Backpacking

Hiking Sorak Mt. was a glorious and extremely challenging experience. At times I thought no way on earth can I go another step and then I did. Yet, for how challenging it was we were able to finnish the various sections faster than the map predicted for us :)

Ultimately the purpose was to look over the places we would be bringing the campers and make final lodging plans and reservations, and we had some great success!

I have to comment on how breathtaking it was to climb and at every turn behold a new sene of wonder and hugeness. The snow and ice had its own hand in creating a whole new kind of hiking experience. The snow gave the landscape beauty and mystery and at the same time had a unique effect on our hiking. I used spiky shoes straps for grip on the snow and was often challenged by the slipperiness of the well packed down snow from the many climbers who proceeded us. Yet, on the way down the mountain i was pleasantly surprised and mostly delighted to find the snow a great moving agent. Me and the other leaders would take to our bums and slide down the steep slopes. At some points I was a little afraid for my life. It didn't take long to build up some good speed and at points stopping took all our energy.

Obviously I made it alive and no worse the wear, but to be honest I was quite soar from the whole trip for a good two days!

Pictures of our Pre-Backpacking Trip

More Pictures

Some of the Raw Ingredients and Part of the Preparation

Kimchi

Step 1 - Prepare Cabbage
First cut the cabbage in half and cut away and remove all bad outer leaves/sections as well as the stem if there is any remaining. Next cut the cabbage just one to two inches right down the center from the stem area.

Step 2 - Soak Cabbage
Wash the cabbage and make ready the salt bath. Salt bath consists of water and lots of salt (salt to taste and beyond). Once prepared put cabbage into salt bath and let sit 8-10 hours over night works as well maybe even better because no real waiting is involved. Cabbage is done soaking when it is nice and flexible all the way through and a little slimy feeling.

Step 3 - Wash Cabbage
If making large quantities, the three bucket system works well dunking and rinsing one cabbage at a time through a series of baths and laying it out that the water might drain out. If only interested in making small amounts feel free to be creative. The main idea is to remove the salt from the outside while keeping the flavor inside. The fleshy part of the cabbage should taste pleasantly salty once washed/drained.

Step 4 - Make the Spicy Sauce!
This is a high security portion and ultimately nothing is fixed so make your own concoction and enjoy. For the Kimchi we make the sauce consisted of radish cut in strips, pepper powder, water, vinegar, fermenting/yeasty fish guts, green onions, garlic, salt, onion, various greenery and more pepper powder. Again stir and season to taste whatever that might mean to you. It should taste maybe a little hotter than you would normally eat and have a smell that could clear the room. Unless of course you like the smell.

Step 5 - Sauce the Cabbage
Now take your sauce and generously coat each layer of the cabbage leaves until you have a reddish tent and general mess about the whole thing. Now wrap the longer leaves around and form into a tight ball. Put into an air tight container root side down in order for all the saucy stuff to soak into the whole thing properly. If you make enough the sauce will end up pretty much everywhere so be careful!

Step 5 - Refrigerate the Cabbage
If you desire to make your refrigerator smell like Kimchi, place the container inside it and in eat as desired. Note as well that the longer one waits to devour the delicacy the better it tastes. It is recommended to wait at least three months for a deeper taste. Also note that if you do not wish your refrigerator and all its contents there in to smell and potentially taste of Kimchi it might be best to find a location where you could bury it in a earthen jar. Burry the jar up to the top and no deeper.

Step 6 - Eat the Kimchi
You now have some delicious kimchi to eat as a side dish for breakfast, lunch and dinner :) O yeah, it works well to take sizers and cut the kimchi into smaller sections for more comfortable eating when the time comes. Enjoy!

Pictures to Follow...

I have a Working Phone

Just this afternoon, my co-worker Daeboum helped me to complete the process of making a bank account and getting my cell phone service up and running!

here is my phone that just ran out of batteries!

On the way back from Techno Mart where we did our business we stopped by a food stand and purchased some warm pancake type things and they were uber good. They were cooked fresh right in front of us and i asked if it was normal to make them fresh even though they had some ready on the side and learned that the lady who was cooking them was making sure they would be fresh for me! that was nice and they were good :)

The Office

I am here at my office, doing a few odds and ends things and had some time so figured I could give an update. All has been going well, yesterday I was much more successful on my trip home after church. I am enjoying the small group that is part of SamIl Church, which I plan on calling my home church for my time in Korea.

Approximately 16 thousand people attend this church and I think more than 80% of the members are under 35 years old! Yet I have been impressed with the atmosphere and feel it is a place i will be able to call home.

This is me at the office, the back ground is the window looking out over the front part of the office.

For some reason the rest of the office pictures are not coming up as available for me to post here, so you all will just have to be left in suspense about what the rest of the office looks like.

My First Travel Adventure

This past Sunday I went to Samil church in Seoul. It was really quite pleasant and though the church is made up of 20,000 members the international service was quite pleasant and very welcoming. I went with Sang and because he had some school stuff to see to I offered to take myself home. In my over confident state I began my journey home. Now while South Korea is a small country it still tends to take a long time to go anywhere. I was looking at about at hour and a half trip on the subway/train and another 20 min walk. On the way to church we only transferred once and I felt it wouldn't be that hard to figure it out. As i walked into the station i was having trouble remembering which way Sang told me not to go when somebody spoke my name.
"Sarah, over here!", there was one of the Americans who i meet at the church service and a Chinese friend was with him.  He asked where I was going and proceeded to help me find the best route to take an a miniature map he had. We finally settled on a route and I thanked him and his friend before I set off.
I was happily settled on a train a few minutes latter and noting each stop that I was indeed going the right way and counting down the stops until my transfer. At this point i did notice that the line I wanted next was light blue and their where two of them, but I decided to go with the original plan and transferred at the designated stop and got on the train for Dokso (the region i live in). The plan was to wait and get off the stop after Dokso station and I would simply have to find my way by walking from there.
unfortunately, the train i got on was stopping at Dokso. I had no choice but to get off and was fortunate in the fact that I had been to this station before and knew where the bus stop was a had a good idea about what number buses to look for. I soon spotted a 99-2 bus, which is the number for a local bus that goes right past my apparent. I was in luck and I was on my way. yet again unfortunately this was the wrong 99-2 as i learned latter and soon found myself alone on the bus and feeling like I was in the wrong place. The bus driver said something to me and open the bus door which I figured was a sign for me to make my exit. There I was, no idea which way was home, with no way of communicating to anybody who could help me, except of-course God and we were in consultation continually. I decided fairly quickly to start walking and asked God which direction to go and figured the sooner I begin the sooner I get home.
After a few min of walking I noticed of a stream and a ravine to my left. The idea dawned on me that the stream is probably going to the Han River and my apartment is fairly close to the river! I made sure I knew which way the steam was going and headed off in that direction. As soon as I found a way to descend to the stream i did. to many this stream would be considered more of a river but in comparison to the Han River, it is a stream. I thanked God for the inspiration of the stream as I walked and after about a mile found the river which I was able to recognize which way to go because I had taken a walk along it just the day before. I was also grateful for the path that I was lead on because it was the quietest and least traveled road I probably could have gone. I sometimes find it unnerving the looks i get from unsuspecting koreans finding a lone white girl on the street and enjoyed not only the quiet but the beauty I found along the river. I walked about 3 miles and was happy to make it home safe and sound.

Currently I am over Russia (or near it) and only a few long hours away from my final destination Inchon Seoul, South Korea! I have many unknowns in my life, and in the year to come but am grateful for all of my family and friends who are supporting me in prayer and staying in contact through this blog and other means :)

Hopefully my next entry will be more entertaining, but for now I am at least putting down some thoughts and hope you are able to get something out of this post.

Perspective is a great word. As i fly around the globe my view and my perspective are altered in a big way. In the past few years this word "perspective" has taken on new depth and meaning. Beginning with a hurtful and disappointing job experience as a high school RA/Cook my Junior year, to my recent stay in Ely MN, i have a whole new outlook on the concept of a better perspective. Yes, not just different, a better perspective. When all that we know as humans is this world and the rules we are governed by, we miss out. We miss out on life and living to the fullest, we miss out on the reality or realm if you will, where Jesus wants to meet us, we miss out on true love and compassion that sees beyond ourselves.

Any-who, a big part of my perspective shift awareness, is thanks to the many Bald Eagles that God has brought into my life and the little lessons they have taught and how they continue to remind me that Gods perspective is indeed not the same as mine. Their is a lot of "cool" background and details to all the Eagle sightings and various moments I have caught on memory, but for your sake and mine I will just tell the most recent instance.

As i was leaving Ely on my way to the Twin-cites, a movement on the side of the road caught my eye. I look and what do I see but a huge Bald Eagle hunching protectively over some road kill. I noticed the blood staining its beak and the white feathers near the beak and i was disgusted. First I was disgusted with the general youkyness of eating road kill, but it didn't take long until a deeper disgust won out. I was revolted by the idea that such a majestic animal as a Bald Eagle could be stooping to scavenging, when it was capable of so much more!

This mental picture has stuck fast in my head and has had a lot to teach me as far as myself, others and life in general. I personally may be tempted to go the easy way, however, I was made for more and wont really be living unless i walk out in faith and trust that God has better for me. Some of you reading this may know the Enoch the Eagle story, feel free to draw from that as well :) This picture speaks of learning to spiritually feed oneself, of the reality that you and i may know someone is better than what they are surrounding themselves, it recognizes that we all have the choice in our lives and gives us hope. At any moment that Bald eagle could realize, remember, learn that it is meant for greater things. Its meant for adventure, for the excitement of life, its meant to feel the wind in its wings and dive head long towards the earth, its meant to use its gifts and talents.