Still Friday, Day 14: Seoul Symphony

Our day was not ended. My cousin Sarah is married to Seijin Koh, president of the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) Symphony orchestra. Seijin graciously provided us with tickets for last night's concert. Dan and Erika got a baby sitter and everything. We might have taken the subway, but the route took 45 minutes, went way out of the way, and would have dropped us several blocks from the center anyway, so we chose instead the cultural experience of Seoul traffic--for forty-five minutes--but no walking at the end.

Seoul Arts Center is a spectacular facility with multiple venues. The lobby of the concert hall is elegant.

The orchestra is impressive. The women all wore black pantsuits with white shirts, the better to blend with the men, but I was surprised at the high percentage of women. Probably half. The program was Beethoven. First half was incidental music from the 1787 Goethe play, Egmont, with narration and soprano soloist. Excellent. Unlike Erika who recognized a number of the pieces, it was all new to me. Sarah had graciously printed out a summary in English so we were not entirely lost in the story--typical opera melodrama where everyone dies, but with a nationalistic twist of fighting for freedom. We shared the English with a confused Aussie behind us at intermission. Second half was Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Shame that Steve is elsewhere, visiting theological programs int he region. The audience was VERY appreciative, demanding multiple curtain calls until the orchestra finally pulled at a Hungarian Dance as an encore.

The complex includes a musical fountain, which was on when we left the auditorium. When Erika went before, it was for a kids' concert of Carnival of the Animals. Afterwards the fountain was crowded with kids playing in the mist. Tonight was quite tame by comparison.

I can see why the kids are pleased to be living in Seoul with all it's cultural opportunities.

When we got home at 11 PM, Simeon called cheerfully from upstairs--not a sign of sleepiness. The poor babysitter had been sitting with him the whole time, trying to get him to close his eyes. Just when she thought he was asleep, he would whisper her name and ask her something. Like I said, he didn't seem the least bit sleepy when we got home.

Friday, Day 14: Namsan Park

Enough of hanging out at home. Today we walked to Namsan, the mountain surrounded by city topped with the tower tourists call Seoul Tower. It is not that far from one of the gates, although as usual in Korea, it is all up hill.

View of our goal from the parking lot where we started.

We turned left outside the gate and continued along a busy Seoul street for 10-15 minutes.

I almost didn't include this, but then I figured those other than Uncle Bob and Aunt Peg who have never been to Korea, might not know what a "busy Seoul street" looks like--except it wasn't very busy at this particular moment.

Eventually, we turned along side the old city wall. At one point on top I found a sign that said the wall was from the Joesan Period. Not very helpful to a foreigner. It also said the wall was built in 1996. That didn't sound very historic to me. When I looked up Joesan Period at home it said 14th -19th centuries. I suspect the 1996 part was restored.

The way got pretty steep. We rested a couple times and were passed by very-physically fit Koreans, some of them ten years older than I am. At one point as we sat on the curb, these guys came along and just started pushing. Little to no English, but we laughed and made gestures and they pushed Simeon the rest of the way to the top.  The only negative was that we were too proud to suggest another rest! They took pictures and we thanked them in Korean.

Great views of the city in every direction from the top. We didn't have one of the ubiquitous selfie-sticks, so we asked someone to take ours in exchange for taking theirs.

Locks enscribed with lover's names drape the overlooks. Simeon was fascinated.

Koreans are great at landscaping. Unfortunately, they aren't so great at picking up their trash. Just to the left of the picture is an empty water bottle and wadded up napkin. Behind me is an empty chip bag. Hard to reconcile with their other great traits.

The views from the base were so great that we didn't feel a need to actually go up the tower.

Tuesday and Wednesday, Days 12 and 13: PWOC

Some days are pretty ordinary. Tuesday morning seven ladies crowded into Erika's living room to rehearse music for the Protestant Women of the Chapel (PWOC) where she is the worship leader. I watched the three little boys on the front porch, which also serves as Simeon's play room and toy storage. I thought they were awfully noisy, but Erika says the women never heard them.

After nap I took Simeon to the playground. The housing area has several, all different. This one is not designed for toddlers. The only way to the slide is this complicated climbing tower that sends moms into panic mode when their kids are learning it.

The big boys were playing soccer and Simeon wanted desperately to join in, but lacks the skills. Erika's sister-in-law, who lives in the same complex, brought a ball for the younger boys to use to practice. "No hands" was a hard concept to master, but progress was made. :-)

This morning was the PWOC Bible study. We got there early to set up the music in the chapel only to find the facility had been commandeered for some kind of major briefing with generals. It took a while to figure out where we should be instead and arrange a piano. No projector so all the time Erika spent last evening setting up the PowerPoint was for nothing. Instead she photocopied the chord charts with words she had prepared for the praise team. Flexibility is the name of the game.

Erika with the guitar.

I really liked her small group studying Twelve Women of the Bible by Naomi Zacarias. Today was the Syro-Phonecian woman, and there was good discussion and sharing. They had to pass around the tissue box more than once. I'm so grateful for Erika to have these relationships.

The parking lot was so crowded with buses leaving after the briefing that we decided to walk a couple blocks to Burger King for lunch and worry about getting out later. Yes, Burger King. There is one right on base. I'm not sure the food was really up to par for BK, but there was a playground and before we left, other kids had joined us, much to Simeon's delight. The mom was an acquaintance of Erika's. They had a good chat, but the family is "PCS-ing" soon. I don't remember what that stands for, but it means leaving, getting reassigned to a new location. Missionary kids constantly have to deal with good-byes, but for military families (at least in Korea), it is even worse because the turn over is every couple years. Hard to build relationships. At this point, Erika is running into some people she knows from previous assignments, or at least mutual friends who provide introductions. Erika says she is getting lots of practice at making friends.

Monday, Day 11: Seoul Children's Grand Park

So much fun stuff to do in Seoul! Today we went to Seoul Children's Grand Park. We were about half an hour on the subway, a fun adventure in itself for Simeon who looked out the window. It wasn't crowded midmorning on a weekday so we had seats no problem.  The place is huge--530,000square meters, whatever that is in acres. It includes a zoo, botanical gardens, musical fountain, sculpture gardens, shaded walks, several playgrounds--you get the idea--all for free. We picnicked by the fountain, while it played kids songs and spouted water in patterns.

Loved the landscaping.

There was a whole walk through various sculptures made of scrap metal.

Simeon was so excited in the zoo that he ran rather than walked from one enclosure to the next. He loved feeding the Formosan deer.

He was not happy about leaving. We staved off a three-year-old temper tantrum by reminding him that Mom would not be excited about coming back if he threw a fit. Of course, when we were on the train he asked very sweetly if we could go back now.

Monday night is Awana night. Simeon loves Cubbies and works hard to learn his verses. Tonight was a pizza party to celebrate the end of the year. Since Simeon is highly alergi to wheat, Erika brought him his own rice-flour pizza so he could eat with the other kids. She also brought Simeon-friendly cookies to substitute for the cupcakes a little girl brought for her birthday. He is really good about not eating thiings he shouldn't. He has too many memories of upset tummy from even the smallest bite.

Day 10: Sunday

Erika laments that she didn't do more with worship music in the conservatory at Wheaton, but then, the Wheaton churches were mostly traditional at that time and didn't have worship bands that she remembers. She really loves what she is doing, leading worship at PWOC and playing keyboard for Sunday morning. She went early for rehearsal. I helped Dan get Simeon ready, and we showed up for the service. Where they used to live at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, the chapel was under construction. Each week required setting up and taking down equipment in the school auditorium. Here they have a lovely chapel. I especially liked the stained glass windows that showed people from all nations and walks of life (including soldiers) coming to the Lord.

The R.O.C.K. service (Relying on Christ in Korea) was at 9. Erika did a great job co-ordinating with the pianist with little nods to keep them on the same page. The sermon was way better than any I heard in my visits to Humphreys. Afterwards, Dan took Simeon home, and Erika and I stayed on to sing in the choir for the "traditional" service. It's really more of a blended service. Besides the choir, they had a worship band, small orchestra, piano, synthesizer, and organ. Erika would enjoy that service more, but it was the R.O.C.K. service that needed her musical skills. The choir needs her too since most are sopranos, i.e. women singing melody. The range was not exactly what I would call soprano (highest note an F, I believe.) But it was fun to sing something with multiple parts. Erika had volunteered me, but I think I will sing alto next time unless the range goes higher, since they seem to need people who read music for harmony more than they need my range.

Simeon adores his daddy. No surprise there. They went for a bike ride after lunch. Simeon is growing so fast that his dad had to raise the seat and handlebars for him.

Friday and Saturday, Days 8-9: Out to the Ballpark, Korean style

I got my 10,000 steps in today no problem. We picnicked by the river for lunch. It's about a fifteen minute walk to the walk-in gate of the post, back past the house on the outside, across a major street and set of railroad tracks. The train came while we were waiting to cross on the return for an up-close-and-personal experience. Water skiers went by on the river while we ate.

On the way we passed someone moving in. I guess this kind of outdoor elevator truck is typical. Erika says she has a friend who lives on the thirteenth floor. When they moved in the guys didn't even use safety harnesses.

Seoul is a huge city. population more than 10 million. (Compare New York at eight million.) This picture is taken from the subway station over the river on our way to--wait for it!--the baseball game.

We went with a group of Dan's soldiers, guided by a couple KATUSAs, Korean soldiers with good English, assigned to assist the American military. These two work regularly with Dan's unit. We took the subway in a group with the KATUSAs to tell us where to get off. (Why are people so willing to give up the seats for the elderly and infirm to offer them to me?)  It was fun to see Dan in action, his men calling him "sir" and everything. 

The game was quite a cultural experience--lots of enthusiastic noise. It reminded me of a high school game at tournament time, but with lots more people. There were cheer leaders, songs for each player, and of course, the Korean national anthem, rather than stars and stripes. In the video you can see some of our soldiers, the cheerleaders, and just behind them, the batter who gets a double, much to the excitement of the crowd. 

Hot dogs were available, but chicken seemed to be the stadium food of choice with lots of interesting alternatives. I had peanut buttery squid tentacles.

I even convinced Erika to try one. Let's just say she kept it down. Simeon got a kick out of the noisemakers. They banged together with a resounding echo. At times he found the noise level overwhelming.

We cheered for the Bears. Not sure why, but I have heard they have been supporters of the military. Late night (for us) return home in a much less crowded subway. Most of Dan's men stayed out until curfew. Today has been a relaxed day at home. Not for Dan. He's training for a triathalon.

Thursday, Day 8: Hanging Out in Seoul

Much of the morning was taken up with getting our documentation to come and go on base. Erika signed us in the night before. She had already filled in the paper work for passes for the month, but the office was already closed, so we had to go back Thursday morning. Then we had to take the paper work to a place off base. I tell you, I was admiring Erika's courage to take on Seoul traffic driving us back from the airport, but even more daytime traffic near the base. Once we had the paper work, we had to return to where we had signed in the night before and turn in our temporary passes. Actually, we were supposed to have signed out and retrieved our driver's licenses when we left base, but who knew. By the time we did all that, we were in a hurry to get Steve to the subway to get to his lunch appointment at one of the theological schools in town. Erika, Simeon and I went with to show him the ropes. Well, Erika showed him the ropes. Simeon and I just went with.

They use pre-paid cards similar to Oyster cards in London. Dan and Erika each had one, but Erika decided it was worth having an extra for guests so she bought another. Evidently the subway wasn't too hard to navigate because Steve made his way back to base on his own. I was glad I had Erika as guide.

We lunched at one of Korea's great Kids' Cafes. They are like a McDonald's Playland on steroids or a mini children's museum. Simeon was absorbed in the train table for most of the hour.  Erika and I split an order of rice with bacon and vegies and then a dessert order of honey bread, a slightly sweet bread topped with whipped cream. We ate at low traditional tables, but I failed to get a picture.

We headed home on the subway, and Simeon and I napped at home.

Simeon was much more interested in a silly picture on the train than serious.