It's All About the Relationships!

It’s all about the relationships.  Even when it comes to the apples.  

We have an apple guy that comes to the campus every week.  He has a large apple orchard and my suspicion is that he makes a pretty good living from it.  Yet, every week, he drives an hour each way to sell apples to Handong students at 3 or 4 apples for a dollar.  By Korean standard, this is almost free.  He does this because he knows the students have very little money. 

His two sons graduated from Handong in 1996 and 1997.  There was no campus store then.  Nor the new road.  It took twice as long to get to town to pick up any food.  So he brought the apples onto the campus in order for the students to have some apples to snack on while they studied.  It's been over 15 years since his younger son graduated from Handong.  Yet, he still comes because he wants to give something back to the school.  He wants the students to be able to have some fresh apples.  It’s not about making a few dollars.  It’s about the students.  It's about giving back to the school that trained his two sons to obtain jobs at two top companies in the country.  

So when he said we could come visit his apple orchard on a field trip, we jumped at the chance.  All 50 plus of us.  They fed us.  They taught us how to spot the apples ready for pickin'.  They let us watch the apples being sorted by weight.  When it was time to go, we all lined up to buy the apples we picked to take home to eat, to bake, to make apple sauce, and to dry them for snacks.  

Sweet, crispy and wonderful apples!

For us, it wasn’t only about the apples.  It was about the new relationship we were developing with the “apple man.” 

Since I didn't do very well taking pictures, please visit my new favorite blog to view some fun pics.

Susan

http://korealantinga.blogspot.kr

Back in the Saddle

Susan and the kids are back in Korea after nearly 2 months visiting the states.  Life has now poured back into this shell of a house where dad has fended for himself the past month.  As their arrival approached I started culling the rotting vegetables from the refrigerator and cleaning the apartment "just enough" to show I was capable of surviving, but still that things were very much in need of mom's talent for keeping things in order.  Amazingly, their 7 suitcases of stuff, which was unpacked and spread around the floors, magically disappeared somehow into closets and storage around the apartment.  Soon, under mom's direction, everything was once again clean and shipshape with no sign of my "bachelor" stay.  Just as predictably, the kids tracked in a covering of sand for the just cleaned floor after their first trip to the beach.  The world is back in order and dad couldn't be happier.

Today starts the annual Chuseok holiday in Korea.  We are staying on campus this year after trying to travel on the suddenly gridlocked roadways last year.  Everyone in Korea takes to the roadways to visit their families and/or ancestral villages for Chuseok.  The holiday falls on Thursday this year, and the government extends the holiday an extra day on each end to allow for travel time.  From an American perspective, it is most like our Thanksgiving holiday.  There is, however, a gift giving component to Chuseok.  It is traditional for the family members to bring a present to their parents for the holiday.  This generally takes the form of a carefully selected box of flawless fruit, prime cuts of meat or some other delicacy.  All the markets set up special displays of these gift boxes attended to by employees attired in traditional Korean hanbok (colorful gowns).  The stores are crowded and there is excitement in the air.  We plan to help the remaining foreign students on campus celebrate by joining in with other faculty members to prepare a special Chuseok holiday meal for dinner on Thursday.

As you might imagine, many look towards public transportation during this time of intense national migration back home.  Reservations are generally made well in advance.  Despite the availability of planes, trains, subways and the KTX high speed rail, our family prefers to use the Korean bus system.  This is amazing in that I have a near phobia about buses.  I remember my first ride on a Greyhound bus as a child.  Even then, it was too cramped and uncomfortable.  As an adult, I'd rather walk than take a long distance bus in the US.  Korea is the Heaven of bus travelers however.  The intercity and long distant buses are spacious.  Usually 2 seats on one side and one seat on the other side of the isle.  Each seat has a light and air conditioning vent along with curtains for the window, a foot rest and more than enough legroom for a 6'5" passenger to even cross his legs.  There is a pocket in front of each seat to store small items, a cup holder, and space for small luggage over the seat.  Oh, and did I mention the seats recline way back and that they usually have a large screen tv mounted in the front?  It is certainly the most comfortable way to travel long distances in Korea.  Major routes have buses leaving as often as every hour - and there is plenty of room in the baggage compartment to store all the suitcases.  We always use the bus to to Incheon (a 4 hour ride) to fly to and from the states.  Riding these buses triggers a memory of what travel used to be like back in a more golden era.

Your very happy Korean correspondent

Home Alone

Traveling internationally is not the arduous experience one would anticipate.  Yes, the flights are long, but they are also usually more comfortable than domestic flights in the US.  Flying back and forth to Korea on Asiana Airlines reminds me of the thrill of flying in an airplane during the 50s.  The cabin stewardesses are attentive to your every need with nice meals, snacks, warm towels, slippers, headphones and lots to drink.  There are no signs of the cattle prods used to usher passengers on and off the plane for domestic flights, nor the shoe horns used to squeeze you into your seat in a plane cabin that is more reminiscent of a cattle car on the back of an 18 wheeler truck.  I wish I could say the US carriers offered a similar degree of service on international flights.  Somehow I doubt it.  We'll have to wait for a report from Susan who, with the kids, will rejoin me in Korea in mid September after flying home on United Airlines.  I had to return early to be here for the opening day of classes on August 19th.

Unfortunately, I arrived back in Korea just in time to experience the tail end of what I  am told has been the biggest heat wave in 85 years.  All I know is that it was over 90 degrees when I arrived back on campus at 1 a.m. after catching a bus and a cab from the airport in Seoul.  Thankfully we had installed a small air conditioner in our apartment.  Unfortunately we did not install one in the bedroom.  It is tough to sleep in a hot room with only a fan and the onset of jet lag.

While I was adjusting to the Korean heat wave, Susan and the kids were traveling down  to Imperial Beach for our annual 10 days at the beach to celebrate the end of summer.  Instead of hot sticky weather, they were enjoying cool ocean breezes and surfing lessons.  Although I wished I could have been with them, it made me very happy to think of them enjoying the little cottage on the sand next to the pier.  We have so many wonderful family memories there and it is indeed a blessing we have been able to arrange our schedule to continue to enjoy the cottage despite our move to Korea.

In anticipation of my opportunity to experience a bit of bachelorhood in Korea waiting for the family's return, Susan stocked the freezer with frozen hamburger patties, home made burritos and 

bulgogi bakes (similar to Philly cheese steaks) from Costco.  Surprisingly, I haven't yet broken into this supply thanks to meal invitations from faculty members and students.  It's not just the international flights that remind me of what it was like to live in the 1950s.  We do have a very supportive community here that helps me ward off the loneliness of being apart from Susan and the kids.

In order to keep myself busy, I attended to some needed car repairs for our Kia family van.  I'd noticed quite a bit of wear on the tires and decided to replace them all around.  The local auto mechanic can take care of this for you.  While replacing the tires he called to let me know that there was a broken U-joint that needed replacement and a brake hose that was failing as well.  I also asked him to replace the windshield wiper motor which had broken.  In the US, the costs of these repairs and new tires would have cost close to $2,000 based on my past experiences.  Here the total cost came to a little over $500.  As you can see, although some things are very expensive in Korea, car repairs are a bargain.  Everyone tells me the car repairmen and taxi drivers are all honest.  I think they're right!

Your faithful (and a bit lonely) Korean correspondent

A Visit to California and Korean Banking.

This Thursday we return to California for a short visit to put things in order before returning to Korea for a much longer commitment.  We hope to visit as many friends as possible, visit our home church, attend to the 2012 taxes, pack for the longer stay in Korea and fit in a bit of a vacation up at the Mammoth Lakes condo we share with a group of partners.  I'll return to Korea in 3 weeks for the fall school term and Susan and the kids will return in mid September when airfares are cheaper.  It will seem odd visiting the only home our kids have known until our adventure in Korea.  We don't have any present thought of selling the home in the near future.  Too many sentimental memories.  The kids are looking forward to California and the opportunity to see their friends at home.  They are also especially looking forward to meeting the new resident puppy at home named Lucy.  They have seen lots of pictures of the young lady who is the offspring of our golden lab Koda.

We are happy to escape Korea for the summer.  The days are getting hot and the humidity is rising.  Still, it cools off somewhat in the evening.  It is nothing like the heatwave we experienced when we arrived in Korea last August.  We have since installed an air conditioner and have several fans.  

I've not mentioned much about the banking system in Korea.  In someways it is wonderfully convenient, and in other ways needlessly complicated.  Susan is a bit of an anomaly over here in that she doesn't have a job.  Because of her Korean birth, she gets a more versatile visa than the rest of us.  Still, she cannot get a credit card or account in her name.  The same is true for obtaining a cell phone.  We have also found that some bills need to be paid through a particular bank.  Other banks are better for other purposes.  I suspect most Koreans have at least 3 bank accounts.  On the plus side, there are no such things as checks in Korea.  Everything is done online or through an ATM.  It is common to send money directly to a bank account to pay a bill or loan money to a friend.  In that regard, it is wonderfully convenient.  It is also nice to know that Susan needs me to open the accounts.  Once the accounts are opened she gets an additional card and takes care of all the banking.  Pretty neat system overall.

A Korean 4th of July

Not surprisingly, the 4th of July here in Korea carries none of the significance attached to the American holiday.  Ex patriots wanting to celebrate tend to find other expats for small local celebrations at a Western bar or head off to the beach to set off fireworks which are legal in Korea.  This year Susan noticed a poster at the local Korean supermarket advertising a free concert on the roof of the supermarket on July 4.  It listed a line up of opera singers who would be offering a program of popular hits.  This sounded great to us - but not to the kids.  We are in monsoon season and it was raining on the 4th.  They would prefer to stay home and find some "real" fun things to do.  Rather then drag them along and spoil our outing, Susan and I headed off to the market after Susan called to confirm the concert was still on despite the rain.  Along the way we shanghaied a visiting professor from the US who happened to be walking across the campus. 

In Korea most everything, including stores, are multiple stories because flat space is at such a premium in this mountainous country.  This local supermarket was 8 stories high.  Groceries were on one level and the other levels were devoted to department store items and parking.  We drove up to the 7th level where they have an outdoor entertainment area only to discover they moved the concert indoor to a level below in a wide corridor used for the escalator system.  Chairs had been arranged and a crew was busy setting up the sound and light equipment.

As we found seats, I wondered at the likelihood of a grocery store in Anaheim offering a free opera concert on their premises to their patrons and the residents who lived in the neighborhood.  Not going to happen, and if it did, few would show up.  I think this sort of a concert is unusual even here in Korea where music lessons are a normal part of growing up and we find ourselves surrounded by wonderfully talented student musicians and singers here at the university.  The concert started with the introduction of the market owner who apologized that we weren't able to experience his hope of offering a summer concert on the rooftop under the stars.  He promised to carefully save profits so that he could construct awnings on the roof to provide shelter for another concert in the future.

The concert that followed far exceeded our expectations.  The series of baritones, tenors and a lovely soprano were wonderful despite the less than ideal conditions.  One baritone noticed some "foreigners" in the audience and sang for us a beautiful rendition of "My Way" made famous by Frank Sinatra.  Its not my favorite song, but his voice was magnificent and put a big smile on my face.  Susan's favorite was the soprano saxophone player who played so beautifully she didn't know whether to laugh or cry.  We could not have had a lovelier time - made all the better by the absence of our kids who would have probably whined throughout.  Not that there weren't plenty of kids present, most of whom were very young.  That produced a lot of chatter through the performances which was a bit distracting.  Pohang is a blue collar port city largely devoted to the steel industry.  Most of the artist who sang were classically trained residents of Pohang.  Their leader explained that they were committed to taking culture to the poorer residents of the city and sought out opportunities to sing at venues like our market.  They certainly accomplished their goal, and delighted Susan and me with a wonderful way to celebrate the 4th of July.  I should probably add that the kids weren't entirely left out.  We picked up some Krispy Kreme donuts earlier in the day from their sole outlet in downtown Pohang inside Lotte, a luxury department store.  They were very pleased at the rare treat.

Trouble Brewing!

This is probably not the appropriate forum for airing marital problems, but Susan is upset with her husband.  It seems I weighted myself the other day and discovered that I have lost at least 20 pounds since we arrived in Korea.  The doctor informs me that my blood sugar level is now normal (I was pre-diabetic) and my bad cholesterol level is now normal as well.  As Susan pointed out, while she has been exercising with vigorous walks for miles each day through the forest, I've strolled the 5 minute walk to my office each day.  Susan eats tofu and salad while I eat whatever looks good with no concern for caloric intake.  Needless to say, Susan has not seen the same improvement and finds some unfairness in her lack of results compared to my apparent success.

 

I am at a loss to explain this sudden improvement in my health.  I can only surmise that somehow Korea has mysteriously improved my eating habits.  As I look back at the changes, I do know that I eat far less bread (primarily because Susan does most of the shopping  and largely limits her purchases to sliced bread for the kids.)   We certainly don't eat as much red meat as we did in the states since steaks are close to $17.00 a pound at Costco.  Still, I have not felt particularly deprived at mealtime.  Despite our presence in Korea, our diet is largely Western.  Today I barbecued chicken for lunch.  Tonight we had spaghetti with meat sauce (Susan had tofu).

 

When we head back to the states in about 4 weeks, our first stop will be at In N Out Burger.  I'll get the double double, and Susan will undoubtedly order her's protein style.  As we are so often reminded, life sometimes is simply unfair. 

A Day Harvesting Potatoes!

A graduate student we met here at Handong invited the Chinns and several other families to visit her parent's farm about 2 hours away in Hamyang City.  How could we resist?  Susan had been so disappointed when she learned that rice was no longer planted by hand (an experience she wanted the kids to have.)  Here was an opportunity to have the kids help with an actual harvest of potatoes.

Driving to the farm reminded me of family vacations traveling up to the Eastern Sierras in California.  Susan and I would chuckle as we see Korean families cooking traditional Korean food picnic style at the California roadway rest stops.   On our trip to the farm, we stopped at a Korean rest stop to picnic on peanut butter and salami sandwiches (that's peanut butter sandwiches and salami sandwiches instead of the two ingredients combined).  How odd a bunch of Americans must have looked to the Koreans at the rest stop as we lunched on our rather odd sandwiches in Korea?

We always see farms along the roadways as we travel through Korea.  To get to visit a farm was something we'd hoped for since our arrival.  This visit to a farm far exceeded our already high expectations.  The farm house was simple but beautiful and, in typical Korean fashion, lacked the clutter and the large furniture of Western houses.  Tables were folded out to make a long dining table where most everyone sat on the floor to eat a succession of homemade Korean dishes - many of which were grown on the farm.  Not being able to fold my legs on the floor, I opted for a chair.  The food was delicious and Susan was in heaven.  Highlights included both summer and winter Kimchi, scallion and calamari pancakes, cold black soybean noodle soup, and bibimbap (a mixture of vegetables, rice and hot pepper paste) followed by the traditional Korean fruit plate (dried persimmons and fresh apples).

With our bellies full, it was off to the orchard to see the apple orchard planted about 6 months ago.  Fields and groves in Korea are almost always planted on tiered plots of land carved into the hillsides.  While admiring the intricately planted rows of apple trees, I couldn't help but let my eyes roam to the beautiful sight of the surrounding tiered green fields of rice and other vegetables at the base of the heavily forested hills peaked with mist and the occasional roll of distant thunder.  One of our friends remarked that it reminded him of his travels in Switzerland.

From the orchard we headed off to the potato field for harvesting.  The kids (and Susan) all crowded into the bed of the farm truck (a sight you will never see in California though I remember it well from my childhood) for a trip down the road through a small village with narrow streets to the potato field.  Most of the potatoes had already been harvested, but the farmer had obligingly left a few rows for our ten or so kids to harvest.  We all took off our shoes and socks to enter the field with the kids leaping around in excitement.  The farmer cut off the tops of the potato plants leaving the kids to dig through the mounds of dirt for the hidden potatoes.  I don't think I've ever seen Robert happier.  Instead of mom nagging him to keep clean, he was free to immerse himself in the dirt.  Soon he was using his shirt as a sack to load potatoes up for the trip to the waiting boxes.  In moments the adults were pulled into the fun of digging with our hands through the dirt to scoop up the bountiful harvest.  The dirt was so inviting that Mary and Robert succumbed to the urge to lay down in the dirt to make dirt angels (the counterpart to snow angels in freshly fallen snow).  Susan compared the whole process to an Easter egg hunt.

After loading the boxes into the truck we headed back to the farmhouse for another meal of boiled freshly harvested potatoes with still another dessert of cold Korean watermelon.  What a wonderful day with such gracious hosts.  We brought back some of the spoils of our labor, but mostly we brought home wonderful memories that will last a lifetime thanks to this gracious farming family.  Below are some pictures of our day.

A rice paddy near our home.  They no longer plant the rice by hand.  It takes hours now instead of days.

Amazing homemade food by our hosts.  Everything was grown there on site and made fresh for us. 

 Acorn jelly, scallion/calamari pancakes, and other delicious side dishes.

Walking up to the apple orchard. 

Rows and rows of apples.  

All the kids love their Uncle Fred and Aunt Reneea!

 Hmmmm.  I guess this is how Mary puts on her sunscreen.

The pictures do not capture the beauty of this place.  Surrounded by mountains on all sides with breathtaking beauty everywhere you look!  I think I could live here!!!

Hardworking harmonies (older women) tending to their farm.

 S was delighted to find a baby potato.

 G on the other hand, dug up a giant potato.

 On the back of the truck, returning from harvesting the potatoes.  That face says it all.  Successful day. 

Steamed freshly harvested potatoes.  I never realized how sweet potatoes can be until now . . . Wow!  They were tasty.  

Chinn Family To Stay In Korea.

In the end, it wasn't a difficult decision.  When the Chinn family moved to Pohang Korea in August 2012, it was for one year during which Ken would serve as a visiting professor at Handong International Law School (HILS) and also serve as Trinity Law School's representative in growing a relationship between the two universities.  Ken's view was that this would be a healthy adventure for the family.  Susan was ecstatic about the opportunity for the kids and Ken to learn about the Korean side of our family heritage.  The kids saw it as a long vacation and adventure with the promise of returning home after a year to their friends and  the only home they have ever known in Orange County.

Second thoughts about the adventure arose immediately upon our arrival.  Everything seemed so foreign and we had hit a heat wave at the end of the monsoon season with no air conditioning in our apartment.  Ken's first experience eating a Korean style burger was an even bigger disappointment.  The flavors were all wrong and he could hardly finish it.  Clearly this adventure was off on the wrong foot.

Thankfully we got a couple of fans to help cool things off and the monsoon season soon moved into a beautiful Fall.  The teaching experiences were wonderful and the other law school professors soon became fast friends.  Susan and the kids were also quickly making lots of new friends.  We home schooled the kids who discovered they could be done with their lessons by noon if they worked hard in the morning.  Afternoons were spent roaming the campus and adjacent woods in search of adventures with their new friends.  We started to become familiar with the markets and found a Costco about an hour away in Daegu to purchase American familiar food items.  We were back in positive adventure mode as we explored Korea and its rich cultural heritage.  The kids starting asking questions like, "Do we have to go back to California?"  

Susan was clearly open to extending our stay and, surprisingly, I found my heart to be changing as well.  There is something very vibrant about living on a university campus with just a 5 minute walk to my office.  We could let the kids roam all day without a concern for their safety, knowing that they would return home by dinner time.  It reminded Ken of his youth and is an experience that has largely disappeared from life in big cities in the U.S.  Then there were the opportunities to minister.  Older people are looked up to with respect in the Korean culture.  We started having students regularly into our home for meals from Ken's classes and our church home here on campus.  You could feel the needs they had as they were far away from their homes and families.  We felt our family rapidly expanding.  Then there was the opportunity for our whole family to travel to Cambodia, Thailand and Laos over the Christmas break.  We have had many missionary experiences at our home in Downtown Anaheim as we ministered to the poor in our neighborhood, but this was different.  In Southeast Asia we saw poverty beyond anything we had ever seen or experienced.  In spite of the poverty the people were joyful and welcomed our presence.  We saw first hand the wonderful work done by missionaries and NGOs with such  a heart to serve.  What a privilege we had to learn from them and serve along side them during our travels.  The desire to remain and serve God in Asia pulled even stronger on our hearts.

But what about Trinity that so generously sponsored our trip to Korea.  How could we not return at the end of the year?  I wrote Dean Myron Steeves and shared the pull we were feeling.  He could not have been more encouraging.  He had traveled over to HILS in December 2011 and experienced the special environment here, and thought at the time he suggested our family travel to Korea for a year, that there was the possibility we would want to stay.  He recognized the special call and heart we were feeling towards staying in  Korea and was supportive of our decision to remain.

How long we remain in Korea is an open question.  We have committed to stay another 2 1/2 years.  Trinity has kept the door open for the possibility of Ken returning to Trinity as a visiting professor at the end of that commitment.  We are keeping our home in Anaheim, at least for the time being.  We miss our family and friends and home church in California.  Thankfully we are returning to California at the end of July for a visit.  All this has been a real step of faith and well outside Ken's normal comfort zone.  It is exciting to be following the Lord and depending on Him in these decisions.  We covet your prayers and hope some of you will come to visit us here in Korea - "The Land of the Morning Calm".

Ken and Susan Chinn

California Beach in Korea.

We've not celebrated birthdays as well as we hoped this year in Korea with traveling and a pretty full schedule.  Yesterday we tried to catch up a bit by celebrating Daniel, Mary and Robert's birthdays with a trip to California Beach - a water park in Gyeongju, a historical resort area about an hour's drive from where we live in Pohang.  Water parks have been a favorite with the kids since we visited Schlitterbahn in Texas back in 2011 during Dad's magnificent family adventure road trip around the US.  California Beach is aptly named though it is in Korea.  The park brought all sorts of memories back of the beaches in Southern California with a constant stream of American music piped in.  We were the only non Koreans I saw in the entire park which was surprisingly busy despite it being just the beginning of the summer season with schools still in session.  Susan will post a few pictures to give you an idea.  The kids all gave it a thumbs up and rated it on a par with the water parks in the US.  Mary's favorite she called "lazy river" where you float on inner tubes around a long canal with occasional surges of surf to propel the tubes and add a bit of excitement.  They boys seemed to enjoy the surf beach and assortment of water cannons and dropping water tube rides.  Susan was delighted with "Palm Springs", a large jacuzzi like pool with lots of stations around the edge with jet streams of hot water to massage your body in seated, standing and reclining positions.   

I must admit that I felt a bit of pride in possessing a California driver's license in my pocket.  I was tempted to show it off to the Koreans walking by who had come to the park to catch a bit of the Southern California culture they obviously admire.  I sometimes notice this same reaction on campus when Korean university students learn that our family is from California.

There are a couple of cultural oddities you will find at California Beach that you would be unlikely to encounter at any other water park outside of Korea.  Most water features require the riders to wear a life jacket and all water activity required us to wear either a bathing cap or hat while in the water.  The PA system periodically would announce a reminder that you must shower off any sun screen or tanning lotion before entering the water.  Clearly hair and oily skin are not welcome in the water.  The reward was remarkably sparkling clear water throughout the park.  The other interesting difference from water parks in the US was the locker rooms.  They were nice and modern in every way.  It was striking to see the comfort level that Korean have with public nudity in the locker room showers and dressing area however.  This reminded me very much of locker rooms in the US some 50 years ago when I was growing up.  I suspect it is related to the extensive use of public (and quite ornate) bath houses here in Korea where they have separate areas for men and women to bath in large indoor pools and where bathing suits are, at best, optional.  It was a great day for all of us and we are already talking about the possibility of getting season passes to get us through the exceedingly hot and humid Korean summers!

 Fun at the "beach".

 Mary's favorite part - the Lazy River.

 The boys playing with their water cannon and guns.

Ken taking cover from the sun.