We left Luther University to eat Lunch at Matt Wasmund’s house in Seoul after our debriefing with John the evangelist and Pastor Yun. When we arrived at Seoul Station, we met Matt and his two daughters, Lily and Olivia, to walk to their house. The girls were adorable. They are 6 and 4, respectively. They’re full of energy and happiness. They showed us their room, danced for us, and read some books to just name a few things. At Matt’s house, Didi, Matt’s wife, prepared a wonderful meal. Then we went to Changdugong to see the secret garden. Unfortunately we were too late and not able be in an English tour. So we just looked around the palace grounds. The architecture and color scheme was similar to other palaces that we have see. Then we went to Insadong, the shopping/souvenir district of Seoul. We all picked up some sweet things. People got paintings, clothes (shirts, dresses), food dishes and utensils, and a bunch of other cool items. Then we took the subway back to Nick’s and Anna’s apartment.
By Benjamin Behrendt
Today, the group split up. After a walk in the park, a couple of us decided to go to Seoul to see if we could see the Secret Garden at the Changdugong Palace, while the others decided to stay at Nick and Anne’s apartment and relax a little. We got to Seoul with a little extra time before the tour, so we went to a very beautiful Buddhist temple that had three giant gold replicas. We went to the Garden afterwards. It wasn’t exactly what I expected – I think I’m too used to Western gardens. There were a lot of ponds with pagodas, and a two story library that had beautiful little purple flowers growing along its bamboo fence. It was a huge garden – the tour lasted an hour and a half, and then it took 20 minutes to walk back out. Afterwards, we went to the Jongmyo Shrine. This is where all of the emperors and empresses of Korea are remembered. We caught the tail end of a tae kwon do tournament, which was very exciting. We caught a bus back just in time to meet Anna and the rest of the group at a restaurant; we decided to take their family out as a last thank you for everything they’ve done for us. We were so blessed to have been able to stay with them these past two weeks; they did so much for us and we will never forget them or their kindness.
We also just celebrated Rebecca’s birthday with a lovely chocolate cake. She’s heading for China tomorrow, and I think we’ll all miss her very much. She’ll be in our hearts and our prayers, and I hope she’ll be in yours, as well.
The rest of us, though, are heading back to America! We’re taking off for the airport at 6 AM. Please pray for us on our way back home. It was a wonderful trip, and we hope the ending will be as well, though a little bittersweet.
We’ll see you soon!
-Rachel
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