Providence

Certain events in my life, especially as of late, have called me to reflect on the role of Providence within my own life. For me it has always been such an abstract concept and one that, though I have always believed in as dogma, never really felt its power within my own life until now. Providence, God's plan for creation, can be understood in two senses. The first being more of a general type of Providence. God simply provides for all. This the meaning of Christ in the Sermon on the Mount: " That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."(Matt. 6:45). It is through God's providence that we have everything. The sun, the rain, food, drink, love, and even beer can be understood in this way. They are gifts to mankind in general. We must be thankful for these kinds of gifts and many of them, of course, are life sustaining. One couldn't live without sunshine or oxygen for instance. These gifts are for everyone, however, and are not aimed at the individual person. There is, however, a second type of Providence and it is one that is harder to understand and for most, including myself, harder to believe. This second type is Providence ordered toward the individual and is experienced as a special gift, a miracle even, that equips the individual to better to serve the will of God. This idea of Providence is expressed throughout the Bible, especially in the Old Testement. Gifts such as prophecy and kingship can be seen in this context as well as the election of Israel (think of all the instances of God breaking the natural order to come to the aid of Israel). For us, especially in the modern world, this is pretty tough to believe. The idea that God breaks through the barrier of the natural order of things to intervene in our daily lives seems pretty absurd. It was pretty easy for the Puritans to believe in this and they believed in it alot but for us, it seems almost silly. As Christians, we believe (or rather, are supposed to believe) that with God anything is possible. But we tend dismiss miracles and throw providence on the rubbish heap of erroneous ideas. And I, like most, have effectively done this while still maintaining the doctrinal notion. However, there are certains events and certain feelings that I have recently developed that make me reconsider Providence. I am left speechless now and in awe because without a doubt Providence is working in my life and not in some abstract theological sense but in a very visceral sort of way. I must thank God for these precious gifts that I have received and am receiving still. This Thanksgiving will be special in a way that I never thought possible.

Good Morning

For those of you who do not know (and there cannot be many), I have a new girlfriend. Her name is Robin Fox. She's from Ohio originally but has been living in the Chicago area for the last couple of years. She is actually quite an amazing person and I have to admit that I am completely smitten. This past weekend, she and I joined the choir at the Anglican English Mission in Seoul. She is a lovely singer and with her charm (and I must say its significant), she was able to convince me to join as well. If you don't know, that's quite an accomplishment. My voice is mediocre at best and I can't really read music. I have a vague idea of how to follow along with the notes once a song has been started up but other than that I'm pretty illiterate. So this past Sunday, after Mass, we both went to breakfast with the choir on the US military base at Yongsan. The breakfast was incredible and was totally Anglo-American in character. It was definitely the first time I have seen bacon, eggs, and proper breakfast sausage in Korea. And let me tell you, it was was delicious. They even had a proper cup of coffee. There was none of that sugury, heated-up coffee milk stuff in sight. It was actually brewed. After that, we all went to Craig's house, which is on base. He is a US diplomat and his home is incredible. Robin and I decided that he's actually some kind of spy. But anyway, his wife is sort of the de facto music director for the Mission so we all gathered around her piano and practiced for the Lessons and Carols service which will be next Sunday evening. My only salvation was that I was familiar with all the hymns. Robin is a really talented musician but coming from pentecostal background, she's pretty unfamiliar with all the old English hymns. She more than made up for that unfamiliarity, with her shear musical talent. I have to say, she sings like an angel. I have never heard a voice that touches me so.

The evening before, last Saturday, she observed my birthday and made an unbelievable supper, steak smothered in a mushroom sauce with real mash potatoes. She is a very good cook and insists on making me dinner every time I come over. Everything she makes, including just her french fries, is like it was hand crafted by angels. It is ma-sit-sey-o, as the Koreans would say. After dinner, she brought out a birthday cake which she picked up at the local bakery. Like most Korean (supposedly western style ones), It was covered with random bits of fruit (kiwis, strawberries, and bananas). It was delicious. After the cake, she gave me my birthday present, which I have to say, was as wonderful as presents get. She got me a coffee pot. Yes, a real coffee pot. I have never seen one in Korea and was under the impression that you couldn't get them at all. But she managed to find one, knowing how much I object to Korean style coffee. She also got me some coffee grounds and told me where I could find them in Seoul. That present made me so happy. Now I can have a decent cup of coffee in the morning.

The weekend before last, Robin, myself, and Paul went up to Paju to the DMZ. It was an absolutely fascinating experience. Before entering we went to this monutment park, adjacent to the DMZ itself. It is the closest that South Koreans can get to the North. They are not ordinarily allowed in the DMZ. The most interesting part of the memorial were the old military relics from the Korean War. They had a small collection of old Jeeps, Sherman tanks, and even a Saber built for the R.O.K. by the US. I have some brilliant photos of that. Also at this park, was the Freedom Bridge, actually the furthest point north in South Korea. It is where North and South Korean forces exchanged prisoners at the close of the Korean conflict in 1953. At that place, mounted in the barbed wire fence is impromptu shrine set up South Koreans in remembrance of family members still in the North. It is a very emotional place and reminds one of how bitter and tragic the human experience can be.

After seeing the Freedom Bridge, we moved in the DMZ itself. We took a tour bus in and had to show out passports to the Joint Security personnel. Once we were in the DMZ itself, we toured a number of interesting locations. The first place we went to was the Third Tunnel, which was built by the North Koreans in an attempt to infiltrate the South. It was extremely deep in the earth and was a pretty decent hike in and out. It is extremely terrifying to think of the consequences if the tunnel was a success. The tunnel is only 30 miles from downtown Seoul. after the tunnel, we went to the Dora observatory but it was an extremely cloudy day so we could not see much. If it had been clearer, we would have been able to see some of the North Korean military operations and the propaganda village set up in the North. That would have been really cool. After this, out last stop was the Dorasan train station, which was very odd. It is a train station that goes no where. It was built in anticipation for the reunification of Korea. There are even custom agents there who do nothing. The most eerie part of the whole station was the electronic timetable with no arivals or departures scheduled. They even have the platform labelled "Pyeongyang" (the North Korean capitol). Well, I'm running out of time so I will end my post here. I promise to update really soon.

And yes, I still have a cold.

I still have a cold. It it is a little better but my throat is hoarse from a combination of the cold itself and the fact that I'm a teacher. My second grade middle schoolers were particularly nasty today. I generally start off each lesson with a hangman game as sort of an introductory activity. Most kids like it, especially when there is candy involved, and it gets them warmed up for the lesson of the day. Well, tonight we didn't get past hangman. Today's class was an endless game of hangman, constantly being interrupted by cackling girls, cell phone (in korean, hand pone) sound effects, and screaming, which altogether sounded something like a train derailment. Speaking loud, if you didn't know already, doesn't do a thing, but for some reason it always seems like a necessity. Nothing I tried could curb their behavior. None them, especially the girls, would shut up long enough that the game could progress so what was supposed to be an introductory type thing became the entireity of the class. My other classes are quite manageble. Sure, they're all adolescent punks raging with hormone but they are not demon children like these kids. They can't even be bribed, they can't be disciplined, but these 2nd graders disregard everything. They don't want to even try to learn or even have fun. They disregard any discipline I try to enforce. Pushups just don't matter to them. The are impudent little brats and pretty unmanageable. I grit my teeth and just attempt to present my lesson, hoping that a few get something out of it. What else can I do with these kids. It's something like the myth of Sisyphus, where I am constantly rolling a boulder up hill, never being able to reach the top.

And the winner is........Obama

Though I pretty much oppose his entire platform and in fact voted for McCain over a month ago, I feel America has made the right decision in electing Barack Obama president. McCain in the last month or so, after Obama started to show a clear lead in the polls, has run a completely sleezy campaign involving character assassination and false accusations of unpatriotism. What kind of way is that to run a presidential campaign, especially from someone who was supposed to be noted for being a moderate in the true sense of the word. All I have to say to you Sen. McCain is shame on you. Shame on you for conceding to Bush and Co. Shame on you for conceding to the religious right. Were you not the Republican who once had enough balls to call Jerry Falwell a bigot, who said that the religious right "was an evil that needed to be removed from the party"? Were you not once a hero, whose entire legacy was built on fairness and decency? In the last two months you have completely sullied that legacy. You have taken part in the neo-conservative dismantling of the true Republican Party, the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan. So in the end, the man who proved to be the better man won and that man is Obama. And I think it is fair to say that the Republican Party needs to return to its once core values of fiscal conservatism, laissez-faire capitalism, social libertarianism or it will die out like the Whigs of old. Obama may almost be a socialist but at least he didn't resort to cheap cowardly tricks and that is a great testement to the man's character and that is a quality we definitely want in our president. God Bless you, Barack and God keep you because there is no way in heck I would want the job you were just hired for.

Pictures around Gangwha

Darn, I Have a Cold

Apparently, I have a cold. Aside from the pickled crab incident, this is the first time I have been even remotely ill. And like a cold anywhere, it is not fun. However, it is compounded by the fact that it is taboo to blow one's nose in public. So yeah, that is a pretty difficult obstacle to tackle. Other than that, my day has gone well. My second grade middle schoolers were very well behaved today, although it did take some time to get them rounded up and into the English Zone. Once they were there, however, I was able to present my lesson perfectly. This past weekend was pretty eventful. Friday was the big pan-Gangwha teachers meeting. By the way, dog is not as bad as one would suppose. It tastes a little like overcooked beef. I'm sure that brief aside has offended all my friends and family. Oh, well. After dinner, all the Samryang teachers who were not completely toasted and some who were, went to a noribung which is Korea's answer to karaoke. It is completely insane and all the Koreans are really into it. They ham it up really well and belt out all the old classics. Well, all the old classics of Korea which is some of the worst music ever recorded. It is actually pretty entertaining to see all the Korean teachers, most of whom exude a very solemn presence at school, completely pissed and making asses out of themelves. After noribung, everyone was absolutely wasted, except the two westerners, Paul and myself, and we all went back to our homes. It was 10 pm. It is generally an early evening here in Korea. They knock back a a couple bottles of soju and before you know they are absolutely stupid drunk. It's not the best way to spend an evening. They really don't know how to pace themselves. It is a really shame. I've drank decent Scotch with Koreans and they knock it back, not enjoying the taste at all. It's a unfortunate philosophy on drinking. Saturday morning, the guy from KT cable came to set up my internet. It took hours for him to get the bloody thing installed. He was climbing up trees and under things to locate the proper cable which I had shown as soon as he had gotten there. Saturday night was sort of the neighborhood potluck. I made clam chowder, which I have to say, came out very well. The clams from the this region are very good. The Koreans were very impressed by it and divided the extra chowder like crazy. Paul brought his famous pasties (to the uninitiated, those are small meat pies). Altogether, it was a good day. Sunday morning, I went to church in Seoul at the English service at the Anglican Cathedral. It was a good service and it is always good to hear Rev'd Mooney's thick Irish brogue in the heart of Korea. After the service, I went out with a couple of friends for lunch then walked around Hyewha and later Dongdaemun. It was a fine afternoon and morning. Later that day, I went back to my apartment, got some of the chowder I had set aside for Barb's going away party, and went over to her apartment to join the gang. It was a pretty good time. Everyone enjoyed the chowder. We played charades most of the evening and drank cocktail. Bloody Mary's were very popular that evening. After that, I went back to the cozy little hamlet of Naeg-myun, nestled into my covers, and went to bed awaiting the next morning.