Winter 2009 Newsletter

It seems appropriate for me to write you another newsletter since I have been here for nearly ten months. I have also been up and down on whether to continue here and now that I have decided to stay here for a while, you may be curious what I am up to.

As I indicated above, I have decided to stay here longer. I came here last April which is the middle of the semester, or just after it begins so if I wanted to leave I would’ve had to do so by now or before the Spring Semester starts in March. I have tried to find out about other opportunities and since no other doors seemed to open I decided to stay here longer. I didn’t sign any new contracts because my original contract goes for two years. As you can imagine, my family is ecstatic about my decision to stay longer. I try to assure them that nothing is for certain, but for some reason, that just doesn’t give them any more assurance of anything.

As you can imagine, especially for those of you who know me well, there have been things that have happened over the last few months that have caused me to think seriously about whether or not to continue here. One of those things was the constant thought of my friends in St. Louis. When I say, “friends” I am speaking of the youth that I worked with at Southwest Church of the Nazarene. I began to wonder about the people I was the closest to and who was taking care of them. Somewhere along the way, I realized that I have no control over them or those who are the most influential in their lives and that I must live in the present, which means living in South Korea for the time being.

Another thing that made me think seriously about whether to stay here longer was the exchange rate. If you think the US dollar is looking bad you should see the value of one Korean won. A general rule of thumb is that 1 USD equals 1,000 won. I don’t think it was quite that good when I arrived here but it was better than it has been. After losing 500,000 two months in a row when I wired money to my account in St. Louis, I began to wonder about staying here longer. This seemed to bother me at first but then after the value of the Korean won was closer to the USD I felt better. Also the sense of satisfaction may have contributed to this as well. After hearing from many people in America the severity of the economic downturn, it seemed wise to keep the job I have. As I think about the jobs I’ve had in the past, this seems to be the most fulfilling job I have had.

I still think about ways to help the poor and in trying to be intentional about living where I am, in South Korea, I’m trying to find ways to minister to the poor here. Since few people talk about the poor in South Korea, this requires much more intentionality. And of course the language and cultural barriers also contribute to this mystery. Nonetheless, I have been corresponding with someone who has introduced me to someone via e-mail who would be helpful in introducing me to ways to help poor people.

I have now been involved in two English camps, one last summer and one in January. This was not as enjoyable the second time as it was the first time, partly because of rumors floating around about a student and I but it was still enjoyable. I was able to have yet another opportunity to host the opening and closing ceremonies with my assistant who was responsible for my homeroom class during the camp. Working in the camp gave me the opportunity to build relationships with the students ranging from elementary school to the 8th or 9th grade as well as students who attend KNU where I teach. The most enjoyable thing to me was answering the question, “How are you?” with “I’m fine thank you and you!” In English textbooks used in Korea, students are taught to give this answer and children speak it very quickly which makes it even more funny. Of course some of the foreign (people who were not born in Korea) teachers were not happy with me for teaching the students this bad habit. I don’t think it is necessarily a bad habit. It is something the students are taught anyway and if you speak it fast enough, the students usually know I am kidding. Well, I hope this is true.

I’ve been spending the vacation trying to learn Korean. At one point, my teacher told me I was making improvement but then at my last lesson she questioned whether the textbook we’ve been using is really all that helpful. I maintain that it is but her uncertainty has made me wonder. I think it is progress that I was able to say a few short sentences during English Camp when the TAs were out of the room and that I can have conversations via text message using Korean. One person told me I am gifted in linguistics today but I told him my experience in Greek suggests otherwise.

I thought I would be finished with the English class I was teaching on Sunday afternoons but they asked me to continue. One church that I consider my main church asked me to only do ministry with them but since I have established relationships with several children in the other church I have decided to continue in the different places. This provides for unique experiences that I don’t think I would have otherwise. One church has more people who speak English but it seems that only university students talk to me for the most part whereas another church has fewer people who speak English to me but it seems to be a warmer environment.

One thing that has continued to motivate me to learn Korean has been the many kind gestures from Koreans offering to help me learn Korean. The problem with having so many teachers is that it is difficult to balance everything out. To me it is a lesson in hospitality. When I was in America, I had been friends with someone from Mexico who couldn’t speak English well in spite of living there for ten years. She asked me to help her but I always seemed to busy. Now I wish I would’ve helped her.

The most exciting thing I am planning during the vacation is a one-week trip to Vietnam. I started thinking about it when a native Vietnamese student invited me to go there. I wasn’t sure at first but then I began to think about the history of Vietnam and it seemed like a good opportunity to visit a poorer country in Southeast Asia. I almost declined but then I decided to go after I realized I may not get this opportunity again. I’m hoping to explore opportunities for ministry while I am there.

Something else that has been interesting in the recent months is connecting with the Asia-Pacific Field Services Coordinator for Nazarene Compassionate Ministries. He has been helpful in encouraging me to think through where in the world I want to live and how I might start making a difference in the place where I live.

There was a time recently when I began to wonder about the Korean Church lifestyle of going to church every time the doors are open. During this time I found the most satisfaction to be when I was visiting people in their homes or when I have had people come to my home. I think some of this was due to finding new friends and the newness of being invited to their homes. As I thought about it further, I began to realize I know the people I do mostly through church or people who work at the university. I am grateful to also be invited to peoples’ homes who are not Christians.

There is probably more to tell, but these are the things that come to mind the most. As you can see, I’m still not the best when it comes to writing newsletters like this. I always appreciate your feedback and encouragement in response to my newsletters.