Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. ---William Butler Yeats

This blog is dedicated to a little bit of education about Korean restaurants, food, and the business district of Yeouido-dong. Hope you don't find it too boring. I got really excited learning about it, but then I am going there! (That still blows my mind.)

I have been reading a lot of the information that has come to me through the agency and found I really don't know much about Seoul! I guess I ignorantly thought that having been there once made me an authority--oops, wrong assumption! I wrongly assumed we would be staying in the same hotel in Seoul that we stayed in 3 years ago, and when I found out we weren't--I started to do a little research. You see, I like things familiar, safe and in my comfort zone! Now I find that I won't be anywhere near where we were before so things like finding a good little breakfast place, internet cafe', and mandu restaurant is going to be an adventure all over again.

So....I got on the internet and started looking up the area that we staying in, and I am pretty excited! I think I can feel that fire building. (You gotta know me, I don't like change and this was flipping me out a little.) But now...I am feeling better. I have printed off about 6 pages of cool places to eat within walking distance of the Lexington Hotel.

• There is the Seo-Do restaurant which is famous for it's 5 layers of fat pork barbeque that is cooked on a slate burner right at your table. I guess the norm for this kind of feast is 3 layers of fat!!
• There is the Samgyetang which is famous for it's soup which is very healthy and good for you. (Gonna need it after five layers of fat!) Sam means ginsing; gyae means chicken; and tang means soup. Thus, it is a restaurant known for it's Ginseng chicken soup. But....you get the WHOLE chicken stuffed with rice, ginsing, and other roots and nuts brought to you in a large heavy bowl---all boiling hot! I guess you can get a half a chicken portion also.
• There is the KDB Cafeteria and Art Gallery: Food and Sculptures! It's in a government building that looks very modern and has a cafeteria that was rated as pretty decent food.
• The last place that I read about with some interest was a Western Bar just out the back of our hotel called Wingswing. It's run by a Korean man who spent 20 years in New York City and Atlanta. It's famous for, of course....wings!!

So....now I feel like I know the neighborhood of our hotel. In Korea, the area or neighborhood, of an area is indicated by adding the word "dong" to the end of it. Since we will be staying in Yeouido-dong I checked up on it and found out another very interesting tidbit. Right next door to the hotel is a HUGE christian church, which packs in almost 12,000 people each Sunday. It holds services in a huge stadium. I am pretty excited to try to get to it. It is the Yoido Full Gospel church founded by David Yonggi Cho. It seems to have a pretty good theology although in reading about it, it does seem to have a "health and wealth" spin on it. According to one article I read, that is because of the influence of shamanism on Christianity. (You see, it really got me going and I spent about 2 1/2 hours researching the Yeouido Island that we will be staying on!) I think I will be able to attend one of the services, because most of the tour group won't be arriving until a little later in the afternoon on Sunday, June 25th and I will be getting there on the 21st.

If you are interested in seeing some pictures the Island we will be staying on here is a link. The island looks beautiful and Mike and I were amazed at the size of the church. I tried to get the link to the church to work, but it didn't. If you're interested you can "google" the Yoido Full Gospel church.

• The link for some pictures of the island and some buildings on the island including the church are:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yeouido when you get to this one click on pictures of the Han River, the 63 building and many others on that page. It's pretty cool.

Well, this one has been a little more info filled and less "worry" filled or asking for prayers. I still covet your prayers for this trip...but wanted to write about something different this time.

Thanks again for reading my ramblings.

Peg

Two people shorten a road. (Irish Proverb)

Lately I have been getting some emails from (Pat) the gal that I am going to be working pretty closely with while in Korea. I am very excited to get to know her better and share a room with her. But I have also been praying that we will be able to get along well and be considerate of each other's needs and wishes. I am quite confident that we will get along quite well, but 17 days is a long time and I don't want to get on her nerves by doing something that I don't even realize is bothersome.

We were part of the tour together 3 years ago; she took her family as a part of the tour group rather than going as part of the staff and they traveled on our bus with us. We did seem to get along quite well and I think we can accomplish much together.

When I read the above proverb, I pray that Pat and I will be able to be like those two people: compatible enough to shorten the road for each other. I really want to be an effective staff person for the tour group, but I also want to be a good support person for the staff--helping where I can and giving support where it is needed. It makes a little nervous to be thrown together with someone I haven't seen in 3 years and then only knew for 10 days. Can I really do this job? I hope so. Most days I feel confident, and then other days....you know how it goes! I ask for your prayers too.

So....I pray that I don't hog the bathroom, manipulate conversations, or talk in my sleep. I hope that I remember to look for ways to may her day better, a little easier and less stressful. I think our road will be shorter if I can keep a perspective like that. And I pray that God will give us both a spirit of consideration and easy-goingness as we room together. It reminds me of going potluck in college, with a roomie you don't know. I didn't have that--I roomed with my best friend from high school all four years (by the way she is still my dearest friend, so God has blessed me richly.) But I don't have that experience to draw from.

Can I do this job? Sometimes I feel like I don't know, and that question can't be answered until I am in Korea. I do know that I am very excited to go. If you check the countdown a few posts down its only about 2 months away. I believe that in those 2 months God will better equip me. Please keep me in your prayers.
Thanks for your support,
Peg

"Faith never knows where it is being led, but it loves and knows the One who is leading." --Oswald Chambers

These days that is how I am feeling. I know WHO is leading, and I am trying very hard to trust, but things are moving very fast and I am feeling like life is spinning a bit out of control. An aquaintence of mine helped me decide that I am not having a mid-life crisis but rather a mid-life adventure! Feels like a little of both to me.

Last week I resigned from my job at Field's so that I can work at Appledorn Living Center. They are graciously letting me work on-call until after my trip to Korea!! All of my paperwork to register for classes at Hope is due this week and of course, all the Dutch stuff is coming due in the next few weeks! AHH!!

And this weekend I received the paperwork to get the ball rolling for my trip to Korea. I sent copies of my passport to the travel agency, made sure I have travel insurance, and sent in my preference not to sleep ondol style for a few nights. Ondol style means to sleep on the floor on a mat, in a more traditional style. I think I will be a bit too tired and need to just drop down on a bed when the end of the day comes.

But, through it all, I really feel that God has opened all the doors and led me to this--but I like to know ahead of time where I am going. And He hasn't always let me know that...and it's seems it's going to be that way with my responsibilities for Korea, too. And maybe that's because they can't be forseen. (I might be putting out fires as they arise, and we can't know what they are.) I just know that I am getting a little itchy about it!

I know I need to remember to enjoy the journey and trust Who is leading me, or the trip could be over before I have had a chance to enjoy it. I will have worried it away and not truly had the experience I could have.

On a less philosophical note, I got the cutest pj's for the trip tonight! See...that's enjoying the journey, right?! I always just wear one of Mike's big t-shirts and I thought my roomie deserved to have something a little nicer, so Younkers had some cute ones half price.

Thanks for listening to me ramble!

Peg