Sunday Number Two and the Case of the Korean Chicago Style Pizza

I have a Korean name. 왕형준 입니다 (Wang Hyung Joon Im Ni Da) I am Wang Hyung Jun. Two couples at church named me this at lunch. <--Edit

Sunday was a pretty exciting day. It was my first adventure on public transportation 혼자 (Hon Ja) alone. My church buddy Heavy G decided he couldn't go at the last minute so I had to take the bus. Well that was gonna be a fun one. An hour and a half bus ride. One way. Just my idea of how to spend my Sunday. I actually didn't mind this all that much, I'm sure it will get old but right now the adventure is exciting.

I believe there are 61 stops between my boarding place (first stop) and the stop that I get off at (almost the last stop). The upside is that it only cost 1,250 원 (Won) to go that entire way. That's about $1.25. That's an excellent price for the distance I traveled. I got to church just after noon and that meant I was able to catch most of the noon service. This time I didn't have Heavy G with me so I didn't know what the sermon was on, but the service was filled with excitement nonetheless.

After the service a few of the youth members that remembered me from the previous week came up and asked if I wanted to have lunch. Well I was certainly hungry so I was very keen about this idea. They ended up having me go with two couples. This was a bit rough being the fifth wheel after the previous night, but I battled through.

We ended up going to a place called Riccopapa that seemed to want to be an American style restaurant with reasonable prices. The couples I was with spoke English pretty well so the conversation flowed at a good pace. They asked what I wanted but I honestly couldn't decide. The menu was like 15 pages long, and the women seemed to want to handle it. I was happy to let them.

What would you guess they ended up ordering? A Chicago style deep dish pizza. I'm sure this was on purpose, and I wasn't complaining. I missed me some home food. We also got a steak salad...but the steak ended up being pig's neck. As disgusting as this sounds, it was actually really good. They also ordered a rice dish, and some do it yourself tacos. It was like a North American tapas.

I know you're all dying to hear how the pizza was. It was actually very good. The pizza looked like a tomato pie. The cheese was all inside and the dough was folded over on itself, and in the middle were sliced cherry tomatoes. There was nowhere near as much sauce as is on a typical Chicago style pizza, and the presentation was completely different, but the cheese was very similar and the taste was good. I can't complain.

The tacos were excellent as well. The chicken was well seasoned, and the shrimp and bulgogi were excellent as well. The two couples treated me as a welcoming to the church, and I am very grateful. Meeting new people, especially good people is difficult. I am so happy with all the friends I've already made while being here. I am not one to normally go outside my comfort zone except when deemed necessary, and this trip is certainly pushing me out of it.

On to the youth service. This youth service is really more of a 20-somethings service. They play contemporary praise music with a praise band, and are very energetic. This week David was chosen to translate the sermon for me. David was part of one of the couples that took me to lunch. He and his fiance are getting married in a month and they are very excited.

David did a very good job translating for me, and the sermon hit home pretty hard. Especially after what I had been experiencing the night before. I am very excited to be a part of this church, because both times I've gone the sermon was exactly something that I needed to hear. This week was all about the treasures in your heart and what rules your life.

The beginning of the sermon was actually about the Korean ship that sank with 500 students on board a few years ago. This was a complete and utter tragedy that could have been avoided. The owner of the ship had bought an old Japanese ship for cheap and hollowed out part of the hull to fit more people on board. The captain had warned him multiple times that the boat was unstable but the owner didn't listen, all he cared about was money.

Apparently the owner was also a pastor, but his church was a cult. When push came to shove, none of his money, or followers could save him. Only God can save. This got me thinking about the whole girlfriend/wife situation I had been dealing with last night. Now this was something that had been going on for awhile in my life, but really only came to a head during The Beauty and the Beast.

This sermon really gave me closure to the subject, and re-centered me on what's truly important. My relationship with God. How am I supposed to be in a relationship when I'm going into it with the idea that the relationship is what will make me whole? What an impossible burden to put onto someone else. Thinking that finding that "perfect" girl will change my life has been eating away at my relationship with God. I kept putting God in a box, and not trusting in him. I thought that I would have some control over who I ended up with. I had fears like what I said last night that I may have already missed her, or that I needed to go out and somehow force it to happen.

This worldly view on things really permeated my relationship with God. While it wasn't on the forefront of my mind, it was always nagging at me. I realized that I need to seek Him in all things, and be fulfilled in him before I could make anyone else happy, and before anyone could make me happy. If God is your purpose and your focus, things will fall into place. Even the bad things will be used to His glory. I know that He will put the right person in my life at the right time, and He is a much better judge than I am regarding this.

I considered this a quick answer to my prayers. I had asked for the LORD to settle my soul, and my restlessness. I tend to get antsy and try to rush things, when really I should just be focusing on enjoying this year and the things I'm here for. Another funny little thing is all while I was thinking this, David, my translator, was called out by the pastor for his testimony.

David had been praying for a girlfriend the previous year, and he had finally given up. Then a few months later God answered his prayers with his fiance. I now have closure on this subject, and hopefully will not be hard headed. It's very easy to forget what God has done for us, and want things to happen now. I am one of the worst offenders of this. I am working on this though, and I pray for God to help me trust him every night.

Both times I've gone to church here in Korea I have left not only refreshed, but feeling like my soul is exploding with the Holy Spirit. I am only just over a week in and I have already grown so much. The bus ride back to Daegu University felt much quicker than the trip to church. As soon as I got off the bus, Heavy G came and picked me up, and we were off to the 노레방 (No Rae Bang) Korean karaoke.

Korean karaoke is much different than American karaoke. Korean karaoke's consist of private rooms for your group. You have couches and a TV with microphones and speakers. The song book is HUGE and consists of just about every charted song from both Korea and the world in the last 10 years or so.

The students were already there and going at it when I walked in. Man this was quite the scene.

BTOB has 3 of the top 100 NRB songs in Korea right now!

A couple of students killin' it.

Lights!

The book to see what song you want to sing next.

Sometimes you gotta hold your phone while you're singing too.

Get it!

This was such a great idea. The students had a wonderful time, and I was getting a kick out of watching them. I'm sure it was tough to figure out what to do on a Sunday night after staying in the dorms all day, but the plan was executed well.

I did have breakfast with the students again at the place just off campus. Cowbone soup was the specialty again. Having been used to a hearty American breakfast, having something so light was different. However, my hunger has changed since I've been here. I no longer get ravenous, I just kind of feel like I need to eat. This is a welcomed change.

After heading back to the dorms, we headed to bed. I stayed up rather late working on the blogs and didn't quite get a chance to finish studying my homework. With such a grueling and accelerated program I'm going to need to put in some extra time to work on my vocabulary and catch up. I'm excited to see what this next week brings! Thanks for adventuring with me!

Korean Word/Phrase of the Day: 노래방에서 노래를 노래해요 (No Rae Bang Eh Seo No Rae Reul No Rae Hae Yo) this basically means "At the karaoke I sing a song". I like it cause it's rather silly with the repetitive nature of No Rae.

TL:DR I'm in Korea