This was a very interesting weekend for me...it definitely had its ups and downs, but overall, it was quite a success. On Saturday afternoon, I met Shannon and Mi-yeon in Gangnam. We went to an area nearby, that's mainly French-speaking. We went to a bakery for lunch called Paris Croissant. We ordered our sandwiches and drinks, and had our lunch on the terrace. Fancy, I know. :) It was so wonderful. We had great conversation and great food. This particular bakery imported all their flour directly from France, so this was definitely the real deal. It was perfect.
When we finished, we headed back to Gangnam to meet up with our other friends. Our church, New Harvest, was hosting a proper Thanksgiving dinner for all of us U.S.A. foreigners...it was great!! I invited one of my Korean co-workers, Jessica, to join us. Our group was Shannon, Jessica, Reuel, Mi-yeon, Michelle, and I. The church had ordered 27 turkeys...and had them flown in from California! The sides were mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans, stuffing, cranberry sauce, bread, and two kinds of pie: apple and pumpkin. It made our hearts so happy. As difficult as it is to be away from family on big holidays like Thanksgiving, being surrounded by our church family definitely helped! After we finished eating, there was a talent show, put on by people from our congregation. There was singing, piano-playing, and even...a rap-off! Yes. It was perfect.
After our Thanksgiving dinner, our group wasn't quite ready to go home yet, so we decided to go to a cafe and have some coffee and gelato. It was a great way to end our night! Jessica had a wonderful time, too, so I was really happy about that! She said it was her first Thanksgiving experience, and she was so happy she was invited. :)
We all parted ways and headed home. I had to take two buses home...I rode on the first bus, and was waiting to get off the bus to transfer to the second one. This is when my weekend went downhill. There was a teenager standing in front of me, then there was me, and then a young Korean man about my age behind me. We all swiped our cards and were waiting for the bus to stop. The second the doors started opening, the man behind me started pushing me. I didn't want to run into the girl in front of me, so I planted my feet. She was able to get off, and the guy kept pushing. I ended up falling down the stairs, out of the bus, and landed on my face on the concrete. The man didn't say anything to me! He just kept walking to the bus stop as if nothing happened!!
Here's the thing: people in Korea are very impatient and pushy. I was told when I got here that Korean people bump into one another all the time, and don't say sorry. It's just part of the culture. They're always in a rush to get somewhere, and they're only looking out for themselves. I've noticed this in Korea, and still don't appreciate it. It's one thing that I don't particularly care for about living here. Anyway, a taxi driver sitting at the bus stop happened to see the whole thing, so he got out of his taxi and ran over and started yelling at the man who pushed me. The man didn't even make eye contact with him...he just didn't care. He just needed to catch his own bus. The taxi driver was kind enough to drive me home, so I didn't have to wait for the next bus. He spoke really good English, so I knew that Someone was looking out for me!! He drove me all the way home, and then wouldn't accept any money from me. What an angel. I'm so blessed that he was there to help, and couldn't have been more relieved for the free ride home.
So, my Saturday night ended with me having some scrapes and bruises, and a pretty cut under my right eye. Not the way I wanted to end the day, but oh well...Luckily, my Sunday made up for it :)
This morning, Shannon, Reuel, Michelle, Mi-yeon, Johnny, and I all met in Gangnam for Dos Tacos. We went to church, and then hung out in the coffee shop...as usual. When Shannon got out of her small group, we headed to Insa-dong for some dinner. I had really yummy soup!! It was perfect, since it's absolutely FREEZING outside now!! I had heard of the soup, but had never been able to try it. It was delicious. After we finished dinner, we went to a coffee shop to stay warm while we waited for Reuel to meet us. When she got there, we walked down the street to the annual Lantern Festival. There's a stream that runs down the middle of one of the roads, and in the river, they put a bunch of hand-made lanterns and light them up. It was so fun!! They had some traditional lanterns, and then more modern ones like superheroes and the Statue of Liberty?? ... :) Most of the lanterns are life-sized, so it was pretty cool. When we finished walking down the bank of the river, we decided to go to Seoul Station. The night was still young, and we still wanted to hang out. Shannon headed home, so Reuel, Mi-yeon, Johnny, and I all went to Seoul Station together. We hung out a bit longer and then headed home ourselves.
I got home around 12:30am, which is surprisingly early, considering it was the weekend. My weekend was packed once again, but it was awesome as usual!! While my weekend was crazy...this is what I have to say:
I don't appreciate impatient people who push people off of buses...but in light of Thanksgiving, I'd like to say this:
I'm thankful for taxi drivers who go out of their way to help someone in need, especially a foreigner. I'm so thankful for him. :)
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