Wednesday night another funny thing happened. After worship (which was wonderful again), we all went to the home of a Praise Team member who will be leaving for the Philippines soon. She and her husband and children will be serving there for a couple of years, so we had a big meal as a send off. We had a great time laughing and eating, and I tried to show off my proficiency with chop sticks. I keep trying to toss small objects into the air and catch them. It actually worked once. I was in the Everlove church dining room and tossed a stringy green thing up and caught it on the first try. Jae Suk (David) said, "WOWWWW!" I nodded confidently and said, "I'm a better Korean than you are." Of course you should never try to repeat beginner's luck...
Anyway, at the meal Wednesday night, Mi Jin complimented me on my pronunciation and reading of Hangeul. She said she couldn't believe I had learned so much in only 3 months, but I assured her it was merely a game to me. I began asking questions about rules and such, and we had a good time of quizzing. They would give me a word or a name, and I would try to write it down. Then someone (usually Yeon Hee or Hoo Hyeon, who were sitting on either side of me) would correct me. We continued to eat and play language games until Yeon Hee looked up at the clock and said, "Jeff! You should go to the train station!!" I had forgotten all about the time. It was 10:17 and the last train was at 10:45.
After hurried goodbyes, Geon Yeong, the 12th grader, led me to the main road to try for a taxi. We stood there and watched as several occupied taxis went by. Minutes ticked away. He was appologetic, but I assured him that is was my fault and that everything would be fine. I've learned a little about trust, and I know how hospitible these people are. While I hadn't planned it, for me it was just another part of the big adventure. Eventually we decided it was no use, so we went back to the party. We all laughed about it, and Pyeong Su worked the phone. It's an interesting feeling to sit there while others plan your future in another language. I've learned to just wait and see what I get...sort of like Christmas morning.
After some discussion I was told I would be staying with Jae Chan and Yeon Ju. Yeon Ju is also on the praise team, and you may remember her from Pizza Hut pictures in November and Christmas pictures a couple of weeks ago. Here is Jae Chan and me at Christmas.After dropping Yeon Hee off at her appartment building nearby, Jae Chan took me to their home. Yeon Ju hopped out and, running across the parking lot, yelled back, "Jeff! Sorry! You must stay in car 5 minutes." I laughed and Jae Chan agreed that she was cleaning up the place.
We stayed up until after 2:00 a.m. talking and looking at our respective blog pages. I showed them my facebook pictures and talked about the babies. We looked at both our homes on GoogleEarth, and we talked about America. Yeon Ju reminded me that they are moving to Atlanta in April. I had repeatedly thanked them for taking this homeless man in, and she just said I could return the favor for them some day. We will definitely visit when they get there. After about 4 hours sleep and breakfast, Jae Chan went to work and I went to the train station and then home to Daejeon.
I've been thinking about how hard it will be to leave this place. I feel as though I have two homes now. I'm definitely feeling the urge to return, but it is difficult to leave the new friends I've made. It's nice to know I'll get to come back in June. And in the mean time I'll have some friends nearby in America. I guess you could say I'm bringing a little Korean home with me afterall...
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