Sunday, Day five: Church and then Jinhae

We started out going to church with Dr. Park, he drove. His wife is in Seoul so it was just him. We went to the Smyrna Presbyterian Church, the second largest church in Changwon with usual Sunday attendance at 1500. Geoffrey has been going with them and that is where he met Da Won (다원). We parked in the basement and took the elevator up to the sanctuary on the third floor. Dr. Park took us to the second row, the first being reserved for the pianist when she sits to listen to the sermon, or other musicians.They have a small orchestra (seven strings, four woodwinds, two brass, a timpani) and a choir of maybe 60. I, later with the help of an electronic dictionary at lunch, determined the church is 장로교 (Presbyterian).

Sitting in the pew a couple thoughts came to mind. Hearing them recite responses to the readings I thought of the AA admonition "Fake it until you make it." You will believe it if you repeat it enough. I recognized that we are all God's children. And the oboe player was a young woman, stylish with reddish tinted hair and she had on 6" ankle boots; I thought of those boots an comparable to foot binding, both done for style and both injurious to the health. 

After the service we went down stairs for coffee out of a machine and were joined by another man who I learned later was an "elder."  Geoffrey says they often stay for lunch but today after coffee we all went to a Chinese restaurant, the Peking (북경). On the way I mentioned I would be at Quaker Meeting in Seoul the next week, and explained Quakers by saying it is Ham Sok-Hon's church. When we got there they ordered tangsuyuk and jampong for everyone, even after I said I couldn't eat anything spicy. Of course the jampong was hot and I couldn't eat it. I managed with the tangsuyuk and rice, and a little clear broth soup the waitress brought. 

Himself on Jinhae breakwater

After lunch we got in his car and went back to the church to drop off the elder. When he got out I did too and tried to give him W10,000. He thought it was for lunch and refused until I explained that in American churches there is a collection and they don't have one so this is for the church. That he gladly accepted. Geoffrey and I thought we were now going home, but without a word of explanation Dr. Park took us to Jinhae (U.S. Navy  has a base there but spells it the old way, Chinhae). He had asked Geoffrey if he liked the shore and from that decided to take us there instead of going right home (Geoffrey says he does that kind of thing often). 

Geoffrey with Dr. Park and dog.

He drove past the Korean Naval Academy gate but we couldn't get close. He then drove back to the area across from the Navy Training Base. We got out and walked up and down the walkway along the breakwater.  After a while we got back in the car and drove to another area. I mentioned shipbuilding and he took us past the STP shipyard, pointing out a very large crane he designed. We finally came home at about 4:00. 

Geoffrey and I then went shopping at Lotte Department store for food. I got some decent crackers (imported Wheatables with a label in Korean stuck to one side), sardines in sunflower oil, decent cheese (Laughing Cow, Philadelphia Cream Cheese), and more coffee. 

Geoffrey and Wayne figuring out 월남쌈

At 7:00 Geoffrey took me, Dr. Park, and Wayne to a Vietnamese restaurant in Sang Nam Dong (상남동), the central commercial and night life district, and had Vietnam-sam (월남쌈). We got home at about 9:00

After dinner walk in Sang Nam Dong

An apartment complex in Changwon

A young couple at Seokguram Grotto

Big differences I see in are driving: when I was here before the only drivers were professionals, e.g. cabbies, truck drivers. I tell the story of driving the health center jeep when the driver was away because no one else there could drive. Now everyone is driving. Also, families are different with fathers taking more involvement. In the 1960s I would see fathers walking separately from mother and children, now the family is a unit, and fathers carry babies in chest slings.  There is the industrial development (shipbuilding in Jinhae) and the huge apartment complexes everywhere around cities, and, of course, miniskirts and six inch heels and couples holding hands and public displays of affection (but no kissing Geoffrey tells me). 

When we got home we talked while working at our computers. We talked about the Korean language of course, frustrations, girls and Korean girls in particular and their assumptions and expectations, the Korean family and father son relations, how to get to the post office, train station and a particular Buddhist temple, and plans (short range and long).