So this has been my second
weekend here in Hwacheon. One of my goals for being placed in a small town is to
get to know some random people and make a little niche in the community, even
if it’s for only one year. This weekend may have been the start to that.
Early Saturday morning, I headed out of the apartment bound for a coffee shop, hoping to have some alone time while enjoying my two addictions – Jesus and coffee time. Ordering my typical Caramel macchiato, I was disappointed to see that this new shop apparently thought the 5000 won beverage only consisted of frothed milk and caramel. I went ahead and ordered a double shot of espresso to go with my sugary steamed milk. It wasn’t until I was pouring my espresso into my Caramel macchiato that the cashier realized he forgot to add the coffee. I knew how embarrassed he could have been! Explaining that he was so tired and he just opened the shop last month, he apologized relentlessly as he gave me a refund, a coupon and later free iced tea. I was thoroughly entertained. Soon enough his apologizing turned into a full out conversation, with me telling him about West Virginia, learning about his view on Korean vs. American culture, swapping favorite songs, and me introducing him to Josh Turner (Long Black Train). Listening to Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree, I mentioned that my Dad is a very jovial, happy hearted man and tied yellow ribbons around our birch tree when I returned from college one year. Gun (the coffee shop owner) went on to say how he wished Korean fathers could be better friends with their children rather than demanding so much respect. I see this as a balance issue as children must respect their parent’s authority, but the relationship should be as such that they get to a point of mutual friendship as well. I am very grateful to have that with both of my parents. Needless to say, I didn’t get much “alone time” that morning, but it was neat to get to know a fellow Hwacheon-ite.
Going to church Sunday, I didn’t know how this week’s service would turn out, since the only words from the sermon that I understood last week were Jesus and love. However, this week everyone was really welcoming and at the end of the service, they called out my name and I had to stand in front of the entire congregation – in Korea, I’m getting used to getting put on the spot I guess. Filing out of service my host mom translated on her phone “preacher refreshments.” Only vaguely understanding what that meant, I agreed and before I knew it she was ushering me into a small room with rice cakes and rice water set up around a small table with the pastor and deans of the church sitting in a circle. They shut the door and asked me a list of questions about myself – I take this as my initiation into the church, even though none of them spoke English. They seemed very welcoming and it is times like this I wish I could have communicated better. They seem like such sweet people to get to know. After a fifteen minute discussion of them talking about me in Korean while I just smiled and nodded my head, I got a picture taken with the pastor. After the church luncheon (which I think they have every week) I got to meet several of the college age Youth Group students there. Conversation was slow moving, but they seemed really open to getting to know me.
Upon returning home, I went to Café Bene to work on lesson plans. This turned out also to stray from my original intentions since it appears the entire Church Youth group came shortly after I arrived. Remembering my name (and I embarrassingly forgot all of theirs), many of them came over to me one by one asking for my number. This turned into me joining their table and attempting to convey our many questions we had for one another through the one and only Google Translate and charades. It was a pleasant afternoon and I hope to get to know them throughout my time here!
Early Saturday morning, I headed out of the apartment bound for a coffee shop, hoping to have some alone time while enjoying my two addictions – Jesus and coffee time. Ordering my typical Caramel macchiato, I was disappointed to see that this new shop apparently thought the 5000 won beverage only consisted of frothed milk and caramel. I went ahead and ordered a double shot of espresso to go with my sugary steamed milk. It wasn’t until I was pouring my espresso into my Caramel macchiato that the cashier realized he forgot to add the coffee. I knew how embarrassed he could have been! Explaining that he was so tired and he just opened the shop last month, he apologized relentlessly as he gave me a refund, a coupon and later free iced tea. I was thoroughly entertained. Soon enough his apologizing turned into a full out conversation, with me telling him about West Virginia, learning about his view on Korean vs. American culture, swapping favorite songs, and me introducing him to Josh Turner (Long Black Train). Listening to Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree, I mentioned that my Dad is a very jovial, happy hearted man and tied yellow ribbons around our birch tree when I returned from college one year. Gun (the coffee shop owner) went on to say how he wished Korean fathers could be better friends with their children rather than demanding so much respect. I see this as a balance issue as children must respect their parent’s authority, but the relationship should be as such that they get to a point of mutual friendship as well. I am very grateful to have that with both of my parents. Needless to say, I didn’t get much “alone time” that morning, but it was neat to get to know a fellow Hwacheon-ite.
Going to church Sunday, I didn’t know how this week’s service would turn out, since the only words from the sermon that I understood last week were Jesus and love. However, this week everyone was really welcoming and at the end of the service, they called out my name and I had to stand in front of the entire congregation – in Korea, I’m getting used to getting put on the spot I guess. Filing out of service my host mom translated on her phone “preacher refreshments.” Only vaguely understanding what that meant, I agreed and before I knew it she was ushering me into a small room with rice cakes and rice water set up around a small table with the pastor and deans of the church sitting in a circle. They shut the door and asked me a list of questions about myself – I take this as my initiation into the church, even though none of them spoke English. They seemed very welcoming and it is times like this I wish I could have communicated better. They seem like such sweet people to get to know. After a fifteen minute discussion of them talking about me in Korean while I just smiled and nodded my head, I got a picture taken with the pastor. After the church luncheon (which I think they have every week) I got to meet several of the college age Youth Group students there. Conversation was slow moving, but they seemed really open to getting to know me.
Upon returning home, I went to Café Bene to work on lesson plans. This turned out also to stray from my original intentions since it appears the entire Church Youth group came shortly after I arrived. Remembering my name (and I embarrassingly forgot all of theirs), many of them came over to me one by one asking for my number. This turned into me joining their table and attempting to convey our many questions we had for one another through the one and only Google Translate and charades. It was a pleasant afternoon and I hope to get to know them throughout my time here!
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