9pm, 8 April 2006 :: Ah Pa Yo!!It's been exactly a week since I last wrote a blog entry...makes me look rather slack but I haven't been!! I've just been super super Ah Pa Yo (sick) and on top of it, super super Pa Ppa Yo (busy)...
So lets rewind time to the Saturday a week ago and start from there...I'll try to keep this entry as sweet to the eyes as possible...but no promises since you know how I love to rattle on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on...
Ji Nan To Yo Iil = Last SaturdayThat afternoon after blogging my last entry, I met Taro at a really pretty and elegant cafe in Hong Dae (near my place) for some coffee and cakes. He was returning to the US on Sunday (yep, he's Jap but works and lives in the Us) so I decided to meet up with him and give him a good treat since he's been awesome company for the past month. I had a cup of deliciously sweet Yoo Ja Cha (Citron Tea which was suppose to be good for the throat), plus I couldn't resist the temptation of a good slice of chocolate cake (obviously the reverse effect for my cough), but it went down as smooth as silk, it was simply scrumptous! Taro was sweet to give me a nice Christian Cross Necklace as a gift as he had enjoyed my company during the past month. Of course the fact that he had to go to a Christian Bookstore that morning to buy several Korean-Japanese Bibles and casually bought me a gift too had to taken into account. Nevertheless, it was the nice gesture that counts.
After splitting from Taro, Lydia rang and met me around Hong Dae. Together, we headed to Sinchon where we met the new girl, Irene. Irene is with Worldlink for the month of April. She's Malaysian but has lived in England for a good 15 years so I guess she should really be considered British huh?! She's really friendly and approachable and we were able to click immediately. That afternoon, we just did some shopping around Sinchon. The first stop was Hyundai Department Store coz I needed the loo. When I entered the store, it was as if the shoppaholic's radar was turned on and I immediately switched to shopping mode. Immediately, I spotted a nice black skirt that I liked. However, I was with Lydia and Irene so I didn't think it was nice to call them to stop while I shop. Pushing my urges behind, I did what I needed to do - use the loo.
My parents rang me just as I left the loo. Having read my previous blog entry and worrying when I mentioned the word 'hospital' (told you it was a dooming word), they rang me immediately. I assured them that when Koreans say they are going to the hospital, it really refers to a clinic. They have private dodgy doctors (you've got to doubt their qualifications) and then there's the hospital (which refers to reputable clinics and hospitals with wards and all). Anyway, much good came out of the conversation since I got permission to buy more clothes - WARM CLOTHES technically - to keep me warm since I didn't bring enough Winter-Spring clothes!! Nevertheless, it means SHOPPING - it's got a beautiful ring to a shoppaholic's ears...
Lydia, Irene and I went up to the floor with all the food and started shopping around. We decided, among all the suggestions given by Lydia, to head over to Lydia's friend Louise's place for dinner so we went shopping for some things to bring over. We also ended up stopping at this demonstration booth (Lydia loves getting free stuff), and listened for a good 15 minutes to this guy who was promoting a facial mask. Of course all that came out was korean mumble jumble which Irene and I were clueless to, but we still pretended to listen intently and nodded along at appropriate moments. It was a little disturbing as the TV screen beside him showed a close up of some little creepy microscopic bugs that are constantly on our faces...YUCK. The mask is suppositely to kill those bugs and leave your face feeling clean...of course repeated use is necessary. Finally, after a long promotion, we received our FREE trial mask - was it worth the time spent standing there as a stranger went on in a language I could only grasp in bits? I'll let you know when I try the mask. A week later today, it's still sitting on my table where I left it last Saturday.
I knew I should have stayed home that night halfway to Louise's house while on the train. I started to cough profusely and I felt absolutely embarrassed. I think the people beside me would have been inching slowly away from me or wishing they were in a different cart, afraid to catch my horrid disease. Luckily, we finally arrived at our stop and I left the train as quickly as I could. I guess the air in the train gets a little stale after a while and it gets stuffy and that kinda agigates my cough on.
Louise's apartment was pretty. We also got to see her bedroom - the bedroom she never sleeps in. Why? She bought these very beautiful furniture for her room and have furnished it to this beautiful 'showcase' room, she's only really slept in her bed twice!!
I also played with her 'Sa Rang' (Love). She's only a couple months old, but the fattest puppy I've seen. She's adorable though and very pampered, fed fat with many pieces of luncheon meat from our dinner.
Dinner was delicious. Louise makes great sushi makis and we had a good time wrapping our own sushis as well!. However, I had but I had another horrid coughing spell. I hate those coughing spells coz when I suddenly get hit by one of those cough spells, I cough and cough and cough and it seems like I can't stop. It's like chain coughing and I feel absolutely horrid, my chest hurts, my tummy aches, and sometimes I cough to a point where I feel like throwing up. But anyone who knows me know I hate - or rather, can't handle - throwing up so that's never an option I consider, no matter how horrid I feel.
That was a major hint to how bad my condition was because when I got home that Saturday night, I had the worst night ever.
I ran a temperature. My forehead and neck was burning hot hot hot, BUT my body was freezing cold cold cold. Usually, I just wear a layer of PJs to sleep but that night, I also had on a semi-wollen pullover, my thick black winter jacket thrown over me, and not to mention the winter blanket on top of it all. I was that cold! And being under all that layers made coughing a whole lot more work. Plus, a runny nose. I was constantly having to blow my nose and moving around under all that layers was a workout itself. After tossing around for hours, I even contemplated trying to throw up to make me feel better - I was that desperate. It was 2am and I still wasn't feeling any better. Remembering what my mummy used to do when I ran a high fever when I was young, I grabbed my wet face towel and chilled my forehead.
I prayed so hard to God that night. I didn't know what else to do. For a long while, I couldn't get to sleep. I was uncomfortable all over. I was coughing, blowing, tossing and chilling all at once. I guess my fever was quite high coz when I felt the towel, it was actually warm and I had to re-wet it several times. I was dead tired, both physically and mentally. I wanted to sleep but I was suffering. God was my only cure. I prayed and cried to him for his care and help. I was afraid my temperature would go too high that it might cause serious consequences. On several occassions, I was almost about to ring Lydia to ask her to take me to the hospital. There was only one person who could help me then and he didn't abandon me. He stayed with me and took care of me.
Ji Nan Iil Yo Iil = Last SundayI guess I must have dozed off for an hour because when I woke again at around 4am, I found the towel still on my forehead but I didn't have high fever anymore. I gave the towel another wash and dozed back off to sleep with it on my neck for another hour or more, waking up to cough and adjust the towel. At least I was getting a couple of hours sleep before waking for a couple of coughs. My fever was gone and I wasn't feeling cold any longer. In fact, I was warm under the winter blanket. It's too thick for Spring weather.
God definitely helped me through that night and I'm so blessed to have him in this foreign place where I'm all on my own. I couldn't have pulled through that night without putting my complete faith in him that he'd take the best care of me and get me through that horrid night.
That morning I woke up at around 11am and had some food and went back to sleep again, repeating this for the rest of the day, apart from waking up for meals. My host mum cooked Ramen for lunch and I joined the family for dinner. After dinner, I decided to catch up on loss sleep and had an early night, only to find me tossing and tossing for hours and hours.
That night was the worse night of sleep I've ever had. It was even worse than the previous night. At least I managed to doze off for a couple of hours in a row the previous night but on Sunday night, I didn't sleep at all. Yes, my eyes was closed. But my entire body was conscious. I just couldn't get to sleep. I was dead tired no doubt about it but my body just refused to switch off. Religiously in half hour intervals, I'd check my cell phone right beside me for the time.
Ji Nan Worl Yo Iil = Last MondaySurprisingly, at 7.30am that Monday morning, I had the energy to pull myself out of bed to join my family for breakfast. I was mentally tired but my physical self was awake. However, a night without sleep definitely affected me. I wasn't well.
I ate a tiny bit of rice and a tiny bit of fish. I could hardly digest it. My taste buds failed. My tummy refused to accept anything. I manage to mumble an apology and excuse myself from the table before having to rush to the toilet to throw it out. Yes, I was very sick, and hence my absence.
Luckily, my classes that Monday only starts at 11am so I could get an hour more of sleep between breakfast and school. You must think why didn't I just skip school and rest? Well...that was the first day of my new 102 class. I didn't want to miss it for the world.
Praying to God to get me through the day, I took an hour nap before getting ready for school. I went down to purchase a piece of soft cake-like bread and made a second attempt to feed myself. This time it was a success and the bread was actually tasty. I loved it.
While on the train, I felt another coughing chain urge coming on and hopped of the carriage at the next stop to cough profusely till I felt better. I was almost going to turn back for home. Feeling a little better, I pressed on, depending a lot on God for strength.
Getting through class was another mission. A trick I picked up? If I constantly sipped on water, bit by bit, I could suppress my cough as the water soothed the throat and suppressed the itchness I felt inside my throat. The down side, by break time, I was bursting for the loo! Well, I rather have to use the loo many times than make a name for myself while coughing my guts out in class.
For lunch, I managed to courage enough energy and joined Min Hee and the 4 new girls for lunch. There was Irene, the Malaysian-British, Jessica, an American-Korean, another Lydia from Bulgaria and Mu Zi from China who is currently studying in Edinburgh. They were all quite quiet, I guess it's coz they had all just met, but nevertheless, everyone was friendly and the atmosphere was pleasant.
There was one more new guy with Worldlink this month but he didn't join us for lunch. He's Korean but he grew up in America, back here for a holiday and staying with his grandmother in the rich side of town. He's got a private chauffuer to take him to and from school so he doesn't really hang around us for lunch. That's all I know - all info from Lydia.
After lunch, I split from the group and returned to school for my second class. I decided to sit in on class 103 and check out the learning pace. Perhaps I thought I could cope with it. The first class was good. It was rather challenging but I liked it. We were given much more chances to chat to each other in Korean and practice our conversational Korean, I thought that was rather effective. After class, I approached the teacher to ask her what she thought and she said that I should be able to cope with this class.
So the verdict? I'm taking both 102 and 103 this month. I figured, March was a month of fun, April is a month of had work and May is a month to enjoy my last days.
After Monday's lessons at 5pm, I met Min Hee once more. She's coming down with something. Her throat was very sore and that's usually a tell-tail sign. She wanted to go to the hospital and get some prescribed medicine, so we went together. I definitely needed some medical help as well. The 'hospital' that we went to, as I expected and discovered, was a clinic with only one doctor and several nurses. However, it was a specialised clinic as the doctor only dealed with nose, ears and throat problems. Well...I definitely needed help with all 3 of those - a runny nose, a horrid throat and blocked ears (I couldn't barely hear myself speak that day).
My 'hospital' experience is one to tell. It was so weird and a little painful. First, he puffed something into my nose - I guess some disinfectant, and then he stuck this weird equipment down my nostrils as it sucked up the mucleus, reaching as far down as he could - I could feel it touch the back of my tongue/throat, and then once again, he sprayed something down my nostrils. The whole disinfecting process was a first for me and a weird experience as well. My nose did feel wonderfully cleared after that, but it's something I don't think I want to experience again. And he told me not to blow my nose. Blowing my nose is not good for my ears, it could even damage it. Did you know that?? Well...now I know. I'm only supposed to wipe. How's that going to solve a dripping nose?! I obviously took that advise with a grain of salt - I still do blow with less force.
Anyway...the funny thing about Korea is that the doctors think you'd recover maraculously in 2 days from a case of serious cough coz they only give you 2 days worth of medine. Either they are stingy or they reckon everyone has fantastic recovery ability!
Then we went to the pharmacy to pick up our medicine. This I've got to share...
I love the way they package your medicine for you!! It's fantastic. How thoughtful of them! It's individually packaged for each time you have to take it. Plus taking the liquid medicine is so convenient, you just have to squirt it out according to the markings on the side of the bottle!! I LOVE IT!
I went home a little earlier that day before dinner time and ended up having dinner with my host family.
I took a short nap after dinner. I didn't know if I could get any sleep and since there was Spring Waltz every Monday night at 10pm, I thought I'd catch a quick nap, and if at 10pm when my cell phone alarm goes off and I'm too tired, then I'd continue sleeping. However, just before 10pm, I started coughing a little and woke up. I felt a little better after a short nap and I wasn't too tired so I got out of bed and watched Spring Waltz for an hour before bed.
The Monday night's sleep was another restless night, however, much less restless than the previous night. At least I managed to some sleep - not much, but it was still better than the previous no-sleep night.
Ji Nan Hwa Yo Iil = Last TuesdayOn Tuesday after school at 5pm, I was feeling better so I went looking around at shops for some warmer clothes as instructed by dad. I guess the medicine worked, though it was almost finishing and I was nowhere near from total recovery, I did feel better come Tuesday so it was all good. I saw several potential green clothes I might like - yes, I'm into my greens right now - but I didn't end up buying anything. I was just browsing and on my way to the subway station. I bought some roadside snacks - this egg in a cake bun - while on my way, thinking that'll be dinner. I realised I really miss healthy food buy Korean food isn't all that healthy. It's a lot about carbo and I don't like that. It's either rice, or something made of rice or flour...and then there's meat, but those are like barbequed or cooked spicy which really isn't great for a bad throat, and then there's veges in soups which tastes rather salty it seems unhealthy or spicy veges like spicy toufu and all...they aren't very sick-friendly or healthy options.
On my way home, Lydia rang my cell phone and asked if I wanted to meet for dinner. I told her I wanted to eat something healthy - back of my head thinking salads salads salads please - and she said we'd find something healthy. So I went home and rested a bit while I waited for her and together, we headed towards Hong Dae. On the way, her younger brother rang asking her if she was on her way home and if she could buy him something to eat for dinner - according to Lydia, recently he's been asking her to buy back dinner for him coz he's broke.
Lydia told him she was going for dinner with me and invited him along. The good thing about him coming was that he drove so we caught a lift. Lydia ended up treating both him and I to dinner - Kal Bi. What's that and is it healthy? It's barbeque beef - it's a good iron source but I can't say much about it being healthy. Well...the veges that I wrapped the bbqed beef in was healthy so I guess it was a balanced meal.
After dinner, Lydia's brother gave us a lift back to somewhere near our apartment before going off to work at their cousin's restaurant and I bought apples from a roadside truck pulled up near our apartment, with the intention of eating it after breakfast, lunch and dinner. My reasoning...an apple a day keeps the doctor away so what about three apples a day?? That's what I need!!
Lydia also decided to drop in to visit my host mum but she was out exercising so Lydia helped me with homework for a while as we waited for my host mum to return. Lydia had to pay my host mum for my April's homestay. Lydia stayed till Spring Waltz started and then she left while I continued watching. It's getting rather interesting but I like the ending of Tuesday's episode but hate the fact that it ended so abruptly. I'm now left hanging, waiting for next Monday's episode!!
Ji Nan Soo Yo Iil = Last WednesdayOn Tuesday night, I managed to get a bit of sleep, but it wasn't fantastic and I figured that since I had finished my medicine but I still wasn't fully well and still coughing, I gave myself an MC from class 102 on Wednesday morning. I thought I'd try and get as much rest as possible on Wednesday morning so that I could go to school in the afternoon feeling good and survive the activity for the night.
After class 103 at 5pm, and despite the fact that I was meeting Lydia and the other girls at 6pm at Sinchon, I went shopping. I just felt like shopping that day, so I did and I ended up buying this gorgeous knitted green long jacket - LOVE IT...it's so pretty and the colour is so beautiful! After purchasing this jacket, another green jacket caught my eye. This was a different shade of green and a different style - one of those short jackets that end just below your chest. I didn't know if the colour suited me but I bought it anyway since it was rather cheap. I quite like it actually so I was happy with my buy. On my way to the subway station, I noticed a pair of lime green shoes with Raine written all over it. Attracted to it, I went into the shop to check it out, only to be disappointed by the price. It was a pair of Sketchers, costing around US$99. "I'll think about it", the shoppaholic reasoned as she left the shop.
I went to meet Lydia and the rest, arriving at around 6.30pm but they didn't mind because we ended up hanging at the office for another half an hour before heading off to MINTO, this study cafe in Sinchon. MINTOs can be found all around Seoul! It's an awesome place!! Within the premises, there are many many mini rooms for people to study. We were directed to room 31. All the room consists of is sofa seats and a large table.
Paying 5000 Won (about US$5) each, we could stay there for 3 hours. We were also served free flow MINTO tea in a matching paper cup and coaster, a mini basket of choc chip cookies, and either bread and jam or instant ramen as food! It was awesome. The waitresses all wore this cute as outfit, they looked like little bopeeps (sweet, in a dress which flared out to a puffy skirt)! And they were super friendly, the service was awesome! The experience of studying there was fantastic. We all had a great time we were thinking of making this an every Wednesday affair.
Ji Nan Mok Yo Iil = Last ThursdayOh, as this week progressed, I kept finding myself thinking back to the skirt I saw at Hyundai Department Store last Saturday so after class on Thursday, after obtaining permission from mum to buy the sketchers shoes, I made a mental pros and cons list and decided against it, heading to Sinchon to check out that skirt. I knew it would be costly, especially since it's in Hyundai Department Store. Everything in there is NOR MOO PI SSA YO (very expensive)!
I was right, the skirt I wanted was roughly about what I thought it would be - EX EX EXPENSIVE! But it looked good. I loved it. I loved it to bits. Being a smart shoppaholic, I said 'I'll consider' and walked on to check out the rest of the mini sections in the department store. Each floor in Hyundai Department Store is separated into many mini sections selling different brands of clothes, there was Levis, Ssamzie, Buckaroo, Bean Pole, etc. A lot of those brands I've never heard of. They are either euporean or Korean brands but nothing was cheap! However, I found my favourite brand there - I think it's Korean. Though it's my favourite brand, I didn't buy anything from it because the clothes there were expensive, ranging between US$70 to US$200+++. They were very classy yet funky - I SIMPLy LOVED THE FASHION TO BITS. I saw so many potential items I could like, but I didn't dare to try them on since I didn't want to fall head over heals with any items and have to justify it with my credit card limit. It was best I leave that section and moved on to other brands. I tried on another green skirt which I liked quite a bit, but I guess not as much as I did with the first black skirt. Then at this other brand, I tried on a reasonably priced green-sleeved top with a reddish pink knitted coat and it looked good. I needed something warm and it wasn't too expensive so I bought them both.
But when the shoppaholic unleashes her credit card and starts buying things, you know things are going to get 'worse'. After purchasing the 2 tops, the internal struggle within myself drew me back to the first section where I found that black skirt. I tried it on again. And then out came the gold card. The rest was history. Well...I reasoned that it's not worth the regret. I've had that happen one too many times before - not buying and then regretting - I didn't want to repeat that so I bought it and it's a great buy...no regret what-so-ever. THANKS DAD! *mwuak*
Ji Nan Kum Yo Iil = Last Friday A.K.A. Orh Je = YesterdayOn Friday, I wore my new skirt to school. LOVE IT! I felt absolutely great in it and that's all the confirmation I needed.
After class at 5pm, I went over to Sinchon to meet Lydia and the others. We were going out for a traditional folk dinner and then to a dance club. Haeyoung, sort of my language partner, brought a friend along as well. I haven't seen Hae Young in ages and it was great meeting her. The last time, we said we wanted to go shopping, but I have been very sick and she's been very busy at university so it's been a couple of weeks since we last met and it was nice catching up with her.
Dinner was fantastic. We went to this traditional Korean folk house for dinner. This was also Hae Young and her friend, Cheong Oon's first time. First, we were directed to an area with 6 mats on the floor - no table. 2 ladies in Hanboks (traditional Korean outfit) entertained us with their voices at the stage in front.
Lydia ordered the food and a while later, 2 waiters carried a large table of food and set it in front of us. The entire table was filled with food, it was insane! There were so many side dishes I didn't know where to begin!!
Throughout the dinner, we were entertained by music and traditional folk songs. It was an awesome experience, definitely something I'd remember for life.
However, it was quite a pity since we had so much leftovers. Most of it was side dishes. There were so many side dishes it was insane to finish all of it!! At the end of the night, we were all very full that we took a walk around the area of Dae Hung Gun that we were in before heading back to Hong Dae with the intention of clubbing. Hae Young and Cheong Oon didn't join us for that.
We managed to call Alex to join us though and waited for him while having a drink at a pub. I didn't want to drink anything alcoholic - got to get rid of this cold - but I felt a little out of place drinking hot chocolate in a pub at the same time. Oh well.
When Alex arrived, we headed over to the club. There was an admission fee to the club of US$15...I'm not much of a clubber so to me, that was quite expensive but it entitled me to a free drink of 5000W or buy a more expensive drink and top it up with cash. I ended up just getting an orange juice. Mu Zi on the other hand had 4 tequila shots!! She was definitely drunk after that. However, she's the silent drunk type, swaying and sometimes losing her balance. It was quite a worry but also quite funny. She didn't say much except for "WHAT?" whenever we said something to her. Her sense of hearing must have been impaired from all that alcohol. Most of the time we were just asking her if she was alright. The plan was for her to find a guy she thought was good looking and kinda sway to his direction and her alcohol would just take effect and cause her to lose her balance into his arms - that never happened though coz she didn't find anyone good looking. Haha.
Irene loved dancing and dragged me several times onto the dance floor. However, we received several unwanted attention. The first guy was definitely drunk. He kept moving closer and closer to Irene and was getting a little too touchy that Irene and I bailed, running far away from him. Then we decided to try the other side of the dance floor a little while later. We found Alex and danced near him. Then a group of guys near us noticed us and started dancing with us. It was alright at first, but then one guy came a little close to me and started speaking to me and I didn't really want to talk to him - he wasn't good looking either anyway - and I kinda shook my head at him but he kept quite close to me. Then Alex came to my rescue. He squeezed his way between the guy and me and asked me "Shi lor yo?" (Do you dislike it? 'It' refering to that guy close to me) and I nodded saying "Jo Kum" (A little) and from then on, Alex danced close to me.
Then it was Irene's turn. The guy who was dancing beside her started dancing a little too close to Irene, wanting to grab her hand and also he was kinda bumbing butts with her, cornering her. She wanted out and looked at Alex for help. Alex, our guardian angel for the night, moved in and pulled Irene out of her fix, telling the guy that we are his friends. The guy got the message and was nice about it, apologising. Alex made a friendly gesture to the guy saying it's fine and we were saved!! YAY to ALEX!!
Lydia and Mu Zi joined in for a while, but I didn't really feel like dancing so I ended up sitting out. I was only there on the dance floor to keep Irene company and to be a sport. I don't like dancing myself. I found Alex and both of us chatted while we waited for Lydia and the other 2 to rejoin us. It was 2am and we decided to leave.
I was dead tired when I got home. Last night, I had the best few hours of sleep!!
Oh Nul = TodayThis morning, dispite the late night, I had to wake up at 8am because I was meeting Lydia at 9am. We were going to the 'hospital' near our place. It's Lydia's turn to come down with the cold and cough - her mum is coughing at home as well so it's not entirely my fault.
The 'hospital' was more of the general type, so there wasn't that specialised nose disinfectant system - thank goodness. This time around, the doctor gave me three days medicine - WOO HOO. That's one day more than the previous! Hah. Anyway, I'm finally getting much better solid sleep from night to morning so that's a very good sign in terms of my condition. I'm definitely getting better!
After seeing the doctor, we went to a nearby market, passing by a monument that marks Korea's Independent Movement from the Japanese. While I was taking a picture with it, a bunch of primary school boys came, asking if we could take a photo for them. They were so cute!!! After helping them, I couldn't resist as Lydia asked them if they mind taking a photo with me. And so here we are, cheering along with the people in the stone monument.
Oh, that's my new green jacket if you can see it clearly...I also took a photo of Dong Nim Mun - The Independence Gate.
Next, we went to visit a Korean wet market. There were fruits, fish, meat and the usual lot you find at wet markets. This is my first time being in a market and of course I had to document it with pictures.
we went for breakfast and then we met Irene and chanced upon this FREE Police Museum. We had a silly blast taking photos in hand cuffs...please meet my David Becks accomplist...
Serving time...
Proudly serving 'our' country as policemen...
And also as car show models...
Oh, while I was there, I also played this cute traffic game. I'm standing in front of a blue screen and I'm projected into the TV screen, standing in the middle of traffic, posing as the traffic policeman, waving traffic on. We weren't allowed to use flash while taking photos, so there I am, the blurred green thing in the middle of the road waving frantically at you!
After touring the Police Museum, we waited while Mu Zi and Jessica joined us and then we headed to lunch. After lunch, we initially planned to tour this Hanbok Museum, but the admission fee was a little expensive, Lydia said she'd go back and find a discount coupon so in the mean time, the 5 of us toured this traditional Korean Gate place nearby before heading over to Gwang Hwa Mun.
At Gwang Hwa Mun, we got distracted by a roadside protest demonstration. Police were all over the place, keeping watch and maintaining safety. We decided to check it out, supporting who-knows-what cause. Here's what I saw...
To finish off this day, we toured Geong Bok Gung - I've been there before but Mu Zi and Irene hasn't, had dinner and came home. Originally, I wanted to do some studying, but I guess not coz here I am, at 2am, finishing this blog entry off. Jal Ja Yo!! Nights!!
11.30pm, 9 April 2006 :: Yoido Full Gospel ChurchToday, I went with Lydia and Irene to the biggest church in Korea and I think in the entire world as well. I'm not sure if it's in terms of land size (consisting of 5 large buildings) or congregation size (of 850,000 members). Nevertheless, it was an experience in itself.
When we first arrived, we entered into the Education Building 1 in search for the English Service on the 9th floor. Waiting for the lift was a mission in itself because there were so many people moving in and out of the lifts, we had to queue to use it. When we finally got into the lift 20 minutes later, we found out that we were in the wrong building. So we took the lift back down and headed towards the second Education Building, only to find that the English service had been shifted to 9am.
Disappointed, we decided to leave - of course not before we took a picture of the front of the church. However, before we could snap the picture, we were approached by a member of the church, with the title of a 'Foreigner Guide'. We explained that we had missed the English service at 9am coz they had not updated their website timing. He then told us that as we spoke, Paster David Yonggi Cho was giving a sermon in the main sancuary and invited to join in the service. We asked if it was in English since we couldn't understand Korean and he replied that it's not an issue because they have onsite translators translating his sermon as he goes!!
So we followed this elderly Korean man who spoke good English into the church, and we took the lift which was marked as for 'Foreigners Only'. It was hilarious, we had our own lift!!
Going up to the 4th floor, we went through the door which lead to the main sancuary balcony. The place was packed with people. The area we were sitting at was mainly for foreigners so there were people of all races all around. We were handed headphones and tunned in to the English service. Because we were late, we ended up having to sit, along with others, on the steps. We couldn't even see front of the stage. A television screen of Paster Cho standing on the pulpit was the only way.
The main sancuary was MASSIVE!! And it was jam packed with people. It was then I understood why it was the biggest church in the entire world - both in terms of size and membership numbers. It was very impressive, worshiping silmultaneously with thousand others in the same sancuary, and many more thousands through satallite telecasting of his sermon.
There were 7 language translations available to choose from: English, Japanese, Chinese, Spanish, French and so on. We were told after the service that they could provide almost any language translations available, you just have to inform them beforehand.
However, I hate to admit but that the English translation wasn't really good. As I watched the TV screen showing Paster Cho speaking, his sermon looked very interesting and engaging. The congregation were laughing at some bits of his sermon. However, the English translation was a little delayed and the lady couldn't translate fully the sermon and the translation sometimes came in bits with pauses, failing to bring across Paster Cho's humour in his sermon. I found myself prefering to listen to a language that I didn't understand myself. I guess it's just the way Paster Cho speaks and his ability to connect with his congregation that makes him who he is today. Just being in the house of God worshiping along with thousands of people was more than I could ask for and it was an awesome experience.
The service ended with the singing of the Lord's Prayer. It was beautiful. I sang along in the langauge I'm familiar with, along with the many others who did likewise in their own language. The beauty of our God is his multilingual ability - God is so awesome.
Immediately as the service ended, people started to leave and I was pushed several times as the congregation made their way out of the sancuary. I wondered what the rush was and why didn't they stay on to chat and mingle...
But it was all explained in the Foreigners Briefing that we attended after the service, telling us about the church's practices and history over the years. On Sundays, there are services at 7am, 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm and lastly at 7pm - you had to evacuate the sancuary unless you intended to stay on for the next sermon that followed straight after. We were enlightened that in a span of 25 minutes, approximately 3000 people are moving in and out of the sancuary. Some people even prefer to go to the overflow services held at other locations instead of joining the crowd at the main sancuary. Apparently if you came 15 minutes before the service started, you were late and there would be no seat in the bottom seating area. You had to take the balcony seats. And if you were very late like us, you ended up on the stairs or along the sidewalks.
Another awesome sight was when we were making our way to the other building - the newest building and probably the most expensive building in Korea - for the Foreigners Breifing. As we walked down this narrow stairway, choir members were walking up. As we decended what seemed to be many floors, many choir members dressed in yellow gowns walked past us and it didn't seem to end. They just kept coming. How many were there? 50? 60? 70? Perhaps.
The foreigners briefing finally ended and we made our way to the subway station. It was almost 2.30pm then. We were starving. We completely forgot to take pictures of the church - there's another time.
We made our way to Techno Mart, a massive electronics mall all the way across Seoul. The first stop was lunch before we did some serious business of shopping. Lydia wanted to check out some fax machines since the fax machine at the office was down and I wanted to check out some korean-English Electronic Dictionary. Now that I'm in 103 and my Korean standard has improved, I am finding that I need a dictionary on hand with me all the time in order to understand class, and just for quick reference. The dictionary I have just isn't efficient enough, plus, it was bulky and heavy. Who wants to lug a thick dictionary around with them, plus by the time I flip to the word I'm looking for, I would probably have missed out on 5 minutes of class. Initially, I only wanted to check out the prices and have a feel of the equipment because Min Hee said it would be cheaper to buy online, but I knew some online prices of certain models and it was definitely cheaper purchasing it at Techno Mall.
We had to shop smart though, going to several vendors on different floors to ask for prices. We were actually almost going to make a purchase on a rather cool black electronic dictionary, but the vendor failed to inform us of an unheard 'VAT' until I was about to make payment. Initially, he had quoted 170 000 Won. Reasonable, we thought. Then he said if we paid by credit card, there was an extra 7000 Won on top of it - fine, that was understandable...and then he said there was also VAT so the total became 187 000 Won. WHAT??! Tell us earlier! And what VAT is that? In the end, we declined and left him. We weren't impressed.
We then found another shop which was having an electronic dictionary sale. And somehow, we changed our opinion and found a more appropriate dictionary for less. You see, the previous one I was almost going to purchase had korean-Japanese and Korean-Chinese functions which I didn't need and other useless functions that I probably, with my Korean standard, wouldn't know how to use anyway. So the guy recommended another model which I've heard from friends in class that is quite good. It was just Korean-English, which meant that it was more concentrated on Korean and English vocab, as supposed to the other in which the memory is spread across the 4 languages available.
For this electronic dictionary, he quoted 150 000 Won if I paid by cash, and 160 000 Won if I paid by credit card. Thinking I could save a little by paying cash, the vendor took us to a nearby ATM for me to draw cash and immediately make the transaction. However, the ATM didn't accept my card - who knows why, and so the vendor finally said he'd absorb some and said I could pay 155 000 Won by credit card. Appreciating all his help, we went back to his store and made the transaction. YAY, I finally got an electronic dictionary - Dad...sorry I hadn't discussed this with you beforehand, I'm sure you'd understand.
Then we did some shopping around...and I didn't realise time passed so fast. We had spent hours at Techno Mall and when we left, it was past 8pm!! It felt like it was only 6pm though. By the time I got home, it was 9pm and I just did a little bit of studying and here I am, reporting on my day's fruitful events!
Congrates!! You've come to the end of this blog entry - I'm impressed with your patience!! Haha...and for those who scanned through, I'll give you some points for good effort.
