Church... oh and New Years (the chinese one... :-)

Most weeks here we have to leave for church at 9:30 and one of our friends picks us up and drives us the hour to our church. Then our other friend Issac and His wife Ruth pick us up, and bring us home, sometimes directly and sometimes we stop by a large store called 이 마 트 (E- Mart, enable your language controls on Firefox to include Korean and you can see the things we type that have Korean). However, this week was a little different.... (it's always a little different here :-).
We went to a different church with Issac and Ruth. Everyone had left town to visit their families for the Chinese New Year. So, we visited this church. We slid into the back of the church a little late. No one really seemed to notice. But they did! After the church pastors came up to us and were introducing themselves and asked to have lunch with us, then coffee and tea. They hadn't had many foreign visitors come before. We meet the pastor (whom were told that His daughter was a friend of Ruth). Then we sat and ate, and drank and talked to the church people (this church was about 5,000-6,000 people we were told).
A side note for everyone. This church's name translated means church on a hill. They were a larger church than the one we normally go to. This church was all in Korean, so we didn't understand much. They sang hymns (they all have hymn books, usually attached to their Bibles). They also had a big heart for sending people where they were called, if you know what I mean?
While talking to the pastors of the church we were asked to come back the next week and perform a song during the offering. We agreed and we are on our way to playing in front of this large church next Sunday. Without us knowing they invited us to breakfast the next morning, to celebrate the Chinese New Year. This was a great honor because only family celebrate these things together (it's like Christmas only they have that holiday too).
This morning we went to the breakfast which was a huge dinner in actuality. The food was mondu and rice cake soup, crab meat, rice wraps, beef, octopus, and many other things, for just breakfast. The meal was good, except the octopus which has an awkward texture being that we ate the tenticals! Then we were served coffee (they love their instant coffee) and tea. After this they brought out huge platters of giant fruits, I have never seen this many giant strawberries before, they dwarf ours in the states for sure. They also taste much better than fruits in the states (most fruits in the states are so processed they probably should not be called fruits anymore (unless thier from your backyard)... Then we were served chocolates and icecream.
After this we had a ceremony where you bow before the eldest relative and they bless you for the coming year. This was pretty fun for Sarah and I as we got to join in with everyone else. we now have offically been blessed for the Chinese New Year.

We find ourselves quite happy here with all of these changing events. We honestly never had a clue what might happen on a given day. Our Korean is improving, we can read most signs, and we are picking up some phrases. The weather here is still freezing. We have been blessed with some snow, that blankets the ground and is gone.

That is all from me today,
be blessed
-mike n sarah

Korea, why?

This is our first post.
We have been living here in Korea for a little under a month now. This is a place one can actually forget that you are not in the United States. That is until you find yourself looking down on most people and you don't have a clue what they are saying.
First things first, we need to be clear, we came to Korea because our Father called us to. Like He called us to get married and to follow Him wherever He calls. So with that said, I hope it is clear that we didn't come because of our need for money, or a good job, or because we like to travel.
We just simply are following what we have been told.
We have already felt His blessing in so many ways for having come here. Namely, we have more money coming in than we had thought in the first place, we have a 3 bedroom apartment, with full kitchen. We are being hosted by the most amazing couples. Our stay here from day one seems to e very good.

There are alot of things we could say, but our time is something that is a bit limited.
so please feel free to comment and even ask about Korea and we will hopefully answer you.

I will leave you with one story that hopefully will entertain you.
There are many cars here in Korea. There are many people. There are many apartments. There are not so many parking spots. So, when you look out the window, everyone, everyone is double parked. It's crazy! So, we have been wondering, how do people get out if they are double parked?
We experienced the answer the other day. While walking to work, we saw a woman put her 2 kids into her car, then push the car that was blocking her in out of the way! everyone here parks in Neutral! If you want out, just push the cars and you are set!

Well, I hope this posting finds you well,
sincerely, The Rileys

-mike