Another weekend

Saturday, February 24th,

I decided to go to the COEX mall again. I like the Bandi and Luni's bookstore there since they have a big selection of foreign books, especially teaching material. They have quite a few other stores and it is quite popular with Koreans and the foreign crowd.

I needed to find a business English book since Pagoda doesn't have any materials for the highest level, "real business" class. Next Friday, I will transfer locations and start teaching "real business" with my curriculum. I figure that it should be fun, but require lots of work planning my classes.


Sunday, February 25th,

I decided to switch churches, since I am learning Korean at a snail's pace. Dr. Kim directed me to the MyungSung Church since it is nearby and has an English service. The English service was ok, but it seemed strange being at such a large church. The English service isn't even in the main church building and there was maybe seating for 400 or so. When I arrived, I was greeted by a welcoming staff that had me fill out a newcomer form. I was a little nervous because they had sectional seating for various cells. I guess the cells meet in smaller groups since it is a large congregation. As a newcomer, I was seated near the front. Towards the end of the service, all newcomers were asked to come up front so we could meet the pastor. As we were greeted, he handed us a gift, which happened to be two pens. After the service, I was introduced to a gentleman who asked if I had any questions. He asked me some basic information about me. I was the only "foreign" newcomer, so the other newcomers were with another person. I am not sure why, but every person that asked me questions at church didn't seem to understand my answers. I guess none of my answers are simple because of where I live, how I found my job, how long will I be in Korea, etc. I am not sure if they are worried that I am in Korea for a short time and won't visit their church for long or what. There reactions were strange, but maybe it will be different next week.

After church (services is from 1:20pm-3pm), I went to meet Ah Rong (Ellie). For those who don't know, she is from Inchon and came to UND to study English from March to December 2006. Today was the first time I had seen her since we flew to Korea on the same flight.

We met at the City Hall subway station since it is about the halfway point for each of us. It takes her about 40 minutes to get there and I took about 35 minutes. First, we went to an old palace, Deoksugung, which was of importance only when Japan invaded in 1593. The area was nice with a few different old wooden structures. After, we walked around downtown and then took the subway to Insadong. This area is in the middle of downtown, but it still has the traditional Korean look. Many of the shops sell antiques and other traditional Korean items. We stopped at a noodle shop where a man in the front window shows how to make fresh hand-made noodles. It involves a lot stretching, pulling, flouring of the dough. It was delicious and cheap. We walked by various shops and stopped for tea. Conversation wasn't too great since we both are listeners. She is going to be a teacher and I am a teacher, so it should seem that conversation starting would be easier, but it wasn't. Last, we walked along Cheonggye Stream. It is a nicely lit area that starts as a waterfall and continues as a stream and it is about 20 feet below street level. It provides a nice area in the middle of the city to walk and talk.