Korea Revisited

I'm pretty sure all flights between China and the States come with the option to stop in Korea. I like this very much because I have a lot of friends there. On Tuesday, the 23rd of May, I said goodbye to Chu Sum and his family again and started my journey. After stopping for one of my favorite snacks in Hong Kong (egg waffle), I took the bus to the airport to catch my flight to Seoul.

When I arrived I was greeted in the same way as my last visit - by two brothers from the church. Again they brought me to Ansan but, this time, we only had one day. It was a quiet evening as I recall, but this was a good opportunity to rest. The next day we spent the whole day in fellowship. We enjoyed a prayer meeting and went to a local university to join a Bible study group. There we had a traditional Korean lunch, went for smoothies and, finally, made our way to the bus station. From there I caught a bus to the airport followed by my return flight to the States.

As before, I was surprised at how much we were able to do during such a short visit. Still, even after my second visit, I can't help feeling like I haven't given Korea enough of my time. I've always wondered what would have happened if I hadn't gone to Spain after my year teaching in Hong Kong. Korea had been the plan until I got put off by the visa paperwork... which actually ended up being exactly the same for Spain! Perhaps someday the opportunity will again present itself and I'll end up teaching there for a while.

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South Korea

On Sunday, July 19th, I had breakfast at the airport with Chu Sum before saying goodbye and boarding my flight to South Korea. When I arrived I was met by some friends who took me to Ansan where I met with my friend Testimony and saw my other friend Aaron who is from New Zealand. This was a surprise for both of us, especially when you consider that we weren't even in an English speaking country. Testimony then took me out for some of the famous Korean BBQ and later we all went for some Korean ice dessert.

The next day Testimony took me out for a traditional Korean breakfast (mostly bean sprouts and lots of spice!) and showed me around a bit. Later I went to meet my friend Jeong, who I met while working in Milford Sound, New Zealand, and we walked around Seoul. We visited the National Assembly Building (parliament), sat by the Han River and went to Burger King.

On day three I went to check out Seoul with Aaron and Jeong. We had some really good Bulgogi for lunch and then Aaron had to head back so Jeong and I went to an art museum.

While we were at the museum I got in touch with my friend Suji (a former colleague from the UW) and we agreed to meet up in Insadong. Though, before heading over there, Jeong and I decided to go to Bukchon (North Village).

Bukchon had a lot of really cool traditional houses and some great views. After walking around in the hutong-like alleys and seeing the sites, we met up with Suji for coffee at the Insadong Shopping Mall. Finally, Jeong and I went to meet up with another friend from Milford (his girlfriend, Ellen) for a big hotpot buffet dinner. Hot pot is great - you just grab a bunch of tasty meats, veggies, noodles, etc. and chuck it all in a boiling pot in the middle of the table. I reckon its probably one of the most popular things to do with friends in Korea.

The next day Aaron, Testimony and I had another Korean breakfast, some bubble tea and went to Hanyang University. Then we went for lunch at an interesting restaurant where I had a very interesting meal, a Korean specialty - dog soup.

It wasn't the most flavorful meat but the soup wasn't bad as they did a decent job adding spices to compensate. After lunch we went for a walk in the park before heading to the airport... Today was the day. For the first time in three and a half years I was finally going home. I boarded my plane for the 11 hour flight that would bring me back stateside... to America.

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