Vacation

I haven't written on here in quite awhile, but I have been super busy with work and I recently just got back from my vacation.

The first place that I had the opportunity to visit was the DMZ. I can't explain how this made me feel. I have always heard about the conflict in Korea, but to actually see it up close, really makes it more a reality. While we were standing at the JSA, which is the part of the DMZ that has the meeting room where both sides meet. At one point, I walked to the other side of the meeting room and was officially in North Korea. That was a lot to take in. Here are my photos from the DMZ tour.






We were also told that these two countries are the only ones that have to stand face to face with their enemies for many hours a day. I could not even imagine how they can do that. There is a 5cm x 50 cm slab of concrete that separate the two sides, but being there it could have just have been a 500 ft wall. It was an experience that I am thankful that I got to see.


The second trip that I took was to Busan, Korea. It is basically the Florida of South Korea. It was so beautiful. The first thing that we did was find a hotel, and of course we looked for the coolest looking hotel... we ended up at one that looked like a castle.. haha... It was pretty great. Well after settling, we made our way to the beach, which was sooooo cold... so we didn't stay too long. We got to go to a few markets in the area. We also met a guy that was from New York and had been in Korea since 1994. He showed us some places in Busan that we probably wouldn't have found on our own. I have learned that in Korea, if you see someone that speaks English, it is necessary to talk to them. Well, we left Busan the next day on a Ferry to Japan... Here are my pictures of Busan...



The trip to Japan was an experience I will definitely never forget. Our trip was 100 % Korean Style. There are many things that I learned on this trip:

1. Koreans don't slow down. Once they start walking, you have to power walk to stay up.
2. Korean is not a language that is easy to pick up on.
3. Being on a ship with about 300 Koreans and being 1 or 2 foreigners, makes you stand out just a little bit.
4. Sleeping arrangements for Koreans include a mat on the floor, a blanket, and a rock hard pillow. Oh.. and sleeping with about 10 other people in the same room.
5. Showering the Korean way includes being in one big room with a whole bunch of naked women... and I already mentioned being the only foreigner and standing out... yeah...
6. Squat-a-potties take a true skill to use.
7. Koreans eat REALLY quickly.
8. Being the only foreigners getting off the boat in Japan = the only two people to get our bags completely searched.
9. Don't leave the water on when you're brushing your teeth, they don't like that.
10. Japan has the greatest spas... even if they are nude spas...
11. After only 2 days with Koreans, I was more than happy to get home... they are exhausting.
12. This trip was probably one of the greatest trips I have ever been on.

So we took a ferry, and I got a little sea sick... We woke up in Japan. We went to a couple palaces, villages, Fukuoka, Volcanos and stayed at the most awesome resort. Our resort consisted of every room being a dome like building. It was pretty interesting. I would love to go back. I want to see more of the world and I know that these trips are just a small start to the journeys that I will take in the future. I can help but keep thinking about the creator of this world. I was walking down from the volcano in the middle of the Japanese country side, and it was absolutely amazing. I walked down alone, so I had some time to think and pray. Seeing the world just shows me more and more everyday how big my God is and how amazing he is. One experience that really touched me happened the last night. I was laying on the floor in the room reading my bible. There were 3 older Korean men in the room watching baseball. One of them knew English pretty well because he had lived in California for 10 years. Well as I was sitting there, the men started pulling out some beers and drinking them. One of the men asked me what I was reading and I told them. They all smiled and one of them picked up his beer and moved closer to me and asked me if it offended me. I told him no and just kept reading. The room that we stayed in was connected to two other rooms in a way, so when one room shut off the lights, all the lights went out. Well I was reading still and someone in the other rooms shut the lights off. I just closed my bible and started putting it up, but the old man told me no and he stood up to turn on the light, so I started reading again. Well the other room turned the light off again and it made the man angry so he yelled something, but all I could understand was bible and turned the light back on... Well, needless to say, no one turned out the light for awhile after that. It just made me smile that he was standing there trying to keep the light on for me. I really thank God for every opportunity that I am granted with to minister to others. Here are my pictures from Japan.