Fun Peniel Church Spring Retreat at Songjeong Beach Near Haeundae!

ARRIVING AT SONGJEONG BEACH

Peniel Church had a spring retreat In the midst of Lunar New Year holiday, and took foreigners to a beach-front pension at Songjeong Beach. Russel and I traveled from Yeongdo-gu to Haeundae-gu to join the rest for the overnight retreat. 

The commute was long but, amazingly, the weather cooperated. We got lost on the way to the pension and ended up trekking up and down the beach before finally finding the Tom N Toms coffee shop landmark. When we arrived, the skies were blue, people dotted the beach, and seagulls danced, flying above heads and hands that reached out to feed them. I was heading straight for the pension house when Russel veered right towards the beach. 

Russel: We're already here, so we might as well enjoy this!

I considered the high heeled boots I was wearing and the backpack I was carrying before taking a few ginger steps to follow his form weaving among crowds. I could just shake off the sand from my shoes later. And...this would only take a few minutes.

Russel picked up a few pieces of snacks from the sand that children had thrown haphazardly in the air. 

It was so cold, especially with the strong winds, but Russel (with his thin jacket) still decided to frolic on the beach first before meeting everyone

Footsteps. So many people trampled over these grounds. This evidence will just be washed away soon...

The seagulls were so numerous. Some of them looked like they were going to dive right for my face!

The pension turned out to be on the end where I'm standing from. However, Russel and I walked all the way (15 minutes away) over to that other "end" of the beach you see here before noticing that the number of hotels/motels/pensions were diminishing. We doubled back (another 15-minute walk), and were pretty hungry and tired by the time we met up with folks

Even though Songjeong Beach had a lot of people today, it is still nothing compared to the size at Haeundae Beach. Therefore, Songjeong has a much more pleasant and relaxed atmosphere than its neighbor 15 minutes away

ARRIVING AT THE PENSION

The pension was on the 5th and 6th floor of this building. Russel took the steps and I, once again, reluctantly followed - neither of us realizing there was a very convenient elevator located right at the entrance. The set of stairs was narrow and winding, so I became not a little nauseated just making my way up!

At long last, we finally arrived. The group of folks from Peniel were in various positions of repose. Some simply sitting against a stack of pillows and blankets, others sitting next to each other quietly tinkering with their phones (later, I would find out that they were actually playing Scrabble); still others were snacking and a few were beginning to prepare our dinner.

Ate Blessy took charge of our meals during the retreat. Thank you, Ate!

The Scrabble competitors. Behind them, a beautiful sun was slowly setting, casting a warm, orange glow all over this room

Aaand dinner was served, and just in time, too, as more guests arrived!

After dinner, we took a walk as a group. The people most vocal about taking a walk were the ones who, apparently, were not even planning on joining the walk. Haha. I mostly walked and talked with Monica, asking her questions like, "If you could establish any business, what would it be and why?" as lights from business establishments twinkled on the other side of the street 

PLAYING AN HOURS-LONG GAME OF "MAFIA"

After our refreshing walk, we played a long, super fun, and extremely hilarious game of "Mafia"! I didn't know how to play this game until my friends at Peniel explained it to me during our last retreat. It turns out this game is super exciting! 

But not so much if you get the cards for the lowly "townspeople," which were basically the only cards I managed to draw. That's pretty incredible, especially considering the fact that we played over 15 games, lasting from about 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. That's more or less 6 hours of Mafia! 

Nanay caught in a lie! And then another lie!

I love this series of photos. I took them while watching Ate Blessy prepare the next day's meals and making coffee for folks. This laughing fest occurred while the group was playing a card game called "BS." We called it a more appropriate name, of course, and the object is to get rid of all of your cards while going in consecutive order. Due to the nature of the game, you will most likely have to lie about the card you're putting down in order to get rid of your cards. This game was Russel's version, which, I think, involves more crazy lying, and which he defends as being more interesting and fun. 

No words...

The laughter lasted an extraordinarily long time! I didn't know what happened, but I was compelled to laugh along with them

At 9 p.m., I grew hungry and ate another serving of sopas. At 2:30 a.m., hours after Nanay had gone to bed and was attempting to sleep right next to our huge, noisy group, we had another midnight snack of sopas before finally retiring for the night. 

The men (all 3 of them) had a smaller, separate room, while the women (about 8-9?) stayed in the big room and laid out blankets to sleep on. Thankfully, the floors were heated!

I went to bed satisfied at having maxed out my laughter quota of the week. It was good. I'm a fan of retreats without "programs" or itineraries. This community-building was all organic, and it felt right. 

HOW TO GET TO SONGJEONG BEACH: 
Take Line Number 2 and get off at Haeundae Station (Exit 7).
Take bus no. 100, 100-1, 139, 142 and get off at Songjeong Beach!