Getting Home and Settling In

  This is my first post since getting back and I really have put it off.  Because comprehensive details on my trip in Korea and flight back to Seattle would take quite some time and energy to write I think I shall summarize it instead.  I arrived in Korea at approximately oh five hundred hours with little more than an hour of sleep under my eyelids over the previous 24 hour period.  I hit the ground running and didn't get any more sleep until the evening of the same day that I arrived.  After dropping all our stuff off at the Oetman's and then left to meet up with our tour guides for the day Matthew and Sang Won.  It was Sang Won's birthday that day so we went to an amusement part called Lotte World.  It's was funky, freaky, and really fun.  I went on a couple rides and some roller coasters multiple times.  We waited in line for one ride that they said Kevin couldn't go on because he was too tall.  I ate octopus or squid, I'm not sure which.  And it was an hour long train ride to and from the park.  The craziest part about that was that we didn't even leave Seoul after riding the train for miles and miles and minutes and minutes.  On Saturday we went out to lunch with a group of Koreans from the church.  We had plans to do things but the inclement weather changed them for us.  On Sunday we had a great time at Brother Oetman's church and the message that he preached was really great about patience from James chapter 5.  After church we had a big lunch together with the whole church, according to Korean custom.  I gobbled down the seaweed, broth, rice, beef, and shrimp with their shells and legs still on like it was my favorite food.  All the Koreans around were impressed.  I even liked the kim chi.  One girl went to the corner store nearby and got Kevin some chips and Pepsi.  On Sunday afternoon we played basketball with a young Korean guy named Joshua.  I accidentally elbowed him in the face, broke his glasses, and scratched his cheek.  He insisted he was okay.  Then we thought we'd ask the people playing soccer if we could join them, but when we saw that it looked like and organized game we resigned ourselves to just watching.  On Monday I went to Starbucks for the first time in ten months.  After I got my drink I bought some souvenir cups and they gave me free drinks with each cup.  I got a second drink for myself and a second for Kevin, my first refunded, and two free drink coupons that had to be used in Korea.  With the coupons we went again later after shopping.  Besides Starbucks we did a lot of shopping with Matthew and went to the Namsan Tower which overlooks Seoul from a hilltop.    It was an amazing view and we didn't even have to climb the bagillion stairs to get there.  After agonizing over what to get for each of my family members I was done and very tired.  On >Tuesday we left for Seattle.  Customs and baggage claim, blah blah blah, customs again in Seattle, blah blah blah.

Boy did it feel good to be back in the States.  We flew from Incheon at 6:30 Tuesday afternoon and arrived in Seattle 12:30 Tuesday midday.  I travelled back in time!  Since I only slept a few hours on the flight, and very poorly I might add, it's almost needless that I say I was really tired when I got back to America.  But did we go home?  No, of course not, we went to Pike's Place Starbucks and a restaurant.  Then we walked through the market and bought Mom flowers.  All in all getting back home was a great experience I won't soon forget.

Since I've been home things have been a little slower, although I'm not just sitting around on my duff.  I spent the first couple of days getting everything put away, which wasn't easy since all my storage space had been commandeered.  After that I fixed my bike, which had gone into disrepair, and I worked on my car, which had gone into disrepair.  Since then I've tried a couple things that I'd hoped would get it going but nothing has worked.  Just this evening I had it towed to someone who should be able to help me fix it.  Then, last weekend, we went camping for three days.  Everyone was just so busy with things that I ended up with all the hard work right before we left.  Camping was awesome.  I was able to chill and relax almost whenever I wanted.  I also found that I can still play Ultimate Frisbee.  We played only once which was kind of a bummer, but it was hot and our field was only so-so.  We had a super great game and everyone was included; this was no elitist frisbee game.  I also played disc golf and found that I still stunk at that just as bad or worse than when I left.  We drove in for church on Sunday and Adam and I sung a special music and James played his viola for and offertory.  They liked our song so much they asked us to sing it again for the evening service.  We drove back for evening church and I also gave a testimony of my time in Mongolia.  Monday we came home, then I started work on our house.  It needs to be painted and re-roofed, but before that can happen the places of peeling paint need to be scraped.  It need it most on the south side where it gets direct sun exposure all the time.  The only problem with that is that while I work on it I'm getting a lot of direct sun exposure too.  I was using sunscreen but I forgot to put it on my legs so now my calves are burned really badly.  Ouch.  Next week I'm going to paint trim with Mr. Martin then I think we're going to start primering our house towards the end of the week.

John

Packing Slacking

This is my final week in UB, I have few things planned before heading out.  I still need to shop around for a few things, do laundry, and play a few last games.  Other than that not much is going on.  I'm going to have to pack all my junk soon, I'm not looking forward to it.  I have accrued a few extra things while I've been over here, books; clothes that my family sent; clothes that I've bought; and I'm not sure if I'm going to need to leave anything behind.  It might take a while to get everything in order and ready to go.

John 

The Winged Return

All the time that we were in Khatgal we knew that we were eventually going to have to return to UB.  It was upon this matter that great thought was spent as to which way would be the best.  There is an airport in Muren, and often airplanes fly from there to UB.  Before we had ever gone we had mostly dismissed that option for it’s cost was much greater than all the alternatives and we had more time than money.  It is possible to travel the distance in vans though that option also left much to be desired.  The drivers of said vans whole income is based on how many people they take and how many trips they can make.  Because of this these vans are often crowded too full for comfort and they travel too fast over rugged terrain.  Another option, thought slim, was to find someone, and owner of his own vehicle, that was planning on making the drive from Khatgal or Muren to UB.  The hope was that one such as this would be making the trip and want to pick up a few passengers to make a little extra cash along the way.  When we got to Khatgal it was determined that such a hope was a fool’s hope.  At that point we were resigned to take a van and endure the trial, hoping that the journey would pass quickly (and with not too much odor).  It was on such a plan that we acted, leaving Khatgal last Thursday in the company of those who would travel to Muren on their separate errands; some to flights that would lead them to UB, others the market to pick up supplies.  It was less than an hour into our trip that our fortunes changes drastically, though at the time I didn’t know whether it was for good or ill.  My courageous companion became sick of the road and shortly lost his breakfast inside the van.  Upon becoming carsick that quickly he became resigned that he would fly despite the cost; he didn’t want to endure the long trek back over land.  Though his mind was made up, I was still planning on taking the low road.  Again I had more time than money.  But it wasn’t long before my fortunes changed as well.  I did not become carsick, no, of that I am very glad.  When we had reached Muren the Siekberts encouraged me to find out whether or not there were available flights on the plane, and to pursue that endeavor though I wasn’t equipped financially to see it through.  They were determined to aid me and stated that the work we had done had earned us this flight.  I was still reluctant to go for I was even slower to spend someone else’s money than my own.  Finally they won the argument and our plane tickets were purchased for our flight back to UB.  We said our goodbyes, bidding them farewell until our next meeting, and dropped them off at the market while we ourselves were borne to the airport.  We checked in and were subjected to the strangest security check that I have experienced.  It had all the appearance of a full security check, but when it came down to it it was more of a hassle than a precaution for the flight.  We were charged overage costs for our bags, including our carry-ons.  We waited for around a half and hour in the lobby and then went through security ourselves on the way to the “sterile holding area” as it was referred to.  Again we waited there for a short while.  It wasn’t long before we were boarding though.  We exited the building, walking across the tarmac towards a solitary twin engine propeller plane waiting for us.  It was the simplest boarding that I’d ever had and once the twelve passengers were on board, and the door closed, we spread ourselves out through empty seats of the plane.  Once the pre-flight instructions were given in both English and Mongolian we began taxiing down the runway for take off.  It was the smallest aircraft I have been on and the pre-flight procedures were the quickest I’d experienced.  It was long before the propellers outside my window were spinning so quickly that the individual blades could not be distinguished.  As we drove on toward the end of the runway and the plains beyond we slowly began to rise in the air as if borne on the wind itself.  The day was exceedingly cloudy, and that mixed with smoke such that we were soon lost in indistinguishable mass.  As we climbed higher, and every reference point seemed to fade, it appeared as if we were suspended inside a vast see of white.  It remained that way for the entirety of the flight as far as I saw.  When I had finished my book I began to listen to music and laid my head back on the rest.  Without even realizing it I quickly sank into sleep.  It was only upon waking that I realized what had happen, for one cannot wake up unless they have been asleep.  The manner of my arousal is as follows.  I was suddenly jolted from my unconscious reverie by a frightening sound.  When I opened my eyes and caught a glimpse out of the window I realized that the sound was only the shrill utterance of the landing gear’s tires hitting the tarmac at the airport in UB.  The flight indeed had been exceedingly and pleasantly brief, and had only carried us for 1:45.  In the end it was a much greater experience than driving would have been and much more abbreviated.  I was very glad that we had taken that road instead of the other available paths.  Instead of arriving in UB tired, dirty, and road weary I found myself greatly relieved and able to have a good night’s rest.  On another note my heart is lightened for I fly back to America next Thursday with a few days detour in South Korea.

 

John

New Pictures

Here is a link to my photo site where I uploaded a bunch of pictures from our trip to Khatgal.

John

The Winding Road

I’ve had a very interesting and pleasant three weeks since I left Ulaanbaatar.  The story in full could take a long time in the telling, but for now I will exclude elements for brevity.  Not three weeks  ago I left the city with the purpose of experiencing the countryside of Mongolian and assisting a missionary to get settled in their new home.  In my previous post I mentioned briefly some of the interesting circumstances about our trip out there.  We set forth on the 20th of April from Ulaanbaatar to Khatgal, Mongolia.  We spent the entire morning packing the truck that Mr. Siekbert had hired to take out all the over sized baggage.  We had everything packed and ready to go, stacked up high on the little Korean truck and covered over with a large canvas sheet.  At 12:30 we were on our way out of town, after (quite) a few stops we hit the open road after 1:30.  The traveling went well for the first 10 hours, the paved roads were okay and we made good time.  After leaving the city everything around became open plains.  The land around us transformed as we drove on.  Open plains became rockier steppes, and then again melded into rolling hills painted at last by the twilight rays of the setting sun. Twilight came and dusk fell around us taking with them the color from the world and hills as everything was slowly buried in shade.  Presently we made it to the town of Erdenet, and passing through we stopped once to refill some things and empty others.  Not many miles after Erdenet the paved roads stopped and from then on we drove on anything from a clearly defined gravel road to paths as unknown as dirt path through the dark.  Less than a half an hour driving on the rugged dirt track we were following the truck carrying all the baggage stopped.  They had been driving like maniacs and had driven over a rock, damaging something on the under carriage of their truck.  We  could see oil spilled all underneath the truck and we had to drive back to the town at the end of the paved road for some kind of parts.  An hour later we had gone and gotten whatever it was we had needed and were back at the truck.  It was a solid three hours before they were ready to get on the road again.  Even after their unfortunate events they continued to drive like there was a pack of hellhounds hard on their tails.  We drove through the night stopping only occasionally to check tires and lug nuts.  In the wee hours of the morning our guides decided to stop for an hour of sleep and we parked right where we were on a vast grassy field.  I slept uncomfortably for an hour and a half or so.  Shortly we were on our way again as the dim grey light of dawn began to creep slowly back across the sky.  As the cold light increased our spirits seemed to lift, rising as it were with the sun.

Sometime around midmorning we came upon a small town where we stopped again briefly.  I believe that it might have been a relative of the driver of the truck. We found out later that there we had reached the end of the navigational skill of our guides.  They knew how to make it that far, but no farther, even though they had guaranteed us that they knew they way and had been many times before.  From that point on we spent the rest of the day driving through the arid  highlands and valleys of central Mongolia.  Never before have I been so lost and unable to find my way out.  Our trip, which should have taken no longer than 22 hours, lasted for a very tiring 30 hours.  We drove all through midday into late afternoon, there was no way to tell if we were in fact nearing our destination.  We were lost, there was no denying it, though our guides tried to hide it.  It’s kind of hard to hide something like that, especially when we would stop at every vehicle and herder we passed (the few that we did pass) and ask for directions. Dust filled our vehicle, covering every surface.  The back door of our van wouldn’t stay shut.  The sunroof and side doors weren’t sealed well.  Even if they had been, I think that the dust would have found some way to get in.  At last we reached Muren, never before had I been so relieved to see civilization, even such as it was.  In Muren we rendezvoused with a Mongolian that would come on with us direct us the rest of the way to Khatgal.  At a restaurant in Muren I went into the bathroom to use the sink.  As I washed my head and face in the cool cleansing water brown rivulets coursed down taking with them the desert dust that had been deposited there.  The final three hours of our trip were long and seemed painstakingly slow.  We had all quieted down and turned into ourselves and our own thoughts.  Finally we did reached Khatgal and we received quite the welcome.  There was a warm house with spaghetti and apple pie.  We were all tired and dirty still and eventually we were taken to our semi-permanent residence and were able to clean ourselves up and turn in for the night.  It is a trip I will remember for a long time though I wish not to repeat it.  The rest of our stay in Khatgal was somewhat less filled with unforeseen twists. 

John