Jeju Island

Hi, everyone! Thanks for your prayers. I had a very good experience at the community life retreat this past week. It was hard but good. Let me emphasize, it was hard. And let me emphasize, it was good. As I feared, there were a couple days when I felt all-too isolated because of the language barrier. But for the most part, I enjoyed getting to know the young adults at our church better, and I especially enjoyed the sight-seeing, praise time, and the community bonding activity at the end of the retreat. The highlights of the week were hiking Hallasan (Halla Mtn.) and dancing in an open field with all the church members late Sunday night. It was a traditional dance called Ganggangsullae and there's a good video of it here (start watching around 00:30). We even had a bonfire going in the back and a dozen or so people played traditional drums and sang out the stanzas for us. It was exhausting but so much fun--I felt like I was experiencing the newness of Korean culture again.

I had that deja-vu experience again when it came to the food, but not in such a positive light. We ate a lot of seafood, and even though the taste was all right, I was dying for something familiar. Finally, yesterday on our way back home, since I was just traveling with a small group, I asked if it would be all right to eat my lunch separately. Boy, was I glad to find some instant rice and pastries at a convenience store.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. These are pictures of the ferry that we took from Jangheung port to Jeju Island. It was much more comfortable than the ferry a couple years ago.

The first two nights, our group of young adults stayed at a pension. It was so hot we could hardly sleep, and there was only cold water for showers (which was okay). We did have a good cook-out and a few people enjoyed karaoke.

 From there, we did some sight-seeing at Jusangjeolli Cliff and a waterfall. Jusangjeolli Cliff's unique hexagonal, columnar formation is the result of hot lava coming into contact with cold seawater.

Jusangjeolli Cliff

Refreshing waterfall--why did I wear my socks and tennis shoes that day?!

Neat mud-and-thatch houses at the traditional village

We also took a ferry to U-do, an island within sight of Jeju Island. It's a small island overrun with honeymooners and tourists on motorbikes, but the beaches are quite stunning and I loved the stone fences. By the way, of all the swimmers at the beach, only one other woman was wearing a swimsuit. Everyone else was wearing a t-shirt or thin long-sleeve sweater. Those wearing t-shirts were doing it for modesty's sake, and those with sweaters were trying to keep from tanning. And in addition to sweaters, many had sunscreen on so thick that their faces looked white like clown faces. (I really wish you could have seen the fuss the young women from our group made after they got slightly sun-burned; you would've thought they were concerned about scar tissue for all the lamenting I heard.) So as I lay there, the lone sun-bather on the beach, I tried to submerge my awkward feeling by imagining myself at the lake in Harlan with camp friends stretched out in a row beside me. . . But it didn't work, and I soon picked up my towel and headed for the shade.

That night we moved to the Lee Gi Poong Missionary Memorial Center where we stayed the rest of the week. Shortly after we arrived the water pump broke and so those of us who hadn't showered after swimming in the ocean had to go to a public bathhouse that night. Until this trip, I had always managed to escape showering with students or peers. But I guess my tolerance for public exposure has unwittingly increased a lot in the last three years, because it hardly felt unnatural this time. Fortunately though, the new water pump was installed by the next day, so we could all shower comfortably after hiking up Hallasan.

At 1,900 meters (6,234 feet), Hallasan is the highest mountain in South Korea. Round-trip, it took 8 hours for us to hike the 18 km (11 miles), including a stop for lunch. It was a little easier than hiking to the highest peak at Seoraksan and the view near the summit was spectacular. I think I sweat more on that day than any other in my life, but it was definitely worth it. And today, four days later, I can even go down stairs without wincing. :-)

Going down a different side than we came up

The next day we enjoyed ate grilled horse meat for lunch and then went to the beach again. The horse tasted all right but the texture was way too chewy. Finally I just swallowed it without chewing because it was taking too long. In addition to the plate of medium-size slabs of meat that we grilled, there was a little dish of tiny strips that you were supposed to eat raw. When they asked me why I wouldn't eat it like that, I was kind of confused as to what to say. "Um, humans aren't supposed to eat red meat raw?" I mean, they were eating it like that, so I guess it's possible. But even cooked, my stomach didn't like the horse too well.

It was hard to see all that good food go to waste.

 Saturday and Sunday we had several church services and a couple activities to top it off. Our sermons came from the book of Numbers. First we read 20:2-13 where the Israelites are complaining against Moses and God tells Moses to speak to the rock and water will gush forth. But instead, Moses acts out of his angry feeling toward the Israelites and hits the rock with a stick, giving credit to himself instead of God for bringing forth the water. The key for that passage was that "Belief is not faith," meaning you can believe in God, as Moses did, without acting in faith, trusting God to come through and giving Him the glory.

Then we learned from Numbers 16:1-19 not to covet another's position or status. Descendants from the clan of Levi, even though they were already priviliged to serve as priests, coveted Moses' role of leadership. We should not covet others' roles, even within the church, but do our own role faithfully. Our roles are assigned by God and their diversity keeps the body healthy.

Finally we studied Numbers 22:21-35 about Balaam and the donkey. From this passage, we learned how important it is to have spiritual insight--the ability to see the unseen--so that we don't accidentally misunderstand God's will and so object to it.

To me, the highlights of the services were the praise music (except for at this annual retreat, we only sing hymns) and prayer times, especially the prayer of healing for one of the young fathers in our congregation who is suffering from some kind of bone disease or cancer in his leg and looking at having it amputated soon. Please pray for complete healing for him.

And as I already mentioned, we had a special dancing time on the last night. If our church website posts a video or photos of that, I will post the link for you later. This last set of pictures is from the park we visited on the last day. It was really refreshing with all the pine trees and shade.

On August 4th, I will be going home to the U.S. for three weeks, so I'm not sure I'll be able to post again during that time. If not, look forward to some pictures and stories when I get back. Happy August to you!

Flora from Jeju