Climbing in a Rain of Blossoms

Today Erika and I dropped Simeon off at school and then climbed to Namsan Tower, the famous Seoul landmark. It’s an “easy” walk from the base if you define “easy” as short. But this is Korea, and all walks go straight uphill. This one was 4.2 miles start to finish, but my phone app registered the equivalent of climbing 44 flights of stairs. We did it last time I was here, pushing Simeon in the stroller. That’s why we decided to do it this time with him in school.

I did my I-wonder-what’s-over-there thing, and we went a different route than the stroller-friendly one we did before. This one had stairs. Lots of stairs—44 flights worth! But it was very pretty.

I was wondering what the pretty traditional building was. Erika sounded out the name over the entrance. Park Office. Oh. Prettiest park office I ever saw.

Our goal was often in sight.

Blossoms rained down like snow.

Did I mention lots of steps?

The views weren't the greatest with the polution. No point in paying to go up the tower. When we stopped at this lookout, I commented how much I love green spaces like this next to city spaces like the buildings you can see below. Erika added, "Next to mountains like that," pointing to the horizon.

We grabbed a late lunch at the Katusa snack bar. Katusas are the Korean soldiers assigned to the base, and this is their place to get "home cooking." We enjoyed Bibimbop (meat, vegetables and rice) and yaki mandu (fried dumplings).

Then we walked to Simeon's school to pick him up. The street is narrow. Believe it or not, this road is not one way.

The walking gate we used is commonly referred to as the "kimchi pot gate" because of this shop just outside, selling pots for making pickled vegetables.

Following the News in South Korea-a link

Some of you have asked about the situation here, so I decided I should blog about it even though it has had little impact on my trip. I posted those comments on my author blog, Times and Places.

An Afternoon in Seoul Forest

Yesterday's trip to the ice rink gave me courage to launch out on my own again today. There is something exhilarating about having a whole subway system at your command.

Yesterday was dismal and rainy--a fit time to spend underground and indoors. Today was glorious, and much of my train ride was above ground. 

We spent the morning at Erika's Bible study, PWOC (Protestant Women of the Chapel). I am so grateful for Erika to have the support of this network of women looking at their lives in the light of Scripture together. I'm also grateful for the opportunity she has to minister in music to these women and to build relationships as they practice and lead together. I can see her growing so much.

But this afternoon while Simeon was in school Erika had a shopping date with a friend, returning to the music market where we were on Friday. She suggested I might want to go to Seoul Forest instead. I spent a fabulous afternoon. I had been there previously with Steve, Erika and Simeon, so it looked familiar when I came out of the subway. The fun thing about being alone was that I didn't have to worry about a four-year-old's attention span or other adults rolling their eyes when I wanted to know what was over that bridge or down that path. Although Erika and I had gone to the station together, I was on my own to get home, so there was no time schedule either.

Part of what I was hoping for was cherry blossoms. A lot were past their peak, but not all.

And there were plenty of other flowers to enjoy.

I wandered through this tunnel (no eye-rolling!)

And emerged under an overpass with a ramp onto a bike path that follows the river. Dan often bikes the river path, but I don't know if he does this section.

(Looking back at this, I realize that is Lotte Tower in the distance that we will visit April 22.)

When I started across this bridge, I thought it was only an overlook to the deer park below (all dirt; not photogenic), but it turned out to go a lot further than I expected: across seven lanes of traffic and down to...the bike path. Benches made a nice spot to sip from my tea mug.

It was a bit windy by the river, so I didn't linger. I came back and found a bench along the lake where I could read my book. (I love e-books on my phone that don't add any weight to an afternoon outing!)

I recognized several playgrounds where we lingered for Simeon to play on our previous visit. Next time. 

Venturing out on my own

I did it! Using my handy dandy Seoul subway app, I figured out how to get to the ice rink by myself. Well, not completely by myself. Koreans are very friendly. While I stood puzzling about which way to go, someone asked me in English what I was looking for. When I thought I had the right platform, I confirmed with the people standing around. Once I was on the right platform for the opposite direction to where I wanted to go. I had to go back up the stairs and down a different stair to get to the right place, but I found it. I had to make one line change. I knew how many stops, and there was an electronic sign on the train that said in English and Korean which stop was next, so it wasn't hard.

When I got there, of course, I went out the wrong exit and ended up walking all the way around the building to find the rink. In the end I showed someone the skates in my bag and asked where the rink was.

The rink is in the basement level of an indoor amusement park called Lotte World. (Lotte is a major company I have often seen as a sponsor on the warm-up jackets of Asian skaters.) So overhead are two levels of rides and show stages. Last visit to Korea we went there with Erika and Simeon, and I looked down on the rink.

It wasn't my best skate. The ice was soft. The temperatures were higher than any rink I have ever skated in. I was sweating like crazy. Next time I will not wear double layers. They also required gloves. I have no idea why. But I had neglected to stick in my gloves, so they loaned me some.

More than the softness of the ice is the awkwardness and clumsiness I always feel on strange ice. Evidently Koreans are big on speed skating. The rink was covered with little cones to direct toe pushers around the outside and speed skaters around an inner ring, leaving the center for figure skaters--not enough space for my normal warm up of moves-in-the-field or cool-down of dances, making it harder to get used to the ice. I did get in some good outside mohawk practice although even that felt weird without hockey circles to practice on. (No lines anywhere except color variations that I expect were related to the refridgeration system.)

But I have skated in Korea! I'm wondering where Kim Yu Na practices. I'm sure it's not somewhere with speed skaters going around the outside.

Easter in Korea

He is risen!

Erika is heavily involved in music, especially this weekend, and we have had a very busy day. We were at the Dragon Hill hotel at 6 AM to prepare for the sunrise service.

Our pre-dawn brass prelude

One member of her singing group got called into work this morning, so they had to scramble. They were great. I intended to video, but I must have bumped something almost immediately and turned it off. I held the camera carefully the entire song (which, believe me, isn't easy to do when they are singing "O Happy Day!") and had exactly 1 second of recording.

Erika's praise team leads the traditional Easter hymns

After the service we had just enough time to grab a plate from the fellowship buffet before Erika had to head to the chapel to rehearse for the ROCK service. (ROCK stands for Relying on Christ in Korea, which I think is pretty cool for the contemporary service.

Leftover sushi for lunch. (Our household eats pizza every Saturday night; Erika's household eats sushi. Who is more sophisticated?)

At two we headed to the high school for a security check before we could get into the chapel for the afternoon service. The reason for the extra security was our guest--Vice President Mike Pence, his wife Karen and two daughters. I have never had the experience of virtually the entire audience for a concert sitting through the entire dress rehearsal. The church was full by the time we finished going through the congregational songs, choir anthem and final Halelujah Chorus, and then we went through them all again with the high school orchestra supplemented with army brass. After nearly an hour and a half of practice, they announced that the VP had arrived and we would begin the service a half hour before the scheduled time. I presume the reason was that everyone was already there, so why wait? I don't know how many were turned away, but if you came on time for the service--or even an hour and a half early--you didn't get in.

It was pretty cool to get to sing for the VP, but what I enjoyed most was singing goose-bump-inducing praise music with organ, drums and orchestra full volume. The Pence's sang along on the congregational songs. "They are real Christians," the choir director had told us, and I guess, they requested the opportunity to worship with us.

There was also a dinner afterwards. Sort of a combination of Korean and American food. There were enough of us that we ate in several rooms, but the Pence's made the rounds and shook a lot of hands. Not ours. We weren't supposed to get out of our seats, and they didn't quite make our corner. Sigh. We weren't allowed to take pictures during the worship service, but I did get a shot while he said a few words to our room in thanks for the service of the military families.

Here is an article about the visit. It even includes a tweet from the VP account with a picture of the choir. Our heads are approximately 0.5 mm high, so I don't expect you to pick out Erika or me.

Preparing for Easter

Tomorrow is Easter. Erika normally leads worship for the ROCK service and sings in the choir for the Cornerstone service. The alto section is very weak. Katie joined her last month, and I will tomorrow. I’m not the only one joining at the last minute. There was a two-hour rehearsal this morning. Simeon sat with the iPad and earphones, amusing himself with movies and games and occasionally forgetting where he was and adding his own sound affects.

Tomorrow will begin with a sunrise service in the garden of the hotel. Erika is singing in a small group for that. Then the ROCK service (with rehearsal for Erika before). Then a break because the Cornerstone service has been moved to the afternoon, but we have another rehearsal at 3. That will be a VERY interesting service, but more about that after it happens.

We came home from rehearsal and grabbed lunch. Then Dan took off with Simeon for the aquarium. It has turned into a lovely day despite the pollution, so I preferred to be outside. Erika had work to do on tomorrow’s music and wanted the house to herself, so I took off for the National Museum Park. It is only a few hundred yards from Erika’s house, but there is not gate in that direction, so it was about a 1.25 mile walk in each direction. Good exercise. I took my thermal mug of tea and my phone with my camera and e-book on it and had a great time. The more sunshine, the easier it is for the body to adjust time.

This is cheery blossom season, and I kept thinking how my mom would have loved it. One of the things I really enjoyed seeing was all the Korean families picnicking. Some sat at picnic tables, but many sat on blankets on the grass with shared trays of tidbits in the middle, talking and reaching with chopsticks to pick up tasty bites.

Blossoms rained down like snow.
The blue and yellow in the background are tents families have set up for shade for children's naps.

This tree just outside Erika and Dan's apartment is beautiful.
Their place is upstairs on the left.

Back to Korea

Back to Korea—for the fourth time! I flew alone Wednesday to Thursday this week. Steve will join me later. We had a bit of mechanical delay, but otherwise no problems. I even slept several hours. The delay meant I didn’t arrive until after Erika’s Maundy Thursday service was over, and it was easier for her to meet me. But she didn’t come to the airport. This time I took the Airport Limosine Bus to Ichon Station across from the visitor gate. She met me there. Piece of cake.

Erika had planned to take me to look at cherry blossoms on Friday, but it was raining. Not a nice day for parks, but fine for shopping. After taking care of my documentation for the base, we took the subway to Nagwon Music Market--four floors of nothing but musical instruments, plus more music shops in the surrounding streets. 

Simeon has repeatedly expressed a desire to learn to play guitar. Of course, he sees his mom playing and singing in church several times a week. (He thinks "rehearsal" means "church.") Erika bought her guitar at a Martin shop just outside the main market and has been very happy with it. We were shopping for a small size guitar for Simeon. Amazing how much difference a few hundred dollars make. Sigh. They were significantly more expensive than we had expected. She has found cheaper on-line, but all the reviews say they are junk. We’ll see. As soon as Simeon was handed a guitar to try, he started to sing, “We love you, Lord!” The sales guy got a kick out of him. We came home to think about it some more.