Three Months in Korea

If I may digress for a moment and do a quick comparison of Spanish and Korean...

There are several students at the school from Korea, and there's even a Korean restaurnt in town. I lived in Korea for 2 years (from 1990 to 1992) and somehow managed to learn enough korean to speak with relative efficiency, but certainly not fluency. It was a great time and maybe the subject of another blog (or not).

However, as I'm sitting in class... or eating dinner with my house mom... or shopping in the stores... or asking directions... or doing my homework... etc...

I can't help but think back to my first week in Korea. I had already "studied" Korean at the MTC for 8ish weeks and yet I couldn't understand squat - let alone make any sort of meaningful contribution to conversations. I still rememeber (as a missionary) sitting in a house while "we" were teaching a Korean college student. I was lost beyond belief as the discussion unfolded around me and equally bored because I could do nothing but pray for the best from our visit. I think I might have said "I'm from New York and I have 5 people in my family." That experience happend over and over for the first few months. I learned that language "poco a poco" and enventually could hold me own.

Anyhow, after one week I'm able to carry on conversations and even tell stories to my teacher about life in America, my experiences walking around the city, even my unexpected nuptials. Heck, we occasionally even talk about politics and ecoconomics in class. I think that I'm able to speak Spanish about as well as I could after being IN Korea for 3-4 months. The difference is incredible.

I'm missing all sorts of tences, and I have to look up some pretty obvious words, but I can carry on without being completely flustered and stopped at every corner. It's really cool!

On the other hand, I have noticed that I'm not terribly talkative with people in Spanish because I don't have a "topic" to make me talk. I am very adept at travelling in countries where I don't speak the language and so I've learned to survive very easily without language. I'm trying to talk more, but even so... The advantage I had in Korea of having the assignments of a missionary to push me to talk and practice are aspects of this experinece that I'm having to substitute.

Plus, In Korea - I had but one person with whom I could speak english - Elder Kirk Niceler. Here in Antigua, there are english speakers everywhere (from all over the globe: Holland, Sweeden, Montreal, Chicago, Philladelphia, California, etc...).

Photos (No Photos)

Someone somewhere is probably screaming, "Where are the photos Dave?" And I'll get some posted eventually. It turns out it's more difficult that I'd expected to upload photos (ie I have to do it one at a time and that's a very tedious process when I already have 264).

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I´ve posted a few throughout the blog. More later.

dave

I got married!

The school took a minibus-load of us out to a nearby Pueblo to see the Mayan culture in action. In was really a visit to a store run by and for the indigenous artisans, but I'm ok with that. They offer a brief overview of customs, clothes, food and ceremonies as a learning experience. They then offer to sell you tons of stuff after the presentation is over. They weren't overly pushy, so I wasn't put-off by the trade-off. (I'm willing to NOT buy things and they were still willing to teach me the basics of their culture and history). One of the girls in the group didn't like how comercialized it was. I get her point, but I didn't mind (I'm kinda used to it though, since it was similar throughout the middle east).

They explained the time and methods of their hand sewing/weaving to create some beautiful textiles, clothes, etc... On of the adminitrators from our school also talked a while about the history of the indigenous peoples and their place in Guatemalan society. These mini-lectures are superficial, but that's about all I can handle anyhow since they're in Spanish. It's actually quite cool to realize that I'm understanding more and more.

[A quick aside... After the field trip to the , some of us went back to the free dance place. This time (more men than women). I just thought I'd throw that out there... before continuing with the Pueblo story.]

So, at the Pueblo - they explained various things about the artistic qualities of their products, etc... and then (partly to entertain and partly to educate) they had several volunteers from the class dress up and re-enact their traditional wedding ceremony.

Well... you see... I was the only guy in the group (aside form the guy from the school), so you guessed it: I got married yesterday! It was all pretty sudden. I think I met my bride-to-be on the bus on the way to the ceremony, and I'm pretty sure her name is/was Lucy. By the time things were done, she was working in the house and I was a field hand and she was caring for our first child (and getting ready to handle 3 or 4 more if need be). And to think I spent all that time actually "dating" to find a wife when all it takes is a short ride in a minibus in Guatemala!

I think that secures it. I'm done dating. Soooooo not worth it. Far too much effort and no payoff. From now on... I'm a mini-bus guy!

My Journal

An entry from my "real" journal...

So I've been blogging my trip online. I'm a bit frustrated by that process actually. Not many people look at it - which is good. In reality, i don't like my writing style whe I write under the time crunch of the internet cafe login fees. I'm also realizing that it's difficult to write a blog for such a varried audience. I invited friends, family, old aquaintances and cowokers to view it. So, I'm writing to married & single, old & young, religious (LDS and other) & non-religious, seasoned travers & and unadventurous alike.

So anyhow, I'm not sure what to write or what will actually be of interest to people. A true journal would read differently, but I'm not just writing for myself.

Also, in trying to explain what I'm seeing and doing, I'm realizing that I really don't know what I'm seeing (or rather "about" what I'm seeing). Kathryn's log was so engaging and I feel like mine is just a random hodge-podge. It's hard to say really.

I tend to write some pretty good stuff when I take the time to write and fine-tune and target a specific audience. I think I just need to find my voice and my audinence.

I've really enjoyed this trip thus far. The first week was fun, surprising, enlightening, relaxing and more.

I feel like I'm learning Spanish pretty quick, but I also feel like 10 weeks won't be enough. Of my 6 weeks in Guatemala, 1 is already gone. I can't tell if I'll learn faster or slower as time passes. You know, I don't know the shape of my Spanish learning curve.

Travel-wise, I like having a home-base and a not-so-rushed-schedule. On many of my prvious trips I've been cramming to fit things in. Granted, the danger of having 6 weeks is that I'll get complacent... and end up cramming at the end. Unlikely, but still a possibility.

At church today, Tyler called Tamerindo, "Tamagringo." I'm afraid I may not enjoy it as much as hoped. Granted, i've known all along that there's less "culture" there but more "fun." So, after intense Spanish here, I'll continue there with the added bonus of learning to surf and amazing natural wonders. So, I guess I'm "aware" more than "worried!"

I've been considering if/how I might extend this trip. Sure, I haven't even been gone a full week... but still: for only $25 I can change my flights and there's so much great stuff to see and places to go. Tyler outlined a solid week of potential travels in eastern Costa Rica as well as Panama. Plus, there are plenty of places here in Guatemala I might not get to while I'm in school. Anyhow, it's something to think about. As it is, I go home on 5/20.

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Anyhow, that aws a entry in my perosnal entry. I think it covers some stuff in plain enough language that it's worth including in the blog. I'm still trying to figure out what/how to write for the internet audience, and I was a bit bummed by what I'd written so far. So there. The entries will continue. Including info about native Mayans, more dance classes and people I'm meeting. But, for now - I'm late for dinner and I have to get home.

dave