Michelle in Korea

I'm turning this post over to Michelle.
Curtis is allowing me to use his blog to share my adventures in Korea. 
I arrived in Korea September 7th and was very happy to see my second daughter, Darcy, at the airport.  True to Whetten form there was a prank in the works as she greeted me with a sly smile.  She informed me that we didn't have to take the bus home; that two men had offered to drive us in their car and she had accepted because she didn't want to deal with luggage on the bus.  I was a bit alarmed.  Really?  Then she introduced me to Bro. Sutherland and another missionary.  Sigh.  What a relief.  They were very nice and drove us and a large sleeping pad all the way to Darcy's apartment, which was quite a ways away from where they live.  It turns out that this is the way church service happens in Korea.  The members are spread out but very willing to serve each other. 

Rather than post the 60-something pages of my Korea Memoirs, I will post a few pictures and tell you about them.

The Korean people work very hard at preserving their cultural arts.  Traditional foods are an important part of the culture. 

Darcy's employer, Nan, and her supervisor, Colin, took us out to dinner at a famous traditional restaurant called "The Korea House".  It's a VERY nice traditional Korean restaurant where you take off your shoes and sit on cushions at a low table.  They brought out a gazillion small dishes with small portions of soups, meat and side dishes like kimchi.  Everything was delicious.  I ate fish cakes, potato cakes, radish, jap chae, shrimp, eel, rice, kimchi soup, rice cakes for dessert, a pear slice for dessert and dried octopus for dessert.  I can't believe I ate the shrimp, eel and octopus without flinching, but I DID.  And they were good!

After dinner, we enjoyed the performance of traditional music and dances.  It was beautiful and interesting and entertaining.  At the end, the performers asked Darcy to join them on the stage to dance while playing a hand-drum.  She did a great job.



Michelle with some of the performers

 Nan and Colin are very kind and gracious.  Darcy is very fortunate to work for them.  They complemented Darcy and said she is a favorite teacher at the school.  The way they treated me was an indication to me of how much they appreciate Darcy.

I'll write more about her other friends in a later blog.
Michelle