amen.

that was the only word i understood in the catholic church i fell upon today. how did i end up in a korean catholic church? i woke up this morning at 10:44 am after recovering from the flu last that hit me late thursday night and had two thoughts: one, i need to throw away that giant bunch of rotten bananas and show the door (and by show the door i mean furiously swat with an old book) to the family of fruit fries that has made a home in my kitchen and two, i need to find a place where i can take communion. so i threw my glasses on, put a scarf over my 3-days-without-a-shower hair (don't judge, i had the flu), and flew out the door, rotten bananas in one hand, korean to english dictionary in the other. so i looked up how to say catholic church (ka-tawl-leek kyo-hwe) and started asking people on the street and before i knew it, i was on the a giant scavenger hunt, going in one church saying in a questioning tone "katawlleek kyohwe?" and having them shake their head and point in a direction, and hopping back on my bike in the direction of their point, and then being pointed in another direction, and just when i thought couldn't take any more pointing, there it was. my catholic church. so i walked in and got a lot of stares that were followed by "i think i'll avoid that one" body language. after heading down a few hallways and going up and down a few stair cases, i found the sanctuary. my first thought was that it smelled funny. i thought i would get used to it, but i didn't. at noon, a service (i'm guessing it wasn't their first of the day) started and i didn't understand a word other than an occasional amen. oh and we sang one song with a hallelujah here and there. but, it felt worshipful to me. sometimes in english worship i feel like i don't really understand anything they're saying anyway. the art on the walls was really interesting and abstract, the hymns we sang had familiar tunes, the organ made me think of my mom, the blaring voices of the men's choir in the balcony made me think of my dad, and we took communion. i know as a protestant i'm not supposed to take communion in the catholic church, but as the priest was saying words i didn't understand before the sacrament, i was reciting the words i remember from the psalter hymnal--"this is my body, broken for you, do this is remembrance of me. this is my blood, shed for you. do this in remembrance of me." and i ate the bread and drank the cup, and i remembered.

here is another thing i miss about america: oatmeal. old fashioned, mix with water, throw in the microwave, eat it hot, oatmeal.

here is another thing i love about korea: recycling. everyone is required to separate all their trash. plastic, paper, styrofome (i have no idea how to spell that), glass, food items, bottles, cans, and about 3 other containers that i have to figure out what they are for. it can get a little complicated to have 6 different trash bags, but it makes the earth smile and say "thank you."