Japan, Mountain Top View, and Buddhist Temples!

So, I write too much. Enjoy some Pictures!

Justin was quite sad after his attempt to bake banana bread in the microwave didn't exactly turn out great.




He's got the whole world in His hands!




What great beauty contained in the depth of the iris! :) (taken in Japan)




Justin overlooking a bay full of resting ships.




Justin wishing he could soar on the wind over the beauty below.




Overlooking the harbor and part of Busan.




Prayer room/shrine.




Hiking in the rain on a trail of boulders and flowing water!




Prayer rooms/shrines.




A gorgeous temple.




Yep, it rained and we hiked. :)



Carolyn and I in front of a Buddhist temple.

Stuck

It smells like rain. This morning it was pouring, now it is only raining heavily. I often dislike rain; I don’t like being cooped up inside as if I were an animal. I would rather be out exploring the streets or playing basketball or spending my Saturday outside doing nothing in particular. At this moment I am feeling antsy; if I were at home I would maybe watch a movie, or maybe bake a cake (probably chocolate). I should probably study the Korean letters. Justin told me I should start writing a book. I actually just finished reading two books today; perhaps the rain is good for me. I had been working on “The Practice of the Presence of God” by/about Brother Lawrence for a couple of weeks. Brother Lawrence was a monk who worked in the monastery kitchen. He didn’t accomplish anything that would end up in history books or do anything that Hollywood could make millions off of; instead, he simply lived in “the presence of God” at all times through constant thanks, praise, confession, and general conversation with God: simple, yet difficult. Brother Lawrence was a devoted servant of God who sought no praise or recognition for his work, humbly carrying on his tasks and serving others as though he was serving God Himself with every action. He also did not see great value in the classic idea of pietistic Christianity, believing that he was just as close to God when washing pots and pans as during set times of prayer. Humbly walking with God at all times: not a bad way to live your life.
The second book that I read was “The Old Man and The Sea” by Hemingway. I must confess that I began to read it so that I could say that I had read a classic. I don’t read many fiction books and I don’t know if I’ve ever read a “classic” before. I don’t think I’m very good at analyzing the meanings and undertones of novels, so I’m not exactly sure about all of what Hemingway was trying to convey to his readers. I do know that it was a book about relationship, a book about the deep desires within us, a book about fighting to attain and the cruelty of losing the things we’ve worked for, a book about what makes life worth living and the stuff that really matters.
I should write a book? With all of the brilliant literature available in the world, with so many books written by authors with great depth and insight, what would I write that would say something new or worth reading? No, I think I shall read books for now, or at least until I am struck with a genius idea. I have heard it said that many of the genius minds in the world were also a little crazy. I’m not sure what comes first: the genius or the crazy; but it’s still raining, which means I may be traveling quickly down the path of crazy. Let’s hope that genius follows, or maybe that it just stops raining.

I am 12 days into my life in Korea: still amazing! Last week classes were a little hectic as I was still pretty confused on what I was teaching and confused about how things run at the university. That confussion still remains, but I have a better handle overall on classes and the functioning of the university. One of my classes is a conversation class that meets 4 days a week; I'm pretty excited about it as there are "only" about 20 students so I can get to know them better and have more fun in the class. One class has over 70 students so that could be interesting.
My time outside of class has also been pretty fun. Justin and I hung out with President Kim and his wife again all day Sunday. He told us that the best way to learn Korean was to get a Korean girlfriend; I told him that I didn't think Jenni would like that too much. For some reason he found this pretty humorous and started making jokes about my classes shrinking and Justin's overflowing; he also went ahead and told the pastor of the second church that we visited about his hypothesis. That wasn't really a big deal except for when the pastor introduced us during the service and went ahead and told the congregation about it; this resulted in much laughter and many young ladies giggling and staring at us. It was pretty hilarious! President Kim wants Justin to marry a Korean girl and stay at Kosin so I think I'm going to spread the word that Justin is single and wants to learn Korean. :)
Besides hanging out with the president, I played basketball yesterday with some students in my dress clothes, tie and all. It was really fun, it had been a while. Justin and I also went to one of the main shopping areas last night. I had a list of 3 things to get with brown shoes being the priority; however, Koreans, in general, don't have feet that require size 12's. After asking at about 10 stores and being disaoppointed 10 times I gave up my search for the night. I'm not really sure what the solution to that problem is, hopefully I can find a 'Big and Tall' store or something like that.
Anyway, life in Korea is good. It has been a great experience so far and I anticipate it to only imporve as we explore the city more and become more comfortable in our classes.
Here are some pictures of life so far.

Deciphering the root of the main verb in the Japanese phrase.



First day of class (we didn't know if we were teaching or not that day) as we are leaving the hotel.



Shopping in Nampo-Dung

What a Welcome!!

Koreans, at least the ones that I have met at Kosin, are some of the most generous and giving people I have ever met. Saturday morning Justin and I arrived in Busan; we were met at the airport by one of the biggest smiles I have ever seen. Professor Park (one of many, many Parks) is the Dean of International Affairs and had the job of welcoming us and showing us around Kosin a little bit. During the car ride from the airport he informed us that we were going directly to the university where President Kim was eagerly waiting to meet us. The first thing that we learned about President Kim is that he LOVES, LOVES, LOVES Dordt College. Along with that, he loves the reformed worldview that Dordt teaches; this meant that our first job was to edit the english version of a pamphlet about Kosin, correcting gramar and adding reformed perspective.
After our editing session and some conversation, which involved the Dordt Diamond, Justin and I teaching Bible study and preaching, and a possible trip to the Philipines, we went out for lunch with the President, Dean Park, and two Mongolian students: it was amazing food! The rest of the day involved some shopping for necessities, more Korean food, and settling in to our hotel room.
On Sunday, President Kim and his wife brough us to a church that wanted Justin and I to teach English Bible study at. We recieved flowers during the service, ate lunch in a special room with the pastor and elders, visited the church retreat house, and had a meeting in a special room of the church coffee house. This meeting consisted of the men speaking Korean and looking at Justin and I. About 45 minutes in to the meeting we were informed that, because the church was a 2 hour bus ride from the university, the church would buy us a car and give us gas money to come and teach at the church every Sunday! Yep, Justin and I recieved a car after being in Korea for less than 2 days! That night President Kim and his wife took us to a big fish market where the fish are swimming around in tanks and buckets. He proceeded to point to 2 kinds of fish and 2 lobster; yeah, we had lobster with the President! It was really good (well, the fish were raw and had a crazy, chewy texture), but President Kim told us to eat the meat where the legs connect to the body; that pasrt tasted like pond. :)
On Monday we showed up at the university at 9, recieved our class schedules and textbooks, and then discovered that classes started that very day! Oh, and we couldn't plan at all because we had an assembly at 11 to welcome the students and introduce the new faculty. When Justin and I were introduced the Vice President said we were both bachelors from Dordt College; this was responded to by applause, screams, hoots, and hollers! We had no clue what he had said, but we definately felt like rock stars. :)
The assembly ended at 12:30: Justin went straight to class, I went to lunch and went to class at 1. My class was a freshman general English class consisting of about 25 freshman Korean girls who giggled A LOT and only spoke English to ask if I had a girlfriend and tell me that I am handsome. :) I was a little surprised and very unprepared; class was very short.
Monday night we moved in to an apartment, but we will be moving into a new one in about a week. The one we are currently living in is about a ten minute walk up hill to Kosin, the new one is located directly beside the campus. We are really looking forward to the new apartment as our Tuesday morning walk caused immense amounts of perspiration and resulted in enormous back sweat marks and pitting out! :)
On top of all the other amazing acts of generosity, Justin and I each have our own offices (each twice the size of a faculty office at Dordt), leather computer chairs, brand new Samsung desktops, and an ocean view! The details surrounding classes and lack of planning have been frustrating, but overall everything is amazing here and I am loving Korea.
Alright, time to prepare for class.
Yours truly,
Professor Van Gelder (It still makes me laugh.)

Off to Korea!

At this moment I am crossing over the Bering Sea on my way to Tokyo Japan. I know, it's crazy After returning from Spain 2 months ago I am off to Asia with my best friend to teach English at a university! We have no clue about our classes and we begin teaching on the 27th (we think). Excitement is welling up inside of me. I wonder about the food, the people, the experience of being a professor, the friendships I will form, the lessons I will learn. There is so much that lies ahead of me that I have no clue is coming, that will change who I am and how I live my life. It's crazy.
Of course, moving to Korea to experience new adventures means saying good-bye to friends and family once again. I am not an extremely emotional person when it comes to good-byes; perhaps it is because I have done it quite a lot, or perhaps I am just cold hearted. :) I feel like most of my good-byes are simply 'see you laters' and that some day I will see all of you again in a joyous reunion when we can share stories and laugh and delight in one another’s presence. Because of that, now, at this moment, sorrow is not present. That being said, I do care about you all as I leave and would love to receive emails about what is going on in your lives. [adamvangelder@gmail.com]. That is also crazy; I'm going to be half way around the world and can still cultivate and deepen relationships with friends in Iowa, Arkansas, Spain, and anywhere else in the world.
But the craziest thing about this all has not been mentioned yet. The craziest thing is that I am sitting inside of this giant metal object full of hundreds of people, bags, and who knows how many pounds of fuel, cruising at 37,000 feet at a rate of 500 mph. Now that is crazy! The fact that something this big can actually stay up in the air is amazing; a lot more amazing than some college graduate heading off to Korea.
Anyway, Justin and I have the important task of making friendly conversation with the stewardesses so we can get our hands on a piece of the first class cheesecake that is sitting in some cooler in the back of the plane. Mmmm!

Home for a moment and then off to South Korea

So, since getting back from Spain I've been trying to figure out what to do with my life. After 2 weeks of part time work I have discovered 2 things: being a waiter is incredibly fun, and I would never want to work at a gas station for long term. Good stuff to know, but not very helpful for "career" type plans. As I continued to throw around ideas and get nowhere I recieved an email from Prof. Shim; it basically said "do you and Justin want to go to South Korea and teach at a University?".
4 days later I said yes and now am going to Pusan, South Korea on August 23rd to teach at Kosin University. I guess when God lays a great opportunity in front of you things can move along rather quickly.
Anyway, my blog has now switched from a place where I share my experiences in Spain to a place where you can read of my next year in South Korea. Enjoy.

Maria Jose & Fernando

Here are some pictures of my Senora and her lover.