Anyeong Haseyo (안녕하세요)!

Time is just flying by for us these days. We’ve completed 9 months of our term in Korea, we’re nearly done our second term of V-School, and our pregnancy is more than half way done!

Korean Pregnancy Traditions..and stories
So, over time I’ve been learning some traditions that I may or may not have to adapt to. One tradition here is after the mother gives birth, she stays for 3 weeks with her mother, and doesn’t go outside at ALL. Maybe when I have a baby I won’t want to go outside for a while, either, but that seems a bit long to get no fresh air or sun. One evening our cell group went to visit a fellow cell group member who had given birth that day (and happened to be in the same women’s clinic I’ll be in when it’s my time), and I got a preview to what my experience will be like. First of all, they keep the rooms REALLY warm, unbearably so, at least for me. It is believed in Korea that a post-labor women needs to be kept warm. Women will even wear socks in their heated rooms, in the SUMMER (I’m just glad my birth will be in October, when I might appreciate some warmth). I can expect to be fed nothing but seaweed soup at this hospital, as it is believed a certain seaweed soup has all the nutrients a post-labor mother needs (I told Will he’ll have to smuggle in some other food for me). I’m not sure how it is in Canada, but here I learned that drugs are not used or encouraged during labor, which I am glad for, as I want to try to have a natural birth, in every way. I imagine drugs would be administered only if really necessary.

Up until recently, Will couldn’t feel our baby kicking whenever I knew she was. However, one day, while he had his ear against my belly, listening to the usual gurgles, swishes and burps, our baby boxed him in the ear. Will looked up, stunned, and said, “She just punched me in the ear!” Since then, that seems to happen a lot. I wonder what this means for their future relationship…

Me at 24 weeks:

V-School Stories
Every 2 weeks our Day School students visit a mental health facility in town, and this particular time one JVC member was leading a painting class. Our students, along with the people that work there, sat at different tables and helped the children to paint, or sign their names. We later all gathered around and picked our favorite pictures and applauded the artists. The helpers later met in a separate room to debrief and have a snack, and an older resident of the facility repeatedly would sneak in and steal our snacks.

From L to R: Will helping out; One of our students helping kids; Another one of our students helping; Presenting the pictures after

Lately I’ve been having real trouble with After School kids not doing their homework. It’s frustrating for us, because there is nothing we can do to make sure they do it, and up till now there was no reward or punishment for them doing or not doing their homework. Will and I came up with an idea to send a letter home every week, with the homework listed, and a place for their parents to sign to say they’ve done the homework. On top of that, I made a chart for each class, and each student will get a sticker for every week they complete the homework. If they complete the homework every week until the end, they get a prize. It is incredible how successful this new system is working. They have ALL been doing the homework. One parent even drove to the home where the lesson is held, at 10pm the night before the next lesson, to pick up the homework that her child forgot, so that she could do it! WOW.

Chuncheon Mime Festival
Every year there is an international Mime Festival held in Chuncheon, and for a week there are shows all over the city, at all hours of the day. We saw a free show held downtown, but it wasn’t quite what we expected. It was 3 people doing different things with tires of all sizes. There were paid shows in town that would have had more complex routines and more experienced mimes.

Pics from the Mime show:

Trip to Seoul
Will and I decided to try driving into Seoul, as we wanted to make a trip to Costco. As we drove into the city, the air was literally yellow from the yellow dust. It was one of the worst yellow dust days of the year. I could feel the irritation in our throats and eyes, even while we were still in the car. Yuck. We spent the evening at my brother’s, and watched the American Forces Network channel on TV for the first time. This channel is on the air in Korea specifically for the American military here, and in between shows, there were many ads with messages like: don’t rape, don’t steal, don’t leave your gun unattended…etc. Things that I would think are common sense. This doesn’t encourage me very much as to the behavior of some of the soldiers here. Some clubs and bars have signs saying, “No G.I’s”, as they seem to be known for starting fights. After going to Costco, and nearly going crazy because of all the cars and people there, we attempted to drive home for the first time from Seoul. After an hour of being lost, and driving back into the city twice when we thought we were driving away, we soon found our way home (Funny related note: At a church meeting, the subject of us adjusting to this culture came up, and one of the leaders said jokingly, “Well, they found their way home from Seoul. I’m pretty sure they have adjusted.”)

From L to R: Walking down a neat alleyway; Some pandas we saw in Seoul

Important Church Meeting
The last church meeting we had was an important one for Will and I. Now that Will and I have been here long enough and have adjusted, we have been given new responsibilities, that we requested to have: 1) I will be playing a prelude every Sunday morning, in between Sunday School classes and the service; 2) Will will preach twice every 3 months, instead of just once; 3) I will be given opportunities in church to teach English songs; 4) Will and I will lead seminars for a few weeks on peace and Anabaptism, made available after the service, for those who want to know more about JVC’s identity and stance; 5) I will be given chances to accompany hymns occasionally. Other projects were mentioned and encouraged by other leaders, such as my hymnal project (where I will combine hymns and worship resources from Korean/Anabaptist churches and partner Mennonite churches in North America), getting our musical translated and showing it to the church someday, and our movie night (more on that later). This is a wonderful next step for us.

The view from the front when I was playing piano (during the children’s story):

Knitting/Cooking Club
I am pleased to say the Knitting/Cooking club is still flourishing. We have even gained another member, bringing the number up to 4. One of the members finished her prayer shawl that she had started from the very beginning, and it was beautiful. She also showed us her vest that she finished. Another member treated us to Shabu Shabu for lunch, which is a traditional Mongolian meal, where you cook veggies, meat and seafood in broth, then add noodles at the end after the other foods have added flavor. One week I taught them how to make pie crust and quiche, and another week was cinnamon buns. It’s wonderful to see them try new foods, or new ways of making foods, then trying it at home for themselves.

From L to R: One member with her finished shawl; The same member with her vest; Eating with the group at the Shabu Shabu restaurant; The broth and meat; Putting the meat in the broth

Movie Night
Will and I hosted our first movie night at the church. The idea for this movie night first came about with the church’s desire to start an English service. Realizing that you can’t just start a new church service cold turkey, there was some discussion about first gaining a following from Will’s English Bible study class, then creating the service from that. While his class is gaining a following, we felt we needed another medium for drawing in new people, mostly foreign students, or students who want to learn English, missionaries who want to prepare for missions in English speaking countries, and anyone else who wants to attend an English service, as there are none available in Chuncheon on Sunday mornings. Anyway, for the first night we had 6 attendants, 2 of which do not regularly come to our church. We felt that was a good start. Plus, they all have friends that they will bring for other movie nights. The movie and fellowship was enjoyed by all.

The gang:

Funny Thought
-Strangers will sometimes strongly prompt and encourage their children to say “hi’ to as (because we’re foreigners) but won’t even say “hi” to us themselves. They will completely ignore us, actually.