Chuseok Sunday

Mountain climbing on Saturday definitely wiped me out. As I mentioned in my last post, I woke up feeling not-so-great. I decided to push through, hoping that my wonderful Chuseok plans would not be affected too greatly...

So, Sara and I visited Sarang Community Church on Sunday morning. Because of Chuseok, I think a lot of people were missing. We also attended the traditional service, so there weren't as many people our age there. We are considering going back for a second visit later on. We also saw another teacher from our SMOE orientation there, so we grabbed lunch with him after church. It was nice to related with another westerner, once again.

After lunch, Sara and I scurried to meet one of my dear co-teachers, Kim Kyung Han. She offered to show us around the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Since it was Chuseok, the gate entrance was waved, so we were able to enjoy a free afternoon. Visiting the Palace reminded me a lot of The Forbidden City in China, although the Gyeongbokgung is quite a bit smaller (quite pleasant, though).

Gyeongbokgung Palace


Sara, Kim Kyung Han, and me! Kim Kyung Han is so sweet and such a gracious hostess! Every time we had a question about something she was unsure of, she went and found people to ask so that she could give us the right information. She was also incredibly thoughtful and caring. I am so thankful I get to work with her every day!


Pictured inside one of the buildings... I'm not exactly sure what it was used for though. (Sorry...)


I believe this building was called Gyeonghoeru. It's a two-story building that was used for royal banquets and kind of looks like it is floating on the lovely, peaceful pond (special thanks goes to my tour booklet). :)



This was actually a "parade" that we got to see while we were there. I'm not exactly sure what happened (because it was all in Korean), but we got to see lots of soldiers marching around, got startled by a loud drum (twice), and decided we were really thankful that we didn't have to wear the heavy soldier uniforms on such a hot day!



Here we got to take a picture with one of the soldiers. I'm not sure if you can tell, but I'm pretty sure I closed my eyes accidentally. I decided to post this picture because I thought it was hilarious how obviously scared I was to get too close to that guy! Definitely one of the bigger Koreans I've seen!



Nice background, huh?



We had planned on visiting the National Palace Museum of Korea, but didn't get much further than the coffee shop in the basement. Kyung Han taught us some more Korean (which Sara is doing really well with, by the way) and I did my best to give my full attention. The headache made it really difficult to concentrate. So, eventually, I had to excuse myself and go back to my apt.



I actually teared up a little bit because my Mom always does such a good job taking care of me when I'm "sick"... and she's not here! But Sara took good care of me. She went back to my apt. with me and gave me a much-needed back rub. We had some really refreshing conversations, prayer time, and shared some galbi dinner before she went home.

I feel like I should probably explain Chuseok a little more... but I don't really feel like doing another blog post about it right now. [Sorry] If you would like to learn more about it, I can send you the ppt. that I am using for my classroom this week (my students are going to learn how to describe Chuseok in English). The basic idea of Chuseok: it's a time to be thankful!

So, I'm incredibly thankful for all the Lord is doing, has done and is going to do. I'm thankful for Kyung Han Kim and Sara. I'm thankful for His provision for me even in the midst of my sickness (last week, some of the teachers gave me chicken noodle soup and Kleenex boxes... and they of course didn't even know that I was going to be sick)! As I sit here with Kleenex tissues surrounding me, Benadryl tablets, and a cup of orange juice in front of me, I must admit that it's a little more challenging to be thankful for the sickness. But, I've gotten lots of extra time to rest since we had Monday and Tuesday off from school due to Chuseok. So, even though my plans to go visit Meido Island with Hil this weekend had to be cancelled, I'm thankful for some built-in time to rest and take it easy.

More to come later...