I took a nice big dose of NyQuil last night (technically this morning, as it was about 1:45 am) and wound up sleeping until 2:00 pm today! I was shocked, since I have been getting up by 8:00 every morning since I moved to Korea. I was a little bummed at losing so much of my Saturday, but the extra sleep was probably good for my body.
After a tasty breakfast of French toast (I make the best French toast ever, by the way), I did some light cleaning. Then I walked over to Lotte (a grocery store) to meet my friend Kristin, a fellow Christian. The two of us went to the only English church service in Gyeongju, which is held at 3:30 pm on Saturdays at a very attractive Presbyterian church downtown. Since it's taken me forever to find out where to go, this was my first service.
Koreans, at least those I have met, are friendly, wonderful people. The Christian Koreans are about twice as friendly and wonderful, which I did not think would be humanly possible. JL Church has a charming custom for welcoming visitors: I was asked to stand while the church sang a blessing to me. Then the pastor, Pastor Baek, came and spoke about his recent visit to Cambodia while one of the women translated (Pastor Baek doesn't speak very much English). The sermon was delivered by an American man who teaches at one of the universities here. It wasn't terribly insightful, but it wasn't bad either. I guess I'm a bit spoiled after the terrific pastor I had back home, as well as some of the Bible classes I took in college.
After the service was over, there was food and fellowship. Once again I was asked to stand so that the members could sing another song of blessing to me. Then I got to blow out a candle on a stack of cakes. Everyone was eager to talk to me, so I had a hard time getting to eat any of the delicious food! I met several unbelievably sweet little girls, whom I'm looking forward to getting to talk to more in the future. I always liked kids, but now that I'm a teacher, I'm getting positively addicted to them! Especially these darling Korean children.
I also got a chance to talk to all of the adults who were there. There were probably about twenty people there, so it was easy to get to meet everyone. Pastor Baek told me a bit more about his trip to Cambodia, which was really interesting. I wish I spoke Korean so that I could have heard even more. He told me that he and his wife were served cooked spiders, a popular Cambodian dish, and that he only ate a leg, but his wife ate all that she was served. He then told her not to kiss him! I'm looking forward to getting to know all of these wonderful new friends better in the future. That's one of the great things about being a Christian - you meet people all over the place that you have an instant bond with because you share something so special.
After church, Kristin and I decided to do some shopping downtown. I was feeling pretty lousy, but I decided to ignore it. I found three adorable new tops, which will be great for the warm weather that is upon us. Clothes are inexpensive here, and there are tons of really cute styles to be had. Kristin and I decided to go for coffee, so we tried out a neat little place where I had a fantastic cafe mocha. Koreans have definitely mastered the art of delicious coffee. After we finished our coffees, Kristin showed me a terrific inexpensive Asian food store, where I got a few new mixes to try. Then we went to another coffee place to join several of our friends.
The eight of us spent some time engrossed in conversation, and then we went to Pizza Bingo, which sells amazing pizza, to pick up dinner. Clare, one of my many new friends, is leaving next week, so there was a going away party for her tonight. I am really bummed that her contract is up, as she's such a fun person to hang out with.
Unfortunately, by the time we got to Clare's, I was feeling a lot worse. My face and neck were hurting so much that I could barely keep from crying. After finishing my pizza, I started to feel quite nauseated as well. I decided that the best thing for me to do would be to go back home, so I said my goodbyes and took a cab back. And not a moment too soon, either. I'll spare the gory details, but let's just say this definitely is not just a cold.
I'm a little better now, but still miserable. I heated up my hot compress, which is helping the pain, and I took some Vicodin, which is also helping. I'm not running a fever anymore, but I am definitely getting worse. If I'm not better by Monday, I think I'm going to let Cate take me to a doctor.
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