기 요한, John Egger

Class Trip to the Hangul Museum A big part of my work here in Korea has been to learn the language. I’ve been studying at the Korean Language Institute at Yonsei University for several months now, and as the fall term draws to a close, I’m realizing how far I have come. Words that used to be strange and impossible to pronounce are now rolling off my tongue! (sometimes even in comprehensible sentences) Part of what makes language learning possible is the fun that comes with it. For 한글날 (Korean Alphabet Day), for example, instead of our regular class, there was a special program in which the various classes produced a poster to celebrate the Korean alphabet. Here is my class, hard at work: folks from France, Russia, Italy, South Africa, Spain, and even a couple of us from Canada. I have to say that learning a language is a strangely passive activity. Although it does of course also require huge exertions of constant effort, this isn’t actually the learning of ...

I returned to Korea at the end of August to join Hanshin Presbyterian Church in Seoul for their English-language summer camp program. I have been working with them one Sunday a month over the past year and this was a great opportunity to get to know the participants a little better. Their theme for the day was our responsibility for caring for the planet. As it says in Genesis, God saw the creation, and saw that it is very good. This gives us the responsibility to care for the earth and all life on it. The children of the congregation embraced this theme enthusiastically, sharing their ideas about what they can do to make a difference. Here are a few scenes from the event.   Here in Korea, like everywhere else on the planet, we are experiencing the effects of climate change. Yet here, as elsewhere, the issue is so huge that it is hard to take the threat seriously. Everything in our thinking needs to change. Amazingly, across the globe, children are the ones le...

Just got back from the PROK Youth camp, which took place at Neorigul Cultural Village in Anseong. Met with 100 PROK young people from all over South Korea, as well as international guests. (Actually, I don’t think it was as many as one hundred, but sometimes it certainly felt that way, especially in the worship sessions!) There was lots of music, discussion, noise, laughter, interaction, under the theme “togetherness.” There was also a special presentation by the Taiwanese participants and performances by Michelle Lee and GFU. Here's a couple of snippet video clips: I interviewed a few folks about their experiences, and here are a few of the things I learned:   Name: Junghwan, from Wonju Occupation: student of electronics and mechanics Special insight from the event: The subject was love. People usually want to give and receive love, but if they get no return, many people come away disappointed. But I learned throug...

I’m still thinking about the events one hundred years ago in 1919: the March 1 movement for independence and its aftermath. I am lucky to live close to many places of historical interest, like Seodaemun prison and Severance hospital, which are full of history right on my doorstep. (It was a bad air day - sometimes it happens. I keep my mask ready just in case.) Seodaemun prison - view from the north side In 1992 the Seodaemun prison was turned into a museum, the Seodaemun Prison History Hall, to preserve the history of what took place there during the Japanese occupation and beyond. I have walked by it often, but I never really thought much about what took place there, so I decided it was time to stop in and take a look. tower on the west wall Soedaemun prison was built in 1908 as Gyeongseong prison (which was the Japanese name for Seoul). It was built by colonial Japanese authorities for the purpose of controlling the local population. Originally designed to h...

On April 27 I joined with folks from 서울 제일 교회 (Seoul First Church) and headed to 연젼 (Yeoncheon) near the DMZ to participate in the Korean DMZ Human Peace Chain marking the one year anniversary since the signing of the P anmunjom declaration regarding the peace, prosperity and unification of the Korean peninsula at 14:27 on April 27, 2018. It was a beautiful day. We had a picnic and a program beside the Imjin River, which flows across the border between the two Koreas. On the bus we had a few international guests—someone from Japan, someone from China, someone from Ireland, someone from the Philippines, and myself from Canada, ensuring that the world was well-represented.  When it got close to 2:27 the line began to form . . . I couldn’t see more than a little way up and down the line, but it was an eery feeling, knowing that we were all connected, hand in hand, from east to west and west to east, along the 500 km of the DMZ. After mor...

It's cherry blossom season in Seoul! On Saturday I got lost coming home from the supermarket and suddenly found myself walking along a street lined with beautifully tinted trees swaying slightly in the breeze. It won’t last, I’m told. They’ll be here today and gone in a few days. Even this morning I observed little bits of confetti scattering on the sidewalk on my way back from Yonsei University. An incredibly fragile, short-lived miracle; a message. But only if I am willing to pay attention. What is it saying? Let me juxtapose this with the Lenten worship service that I went to last night, hosted by the human rights committee of the National Council of Churches of Korea, which focused on migrants and refugees. It was very moving. Koreans are a deeply religious people: Christians, Buddhists, whatever, but this does not necessarily make them any more open to foreigners than others. In recent years especially, Korea has reached out to welcome foreigners, but in Kore...