Soup Kitchen

On Friday night, I volunteered at a Soup Kitchen for the homeless.  They ask for 10 volunteers for each event, and sometimes over 250 people are served.  I was told that Friday nights are slower nights, but I think that nearly 200 men were served that night.  Among the volunteers, there were three women from California, one guy from Arizona, one girl from Vietnam and several others from Korea.  

The homeless were served kimchee, an omelet-type egg role (kyeran marie), black rice (which is white rice cooked with many other grains, including black beans that turn the rice a purple color), soup, and my favorite, fish (bleah).  They were allowed to come back for seconds because there was enough extra food available.

When we arrived, the woman who is in charge of the kitchen, affectionately called "Big Mama" gave us our assignments.  We donned the beautiful pink aprons, and rubber gloves (up past the elbow), and rubber boots.  Believe me, all of these articles was necessary.  I was assigned to dishwashing.  There were three commercials sinks on one wall; I shared a sink with one guy, and then each of the two other sinks had one person.  I was to wash bowls, the other guy washed trays.  After they were washed, they were put into the rinse water in the next sink. The other two wash stations were actually rinse stations.  There was a different station for washing cups, spoons and chopsticks.  It was a well-run operation.  They ask for volunteers on Fridays and Sundays, and on Saturday, they pass out bread and soymilk to the homeless who won't come into the soup kitchen.  I was amazed that the people we served were of all ages...young and old, and were all clean and neat.  The Koreans are very aware of the way they dress!  Some are housed in a mission-type accommodation and are required to do small jobs, learn job skills, and attend church. 

That evening, there was a adoptee gathering.  On my way (this is for my bike riding friends), I saw this stencil on the bike lane.  So, I guess they want the people with children to walks in the path of the bikes.  It's pretty funny.  There are several areas with bike paths...but many more pedestrians than cyclists, so it's pretty dangerous to ride a bike in Seoul...except along the river where there are pedestrian paths AND bike paths.

Every day I meet new adoptees that have returned to Seoul to look for their birth families, live and work in Seoul, learn about their heritage.   It's interesting to hear their stories...each so different, yet so similar.  It's really amazing.  Just this weekend, I've met another adoptee from Iowa and another from Florida.  We always get strange looks in the subway because we all look Korean, but we're all chatting on in English.  It's kinda funny. 

The weather has cleared and it has been beautiful for the last two days.  I hope the warm weather stays.  I'm totally OVER the cold weather.  Today the adoptees had a picnic in Olympic Park.  It was the park built for the 1988 Olympics.  The park is absolutely beautiful, has a huge sculpture garden with over 200 amazing sculptures from artists all around the globe.  There were bikers, rollerbladers, families, couples, people throwing frisbee, flying kites, playing catch, playing soccer...the residents of Seoul are definitely getting their money's worth out o the park.  There are fountains, venues for concerts, and then all the arenas are still in place and are used for various sporting events and are available for rental as well.  There were also park police.  The park police tell people to not throw the ball so hard, so no one will get hurt, they also chase you out of areas that would make really great pictures.  In fact, we saw one group of people taking pictures with a "lookout" to watch for the park police.  It was pretty funny. 

After the picnic, we rode the subway over to Bongeunsa Temple, known as the country's "leading temple."  It has lush gardens, over 19 buildings on the property, beautiful statues and ponds.  There is even a place where spring water comes up and people drink from the spring (using public cups).  It's not very sanitary, but really interesting.

I'm still really enjoying Korea.  I hope to see more of the country soon.  I'd like to go to Jeju Island (which is just off the southern coast), and perhaps the east or west coasts.  I'm learning new words every day, and am actually working on my Korean language with a woman who wants to practice her English.  The structure of English is completely opposite from Korean, so it's definitely a challenge.

Nearing the 1/2 way point of my trip.  It's really just flying by!  I feel so fortunate to be here.  Thank you to all who helped make it possible, and a HUGE thank you to John for taking care of the inn while I am gone.   Love you, honey.