Okay. Some pictures.

I posted a lot of pictures.
I think 22 of them.
You might want to find the first one and then look at them from the bottom up, because that's chronological. Or not. Whatever suits you.
It's 2:12am, and I have to work tomorrow.
Good thing I got tons of sleep today!
Rock on.

The department store where we went on our Tuesday jailbreak, and where we tried to eat on our last night -- alas, closed for remodeling, but we got to eat Korean barbeque at that cool restaurant instead 

A busy main street 

The back street where we found that restaurant 

Just us girls (Lane, me, Lina, Malinda), at dinner our last night in Korea 

Another view of the church where the Conference was 

The church that hosted the Conference, side view 

A woman singing in between sessions, in traditional Korean dress 

Inside the church where the Conference was held. It was massive. 

Candler street preachers, behind a smaller version of the pulpit in the church where the Conference was held. 

The Korean Pastors' Wives Choir singing to the World Methodist Conference 

Traditional Korean breakfast, prepared for us by a church where we attended 6:30am prayers (their second service of the day). There were noodle dishes, several types of kimchi, fried squash, and fish. We drank fresh tomato juice and Korean style (read: instant with powdered cream and sugar already added) coffee. 

Letting off steam at, that's right, Outback. We needed a meal that did not include kimchi. And it was good. 

At the Conference, there were lots of ladies in traditional Korean dresses, just bowing all day. That would be the least fun volunteer job. They lined the entrance area, stood at all elevator and stairwells, and greeted us at the sanctuary. They were beautiful, and I became accustomed to bowing to any and everyone I saw. And I said "kawmap-sumneeda" (thank you) to everyone, too. 

At that Chinese restaurant with some of the St. Paul kids. 

Lane and me eating some weird black noodle dish at a CHINESE restaurant with the St. Paul crowd. I got pretty good at chopsticks (the eating utensils, not the song...) 

Shopping in Itaewon.  

That changing of the guards ceremony I mentioned. All the beards were fake. Sorry to destroy your illusions.  

Eating at Lina's favorite restaurant. I am so thankful Lina was with us, and so regretful that she was used as a translator instead of being able to just be a student. 

At the palace. There were always mountains around. Seoul is surrounded by them. Dana would love it. 

Standing near a "guard" at the palace we toured. His beard is fake. Later we saw a ceremony that replicated the changing of the guards at that palace. 

In the elevator with Malinda, I mean Malida, getting ready to finally be tourists 

The view at the Seminar House on our rainy first 3 days in S.Korea 

The group with Bishop Kim and his wife 

Home sweet home

I'm back in the ATL.
Korea was lovely, and I wish I could have experienced more of it. But I am glad to be home.
I didn't get to do much tourist-y stuff, but I did visit one palace, shop a bunch and spend a LOT of time in churches.
Friendships were made/strengthened, kimchi was eaten, and new people from around the world were met.
It was nice.
I griped a lot about not getting to do as much cultural stuff as I wanted, the beds and pillows were hard as rocks, we spent 3 hours on buses everyday, and I could have done without the 14 hour plane rides.
But I had a good trip.
I got back yesterday at 11am. I went to bed at 10pm and got up at 4pm. It wasn't all jet lag. The sleeping pill I took at 6am might have had something to do with it...
And tonight I went to a Braves game.
I love baseball.
Rock on.

Some Stories from Korea

Yesterday, an 18 year old Korean girl named Felicity who is volunteering at the Conference walked me down the street to an ATM. She was wearing a traditional Korean dress, with sneakers underneath. She was quite chatty and proficient in English. She asked me if Iwas in school, and after I explained that I'm done with college and back in school again, I found out that she goes to high school in St. Paul, MN. While we were walking, some women stopped us and asked to take a picture with us. They told Felicity that they hadnever met a foreign person. I bet her traditionaldress didn't hurt either. On the way back, another woman scolded Felicity for wearing her dress out on the street, saying that she should go home. Anyway,today Felicity is volunteering in the computer lab,and when my computer wouldn't work I asked her to help me. She pounded on the keyboard with both hands, said"This computer sucks!" and led me to another one.

Here'sone more story from today:
Some cute variously-aged and variously-dressed Korean kids did a performance for us earlier. While they sang in Korean, danced, and played instruments, theEnglish words to their song flashed across the bottom of the huge tv screens that project what's happeningon the stage. The song was about a town that got sad and afraid, but then Jesus came and everything was happy and bright. So, at one point it was talking about Jesus being humbled into human form and it said"Jesus even took off his underwear and became a naked human baby." I promise.

I had to walk out of the Korean Cultural Night. Several factors contributed to my speedy exit. 1) The church is massive, and has been cold thus far,but I suppose the whole congregation came out tonight so it is full and hot in the "sanctuary" (it's more like a stadium).
2) The minister of this church gave a lecture aboutchurch growth for 45 minutes before the program even started. He is one of several brothers who are all bishops in the Korean Meth. Church, and who have built massive mega-churches. This is not the largest, but on Sunday we will attend the largest Methodist church in the world -- 95,000 members. Anyway, I suppose this brother felt like since we were in his church he should get to give a spiel (sp?).
3) There are lots of lilies in this building, and they stink. There are other flowers, too, but the lilies are the smelliest ones. Lilies are beautiful, but I can't handle too much of the smell. So, the heat, uncomfortableness after having sat forever, and the smell all came together and I was overwhelmed and felt a bit ill.

I'd better get back.

Korea

So, I'm in Korea.

I'm here on a trip with school, taking a seminar for evangelism credit. We have been in sessions most of the time, with small chunks of free time every day. However, we are at a conference center at least an hour outside Seoul, in a tiny little town with no shops to speak. The conference center is on top of a hill in the mountains, so the view is beautiful.
(Pictures later. Never fear.)

Evidently, we are here during the annual three weeks of heavy rain. This year the rain has resulted in the worst flooding pretty much ever for Seoul. The flooding has mostly subsided, but some roads are still under water in Seoul. I am staying up in some mountains, and it has been rainy here every day until today, but not floody.

We have been pretty much secluded in the seminar house (conference center). By yesterday, we students started to get a little stir crazy. We came here wanting to experience the culture and see the sights, and we have felt pretty detached from the rest of the world since we've been sitting in lectures all day every day. We have had some adventures outside the seminar house, finally.

Yesterday, we got stir crazy and talked a staff person into driving us to a store. It turned out that he had a regular 4 door car, and there were 5 of us. So Skip sat in front with the driver, and the 4 of us girls (Lane, Lina, Malinda and I) piled in the back seat. We giggled for the whole 45 minute trip there, and then we wandered for 30 minutes, and then we piled back in the car for the ride back for class. The store was really just a department store, like Macy's, with a market in the bottom. But we were able to buy Cokes and candy.

Today, we had free time and scheduled touring. We were able to convince the grown-ups (group leaders/staff) to rearrange the schedule so that we could commence the tourism sooner. We went into Seoul and shopped, had lunch at Lina's favorite restaurant, and met a group of students from St. Paul (UM) Seminary to tour a palace (GteongBokgung Palace). After the palace, we visited a shrine to Catholic martyrs -- Decapitation Mountain. After that cheerful stop (at which there was a drink machine -- COKE!), we headed to Itaewon shopping district. Itaewon turned out to be more touristy and not as nice as the place we went earlier with Lina, who is the Korean student on the trip with us. For dinner, we went to a Chinese restaurant that is a favorite of the Korean professor with the St. Paul group.

Without Lina, we would not know what we were eating, how much things should cost, or how to interact with local folks. She pretty much rocks.

I'm tired. Tomorrow, the World Methodist Conference starts. We have to leave at 7:30am in order to make it on time for the opening worship at the church where the Conference is being held. We'll see how that goes. I'm pretty stoked about the World Methodist Conference, since there will be Methodist folks from around the world. Rock on, Wesleyan connectionalism.

Cheesy Tourist Photos in Portland