After our brief introductions, and a quick run through the rain, I settled in for worship. It hadn't even started when Hetani, one of the leaders, came and pulled me out. Pastor Mark had come to get me to take me to Chunho (sp?) to observe the teacher there in the Kindergarten class. The one called Kinderest. I followed him upstairs and out to his car where his wife was waiting patiently. We climbed in and then just as I got settled he began speaking in Korean, his wife opened the car door and then opened mine and told me to get out. I was confused, not being Korean I had no idea what they were saying, but it seemed like I should get out of the car, so I did. Pastor Mark began pulling papers out of the glove box and it turned out that the car wouldn't start and he was calling someone to come fix it. Or something. He told me to go back downstairs and wait and that he would come get me when they were ready to go.
I got to listen to all of worship... It was pretty good. A Korean pastor who has been here for a really long time had it and he was talking about looking straight out at the horizon instead of down at the ground. At the end of his talk he forgot his closing point and so it ended rather abruptly. But we all had a nice laugh about it. Then Pastor Mark came and got me and we headed out again. This time instead of the small compact car we were originally going in, we got into a van.
I told you before about how the roads double as sidewalks. Well the alleyways are very narrow and people walk in them, park in them, ride their bikes, carry stuff, haul stuff etc. through them. So we headed down one of these narrow alleyways in this van, pretty fast. And there was a car approaching. And a woman walking... So the car slowed down and Pastor Mark veered to the side, the woman walking, dodged further right, pressed up against the fence but Pastor Mark seemed unconcerned. He just drove past the car, avoided the woman then proceeded to cross two lanes of traffic and dodge into another alley. And what was I doing this whole time? Sitting calmly in the center seat. Holding my breath.
We drove for about 15 minutes. 15 minutes of the most intense driving ever. It is nothing like Atlanta, nothing like Toronto. It is not like anything you experience in North America. People are driving like it is their one sole purpose. They have one goal and that is to get from point A to point B as fast as possible. No one uses blinkers, there really are no cops. It's a mad free for all. If you want into a lane that doesn't have space you simply start edging over and cause the person in the next lane to swerve away from you, or honk, or speed up. Any of those options are fine.
So we made it to the institute. parked and hopped out. I was pretty happy to be back on solid earth again instead of in the swaying veering van of death. Pastor Mark's wife, Julia took me inside and deposited me in a classroom with a woman named Amy who was reading a story about owls to a cluster of the cutest Korean children you have ever seen. They all turned to look at me with their beautiful brown eyes and I couldn't help grin. They were adorable. Only 5 or 6 years old, but they could say big English words. They could answer questions and responded to commands given by their teacher. I was impressed, to say the least.
I spent the rest of the day following Amy around, back and forth between classes. It was hectic. Each class lasted 30 minutes. There was no time in between to go to the bath room, gather supplies, or do much of anything besides run to the next class. She seemed frazzled. Lunch came pretty quickly and after meeting all the teachers I stuffed myself on rice and tofu. It was yummy. And free. Two of my favorite things ever. After lunch there was more scurrying.
I have to tell you about this kindergarten place. And it really is like its own little world. There are convex mirrors at knee level along some of the walls so you can see small children approaching. there is a staircase on the right as you come in the door that doesn't go anywhere, just up one side and down the other. Along the wall are big soft circles so if you fall into the wall you will be fine, if you are a small child. Then directly in front of you is a giant room encased in glass with tree branches running over it. So it basically looks like a giant tree, but it is their gym. Then as you turn and go down the hall the rooms are named colors and there are random circular windows cut into the walls and doors so you can look in easily. The whole place is bright and happy looking. Very kid friendly.
Anyway, after all the running to and fro Pastor Mark brought me back across town so I could rejoin my orientation group learning how to teach English to elementary school kids. So much learning going on. My brain must be expanding because it hasn't popped yet. Tomorrow I get to go again to Kinderest and observe some more. And I start on August 31. Which is sooner than anyone else has to start. Also Christina and I are not going to be living together. We won't be very far from each other though, only like a ten minute subway ride, maybe less... So I am sure we will see each other often. Kind of sad though, it would have been fun to live together. I get to see my apartment tomorrow. I will let you know how that goes.
That's it for now =)
Michelle
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