PNU

A Saturday of discoveries began alone in a usual place; the busy shopping district of Nampo Dong, twenty minutes from Kosin.


After some wandering and a heart-shaped donut with pink frosting and both cream and strawberry jelly filling, I called Gary. Gary was watching TV, lame! So, we decided to meet in Someyon (a newer, and possibly more popular, shopping district). The big discovery there: the MacBook Air! Ridiculous! It is so light and so thin, but probably not very practical (still cool though).

After the Mac store, Gary and I headed to the PNU (Pusan National University) area. It's the newest popular shopping district, frequented mostly by the college crowd, and an area of Busan that I've never been to. We met our friend Gina there, ate some awesome spicy chicken and rice combo for supper, explored the university campus, and drank some coffee at an Italian coffee shop.




What a great day of exploration and friendship! :)

Sunday: the Lord's day

Ok, as an alumni of Dordt College with a degree in theology, I firmly beleive that everyday is the Lord's, but we do often set aside Sunday as a day for rest and worship. Here in Korea, Sunday is much different from what I grew up with in North America. In the US and Canada, many churches have dropped their evening services while in Korea many churches have anywhere from 3-6 services! I often respect the dedication to prayer and communal worship that the Christians in Korea have; they are very focused on worshipping God in the classical pietistic ways. We Westerners maybe too often stray away from that, but the Korean worship also reflects the workaholic Korean culture. One student wrote, "the Lord's day is very busy and requires much exertion." I hope that you are finding a good balance of working for God while also taking time to rest in Him. Happy Good Friday!

Waves

My life is filled with things that come and go and come and go again, kind of like waves. They usually don't disappear entirely, but they come on strong and then fade away and then come back again. One major wave is working out: I'll be really dedicated for a while and then I just won't do anyhting for several weeks. I think I gained 10 pounds when I was home for Christmas; all i did was eat awesome food and meet people for coffee! But then I went to Thailand and Cambodia and walked several hours a day. I'm pretty sure this will continue throughout my life; I'll get sick of it so I'll stop for a while, but then I have this deep desire to be a sexy 40 year-old so I'll go back to it. ;) And then there's the wave of music preference. One week I'm listening to Sufjan Stevens, the next week it's the latest pop songs, and the next I'll be craving Beyonce or Timbaland. Another wave is reading. One month I'll read 3 or 4 books, the next I won't get past more than 4 chapters in a book. There a so many waves: love Korea, sick of Korea; estudiar Espanol, avoid Spanish like the plague; cook, eat out; miss Jenni a lot, really miss Jenni (ok, that one doesn't change so much); read the Bible, hear the Bible read at church; call friends and family, live in a state of pre-object permanence; read the news on BBC or CNN, getting the weather report via my mom; and on and on.
This week the waves consist of working out, Stephen Speaks, Romans, loving Korea, really missing Jenni a lot, and calling friends. Next week: ???

Back to reality...I think

This week is the first week of classes. This means that my 3 month vacation has come and gone; that my days of sleeping in until 11 and doing absolutely nothing related to work all day are finished; that I can’t ride elephants, raft down rivers, or eat awesome Thai food for under a dollar; that I can’t see the faces of my family, friends, or Jenni unless it is via pictures or webcam; basically, my dream vacation is no more. Instead, I’m back to meetings entirely in Korean, teaching 7 English classes, and wearing ties. Back to reality, right? Well, maybe not in the sense that most people think of it. I’m back to the reality of my life in Korea, which means celebrity status as the young American professor. I’m back to assembly halls filled with hooting, hollering, and whistling when I’m introduced on stage; I’m back to people thanking me several times for simply remembering their name; I’m back to groups of girls chattering excitedly and giggling as I walk by; I’m back to people older than me bowing and calling me professor as they hand me a drink that they just bought for me from the vending machine. Yeah, I guess I’m back to reality, but a really, really strange one.

Thailand and Cambodia Captured on Film

Hello everyone! So, I'm finally back in Korea, settling down, and actually having to do some work. Justin and I returned from Thailand and Cambodia about 3 days ago and, although the trip was amazing, it's really nice to be in one place and establish some sort of routine.
There are a ton of stories from our trip about people, food, elephants, magnificent temples, boat rides, hikes, and many other things, but most of them can be told through the pictures. Just copy and paste the addresses below into the address bar and they will bring you to my facebook albums containing many of our experiences captured by camera.

http://dordt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010033&l=91938&id=148300132

http://dordt.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2010034&l=8ad26&id=148300132

Thailand

Justin and I have been in Thailand for almost one week now. We started in Bangkok; a busy city full of beautiful temples and people looking to make a quick buck off of the tourists. We saw two of the major temples, both full of golden Buddha statues, and a few other things and then left for the small city of Pak Chong near Khoa Yai National Park. The city of Pak Chong was wonderful; no one was yelling at us to buy touristy things, the people were super friendly, and everything was really cheap. We got to and from the National Park through a lot of hitchhiking and ended up hiking an 8km trail (guide suggested strongly) and swam in a beautiful pool by a waterfall. After Pak Chong we went to Sukothai, a town famous for the ancient ruins at the old city. The ruins were really incredible: lots of old temples and giant Buddhas. It's incredible waht people made by hand hundereds of years ago.
Right now we are in Chaing MAi- a huge tourist city. Today we got soaked by rain while we looked for a guest house, drank good coffee, and then got an hour massage for under 4 dollars! It was great. We are trying to take some cool pictures, so ho[pefully I'll put a bunch online once we are back in Korea.

Thailand, Laos, & Cambodia!

Hello everyone!
It's been a while since my last post, and that's because I was at home. The last month I had an amazing time with my family, friends, and especially Jenni. It was great to be back in the USA and see so many amazing people, which also made it pretty hard to leave and come back to Korea.
I was planning on getting back to Busan on Wednesday night, but due to a cancellation in Sioux Falls and a delay in Minneapolis I arrived Friday morning. This is fine, but I am leaving tonight (Saturday) for a 3.5 week trip with Justin through Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. I'm not exactly sure what the trip will bring, but I will be taking lots of pictures and sharing some stories. Stay tuned.