First Steps on Korean Soil

DAY OF DEPARTURE:

    Up at 3 am to pack and board buses to airport.  

Excitement in the air like a fog--you could taste it. 

Layover in San Francisco--got to call Mom and Dad. 

13 hour flight! 

      Incheon International Airport (Korea), big smiles everywhere. 

 

FIRST WEEK

We were invited by an American family in Seoul to spent Thanksgiving with them. It was funny to look out the windows of their high-rise apartment to see the neon-lights and hustle bustle of Seoul but be eating mashed potatoes and apple pie.  My companion is a native Korean (Sister Kim) and she was really excited to try turkey--she'd never had it before!

It was the most culturally meshed Thanksgiving I've ever had.

So many things have happened, so I've decided to organize this email into a couple of short stories that will hopefully illustrate the general craziness of my first week in South Korea.

Ready? Okay, here we go.

The Friendly Old Women Who Live in the Trash

My very first morning in my new area (Incheon), Sis. Kim and I left our apartment and headed toward the bus stop to make it to our first appointment.  A few minutes down the road I noticed this old woman hunched over a pile of papers, old cabbage, and broken toys that had been raked up against a nearby building.  As we passed we smiled, bowed, and said hello.  She looked up in surprise at first, then her whole face wrinkled with her grin and she mumbled something cheerfully in Korean. 

About an hour later, in another part of the city I saw the same thing!  Old woman, pile of trash, her scrounching around for something.  I've seen that same scene at least 10 times now, with different old woman in different parts of the city.  And they all are so friendly!

Yesterday, after seeing yet another old woman in the garbage I finally turned to Sis. Kim and asked, "I don't understand--why are all of the old woman in the trash?  What are they looking for?  Are they homeless?"

She looked confused at first and then turned to look behind us at the old woman.

"Hm," she said. "I never think about it before.  They are not homeless.  In Korea, it's just this way."  Then she chuckled and we kept walking.

It sounds like an epsiode worthy of "Unsolved Mysteries."

Well, at least I think so.

The Fact that I Have No Idea What's Going On

My third day, we had an appointment with two women that Sis. Kim had met on the street the week before I came.  Sis. Kim said they had no interest in hearing about the church but wanted to preach their faith to us.  They urged her so intently that Sis. Kim eventually made a deal that if we met and taught each other she'd agree.

So we met them near our church then took a taxi to one of their apartments.  We knelt on the floor and sipped herbal tea and munched on crackers.  I introduced myself as Sister Washburn, said I was from America, and then smiled.  That's about all I comprehended from the whole appointment.  I sipped my herbal tea and munched away on my crackers while Sis. Kim and the women talked.  After a while I noticed that one of the woman was talking and talking and kept saying something about Adam, and promises and the Bible when all of a sudden my companion started to cry!

What in the world is happening! I thought.

I looked over to Sis. Kim, but she looked down at her lap and let her tears fall into her clasped hands.

Holy Cow!  I don't understand, should I bear testimony?  Should I rebuke them?  Why would I rebuke two old woman?  This is just herbal tea, right?  Sis. Kim said we could drink it, right?

After a few more minutes, Sis. Kim stood up to leave and I followed.  We bowed, said thank you, then left.  On the street I practically smothered Sis. Kim.

"Are you okay!?  What did they say?  Do you need something?  What happened?!"

After a couple jumbled, hectic minutes I eventually came to understand that the woman wouldn't let Sis. Kim talk about the Book of Mormon at all.  They said we had no right to teach, that we were too young and naiive.  That God doesn't work through immature youth.

I was pretty fired up after that.

"Sis. Kim, you're an amazing teacher!  We have the Spirit!  We have our testimonies!  We're here because we've received a call from a modern prophet!"

She just smiled at me.  I have a feeling she didn't tell me all that they said to her.

Oh, goodness.

Isaac--I have an even greater respect for you now.

Korean is tough.

I've Become a One Person Circus Act

Everywhere I go people stare at me like I have five eyes and a tail. 

One time, while Sis. Kim and I were walking down the street, a van full of little children drove slowly past.  In the passenger seat was this cute little Korean boy.  We made eye contact so I smiled and nodded my head.  His eyes got about as big as saucers and he screamed, "Meegook sahrahm!"  Which means "American!"  (That's how you pronounce it, I'm not quite sure how to write it in English.)

On my very first night here, after walking out of the airport, the APs took us on the subway and let us loose so we could get some contacts.  I sat next to a couple and introduced myself.  After a few minutes the woman put her fist up to my face.  I flinched and giggled, half-expecting her to punch me right there!  But eventually I understood that she was saying my head is small!  She was seeing whether my head was the size of her fist!

Koreans are very complimentary though.  They think Americans are beautiful and usually tell you so when you talk to them.

I feel like a movie star or a circus act most days.

It's an odd feeling.

I better get going. My companion is done and we have some errands to run today!  I love you all so much and I'm so glad everything is going well!  I pray for all of you every day.

Love,

Sis. Washburn

CELEBRATION!

Good Morning!

First off...a very important announcement:

I LEAVE FOR KOREA IN 6 DAYS!!!

GAH!

Whew.  Okay.  Just had to get that off my chest.

It's so crazy to think that I'm actually going to Seoul in less than a week.  We got our travel plans last week and my whole class celebrated after class.  Miriam had sent me a package just the day before with a bottle of Martinelli's Cider (you were definitely inspired, Miriam--thank you so much!) so at lunch I made sure to ask for paper cups and then brought the bottle and the cups to class with me. 

After language study we all trooped outside, set the cups on a nearby bench and picked up the Martinelli's bottle.  First Elder Greer tried to open it, then Elder Robinson and Sister Evans and Sister Rovelsky--no one could get it open!

I was sure we were just going to have to pretend to drink it when they handed the bottle back to me, but decided to try one more time just for kicks.  I walked over to the picnic table in front of us, wedge the cap against the edge, smiled at the Elders standing in front of me, and then pulled with all my might.

And that's when it exploded EVERYWHERE!

And the best part is Sister Rovelsky just happened to take a picture right at that second!   It's a phenomenal shot!  There's me on the far right, holding the cider bottle like some sort of machine gun, and the Elders on the far left, their arms in the air and pure terror in their faces, and in the middle this beautiful thick stream of cider arching across the shot like a vision.

We laugh so hard everytime we look at it!  We only had about two tablespoons worth of cider left afterward but we divided it between the seven of us (my teacher, Brother Ball,  included) and enjoyed every drop.  Thanks again, Miriam!

We leave the MTC bright and early (5:00am) Monday, November 21st to board the long-anticipated blue buses for the SLC Airport.  Our flights depart from Salt Lake about 8:30am and we land in San Francisco about 10:00ish in the morning.  My Branch President, President Shin, gave us permission to call home while we're in San Francisco, so expect a call between 10am to noon Monday, November 21st! (I think there's a time change actually...so give or take an hour on either end.  I just felt like the garage people you were talking about a few weeks ago, the ones that said to be home between such and such an hour and made you stay home all day.  I promise to be more punctual.  Cross my heart.)   I can buy a phone card here at the MTC so you shouldn't have to worry.  I'll just call the house phone.  Wow, that seems so funny.  Can't wait to hear your voices!

Goodness gracious.  The next time I write I'll be on South Korea's little peninsula.

Holy cow.

Love you all to pieces!

Sis. Washburn   

MY KOREAN CLASS - All aboard for Korea!

    

Field Trip

Hello all,

 

Wonderful news: My cough is officially gone!

 

It's a relief to not be so inhibited by my own body!

 

(Thank you, thank you Berdan family for the amazing health kit you sent--it saved my life! 

p.s. Hannah--being a missionary is awesome! You'd be a wonderful Sister missionary--keep it up!)

 

This week I got to go on a field-trip, a real field trip.  One of the sisters in my district had to get hip surgery last week and she asked me to come with her to the hospital.  So we did some companion exchanges (Sis. B stayed with Sis. Westrup's companion, and I left bright and early with Sis. Westrup for the hospital.)

 

A sweet elderly sister volunteer drove us to the hospital at 5:30am in the morning and even the drive itself was an adventure.  As soon as we drove out of the MTC gates we found the whole road torn up for construction and cones every which way.  Our trusty driver had a field day with those cones--we were swerving in and out of every cone on that road.  We laughed like little girls the whole time.  We definitely looked like a bunch of hooligans.

 

What rascals.

 

When we got to the hospital several nurses escorted me and Sis. Westrup to her hospital room and explained the whole procedure.  It was Sis. Westrup's first time with surgery so she was a little nervous, but she did wonderfully!  When the nurse grabbed her wrist to put in her I.V. she suddenly turned toward me and whispered, "I hate needles, Washburn. I hate them so much..."

 

 

Sis. Westrup grimaced and tightened her fist, the nurse looked up from her needle to me, and I suddenly burst out, "Well that reminds me of this one time when I was growing up in Michigan and I was determined to build a tire swing in my front yard..."  I rattled on and on about pretty much every wacky adventure I've ever had.

 

When the nurse missed her vein the first time and had to try again my stories got even wilder!  Sis. Westrup was the perfect audience and looked right into my face the whole time the nurse struggled.  And by the time a second nurse came in to try the third time to put in the I.V.,  I was waving my arms around, clapping my hands, and generally looking insane. 

 

The second nurse got the I.V. all set, thankfully--otherwise I think I might have fainted from the exertion of my very long, and very tall-tales.

 

She went into surgery after that and I waited in the hospital room for three or four hours studying the New Testament and attempting to translate my Korean Preach My Gospel. (Reading Korean is not an easy venture...)

 

When Sis. Westrup returned she was pretty out of it from the surgery and medications they gave her so a nurse let me borrow her laptop to watch General Conference on the LDS website.  The nurses were amazing!  They even bought me lunch and it was from one of my favorite restaurants! (Zupas was my tender mercy that day.)

 

Sis. Westrup ended up having to stay the night at the hospital so they sent me home, alone, around 4:30pm.  The weirdest part of the whole day was walking by myself around the hospital to the front doors to be picked up by the shuttle.  I kept looking behind me to see if anyone was there.  It's weird to be alone now.

 

Sis. Westrup is doing just fine now, hooray, and we like to joke that we've developed a bond unlike most sister missionaries because I've actually hand-fed her crackers.  I call her my little bird.

 

Sis. Bauer, my real companion, doesn't seem to mind that our relationship doesn't include that aspect.

 

Better go--out of time!

 

Love to you all,

 

Sis. Washburn

 

Oct 25, 2011