My Korean class and church with English service

7/5/2008

I started taking a Korean class at the Seoul Language Academy today. Although it’s a bit far (an hour bus ride one way), but it’s the only place offers Saturday classes. So I decided to go for it because learning the language was one of the reasons I came after all. A teacher at my school told me that there’s a bus go directly from Gunpo to Kangnam station (the stop I get off for my Korean class) so I didn’t have to take the subway and make 2 transfers. Also, the bus stop is right outside my place. It was definitely a challenge the first time because I had to listen intensively for the stop announcement on the bus, and it’s all in Korean. My “survival” trick was to listen for the name because I know “Kangnam station” is “Kangnam yo” in Korean, so when I heard the name and saw the stop says “kangnam yo”, I got off and followed the directions I got from the academy there.

My Korean co-teacher told me about a church that has English service and it’s about 40-50 minutes bus ride away. So I decided to check it out as well, only this time, my “survival trick” didn’t work quite as well. I’m supposed to get off at the “Miguem station”, but I got off a stop earlier. Later on, I realized that the announcement says the same stop name twice. It would say the name of the current stopping station and also the next stop coming. I wasn’t aware of it and just got off the first I heard the name of the stop. However, I still found the church ok. I actually liked the church; it reminded me of Asian churches in American except they have a lot more foreigners. The pastor is Asian American; he came back from Canada and speaks pretty good English. I also enjoyed the message; it’s very practical and it is intended for foreigners to fell “at home” when being in Korea. They also have an orphanage ministry, which I might join if I have the time and energy. I do wish the church could’ve been closer to where I live, but at least I know where I can go for worship and fellowship on Sundays.