It was a bit of a disaster because everyday i had to wake up at 7 or 7:30 and i'm not exactly disciplined at getting to bed on time, especially if i have a holiday. Anyway first i went to 'Seoul land' (adventure park) I randomly got invited the night before because some of my friends had won free tickets so i wasn't going to say no. Unfortunately due to my tiredness i misread the station we were supposed to meet at and ended up on the other side of seoul, but it was alright because i knew the way - but it just meant i did the trip alone - read Lord of the Rings tho so that was fun.
It was a really good day actually, I only knew about 5 of the 20 or so people in the group,so i made some more friends, well i might never see them again, but it was great to meet them the one time haha.
Actually the first 'Attraction' we went to was a room where christians tell you about the creation of the world trying to counter science or prove it with science, i mean it was probably quite interesting if you understood but i was so tired and it lasted over an hour of just talking haha.
It was a freezing day so the roller coasters and stuff were simultaneously fun and painful - i was trying to film and take pictures at the same time so my hands got so so cold.
I then went straight from the Park to Incheon Airport to pick up Sarah harvey. It was great to see a familiar face and speak some real English, but she wasnt feeling that great after the flight, and Korea is quite a culture shock after the laid-back, warm and English speaking Newzealand. But she is staying with my good friend Kim Joo-hee so i think she landed on her feet there, Joohee is great at English and very Kind, also her family are away at the moment so the girls have got a whole house to themselves. Actually that evening i stayed with them because i wanted to stay with sarah and not abandon her off the mark, and by the time we finished chatting the subways were closed and i didn't fancy getting a taxi. So we stayed up 'till ridiculous o'clock and then i had to leave in the morning at 7 because it was new year and i had been invited to have breakfast with Ko's Family.
For those who don't know, Korean breakfast is things like spicy soups, Kimchi, dumplings and strews quite a shock in the morning, but actually it doesnt bother me anymore - it was really good for me because i could really see how far i have come with handling Korean food/culture and a bit of the language I was eating crazy fish and lots of kimchi - well actually the fish wasnt by choice, but i know that had i eaten it 2 months ago it may have been quickly regurgitated or i might have just refused ( it was quite strong fish, and in the morning). anyway one of the things we had to eat was Tok-kuk, that might be right ~~ but yeh its like a really filling korean soup sort of thing that you have to eat if you want to claim your age growth for the new year, but it was a much more challenging task than i expected, but i eventually managed and became 21. yey and then we ate lots of fruit.
They then asked me to perform this thing they call Sebhe, basically i had to bow to the elders and ask for money haha, and then they game me some, so that was really nice of them and also a quite strange experience for me.
We then played traditional Korean games with the family which im not entirely sure i understood - but it was good fun.
i then went home, slept for an hour, and then had to go to Hoons parents house for another meal, this was pretty much exactly the same as the morning - big meal, lots of talking, playing Korean games, and i even performed Sebhe again and got rich ㅋㅋㅋ but there was a lot more people and the house was quite old and more traditional so it had a good feel.I went straight from there to Joohee and sarah's place because we planned to go skiing the next day haha. I didnt take my camera this time haha, so Ko's got some pictures that i might try and upload later
Skiing was great, i found that when Ko and ski's mix he goes crazy haha, he just bombed it down the hill and was just generally being excitable and cracking loads of brilliant Jokes. Actually he challenged me to a downhill race - but i won, yey.
I was teaching Sarah and Joohee how to snowboard but then Sarah had a scare on the slopes so i think she was quite overwhelmed - just tired and not accustomed to the strange language and getting a fright in a foreign place is never good. But she came back out with us after we had a break and she did really well, courage makes learning quick.
We finished about 10:30pm and it was way to late to try and go home (it takes about 2hrs to get back to Seoul) so Ko took us to a (짐질방) Jim-jil-bang, which is a Sauna/public bath/place where you can sleep haha. So we went to get changed and Ko and his cousin Stripped down naked and told me to do the same... a moments hesitation, and then what the heck. It was good fun, there are really hot pools, and cornish sea cold pools, and saunas, and Jacuzzis and a really cool japanese style out door pool among the rocks with a waterfall and snow around us. very relaxing place. and then we put on our Jim-jil garments and met up with the girls to try and find a spot to sleep, but the place was packed out and all the old men were snoring and there were no mats left so we didnt fancy squeezing in on the floor. In the end we settled in the restaurant (they provide food at the 짐질방) but then at about 5:30am we were all really cold so we moved to a place that was heated - i quite enjoyed sleeping on the heated Korean floor, but some others in the group were less than satisfied with the wooden floor bed. Anyway we woke up at 7:30 to catch the bus back to seoul, i can barely describe how horrible i felt after having such little sleep in a busy week, but yeh got home, slept a bit and then went to worship practice and church the next day.
We have a new pastor for our English service. He's cool, but im pretty sure i am the only person who understood any of his sermon. what he said in his sermon was quite serious and heavy and actually it seems to have weighed me down all weak, I just feel like living the Christian life is really hard, when i begin to understand what is required of me, and the importance of it, i get so easily overwhelmed. why cant i feel this more, and i say i can give myself away but the truth is i can't and maybe it takes practice but then it all falls on me and how i need to try harder, but then needs God's strength to sustain me and there seems to be no way into that circle, like im just looking in. and i keep hearing of people struggling, or hearing different views perspective and ideals, and it wears on me, i get discouraged by other peoples uncertainty. I guess one of the things i was really hoping to do out here was to find myself having to rely on God and have good time to focus on him and discover him, but it just feels like everything i cultivate rages against me - and then I'm not sure what is and what isn't, and this isn't coming out well - anyway you get the idea - im too confused to understand what i am going through - which is a small hope, its these times that people usually find themselves closer to God - when you wrestle and struggle.
anyway hmm sort of derailed my thought train just then. wicked. so yeh, been trying to to see sarah quite a bit, we went to Karaoke and actually we made some shepherds pie together haha, considering the ingredients are difficult to find in Korea, or at least they are quite different, i thought we did a pretty good job haha. Unfortunately we had to use that disgusting plastic slice american cheese on top which sort of ruined it.
I've been cooking a bit at home too - made a pretty mean spag-bol for myself.
But tomorrow we are going to get Sarah to try Korean food so that should be fun, brilliant anyway its 2am so I'm going to bed. night night.
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