Matters of "Seoul"

Lame pun, I know.

Upon entering Seoul, one would be hard-pressed not to notice the sheer number and frequency of crosses which not only appear throughout the city, but which appear in prominent places, often vying with high-rises and skyscrapers for real estate along the skyline. Only the number of churches in the state of Utah can rival the number of crosses dotting the Seoul cityscape!

According to a book I read (which, incidentally, did not cite any sources), roughly 25% of Korea is Christian, and most of those who are Christian are in the upper-class. Though the overall percentage is relatively low, the pervasiveness of Christianity here appears to be quite high because, I assume, it is espoused by people with power and influence. It's been somewhat shocking to see how overtly faith is manifested here, especially since I have been immersed in political correctness back in the US for so long.

Case in point: The academy I teach for is a Christian academy, and I was informed of this when I interviewed for the position. They offer subtle clues too, for those who haven't picked up on the affiliation, like the phrase "Light of the world" which is emblazoned on the academy's logo. Two Fridays ago, the last day of training before classes began, all of the teachers were informed that following training there would be a short blessing by the owner/director of the academy followed by a catered dinner. We were assured that they were not trying to convert anyone. Maybe something was lost in the translation.

What was supposed to be a half hour prayer/blessing for the teachers and the summer session was actually an hour and a half sermon by the director, who it turns out was a Messianic Christian. He poured over Bible verses for the duration of the sermon, at different points taking time to explain why "Yahweh" and "Yashua" were the only correct ways to refer to God and Jesus, and to add in "I hope no one here is going to hell." The sermon was followed by a time of passionate prayer, and the singing of numerous Korean hymns, sung most loudly by the director's wife and young daughter. Those of us teachers who were Christian went along with everything, but the non-Christian teachers later said the service was quite jostling for them.

I should take an aside to say that I am pleased with the way the academy is run- I was expecting the worst after hearing horror stories about other academies and even about unpleasantries with my specific academy- the service was the only moment of unexpectedness.

I later heard from a friend here in Korea that most of the directors of academies in the Seoul area are probably devout Christians. I told Janice about the service, and after she finished laughing, she remarked that at best, maybe someone would become Christian because of it. It's hard to say at this point, but the whole experience definitely led to further conversations about Christianity among the teachers.

Last Sunday, I went to the English service for Janice's church. She had told me that the church she went to was actually a branch of the main church, so I was expecting a medium-sized church with a handful of attendees to the English service. Instead, the church was a building roughly five stories high, and the English service had at least 200 people in attendance. It was almost surreal sitting in the service- I felt like I was back in Cornerstone in LA (Francis Chan's church), from the auditorium to the worship to the preaching. Not only that, it was encouraging to see just how much the church is thriving in Korea. Based on my visits to neighboring China and Japan, there seems to be a huge difference in spiritual climate between Korea and its neighbors. Because of that fact, and also because of the fact that Korea has historically been a "middleman" and conduit of ideas, I am inclined to view Korea and its Christianity as having much larger implications that I had previously thought.

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Now, for something completely unrelated:
Some of you may be wondering if a goshitel is a dorm, an apartment, or a hostel.

If I'm not mistaken, by definition a goshitel is a place where students live to study for their exams (i.e. the bar or its equivalent). In actuality, "goshitel" refers to a number of residences which are typically small, one-room spaces furnished at least with a desk. On the lower end, there's goshitels which are pretty much standing room only, with no bed, and inhabited by immigrants who are looking for work. On the other end, there are luxury goshitels which are equipped with private bathrooms and have a reasonable amount of floor space. So they can function as dorms or small apartments, but goshitels are really a different type of residence altogether.


Others of you may be wondering how I'm sleeping in my goshitel, with so many lights and possibly noises.

Luckily, my room doesn't have any windows, so the neon light display outside doesn't bother me at all. Since my room is close to the middle of the building, it's also pretty well insulated from street noise. I actually had to sign a contract before I moved in saying that I wouldn't slam my door, talk on the phone in my room, etc. since silence is virtually golden here.