First Tour - Saturday June 28, 2008

I took a bus from Shi Wae to Gangbyeon this morning. It cut about 30 min. off the commute. I got to Seoul at 9:10AM or so..almost an hour early. So, I went to have coffee at Tom N Toms. Good grief; the coffee is more expensive than at Starbucks! Craziness.

I met Malcolm on my way back across the road to the station; he was headed to get some lunch for the Sharing House.

We were in charge today, so we had to meet the group at the station and get them to the Sharing House still in tact. ^_~ We didn't do too horribly. We found the buses and everything. Jyoung Ah was with us, so she helped get us off at the right stop. It's kind of a hectic process to get to the Sharing House since it's so far out in the country.

I talked with Malcolm for most of the bus ride, but we both took a few minutes to study our notes.

The visit was good. It started off kind of rough. The only English version of a documentary we usually show at the visits, broke somehow. SO, we couldn't show them the DVD. I was pretty darn nervous but managed to get most of the information out. ^_~ Malcolm is AMAZING! He speaks very naturally and does quite well in front of large groups of people. I figure once I get more used to the information, I will be fine. I definitely made a few slip ups, but luckily, there was another veteran volunteer there to help me out. Heather is such a sweetheart. She knew I was nervous, but she was really supportive. So were two of the Korean male volunteers Han and Lee. They're such great guys. They are part of Angela's class at Seoul University. They came when she made a Sharing House visit an assignment, and they decided that they wanted to continue to volunteer!

Malcolm and I split it up so I would have the outside, he would have the first room, I would have the second room, and he would have the third room. I think it worked out best that way. I don't feel comfortable enough in the first room yet. There is a lot of background information that is presented in that room.

After the museum tour, we had lunch, and then showed the testimony of Lee Ok Seon Halmoni. Unfortunately the visitors couldn't meet any of the halmoni today because those that are healthy enough, were at a meeting in a nearby town.

We may have found someone to take over the Vagina Monologues next year. Jyoung Ah can't do it again; she was so incredibly stressed out last year before and during the production. It is best that someone else take it on after the two incredible years Jyoung Ah headed. One of the visitors was really interested in the VDay movement in Korea. I think if she does take it on, which I think she will, she will do a great job with it. Sadly, I won't be able to help with it again because I'll be out of the country during the production this next year. Last year, I was in and out during travel, but next year, I will be traveling pretty consistently. It makes me sad; I wish I could stay and help more, but my vacation time in the winter is my only time to travel.

The volunteers hung out in the office for a while until Malcolm and some other random guy Annie invited to help with the new website were done messing around with its setup. Heather and Annie took Heather's car back, and Malcom, Andrea (a past volunteer who is only here to visit), Jyoung Ah, and I took a taxi and a bus back to Gangbyeon. Malcolm, Andrea, and I talked the entire way back. Andrea is so sweet! I love her! I just met her, but I love her! She lived most of her life in Colombia and Mexico, but now she is living in California. She is Korean though. Her and Maria met in Mexico through their families and are best friends now.

Anyway, we talked about Uganda a lot and the work that Malcolm did there. We also talked about the current situation of Uganda with the government and the tribes.

When we got back to Gangbyeon, I decided that I just wanted to go home to Wonju. First I stopped in Jamsil to see if that would help with my decision to live there or not. It most certainly did NOT help, but it was nice to at least see part of the area. I headed to the express bus terminal this time because that bus spits me out closer to my home in Wonju (less of a taxi ride). I hadn't really eaten all day, so I ate some odaeng before I got on the bus.

Last night, I asked Miracle (one of my Korean friends) about some Korean guys who used to come to our Friday meetings because I hadn't seen them in a while. Well, one of the guys and I had unspoken considerations of dating, but then we didn't see each other for about a month. Of course Miracle had to tell him that I had asked about him and his friend. Apparently his friend moved to Thailand. He, however, was very much still in Wonju and texted to ask me if I wanted to get coffee tomorrow. I hesitantly agreed. Coffee tomorrow it is.

When I got back to Wonju, I went over to Ji Hee's place because both her and Hae In had been hanging out at Ji Hee's apartment all day. I finally ate a decent meal, and we just talked all night. I ended up falling asleep at Ji Hee's along with Hae In. This was after I had texted my family to tell them that I would come home tonight. Woops!