A Taste of the Adventure from Korea to NZ

These pictures are from Japan mainly, the last two are about 30 min after arriving in NZ. I have soooo many more pics, but most will make it on Facebook and not here. When in Japan I found a map and decided to check out this small town that was near the airport, here are some of the things I saw. Explanation to come once I get back to Korea. Short version, I saw a market, a temple (that had a fesitval going on, lucky me), and had some sushi alongside a really funny group of people.

Hangin' with Kiwis

Hello from New Zealand!

So, internet on the island here is rather tricky, and slow at times, so I will not be able to put up video yet. I will try to get some pictures up later today.

I will also try facebook, because it usually loads media faster than the blog.

It's summer here, I've climbed two volcanic hills/mountains (Mt. Eden, and One Tree Hill, you may know of that second one), been to the beach, had fish'n'chips along the coast and even met a woman from Moscow...O.0

The NZed is a really nice place, it's like western English speaking Europe mixed with a tropical island. Dale and I are heading out to another mountain this morning, then to the hospital to pick up his wife and say hi to his new baby boy.

Pictures soon.

Cheers!

The Shotgun Approach to Blogging

(What...so I don't post that often...comment and maybe I will! If I see 2 comments I think only 2 people have seen the current post! And obviously my writing is so profound that it would be a travesty for any of my friends to miss my eloquent pontification.)

Sometimes a concise, to the point, well organized post is in order. This is not one of those times. There is ground to be made up, I have not posted in a while so I need a more effective method of information sharing. So I deem this the shotgun post..scattered, a little messy, but it packs a punch and has a wider spread. I'm gonna throw a bunch of pictures/words/happenings at you, they will have very little if anything at all to do with each other. I've done so much while here that it is difficult to talk about everything unless I want to write everday which I simple don't have time for right now...just this week I:

have auditted a yearly budget for my church...

learned 4 christmas songs on my guitar for worship (which are stupidly difficult)...

worked on 5 lesson plans for a special extra class I'm teaching...

went to some random party in the basement of a salsa dance club...

saw Twilight (and woot)...

reinterpreted Desperado by the Eagles...

had 10,000won(and my pride) ruthlessly stolen from me by my pastor in a game of texas hold'em...

killed some large troll thing so my friend could get a new pair of pants...

and did some laundry.

Oh yes, Korea offers a full life my friends.


This first set of pictures is from my friends Kyungran and Youngi's daughter's birthday party. You can see them in the picture right below here (that's their son Youngi's holding by the way, daughter to come).



Here sits the vile stealer of masculine pride in the foreground, the pastor at the international church I go to, Josh Broward. Behind him is Joe, the incredibly helpful man who runs sound at the church and makes me sound better than I am whilest plucking at my guitar.



Now for a comparison between Korean and American children. On the right you see SuHyeon (spelling is probably way off there), the birthday girl, accompanied by two of her friends. This was like the third picture I took because it is a trial to get some Koreans to smile in pictures, especially silly, slightly shy young korean girls. Don't they look cute and polite.


Little need be said. First picture...didn't tell them anything..just held the camera up. American children.

These next two pictures are from the school festival we had earlier this year at my middle school. Basically a couple days of events and parties. Here I am leading an "XO" quiz for the entire student body. This is a true/false quiz over random trivia and kids get prizes if they win. What makes it fun is you have about 1200 students out on the field all trying to run to the correct answers side at the same time, and maybe half or less actually know the answer. There was running, jumping, carrying, throwing, stacking, sliding and all other manner of movement visible.

The computer class made posters of famous movies where they replaced the main character with the face of a teacher. Obviously they have figured out I am a super agent.

Here are pictures from my wedding.

*muffled laughter*

Well, a wedding I went to, not actually my wedding....Don't worry Nana. The beautiful lady in front of me up there is 이미남, or Lee Minam. She is one of the teachers I share an office with and she was kind enough to invite me to her wedding. It was my first Korean wedding (though done in a "western" style). Below here you can see me with a number of my boys. These guys sometimes give me trouble, but they are good guys. They wanted to have a cool picture..I naturally look like a buffoon.

Now, I am heading to get dinner...probably 비빔밥, or 만도...haven't decided yet. A place down the street called 김밥나라 (KimBabNaRa) is like my kitchen, you can think of it as a Korean diner...except for the food is mainly vegetables and rice, not greasy meat or potatoes.

안냥히개새우 친고!

(My spelling needs work, but I'm starting to know more Catie..it will be fun talking about people without them knowing what we are saying...hehe)

"To Be Free", Update Marathon vol. 2

(Preface: This is a more serious post. I like to be fun and easy going usually, but every so often I find something worth giving time and devoted thought. It is long I know, but I hope you read it.)


Many Americans these days find it easy to see the bad things in our country. We discuss the frailties of our political process, the seedy nature of our corporate world, the lack of respect in our relationships and the general breakdown of what we see as the more ethical days of our yesteryear. I completely admit to being one of those people. I am often very critical of our culture, justifiably at times, and perhaps too harshly at others. Before traveling abroad I would often tell people that I wanted to expand my horizons, or try and understand the world through the different lenses of a new country. There is no doubt that is happening. But I am finding a second change occuring, one I did not expect. I bet some of you will think I'm crazy.

The change is this, as I become more acclimated to the Korean way, I find myself loving America even more. Weird right?

Here's an example.

A few weeks ago my school took 2nd years (8th graders) to Independence Hall, which is the national park/memorial to Korean freedom from Japanese colonization. I was invited to go as one of the chaperones, and I'm so glad I did. This park was very moving, even for a foreigner, maybe especially for a foreigner, or maybe just especially for me, I don't know. I will put a few pictures on here so you can see what I mean (all of them will be on Facebook).

Entrance to the Memorial Park.

Some of my students!

Main building, houses the "Statue of the Indomitable Koreans".

Ahhh, Korea.

This is the only picture I will show of the tortures the Korean people went through. The rest can be found on facebook.

"Statue of the Indomitable Koreans"...powerful name huh? And so big!

My silly girls, they always cover their faces! For some reason Korean girls think this is cute.

The boys that hung out with me that day, my unofficial tour guides. They were impressed cause I beat them all up the stairs.

Then I stop to take a picture and I get, "Teacher! Come on!"

It was more moving for me possibly because I was ignorant. I never knew about the atrocities that happened to these people, this culture, that I have come to respect. The Korean people are often quite meak and reserved, which could be misinterpreted as a lack of confidence or boldness. And it is true, they are not as bold as us, but it would be wrong to think it due to a want of courage or pride. Koreans are very proud of their culture, which is one of the reasons it has lasted so long and is still so intact. Obviously there are bad side effects from this national pride too, but my purpose here isn't to discuss those. Simply put, Korean patriotism is inspiring.

It has caused me to wonder, "Why don't I love my country the same way?" As I stood before the main statue at the park, for some reason all I could think of was the Lincoln Memorial. Maybe because the architecture of the buildings was rather similar, but I don't think the connection was that base. Below the statue was a plaque, that spoke of the Korean commitment to freedom and the preservation of their spirit as a people. This made me think of the American "Spirit", or more accurately, question whether there is one. Over 5000 years the Koreans have forged a people, a way of life, and spirit that they treasure. They have been almost constantly attacked by outside forces, normally much larger than they (Japan and China). More than once other coutries have literally tried to destroy their language, their traditions, their families and their identity as a people. Through all this they have persevered. One can then understand why they are so proud and passionate about being Korean.

So what about us? What is the American Spirit? Do we even have one? I mentioned that my mind seemed to wander to the Lincoln Memorial, and I think maybe I have figured out why. The Korean monument was a symbol of Freedom, just as the Lincoln Memorial is a symbol of Freedom. Sure the freedom won in each case is of a slightly different sort, but no matter how it is served, to finally taste Freedom is always a sweet experience. So I would posit that Freedom is the core of the American Spirit. It has long been the driving idea behind much of what we have accomplished as a nation. We longed for Freedom from tyranny, and Washington campaigned. We desired Freedom from conquest, and Hitler was brought down. Stubbornly but surely we learned Freedom from our own bigotry, and pride, and Dr. King led the way. We hoped to share Freedom, and so our sons and daughters bled on fields in Vietnam, Korea, Kuwait, Afganistan, and Iraq.

As I sat before the great statue, and walked the grounds of the memorial thinking on these things, one last question came to me. "How do I, a young man who has never been without Freedom, dare to speak of understanding it...let alone the feeling of gaining it for the first time?" It felt foolish or arrogant for me to even entertain such a thought, compared to the struggle shown in the statues and displays set around me. In my self-loathing I went to praying, almost asking to be forgiven for my assumption and pride. But the Lord, in His gentle way, reminded me that in my life I have been a slave. I was born one. No, I have never been physically oppressed by another human, and I have never been forced against MY WILL to do or believe anything. MY WILL however, in accord with the sin that permeates it, was the cruelest of masters. It has led me to do and say things that I will always regret. I had been a slave to the worser me all my life. Jesus reminded me how I had been saved out of that slavery, and how Freedom had been bought for me, at the highest of costs.

The cost of my Freedom, the cross, is one of the most motivating things in my life. It helps me to see more clearly the need people all over the world have for Freedom, both in this life and beyond. It helps me to be thankful for the Freedom I enjoy today, purchased by the generations before me, and it is the very reason for my eternal Freedom.

So I set out to Korea, trying to find new perspectives and different ways of living. I have found these in abundance. The things that really seem to stand out however are the similarities between peoples, not the differences, and in this case the need for Freedom seems to be highly cherished by all.

Galatians 5:1 "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

Galatians 5:13 "You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature ; rather, serve one another in love."

"Man time on the Mountain", The Update Marathon, vol. 1.

I know, I know...I haven't added anything in a while. Well that is because I have been a busy little boy. I usually have time to post on the weekends, but recently my weekends become filled with activities before I ever get a chance to think, let alone agree to the activities. This coming week I will add three, yes, you heard me THREE, new posts, with pictures, and verbage, and a dancing elephant. (those are rare here in Korea however, so that may last part may take a while). My hope is that by forcing myself to write more frequently than I should, it might mix with my usually laziness, and I will end up somewhere in the middle.

If I haven't said this already, Korea is truly a beautiful country. Nearly all forests and mountains. But don't think Rocky Mountains, think like the Appalachians and the Ozarks fell in love and had a baby, with a little pine tree blood in there somewhere. This being the case, my friend Young-Ju wanted to take me on a short hiking excursion a couple weekends ago. I was kinda needing some man time (only 1 other guy in my program here, and most other guys on campus are either not my age, or don't speak English all too well), and I think he had a long weekend studying, so we both felt like escaping into the wilderness, even if just for a short time. I think most men would agree, guy time is made all the better by taking place in the wild...it's where Adam was created after all, God moved him into the comfort of the garden later.

So, here are a few pictures from our trek, and a short video at the end with Young-Ju's take on our climb.

Start of the trip. Meet my friend, Young Ju.

Other explorers!

This sign held a Korean proverb, which YoungJu tried to explain to me. The wisdom I got was this, "We are called human, but one is truly human only if one acts like a human." The idea is that what we are called, or what we may say does not define who and what we are, only our actions can do that.

Small retreat building that can be rented by people/organizations.

Hah, I caught YoungJu mid-explanation.

Cool little ampitheater, also part of the retreat place.

Korean gazebo thing near the top.

The landscape of Korea. This is normal.

A random lightpole...at the end of the path...near the top of the mountian. I started looking for a satyr in a red scarf.

Sitting area we stopped at on the way down.

Korean children who said "hi-eeeee" to me. They are already some of the cutest kids in the world, then they also get the adorable accent, it's simply not fair.



The Epilogue

My Nunas and the Anglo-Saxon Gene

So I dedicate this post to random things Korean. The culture is really fun, and I am finding out more and more each day. Just like us, the Koreans have many, many idioms or phrases that if taken literally don't make sense, but understood correctly are actually kinda funny. In the same way, they often will ask me questions about American culture that as a Westerner, who is normally saturated by our media, society, and thoughts, I would never think about. What's more, the things we find good/attractive/polite are often either different here, or completely flipped upside down. So here we go.

One Big Family

In Korea, when speaking to pretty much anyone in a less formal setting, whether they are a good friend or some random guy on the street, it is nice to call them by some familial title. So, in the classroom my co-teachers are Mrs. Lee, Mrs. Han, Mrs. Kim, Mrs. Han, Mr. Kim, etc., but when we are out eating, or just sitting in the teachers room, they are my Nunas and Hyong. Nuna, is the term for a boy's older sister, and Hyong means a boy's older brother. For girls, it is Oni and Opa, older sister and brother respectively. Not a day goes by that you won't here some young kid complaining to their older sibilings on the street...across the way you will here a very loud and incredibly whiny, "ooooooPAAaaaaAaAA" (think of how children in America say, "MAAAA-oooom"...daniel). So I have picked up on this, and when my co-workers are teasing me, or speaking in Korean about something that I want to understand, I throw out a NuuuuNAAA! Then they all roll their eyes and say what I think is JingKaRopDa, which the teacher next to me just explained means "gross", but in a loving way......however that works.

(Also, there is a whole culture of "cute" whining here that I want to discuss sometime, but we can save that for a later date.)

Funny Questions

So last week was our school festival. This is when we play sports all day, have a talent contest, dress up like our favorite cartoon/comic book characters, and in general have a blast. I have many pictures, which I will put up as the next post (soon-er-ish than I've been doing), but here I want to share a couple conversations I had with some kids.

So I am standing there watching one of the races, when these two boys sitting next to me turn my way and ask, "Which do you like, Heaven or Hell?" And it wasn't as if they were asking where I wanted to end up someday, they wanted to know who I'd cheer for if the Angels and Demons played hockey. So far it seemed there was a tie, as one boy "liked" heaven more and one hell. I told them I sided with the guys up top, and they walked away joking and poking fun as if I had just decided a debate about the Cubs and Cardinals. I still don't really know what happened there...
Almost immediately after that, one of the(normally)quiet girls turns to me and says, "What is the first thing you have to do to go to Heaven?" (it seemed to be the topic that day). I, seeing this as an opportunity retorted with pride, "I think you have to believe in Jesus", to which this 4'8" girl, made all the cuter by her speaking English as a 6 year old laughs and says, "No, you're silly, you have to die first." And the religion major was foiled by the dark haired munchkin.

Later that day I was sitting with a different class, watching some traditional Korean game, when a kid walks up to me and says, "Are you Anglo-Saxon?" That was something that I had never actively thought about before, and when a 2st grade middle schooler (8th grade to us), who can barely say, "I'm fine thank you, how are you?" drops such an inquiry on you it is startling. It really is strange, these kids struggle so much with the more basic phrases they learn in their text books, but if they have heard it in a cartoon, comic book, movie, or video game they enjoy, it's like instant memorization and command of the language. It would be difficult to discuss how to order food at a restaurant with them, but if you want to know about medieval warfare, Mario, high school love, or Pokemon, then they can give you names, type, ratios and best strategies, all in English. Maybe that is the same though, we all learn better when we have fun.

I Win the Genetic Lottery for Once

Another cultural difference that seems to work out in my favor, also has to due with my being from that good ole' Anglo-Saxon stock. Koreans, men and women, seem to be very interested in hair. I say just, "hair", because I mean all of it, on your head, facial hair, and even the stuff on your arms and legs (stop there if you brain was carried into the gutter). In general, Koreans don't have much of the stuff, other than on their head of course. In fact, many Korean women don't even have to shave their legs, and men only really have to shave around their mouth if anything. Side note, this is why they also hold to the thought that our Native Americans were once Korean (or at least Asian), because they too have very little body hair. As a result, they think it's awesome that I can grow a beard, and have hair on my arms. The second day I was here we went down to a shopping area, and in one of the stores a worker (my age) came up to me and just started touching my sideburns...no warning...just did it. It was awkward, but I figured no harm done so I let him do as he pleased. After he was done he looked at me, mouth agape, and gave me a thumbs up. So I shot one back and we both gloried in the awesomeness of facial hair.

The students at school acted similarly when I first arrived. During my first week, and slightly thereafter, my arms where one of the most interesting things these kids must have seen in ages. I would have like 12 students crowding around me just to feel my arm...it sounds weird, I know, that's because it was. I was reminded of the scene in Jesus Christ Superstar when Jesus is getting mobbed by all the lepers, I think I felt like that after a little while. As I said, with the weeks passing this happened less and less, but even still, every once in a while I will have a student reach up to touch my arm when I am teaching or talking to them in the hall. They try to be all sneaky about it too, like I won't be able to feel them if they just pet the hairy animal soft enough.

One of the most, ahem, interesting (coolest) parts of this cultural difference is that Korean women think it is really attractive. This is a good example of how media influences our perceptions of beauty I think. The younger generations in America will do anything and everything to get rid of body hair for some reason...shaving, waxing, lasers, creams, etc. We are shown a constant barrage from commercials, magazines, and the MTV machine, of pretty, skinny (twig-like), hairless, androgynous people, and thus we want to be like them. Our concept of beauty is at least partially formed by this no matter how much we try to fight it.

I'm not saying it's much different here, the Korean view of beauty is also formed by their media, and they like skinny, pretty people too (and they are naturally skinnier than us anyways), but they get a different influence from our media. When it comes to women, they see our look, and they want to be curvier, have curly hair, and be taller. Thus, the rampant plastic surgery, perming, and many many outlet shoe stores stocked with heels. As for the men, they see our look and notice our taller, broader build, and our facial and body hair. They grow their hair down further where a side burn would be to mimic the look, and their suits are cut tighter in the midriff to make the suit better form a V broadening the look of their shoulders. You rarely see a man with facial hair here, both because few Koreans actually have much and also some workplaces consider it dirty, but if a man does sport a gotee, sideburns, or mustache, he does so with pride ("Here's to you, Mr. Korean Mustache Man.")

The Wind Bag Stops

I will quit writing my novel now, as I'm sure your eyes are hurting. Each of these topics could have been it's own post I know, but I am lazy and this is my desperate attempt to make up for not posting last week. I will put up some more pictures soon (promise). In the mean time, if you want to check out what I've been doing you can always check my Facebook as the pictures usually go up there first, and there are many more. In the time it takes me to put up 5 pictures here I can put up 60 there, Google needs to work on that.

Spiritual stuff: Choose to see things differently. We all wear lenses, we all have a life that shapes our view. But if we try hard, we can actively seek to view the world and people through God's eyes. Instead of cynism and a critical eye, choose compassion and understanding. Instead of condecension or false humilty (two sides of the same coin), choose self-awareness and honesty. Instead of blame or excuse making, choose real justice, first toward yourself, then for the world. That's a lot, I know, just been in my thoughts lately.

Peace,
Hal

My birthday, with a side of jellyfish and Jesus

The kids from classroom 3-2 who gave me flowers for my birthday. I asked, and yes, it is normal to give men flowers in Korea, especially on their birthday, especially when a bunch of the girls decide they need to.









Pictures/video from the Passion International concert I went to in Seoul. Pretty awesome. 2000 Koreans and I, singing to God together (and in English no less!). It is odd though that I could have gone to Passion like 5 different times in the US, and then I end up deciding to go here like a week before. Maybe being in a new country makes one more spontaneous.

Ok, these next pictures and videos are from Busan, which is the second largest city in S. Korea, and is on the southern coast. We went to the beach (for like 5 min, silly guided tours), and to a really nifty aquarium. Check out the jellyfish!

As a side note, I want to post this video of a Korean dance show that happened down near THE Yawoori (that is the mall in Cheonan). I saw it and thought to myself ,"My little brother would think this cool." I mean, hey, the girls are your age *wink wink*. There were many more intricate dances, but my camera was almost out of battery and so this, and 2 others, is all I could get. I will email the others, they are a bit longer. Hope you like it Dan!

That's all I got for now, and as will become normal, if you want to see many more pictures, go check out my facebook, it has like 40+ in a new album.

Lastly, biggest thought of the week was that I need to be more gracious with people...all the time...everywhere...with everyone...no matter what they do or don't do. I'll leave you with that.

Peace,

Hal