In search of a church (pt 2)

So thanks to J, we were able to find a Catholic church.  We headed out on Ash Wednesday because we were told that there was Mass at 10am.  We initially went the wrong way and that's when I learned that J isn't the best at maps.  However, we walked in the initial direction that we took the bus when we found the Methodist church - by the way, here's a pic of that one.

It turns out the Catholic church was much closer, but it was easier to just walk instead of trying to ride the bus.  It was funny because we passed another Protestant church on the way.  There really is a lot of Christian churches in Korea.  Anyway, we found the Catholic church by virtue of me going "That cross on the church is a little more fancy, I'll bet that's us."  Also, the map was super helpful.  We knew it was the Catholic church cuz there was a statue of Mary outside it.  :)

The outside looked a bit more like a church - less of a modern motif.  the sanctuary, as you can see, was simple with the pews being quite close to each other, really.

So it turned out that there was no service at 10am on Ash Wednesday, there was one at 8:00 that evening.  Due to the fact that we didn't get off work until 8:30, we were unable to go to Mass on Ash Wednesday.  We did go to Mass on Sunday at 6:30pm (neither of us were up for going to the 10am one... yay for the Sinner's mass).  They do not have any English services, so we got to worship in Korean.  The thing that really struck me was that even though we stuck out like sore thumbs, I was not the tallest person there!  I think S Koreans broke my stereotype of Asians being short.

The other thing that struck me was just how the Lord works.  In a world where people my age are not necessarily religious, he threw J and I together.  We found out that we were both Catholic due to the name of my blog, and J orchestrated finding the correct church by virtue of having no problem asking for directions!  (I guess I'm a bit of my Dad in that respect... or I'm too much of an internet-phile.)  So I thank God for throwing J and I into the same training class, the same school, and the same neighborhood! 

Now, that's not the only Catholic church we found!  Last Saturday, A, D, M, J, and I decided to go into Seoul to go shopping.  Due to a protest at the bus station, we couldn't go into Seoul station and take the bus where we were going, so we got off early.  We just happened to get off at the stop for Meyongdong Cathedral!  We found the first Catholic church to be build in Korea (a good 100 years before the Protestant missionaries came, btw... the history of Catholicism in Korea is really interesting). 

So I had to look up the info for the Cathedral.  They do have English services - confession in English is on Sunday before the 9am service.  So now the plan is for J and I to go to Seoul one of these Saturdays, stay the night, and go into the Cathedral early to go to confession and Mass before coming back to Dongtan.  We were thinking of exploring more around Dongtan this weekend, but since it's T's b-day, we're actually going to get an Air BnB in Seoul and have a bit of a party.  Should be fun and I'll be celebrating having gotten paid (well reimbursed for my plane ticket, which is also nice).  Hopefully my ARC (Alien Residency Card) will come in this week so that I can get a bank card and then be able to access the money :)

On the way to our second bus stop, we walked through a collection of some of the most interesting and yummy street food EVER!

 Some kind of egg and bread thing - SO GOOD!

 Yep, Mom, that's lobster tail.

 Chicken and rice cakes - yes, I did eat them... they give it to you with a skewer and that's how you eat it!

The one that I was intrigued by... stone-plate grilled squid

Looks good, right?  And here is a pic of J enjoying her chicken and rice cakes :)

Another purpose of our trip (besides so that D could get cheetos) was to have margaritas.  That's right, we needed a bit of a taste of home!  So we went from Meyondong to Itaewon (they're both areas of Seoul, like Gangham) and Vatos tacos!

 D and A - my fellow Americans :)

 My food - a Zonarosa (guava margarita with a Dos XX Amber), and a shrimp with mango salsa quesadilla. 

 J's virgin sangria (my mind is still reeling on that one) and M - our Brit with a wicked sense of humor.  A rare pic of him smiling... yes, I snuck this one.  The beer is in his margarita, btw, not the sangria ;)

So we did get to the international store, and look what I found!  They do have tortillas!

And also Pace!

I did buy the same mixed nuts that I loved so much when living with Jess and Doug, and then I left them at the bus stop when we headed home.  So the lesson I'm taking away from this is: when going shopping, always bring Little Buddy (my backpack for those of you who don't know).  Sigh.  Ah well, I've decided that a homeless person found them and was happy to have them. 

So that was our weekend, really.  As for the rest, I haven't been sleeping particularly well lately.  I'm not sure what exactly the reason is - just been waking up at the crack of dawn every friggin' day.  Sigh... stupid insomnia.  I'm planning on hanging a blackout curtain across half of my window, hopefully that'll help.  I've already worn everything I brought at least once (except for my dresses... I'll wear the green one this weekend... not sure what I'm saving the red one for) and I'm bored with everything I brought.  I'm glad to have been paid, and happy that the people I work with are so wonderful... but I do really miss my peoples back home.  I have the feeling that once I have the capability to text, I'm going to go go overboard and drive all of them crazy due to the time difference!! 

As for work, I like my MWF classes for the most part.  I've got a couple of more challenging classes, but that's ok.  T-Th are my least favorite days because I have my Kinder classes and I'm not 100% comfortable with the material... I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be teaching them!!  Also they don't know a lot of English (obviously) so it makes communicating what they're supposed to be doing a lot harder.  I think I need to get more comfy with sign language!!