Playing Tourist and Enjoying Friends

22 April 2008

It's fun playing tourist in my "new" home. Debbie, from Hilton Head, came for a too-short visit and we really pack in a lot of sightseeing. She surprised me and Rev. Kim upon her arrival. We were on the way to the bus stop to meet her, but she had made friends with her bus seat-mate who gave her a ride to the university entrance! They called us to say they were almost at the school. Debby speaks no Korean and the woman spoke no English. Wonderful isn't it?

Early the next morning, Rev. Kim picked us up and we headed for Suwon, a town about 2 hours north of Daejeon, where we enjoyed a delightful day at the Korean Folk Village. The next day we had lunch with Elizabeth, a member and friend from the University Chapel. Elizabeth and I have become good friends even though we have difficulty talking with each other because of our languages. We toured the campus that included a special tour of the music building with So Hee, one of my Honor's English students. So Hee has a beautiful voice and sings at the church. I especially wanted Debby to see the music building as it's built in the shape of a grand piano!

On Friday we took the KTX (bullet train) to Seoul for the weekend. The KTX travels at 300km/hour or 186mph and the ride is as smooth as silk. We got to Seoul in only 1 hour (it takes three by bus). After grabbing a taxi and unpacking at the Ewha Guest House, we headed downtown to start our fun in the city. We attended the traditional music/dance concert at ChongDong Theatre and also a great musical/dance at Nanta Theatre. We visited the Museum of Modern Art and Duksong Palace. We shopped along Insadong where I purchased a "Jing", known in English as a "Gong". Saturday morning we hooked up with Sonia Strawn, a friend and recently retired GBGM missionary. Sonia introduced us to Namdaenum - the humongous shopping district at the South Gate. It's like Canal Street in NYC - just bigger and they have everything! On Monday night, we were at City Hall Plaza and got right in the middle of the big lantern parade in honor of Buddha's birthday. Ladies were in traditional dress and monks in their grey attaire. Peaceful and beautiful.

In the afternoon we joined a tour group to the DMZ at the 3rd Agression Tunnel. This included a quick stop at the new train station that will connect S. Korea to Kaesong in the North. The Kaesong Industrial Complex is a joint effort that provides much needed employment to N.K. citizens and goods to S. Korea. The Agression Tunnel portion included a long, very long walk down a a very steep incline that eventually came to the last tunnel found that N.K. was building in an effort to reach Seoul. We had to bend over and wear hard hats as we progressed further into the tunnel. Let me tell you, the walk back up to the top was a killer! We could see NK from the observatory.

On Sunday, we visited Pastor Park and his church in Gimpo, just outside Seoul. Afterwards, he had arranged for us to be taken to Aegi Bong Peak where we got another view of North Korea across the river. This was by far the best view of N.K. and not nearly as commercialized as the tunnel site.

While Debby was here, David and Shirley Wu arrived from Mongolia. Together, we hosted a dinner party for some of the theology staff members and their wives. The next day we invited two other women friends over for strawberry shortcake and tea.

How blessed it is to enjoy and be in the company of good friends!