The Been Briefing

Happy Easter, dear dear friends.... He is Risen!
this easter weekend was busy for me, full of friends and blessings from the Lord.... all amidst the wonderful words in pastor bob's message yesterday. Jesus is alive, and it is ONLY He who can save us from sin and death. because of Jesus' sacrifice - His death and resurrection - that, should we choose to submit our whole selves to Him, we can have life here and the glorious promise of eternal life with Him in heaven. what a simple - almost childlike - but beautiful reality!




i wanted to get some fotos before the flowers' blooming peak had past, so i went for a 'tourist' walk this past week. above, i was walking alongside a main road in suji.



the beautiful cherry blossoms line the streets everywhere.


a park near the suji library, YMCA, and "downtown" ... lol. and here's a picture of a parking lot right next to the library. as you will notice, there is a car parked in FRONT of several others. you are probably thinking, "why would any thinking individual block others from getting in and out?" well, the reason is that korea is such a small country and there's not enough room for extensive parking lots. parking garages are several stories. AND people park in front of others, leaving their car in neutral to be pushed out if the blocked-in individual needs to leave. also, their cell number will be posted on a window.


suji


an intersection... and in the middle of the picture you can see a truck covered with some sort of a tarp. there an 'ajjuma' - an older, married woman - is selling fruits or vegetables. these little outdoor 'marts' are at nearly every corner.


common korean landscaping alongside the road... lots of small shrubs with rocks. it really is quite lovely in a barren, craggy sort of way.


notice, first, the cute blue car. probably not the safest thing on the road. then, the guy on the moped. these guys are everywhere, delivering food. they're maniacs, some of them, and they seem to have their own traffic rules. lastly, notice the building. there is no room for appreciating the actual structure of the building itself - a comment that the teacher jay (whom i met within my first few weeks here) said as a reason for his wanting to become an architect.


the overhead crosswalk, a bus station, and of course... lots of apartment buildings. :)
after church yesterday daniel drove emily, tia, nahaam and me to a park near the jeongja subway station. we had a wonderful time walking around, climbing a mini "mountain" and people-watching. then we decided to walk back to migeum... only to get lost. not an uncommon experience in korea, where street signs are nonexistent. we ended up finding a bus to take us to the subway and from there back to migeum and an ice cream fondue at baskin robbins. it was wonderful!


the cherry blossoms really were beautiful. and i was able to catch the last of the magnolias, as well.


tia (in the forefront) is the 24 y.o. from germany. she is here for 4 months, teaching english and hopefully spending lots of weekends with me!!! nahamm (in the background) is korean, but has spent half of her life in germany, first during her father's studium and then the last 14 years for her own Ph.D and professorship. i have been in heaven, having this opportunity alles auf Deutsch zu sprechen.
im Moment funktioniert mein Computer nicht. dosh! so i will continue with the rest of the pictures later.
*tonight one of my intermediate students told me he could "cook" .... i asked him what. he said, "ramen" ... and i confessed i laughed. his face was so earnest. so sincere. lol.