Trying to become a part of the community

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Today was one of those days that just puts a smile on your face. Before my day even began, I was proud of myself for having made a commitment and sticking to it. On Friday, I told one of the new Korean teachers, Michel, that I would attend her church this Sunday. Despite the distance from my apartment, I choose to attend Michelle’s church because I have been wanting to attend a service, this one has an English session and she and I have started to form a friendship that I believe may be an important part of my year in Korea.

However, Friday night after work, I still went out for the third time in four days, and in true Korean style, did not get back to my apartment until 4 in the morning on Saturday. I enjoy going out to bond with the co-workers who are most like my friends from San Diego, college, and Michigan, by experiencing the nightlife and meeting new people (got three new phone numbers Friday), but it is important to me that I don’t make that the biggest part of my life here. I want to be more involved in the community and spend time with people outside of the restaurant and bar scene. I am willing to admit that I am still young and immature at heart, but I have been growing out of the partying stage increasingly over the last couple of years. It seems that a lot of my co-workers came to Korea to teach and to go out at night.

So, when Saturday night rolled around and my co-workers/friends called me to go out in Timeworld again (popular nightlife area near Dunsandong), I graciously declined their offer - to their surprise. I informed them that I needed to get up early to attend church on Sunday and they were very understanding and respectful of my decision.

The worship service began at 11:00 AM. I left my apartment and headed to the subway station near the school around 9:45 AM. This was the first time that I had ventured onto the subway unaccompanied, and then my first accomplishment of the day when I figured out exactly which stop I needed and how to get there unassisted. By 10:30 I had arrived at Seodaejeon intersection. From there, I hailed a cab (my feet were already starting to hurt from walking to the subway station and then up the several flights of stairs in heels) to take me to the Daejeon Choong-ang Presbyterian Church. About 1 minute later, the cab driver pulled over and let me out. The subway entrance would still have been visible from the church, had we not driven over a hill.

I was immediately surprised and slightly overwhelmed by the massive size of the stone structure. It was a modern building, but the cross-sections of red brick and white stone gave it a more down-to-earth and homey feel. I ascended the steps into the main lobby and waited for Michel to come down to meet me.

Her exuberant smile put my nerves at ease as she asked me how I was doing and escorted me to the 9th floor where the service was to take place. As soon as we stepped off the elevator, I was greeted by an elderly Caucasian gentleman in professional attire. He spoke with an Australian accent and was very happy to see me (Michel had informed him and the others that I would be coming). I quickly realized that he was the pastor, or at least a pastor. After exchanging pleasantries, we continued into the room where the service is held. It is a medium-sized room, much longer than it is wide or tall, and there were folding chairs set-up in front of a low stage and projection screen. To the right of the stage sat a group of 4 musicians - a bass guitarist, guitarist, pianist and drummer. There was also a fifth stand set-up with a microphone. This was Michel’s spot - as she is the leader and singer for the “Praise Team.”

Michel introduced me to everyone, and those that she did not introduce me to, introduced themselves. It was a very friendly group of people, who all seemed genuinely happy to have a newcomer - and a foreigner at that - and in less than 10 minutes I had met almost every one at the mornings service (it is a very small group, usually only 30 people, and today there was only 20).

I took my seat as the pastor made his way to the stage. He led us through opening remarks and some verses from the book of John, then Michel took over and the praise team led everyone in a series of worship songs. I had not sang so much in years. Afterwards, the pastor then asked the congregation to welcome the newcomers - which there was one of, me. He asked me to go on stage and handed me the mic to introduce myself. I could feel the redness in my face as I took the microphone from him and turned to address the small group of people before me that now appeared as though it were a sea of a hundred faces. Having developed a strong ability to speak in front of my peers and an adult audience (mostly through my experiences in business at Lincoln), I was able to address the crowd with ease. I gave them the quick stats - from the US, teaching English in Korea - and then thanked for welcoming me to their church. I thought that my obligation had been fulfilled, until they kept me on the stage and all rose from their seats to sing a welcoming song to me. This was slightly uncomfortable, as they opened their hands to me and repeatedly sang the verse “I love you”

However, soon enough it was over, and I felt glad to know that I was so welcome in a room full of strangers.

Afterwards, was a 15 minute fellowship. Basically a chance to eat snacks and socialize with the other church-goers. I was immediately bombarded with attention. The lead Korean pastor’s wife held onto my arm asking me questions, handing me food and introducing me to other girls my age. She told two of the girls that they were to teach me Korean…I felt a little uncomfortable with her insistence and slight demands, but the girls were very receptive to it. After she released me from her grip, I was able to talk with the girls on my own and it was great to meet other people my age - girls still attending universities in Korea or working and who were so interested in my being from America. Most of them did not know or feel confident with their English skills, but it was fun having even brief conversations with them.

As the last of the snacks and coffee had disappeared, I was escorted to the basement classrooms by the two girls who teach Korean to foreigners after service. One is about 2 yrs my elder, the other is slightly older, married with 2 children. Both were extremely friendly. The older woman was especially excited - as I was to be her guinea pig for a new method of teaching Korean that she had just learned. (She is currently studying to take the TOEFEL and went to school to be an educator).

We began with the primary Korean vowels and consonants - both the sounds, pictures of the way your mouth should look while speaking them, and how to write the letters in Hangul (Korean alphabet). Before long, I was pronouncing Korean sounds with perfection and eliciting squeals of excitement and laughter from my new teacher. An hour and 30 minutes later, my lesson for the day was over and I could read, write and speak a total of 144 letters and sounds in various combinations.

Without hesitation, Angel, my new teacher offered to teach me Korean for free - on Sundays after church and on Tuesday mornings at her home. Then she asked me if I would help her with her English studies (which I had begun to expect was the trade when she pulled out some of her university coursework towards the end of my lesson). I was happy to help her - thinking this was a great deal for me to learn Korean from someone who knows how to teach it very well.

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