Good, Better, Best

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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!!

HAPPENINGS

CONGRATULATIONS Mija!

Yesterday was the first baptism in the Oncheon Ward in at least three years! Everyone was so happy.  Our Mission President has not seen a baptism in his ward since he arrived two years ago, so this was an exciting event. 

Mija was baptized by Elder Affleck, and she was taught by Elder Affleck and Elder Oh Euichan.

After the baptism, the ward had a huge meal together, and everyone enjoyed the celebration.

HEROES

The two couples pictured below are some of MY HEROES! The top photo shows President Kenneth S. Barrow and his wife, Diane K. Barrow, originally from Texas. He served a mission in Seoul about 35 years ago, when there was no central heating in the houses, and no indoor plumbing. He opened up several new areas and taught a lot of people. Now he is called to serve as Mission President in Busan. He loves all the missionaries as if they were his own children.

He is really one of the most selfless people I know. He is extremely smart, hard working, ambitious, highly motivated, energetic, and yet very spiritual, gentle, and kind. One of his best traits that I admire is his ability to take his time and attention and focus on the needs of "the one". In the midst of hundreds of crises, he will take the time to talk with someone who is troubled or who needs his encouragement. He is always cheerful, always positive, he doesn't sleep much, he runs marathons, and he wins 100 mile bike races...all the while not calling attention to himself and remaining extremely humble.

Quick review: Married couples don't have the same last name. The last name always goes first, but don't put a comma after the last name. The last name is one syllable, and the first name is always two or more. Most people have a middle name too.

This man is our Stake President, President Cho, and his wife is Sister Kim. Besides running the Stake, he has a full time job, and ten children. One of the children is handicapped, needing extra time and care. The other children are consumed with mostly school and academics, music lessons, church activities, and scouting. Every time I see her with her handicapped son, I have so much love and admiration for her. Of course, she is always the one bringing food for the special dinners, and helping to clean the church and do the dishes. Amazing!

BBQ CHICKEN AND CHEESY POTATOES

Our 25 year old friends came for dinner the other night. They asked for American food, so we corrupted them with Au Gratin Potatoes and cheesecake for dessert. The BBQ chicken and asparagus were comparable to their normal fare, but...no Kimchi!!

BUSAN TOWER

and Yongdusan Park

On one of the most famous mountains in Busan is a 69 meter tower. We took the elevator all the way up and experienced some beautiful views of the city.

Tall buildings come right to the edge of the port. Many beautiful bridges span different waterways.

Another mountain in the distance, many tall apartment buildings, and one large rounded building in the middle of this scene is an upscale department store. Koreans love to hike the mountains. Hundreds of people in their hiking clothes carry hiking sticks and head toward the hills on weekends.

This view shows Yeongdo Bridge, which connects the mainland to an island. Every day at 2:15 pm, one part of the bridge lifts for ten minutes. Large vessels and ships are allowed through during that time. I am told that if you are stuck in traffic around 2:15,  it is probably because of the Yeongdo Bridge!

Jagalchi Fish Market

The building that looks like it has a seagull on the top is the Jagalchi Fish Market, the largest fish market in Korea. It has about ten floors and every few feet there is someone selling: 15 different kinds of eel, whale blubber, sea squirts, sea urchins, squid, or another creature from the ocean. 

Bryan by the Buddhist Temple at the top of the mountain

The tower, the temple, and a monument to celebrate Korea's independence

A soccer stadium in the middle of the picture is surrounded by many tall apartment and office buildings with hills in the background. It looks small from here, but also in the center of this area is a huge traditional Korean Market where the streets are partly covered, and mobbed with people buying, selling, yelling, walking, eating, talking, bargaining:

GUKJE MARKET

Bryan is sporting his new fedora. His desire was to spend about as 

little time as possible in this market.

KOREAN CULTURE TIME!

As you know, when a baby is born in Korea, it is one year old. Then on New Year's Day, the baby turns one year older. Everyone, in fact, turns a year older on New Year's Day, January 1. Since I was born December 29, I would have been four days old when I was "two"! When a baby is 100 days old, there is a huge celebration. The baby is dressed in traditional Korean clothing (hanbok), and strapped into a chair somehow. Lots of decorations and food surround the child. In the past, when Koreans struggled for enough food to stay alive, it was considered a lucky milestone to be 100 days old, and most probable that the baby would continue to live and grow.

The baby isn't crawling yet, but is able to grab objects. The baby is placed on the floor, where he can grab - and within his reach there are several objects: a string, a pencil, and some money. Adults watch intently as the baby unknowingly foretells his future. If the baby grabs the string, he will have longevity. If he grabs the pencil, he will be a scholar. If he grabs the money, he will be rich.

LILY PADS AND FROGS

Many years ago, Carson (oldest grandchild) made the observation that lots of books, pictures, and cartoons had frogs sitting on lily pads. However, he had noticed that no one ever actually sees a frog sitting on a lily pad. I had to agree that I had never seen a frog sitting on a lily pad, but had seen a lot of pictures in books. I became determined to see one, and was pretty sure I could see one at the Norton Simon Museum in Pasadena, California, or maybe the Huntington Library and Gardens in nearby San Marino. I visited both places and...no luck with the frog.

The other day I was running (slow jog) down the path by our nearby river, and stopped to look at the beautiful water lilies in several of the ponds. I started thinking about the frog. I looked down and saw nothing, then sharpened my eyes and saw four perfectly camouflaged frogs sitting right next to the edge of the pond on lily pads! I was so excited, but I had no camera. After watching them for a while, I went home determined to get a picture some time during the next week. I went over several times to go "frog hunting" and again, no success. I think conditions have to be just right! Now I take a camera every time I go down to the river, and the other day I saw this amazing sight!

1. I see a frog swimming along in the pond. I watch him and take a video.

2. The frog stops and puts his front foot on the lily pad. It looks like he's going to climb up!

3. The next thing I knew, he was sitting on a lily pad!! Hooray! I took about twenty pictures, but you get the main idea.

Dedicated to Carson

Monsoon Season

Monsoon season is here!

Sunday was forecast for thunderstorms all day, and thunderstorms every day of the week. The rain is hard with mammoth drops, noisy, and never-ceasing, producing rivulets and lake-sized puddles.

Saturday was a logical day for an "indoor" activity. We headed off on the light rail train (our first time) to Gimhae, ancient city of the Gaya civilization. We got off the train, it was pouring. We had to cross the bridge. Underneath, the river was up to its banks. 

The Gimhae National Museum was beautiful, in perfect condition, and free of charge, as all museums are in S. Korea. All of these all-day activities cost us about $2.50 each

 (for the subway or train).

We saw about five people there all day. The grounds were perfectly manicured, although very wet.

Inside the museum, we saw some treasures from ancient Gaya. The armor (and the man) look very small, and the horse is loaded with trappings. The saddle looks particularly uncomfortable for horse and man, and (not seen in this picture) the horse's tail had a flag holder and a flag, which would, no doubt, flap in the breeze.

After seeing and reading pretty much everything in the museum, we decided to head for the train. I had a waterproof raincoat with a hood and an umbrella. Bryan had an umbrella. I was wearing a backpack that had a waterproof cover over it. After we walked about 100 yards to the train, our shoes and socks were full of water, our pants were sopping (just out of a swimming pool-style), the backpack was soaked as was everything inside it. We tried to "enjoy" that wet underwear feeling on the train trip home, but the air conditioning, for which we are usually thankful, was on high and made everything just a little less comfortable. 

Interesting Sculpture by the River

Some elders are returning after a few hours in the rain. They stop to pour the water out of their shoes. Most of the missionaries have big holes in their shoes, and even bigger holes in their socks.

JULY 4

The missionaries planned a fun celebration for July 4. The Elders and Sisters in our Zone came over for barbeque hamburgers - Yay - potato chips, and watermelon! They had planned some outdoor activities, but since it was raining, the barbeque was moved under an overhang and everyone ate inside. It was still fun.  Some of the missionaries had purchased special July 4th attire!

These two (in aprons) did most of the cooking:

The rain slowed down to a drizzle so...Basketball!! 

 Bryan donned his #13 jersey and joined the game.

Happy Birthday America!

Here are two elders eating Harry Potter jellybeans. They said the worst flavors were "earthworm" and "soap". They ate them all anyway. 

Finally, a picture of the national flower of Korea, the Rose of Sharon.