Good, Better, Best

It is much better to look at this blog by going to the blog - not just reading it here on your email. So if you are reading and looking at the pictures via email, please go to:

georgekoreanmissionaries.blogspot.com

and you will enjoy it much more.

Good Missionaries

Very good missionaries...but they are leaving.

The entrance to the Barrow's home on the evening of an elegant Korean dinner and testimony meeting. Fourteen missionaries departed this week. It's sad to me (mother) to see them (children) go. Bryan and I love them.

Better

Missionaries who are staying are better.

Elder Jang and Elder Lee are not only willing to help with food, but they are creative at the same time. I asked, "Would you put this ham and cheese on these trays?", and they come back with these very intricate designs, shapes, and colors.

Best

Missionaries who are staying, and who are good, and smart, and and who work very hard are the best of all! Pretty much all of the Korea Busan missionaries are the best, although after a long, hot day, they can be very tired.

SERVICE PROJECTS

Good Service Projects

It is pretty common knowledge that missionaries all over the world are often involved in service projects - community, charity, family, or individual. In fact, most missionaries are assigned to do a certain number of hours of community service per week. In Korea Busan, one of the service projects is serving lunch to the poor, elderly (mostly women) in certain neighborhoods. The missionaries help to literally feed the poor and needy and often do all the big clean up! Another common service is teaching free English classes for several hours a week. Bryan and I used to teach together, but now we have an advanced group, taught by Elder George, and a "Kid" group, taught by me. The adults in the classes are all pretty competent, and want to practice speaking and hearing an authentic English speaker make conversation. Bryan is perfect for these classes, which take place two nights a week.

I teach two little girls one night a week, and two little boys on another night. Last night, a new "beginner" duo appeared,  a mother and son, who wanted to start with the real basics. My office cupboard is consumed with children's books, flash cards, markers, puzzles, and all kinds of teaching materials. We also teach one class together at a local Community Center.

Better Service Projects

We help set up, prepare (under the direction of the cook) and clean up for the thousands of dinners, lunches, and breakfasts that go on around the Mission Home. It's not too bad without a dishwasher or disposal - why? We're used to it!

Best Service Projects

Sister Hyde and Sister Qaqa serve in an area that is quite rural. There are always people who need help with rice farming. So here they are to pitch in!

First, she shovels the rice into a big pile.

Then she sifts the rice all by hand! No wonder she is wearing the mask with rice husks flying all around. It looks like the big pile may take a while.

Sister Qaqa (from Fiji) sifting rice.

All finished with this batch! They'll be back next week.

SIGHTSEEING

A good way to sight see is to look at a map.

A better way to sight see is to go there! We get on the subway and head down to the beach. We can tell we're getting close when we hear lots of noise, see lots of people, and notice that stores are selling sand toys and tubes. 

When we see the restaurant with a gorilla eating a hot dog, we know we're in the right place.

The best way to sight see is a harbor cruise.

Ready to go!

Bryan and lots of fishing boats.

View of the beach as we depart.

 Dongbaek Island

with its old lighthouse

and the new APEC house, built for a meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation, promoting free trade in 21 countries of the Pacific Rim.

Gwangalli Bridge (Diamond Bridge) is lit up at night, and there are massive firework shows over the bridge at certain times during the year.

Beautiful Busan Skyline

 Oryukdo Islands

The lighthouse was built in the 1930's.

As we get closer to the islands, we can see fishermen standing on the edge, hoping for a catch.

Harbor cruise was terrific, now we can walk along Haeundae Beach.

It is possible to rent a "parasol", a space, and beach chairs.

Busan has a lot of weird sculptures - everywhere!

Here I am in the middle of ????

This mermaid is not from Copenhagen, nor is she "The Little Mermaid". She sits by the shore and weeps for her country (Korea). A typhoon knocked the top of her body off several years ago, but has since been replaced.

FOOD

It's good to go out for "Bingsu" (ice, snow) with Mr. Won,

Ann, and Helen from our Wednesday English class.

There are two huge bowls of ice/snow. One is mango, and the other is "red bean". Kidney-type beans are sweetened and put in anything and everything sweet - cake, bread, frozen popsicles, candy. If anything is pink or red and sweet, it's made of red beans. It looks like hot fudge in the picture. The tan colored crumb stuff is not nuts! It is garbanzo bean powder. Yep! Ground up garbanzos to brighten up the day.

It's better to go to a traditional Korean lunch with Vicky, Elder Smith, and Elder Smith's parents.

The main dish is "duck soup", which you can eat with chopsticks. 

There are also about thirty "side dishes". We are educated to the point that we know what at least half of them are. 

I asked, "What are these green stick-like things?" The answer: "Grass".

It was so fun to have our own little room, and to sit on the floor! We love Elder Smith.

It's hard to say what is BEST, but visiting this "village" of old Korean dwellings turned into a restaurant was so fun. First, we watched a demonstration of the old method of making deok. (pronounced just like duck, but not to be confused - it is sort of a noodle, dumpling-type stuff made out of...you guessed it! - rice!)
First, the lady brought out a huge mass of cooked rice. She dumped it on the stone, and then the special "rice hammer" was used to pound it over and over.

 They let lots of other people try to hammer the rice. After a while, the kernels are no longer visible, and it turns into a smooth blob.

 She turned it out onto a wooden table, rolled it into a "snake", and then covered it with garbanzo dust. Everyone got to have a sample. 

 
 Plenty of Korean food this week - the main dish again is duck, roasted, and another duck, smoked.

Bryan ate some of this and remarked that it was a pretty good "white fish". When he asked what it was, they told him the truth: "EEL"!

 Now Bryan is holding a little bowl of anchovy heads. They are used to "salt" something, if you don't think there's enough flavor. We took a picture and passed them on!

There were more than thirty side dishes this time. One dish was little crabs in red hot sauce (look to the left of the hand). Bryan tried one - he was told to suck out the meat and it would be delicious. Only after eating it someone told him by the way, the crab is raw.

Authentic Korean Ambiance
 

Bird cage with thatched roof

 I love these shelves held up with unfinished tree branches.

 The surprise was that the frog was alive.

Miniature Korean folk village

Old wooden pump organ

These clay jars are used to store anything fermenting: kimchi, soy sauce, pickled radish, or whatever. They stay outside all year.

Flowers make me happy.

And BEST of all, what could be more authentic, traditional, Korean than:
 

 THE SEVEN DWARFS!!