Getting from Rising Star Outreach to Seoul, So. Korea was an adventure, too. Diane and I left Rising Star Friday at 2:00 PM, drove over 2 hours back to Chennai, shopped for a short while, flew out of Chennai for Mumbai (Bombay) at 9:10 PM (our flight was delayed for about an hour), flew out of Mumbai for Incheon at 4:10 AM. I got about 4 hours of sleep total on the planes, but I wasn’t really tired the whole first day in Seoul, which surprised me.
Tayler and Meghan picked us up at the Incheon International Airport. It was so great to see the kids! I almost started crying in the airport. Tayler and Meghan have been so good to us. They pushed all of our luggage, got a cab, had little booties, mesh sponges and towels laid out for us on our beds when we arrived.
They had been asking us what special food we'd like them to get for us. My request was pancakes, so Sunday night we had pancakes (Krustez is the only kind of pancake mix they could find here, which neither Tayler nor I like all that much at home, but HERE, it was WONDERFUL to just have a "normal" all American breakfast) and bacon. They've really made an effort to make us feel at home, and it's so nice to be in a semi-normal apartment. We can even drink the water out of the faucet and have hot showers (you DO have to turn the hot water on ahead of time, however, like I did in Kenya and also at Rising Star)! What more could a person ask for?
The first night we were here, we went out for Chinese food. That was my first (and last) attempt at kimchi (fermented cabbage with hot chili soy sauce)… hum… It was freezing cold outside. Unfortunately, I’ve got very few warm clothes. I sent a coat, gloves, sweater, and turtleneck to Tayler before I left, and Diane brought my shoes, socks, and another sweater with her. I’m going to get really sick of the two pairs of long pants I have after wearing them for two weeks straight. My skin is super dry here. I feel like an old prune. I’ve gotten used to the warm/hot humid climates I’ve been living in for four months, so this is a real shock to my system.
Sunday, Tayler and I went into Seoul to go to church. Later, we went to Seoul Tower where you can see 360 degrees around the city. It was awesome. You can even see a mountain that is only about 20 miles from North Korea. Seoul has about 10 million, and Seoul/Incheon area has about 15 million people.
A view of Seoul from one of the panoramic windows. No. Korea is on the other side of these mountains.
It’s a very busy place, but I have to say, it’s 500% cleaner and nicer than anywhere we’ve been since I left the USA. ALMOST all of the bathrooms we’ve been in here have been clean and have sit-down, flush toilets, toilet paper, soap, and running water to wash with. I had a hard time believing that the water at the airport really was okay to drink, even though it said it was purified and okay to drink. I’m not used to drinking water most anywhere anymore unless it’s from a bottle.
The streets are clean, people are clean and tidy, cars drive fairly normally (comparatively speaking), and everything seems rather orderly. Cars don’t honk much (but they still do a little), and it seems quieter than most places we’ve been. Koreans, however, are NOT the friendliest people by a long shot, and the majority don’t seem to speak much English. I’ve found out that they learn to read and write English in school, but they don’t have conversational English lessons, so they can’t really speak it very well. They are also probably the rudest (well, they run a tight race with the Indians) when it comes to standing in lines or entering somewhere. They just push their way forward no matter who is in front of them. That has gotten to be more than a bit annoying both in India and here.
Monday, Diane and I went into Seoul and visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the Folk Museum, and Insadong Market. That was a lot of fun, but it takes a LOT of time to get anywhere. From here, we took a taxi, two metros, three taxis, three metros, and a taxi to go from here to Seoul and back home again! We met Tayler and Meghan at the metro to go to a restaurant for Korean BBQ, which was really fun. They bring the meat strips right to your table and you cook it yourself on a built-in grill on the table. Then you make little rolled up things with a lettuce leaf, the meat, raw garlic (everyone smells like garlic here!), and a bunch of other things they bring to your table. I really liked it, but some of the food was too spicy for my stomach, so I passed on that.
The ceiling inside one of the buildings. They are all very beautiful.
Outside the Folk Museum.
On the metro on our way home, they had a monitor with news bites. We discovered that Kim Jon Il, the President of North Korea, had died of a heart attack. No wonder there were so many military men getting onto the metro earlier in the day! Things seem fairly normal here still, but the won (their currency) took a dip on Tuesday. The So. Korean government was slow to respond to send their condolences to No. Korea, but they eventually did. There is heightened security.
This monitor says, "N. Korean leader dies at 69 after decades of Iron-fist rule."
Tuesday, Diane and I went to the Seoul, So. Korea Temple. It took us pretty much the whole day. It’s a beautiful temple. It was so nice to finally be able to go to a temple again after all these months! We ate dinner at Tayler and Meghan’s apartment. It was one of the best meals I’ve eaten since I left home! It was more like I normally eat – salmon, baked potato, asparagus, tossed salad. I was in heaven!
Diane left Wednesday morning for home. She was very excited to be going home and seeing her family again. This was a long trip for her. I was grateful for the time we spent together. Neither of us would have done some of the things we did together if we hadn’t been together, so she added to my trip for sure.
I started getting a runny nose and sore throat Tuesday night. That’s the first time I’ve gotten sick since I left home. Yesterday, I slept almost the whole day. I was just glad that I didn’t have to go anywhere at all. The kids are still teaching, so they were gone most of the day, anyway. It was nice to just “be home” and not have to run off somewhere. Today has been about the same, but I’m feeling a little bit better. We are going to dinner tonight with Miss Hong and Mr. Jong, teachers at the Incheon International High School where the kids teach. It’s been bitter cold (it was 13 degrees farenheit when we arrived), but I’ll bundle up and have a great time.
Hope you are warm and happy wherever you are.
Kadi
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