A Carolina girl born and bred, living and working in Haiti since August 2010. I am passionate about social justice, but above all else I believe in the power of grace-filled love to truly change the world.
... I'm all about BRAZIL! In solidarity with the people of Haiti, I will be supporting Brazil for the remainder of the World Cup. Don't quite follow the logic? I'll explain. Since deciding to go to Haiti, I've been keeping up with the blogs of volunteers who are currently on the ground with the organization that I'll be working for. Here's an excerpt from a post by one of them describing Haiti's enthusiastic support for Brazil and the reason behind it:
I began asking around about why the Haitians LOVE Brazil soccer so much and the answer was really touching. On January 12th when the earthquake shook this country upside down, the entire Haitian soccer team was killed. Apparently they were meeting at the time at their practice facility and the coach stepped out for a moment when the quake hit and the building fell, crushing all of them…leaving the coach to endure the loss completely on his own... With the death of the team also went hope and an image of Haiti that was strong. A team that represented courage and passion for these people. So when they lost their team, they needed a new one to rally around. And according to the locals here, they have always loved the Brazil team because they creamed the Haitians-and if you’re good enough to cream the Haitians, you’re good enough to have their support. So it was no question then who the Haitians would rally around for the 2010 World Cup. And that they did. At the bar on Sunday when Brazil scored each of their 3 goals, it felt like I was in South Africa-watching a celebration worth sharing.
Korea’s got World Cup fever… bad. Back in 2002, Korea had the honor of hosting the Cup AND placing 4th. Since then, the nation has been a particularly soccer crazy one—and I am completely loving every minute of it! I was in China for the last World Cup, in Jordan for the 2008 Euro Cup, and am now experiencing this year’s World Cup in Korea—- and though I’ve haven’t exactly been planning it out that way, I am starting to think I should turn this into a tradition, because it really is GREAT being in a country that actually *cares* about soccer for this event!
Soccer and the excitement of the World Cup, perhaps more than any other single sport, truly brings the world together. But, being from the one country who doesn’t share the rest of the planet’s intense love and passion for the game, I have always felt a bit excluded from that experience. Because while Korea has pop stars and Olympian figure skaters getting together to make special songs just for the event...
....we in American have Stephen Colbert making this:
I personally have always gotten really into the games—and the emotional intensity surrounding me here only fuels my longstanding love for the sport. The US’s lucky draw with England completely wore down my nerves (and kind of made me want to punch things at times), while Korea’s upset over Greece was really exciting, and had me, along with the rest of Korea, feeling pretty elated. Random shouts of “DAE HAN MIN GUK!!” and “KOREA FIGHTING!” could be heard from *literally* every street corner that night, and not at all infrequently even in the days that followed. Ji-Sung Park, the super energetic 5’9” Manchester United midfielder who all of the Korean girls go ga-ga for, and all of the Korean boys aspire to be, is arguably the most loved and revered person in this country right now.
The most personally significant thing about this whole experience for me, though, has been my coming to the realization in watching the first round that I have developed the same sense of ownership and feelings of pride towards Korea’s national team that I feel towards the US. It has made me recognize just how attached and connected I have become to my mother’s homeland in my time here—which is great, because that’s exactly what I had hoped would begin to happen when I made the decision to come.
...And in other related news, I told my students that if any of them could learn this dance and perform it for me before the World Cup is over I would give them a big prize.
No one has taken me up on it yet, but I *have* spotted a few groups of kids practicing :P
Everywhere we go, people-- and by people, I mean random strangers on the street-- stop us to comment on how good-looking he is. They are in complete awe of him. And I don't think Christopher is quite sure how to deal with it. He always kind of gets this deer-caught-in-headlights look on his face whenever people start fawning over him in Korean. We've told him to just bow and say kam sa ham ni da whenever he is spoken to, even if he doesn't understand, because chances are it is just yet another person saying that he looks like a "little Tom Cruise"...
Yesterday, Shelly and Christopher came and met me at school for lunch. We went to a restaurant nearby that serves handmade noodles and is owned by the parents of one of my students. The owners don't speak any English and I can never remember the name of the food I like, but when we walked in they knew exactly what we wanted. The meal was wonderful, as usual, and Shelly and Christopher really enjoyed their first experience getting to sit on the floor in a restaurant.
After eating, Christopher and Shelly decided they wanted to go play in the park next to my school. I whined for a minute about wishing that I could join them, and then got the brilliant idea that I could join them if I just brought all of my students along. My lesson for the day was on Thanksgiving, and I was planning to teach the students about American football-- so I decided, why not take the students outside and actually teach them how to play backyard football? Or, better yet, have Shelly and Christopher help me teach them! So I sent Shelly and Christopher off to Home Plus in search of a football (their first shopping adventure alone!) while I conducted the first 3 periods of classroom time, and then we all met back up the park for the last 45 min of class to play a game of touch football. It was a little haphazard and crazy but a lot of fun, and the students were able to demonstrate that they understood all of the basic concepts. They were also really happy to meet my brother and sister, and their excitement over Christopher's adorableness seemed to match with the rest of Korea's.
Below I've posted some pictures of the game that I took with Shelly's camera. Christopher and Shelly look like teaching pros, don't they?
Group shot!
I told the students to be crazy, and this was the result. It doesn't give a very accurate picture of how really crazy they can get.
*This post is by special request from Julia Rose. :)*
I have recently gotten into following the KBL-- Korea's national professional basketball league. The level of play in the league is roughly comprable to college level play in the US, and it is a ton of fun to watch. I especially enjoy watching the league's few half-Korean American players-- perhaps I feel a kind of kinship with them, having one Korean parent and growing up in the US before moving to Korea.
One of these players in particular, though, I am unquestionably in love with, and that is Jeon Tae-poong-- aka, Tony Akins. He was the number one pick in the KBL's newly conceived and somewhat controversial "ethnic draft" for half-Koreans this past year (read more about the draft and the controvesy here). Growing up as an ACC fan in the States, I can remember watching Akins dominate at Georgia Tech as a student, and it is no different now that he is playing in the KBL. He is a small 5'11 guard with lightning quick feet, great awareness, and a completely unselfish style of play. Though he is older-- about 29, I think-- I would bet that he would be able to more than hold his own in the NBA.
And to top it off, even his skill and sportsmanship on the court aside, he is also ridiculously attractive.
Um, hi. Even if I weren't a basketball fan, I would follow Korean basketball just for this kid.
Start of week five in Korea and I’m finally gaining a sense of normalcy in my life here. I no longer get lost every time I try to go to the bank or the grocery store, I have found a church that I like and plan to continue attending, and I am going on my second week in the classroom. It’s starting to feel like I actually live here or something … ;)
A few of you requested after my last post that I share a little about the church I started attending a couple weeks ago. The name of the church is Ansan Dongsan Church, and the aesthetic environment has a feel that is very similar to the Summit (for those of you who may not know, the Summit Church is my home church in Durham). I think Dongsan Church may be Presbyterian, but I am not entirely sure on that. I attend the English service, which is held on the building’s 10th floor(!), so I have no idea how many members or attendees they have in the main services on a typical Sunday, but there seem to be plenty of people around.
The English service itself has a decently full crowd. The pastor who leads is a personable Korean guy who studied in California. I think that he and I do have some pretty significant theological differences, but based on interactions we have had he strikes me as a genuine person who desires to interpret the Word of God faithfully, and that is what really counts with me. After each service, attendees are invited to stay and join in small group discussion about the sermon. I think this format is a really great idea, not only to help individuals process and digest the message, but also to help build a feeling of community and fellowship among worshipers—essential in any ministry, but of particularly great concern for one serving such a transient population as English speakers in Korea. The past couple of weeks I have attended the “newcomer” group, which is geared at getting to know one another in a non-threatening and unimposing way, but today I made the transition into a more permanent cell group. Others in the group were a little quiet and reserved in discussion, but I am hoping that as we all get to know one another better, people will open up a bit more.
Before coming to Korea, I was honestly not thrilled that I would have to attend an English service at a local church, simply because I was worried that it would be nothing more than that—sitting and listening to a sermon, with no opportunities to plug in and become more deeply involved with the church; I feared that, due to the language barrier between myself and the church at large, I would be viewed more as a spectator than as a full participant in the local community. But, from what I can tell so far, that will not be my experience at Dongsan church, so I am definitely feeling a little more optimistic.
In case any of you who asked were wondering a little more generally about Christianity in Korea, it is the second largest religion in the country, following just behind Buddhism. According to the limited research I’ve done, Christians make up about a third of Korea’s population, with about one third identifying themselves as Catholic and the other two-thirds as Protestant. Catholicism was introduced in the 1700s, but growth was slow until the arrival of Protestant missionaries in the late 1800s.
For those of you who are sociologically inclined, Andrew Kim, in A History of Christianity in Korea: from its troubled beginning to its contemporary success offers the following explanation for why Christianity was able to experience such a flourishing in more recent years:
“…traditional Korean folk culture provided several important "contact points" with Christianity, allowing for the ready translation and adaptation of Christian beliefs and principles in Korean form. It can be also noted that certain peculiar circumstances of Korean history--i.e., Korea's vulnerability to Chinese and Japanese control, colonialism, the Korean War, etc.--allowed Christianity to strike deep roots in the spiritual sphere of the South Korean society…. And finally, the profound social structural developments that marked the modernization process in Korea following WWII provided a cultural opening for the ‘selling’ and ‘reception’ of a Christian worldview that harmonized with the industrial transformation of the society. “
I realize that this short passage touches on a lot of factors without expanding much on any of them, but I think it is all very interesting and I definitely plan on probing further into both the history and social impact of Christianity here in Korea. In many ways, protestant Christian culture that I have encountered in Korea so far seems very similar to the missional, evangelical Christian culture that can be found in some regions of the United States. However, I am very interested to delve deeper and, in particular, to learn more about Shamanism and its impact on both the theology and growth of Korean churches.
I may not post much more about this topic on this blog (and I can hear some of you breathing a sigh of relief!) but for the two of you out there who are interested in checking out more ;) , I will probably touch on it on my other blog (tofightforlove.blogspot.com). This other blog is something I started up a few months ago—mainly just for myself to practice and improve my writing. It is a good forum for me to work through and structure my thoughts on what it means to live in response to the transformative power of God’s love. I haven’t written much since starting it, due to the chaos of graduating as well as to my all-around general flakiness, but have decided to pick it up again since being in Korea.
Which leads me to yet another great thing about my being in Korea—I’ve actually been able to get quite a bit of creative writing done here, which is really nice because it’s something I really love but that I had kind of let fall by the wayside while I was still in school. It is a great outlet for me, a way to process my experiences, and just to have fun and be creative… definitely good for my soul :)
And now on a completely unrelated note, I’m including with this post a couple photos taken at a soccer game at the World Cup stadium, just for those of you who need visual proof that I am actually in Korea and have not simply fallen off the face of the earth. I had a really good time at the game, met some great people and learned a fun Korean cheer. I’ve also included a picture of myself at Lotte World, a kind of Disney style theme park in Seoul. I rode my first roller coaster ever there, so I will always remember it :) And if you are wondering where all the other photos are, I still have not purchased a camera—these were taken by cell phone... hence the terrible quality.
I will post again soon and let you all know how the teaching is going! Love and miss you—keep sending updates my way, I love to hear from you!
