Let There Be Tonkatsu

On the one hand, I’m happy that my blog is getting lots of hits. I assume that most of them are from people who adore me. On the other hand, I’m getting some weirdos too. Here are some of the search terms that people used to find my blog today:

matsujun	1
my japanese boyfriend	1
suwon bus route	1
japanese boyfriend	1
ganghwado	1
where can you find love motels is seoul	1
korea adult links

Which is part funny ha-ha, part funny wtf. The strangest thing of all is that I get a visitor from somebody searching for “Japanese Boyfriend” EVERYDAY. I refuse to believe that each day of the week, somebody new decides to search WordPress for a Japanese boyfriend. It must be the same person. So, whoever you are, why can’t you just memorize the address? It’s not difficult! (Thank you for reading, etc.)

Yesterday I went to “Christian Worship” for the second week in a row. It’s sounds strange but I’ve never really considered myself a “Christian”. Technically I am of course, but I always define myself as a Catholic. Maybe it’s an Irish thing, that the society I grew up in causes me to notice the difference more than others do. However, I’m aware that I should be aiming to bring Christian unity to Catholics and Protestants and whoever else there is, so in that spirit I’ve been going to the Korean Protestant Church.

Interestingly, I’m not sure if they have ANY concept of the divisions within Christianity. When my attendance was first discussed I asked if they were Catholic or Protestant and they didn’t understand. I drew a tree diagram and it was met with blank stares. Finally I looked up the word “Protestant” in the big English-Korean dictionary and though they seemed to understand the word written in Korean, they still didn’t know what I was talking about. To them, Christian is Christian is Christian is Christian.

Last week, I 100% did not enjoy the service. It felt very wrong. There was no crucifix and no Holy Communion. The choir was on the “altar” (at first I actually typed “onstage”!) for most of the time. Overall, it felt like a concert in a town hall. Obviously it would have helped if I had understood the prayers, but even if I had, I would have been distracted. Koreans, it turns out, are big fans of “PRAISE THE LAWD! I CAN FEEL HIS SPIRIT MOVE ME! LOOK AT ME!” praying. Arms were flailing about like nobody’s business and the yells, the yells… Personally, I favour quiet, personal praying. Just get on with it, no need to make such a show.

Fortunately, this week I was invited to the children’s service. The children’s club is called the “King’s Kids”, which (in my head) was instantly transformed into “KinKi Kids”. It was two hours of Taekwondo, school yard games and a little bit of reading from the Bible. The only thing I didn’t like was the choice of passages. Very Old Testament, very heavy. Lots of talk about hell and Satan. Hard on the poor kiddies, but Koreans seem to like horror. After this we rejoined the adults and, just like last week, I was invited to the fancy “New Members” lunch. There was a delicious plate of tonkatsu ready and waiting for me, so there is an upside to Protestantism!

To my surprise, on the way back home I was taken to a hanbok shop. We spent a while looking at the beautiful traditional dresses and suits and then…(I bet you can guess what happened)…I was asked to pick one for myself, courtesy of Mr. Kang. Yikes! Regular hanboks can be fairly expensive but this one is being handmade and embroidered, with matching slippers. I’ve done some research and we’re looking at a few hundred euro here. I love my rich family! I picked out the colours and the patterns and was fitted for all the parts. It should be ready by next Sunday, so be prepared for heaps of photos (unless it makes me look fat)!

That evening, we went out for dinner again, followed by the “treat” of seeing “The Mummy 3″ in the cinema. I appreciate the fact that they picked an English film (with Korean subtitles) but DEAR GOD DON’T SEE THIS FILM. It’s not even so bad it’s good, it’s just purely dreadful. 2 stars out of 10 because it’s a bit of a laugh but don’t waste your money. For example: the mysterious ninja who attacks the dashing, young, single hero has her mask pulled off to reveal a tousled-haired, young, single Chinese beauty. Can they overcome their differences to beat the bad guy and…maybe even…fall in love? What do you think? Hmmm….

By the way, this might be goodbye. Tomorrow I’m going to venture into Seoul alone. Judging from the panic of Mrs. Sung, I’m unlikely to return alive. Oh noes.

Love,

Siobhán xxx