bali bali bali? i like mpola mpola better.

this weekend was so great. on saturday we went to the pseudo-birthday party/kids day at church. it was so wonderful to get to hang out with my students outside of the classroom and have fun with them. its all about building relationships and thats hard to do when you just see them in class and you are teaching them a language they do not understand. it was nice to slow down for a while and play silly games and laugh with kids that are full of laughter and love.

korea's catch phrase is bali bali bali - hurry hurry hurry. this is so very different from uganda's motto of mpola mpolay - slowly by slowly.

over the last month, i have seen koreans bali bali through life. they are on a mission and live life with distinct purpose. adults and kids a like. because we live in a small city, in an apartment complex, it is hard to get to know people. we have met some great teacher friends but they all live in a city 40 minutes away and commute to work so hanging out after hours is not possible. i am sure we will make friends but i was starting to get the feeling it wouldn't happen the same way it did in uganda - under a mango tree eating jackfruit at 2pm on tuesday. koreans are in too much of a hurry (just like we are in the states). matt said it best: their life and society are very economical. time is money.

but sunday my hope was renewed. we decided to take the afternoon to find the beach. we live so close to the east sea but because of the snow and rain, we hadn't had a chance to go exploring. so we started walking toward the water, we were stoped by railroad tracks and the korean coast guard so we kept walking south. we finally found it. beautiful blue green water, light by the beach, darker as the depth grew. a picture perfect sight with fishman casting their lines and pulling in their nets full of fresh fish. it was breathe-taking. this is why we came to korea.

after basking in the beauty for a while we thought we would try to reach the cliffs in the distance that looked like the perfect place to climb and watch the day go by. we found an underpass and thought we found the path, but no. instead we found friends dining together on makeshift tables of overturned milk cartoons with newspaper as table clothes, drinking soju and eating raw just caught fish. quickly we motioned we were sorry to intrude and began to turn. but they said "come, come" so as your read in matt's post we sat and were welcomed as dear friends. while our conversation was limited, their kindness was not. these koreans were not bali bali-ing through life. they were enjoying the journey, under the train tracks with the sunshine warming them. it was beautiful.

while i am not in uganda, i am in south korea, i still want to move through life mpola mpola so i can take it all in. i am so thankful to have found some koreans feel the same way.

it was a beautiful weekend.