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| Mama let me borrow her favorite Bible just so I could have a lighter one while traveling. |
FINDING A CHURCH
As the weekend approached, I noticed a few ETAs asking if anyone else was interested in going to find a church for Sunday. They were doing this on our Facebook Group, and there were separate posts by those wanting to go to a Catholic church and those wanting to go to a Protestant Christian church. I was very pleased to see that there were other Christians in our group, and was excited to join them for church.
Unfortunately, a talk with the OCs revealed that even if a group of us went to a Korean service with English translation, it would still be difficult for us to follow along the entire time. It was decided that we would have Bible study and fellowship in one of Jungwon's classrooms instead.
I took Mama's Bible off the shelf before I left the room, quite excited to see who else would be there, what they would bring up for discussion, and how we might be able to support each other during the Orientation, if not the year. Everyone was invited so anything was possible!
THE NEED TO PRIORITIZE
On the elevator, there was a young woman and a young man.
Me: [to the young man with what looked like a Bible] Are you headed for the Bible study?
Young man: Yes, I am. Are you?
Me: Yep. [And to the young woman] How about you? Will you also be joining us?
Young woman: Joining you where?
Me: We're going to Room 302 for Bible study
Young woman: Oh, nooo! I'm going to study some Korean. Priorities!
Me: Ah, yeah. I have to do that right after this, too...
Priorities, her words reminded me of how deliberate I will have to be in my efforts to grow in the spiritual as much as in the cultural, linguistic, and professional.
THE BIBLE STUDY GROUP
There were nine of us in Room 302, which was a lot more than I expected. We went around and re-introduced ourselves, prayed, and then talked about if/how God was involved in our journey. It was very interesting listening to the others share what their application process had been like, how much they wanted the Fulbright, how anxious they were over the thought of being selected, and how inadequate and unprepared they felt for the job once they got it. I could relate to most of these sentiments.
As I looked around the room, I could feel my eyes drooping from exhaustion, but I was very happy to see what I was seeing and to be where I was at that moment. I felt like a parched plant that was being watered by the half-reluctant, half-eager conversations around me.
We closed in prayer, and some of us sat together for dinner right after. I could have not eaten any of tonight's dinner but still felt full from the deep conversations we continued to have over mealtime. I hope this Bible study group continues to meet in the coming weeks because it's an answer to so many of my prayers for community, family, and fellowship!
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| This is my notebook. Try to see if you can read some of the Korean! |
After dinner, it was serious study time. I wrote out, memorized, sounded out, and stared at Korean words for school supplies, occupations, countries, and common introductory phrases. These are some of my notes (in inverted color so you can see my handwriting better).
The left-hand column has the English words, the middle has the word in Hangeul, and the right-hand column has a phonetic key I've developed to help me sound out words and spell them later.
Like I've said before, I'm at the very Beginner's level. It's interesting how many times I revert to Spanish in my Korean classroom just to avoid speaking in English. I'm not even going to mention the fact that I often use a couple of dialects from the Philippines as mnemonic devices to help me remember Hangeul!
I studied in my room alone and with my roommate Tara this evening. She laid across the bottom half of the bed with books strewn on top of my blankets as we went back and forth quizzing each other on simple vocab and testing each other on the dialogues.
I must have looked really tired because she kept making comments like, "...but we don't have to if you don't want to" and "...but I don't want to keep you up too long" etc (she's seriously very sweet, not to mention thoughtful!). I explained to her that my eyes usually look more sleepy and tired than I actually feel, and so we kept studying until 1:30 a.m.
It's 2:00 a.m. now. Time for me to go to bed. I am forcing myself to blog now in order to avoid writing eight blog posts in one day like what may or may not have happened this past weekend.
Buenas noches, chin gu!
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| Check out this masterpiece. I feel like framing any piece of paper that has my Hangeul lettering on it! |
Have you ever struggled to find or build community? What did you do to join one or create one? What are some tips you might have for me as far as community-building (in my home-stay, my classrooms, my faith, etc.). Share your experiences and suggestions in the comment box below.
Wow! I'm soo glad you got to join to that bible study and you met other Christians Mi. Thank God for that!. I just want you to know that I use your big bible here and I fixed every broken pages that has been falling apart and I bring it with me to church every time. It gives me such a great comfort knowing that it is your favorite bible, and even if your not here, but I have your bible to hold and use everyday :) truly God is good!
ReplyDeleteMa, I feel bad that I took yours, so I'm definitely going to try and use it more. That's so thoughtful of you to fix it up. Thank you! It IS my favorite Bible and I know it's in great hands :D
DeleteIndeed. When you come back, you will see your bible that it's in better condition, (not because I'm not using it, i will actually use it a lot) remember, what ever we touch prospers :)
ReplyDeleteBtw. I like the picture of the bible in your blog. It looks legit. I hope you find time to rest Mi and not put too much stress in your self.
Ma, you are the sweetest! Who else would think to give a Bible a make-over but you? Haha! Also, I like the photo, too, especially the words "The Soldier's Bible" on its spine. It reminds me of Ephesians 6:12 :)
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