Seoulsville, USA

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

2008-10-26T01:11:00.000-07:00

Lotte World

2008-10-26T00:43:00.000-07:00

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

Over the Weekend

2008-10-21T00:31:00.000-07:00

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

It's Been A While

2008-10-16T00:33:00.001-07:00

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

Bring Back Alan Greenspan

2008-09-25T03:45:00.000-07:00

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

First Video

2008-09-22T07:37:00.000-07:00

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

One Month Down...

2008-09-22T07:21:00.000-07:00

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

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

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

Next Milestone: 44 years away....

2008-09-17T20:52:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to me! You know, one of the good things about having my birthday in Korea is that I get to celebrate it for 38 hours. Can't beat that. I joke with people that 21 is kind of a depressing age. I mean you grow up waiting on important birthdays. I mean you got 13, 16, 18, and then 21, but after 21 what's left...65! Anyway, I'm definitely blessed to see another year. I've now spent my last four birthdays away from home and away from my family. Two of those birthdays were in a foreign country. I mean don't even know how it feels to spend a birthday with family anyway more, it's kind of depressing. But if I'm learning anything as I get older it's this. That special family time isn't centered around special holidays or birthdays, but it's when nothing is planned, nothing is done out of the ordinary, and we're just sitting around enjoying each other's company.
Well, it's almost time for class so I better go prepare!

Chuseok!

2008-09-13T06:02:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Friday was a pretty good day. First of all, I taught my first college class. I mean at first I thought the class was just something the students wanted to do and it was just me helping them learn English, but it's actually a real class that the stduents are auditing. An actual professor came in the class to do a small introduction of who I was and thank me for teaching the class. Then he prayed over us and left (at KCU they pray before every class meeting). That was a neat experience. Now I think about it, I got papers to grade! Anyway, that evening I met up with Ted Simons, a graduate of Oklahoma Christian who is here teaching in English in one of the schools. We went to a noodle shop with three people he met at the church he had been going to. First we have Hannah. Hannah is a girl from the United States who is an international student in London who is on an exchange program here studying at Korea University. Then we have Anna. Anna is Finnish and she's also here studying at Korea University as an exchange student. Then we have another young man, I forgot his name, who is also here teaching English in one of the grade schools. After we ate noodles, Hannah had to go back to her dorm, but the rest of us went to Ted's apartment and played Apples to Apples. We wanted to play at a coffee shop but after we walked to the Olympic Park and found out that it closed at midnight we just went back to Ted's. It was my first time playing it, but it was pretty entertaining. When we got done it was like 3 o'clock in the morning so I just stayed the night at Ted's place. That was my first night to spend away from the dormitory.
This morning Ronda introduced me to her friend Anna Marie who is Indian but is a citizen of England. She's been here for a few months teaching English. We went shopping at the Hyundai Market then we did some more shopping in Itaewon. It was a long day! This weekend is Chuseok weekend, which is one of the biggest (if not the biggest holiday) on the Korean calendar, so everybody's gone home for the holidays so to speak. There's only a couple people left in the dorms. And when I say a couple, I mean a couple. Luckily, because of the holidays, we're out of school on Monday. I'm starting to like Chuseok already.

Korea Exchange Student or Korea Visiting Professor?

2008-09-10T00:36:00.001-07:00

So last night I was sitting in my room minding my own business when one of the other guys in the dorm comes to me telling me about the English class he wants me to teach. He didn't know English very well but after about ten minutes of fumbling through words I finally make out what he was trying to say. He told me that the class was going to be on tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5:30. I said ok, and went to back to whatever I was doing. Now mind you, people have been telling me about this class for a while now, so it wasn't a surprise, I just didn't know when it was suppose to be.
After a couple hours go by, another student who can't speak English well came to me and after fumbling over his words, I found out he's telling me that the English class that I'm teaching is down stairs in the classroom waiting on me. I'm was like there must be some mistake. Another guy just came in here and told me it was tomorrow. Then it hit me. It was two different classes. Before long, I'm going to be teaching about as many classes as I'm already taking.

Mamma Mia!

2008-09-06T23:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday morning Ronda, Samuel, and Winter came by the dorm and we all went to Hyundai Market. Hyundai Market is a huge shopping mall with a movie theater. After we picked up movie tickets to Mamma Mia, we grabbed some food from KFC and sat down and talked for a while. After we ate, we went by some bookstores and looked through the English books they had. Before long, it was time for the movie to start. It was a really good movie. Which is funny because I actually hate musicals. Well I probably enjoyed it more because I don't get to see many movies in English, but either way I enjoyed myself.
Afterwards, we went outside the Hyundai Market to see many other stores and shops. We looked through another bookstore and then sat down at Coldstone and ate ice cream. Ronda and I shared life stories and it really helped me understand her and her family more. I think it's funny how sometimes knowing where someone has come from helps you understand who they are today. That was definitely the case with her. We talked for about two hours.
Before heading back to the dorm, we stopped at E-Mart to pick up a couple of groceries. I love the Korean grocery stores because they have a sample of almost every kind food they stock. They sample more food than Sam's Club! Anyway, after we left the grocerty store I watched the first Pirates of the Caribbean at Ronda's house and then headed back to my dorm. It was a good day!

I can't believe I'm embarking on my third week here in Korea. Time is really flying like I thought it would. I realize that I'm really not going to understand the magnitude of what I'm doing here till I'm long back at home and bored with nothing to do. It will be then when I realize that I have been blessed to do what many have not had the chance to do and I don't just mean being able to travel. On Friday I finally got a chance to go to Itaewon and got to talking to some U.S. soldiers. After talking with them a bit, I realized these guys didn't I have a clue about what Korea or what Koreans were about. I used to think that only if Americans could travel the world then they would see what it had to offer, but I realized that people could very well travel the world and not notice what was right in front of their eyes. I thank God for not only giving me the opportunity to be where I am, but also for giving me an open mind to experience the amazing things this place and these people have to offer. And that's something you can't get by living day in and day out on a military base.

Yoido Full Gospel Church

2008-09-04T04:39:00.001-07:00

So Wednesday I was able to go see the one thing I've been anticipating to see since I learned I was going on this trip, Yoido Full Gospel Church. Last week Dr. Moon promised me we would tour the building Wednesday as a part of my practicum. For those who don't know, Yoido at 830,000 members is the largest protestant church in the world. When we got there we couldn't find a parking space anywhere. Most Korean establishments don't have parking lots, because of the lack of space they have parking basements. We had to go all the way to the third floor of the basement to find a parking spot. It was kind of scary to think that you were three floors underground. So after we parked and went inside the building, we found out why it was so croweded. Neither one of us knew that they had a Wednesday worship at 12 noon. Actually they have five different Wednesday worhips and all of them were packed. My ingnorance was very apparent since I was wearing a t-shirt, basketball shorts, and flip flops. I felt so weird walking into their worship where everybody was wearing suit and tie and I had on a Uplift t-shirt. When we walked in the sanctuary we couldn't find a seat anywhere. I mean this was the biggest sanctuary I've ever seen...and it was full to capacity. Not to mention that this was a Wednesday worship in the middle of the day! While I was looking for a seat I noticed that EVERYBODY was speaking in tongue. Now I've been to many different kinds of churches but I've never seen a church where everybody caught the Holy Spirit. I mean we had to interrupt one of the ushers who was "feeling it" to have him help us find a seat.

As we were leaving when it was over, we walked by an ATM looking machine. Dr. Moon told me that people use that to give their tithes. Everything in this church was state of the art. One of the reasons Dr. Moon took me to Yoido is because he wanted me to see first hand what he was talking about in his dissertation. Yoido, like many other churches in Korea, lean heavily on what we call "prosperity preaching." Their motto comes from 3 John 2, and it's written all around the church. Dr. Moon told me that this type of doctrine is accepted here because of how closely it's related to Shamanism, a folk religion of Korea. We talked a long time about how even when a new religion is accepted, the one that was engrained before still has an impact on a person. Even as a Church of Christ preacher, he still deals with issues in the church that roots back to folk religions of Korea.

So after an amazing, enlightening morning I was brought back to reality when I step foot in Korean language class. It was the worst two hours of my life. It's bad enough that languages don't register that well with me. But on top of that, my teacher doesn't speak English that well and he's not a Korean language teacher. But it's ok, I'll get through it. Besides, the worst thing that could happen is I fail the class. Well, on second thought that would be pretty bad.

Cold Noodles!

2008-09-02T04:13:00.001-07:00

So today didn't go at all how I planned it. Since I didn't have class today, I woke up and took a shower planning on going to Itaewon which is the part of town where the Army base is. I was ready to see some Americans for a change. So as I was standing by the bus stop waiting to head to Itaewon when one of my friends ran up to me and handed me his cell phone. I was thinking to myself, "Who in the world on this guy's phone could want to speak to me?" When I answered I found out that it was the librarian and she told me that the missionary here on campus, Malcolm Parsley, wanted to meet me. So I headed up to the library and met Dr. Parsley. Dr. Parsley was in the military when he first came to Korea. After his duty was over he went back to the states and got his doctorate from Harding Graduate School of Religion in Memphis, TN and came back to Korea as a missionary. He planted many churches and even was the president of KCU for a while. He took me out to lunch and he introduced me to a new Korean meal, it was basically cold noodles. It was actually pretty good. By the time we got back, it was too late for me to go to Itaewon so I just stayed, finished some homework and hung out in the International Zone. Now the International Zone is a small room in the main building on campus where Korean students come and practice their conversational English. Usually, one of the American professors are in there and they just hang out with the students so they can get comfortable having a conversation in English. I hang out in there sometimes because it's a good place for me to waste time without having to be isolated in my dorm room.

Thanks to Highway

2008-08-31T01:48:00.000-07:00

“Thanks to the Interstate Highway System, it is now possible to travel across the country from coast to coast without seeing anything.” This statement was made by a journalist named Charles Kuralt who was tired of the “cut throat” world of journalism and convinced CBS to let him travel around the country on a motor home doing reports on American lives around the nation. Charles was convinced that to really get to the heart of America one had to travel back roads to get where the real stories were.
This quote makes me think of how my life has become a highway. The technology and fast pace of today’s world have blinded me from the things that I used to appreciate and admire. As shallow as it sounds, it made me think about how I’ve forgotten to just slow down sometimes and admire what God has blessed me with, even if it’s only for a little while. I think that’s why Kuralt’s feature on The CBS Evening Show was such a hit back in the sixties because it showed people the treasures life have to offer that we have so easily looked over. We travel from one place to the other so quickly now that we fail to see what we passed in the process. I pray to God that he gives me the patience to slow down and appreciate what is around me in the present. That I won’t travel the globe and miss the treasures the world has to offer because I was anxious to get to the next phase of life. Most of my blog posts have been about what I’ve done. Little have I reflected on the events and savored the importance of what was really going on. Now that the first week is done hopefully things will slow down a little to where that’s easier to do.

N Seoul Tower

2008-08-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

So Thursday night some of the students from the dorms took me to a Korean style spa. Don told me the name of it but I forgot. Anyway, it reminded of a Japanese Onsen. It had the very hot tub of water, the very cold tub of water, jet massagers, and many different saunas. The biggest difference with this place was when you got done with all that stuff you take a shower and put on these clothes they let you borrow and go to this large room where we met up with the girls that came with us. This large room had televisions, more saunas, and a snack bar. It even had these rooms were people sleep in these large cubby holes. We stayed up for a little bit and ate and played games. Afterwards we went to the “cubby hole” room and slept till the next morning. We got up around 6:00 and headed back to the school.
Later that evening Sang from Hanmee Church of Christ came by the school and showed Don Kinder and I around town. First we went to one of the Palaces here in Seoul. It wasn’t one of the best ones here but it was just as impressive. Afterwards we went to a place called the Korean House and then we ate at this pork cutlet place. Down the street from the restaurant we ate at was the cable car to take us up to the N Seoul Tower. From the top of this tower we were able to see the whole city of Seoul. It was pretty nice. We stayed up there till it got pretty dark so we could see how the city looked when it was light up. Surrounding the deck at the base of the tower was a fence full of pad locks. Sang told us that the pad locks was a new tradition among the new generation. When a new couple is about to marry they connect two padlocks to the fence to represent their lives together forever. Ironically, there was sign that said, “Don’t lose your key.” I thought that was pretty funny. Before we left we watched a band sing a couple of songs and then we headed back to the school.
While we were at the top of tower waiting for it to turn dark, Sang told us his story of how he ended up in Seoul. It was a story of struggle and poverty. As a young man, his dad sent him to the city with what is the equivalent of three dollars for a better life. It’s amazing to see how God has brought him from being a poor farmer in rural Korea to being a hard worker in God’s Kingdom.

"You look like Chris Paul"

2008-08-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

The way class schedules work in Korea is a bit different from the way they work in the States. Instead of having a class two or three times a week, you just have that class one time a week for a really long time. Almost like a block schedule college style. So today I had my class with Don Kinder. I was pretty excited for the simple fact that this was my first and only class that has more than one student. The name of the class is New Testament Church Backgrounds and from the introduction I think I’m really going to enjoy it. After class one of the girls who sat in front of me gave me a piece of chocolate in front of all her friends. Koreans give so much that sometimes you’re not in the right “giving scenario” so it kind of makes you feel weird. For example, I was in the lobby earlier this evening talking with a group of friends I just met and in the midst of our conversation I decided to grab a drink from the machine that was behind me. One of the guys who spoke the best English told me, “She wants to buy drink for you.” I told her that it was ok, but by this time she was already beside me with money in her hand. So I just put my money in the machine first and kind of looked in the opposite direction. She hit the return button put her money in the machine and asked me what beverage I wanted. It was so awkward. This girl that I barely knew was insisting on buying my drink.
Anyway, on a different note, one of my friends in the dorms took me to go buy a phone. Well actually another guy in the dorm gave me his old cell phone and we just had to go get it turned on. So now I have a Korean cell phone! By the time we got back to the school one of the guys asked me to play basketball, so we played till it almost turned dark. While out there the guys figured I could play well solely because I "look like Chris Paul." How wrong they were. Supposedly they play every day at 5:30. I think I’m going to add that to my daily schedule.

Spare Ribs!

2008-08-27T18:54:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty interesting day. I had class this morning with Dr. Moon. It’s a one on one class called Practicum of Ministry. Today we talked about Korean church structures and history of the Korean church; he even gave me his dissertation to read.
For lunch, Don Kinder and I went to Pizza Hut. We ate these mini pizzas that had sweet potatoes on them. I had Korean language class at 3pm. When my teacher arrived at my room, he had no material in his hand. Luckily, he had it in the trunk of his car. After he went over the course syllabus with me, he started telling me how he wanted me to help his daughter learn English. He even invited me to dinner that night. I thought it was a good idea because I had to ride the subway back home by myself and I needed the practice. So we both jumped in his car and headed across town (cross town in Seoul terms mean about an hour and a half drive). Before we got to his house, we stopped at his daycare center. I mean this guy had more occupations than I could count. He is a professor at KCU, he owns a day care, and he’s the minister at a church. And that’s not counting he used to teach English in the high schools here in Seoul. So after we made it to the day care he had the accountant bring us both cups of green tea. Afterwards, he gave me a tour of the day care and then we’re off to his house. We get to his high rise apartment where the entrance gate is opened by a sensor mechanism stuck to his car. It didn’t take me long to realize that these weren’t your middle class apts. We get to his door where I’m welcomed by his wife who is ecstatic to see me. They asked me what kind of food I had a taste for but before I could tell them they decided on Western style food since I had to eat Korean all week in the cafeteria. So they asked me would I mind eating at “Zips.” Of course not to sound picky I nodded in consent. I had never even heard of the place. Before long, I found myself looking at the menu of one of the finest restaurants in Seoul. Oh and for clarification, the name of the restaurant wasn’t “Zips” but “VIPS” (as in V.I.P.S.). I mean even the kids menu was out of my budget. So I got the pork ribs entrée and all the meals came with access to the salad bar. This was the best salad bar I’ve ever been to. It had all different kind of fresh fruit, fruit salad, even different fish and meat. It was basically an appetizer buffet. So we sat and talked and eventually my whole slab of spare ribs came out. After dinner we went back to his apartment and talked a little and tried to figure out a good time for me to come back. By this time, his daughter was done giving her private music lesson. Before I left his wife wouldn’t let me leave without eating some grapes. I told her I was stuffed but she wasn’t hearing it and on my way out the door she stuffed by backpack with chips and cookies. He walked me to the subway station and helped me buy a transportation card and off I went, travelling across Seoul for the first time by myself…and it was at night! It wasn’t so bad. When I got to my station, Hwagok, I had to walk a mile before I made it to the school. Boy, with everyone taking me out to lunch and dinner every day I won’t ever get used to Korean food.
Teaching English in Korea is a big business. As a native speaker from America, everyone is willing to pay you to teach them English. People will go to no end to get you to teach them, or their daughter, English.

Some Random Pictures

2008-08-27T18:49:00.000-07:00

Church Dining Hall

Church Classroom/Sanctuary

Korea Christian University Main Chapel

Dorm Room Pictures!

2008-08-25T20:03:00.001-07:00

Bank of America has nothing on Woori Bank!!!

2008-08-25T00:13:00.000-07:00

So today I got a new perspective about the first day of school. If you don’t know the language stay at home! Wait till the second day when all the Korean literate students get straightened out then go and try to find out what’s going on. At 11:00 o’clock this morning was the opening ceremony which is the tradition on the first day of school here. To be honest, it was no different from the first day of chapel at OC. A couple of songs were sung, a couple of prayers, and the President, who no one really knows, gets up and gives a long speech. Well, at OC I actually like the President’s speech, but it’s kind of hard to appreciate it here since I don’t know the language. After the ceremony, I went to the cafeteria for the first time to eat. The food was ok, but I heard it gets worse.
Later that afternoon, Ronda and I went to the bank to open me a bank account. Unfortunately, I forgot my passport, which is a required document, in my dorm so I just grabbed the application and planned to come back. When I got back to the school I had to go get finger printed for the lock outside of the dorm. Our dorm has a lock mechanism that you have to put a code into then you have to let it scan your thumb. That way you have to be the person who that code was assigned to be able to open the door. It’s a pretty sweet machine. On my way back to Ronda’s office I stopped by the main office to get my schedule. I then stopped by Dr. Moon’s office for him to help me fill out my bank application. Dr. Moon is a bible professor here at KCU and he’s also Korean. But let me tell you why I like Dr. Moon so much. Dr. Moon spent 15 years in Memphis preaching and studying at Harding Graduate School. He came to Memphis in 1983, which means he was there I when I was born! Dr. Moon used to own a house right off of Kirby Pkwy which is close to my house now. He’s the most down to earth person I’ve met so far. We both just sit and talk about our favorite places in Memphis and where we like to eat. Dr. Moon took me to the bank to get everything set up. Earlier while filling out the application he asked me did I want online banking? I told him yes. Well when we figured out how difficult it was to set up he asked me again did I really want it. And again I told him yes. “Why do you want online banking so bad?” So I explained to him that a person like me who doesn’t balance checkbooks well can check their bank balance. “Is that the only reason? You don’t need online banking for that,” he said. At first I didn’t understand why not. But after I got my debit card and my check balance book I soon understood why. Korean ATMs balance your check book for you!!!! It’s the neatest thing I’ve ever seen. When you get your money out of the ATM you then stick your balance book in the machine and the machine prints off your balance on your book. You don’t have to write anything!! It’s the best bank ever! I mean what bank in America actually gives you a debit card on the same day you make the account?! Koreans are so tech savvy it’s ridiculous.

He Prayed That We Might All Be One

2008-08-24T15:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I woke up Sunday morning to attend church. We worshipped at a church called Hanmee Church of Christ. Supposedly, Hanmee suppose to stand for Korean-English. The church is bilingual. Don Kinder is also the preacher there. The location of the church is a converted penthouse that is also used as a non-degree seeking preaching school. The school has six week sessions where they bring in different people for each session. This session they brought in James Burch, an adjunct professor from Pepperdine. We had dinner with him on Saturday. Church started at 11:00am. We sang songs together but in different languages. I’ve been to many foreign and multi-cultural churches alike and I’ve never seen it done that way. To a person who wasn’t singing at all, it probably would sound like racket, but if you were singing you would be so in tuned on the words you were singing, you could hardly tell that others were singing in tongue. Weird, I know. Don preached from Mark 12:28-29. It was a really good sermon. After church every Sunday they have a pot luck lunch. All the food is straight Korean…no holds barred. Like I said earlier, we had eaten at the church Saturday too, and a lot of people complimented me on being able to eat all the Korean food. “Not many Americans like Korean food,” they would say. I must admit it wasn’t my favorite either, but having been to China first, it definitely wasn’t the worst.
After lunch we had bible class. Don usually teaches the English bible class, but since he had just got back to Korea a couple days before I arrived, he didn’t have a lesson so we just talked. When bible class ended, Sang, the director of the preaching school and the translator for worship, was walking around preparing for a baptism. His son and another young man were giving their life over to Christ. It was two this Sunday, but last Sunday they baptized four other ones. Ironically, this was not normal for me. I’m used to attending churches where baptisms were as rare as six every two months, not every two weeks! Sang had me take the pictures. It felt good to be needed on my first Sunday at my new church. The church has about thirty members.
Later that evening I watched the USA play Spain in basketball. It was a close game but they pulled it off. Afterwards, I got in the mood to play a little basketball myself, so I went to the courts outside and broke in my new KBA (Korea Basketball Association) basketball I bought at HomePlus the day before. That night, my dorm inspector bought me and some other guys in the dorm some Chinese food. I guess it was kind of like a “welcome to the dorm” gift. It was really good. They were all asking me a lot of questions. Joseph, a guy I met on my first day, was there and I met a new guy named David.
I found out that not only am I the first exchange student from OC to come to KCU, but I’m the first American exchange student ever to come to KCU. I guess I’m making history! Well today is my first day of school and like always the first day of school is always the most exciting. This place is wonderful and everyone does their best to make sure I’m comfortable. I’m really glad I’m here.

New Residence: Seoul, South Korea

2008-08-22T22:55:00.000-07:00

I’m finally here. After 19 straight hours of travelling, I made it here at 2:50pm on August 22 (12:50am on August 22 Central Time). The plane ride wasn’t so bad; I got to watch Kung Fu Panda, Made of Honor, House M.D., and House of Payne.
When I got off the plane I went to baggage claim to pick up my luggage to find out that my body wash spilled over some of my belongings. Luckily, nothing was permanently damaged. Mr. Ru (sp?) and Ronda Everson was right outside the baggage claim holding a sign that said, “Marshall Wade,” so it wasn’t hard to find them. The clouds outside were a dark grey and it was drizzling constantly all day, not a good impression of the city. It took us about an hour to get to the school where Mr. Ru got a student to show me where my dorm was. When I got there I made a claim never to talk about OC housing again. My dorm was smaller than my private dorm I had as a freshmen at OC. And to make matters even worse, it had three beds in it! One of my roommates were already there, his name was Husun (sp?). I asked was another person coming and nobody was for sure, but most of them thought somebody else was on their way sometime over the weekend. So I dropped my bags and we all went to eat. By this time, Ronda’s two children, Samuel, 19, Winter, 14, and Don Kinder, a teacher at KCU had made it. We walked to this restaurant that was down the street from the school. I had a pork cutlet, curry, and rice. And of course, like every other meal here, it had Kim chi. Dinner was pretty good. As we walked back in the rain, I realized that I was going to need an umbrella. When I asked Don where I could get one, he just simply gave me his when we made it back to the dorm. When I arrived at my dorm John, the student president, was there to welcome me. Afterwards I headed to my dorm and unpacked. I think that was when it hit me that this was not a weeklong vacation. Once I was done I immediately made my bed and went to sleep. Due to jet lag, I woke up around 2a.m. Don warned me of that. After about an hour, I fell asleep again to wake up at 6a.m. That time I decided to get up and go watch some T.V. in the lounge area. Surprisingly, they had a couple of channels that aired movies in English. I decided to watch Forrest Gump. This is turning out to be a wonderful place. I think I can make it here for four months.

Seven Hours Before Take Off!

2008-08-20T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well the time has come for me to stop talking about it and for this thing to become reality. I just finished installing Skype for my mom now we can talk as much as we want to :) Good news is Oklahoma Christian has just issued me a new Apple MacBook so she can see me due to the built-in camera, but the bad news is she doesn't have a camera so I can't see her. But anyway, I'm just blessed to have the communication I do have. It makes me wonder how missionaries did it many years ago. How could they go that long without even talking to their families?

I'm so anxious right now that it's 10:51 and I can't even sleep! Well I think I better use this time to pray about the next four months, so until next time, keep me in your prayers that I have a safe flight and that this trip to Seoul will not only be a learning experience for me, but it will also be an avenue to win souls to Christ.

Some quick thank you's to some wonderful people in my life....

My mom, Pamela Jones
My mentor, Benny Walls
Brian Plumb
Ben Glover
Oakcrest Youth Group (you guys are awesome)
Spencer Youth Group (I can't wait to see you guys again)
Danny and Cindy Minor
John Osborne
Don Kinder
Ronda Everson
Don and Marcia Drew
Nia Kimble
Emroy Jones
Daniel Randolph

You guys have encouraged/helped me more than you will ever know, and I think it's only right that you know that I appreciate it!

Complacency

2008-08-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Man, there’s so much I have to do before leaving. I had to cancel my auto insurance last week and just yesterday I had to call and put my cell phone on a cheaper plan since I won’t be using it while I’m gone. I even had to make sure the couple of monthly bills I have are put on an automatic payment plan since I won’t be here to pay them manually like usual. It takes a lot of work tying loose ends. No matter how much packing and preparation I do I never feel like I'm finished. It makes me think that if preparing to leave the country is this stressful that leaving this world would probably give me a nervous breakdown.
Is it even possible for a person be prepared to leave this world? I mean after everything on my “to do” list is done, I still won’t feel “ready” to go. There will always be something in the back of my mind telling me there’s more to do. That’s why it’s hard for me to understand people who seem like they get complacent with life. It’s like they don’t realize there was a reason for God blessing them with more time. Someone once told me that it’s easy to have purpose and dreams when you’re a young radical college student, but once you get older the daily grind of things just makes life more routine. I pray that my life never gets that way. I pray that my reality never gets so far from my dreams that I settle for mediocre living.

No English On Sunday Morning

2008-08-16T21:59:00.000-07:00

Wow! Time is winding down. Tomorrow will be my last Sunday in America for nearly four months. To a person who has never spent a long period of time in a non-English speaking country, this doesn’t sound like a big deal. Oh, but it is. In 2006 I spent two months in Asia. That trip showed me how detrimental that amount of time can be without a worship service in your own language. My spiritual food was not being spoon fed to me like I was used to. Back in America I was more of a spiritual consumer rather than a spiritual producer. I would go to church, get my dosage of the Word, and then pretty much be done with God till the next appointed time.
So taking all that in consideration, I’m going to enjoy my last Sunday in America, but I’m also going to make some serious changes to my spiritual diet this time around. I’m going to take my spirituality into my own hands. I will read my bible regularly and pray constantly. I’m going to make sure this trip is an opportunity for God to get closer versus it been an opportunity for Satan to push Him further away.