Korean election day - 19 Dec

So Wednesday was a freebie vacation for me, because it was the Korean presidential election. I spent the morning having coffee with my friend Julene, who has a heart for international ministries and for reconciliation and for Africa - who has, alas, gone back to her hometown in the US for the next couple of months. It was a spiritually enlightening conversation for both of us.

In the afternoon, I went to Italy Hair to have highlights put in my locks. They had done this about six months ago without the trauma usually associated with foreigners at Korean hair salons. But this time the stylist started slapping on peroxide indiscriminately, and I felt my heart sink into my socks.

So after a lot of furious gesturing, they realised that the resulting luminous carrot-orange was not the color I had in mind. They were very kind and apologetic and offered to fix it "service", which means, for free.

So rather than risk more highlight-horrors, I chose a light golden brown. As you can see, the result was rather nice, and of course, they styled my hair into Korean-style sumptuous spiral curls. If only I could get this effect every morning!

In the evening I attended a small party with my Intermediate Adult class. It was at Annie's house, a globe-trotting Korean who showed us all fantastic hospitality. She put out a delicious spread of seafood, sushi, kimbap, sausage, salad and real cheese! The cherry-on-top was that she had found some South African red wine at E-Mart, and this was supposed to help me feel less homesick. It was definitely good medicine for that.

So Annie (in the purple shirt) is going to South America in January, as this is the only continent she hasn't visited yet. She also told me about her intriguing cross-cultural romance, but I will just leave it at that. Annie is a great role-model and her Korean name means "talented at languages." She is certainly living up to it.

Wesley (in black and yellow) is a die-hard English student, who has recently got married. He and his wife are expecting their first child, so I think they are experiencing a lot of excitement and nerves. Wesley has been called a perfectionist, but I think he is just a hard worker who has high standards for himself. I guess you have to aim for the moon, if you want to reach the stars.

Jin-Ho (in black clothes) is usually quite quiet and respectful. He is a bachelor who seems married only to his computer and the ladies in my class take every opportunity to tease him about finding a wife. He also loves cleaning cars and said that if he ever did volunteer work, he would do laundry work in a disaster area. (He also likes pizza very, very much.)

Hyun-Joo (red shirt) is a mom of two young kids and she has a lovely jazzy voice. She wants to study English at university and become an English teacher for Korean kids. I think she will make a great teacher, because she is very caring and able to express herself well in English. She is looking forward to sending her kids to Kindergarden so that she can have some peace and quiet at home!

All in all, I had a lovely evening with my class and appreciated their concern for me. They really helped me to see how hospitable and warm Koreans can be. I know it can be intimidating for Koreans to speak to foreigners, but when they reach out to us it definitely makes coming to Korea worthwhile.

Korean wedding weekend fun

So Saturday was Calvin's wedding. He was in my Bible Study when I first arrived in Korea and he's a lovely guy. A whole bunch of church friends went to his wedding, which was in a little chapel in the middle of nowhere. Now, unfortunately the Koreans sometimes do a "Western style" wedding, which is like a bad impression of what they think an American or English wedding is like. So there is a white dress and a pastor, but it all happens quickly with slightly tacky edges.

For example, the wedding cake is fake except for the top layer, and they shoot streamers out of trumpets. And the bride comes down the church on a cart through the mist, which is pumped through the floor of the church ala phantom of the opera.

But Calvin looked trendy, and Angela looked gorgeous. And although I didn't understand much of the Korean message, it seemed very sincere.

And supporting a friend in making such an important step is of course, mandatory.

After having photos taken with the wedding couple, we went to the lunch buffet. The food was truly delicious, with Korean, Japanese and other Asian cuisines represented.

Then the couple took part in the intimate, traditional Korean part of the ceremony. They exchanged their tux and gown for bright red and blue hanbok. They then perform a series of gestures full of symbolism, that as Westerners, we do not truly understand, although it was beautiful to watch.

For example, the mother-in-law throws jujubes into the bride's skirt at this time, which means that they wish them to have many children. Jujubes signify riches, honor, and male heirs in Korea. There is also a lot of bowing to everyone, and the groom has to bow to the guests, to his in-laws and to his bride in an extravagant head-touching-the-floor style.

So now it is almost mid-winter and really cold. If you don't believe me, check out the ice-sculptures outside our downtown shopping centre, Yawoori. These blocks are solid ice! They have been left there for a couple of weeks, and show no sign of melting.

On Sunday I said goodbye to Betsy, our church musical star and close friend, who is going back to Redding, Northern California. Betsy is one cool chick, relaxed, creative and with no hang-ups. I will miss her a lot, but hope that my small attempts to teach her Xhosa and Afrikaans have left their mark!

So each Tuesday morning we have a "girls group" bible study at Starbucks.

In this necessary injection of sanity, we have been discussing how to live out our faith in a culture so different from our own. Its been really interesting hearing everyone's story. Although we are all English teachers in Korea, we come from very different backgrounds and countries. But what we have in common is that we are all trying to make a difference in Korea, and act as authentic Christians who are messed-up and flawed in a world that needs God.

You must be the change you want to see in the world. -Gandhi