The Korea Chronicles: My Makeshift Thanksgiving and Other Stuff

On Sunday, Ju Yul came to visit me. We went to church in my Chuncheon ward. (Ju Yul knew one of the Korean missionaries, actually. But that's not super surprising, because the church is fairly small in Korea--apparently everyone knows everyone.)

I got to play the piano in sacrament meeting! That was fun. It was harder than I thought it would be, though, trying to keep time to Korean words and off-key voices. Also, good thing I can read Korean well enough that I could tell what verse they were on...

Also on Sunday, a new Korean member was confirmed. I was lucky enough that I actually went to her baptism on Saturday night! In attendance were the bishop and his wife and daughter, 6 elder missionaries, 4 sisters, 2 members of the ward, a friend or two, and me. The bishop said it was the biggest turnout for a baptism he's ever seen in the ward. The girl who was baptized was first introduced to the Gospel when she attended the free English classes the missionaries offer. What an awesome missionary tool!

Anyway, it was so neat to be there to support her and witness her baptism. It was a very spiritual experience, like any convert baptism. And the missionaries sang Come Thou Fount in Korean, which was beautiful. But then they sang the last verse in English and I was tearing up, like major big time.

Oh, and on Sunday, the bishop told me that the new member is going to be called to play the piano. So I'm scheduled to give her a little lesson this Friday night so she can learn some hymns. I'm excited. :)

When Ju Yul and I left church, this is what it looked like outside:

SNOW! And that's the awesome Christmas tree in Myeondong with an awesome giant cross that almost dwarfs the tree.

Poor Ju Yul. When he offered to come visit and I suggested we make an American Thanksgiving dinner, he had no idea what he was signing up for. We cooked and baked for hours...

While we were making and rolling pie crust, Ju Yul helped me practice some Korean:

Mini pumpkin pies in muffin tins because Korea apparently doesn't believe in pies:

(The one with a hole in the top is because I was taste-testing...and liked it so much that I kept taste-testing...)

A rotisserie chicken because Korea doesn't believe in turkeys:

Ahh, I love my convection oven so much.

I used my Jeju hallabong honey to marinate and glaze the bird. I cooked the chicken too long, so it was a little dry. But with some additional Jeju honey on top, it was delicious!

Mm. Garlic mashed potatoes with the secret ingredient (cream cheese). Rolls from Paris Baguette. And...I forgot to buy/make any sort of vegetable. Oops. But, overall, a pretty decent Thanksgiving meal. :)