2013.2.11
(week 15)
Dear Home,[Korean] Happy New Year!
So, [Korean] is here, missionary work is crippled this week. Everyone is busy or out of town. Everone goes to their hometown with family. So, haven't been able to meet investigators, no one on the streets [Korean] trating door to door isn't effective.
Saturday the whole mission had a deep clean of our apartments. Whole day was throwing out stuff, sorting, cleaning. Dang, not missionary work, but really fun. I"ve missed organizing things, finding little treasures. Super fun. And I've got a minimalist companion, so we gutted this place. First ones in the mission to be inspected, and Sister Furness (and President) was really happy with it. ^^
By the way, see if you can find [Korean] (written BAM pronounced "Bang") why the English said [unclear] I'll never know. Anywa, super good degreaser. Remember the kitchen stove hood back home? This apartment had one just like it. [Korean], five minutes, good as new. Crazy powerful.
Also, I found some more things different in Korea. No fireplaces. (All apartment buildings...)
Also, you can't really cook American food the same way here. You've gotta find new tricks. In the meantime, I'm learning Korean recipes. Suprisingly simple usually. My favorite: [Korean]. Boil water. Add [Korean]. You can add other stuff too, meat, egg, that kind of thing. But I never would have thought. = D
Cooking prices are funny though. Dairy and fruit/veggies both super expensive. Makes cooking fun. I use oil a lot for buter. Works...okay. Wish I had more seasonings.
Anyway, Koreans have some nice ideas. Little snacks in trays taht can fit in cups, with soda or something underneath. [drawing - like this] Then they have a straw so you can drink. For people that don't like eating standing up, they have some good ideas for it. Also mixed popcorn. Some sweet, some salty, some plain. So good. A member gave us some.
One thing I've seen: Korea is excelletn at adapting ideas. (Except maybe driers. They don't think mankind has the power to dry soemthing. [There's no verb for "to dry"] Anyway, tangent)
But, yeah, you even hear it in popculture. I hear a song that sounds familiar. Some of the lines of music aare exactly the same. Just slightly changed.
They're working on changing address systems, too. Thank goodness. The new one isa lot like the US.
And then there are Korean sports. [Korean] no English equivalent. Pronounced choku. Foot volleyball. SUPER FUN. I migh try to find an inexpensive net before I leave Korea. Also, a fun version of mini soccer. Tiny goal, o bounds, you can score from either side of the goal front or back but to score, all of ourteam has to be past teh half way point. =D
Then there's [Korean] ping pong. Surprisingly moe techniques than I thought. Before mission, I knew smash, spin, but some I didn't: push (my favorite) dirve, and cut. (won't go into it)
Yeah I've been learning about Korean sports on P-days. Kind of jealous they aren't common in the States....yet.
Also, driving culture. Emergency response vehicles are super specially treated here. But there's a fun dynamic..Tow trucks here are really small. A while back I learned why. When there's an accident, first tow truck gets the commission (all private) so they race to the accident. I've only seen it once, but it was crazy. It striaght up Floored it.
Anyway, probably won't have much email time, so this has to be good.
We've seen some fun changes. One thing, it was cold last week. But luckily all was well. I found some gear that helped.
(Seriously, it was fun last week. My pens wer freezing. =D So fun, but not when you need to write things. [If you keep it in your shirt and wirte fast it's ok])
But gear
-- I got some earmuffs, really fun, never wore them before. ^^ Also, during [Korea] I found some pens (this one) that's more gel based. Less affected by the weather.
Also, I found a stock of handwarmers (Still haven't used any yet. Usually there's no need, but when your hand slows down, it's annoying, so I started carrying some.
Plus, I found a satchel. My goodnes, I feel like myself again. I like carrying enough to be able to do alot. (Be prepared. Boy Scout) And without backpacks, it's been hard to do that. I've been missing my old satchel. Even the feel of it felt familiar.
Anyway, I've written this somewhere before. Hoping it's just my journal. Sorry if I repeat myself. Anyway, with that stuff, it's made changes easier.
Going back to pens freezing, other stuff has been malfunctioning too. Fixed it though. First, my MP5 started acting up and freezing. Not sure why. But after fiddling with it, I eventually recalibrated the database or something. Don't ask me how, I can't even remember what it said. But it's working again. I call it a mini (unclear) miracle. The lord hears little things, too.
Also, since before my mission, my camera's had a fun glitch. The mode dial is over sensitive, so when you're viewing picures sometimes it goes back into shooting mode. Found a solution to that, too. Just set the dial between two modes. Works great. ^^ The little things make life good.
Like finding good study patterns. Language study. 5 min recognition and translation practice with comp. 10 minues picking useful vocab and grammar and research, 15 min PMG translating (good for (unclear) and reading practice). Personal study 20 min scriptures, 10 min Liahona or specialty day (once a week I study temples, once a week I review old notes and study journal entries) 3 min PMG, passoff, lesson plans (whatever is needed)
Makes things so much more productive. "Unplanned time is time planned to be wasted." Something else cool I learned. Noes are only as useful as teh number of times you review, ponder, and read them. But when you do, their value is limitless.
J love you guys. I may wrap up here. I had a great solar [Korean] (New Years), had dinner and FHE wit a couple of families, lots of fun. Love you, take caer! until next time!
[Korean]
