Journal Excerpts From 09/2012, part 1

September 4:  A Religious Cult Tries to Recruit Me

Two women from the Worldwide Church of God who believe in God the Mother, caught up with me when I was on my way to the community center to get a class schedule.  Neither spoke English, but they were relentless in trying to communicate.  They asked for my telephone number, but when I told them that I had no phone, they wanted to know where I lived.  Wasn’t giving that info so they could start popping up at my door.  Finally, they gave a tract in English and gave up.  Got the schedule, but none of the classes I was interested in were given at a time convenient to me.  :/   I’ll have to keep looking for an exercise class. 

Edited to add:  check them out on Wikipedia.  I wonder what makes Korea so susceptible to religious cults.  They have way more than the average country. 

September 5:  Disco Hair

I wore an afro in the afternoon because I had washed my hair during the mid-day break.  When ten-year-old ‘Ben’ saw me, he exclaimed, “Teacher is disco hair!”  He’s so fat and cute. 

September 14:  “You have Friends?!” 

Jongsu, and adult student, and I were talking about Hongdae.  I mentioned that I’d gone to a café there with some friends.  His response was utter surprise “You have friends?!”  I laughed and said “Yes, three or four.  How long should I be here before I make friends?”  Embarrassed reply:  “I don’t know.”

September 15:   An Innocent Man

At church I lead out an informal class where we read and discussed a short, inspirational article.  ‘Paul’ was stuck on the name of the article’s author, McLarty, because ‘Mc’ doesn’t make a sound.  He said that it’s very irregular.  I explained that it’s an Irish name, and in Ireland names beginning with ‘Mc’ are very common.  His Bible is from Central Prison in North Carolina.  Said he was not guilty of what he was sent there for.   Good to know?  If he WAS guilty, I hope it wasn’t for a violent crime.

After lunch I went to Yeonan Pier on bus 33.  It turned out to be a warm and sunny day, not cool and cloudy like I’d expected.  There was an open air trot concert.  Trot sounds very similar to Japanese enka.

Black Curl Magic

In the mornings I wake up with just enough time to do a quick devotional, shower, dress & eat. So I often untwist, re-twist or just tidy up my hair on the way to school. Several of my students ride the same bus. They are usually looking dazed and sleepy, but it seems one of my ninth-graders has been paying attention. Apparently she has been chronicling her discoveries about my hair in her homeroom journal. 

Her homeroom teacher said, "Ririko is watching you." I didn't understand what he meant, so he read an entry from two weeks ago which said something like, "Guaria-sensei braided her hair on the bus this morning. When she finished, she let them go and they did not come undone! How is that possible?"

Maybe I'll explain to her how kinky-curly hair works or maybe I'll just let her believe that I have magical hair. 

September 27, 2017