Day 22

Today we got to sleep in a little bit – and then embarked on a journey to visit a Korean public swimming pool. Let me paint the picture for you. We disembarked off the huge tour bus that we’d just spend 45 minutes from the University, and then we had to make lines with our teams. The kids were then kind of ordered to do about 20 minutes of exercises before we entered the pool area. This was kind of crazy to watch – I guess the idea was to make them sweaty before they got to enjoy the pool. The sky was very overcast when we first arrived, and the weather was cooler than it had been all week. We walked to the “section” that had been designated for our group (probably 90 of us in all). We strode past the pool, which has five mini-waterfall/sprinkler things spraying above our heads and into the pool below. The water was very cold. There were also two other smaller pools with short waterslides, and a few kiddie pools.

Our area was marked with a giant blue tarp for all the kids to sit on. The kids were then allowed to change into their suits, one team at a time. And when they got back – culture shock, round 3. A good majority of all the males in Korea seem fond of sporting very small, tight swimsuits. Most of them are in the speedo form. In addition to this very different sight at a public pool, almost all the children wear swim caps. Combine that with half of them wearing goggles, and it was quite a new experience for those of us from the States. I leaned over to one of my friends, and I said, “This would be the most ghetto swimming pool if we were in the US.” It truly was.

We had a great lunch. I thought it was beef, rice, and cheese, and we also got mayo and soy sauce for toppings (I used the latter, not the first). I learned later that it wasn’t cheese, but shredded fried egg. Whatever, it was delicious. It was hard to find a place to sit to eat it – the blue tarp was covered with 75 or so children, so David and I eventually found a bench along the wall that was tilted so that if you didn’t have your feet on the ground you’d probably fall off. Eventually, it dawned upon us that we were in someone else’s seats, and they congregated closely. So we went over and found some “poolside” longue chairs next to Leah and Aubrey to eat. The afternoon consisted predominately of throwing people in the water, including soaking me with a water bottle and then throwing me in when I was dry, haha. Some of the guys also threw the PA’s in after they had changed into their dry clothes. Eric and I fell asleep on the way home. Question: why is it always the hottest time of the day after you change into dry clothes and leave a pool?

Got back, everyone enjoyed a good nap, and then we met for devotions. Amanda and Christy have TV in their room, so after hearing from Eric about Cross Cultural Servanthood from Jesus’ perspective (Phil 2), we gathered round and watch August Rush before going to change and go to dinner. We took the bus all the way into downtown Jeonju, and ate at OUTBACK STEAKHOUSE! Pure awesomeness! Medium in Korea seems to be a little more rare than Medium in the US, but that was ok – the sirloin was delicious. I hope God never calls me to be a vegetarian. It was a lot of fun fellowship and taking a “Sabbath” from English camp and just having a relaxing night with friends and fellow teachers. Lindsey, Aubery, Eric and I shared a table. We discussed the difficulty sometimes in trusting the Lord, and other people. Sometimes it’s easier to trust people over the Lord because we’re physical, yet sometimes it’s hard to trust people if we’ve been hurt before. What is important in both cases is to try to fully realize the incredible fidelity of our Heavenly Father. As I’m journeying through the canon, I’ve realized Israel really screwed up – like royally, but the Lord never abandons them. Even in exile, the Lord doesn’t forget about them, and promises a time of restoration. Such a principle I could do more to internalize. The Lord is faithful. Through the ages.

Not much left to say. My family is now in Bolivia. Pray for them over the next week as they do missions work with local missionaries down there.