Korea Mission 18

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Jae

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Carolla said:
I'm interested to hear more about your travel plans - so could you maybe start a new thread for that?
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This spring (2018), once I complete my seminary program, Yobo and I will be going to live in South Korea.

We're not sure which town or city we'll move to, although we're strongly leaning toward the city of Suwon. It has roughly the same relationship to Seoul as Mississauga does to Toronto.

Our plan is to plant a missional community. This will basically take the shape of a house church which practices radical hospitality and does a lot of outreach work. Yobo and I will co-pastor the community. She will primarily be in charge of administration, while I will primarily be in charge of teaching and preaching.

To support ourselves, Yobo will work at her oldest son's flower store, while I will teach English.

This will be a change in lifestyle for us. We are looking forward to the adventure.
 
I hope that you will continue to be a member of the WC2 community after you relocate. I would love to hear how you are adjusting, how your plans work out, etc. My son lives in South Korea. When he went over he sent back fascinating accounts of first impressions. Now it's more - same old, same old. But always positive - except for the air polution, which he blames on China and prevaling winds.
 
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Seeler said:
I hope that you will continue to be a member of the WC2 community after you relocate. I would love to hear how you are adjusting, how your plans work out, etc. My son lives in South Korea. When he went over he sent back fascinating accounts of first impressions. Now it's more - same old, same old. But always positive - except for the air polution, which he blames on China and prevaling winds.
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Thank you Seeler. Is your son in Seoul? I imagine the hardest things to adjust to when first going over is the language and the food.
 
Some say some of the food is gross ... contrary to what Jesus said about what common starving people would do to overcome starvation imposed by the elite that do indulgences on sea bottom bugs ... lobs another stir into space ... for the crabby higher ups ...
 
That sounds really interesting jae. Do you anticipate being there for a few years? Have you been studying the Korean language, or do you already speak it? Will you be living near yobo's mother?
 
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Jae said:
I imagine the hardest things to adjust to when first going over is the language and the food.
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The food would be one of my reasons for moving to China. :D The language barrier is a huge one, though. I've been lucky to have married into a Chinese family with a number of passable, though not great, English speakers (and the best one, a cousin of my wife, passed away many years ago) so I can manage, but barely. East Asian languages are so different from Western European ones, both spoken and written. I assume Yobo will be your translator for a while, just as Mrs. M is for me when I'm in China.

We might be doing something similar (well, not the mission part). Mrs. M would like spend part of the year "at home" once we are both retired, maybe doing some teaching, so I might end up living in Shanghai part of the year down the road.

This sounds very exciting and I hope it goes well for you.
 
Carolla said:
That sounds really interesting jae. Do you anticipate being there for a few years? Have you been studying the Korean language, or do you already speak it? Will you be living near yobo's mother?
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Thank you Carolla. Yes, we're planning on being there for at least three years. I have not been studying the Korean language. I just know a few words that Yobo has taught me. It would be nice to take some Korean language courses. UofT offers them. We'll probably be living in a different city than Yobo's umma, but within driving distance.
 
Mendalla said:
The food would be one of my reasons for moving to China.
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While I love most Korean food, I'm not sure What it will be like eating it almost every day.

Mendalla said:
:D The language barrier is a huge one, though. I've been lucky to have married into a Chinese family with a number of passable, though not great, English speakers (and the best one, a cousin of my wife, passed away many years ago) so I can manage, but barely. East Asian languages are so different from Western European ones, both spoken and written. I assume Yobo will be your translator for a while, just as Mrs. M is for me when I'm in China.
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Yes, for sure.

Mendalla said:
We might be doing something similar (well, not the mission part). Mrs. M would like spend part of the year "at home" once we are both retired, maybe doing some teaching, so I might end up living in Shanghai part of the year down the road.
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Sounds great Mendalla. What would you do for church?

Mendalla said:
This sounds very exciting and I hope it goes well for you.
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Thank you. :)[/quote]
 
Jae said:
It would be nice to take some Korean language courses.
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My son is travelling to Russia in June/July. He's learning to understand & speak Russian via an app on his phone - a little everyday, and free or very low cost. Have you ever tried something like that for Korean?
 
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Carolla said:
My son is travelling to Russia in June/July. He's learning to understand & speak Russian via an app on his phone - a little everyday, and free or very low cost. Have you ever tried something like that for Korean?
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Yes, a couple of times. I failed to keep up with it though.
 
Stunning performance by Tessa & Scott - they really are in a class of their own.
So first GOLD medal for Canada!!
 
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Seelerboy did tell us about Korean food - mostly positive, he has always been an adventuroous eater willing to try new things. Sometimes still he will send back picctures of the food he is served in restaurants and it does look good. One thing he doessn't like though is tomato juice - Koreans put too much sugar in it for his taste. I also notice that when he gets home he loves his big Macs, and roast beef dinners, and Habitant Pea Soup.
As for language, he found many Koreans have some English. 'Stand on a street corner looking lost and you will have a half dozen people offering direcction.' It was embarassing the first time he took a fellow teacheer with him as translator when he saw a doctor. It is one thing to talk about personal health to a medical professional and another to explain it to a work buddy for translation. Before long, through developing a friendship with the father of some children he tutored, he had recommendations for doctors who could work in English. Over the years he has picked up some Korean, but I get the impression that he mainly lives in English at the university and among his friends - even his Korean friends want to 'practice their English.'
 
Jae, you clearly have the language skills to teach English. I hope that part of the experience goes well for you.
 
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chansen said:
Jae, you clearly have the language skills to teach English. I hope that part of the experience goes well for you.
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Thank you chansen.

Another important reason why we're going, which I don't recall mentioning yet, is that Yobo wants to help her brothers take care of her parents. Her umma and appa are both in their early 80's and beginning to have some health problems. Her appa especially needs attention as he is living with Alzheimer's. Hopefully that part of our adventure will go well also.
 
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