100 Things I Love About Korea - #23: People: Kim IlHyang

Dear Friends at KNU International English Church,
I am so sorry that I couldn't fully commit the things I had to do.  I am in Seoul now.  As you know, I am pursing being a lawyer.   Unfortunately, I didn't get admission to law school.  So I had to go to plan B.  I'm working with my friend, helping her in her business.  This will help me to be fully independent of my family and acomplish my dream.  That's why I had to leave town all of the sudden.  I am working and studying now.
Meeting you guys in Cheonan was a total blessing for me. Just like you who are leaving for your country, my time at KNU was a precious journey to help me learn to live like Christ.  I belive you can expect blessings in your new ways too because God always leads us.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year.
- Il-Hyang

100 Things I Love About Korea - #21 - People: Bruce Kim

Goodbye's are a regular part of our church.  To help us say goodbye well, I've been posting people's goodbye letters here.  This time, Bruce turned the tradition around and said goodbye to my family, but along the way he tells a lot of his own story too.  Enjoy.  

   I hate goodbyes. 
   I'd rather not get to know someone new than say goodbye. That's not the best quality in someone who decides to live abroad. When you leave your home country, you meet new people and they become as close as family members here on this life raft of expatriates. Then you or they go home and you never see them again except for facebook updates. When I meet someone new I usually ask how long they expect to live in Korea as if I'm anticipating their departure. I should stop doing that. I should meet a new person thinking he or she could potentially become a lifelong friend and not someone to say hi to and forget. It's certainly not the best quality in a Christian.
   My wife and I moved to Korea in 1997. That's before the Clinton impeachment, before 9/11, right before the Columbine shootings. The internet was embryonic. We've been attending this church since 1999 when we moved to Ssangyong-dong. My mom worked in the same Cleveland school as Pam, Bill and Gail Patch's daughter, and they recommended we visit if we wanted to see an English worship service. Back then, it was mainly the Mitchell family and a couple teachers. 
   We've seen hundreds of new faces come and go since then. It's impossible to remember them all. We've seen weddings, babies being born and people eulogized. It's so much more fun counting the babies. We tried to remember all the births of members since we started attending and we stopped at 21. We're in the middle of another baby boom. Soon that'll be closer to 30.
   When the Browards arrived in 2004, I liked them immediately. There was something infectious about their smiles, especially Emma's. In one of his earliest sermons in the old sanctuary, Josh mentioned his admiration for Daunte Culpepper, a pro football player known for explosive bursts of speed. Watching Josh re-enact his excitement complete with arms waving and jumping behind the podium, I remember thinking, 'I like this guy.' His energy was impressive, but then I realized that was just one facet of his devotion and commitment to the church and community. 
   Previous pastors for KNU International English Church haven't always agreed on the inclusion of non-English speakers in the service. Josh seemed to embrace the diversity here, and that's something I came to admire and greatly appreciate. Older members remember when the entire congregation would clear out during summer and winter vacations leaving the service feeling skeletal. 
   Now membership is consistent year round and the body of the church has filled out like a growing baby. That's healthy for a church spiritually, emotionally and financially to stand on its own. Josh and the leadership teams deserve credit for making sure this church became a home and didn't remain a supplementary service.
   I once read an article about how expatriates collect friends in a similar way to prehistoric people gathering new members into a tribe. I'll miss the Browards immensely. It was nice knowing they were here these past 8 years, going out for dinner together, playing cards, just being in each other's company even knowing this day would come when we would have to say goodbye. It was nice watching the kids grow up. It was nice going through childbirth with them. Josh set a good example for me as a father, friend and spiritual leader. I know he will do a great job in his new church assignment. I'm not sure how close I'll allow myself to get to know the new pastor's family. But if they're anything like the Browards it'll be hard not to love them.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #4 - Walking Almost Everywhere

I walk an hour a day - without even trying.  5 minutes here.  10 minutes there.  And before you know it, I've put in several miles of walking.  So far today, at lunch time, I've already walked 10 minutes to work, 5 minutes to the bus, 5 minutes to an appointment, 5 minutes back to the bus, and 5 minutes back to my office.  That's 30 minutes bonus exercise.  Nice.
One of the costs of moving back to the USA will definitely be the loss of incidental exercise and calorie burning through the natural daily walking that comes from living in Korea.  We don't own a car, and we don't want a car.  A few times a week, I use public transportation like a bus, subway, or taxi, but the rest of the time I just walk.  We walk to work, to church, to Emma's school, to the grocery store, and to most of the restaurants we frequent.
And I love it.  It's good exercise - building serotonin and burning calories - something I need more and more.  It puts me out in nature, where I can see and appreciate the weather and the seasons.  Sure, it's hot in the summer and cold in the winter, but that's life, and I get to experience more of it this way.
I'll surely enjoy the independence of hopping in a car and going wherever I want whenever I want, but just as surely, I'll miss my many, many walks around Cheonan.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #3 - WolBong Mountain

I love mountains and nature, so WolBong Mountain is one of my favorite parts of Korea.  As far as mountains go, it's pretty small.  It's really a range of wooded hills with a hiking trail along the ridge, but I love it.  I've walked every inch of that trail for eight years.  I've counted the wooden steps.  I've explored all the side trails.  I've found the quietest corners to pray and to watch the animals.  

When I pass that threshold from field to forest, something changes in my psyche.  I feel that I have moved into God's domain, stepped into his loving embrace a little more fully.  I feel appropriately small before its largess (muted as it may be).  

WolBong Mountain is literally 2-3 minutes from our apartment, and I can walk the short side of the trail and get back within 30 minutes or the longer side in 40 minutes.  Or, I can take a pocket Bible and "camp out" for a while in solitude on one of the slopes.  

One of the beautiful quirks of Wolbong Mountain is that the undergrowth is dotted with scraggly azalea bushes.  Because of the thick trees overhead and lack of grooming, they never grow into the beautiful clouds of flowers that line landscaped buildings.  However, in spring they are like little starbursts of color amid the dull brown of the forest underworld.  

I will definitely miss my mountain.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #2 - Universal Health Care

     Don't let the fear mongers win.  Universal, government-controlled healthcare is great!  One of the best parts of living in Korea is having very cheap, very good health care, and it's all extremely accessible.  Just walk in, and you usually see the doctor within 10 minutes without an appointment!  Nobody tells me which doctor to see.  I have full freedom of choice.  It's just that the government is everybody's primary insurer.
     An average doctor's visit costs about US$3.  An average prescription costs about $4.  Can't beat that.  Prices go up for specialists and special medicines.  My allergy medicines cost a total of about $25 for a six week supply, but that's for three different brand name drugs.  In the USA, that would easily cost over $100 even with insurance.
     The downside of the the government insurance is that it's great for the small, normal stuff, but not so good for the really expensive stuff.  Korea has a booming market in supplementary insurance for large medical costs.  However, for about $70 a month, our whole family has basic insurance.  That would be a massive improvement over the US system - almost beyond the power of adjectives to describe.
     And, in case you're concerned about the quality of care, my layman's estimate is that the quality is about 90% as good as in the USA.  And those deficiencies don't stem from the system itself, but rather from the fact that 50 years ago Korea was one of the poorest nations on earth.  It's still catching up in some areas.   For a more thorough look at Korea's health care system, check out this excellent explanation on Ask A Korean.

100 Things I Love About Korea: #1: Food - Kimbap

We're moving away from Korea in something like 120 days.  As part of saying goodbye, I'm going to try to blog about the 100 things I love about Korea.  These will come in no particular order, but only as the spirit of the day moves me.

Right off the bat, I have to declare my love for Kimbap - that omnipresent Korean fast food, loosely related to sushi.
However, it wasn't love at first sight.  One day into my life into our 8+ years in Korea, our host for the day - the incredible Jean Johnson - took us shopping, and we stopped for lunch.  My meal was kimbap, which is rice, vegetables, imitation crab, ham, egg, and processed fish - all wrapped inside blackish-green seaweed paper.  I was pretty intimidated at first, and that doesn't often happen with me and food. I actually said to myself, "Well, it doesn't kill them, so I guess it's safe to eat."
I don't remember especially liking it on that first day, but I ate it.  And, lo and behold, it grew on me.  Especially after I discovered "Chamchi Kimbap" or Tuna Kimbap.  It's kind of like tuna salad and rice, all wrapped up into bite-sized chunks.
Kimbap is a nutritionally balanced, tasty meal, ready in about a minute, easy to eat on the go, and all for the low price of $1-2.  Gotta love that.  

Goodbye Letter #05: Nesheba Joy Thomas

Hello, KNU International English Church!  It's me, Joy.  I want to say a great big thank you to you for welcoming my husband and I so well that we feel like we will always have a home with you.  

I want to thank Pastor Josh for the first invite to church back in 2009.  I had jut arrived in Korea and was attending an all Korean service on the 13 bus route.  I thought about my life in college and thought that a service full of Americans was not for me.  So, I declined that first invitation.  

The second request to join the KNU service was from my then boyfriend, now husband Richard, in 2010. I told him that I did not want o be around that many Americans.  I regret this because there are many beautiful Americans, not like the ones I met in college.  And, Many many lovely Koreans in our church. 

The third and final invitation I got to church was from Mrs. Kim Taeran, in 2011.  She was my co teacher, friend and mentor/mom.  I really felt good about being invited by a Korean person.  So, I thought, " maybe, there are Korean people there, too." 

I really enjoyed my time singing with the praise team, listening to the sermons and taking notes as secretary of the advisory council. My main regret and deepest embarressment is that I did not come when I first arrived in 2009.  I missed so much time with you all.  I hope we return to you, soon.  But, I have a feeling that it won't be for some years, yet.

I love you.  And, hope to see you again.

Joy, Richard's wife

Nomad

A settler in a land of nomads

Is a nomad all the same.

Friends come and friends go,

Always learning a new name.

Goodbye Letter #04: Kim and Paul

Dear KNU International English Church,


We have very much enjoyed been part of the church fellowship for these past eight weeks, courtesy of Daniel and Arnelle Helbling who have very kindly and willingly collected us by car to travel from Anseo-dong.

We were warmly welcomed at KNU IEC from the first day and very quickly felt part of the fellowship. This was in part due to the ‘extra-curricular’ sessions we joined in and in part to the greeting time each Sunday. It was here that we had the time to connect with individuals and learn some names. It is through learning names and then through these same lovely people being willing to stop and speak each week for a short or longer time that we felt connected.

We have discovered that as we have been on our travels with God and left our home church in the north of England for Canada, then Yeosu in South Korea, back to the UK, then returned to South Korea, that we have each time been blessed with a church that we have felt part of and has increased our joy in serving Him.

So thank you for the part you have played; especially those we know by name who warmly welcomed us each week.

Yours in Christ

Kim &  Paul

Goodbye Letter #03 - Arnold Tanubrata

[When people in our church move on, I ask them to write a goodbye note before they go.  I hope this will be one way to help us navigate these transitions well.]

   In 19 years as a servant of God, I never saw or met any power bigger or greater than the power of God, no matter how bigger my problems were or how bad I feel that I'm 'being cruxified' because of my loyality to Him.

   My name is Arnold Tanubrata, but I am also known as Tan Yue Liang since I am Chinese-Indonesian. My extended family originally owned a top pharmaceutical company, producing prescriptions drugs and OTC drugs and importing pharmaceutical and chemical raw materials.  However, my nuclear family was the second poorest of the families in our clan, so I considered myself as middle class of Indonesians.

   As a middle class Indonesian, I lived happily like in heaven. I received the highest education available -  from kindergarten to a posh graduate university.  However, I had friends from many backgrounds both poor and rich, including children of the unemployed, military generals, artists, and governors.  After graduation, I also got good jobs, slowly moving up from staff, to supervisor, to assistant manager, to manager, and finally to director.

   Things started to change in 2008.  I lost my job due to the global economic crises. After lost my job, my relationship with my ex-wife became worse until she cheated with another man.  I became very angry and even had a plan to have the other man killed by a professional.  My father knew all about my situation, so he suggested that I go to South Korea to work and to search for a better future there.

Goodbye Letter #02: Elizabeth Jancewicz

-- This was originally a post Elizabeth did on her blog, where she post lots of cool original art and updates on her adventures with her also very cool musician husband, Eric. ---

In honor of it being Palm Sunday (it has been for 17 minutes now) I am finally posting a little drawing I did weeks ago:

First off, the church that Eric and I went to when we lived in Korea was amazing. It was the KNU International English Church in Cheonan, and it still stands as one of the best churches either of us have ever had the privileged of attending. The community in the church was not only welcoming and kept a strong community within the church by getting together for lunches, but they also addressed really tough issues that a lot of churches seem to steer clear of, and they are extremely active in real help for the poor and needy. I was impressed and moved by the actions of this church during my few short months in Korea two years ago.

To add to this, Eric and I were involved with Pastor Josh Broward’s family in that Sarah, Josh’s wife, was my assistant during my first teaching job in Korea and also found me another job so that I could extend my stay; and Eric taught their young daughter piano lessons. (Eric also played piano in the worship team when he was there.)

Seriously, sometimes we think about returning to live in Korean simply because the church was really just so good.

Goodbye Letter 001: Claire (South Africa)

This is the first in a series of goodbye letters from people who are moving away and leaving KNU International English Church.  I hope this will be a good way for people to end in a spirit of appreciation and for our church to understand the impact we are having.  This is all inspired by Michael Palmer's post: The Beauty in Goodbye.
Our first installment comes from Claire of South Africa.  We baptized Claire in the fall of 2011.  Without further ado, here's Claire's goodbye.

     Getting ready to leave Korea after a year of teaching here has turned into a difficult thing for me.  I will be gone at the start of March, and it's hard to believe my year is at an end.
     When I arrived last year, I was looking forward to a year of being away from all the things that made me unhappy in South Africa.  Especially a home that had changed into something I hardly recognized over the last few years because of addictions, co-dependencies and lack of acceptance of each other.  My home used to be the place I wanted to be when things went wrong, but it had become the one place I desperately wanted to get away from.
     I was quick to learn though that your problems don't change just because you change where you are.  I remember a conversation I had with a new friend I had made at KNU International English Church in Cheonan.  After telling him my story, he told me that a year might not be as long as I wanted it to be.