Part 68 - Writing from Korea

Good morning everyone, :-)

 

Hope everyone has had a great couple months.  Things have changed drastically weatherwise since last writing.  October 1st the temperature plunged from being in the 90s to the 50s - overnight.  Now it is down even further and we are wearing our down coats and warmup pants.  That is one thing that I had to adjust to when coming here.  Unlike Canada or the US where people wear snowsuits basically on the mountain or snowy days - people here wear them as fashion outfits all winter...shopping, or roaming around town. 

Harvey is a cold little dude these days.  I took him in for a grooming and expected her to do a short shave but she literally shaved him down to his skin.  I think he had more hair when he was an embryo in his mum's womb.  The good part is that he won't need to go back before we take off on our trip this winter to see family and friends. :-)  Will be going to Palm Springs and Mexico to see Joe and Col in Mazatlan.

A group of us got together and went hiking around the Seoul Wall.  There is a wall around my city but this one is even larger.  We hired a guide so he could tell us all the Korean history as we were walking.

I thought this was an interesting picture because it shows that there basically are only three car colours in Korea: white, black, and gray.  Occasionally there will be an odd colour one but not often.  It is SOOOO important for Koreans to fit in with each other that they all try to be similar.

Kimchee making time is very close.  The neighbors are all drying their peppers and other ingredients.

Every morning at 6am I walk through the park with the dogs.  It is very cool I think that these Korea men are always there playing soccer.  Good exercise to start the day.

I can't believe it took me this long to buy a heated mattress pad.  It is just thin plastic that lays under my bed roll on the floor at night, but I love it because now when the room is freezing cold, the mattress...and me, and Harvey and Pearl are cozy warm.  I found that turning on the ondol at night made the floor warm but it also made the room almost too warm to sleep, so this is great.

This is Estelle, another sister from New York that just moved in.  Also we had another brother from California arrive, so it is nice to have more native speakers.

I thought that some of you might find this interesting.  The crime rate is so low in Korea that they leave really expensive stuff laying around.  Here they were setting up for a concert and didn't have enough time to finish so left it overnight in the park UNGUARDED.  I found it when I was walking H&P in the morning.  I am sure all the lighting equipment, keyboards, and speakers would have been gone in a flash if this were North America.  But times are changing here too, so I would expect in a couple years this won't happen anymore.

Meeting days are long sometimes, but we often go for dinner at a little place that serves Western style food before catching our buses and trains to go home.  There aren't many places that serve western food so we were really happy to find it.  Recently, Bethel removed all the Bethel workers from our congregations - apparently the fuel prices make it too pricey to send them.  Gas here is $7 a gallon.  Even though we won't be able to see the foreigners that live there as often as before now, we will be able to get to know the Filippino brothers and sisters more, so that will be a bonus. :-)

 

Okay, lots of love to everyone. :-)  I am looking forward to seeing as many as possible when I get over there.  Also, very excited to have a steak once again.  My director was telling me he was shocked when he went to the States for a conference a couple years ago because he went to a supermarket and saw that a steak that would cost $50 here was only $4 there.  Anyways,  will be a nice break.  Will probably write once more before going but in the meanwhile, everyone take really good care...and don't forget to have some fun everyday.

 

Love,

d  :-)