Taekwando

Well, December is just a few days away and the Christmas season is here. David and I have been planning a few trips for this winter and hope to go to Thailand within the month. We will have to remain here in Korea until June or July so we have been attempting to find some activities to help bide the time. One thing we have been doing for a little over a month is Taekwando. After a business contact introduced us to a facility we began practicing with a man named Mr. Nam. He is not much older than David and I and has been been a great instructor to have. Since I am a beginner and David hasn't taken Taekwando since he was 11 years old we started from the beginning. We have classes Monday through Friday for one hour after David gets off work. While some days it is a struggle to get there, we both have really enjoyed the lessons. This past Friday we had our very first belt test and we passed with flying colors. The test included two sets of movements and blocks called forms along with various kicking combinations and a bunch of yelling. The most challenging part for me was the breaks. We were required to break one board with our fist and another while doing an axe kick (a straight leg kick as high as you can go). Fortunately I was able to break both boards on my first try and just had some mild bruising on my hand. Since obtaining our yellow belts we have begun doing more advanced self defense moves and shall begin sparring exercises soon. Overall, David and I wanted to experience something that really represents the Korean culture. Taekwando is a martial art that every Korean is required to learn. Whether in school, after school programs or through the military, they will experience it at some point in there lives. We both feel very blessed to have this opportunity and it is something that we will take home with us to the States. 

Church Thanksgiving

For the past couple of weeks David and I have been attending a new church here in Korea. While it may seem like a wonderful new development I must first explain how we ended up there. Let me back track by introducing Mr. Kim. He is an older Korean man that works for David's company, building their chemical plant. Mr. Kim has been a wonderful friend to David and myself, constantly taking us hiking or out to dinner. Well, during one of our hikes Mr. Kim invited us to attend church with him. We had heard about his church from some of the other expats and agreed to go and just check it out. We knew ahead of time that there would be no English translations for the service so we were under no allusion of visiting more than once or twice. That same day while having lunch he promptly gifted us two very nice Korean/English bibles and said he would pick us up for church the following Sunday. While the service was nice, we walked away having not understood a single word of the message and understandably did not anticipate ever returning. Much to my surprise however my wonderful husband guilt tripped me into attending another service in order to visit with Mr. Kim once more. Now this is where the catch comes in! During our next visit to the church Mr. Kim lead us into a room and placed two pieces of paper in front of us with Korean writing. He told us to fill in our names and address without explaining what they were for. As it turned out we had merely registered to be members of the congregation. Mr. Kim explained that we were now supposed to attend church every Sunday and we should not miss any days. I must say I was glaring at my husband quite a bit after that, but neither of us saw it coming. Since that time we have not missed a Sunday but I cant say that the pattern wont be broken.
In mentioning our church involvement however, I really wanted to talk about the service we attended last Sunday for their Thanksgiving/Harvest festival. The church had been planning the festival for a while because every week there would be a count down until the day finally arrived. They call it a Thanksgiving Festival because it is their time to give thanks for the harvest and the many blessing it brings forth every year. The first half of the service encompassed a variety of singing and Korean traditional dances. My favorite part however was a procession of elders each carrying a large offering of food to be placed on the alter followed by six family member that gave a speech on what they were thankful for-at least I think that's what they were talking about. We were able to get a few distant pictures but they aren't near as good as seeing it first hand. I also loved all the beautiful costumes that were worn for the dances. David and I really enjoyed seeing their various forms of worship and were certainly reminded of all we have to be thankful for. I am certainly looking forward to our more traditional Thanksgiving and you better believe we will be celebrating here in Korea as well!

Happy Thanksgiving