RoseE wrote to Emily, her bestest friend, before she left for Korea, and Em's only just received it and got the text to me.
"Dearest Em,
With any luck at all I'll get this in the mail while I'm still stateside, though it may end up with a Los Angeles postmark if I have to finish it on plane ride 1. Because we're leaving at the blessed crack of dawn tomorrow morning!!
Your job sounds amazing. I'm so glad you're excited about the company, and that you'll be in such a tight-knit and supportive department. And that you get to wear hot heels! I hate to say it, but there are days when I miss heels a little bit. I have known certain shoe savants too long.
In the lobby of our residence hall there are some boxes, referred to communally as "the Box." The Box is the MTC's shopping extravaganza. Departing sisters leave in the Box things they don't want to take into the field, and other sisters pounce thereon. The Box has been very busy this weekend – I know I've tossed at least five pounds of stuff into it, and fished out two new shirts, a wrap, and an extra stick of deodorant, which does not exist in Korea as such. [Korean characters] (Nai-suh.) (It means 'Nice,' in the slang sense, like, "You got all that stuff for free? Na-i-suh!")
Our last weekend has been crazy. The post office closes at 2 p.m. on Saturdays, so we spent a long time waiting in line so Sisters Copeland and Linford could send home huge boxes of stuff. Then we had to eat a ten-minute lunch and run to our teaching practice with Brother Pak, a very nice, friendly, helpful Korean man who comes every Saturday to help us practice but who is not reading the Book of Mormon because the language is too difficult. I made Sisters Peterson and Ogelvie, the 2 sisters who are here for six more weeks, promise to get him a [Korean characters], Book of Mormon Stories. It's a big, thick picture book of the whole Book of Mormon with much simpler language. Bro. Thiel says the people he taught loved this book. Elder Lallatin bought one for himself, and the whole district fought over who got to read it first. Yeah, we've been here a long time. We get a little crazy.
Our res hall room is pack with half-packed suitcases – walking anywhere is a challenge, taxing our balance and flexibility. In keeping with my heritage as a backpacker's daughter, I have only one suitcase, one carryon, and my shoulder bag, while everyone else has two suitcases plus carryon plus backpack. So they're struggling to make it down to 140 lbs of stuff and I'm sitting pretty on under 90 lbs. I unfortunately keep thinking of the Parable of the Ten Virgins. Yeah, I'm smug. I'm sure I will get humbled the second I set foot in the Incheon Airport.
Today, in continuation of my crazy departure weekend, is Piano Day. Sister Copeland and Elder DeWall from the next district over auditioned this weekend to perform "My Soul Hungered" in one of the big meetings, and got asked to do it for Departure Devotional tonight. But Elder DeWall is also singing a duet with Sister Bergeson in Sacrament meeting, for which Sister Copeland is also playing. So between rehearsals and performances, I'll be hearing music all day today. Nothin' wrong with that.
Holy heck. Tonight is the last night I'll sleep on a mattress on a bed frame for a year and a half.
My parents sent me one last care package before I go, containing, of all wonderful things, a box of peppermint tea. I have been drinking it like crazy. I missed tea. (And that's totally your fault, by the way – I hated herbal teas before you got me hooked on them.*) There is no peppermint tea in Korea – Sisters Lee and Jeong has never tasted it before. So that's coming with me, baggage restrictions be darned. I'm anxious to try barley tea and all the others that the Korean members drink (they're Korean, for gosh sakes – they keep the word of wisdom, but they keep it creatively, kind of like me, so I should fit in just fine), but I do want something familiar to drink when I'm stoned on jet lag and culture shock in a few days. And lack of DearElders. Aaaah, what am I going to do without instant updates from my Emily?
But on the plus side, my letters and pictures and life in general are going to get much more interesting. That's good. And as soon as I use up all these cara-cards I'll get some trippy and hilarious Korean stationery, which will be fun.
I love you and I miss you, and I'll write you from Pusan!
RoseE"
* Note from Emily: BWAHAHAHAHA!!!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
email from President Jennings to RoseE's Grandmother
President Jennings writes:
"Sister Hadden:
I received your letter that you sent through "Dear Elder" today and my wife and I were delighted that you are following Sister Hadden's progress here in Busan Korea. I called her tonight and told her that we received a letter from you and her response was "Oh, no!" We laughed a lot.
Sister Hadden is doing very well. As you indicated, her ability to learn a new language is quite amazing. Korean is much more difficult for native English speakers than are the Indo-Eurpoean languages, but she is well ahead of the curve for new missionaries. Interestingly, in a foreign culture where interactions are based on different verbal and non-verbal signals than we are used to in the West, I don't believe that a person with Asperger Syndrome will have much of a problem. It's all new to everyone here. In any case, I have not seen any evidence of difficulty between companions or with local member relations. I understand that for most people the syndrome wanes considerably as they get older.
. . . Our family was raised in Korea and Singapore where I worked for over 15 years as an attorney specializing in international joint ventures and technology licenses. . . .
We love Sister Hadden and she is already making a remarkable contribution to our mission. I wouldn't worry about her ability to fit in and do her part without any difficulty. After all, the Lord qualifies whom he calls, and she was called to THIS mission by a Prophet of the Lord. What more can we ask?
Faithfully,
President & Sister Jennings
Korea Busan Mission"
"Sister Hadden:
I received your letter that you sent through "Dear Elder" today and my wife and I were delighted that you are following Sister Hadden's progress here in Busan Korea. I called her tonight and told her that we received a letter from you and her response was "Oh, no!" We laughed a lot.
Sister Hadden is doing very well. As you indicated, her ability to learn a new language is quite amazing. Korean is much more difficult for native English speakers than are the Indo-Eurpoean languages, but she is well ahead of the curve for new missionaries. Interestingly, in a foreign culture where interactions are based on different verbal and non-verbal signals than we are used to in the West, I don't believe that a person with Asperger Syndrome will have much of a problem. It's all new to everyone here. In any case, I have not seen any evidence of difficulty between companions or with local member relations. I understand that for most people the syndrome wanes considerably as they get older.
. . . Our family was raised in Korea and Singapore where I worked for over 15 years as an attorney specializing in international joint ventures and technology licenses. . . .
We love Sister Hadden and she is already making a remarkable contribution to our mission. I wouldn't worry about her ability to fit in and do her part without any difficulty. After all, the Lord qualifies whom he calls, and she was called to THIS mission by a Prophet of the Lord. What more can we ask?
Faithfully,
President & Sister Jennings
Korea Busan Mission"
Snail Mail to Grama & Grampa Hadden dated 4/20/09
RoseE writes:
"20 Apr 2009
Dear G & G,
It is the best of times and worst of times out here in Korea. Worst of times because I am surrounded by Elders who are all in comfortable, casual P-Day clothes which they are only supposed to wear if they are doing physical, outdoorsy activities (it's raining outside). And we sisters are faithfully wearing our skirts and stockings. I have not worn pants since the 24th of March. This, however, is my pride talking. I will get blessings for wearing stockings.
And other than my pride issues, Korea is great, Elder Gygi is off in Taejun Mission, so I will never see him again. Of my whole dong: (this is Korean for "same age group" - it's the people you came to Korea with) only two are in my zone. Two more, Elder Green and Elder Kang, were one dong ahead of me, so we were in the MTC together for a while. I miss my district-mates a lot, but I think I will see them next week. It's zone conference or mission conference or some kind of conference. Who knows? I begin to think that Korean is easier to understand than missionary jargon.
Living conditions? Well, our apartment is rather dingy, but it is safe and sanitary for the most part. We have a roach problem, but it is a small problem and they are small roaches. There are traps everywhere and we are keeping the food sealed. We have a very nice washing machine but no dryer - no one in Korea has a dryer. People set up folding racks to dry their clothes on. Shopkeepers often just set these racks of wet rags on the sidewalk. We have an oven, because baked goods are a trademark of American sister missionaries, and a refrigerator FULL of leftover food from member meals. We also have a long, skinny porch/balcony thing mostly full of suitcases, broken furniture, and trash. I am starting a clean-out-the-
gosh-darn-balcony campaign. And I'm out of space. I love you! Thank you for your letters.
RoseE"
"20 Apr 2009
Dear G & G,
It is the best of times and worst of times out here in Korea. Worst of times because I am surrounded by Elders who are all in comfortable, casual P-Day clothes which they are only supposed to wear if they are doing physical, outdoorsy activities (it's raining outside). And we sisters are faithfully wearing our skirts and stockings. I have not worn pants since the 24th of March. This, however, is my pride talking. I will get blessings for wearing stockings.
And other than my pride issues, Korea is great, Elder Gygi is off in Taejun Mission, so I will never see him again. Of my whole dong: (this is Korean for "same age group" - it's the people you came to Korea with) only two are in my zone. Two more, Elder Green and Elder Kang, were one dong ahead of me, so we were in the MTC together for a while. I miss my district-mates a lot, but I think I will see them next week. It's zone conference or mission conference or some kind of conference. Who knows? I begin to think that Korean is easier to understand than missionary jargon.
Living conditions? Well, our apartment is rather dingy, but it is safe and sanitary for the most part. We have a roach problem, but it is a small problem and they are small roaches. There are traps everywhere and we are keeping the food sealed. We have a very nice washing machine but no dryer - no one in Korea has a dryer. People set up folding racks to dry their clothes on. Shopkeepers often just set these racks of wet rags on the sidewalk. We have an oven, because baked goods are a trademark of American sister missionaries, and a refrigerator FULL of leftover food from member meals. We also have a long, skinny porch/balcony thing mostly full of suitcases, broken furniture, and trash. I am starting a clean-out-the-
gosh-darn-balcony campaign. And I'm out of space. I love you! Thank you for your letters.
RoseE"
Monday, May 4, 2009
Pigu and Kimchichigae 5/4/09
RoseE writes:
"Dearest Mum,
Typing on Korean computers is a haphazard business, so I think we may end up being picture-less again. Sorry!
I will do my best to call that evening. The time change makes my head spin.
So I was in the middle of writing Dad a letter while I waited for Sis. M. to be done e-mailing, and then we sprinted out the door and I left the letter in the photo place where we were. And it's on the other end of town--clear on the other end, way out of our area. So I'm re-writing today, minus the original letter for reference. I'm so sorry!
You'll be happy to know that I am sore, too. Saturday was Sports Conference in Pusan Stake. The whole stake and all the missionaries (including the Andersons, the senior couple who work in the office) went up to this BIG dirt field at, I don't know, a university or something?, and played games all day. Some of it was fun -- like pigu, which is a Korean form of dodgeball that just gets darn crazy and in which I scored the shot to tie the game. Some of it was annoying, like the fact that the t-ball game was organized as "Men's game first, then women's game after if there's time," which of course there wasn't. Dang Confuscian society. T-ball is apparently too manly a sport to let the sisters play it in Korea. But pigu was women-only, and it was dang brutal. And the elders put together a cheering section/chorus line for us, so I forgave them a little bit for not letting me play t-ball. The missionaries all had to run a relay race--I ran my stretch and then stopped caring about who won, because I was dang tired and wanted to go to sleep in the shade.
Oh, the shade was really cool. It was trees. The roof over the spectators' seating was just a frame onto which all these trees had been trained, so it was just this thick leafy roof with some purple flowers left in it from their blooming season a few weeks ago. Neat!
So that was cool.
Last P-Day, we roommates went for a good long shop in Seomeyon, which is the underground mall at a subway stop by our house. I discovered the following things: my feet are too big for Korea (really. There is not a shoe to go on my foot in the whole country. So in a few months when you get a plaintive letter asking for shoes, it's not because I just really miss American shoes -- it will be because my shoes have big holes in them and there are no replacements to be had).
I also got a STAMP! In Korea, everybody has a little wooden stamp that is just their very own, and they use it to stamp letters and bills and official documents and things. So I got one at a little shop where you just tell the shop owner what you want your stamp to say and how you want it arranged, and you pick out a stamper, and then you come back in ten minutes and it's ready to go. My stamp has a fish for a handle and a little magnetic cover, and when it stamps it imprints my English and French names, written in Hangul, circled around the hanja for "History." It's really cool, but I'm not very good at stamping with it yet. Lots of practice.
Tuesday I went on my very first split. I went down to the city of Masan, Southwest of Pusan, and spent a day working with Sister Kim Yoon Ha. This was a good experience -- she was really nice, and we had a good time. But I missed my companion and roommates so much I was close to tears the whole time, and I was nauseous all day from nerves, dehydration, motion sickness (the busses in Masan are INSANE), and kimchichigae, which I had never eaten before. So that was not so good, really.(By the bye, dehydration is a real concern here because the tap water is not safe to drink, so there are no drinking fountains anywhere. This is bothering the heck out of me. There are little water dispensers in banks and post offices, and bottled water can be purchased at every corner store, but I just want a drinking fountain, man. Gosh.)
So when all was said and done, I was glad to get home to Pusan and chill out in Zone Conference, at which I finally got my new missionary tags with my name written in both English and Korean: Sisterer Hadden. Really. I can understand mispelling my last name, but my title? Really? So I'm waiting for new ones and still wearing my MTC tag in the meantime. *sigh*
Yesterday, Sunday, I just sang my brains out. First Sis. M. and I had to sing a duet for a baptismal service. (My insanely-talented soprano roommates are very pleased that I know the alto part to just about everything; it makes last-minute musical numbers easy to do.) Then while the baptizer and baptizee were changing, the ward made us sing again. Really. The bishop took a vote. And then we ran like heck over to our other ward for our last musical fireside, in which we four roommates did a quartet number (again, last minute). It was a lot of fun.
Um, Teancum . . . oh, gosh, I can't remember the name of the website I went to for Doctor Who episodes. Oh, yes, I do. It was surfthechannel.net. It's a huge archive of links to all sorts of shows. Just look under "TV Shows" and "Doctor Who" and you should find a darn good collection.
So . . . I think that's my letter for the week, 'cuz we've got to run eat lunch and then go to MeWorld, which is a) an amusement park we can see from our apartment and b) a very strange name for an amusement park in a Confuscian culture. But then again, UsWorld is not very catchy.
I love you and I'll talk to you on Sunday! Or, for you, Saturday! Dang that international date line!Oh, and your Mothers' Day Present is in the mail but will probably come late. Sorry!
I love you! A lot!
RoseE"
"Dearest Mum,
Typing on Korean computers is a haphazard business, so I think we may end up being picture-less again. Sorry!
I will do my best to call that evening. The time change makes my head spin.
So I was in the middle of writing Dad a letter while I waited for Sis. M. to be done e-mailing, and then we sprinted out the door and I left the letter in the photo place where we were. And it's on the other end of town--clear on the other end, way out of our area. So I'm re-writing today, minus the original letter for reference. I'm so sorry!
You'll be happy to know that I am sore, too. Saturday was Sports Conference in Pusan Stake. The whole stake and all the missionaries (including the Andersons, the senior couple who work in the office) went up to this BIG dirt field at, I don't know, a university or something?, and played games all day. Some of it was fun -- like pigu, which is a Korean form of dodgeball that just gets darn crazy and in which I scored the shot to tie the game. Some of it was annoying, like the fact that the t-ball game was organized as "Men's game first, then women's game after if there's time," which of course there wasn't. Dang Confuscian society. T-ball is apparently too manly a sport to let the sisters play it in Korea. But pigu was women-only, and it was dang brutal. And the elders put together a cheering section/chorus line for us, so I forgave them a little bit for not letting me play t-ball. The missionaries all had to run a relay race--I ran my stretch and then stopped caring about who won, because I was dang tired and wanted to go to sleep in the shade.
Oh, the shade was really cool. It was trees. The roof over the spectators' seating was just a frame onto which all these trees had been trained, so it was just this thick leafy roof with some purple flowers left in it from their blooming season a few weeks ago. Neat!
So that was cool.
Last P-Day, we roommates went for a good long shop in Seomeyon, which is the underground mall at a subway stop by our house. I discovered the following things: my feet are too big for Korea (really. There is not a shoe to go on my foot in the whole country. So in a few months when you get a plaintive letter asking for shoes, it's not because I just really miss American shoes -- it will be because my shoes have big holes in them and there are no replacements to be had).
I also got a STAMP! In Korea, everybody has a little wooden stamp that is just their very own, and they use it to stamp letters and bills and official documents and things. So I got one at a little shop where you just tell the shop owner what you want your stamp to say and how you want it arranged, and you pick out a stamper, and then you come back in ten minutes and it's ready to go. My stamp has a fish for a handle and a little magnetic cover, and when it stamps it imprints my English and French names, written in Hangul, circled around the hanja for "History." It's really cool, but I'm not very good at stamping with it yet. Lots of practice.
Tuesday I went on my very first split. I went down to the city of Masan, Southwest of Pusan, and spent a day working with Sister Kim Yoon Ha. This was a good experience -- she was really nice, and we had a good time. But I missed my companion and roommates so much I was close to tears the whole time, and I was nauseous all day from nerves, dehydration, motion sickness (the busses in Masan are INSANE), and kimchichigae, which I had never eaten before. So that was not so good, really.(By the bye, dehydration is a real concern here because the tap water is not safe to drink, so there are no drinking fountains anywhere. This is bothering the heck out of me. There are little water dispensers in banks and post offices, and bottled water can be purchased at every corner store, but I just want a drinking fountain, man. Gosh.)
So when all was said and done, I was glad to get home to Pusan and chill out in Zone Conference, at which I finally got my new missionary tags with my name written in both English and Korean: Sisterer Hadden. Really. I can understand mispelling my last name, but my title? Really? So I'm waiting for new ones and still wearing my MTC tag in the meantime. *sigh*
Yesterday, Sunday, I just sang my brains out. First Sis. M. and I had to sing a duet for a baptismal service. (My insanely-talented soprano roommates are very pleased that I know the alto part to just about everything; it makes last-minute musical numbers easy to do.) Then while the baptizer and baptizee were changing, the ward made us sing again. Really. The bishop took a vote. And then we ran like heck over to our other ward for our last musical fireside, in which we four roommates did a quartet number (again, last minute). It was a lot of fun.
Um, Teancum . . . oh, gosh, I can't remember the name of the website I went to for Doctor Who episodes. Oh, yes, I do. It was surfthechannel.net. It's a huge archive of links to all sorts of shows. Just look under "TV Shows" and "Doctor Who" and you should find a darn good collection.
So . . . I think that's my letter for the week, 'cuz we've got to run eat lunch and then go to MeWorld, which is a) an amusement park we can see from our apartment and b) a very strange name for an amusement park in a Confuscian culture. But then again, UsWorld is not very catchy.
I love you and I'll talk to you on Sunday! Or, for you, Saturday! Dang that international date line!Oh, and your Mothers' Day Present is in the mail but will probably come late. Sorry!
I love you! A lot!
RoseE"
Sunday, April 26, 2009
4/26/09 RoseE Eats Lots of Deijigukbap and Wears Pants
RoseE writes:
"Dearest Mum,
Okay, first off, Dear Dad. I wrote you a letter last P-Day but mailed it today because my companion did not have any letters to mail and I didn't say anything because I didn't want to make her make a special trip to the post office. (Non-confronational? Me? What would make you think such a thing?) But it's in the mail and I'm writing you another because I got your list of fifty billion questions and I am answering them all to the best of my knowledge.
Okay, end of aside. In logistical news, I am planning to call home on my Mothers' Day, which is your Day-Before-Mothers'-Day. It will probably be either at about two-thirty in the afternoon or about 9:30 at night; we're not sure yet. Please tell me what is going on that day so Sis. Mont and I can plan accordingly.
And . . . there are no pictures today because I forgot my dumb connector cord. I'm sorry!
Anyway, here's the News of Korea. The weather continues to be lovely, although we had our first good downpour of rain. Apparently the entire month of August is going to be like that. Hold onto your hats.
This weekend, the missionaries put on a travelling show. About a month ago, somebody had the idea to do a musical fireside and perform it at several wards in Pusan. The idea was enthusiastically accepted and promptly forgotten about until this week, when we suddenly went into a frenzy of emergency planning. I have spent a LOT of time cutting out and gluing together flyers, programs, and the like. Sister Hill and Sister Pak had to spend hours correcting the time on the flyers their elders had printed out. But it was all completely worth it! Saturday night we performed in Heyoundae ward (once again, spelling? Um?) after tracting and handing out flyers for two solid hours. (Have I mentioned that I'm scared to death of tracting? Absolutely paralyzed. Slam-bang missionary, me.) A lot of members came, and we sang for them, which was nice, and also some inactives with whom Hill and Pak chamenimdur have been working, and . . . one other person. One little grandma in a pink jacket to whom I had given a flyer. I made Sister Pak talk to her, because I couldn't, and just stood there grinning my face off. The little grandma made me eat refreshments. It was funny.
Then on Sunday we performed in Sujeong ward. Remember Sujeong ward? Our struggling little po-dunk ward with so many inactives? WELL. There were more people at our fireside than there had been at Sacrament Meeting. Gu Un Yeong, this DARLING inactive sister that I just love, stood up and bore testimony about Christ being the light of the world and just waxed eloquent on the topic for a good fifteen minutes. And most exciting of all, Kim Seon Yae came! And her husband! And her son! Kim Seon Yae has been meeting with the missionaries since time immemorial, learning English and the gospel, but she's very solidly ensconced in her own church and our predacessors were considering just not meeting with her anymore. But the past two weeks, her husband has come to her lessons with her, and he has so many wonderful questions ... it's easy to see he's paying attention and is interested in what we're teaching. And they and their son came to the fireside! Kim Seon Yae has NEVER come to a church ANYTHING before. She has flat-out refused. But all the members introduced themselves and were so nice (YES!) and she totally made friends with Gu Un Yeong (Hill Chameniem has been trying to introduce these two women since forever) and . . . yaay! And there were other investigators there and other inactives and then after the program everybody just hung out and chatted and met people. I just wanted to scream with satisfaction. We may bring this ward back to life yet. And I was totally just chatting my head off with everybody like I actually speak Korean or something. And then on the subway going home the man sitting next to me just started asking about my Book of Mormon, and I taught him (and the woman sitting on my other side) the first lesson, and got his contact information, and someone else on the other side of the car came over and took the pamphlet I'd pulled out of the Book of Mormon in order to show the pictures. Oh, my blessed gosh, it's like I'm actually a freakin' missionary or something.
No joke: this week at our regular meeting with the Yeonsan Ward Mission Leader, he (the ward mission leader) turned and asked me how I thought the work was going in Yeonsan. And I answered that the work was going well, that with Sister Montgomery in this ward it can't help but be strong and growing and happy and loved, and that she's working her butt off (which she is) to bring the Spirit into people's lives. When I finished saying this, he turned to Sister Montgomery and said (basically; I only caught a little) "Three weeks ago, she couldn't speak Korean. Remember?" Then he looked at me and said, in English, "Miracle."
The other big joy of this week is that I GOT TO WEAR PANTS. The bishop of Heyoundae ward is the custodian of all the church buildings in Pusan (that's his job) and he called us all out to help clean Sujeong and Yeonsan. So on Tuesday, we wore pants ALL DAY, to clean, and then to work on making fireside flyers. And then on Thursday we wore pants all morning to clean. Oh, good gosh, I nearly cried, I was so happy. I love pants.
The other thing I love is telling stories. I am an evil corrupting influence: I have gotten my companion hooked on Doctor Who. While we were cleaning, we didn't have anything to talk or think about really, so I just started telling the first episode. Aaaaaaaand now we're hooked. (I am only telling them at night after planning is done, I swear.) (And on P-Day.) (And we're making gospel parallels.)
This week, we ate deijigukbap three days in a row. This is a very yummy soup -- a broth with pork and vegetables in it, into which you mix gochujang (spicy pepper paste) and the little salty shrimp and some vegetable that looks and tastes just like grass and of course rice. It is very good. We ate it with the Elders on Tuesday, and with the bishop and the other cleaning missionaries on Wednesday, and with the Stake Relief Society Presidency on Thursday. So we're a little deijigukbaped out. Then on Friday we visited the Yeonsan mission leader's inactive wife (who was SO glad to see us, by the way . . . she's so lonely) and she asked me what Korean foods I really like. And the only thing that sprang to mind was . . .
I think I may have doomed us to more deijigukbap in the near future.
Today we CLEANED OUR APARTMENT. That is SO GOOD. And we cleaned out of our fridge all the tupperwares full of leftover food from member meals, so the fridge is not threatening to develop a new and independent civilization anymore. And we got a new toilet seat, because our old one would slip into the toliet if you sat on it and wedge itself in there, so you couldn't sit on it, which is kind of the point of a toilet seat. So we got a new one, and I installed it because I am clever like that, and now we can actually sit on our toilet, which is joyous to our souls.
Also root beer. A member family smuggled some to Sisters Hill and Pak this week. Yaaay!
Maman, I am so sorry you lost your camera. Any hope of recovery? I think I would die without my camera. IN addition to using it to take touristy pictures, I am using it to learn members' names (I take their picture and then make them say their names into the voice memo recorder . . . genius or what?) and using it as a portable map. When we need to find someone's house, we just take a picture of the page it's on in the map book in high-resolution instead of hauling the whole map book around all day. Clever me!
And I've got to go develop some pictures so that I can send them to people so they remember what I look like, which is good. So here endeth the epistle for today, I guess. I love you all! Be good!
Oh, and if you're ever hungry and looking for a quick and easy meal, make a Ramen Cup-of-Noodles, eat the noodles, and then put rice and kimchi in the broth and eat it. Good stuff.
Oh, and I have to tell you about mungus! I keep forgetting. Mungus are stationery stores in Korea. They sell fifty billion kinds of pens, and lots of silly notebooks with melodramatic and often-gramatically-lacking English on them, and all sorts of bizarre and delightful stationery. And it's all dirt-cheap. Mungus are like Disneyland. My new scripture notebook has a different dreamy-looking cartoon girl (often accompanied by butterflies) on every page. I also have a tiny notebook whose cover announces "I Want to stay with you and look at you for a very long time" (capitalization and punctuation as in the original). They are fun.
And THAT's the end. I promise.
Love and all that jazz!!!
RoseE
Oh, PS: Bethe, apparently they eat whale in Ulsan. I don't know where that is."
"Dearest Mum,
Okay, first off, Dear Dad. I wrote you a letter last P-Day but mailed it today because my companion did not have any letters to mail and I didn't say anything because I didn't want to make her make a special trip to the post office. (Non-confronational? Me? What would make you think such a thing?) But it's in the mail and I'm writing you another because I got your list of fifty billion questions and I am answering them all to the best of my knowledge.
Okay, end of aside. In logistical news, I am planning to call home on my Mothers' Day, which is your Day-Before-Mothers'-Day. It will probably be either at about two-thirty in the afternoon or about 9:30 at night; we're not sure yet. Please tell me what is going on that day so Sis. Mont and I can plan accordingly.
And . . . there are no pictures today because I forgot my dumb connector cord. I'm sorry!
Anyway, here's the News of Korea. The weather continues to be lovely, although we had our first good downpour of rain. Apparently the entire month of August is going to be like that. Hold onto your hats.
This weekend, the missionaries put on a travelling show. About a month ago, somebody had the idea to do a musical fireside and perform it at several wards in Pusan. The idea was enthusiastically accepted and promptly forgotten about until this week, when we suddenly went into a frenzy of emergency planning. I have spent a LOT of time cutting out and gluing together flyers, programs, and the like. Sister Hill and Sister Pak had to spend hours correcting the time on the flyers their elders had printed out. But it was all completely worth it! Saturday night we performed in Heyoundae ward (once again, spelling? Um?) after tracting and handing out flyers for two solid hours. (Have I mentioned that I'm scared to death of tracting? Absolutely paralyzed. Slam-bang missionary, me.) A lot of members came, and we sang for them, which was nice, and also some inactives with whom Hill and Pak chamenimdur have been working, and . . . one other person. One little grandma in a pink jacket to whom I had given a flyer. I made Sister Pak talk to her, because I couldn't, and just stood there grinning my face off. The little grandma made me eat refreshments. It was funny.
Then on Sunday we performed in Sujeong ward. Remember Sujeong ward? Our struggling little po-dunk ward with so many inactives? WELL. There were more people at our fireside than there had been at Sacrament Meeting. Gu Un Yeong, this DARLING inactive sister that I just love, stood up and bore testimony about Christ being the light of the world and just waxed eloquent on the topic for a good fifteen minutes. And most exciting of all, Kim Seon Yae came! And her husband! And her son! Kim Seon Yae has been meeting with the missionaries since time immemorial, learning English and the gospel, but she's very solidly ensconced in her own church and our predacessors were considering just not meeting with her anymore. But the past two weeks, her husband has come to her lessons with her, and he has so many wonderful questions ... it's easy to see he's paying attention and is interested in what we're teaching. And they and their son came to the fireside! Kim Seon Yae has NEVER come to a church ANYTHING before. She has flat-out refused. But all the members introduced themselves and were so nice (YES!) and she totally made friends with Gu Un Yeong (Hill Chameniem has been trying to introduce these two women since forever) and . . . yaay! And there were other investigators there and other inactives and then after the program everybody just hung out and chatted and met people. I just wanted to scream with satisfaction. We may bring this ward back to life yet. And I was totally just chatting my head off with everybody like I actually speak Korean or something. And then on the subway going home the man sitting next to me just started asking about my Book of Mormon, and I taught him (and the woman sitting on my other side) the first lesson, and got his contact information, and someone else on the other side of the car came over and took the pamphlet I'd pulled out of the Book of Mormon in order to show the pictures. Oh, my blessed gosh, it's like I'm actually a freakin' missionary or something.
No joke: this week at our regular meeting with the Yeonsan Ward Mission Leader, he (the ward mission leader) turned and asked me how I thought the work was going in Yeonsan. And I answered that the work was going well, that with Sister Montgomery in this ward it can't help but be strong and growing and happy and loved, and that she's working her butt off (which she is) to bring the Spirit into people's lives. When I finished saying this, he turned to Sister Montgomery and said (basically; I only caught a little) "Three weeks ago, she couldn't speak Korean. Remember?" Then he looked at me and said, in English, "Miracle."
The other big joy of this week is that I GOT TO WEAR PANTS. The bishop of Heyoundae ward is the custodian of all the church buildings in Pusan (that's his job) and he called us all out to help clean Sujeong and Yeonsan. So on Tuesday, we wore pants ALL DAY, to clean, and then to work on making fireside flyers. And then on Thursday we wore pants all morning to clean. Oh, good gosh, I nearly cried, I was so happy. I love pants.
The other thing I love is telling stories. I am an evil corrupting influence: I have gotten my companion hooked on Doctor Who. While we were cleaning, we didn't have anything to talk or think about really, so I just started telling the first episode. Aaaaaaaand now we're hooked. (I am only telling them at night after planning is done, I swear.) (And on P-Day.) (And we're making gospel parallels.)
This week, we ate deijigukbap three days in a row. This is a very yummy soup -- a broth with pork and vegetables in it, into which you mix gochujang (spicy pepper paste) and the little salty shrimp and some vegetable that looks and tastes just like grass and of course rice. It is very good. We ate it with the Elders on Tuesday, and with the bishop and the other cleaning missionaries on Wednesday, and with the Stake Relief Society Presidency on Thursday. So we're a little deijigukbaped out. Then on Friday we visited the Yeonsan mission leader's inactive wife (who was SO glad to see us, by the way . . . she's so lonely) and she asked me what Korean foods I really like. And the only thing that sprang to mind was . . .
I think I may have doomed us to more deijigukbap in the near future.
Today we CLEANED OUR APARTMENT. That is SO GOOD. And we cleaned out of our fridge all the tupperwares full of leftover food from member meals, so the fridge is not threatening to develop a new and independent civilization anymore. And we got a new toilet seat, because our old one would slip into the toliet if you sat on it and wedge itself in there, so you couldn't sit on it, which is kind of the point of a toilet seat. So we got a new one, and I installed it because I am clever like that, and now we can actually sit on our toilet, which is joyous to our souls.
Also root beer. A member family smuggled some to Sisters Hill and Pak this week. Yaaay!
Maman, I am so sorry you lost your camera. Any hope of recovery? I think I would die without my camera. IN addition to using it to take touristy pictures, I am using it to learn members' names (I take their picture and then make them say their names into the voice memo recorder . . . genius or what?) and using it as a portable map. When we need to find someone's house, we just take a picture of the page it's on in the map book in high-resolution instead of hauling the whole map book around all day. Clever me!
And I've got to go develop some pictures so that I can send them to people so they remember what I look like, which is good. So here endeth the epistle for today, I guess. I love you all! Be good!
Oh, and if you're ever hungry and looking for a quick and easy meal, make a Ramen Cup-of-Noodles, eat the noodles, and then put rice and kimchi in the broth and eat it. Good stuff.
Oh, and I have to tell you about mungus! I keep forgetting. Mungus are stationery stores in Korea. They sell fifty billion kinds of pens, and lots of silly notebooks with melodramatic and often-gramatically-lacking English on them, and all sorts of bizarre and delightful stationery. And it's all dirt-cheap. Mungus are like Disneyland. My new scripture notebook has a different dreamy-looking cartoon girl (often accompanied by butterflies) on every page. I also have a tiny notebook whose cover announces "I Want to stay with you and look at you for a very long time" (capitalization and punctuation as in the original). They are fun.
And THAT's the end. I promise.
Love and all that jazz!!!
RoseE
Oh, PS: Bethe, apparently they eat whale in Ulsan. I don't know where that is."
Saturday, April 25, 2009
The Long-Lost Letter to Emily
13 April ‘09
Dear Em
Your sparkly card was completely appropriate because all clothes in Korea are sparkly. All of them. Respectable grown-up businessmen wear sparkling neckties. Often pink.
It is so different and scary here. Also different and wonderful. Also the same and scary and wonderful. And everything that I need to do and know and be is all so overwhelming. I feel like I need to learn and do everything at once.
Thankfully, Sister Montgomery is a wonderful companion. She’s very patient and works very hard and genuinely loves the people she’s serving and the work she’s doing. This week has been hard on her because a lot of the people she wanted to teach “punked” us (didn’t show up to appointments, or cancelled them, or in one case just flat-out told us not to come anymore) and I can see it just breaks her heart.
I love your C.S. Lewis reference. In Conference yesterday, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, one of the Apostles, quotes C.S. Lewis about how the history of the world is one long string of people trying (and failing) to find something other than God that will make them happy. I tell ya, C.S. Lewis was a freakin’ genius. So even though right now I think that a day on my couch at home watching Avatar and Heroes would make me happy, I know it wouldn’t. Because God needs me to be working right now, and if I let Him down I will regret it for the rest of the life. Plus I’ll never get to go back to the mokyotang. (You HAVE to try the mokyotang.)
Yes, you are way ahead of me in the BoM – but I am reading steadily, and understanding more all the time, so watch yourself. I really liked your question* – it was something I’d never thought about before. I think the Nephite people had a different leap of faith to take than their counterparts in Jerusalem. They were never going to see His mortal ministry. In fact, it was a leap of faith to believe there even was such a place as Jerusalem, after a few years. The prophets all teach the same gospel, but they teach it according to the needs of their people. The Jews needed to not know Christ’s given name – everybody would have been naming their firstborn son Jesus! They couldn’t know that he was going to be born in such-a-year and be 5’7” and have brown eyes . . . they had to recognized him by the Spirit, not by name. The Nephites needed to learn by faith that what He would do on the other side of the world would matter to them. Different leap of faith. Different people. Same gospel. At least, that’s what I think. The gospel according to RoseE.
Bellatrix is an awesome name for a dog. The soap dispensers here are not possessed, but the maps are, and the ATMs, and the public transporation system’s card-swipers.
And my desk. Poor desk. Oh, and pens.
I need to learn to write smaller. I love you so much!
RoseE
* I asked why Nephi, etc., knew Jesus’s given name, when the Biblical (Old Testament) prophets were never told His human name, but only His spiritual name, like Emmanuel.
Dear Em
Your sparkly card was completely appropriate because all clothes in Korea are sparkly. All of them. Respectable grown-up businessmen wear sparkling neckties. Often pink.
It is so different and scary here. Also different and wonderful. Also the same and scary and wonderful. And everything that I need to do and know and be is all so overwhelming. I feel like I need to learn and do everything at once.
Thankfully, Sister Montgomery is a wonderful companion. She’s very patient and works very hard and genuinely loves the people she’s serving and the work she’s doing. This week has been hard on her because a lot of the people she wanted to teach “punked” us (didn’t show up to appointments, or cancelled them, or in one case just flat-out told us not to come anymore) and I can see it just breaks her heart.
I love your C.S. Lewis reference. In Conference yesterday, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, one of the Apostles, quotes C.S. Lewis about how the history of the world is one long string of people trying (and failing) to find something other than God that will make them happy. I tell ya, C.S. Lewis was a freakin’ genius. So even though right now I think that a day on my couch at home watching Avatar and Heroes would make me happy, I know it wouldn’t. Because God needs me to be working right now, and if I let Him down I will regret it for the rest of the life. Plus I’ll never get to go back to the mokyotang. (You HAVE to try the mokyotang.)
Yes, you are way ahead of me in the BoM – but I am reading steadily, and understanding more all the time, so watch yourself. I really liked your question* – it was something I’d never thought about before. I think the Nephite people had a different leap of faith to take than their counterparts in Jerusalem. They were never going to see His mortal ministry. In fact, it was a leap of faith to believe there even was such a place as Jerusalem, after a few years. The prophets all teach the same gospel, but they teach it according to the needs of their people. The Jews needed to not know Christ’s given name – everybody would have been naming their firstborn son Jesus! They couldn’t know that he was going to be born in such-a-year and be 5’7” and have brown eyes . . . they had to recognized him by the Spirit, not by name. The Nephites needed to learn by faith that what He would do on the other side of the world would matter to them. Different leap of faith. Different people. Same gospel. At least, that’s what I think. The gospel according to RoseE.
Bellatrix is an awesome name for a dog. The soap dispensers here are not possessed, but the maps are, and the ATMs, and the public transporation system’s card-swipers.
And my desk. Poor desk. Oh, and pens.
I need to learn to write smaller. I love you so much!
RoseE
* I asked why Nephi, etc., knew Jesus’s given name, when the Biblical (Old Testament) prophets were never told His human name, but only His spiritual name, like Emmanuel.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Snail Mail to Todd received 4/22/09
RoseE writes:
"Dear Dad,
I don't know if I've mentioned it, but your letters are the best part of every week. I'm surviving this experience on your advise and your understanding. I keep telling my companion, "Well, my dad says that . . . " and she (and the roommates) always respond, "Yeah, that's exactly right. I wish I'd known that my first transfer."
I know a) that my release is a long way off, and b) that Korea is a long way away, but as I walk around Pusan I keep noting off things I want to show you if you come out here. It'll be so weird to be somewhere where I know the city's public transportation system and general layout better than you do! (I probably don't though. I'm still as lost as lost can be most of the time, and 5,000 [unit of money, I guess] says you're spending your time at work learning the Busan subways and what to see, as well as the whole history of Korea from beginning to end.)
Saturday night I ate a clove of garlic. Just a clove. Raw. With a dip made from some kind of fermented soy sauce. Like it was a vegetable or something. Also, tiny salty shrimp are a condiment here. Like salt. Only shrimpier.
What is North Korea doing? We haven't had any news since we got here. You'd think it would be easy to get news about North Korea when you're living in South Korea, but it is not. Nobody talks about North Korea. It is like South Korea's embarrassing delinquent cousin. So did they launch their ICBM satellite thing, or what?
Here are some things I was glad I knew how to do before I got here:
1. Eat with chopsticks.
2. Use a subway.
3. Walk fast, all day.
4. Parallel the gospel to strange and memorable things.
5. Obtain clean drinking water.
6. Use a map and a compass.
7. Eat spicy things, especially kimchi.
8. Pack light.
9. Explore.
10. Know when and how to bend the rules, and why to keep them.
11. Eat well on $10 a day.
Please tell mom (cuz I forgot to email it) that I am way excited about the hanbok* pattern!!** I keep staring at hanboks in shop windows.
I love you
RoseE"
* hanbok: native dress of Korea, consisting of a floor-length full dress with a high waistline and a short jacket like unto those that Elizabeth Bennet wears in the A&E Pride & Prejudice.
** RoseE was always telling me never to use more than one exclamation point, as it is gramatically incorrect. So she must really be excited about this, putting two here.
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