Spring in Daegu

Magnolias just outside our apartment.

Spring seems to begin slowly here in Daegu. A sunny day here and there breaking the bleakness of winter skies. Bright blossoms of white standing out amidst the drab colors of nature still asleep. Little by little life returns with its color and soft scents. The grass trying so hard to turn green, a few tiny blades at a time. Each new discovery is a treasure. Like nature's debutant ball, the beauties make their appearance one by one. The pace picking up with the passage of days.

Then the cherry blossoms appear and spring bursts forth in shades of pink and red. Spring is a promise of life renewed. It is the hope of lighter days and the warmth that lifts our spirits. In spring our hearts are drawn with gratitude to the Creator of the beauty we see. His light lifts us. His warmth fills us. Through Him we have the promise of life renewed. Through him the gray skies of winter are replaced with hope. Through him all that was drab and dull breaks for white and clean. Spring is the season we celebrate the ultimate gift. The atonement of our Savior.
Here some of the scenes of spring from our mission in South Korea:  

The E-World tower.

These pictures were taken in Duryu park. We went there with the young missionaries during the Cherry Blossom festival. In the distance you can see Tower 83. Why 83? **
I really have no idea. Nor do I know why this style of tower is common here. It is located in an amusement park called E-world. I would guess that the name comes from the E-mart corporation.

The actual festival takes place in E-world. But at 30,000 won per person, we decided to enjoy the cherry blossoms without the festival.

The park itself is huge. It has nice walking trails, visitor's center,  recreational areas, a "Groovy Coffee house", cafe, gift shop, and thousands of Koreans! I mean that literally. On this beautiful spring day the park was packed with people. This is the only spring we will have here. We are trying to experience everything we can.

**Update- I found out that Tower 83 is called that because it's 83 stories tall. Seems a little too obvious and not so very Korean, but I thought I should add this. Also, I learned using the English "e" at the beginning of anything is intended to indicate easy living or modern accommodations. Our friend Dennis Shin told us that.






Just a Little "girl time"

Serving a mission really strengthens our relationship. We have a common goal and spend most of our time together. We plan, pray, teach and serve as a team. We are seldom apart. I am very grateful for my mission companion, who happens to be my best friend, my husband of nearly 45 years and also my eternal companion. We get along very well and really enjoy our time and experiences together.
 
Having said that, I must confess I miss "girl time". I miss walking around the corner to visit with my mother. I sometime long for those last minute quick trips to Target with my daughters. I would love to meet my friends for lunch or a walk in the mall. There is  something about time with other women that is refreshing, energizing and just plain fun.
 
Recently I have been able to have a little girl time with some of the wonderful women I have met on our mission. I still miss my mother, my daughters and my friends. I look forward to reconnecting with them upon our return. On the other hand, I am truly blessed to spend time with these new friends. Heavenly Father created men and women, unique in their qualities but equally valued and equally loved. I am grateful for the good people he has placed in my life. Yes, I am especially grateful for a little "girl time" on this Korea adventure.   


 I recently traveled to Seoul for a women's conference with three friends from our Branch. We were able to enjoy some Korean cultural experiences while we were there. This is a class on Hanji paper. It's a traditional Korean craft. It's somewhat similar to paper mache. They use very fibrous paper made from mulberry trees. We each made a small tray.




This is a very Korean way to pose for pictures. I am not really sure why. They also love to pose with both hands making peace signs. These friends are both teachers here in Korea. One teaches at an English camp- where Korean students learn English by being immersed in mock activities. The other is here because of her husband's job. She substitute teaches at the American High School on Camp Walker.



Once each month our Relief Society (women's auxiliary) has a pot luck luncheon. Since this was March, much of our food was green. Some naturally and some with the help of food coloring.

Here I am enjoying a traditional Korean lunch with two friends. we are sitting on floor mats at a low table. Sitting on the floor at these Korean tables is a common experience here. Unfortunately it's hard to be graceful in a dress and it's hard to get back up when you are in your 60's! I'm proud to say I have maneuvered it a few times.



Half empty or half full?

We often use the analogy of a half filled glass to determine someone's perspective. Half empty? You might be considered a pessimist or someone who is negative. Half full?  That is the view of the optimist wearing  rose colored glasses. In my opinion, few people can be identified completely as an optimist or a pessimist. I think of myself as mostly optimistic, but my may husband tend to disagree. On the other hand, I would never disagree that he is an optimist, definitely sporting the latest model of rosy glasses. The bottom line is that for each of us reality is a product of our own perspective. Actually the glass is simultaneously half full and half empty! Our feelings arise from our point of view. Our goals and desires are often nurtured or thwarted by how we see any given situation. Whether we are primarily  positive or negative by nature... no matter how difficult or easy our circumstances...despite our strengths or limitations... ultimately we choose our own point of view.

A work in progress, just like our mission

Half  over or half remaining? Here's another question of perspective. We just reached the half way point of our 18 month mission.  So is our mission half over or do we have half remaining? The answer is both. Just like a glass is both half empty and half full at the same time. In the world of the analogy, it can be viewed as a good thing or a bad thing. In my perspective the answer is still both. It's a good and a bad thing.  We have had nine amazing months filled with adventure and challenges. We have met wonderful people. We have fallen in love with Korea, its people and the culture. The Lord has been so good to us. We have enjoyed opportunities to serve others in small but meaningful ways. We have witnessed the love and caring good people offer to others. I have endured the pains of homesickness and challenges of living in unfamiliar circumstances. I have developed a sense of humor in response to botched communication attempts and continuous navigational challenges. Even the half empty experiences of our mission have filled my cup. At the half way point my cup is definitely much more than half full.  I anticipate the second half of our mission being even more productive and fulfilling than the first. because the challenges of the first half are now lessons learned. I look forward to the adventures ahead. Even though I love this mission and our time here, I must confess that I also look forward to the day I walk down the ramp into the Great Falls airport- returning to home and family.

Just a few mission pictures:

This was a Guamanian/Filipino birthday celebration in the heart of Daegu South Korea. The buffet was amazing and included many traditional foods. The birthday boy, 68 years young, and his wonderful welcoming family.



The end of a fun "family home evening". We shared a bible video, hot dogs and a rousing game of liar's dice. The two young women are nonmembers who came with their English teacher. This was their first exposure to "Mormons". They had a great time and even attended church the following week. The only thing missing from our American FHE is the Americans! The soldiers were involved in a military exercise and could not attend. We love our Korean friends.

Valentine's Day Korean Style

We just enjoyed our first and only Valentine's Day in Korea. Well, technically just 1/3 of the holiday is celebrated on February 14th. So get ready for a brief lesson on the romantic holiday trifecta in Korea. I couldn't cite every source for this information because I have heard it from several people and read it in several sources. The information is consistent, so my research must be accurate- that's my version of the scientific method! I would like to mention one of the sources. Jason is an American who teaches at a University here in Daegu. He has lived here for 10 year and is married to a beautiful Korean woman. He is our only expert source with a deep southern American accent. He is great- I might have to dedicate a post to the musings of Jason!

Here is one of Jason's FB posts: "Today is Valentines Day, but in Korea that means women give presents to men only. On March 14th, White Day comes and that is the day when men give presents to girls. The two days are separated. April 14th is reserved for Black Noodle Day. This day is for all the single people who celebrate it (sadly) by eating a special Korean food."

Wandering around Daegu the last couple of days, we saw several street displays of typical Valentine's gifts, including chocolates and flowers. I saw a few young women carrying such gifts. I can only suppose they were off to meet their sweethearts. I wonder if starting the celebrations with women buying gifts for the men is a way to guarantee the women get a gift on their day? Maybe. Then again, maybe not!



We have eaten the "black noodles" many times. They are delicious. I can see why they would cheer the lonely! They are called Jajangmyun and are an adaption of a Chinese dish. The color comes from the black bean sauce. You can see a bowl on the menu board in the upper left hand corner. The cost would be less then $3 American. For another dollar (1000 won) you can get the large size, which easily feeds two. Of course they come with "panchan" or Korean side dishes. This typically includes kimchi and pickled radish. The young missionaries love to eat here- they get a lot for their money.

So how did we celebrate? Fred bought me a sweet pine scented candle- a little reminder of the mountains. I made him cinnamon rolls. That evening we enjoyed another Korea adventure as we went to a part of Daegu we had never visited; a new subway stop. We met up with Elders Yun and Lee for a delicious dinner at a restaurant that served Korean and American style chicken, but in mostly Korean fashion. This may have been the first time we've eaten at a local restaurant where they brought forks and didn't even offer us chopsticks. It felt weird!!!


Here is a picture of two forever Valentines! A picture before the gray hair and middle age spread. I can't imagine this Korea adventure without the love of my life. We are companions in the truest sense of the word. Ours is an eternal relationship, bound by the Lord's temple covenants. So here we are in Korea. Hoping to invite others to receive these choicest of all blessings.

Bring on the Blue Horse

January 31st , Lunar New Year, began the year of the Blue Horse. The years are based on the 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac. The symbols repeat themselves in 12 year cycles.

I hope you will enjoy one more post about  Lunar New Year. Its one thing to research it and another to experience it. Thanks to our good friend Sup we witnessed some traditional rituals up close and in person. We also participated in some. Later in the day, we provided our own version of Seollal for the young missionaries.

Traditioal Seollal Celebration:

The ancestor rituals begin first thing in the morning, so we arrived at Sup's house about 7:45. His niece and nephews were already decked out in their hanbok. Don't they look adorable? Sup lives in a very nice home with four generations of his family. Traditionally, families gather for the ancestral rituals at the family homes of the oldest/first born male. The wives go to the homes of their husband's family. Since Sup's father is the oldest of his siblings, Sup's uncles and their families come to his home.



Shortly after we arrived they served Ddeokguk (rice cake soup). It was quite delicious. Koreans almost always eat sitting on the floor at very low tables. We have done that a couple times, but it isn't a pretty picture. They served us at a coffee table and we sat  on a couch.. One of Sup's brothers is setting the table. He is in hanbok because this is the first Lunar New Year since his marriage.


The food preparation takes several hours or sometimes days. In the past everything was prepared from scratch, but now they can buy many of the ritual foods already prepared so it cuts down on the time and effort. We witnessed the final steps. This is a brother's wife. The women do most of the cooking. Both of his sisters-in-law were dressed in hanbok. Sup and his brother worked on the presentation of the foods for the ancestor table. They are careful to trim off the ends to make it easier for the ancestors to eat and also so they can display the foods in a pleasing way.

The food is placed on special dishes used only for ancestral ceremonies, which occur seven times a year. They are laid out in a very specific order and all plates must have odd numbers of food, never even numbers. Notice the two octopus? This is a delicacy that is saved for special occasions. It is quite expensive. They also cover all of the mirrors in the home in anticipation of the arrival of ancestors.

Since Sup's mother passed away earlier this year, they had a special ceremony for her. This is his father's prayer room. It is set up with the ritual foods, but on a smaller scale. You can see a picture of his mother. The family members took turns going in and bowing to her.

The rituals focus on honoring their ancestors through offerings and bowing. They also bow to their father, and older siblings. Young children bow to their elders and receive money in return. Sup's niece and nephew bowed to us and we gave them each a couple thousand won. (A thousand won is worth about one dollar, but it sounds pretty amazing.)                           

 We most likely will not ever implement these rituals into our family traditions, but I think we can learn from the Koreans to remember and value our ancestors in a more personal way. We were not able to stay for the full celebration because we had work to do for our own. But we had a wonderful time and felt honored to be included.

Our "meguk" version:

 
The young missionaries like to come to our home to have "American food" and we are happy to oblige. But I really wanted to provide some traditional Korean food for our young Korean missionaries on their important holiday. So I went to the Internet in search of information and recipes. I made the ddeokguk (the traditional soup) with a slight American flair- I used beef broth instead of anchovy base. I just couldn't handle the fishy smell and taste. It was pretty good, but my favorite was the japchae. It's a Korean stir fry using "glass" noodles, made from sweet potatoes. It takes a while to make, but is "jeong mal mah she seo yo" -or really delicious. It's one of my favorites. Even though the internet version was great, I am hoping to take a class and make sure I fix it according to Korean tradition! I also served dried persimmons and chuseok crackers (purchased at a Korean market). The missionaries were so excited and very appreciative. They spent the entire day with us, playing games and watching church videos. Then we ended the day with a real American meal- steak and potatoes!




 

Seollal- Another New Year

How are your New Year's goals coming? How about those resolutions? Maybe you were like me, and just thought about setting some goals and making some resolutions. Do you feel like you have already blown it? Do not despair. There is another New Year on the horizon. No- not 2015. That's more than 11 months away. I am talking about Seollal, or the Lunar New Year. It falls on January 31st this year and its the biggest Korean holiday other than Chuseok.

Lunar New Year is bigger than Christmas here. Much preparation ushers in this holiday. Markets are filled with people shopping for the ingredients used in traditional foods to honor their ancestors. They are particular about color, size, shape and freshness when it comes to fixing the food for the ancestral rites. They spend the entire day prior to the holiday preparing the food. Approximately 20 different types of foods are placed on the ritual tables. The main dish is tteokguk. It is a soup made with sliced rice cakes, beef, egg, vegetables and other ingredients. It is believed that each bowl eaten on Lunar New Year adds a year to your age. (Best diet plan ever!)

Traveling is a challenge because plane, bus and train tickets sell out early so Koreans can return to their homes of origin. Travel on the highway slows down to a crawl and it can take two to four times longer than normal to reach your destination. For us it simply means don't travel!

Koreans honor their ancestors with an array of food, deeply bow and express gratitude to them. Families exchange gifts also. The gifts may be department store gift cards or cash. They may give ginseng, honey or health products to their parents. They also give gift baskets filled with Spam (for real!), tuna, and hangwa (sweets).

Many Koreans dress in hanbok (traditional Korean dress) for Lunar New Year. Families play games, especially yutnori- the stick game. They tell stories and enjoy their time together.

I love learning about the Korean culture. I have heard so much about Lunar New Year from our Korean friends that I had to do a little research. Its exciting to read on-line the things we actually see and hear on this Korean adventure!

So, eat a bowl of soup, play some games with your family and celebrate Lunar New Year. You can also mix a little American tradition in and tend to those goals and resolutions!

Happy New Year... Again!

새해 복 많이 받으세요

Seh heh pok mahnee pah duh sae yo!

"New year's blessings please receive." 

 

Our first night in Daegu.

This is a common Korean New Year's greeting, and I love it. The shift in sentence structure creates a subtle but significant shift in meaning when translated from Korean to English.  To me it means - this new year will be filled with blessings which we are invited to receive. Heavenly Father has great blessings in store for each of us, but we must make an effort to recognize them and receive them. I love a new year. Clean slate. Blank page. Fresh start. What will the new year bring? I can't begin to imagine what new opportunities, changes, challenges or trials may come. I hope to see the blessings offered and accept the invitation to receive them.




A bird's eye view of our
temporary home town.

2013 was very eventful! Okay, that was an understatement. It was in many ways a life changing year for us. We began the paperwork process for another full time mission in January. We were as surprised as anyone else about that turn of events. It was at least seven months ahead of schedule. In fact we had nearly talked ourselves into waiting until early 2014 to begin serving a second mission. We spent Jan & Feb traveling to see family before we left at a still unknown time to our mission in San Diego. Then an unexpected phone call came and our mission suddenly also became "to parts unknown". The end of March we received the stunning and exciting news that we would serve in the Busan South Korea mission. Never heard of Busan, hardly knew anything about Korean. Except that North Korea was threatening nuclear warfare. Charming!

  

Some of the foods we
are learning to love.

A few days after receiving our mission call we left for the rest of our "goodbye to family" trip, or our "farewell torture tour". This round of our travels included a three week trip to Sao Paulo Brazil to visit Jake and family. It was one of those "pinch me" experiences. We had a wonderful time.

 

The series of goodbyes took it's toll on both of us. So many tears! Yet we were also looking forward with great anticipation to our Korea adventure. We have had one blog worthy experience after another in the six months we have been here. Meanwhile back at the ranch... or at least back in the USA... our family members have had their own adventures. Some trials, some changes and countless blessings. The most notable changes have been the migrations. This is actually a repeat of our first mission. While we served in Colorado six of our seven children moved. Two to different houses, the rest to different states. Since we left home for this mission on June 13th, two children have moved into different houses, one to another city and two more are changing jobs which will require them to move to a different state. Coincidence? I think not. At least they let us know their new addresses!

 

This is the year we go home. This is the year our mission is completed. We should be home surrounded by family next Christmas. I love that thought, but I am not trying to rush this year. We love our mission and especially the people we serve. We have 11 months of adventures left here, and I want to cherish each and every one. We have a Korea specific bucket list, which I may share with you soon.

 

We hope for a happy and healthy new year for all of you.

May we all recognize and receive the many blessings the new year brings.

All of them!

Whether they are gifts of prosperity or lessons cloaked in challenges,

may God bless us with a joyous and adventurous new year!