Journey mercies

Yesterday I went to St Albans to visit my aunt, and also spent a bit of time playing my two nephews as their parents left them in the care of their grandmother for the afternoon.

When I first got here, the two of them were quite shy around me, especially the younger of the two. But now both of them are comfortable around me, so that's nice. The nice thing about having a relative's house to go to, is the good food you get to eat since they more often than not can cook by far and large better than me (which is not very hard).

Unabashed, I also asked if I could pack the food my aunt cooked back to my flat. I think it's safe to say, Chinese people are pleased when people like the food they cook, and I also like to eat food that isn't cooked by me, so it works out pretty well that way!

The weather yesterday was miserable though, so by the time I got back to my flat, I was quite flat out. Slept for an hour and then it was time for me to go to a Korean church member's place for dinner. I was tired enough to be tempted to bail out and spend the time resting, but the thought of eating kim chi and knowing how he would appreciate having people over his place made me go without dragging my feet (too much).

And boy, was I glad I went. The food was gooooood... the kim chi was so good that I once again was unabashed for taking some of it back. Actually I was abashed this time, but JeongSoo, the Korean chap, seemed to be more happy about me taking it back with me, than I was about it myself.

I've settled down so easily where I am, and in the church I'm going to, I've had little trouble finding each day packed, and my weekends filled with activity. But I'm conscious that not everyone finds it as easy as I do to adjust to new surroundings, especially if English is not their first language. So spending Saturday night with JeongSoo and Irene was good because Chris, who is English, and I stepped into their territory for once, rather than making them do all the work each time they are among English speaking people.

We tried to learn some phrases in Korean, looked around blankly when they exchanged quick, fluid conversations in Korean, and got to know a bit more of Korean mentality, history and culture.

I find this a little amusing, that though I am a foreigner in this country, it feels like I need to learn to be sensitive and be emphatic to other foreigners!