Church...

Before we got here, we were asked twice to sign a contract to attend an assigned church. This was not a requirement of the school district that pays us but by KNU. 

The contract said the following: I agree to attend an assigned Korean church for the duration of my contract with Cheonan City Schools since I am not only going to S. Korea to work at my job and be a teacher in mission at the workplace but also reach out into my community and assist the development of the Christian church as well as learn about the culture and the people of the country. 

On the surface, this does not seem that bad. However, we felt that we should not be forced to go to a particular church. We think it's very important to attend a church but also church that will help support us through this transition into another country. And we feel that that church should be a place of like minded people who have been or are going through the same changes. With this said we are not apposed to being involved in the local church or visiting churches to experience the culture. The aversion to being force to attend a particular church let alone a Korean church, may be due to our American desire to be independent and not to be controlled. This is something that even as we attend a Korea church we are trying to figure out.

When we asked why we needed to sign the contract, we were told by an American staff member because the KNU president want us to and that if we wanted outside activities with other American Christians, we could attend that activity on a different day of the week. We initially forgot about the contract then 2 weeks before we arrived, the American asked again for the contract and this time we said that we would wait until we got to Korea to sign a contract. Really we wanted to talk to someone who could explain a little more about the contract, why we were signing it and what it entailed about us attending church. A lot of the other American teachers have told us that this contract has been a big problem since they started enforcing it.

After we got here we went into a meeting where we met our pastor. We thought it was just a meet and greet with all the community pastors but no, even though we had not signed the contract, we were assigned a church to attend. The pastor was super nice but it was so hard to talk to him. He taught himself English but his English is very broken, plus his accent is hard to understand. We were told that he would pick us up at 9:50 am every Sunday and he showed us where we would meet to be picked up. After dropping us off the pastor also said that he has to pick up other church members.

The first Sunday, we got to church at 10:15 and the pastor did not return with the other church members until 10:45, we ate lunch by 1:00 and did not get home until 2:30 pm. During service the pastor tried very hard to translate his sermon, the worship songs they picked were both in Korean and English, so we could sing a long but there were only 10 people at the church, we made 12. They fed us lunch, there were 3 other people that spoke some English and we tried very hard to hold a conversation but there was a lot of smiling and nodding. The second Sunday, there was almost no translation, lunch was not good at all but the post lunch conversation was a little better. However, there is one guy at church that knows English, who hoovers over us. Literally we will be sitting and he will be standing very closely and slightly bending over us. Remember that in Asian culture there is NO personal space. Also after every service they give us what ever is left over from dessert. After 4 weeks at this church we decided that we are in desperate need for a church we can understand and be fed from. 

Really, I am super home sick. Not the home sick as in I miss my family. Even though I do miss them I get to talk to them every week or so. I am home sick for Catalina Church of Midtown. Not only do I miss the worship and sermons, I miss our connect group. I miss the friends we made, who were all in similar life stages as us and who I enjoyed immensely. I wish I could duplicate that here. We have thought of other ways but we also only know a handful of people and there is only one other married couple in our TESOL group. So we have come to the conclusion that we will slowly move away from the Korean church so that we can see if we like the English church at KNU or at least find our own church.... Some where. 

As nice as this church is, it is just so hard to go somewhere were we are not being fed, we have little in common and we aren't meeting more people. Maybe in 6 months when we feel more comfortable with living in Korea and will need less contact with English speakers and maybe will be able to attend the Korean church again. 

Please pray that the the transition from the Korean Church will go smoothly, and that we will find a church were we fit and will be fed. Please pray for us as we finish TESOL and start teaching next week. 

Much Love,

Lisa and David

Food and Such

We have been here for 11 days and it has been a semi eventful 11 days. Since we don't speak any Korean, we are very unsure of our selves in public situations like ordering food, how to buy some things, and how to get around in both Cheonan (where we live) and other cities in Korea. So we have not traveled much out side of the #12 bus route, which is the only bus we know and where it goes. 

Last week we had orientation. We saw our schools, we are both teaching in the elementary schools but different ones. David's school is about 2 miles away from the KNU campus and he can easily walk or take the subway. My school is about 15-20 minutes away by bus but they say that people have walked to school before when the weather is nice. Last week, we also had our physical examination, which consisted of an eye test, someone looking at our teeth, an xray of our lungs to make sure we don't have TB (I guess) and a blood test. All in all, the exam was ok but slightly odd. We also got our bus cards and ate at native restaurant. 

Which brings me to the title for this blog entry. FOOD! I am not sure how many people are actually reading this thing and how many people know that I have Celiac Disease but having Celiac makes it very difficult for me to eat anything, especially when wheat is in a lot of food and even things you wouldn't think it would be like shampoo. When you add that to being in a foreign country where I don't know the language and am unsure of what anything is made out of and it makes me very leery of try anything. But thankfully we have not gone out to eat with out being with someone who is Korea or can at least understand Korea. So they have helped me out and taught me what I can and can't have and so far I have been ok with the food, except once but we ate at an American type restaurant and well it wasn't Korean food. To sum it all up, I was very worried that I would waste away here but it looks like I will be ok with the food. I can't eat everything I want but it is no more difficult than in America.

Also Korean food. It is either spicy or sweet. Every meal consists of Kimchi, a yellow radish, fish bread and a broth. At some restaurants you get more but that is the basis for most places. Then you get your main dish, which is some sort of meat, beef, pork, fish/seafood and most of the time David and I can share one meal (it's that big). For a meal we spend around 7-10 won(Korean money) for the both of us... So do the math and that around $6-8 per meal. I don't think we have ever eaten for so little in the states and been able to get so much for the price. And we both like the food, which helps a lot. I think if we didn't like the food, it would make the adjustment much harder. 

This week, we had one day of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), which was basically an introduction day. TESOL is like taking a college course, with home work and everything. We will also have to prepare and present lessons in front of our peers. I am excited for it but they said it was also a lot of work. Then yesterday began the Lunar New Year holiday. So everyone is off from Wednesday through Sunday. The Lunar New Year is a lot of things compressed into one holiday. First it's the beginning of the well new year, it is also a time to celebrate family and third it is everyone's birthday. I will explain because even to me, it's a little weird. In Korea when you are born you are 1, then when the new year comes around you turn 2. Everyone in Korea is 2 years older than they really are, I am 25 in America but here in Korea I would be 27. After your first "New Year" birthday your birthday then falls on the "New Year" every holiday after the first. So today as everyone gathers with their families, they are celebrating everyone's birthday. Interesting, huh? Since everything is closed today, us Americans are having our own Lunar New Year, with junk food and games. 

We do have funny Korea stories to tell but I think I will save them and put them all together.... Some day. As some people who have been here for a while say, 'Oh, Korea,' and shake their heads. 

Happy Lunar New Year and the year of the rabbit.  


David and Lisa