherever I go, present wherever two or three gather, and I'll have faith that it's all going to be okay.

교회 - Church

Happy Sabbath! I've gone to church here twice so far. In tiny little 괴산, there are no churches with services in English. But some local students helped us find a friendly (and non-cultish*) place to worship. It's called 괴산중앙교회 (Goesan Central Church), and it's apparently Methodist. Like most Asian churches, it's somewhat charismatic, with loud prayer and lots of singing.

The first week I went, I understand only a few words here and there in the hour-long service, including 아버지 (aboji, Father), 기도 (kido, pray), and 피 (pi, blood... yeah, I promise it's not a cult). I also heard the Apostle's Creed and the Lord's Prayer in Korean, but I couldn't understand much of either. One thing I did pick up on, however, was that every time the pastor (목사, moksa) said 축하합니다 -- which I had learned meant "congratulations" -- the whole congregation replied, "아멘! (Amen!)" My guess is that the phrase could also be translated as "praise".

Anyway, I meant to write about a small adventure I had this morning on the way to church. Tracey and I were the only ones who intended to go this week (down from about a dozen curious Americans last week), as many people were asleep or on weekend excursions out of town. But, we missed the shuttle that goes into town from campus, and the next one wouldn't leave for another hour. So, we got our friend (and RA, actually), a Korean guy named Caden, to call us a taxi before he rushed off to his part-time job. As soon as the taxi arrived, Tracey and I realized that we couldn't remember what the name of the church was. Neither of us is fluent in Korean. Here is the ensuing conversation with our 댁시 운전사 (taxi driver), roughly translated from Korean:

Taxi Driver: Where do you want to go?
Tracey and me: Uh...
Me: Goesan... Church?
Tracey: Church!
Taxi Driver: What?
Me: Church! (in English, to Tracey: Oh no, what was it called? How do you say Methodist?)
Taxi Driver: ... What?
Tracey: Chur-ch. Church! Church? (in English: Does he not know what church is?)
Taxi Driver: ...
Tracey: Um, (mimes holding a Bible) Jesus! Amen! Hallelujah!
Taxi Driver: ...
Me: (in English: Okay, wait, what's somewhere near the church?)
Taxi Driver: Are you going into town? Into Goesan?
Tracey: Yes!
Taxi Driver: Okay, you just give me directions, then, okay? Right, left...
Tracey and me: Okay!

And so we got to the church, and the driver charged us about fifty cents extra (3,500 won total, which is about $3.50) for the trip, probably because we were stupid and unintelligible. (But in all seriousness, it seemed less like he didn't know where we wanted to go and more like he didn't know what a church was. Which is weird. When we ran into some of our Korean teachers later -- also on their way back to campus from church, albeit a different one -- one of them said that taxi ahjussis don't ever go to church, so it was slightly more reasonable that he didn't understand. But still...)

Anyway, during the service they sang two songs I recognized: 'Tis to Sweet to Trust in Jesus and Joyful, Joyful, translated into Korean. The sermon was delivered on the story of Jesus walking on water in Matthew 14. That's about all I understood. Oh, and after the service, some of the ahjummas insisted that Tracey and I eat lunch with them, so we joined them for a lunch of kimchi onions and chicken soup that had half of an entire chicken in every bowl. Score!

Next week we'll see if I can keep up with the sermon a bit more. Perhaps this is a good way to track my progress in listening comprehension!

*I was warned by one of the Orientation Coordinators to be careful of what churches I went to, as some of them were actually branches of Korean cults, which are fairly common and not at all like the American stereotype of a cult.