Jerusalem Ministry Meeting

SEOUL | DAY 01

- jerusalem ministry meeting -

I came to Dang San Station which is across the Han river from where I was. At the station, you can talk a walk along the walkway under the metro bridge. I couldn’t find a way to walk across the river on this bridge, so I just stopped there and walked back to where I would meet my friend at.

I met my friend, Tae, and we walked over to her pastors’ apartment. The pastors, John-Michael and Sky Becker are not completely strangers to me. When I was in my freshman year of college, they were speakers at our Christian fellowship retreat. I got saved at that retreat, and Tae’s calling for orphanages in Korea grew significantly since that time. Pastor Sky’s testimony had a great impact on me. Through her, God showed me that a strong person, in Christ, is the one who admits her weakness and unashamedly leans on Jesus.

At the Jerusalem ministry meeting, we prayed for Korea both the North and the South. There is so much brokenness in this country. People in the North need our prayers, and people in the South is no different; they need our prayers also. It was a privilege for me to join the ministry meeting in prayers and fellowship. I felt a little awkward because I was just there, but I felt very welcomed at the same time. It’s so great to see how God puts callings in our heart, grabs our hands, invites us to come out of our comfort zone and join Him in the work for His Kingdom.

“She came all the way from America to cut paper for us”, one of the Unnies said with a big smile on her face while I was cutting strips of paper. We were preparing for an event for Oak Tree Project which is a program aiming to help out orphaned students who got into college with scholarships and Christ-centered mentorship. I was glad to help them out and to see these people being God's broken vessels. Watching them working, I only saw overflowing joy in their hearts. Moreover, I also got to plan my trip as well because prior to my arrival, I didn’t get to plan my trip at all because I was so busy with finals, packing and moving out of my apartment. Tae asked me what I wanted to eat in Korea, and I wrote down the food I wanted to have:

• Ddeok Bokki 떡볶이

• Ho Tteok 호떡

• Naeng Myeon 냉면

• Jja Jang Myeon 짜장면

• Bul Dak 불 닭

• Dak Gal Bi 닭 갈비

• Pat Bing Soo 팥빙수

• Gal Bi Shim 갈비 칩

And we planned my travel around the food goal lol #FoodIsLife JK #JesusIsLife

Afterward, I just hung around in the Becker’s apartment dreaming about food while they were doing ministry work and left the Becker’s around 5.30PM.

- hotteok -

While we were headed to Dang San Station, we stopped by this shop to ask -with fingers crossed- if that they had some Ho Tteok (호떡) because they normally sell them only in the winter. Makes sense because even I’m really into hot coffee, I surrendered entirely to iced coffee in Korea. The summer here is really hot and humid.

BUT, this Emo had them!! The Ho Tteok (호떡) were hidden under the stainless containers on the stove

Don’t make a mistake like me calling random ladies “Ah Joom Ma (아줌마)” unless they are super old, typically they will have curly hair. You can address a female stranger using “Unni (언니)” for someone with similar age (doesn’t matter she’s older or younger; it’s a way to honor the person) or using “Emo (이모)” for someone with similar age as your mother (I always use my mother as my standard haha) or those you think you are tempted to call them “아줌마” but they haven’t had the Ah Jum Ma-hair style yet. You know what I'm talking about.

The disappoint thing was that the Ho Tteok (호떡) felt like it had been made for a while. It was still warm because it was heated on the stove the whole time, but it wasn’t as soft as I expected. Regardless, it was still amazing. The sugar inside was still runny and juicy unlike the frozen ones you can get from H-marts in NOVA. It reminded me of when I had burrito for the first time and everything was falling apart. I kept spilling the caramel filling on my white t-shirt too, and I got a huge brown stain on it. I told myself to stop buying white clothes because I always spill something on myself, but I can never say no to white clothes.

Nope.

- underground mall -

Tae took me to shop at an underground (literally) mall inside Go Seok Terminal (고석 터미널). There was a lot of cheap trendy clothes and accessories in this mall. I went to one shop where there was a lot of people. They didn’t let me try on a jacket, and their attitudes were really bad. I ended up buying one shirt and left. I went into another shop where there was no one but the owner let me try the jacket, with the exact same style, and sold it for the same price as the shop I went in before.

My friend told me that the underground mall at Gang Nam Station (강남) offers the same exact clothes at higher price. However, it was so dusty inside the mall, and I was wearing lenses, so I couldn’t stay there for too long. After getting some clothes and pairs of earrings, we left immediately.

- dak gal bi -

We finally arrived in Gangnam area to get some Dak Gal Bi (닭 갈비). When I got here, I was so amazed by how many restaurants were there in Gangnam. The whole street was just packed with buildings with two stories, and each of the story in a building was a restaurant. People here really do love food, and so do I.

The first shop we went was already replaced by another shop. Even Naver Map couldn't keep up with the rapid change in Seoul. Everything is like a fab here, things come quickly and go out quickly.

We looked for another place and finally came to the Dak Galbi shop called “Jangin Dakgalbi (장인 닭갈비)” and got a table in about 5 minutes. The vegetables such as lettuce and 깻잎 are self-served.

The place was pretty packed we had to wait for a bit to get a table. However, the wait was definitely not longer than five minutes.

Here, you can order Dak Galbi by serving and add toppings for additional cost. For the chicken you can choose either mild (순한 맛) or spicy (매운 맛). We ordered two servings of Spicy Dak Galbi and added mozzarella cheese.

The Dak Galbi was 8,500W per serving.

Adding mozzarella cheese costed 3,500W.

The Dak Galbi was not that spicy to me, but it was really good. I ended up eating most of the cheese and some of Tae's Dak Galbi too because it was too spicy for her. Who would refuse?

I would definitely recommend you to go, if you come to Gangnam area and feel like eating something spicy and if this place is still here when you come.

- han gang -

Afterward, we took the bus to Jamwon Hangang Park (잠원한강공원) near Han Nam Bridge (한남대교). Honestly, we didn’t specifically pick the bridge, we just wanted to go walk along the Han river and order some Fried Chicken (양념치킨). However, I got too full from the Dak Galbi to get any more food, so we just got some milk and walked around. I love drinking milk after having spicy food. It just feels like I'm soothing my stomach after flaming it with all the hot peppers.

Along the riverside, people were just chilling and drinking beer on their mats. I liked how laid-back the atmosphere is. Ironically, the country’s suicide rate is still on the top along with being one of biggest missionary senders. Isn't that really sad?

We walked across the Dong Ho bridge (동호대교) to another side of the river. There were some SOS phone booths installed along both sides of the footpath. Looking from the bridge, I saw multiples crosses from the top of church buildings. The soft glow from the cross comforted me while I was walking across the river talking and sharing the struggles I had been going through with my friend. I hope that these crosses would also comfort anyone who comes here to attempt suicide. I hope that they will think of Jesus, and how beautiful and comforting his love is.