Good Week for Home

I had to go into Seoul this morning to pick up the results of a TB scan that I had to complete before getting a New Zealand visa. Apparently Korea is considered a "non-low risk country" for tuberculosis, so last week I had to go to a Kiwi-approved hospital and get x-rayed, and this week I picked up the results. All clear. Next week, I'll bring that to the embassy, but I have to wait until Thursdays for erranding due to my schedule. On the subway, I failed to notice a woman trying to catch my eye for awhile, involved as I was groovin' to some new tunes I recently acquired. (Jeremy Fisher. I like to listen to twang and harmonica while riding the metro--it makes me feel like I'm hoodwinking the city somehow, balancing out the concrete with steel guitars.) When finally I noticed the woman, I realized it was actually a pair of them, both sporting black nametags pronouncing them Sister Toronto and Sister Park. Usually when I encounter missionaries of any sort here, I sort of awkwardly make the sign of the cross to indicate that I've already heard the story. However, one of my friends back home recently left for the Netherlands on a mission, so I'm inordinately well-disposed towards missionaries at the moment. I pulled my earphones out and we began chatting, and it turns out that both women hailed from (unsurprisingly) Idaho and Utah. One of them even had spent some time in Stanley. We only had about three stops worth of time to chat, but it's always comforting to meet someone that knows the same places you know.

This happened to me last Thursday at the hospital itself, also. Severance Hospital is a gigantic building, the population of which exceeds that of many entire towns I've called home. Therefore, they assigned me a volunteer to chauffeur me around to the correct department. She was a young Korean-American woman studying abroad here, missing home and her boyfriend and Dr. Pepper something fierce. Turns out she's from California. I've found that the further I get from my stomping grounds, the wider the territory I'm willing to claim as "home" gets. In the scheme of the entire world, California seems downright neighborly. Anyway, the lonesome boyfriend goes to seminary school in Mill Creek, so we got to talking Washington, and she asked if I knew Sequim, and she even pronounced it right. I could have hugged her. Moments like that make me realize the world really isn't that big. It's a nice thought.

Other good things to happen this week: I got a package from my mom containing three bags of licorice-thankyouthankyouthankyou!--and started off the week with a buoying call back home to a dear, dear friend of mine. Although he was actually the last person I talked to before leaving the country last January--literally, the flight attendent made me hang up the phone with him so we could take off--it's the first time we've talked since April. He tends to disappear for months at a time into the wilderness on various expeditions--like, come January, he will be a "hutmeister" in charge of trekking into the Sawtooth Mountains to deliver supplies to several backcountry yurts--but has recently come back to civilization, so we got to have a really nice chat. Quite simply, he delights me, and he has always been good at reminding me how great life has the potential to be.

Also...NINE DAYS TIL TOM GETS HERE! Have I mentioned I'm excited about this?

Alas, it hasn't all been sunshine and roses. My worst decision of the week transpired last Saturday, after a very satisfying climb and bouldering session with my friends Michelle and Hannah. Hannah was lamenting the lack of true Korean experiences lately, as we've all sort of settled into a comfortable zone here that doesn't involve going out on too many limbs. So we decided to shake things up with a bit of heretofore untried street food. Hannah had heard things about this Korean sausage called soondae. It's kind of grayish and enclosed in a sketchy green-tinted sleeve, so it kind of looks like a dying snake. As my family can tell you, I am opposed to sausage on multiple levels, but I didn't want to look like a sissy so I screwed up my courage and ate a bite. It took all I had in me to force it down, chewy as it was, and although it was quite a foreign taste, there was something distantly familiar about it...

...the next day Hannah showed me a link. "Soondae," it said, "a kind of traditional Korean sausage, is not for everyone. It is made with clear noodles and pepper and cow's blood. For added "flavor," it is served with big chunks of pungent steamed liver." Ah, yes. Blood. That's the taste I remember. I really haven't the heart or stomach to write more about soondae, but if you're curious, the article goes on here. http://www.insam.com/_eng/news/newsitem2.asp?id=4&news_id=202&max_id=203

That's it for now. Nothing earth-shattering to report, but it's been a good week for home. Eleven classes left til the weekend!

written by

alli_ockinga on October 14, 2009 from Seoul, South Korea

from the travel blog: I go Korea!

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What an awesome, adventurous spirit you have! I love catching up on your adventures, and have even been forced to tears t times with your quick wit and uncanny ability to put me in your shoes! Keep it up kiddo! Joe (Mr. Ells)

written by Joe Ells on October 22, 2009

Thanks, Joe! Nice to hear from you!

written by

alli_ockinga on October 26, 2009

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