Monkies, Easter Eggs, Bombs, and Swing Dancing

Happy belated Easter!

Earlier this month, being a major Christian holiday, I felt the need to go to church. And you can imagine the rarity of English-speaking churches around here. Well a Korean friend, Jongwha, invited me to come to his church - it's about 25 minutes by bus, and called Antioch Methodist Church. Rumor has it that I'm the very first foreigner to attend! Obviously, my buddy speaks English, and there were two other congregants that I could talk to (one man, and a young 3rd grader). Apart from not understanding 95% of the verbal portion of the service, it was very nice. The music and the choir were really good, they fed us lunch, and even sent us home with food and easter eggs. So overall it was a worthwhile trip. The people were all very nice to me, and of course, they all want me to come back every Sunday.

The choir, including my friend Jongwha:

And the ubiquitous Easter baptism - he was a cute little tyke!

After church, I went shopping at the local department store (and if you know me, this is a rare feat, as I hate shopping!). Although, I actually found buying clothes in Korea to be somewhat more enjoyable than back home - the sizes actually fit my slim frame! And fortunately for me, my buddy works at the store, and he let me in on the employee discount! I bought a pair of pants, but still need a few shirts. I'll have to break down and go back for some more clothes another time.

Some new threads:

On the Saturday of Easter weekend, I went to the Seoul Zoo. It was really interesting to see a different perspective on animals. Most of the animals in the zoo were ones I was familiar with - elephants, giraffes, lions, many birds, cats, etc. A few were different species than I knew - for instance, the dolphins were all the Pacific kind, unlike the Atlantic ones that I've usually seen.

Some familiar critters

I promised some monkies :)

Last weekend, I visited the Korean War Museum in Seoul. It was a really nice museum - very thorough and seemed to be an accurate portrayal of history. It's a very large place - with huge outdoor displays of planes, tanks, trucks, etc, and the building itself is 3 floors full of stuff from ancient Korean warfare up through modern war. The outside especially took me back to my previous life as a member of the military. The third floor inside showed us a 'War Experience' room which was a presentation where you walk into a dark room, and the walkway looks very much like a WWII foxhole. You stand in the room, looking out onto a battlefield reconstruction, and there are sounds of explosions, gunfire, and your (Korean, of course) compatriots yelling behind you. The room fills with smoke and lights, and it felt quite realistic. Pretty cool, but quite frightening at the same time.

The statue of Two Brothers at the entrance of the museum

Another monument. These men were 2 stories tall!

A Soviet tank out in the Yard

A centerpiece outside. For those AF folks out there, a B-52 BUFF ('Big Ugly Fat ..er.. Fellow')

This Tweet was my biggest reminder.

And a gorgeous blooming magnolia tree outside. It's almost Cherry Blossom time here!

After the afternoon at the museum, we ran into one of the coolest things I've come across so far in Korea. Walking on the streets of Seoul on any given weekend, you're bound to come across some type of outdoor performance. So far, I've seen several traditional music and dance shows. The latest was a 1950's-esque swing dance performance. It must have been some local dance group, because there must have been over 100 people. Everyone was dressed in retro clothing, and there was even a band that seemed to be channeling Buddy Holly!



Here's some of the dancers decked out in their bowties and rockabilly dresses:

This past weekend, several local teachers got together for a potluck dinner. One of my co-teachers, Jackie, has held one of these for the past couple months. Last month was to celebrate her birthday, but it looks as though this may become a monthly affair. It's so good to all get together, and everyone (mostly other foreign teachers like me) cooks some really good dishes. We have some Korean food, but mostly Western-style food that we all crave so much! Here's a picture of our pre-feast:

I'll keep you updated when some more interesting things happen out here, as I'm sure they will. Hope you're well & bye for now..

Matt