August 22: Mokpo

Although we stayed at the beach to make it easy for Abe to get in the water while we were in South Korea, most days we were either too busy or it was raining. We walked on the beach or past the beach twice a day, but we didn't go swimming. Thursday was our last morning to swim so we went down early before we needed to catch our bus to Mokpo. We quickly learned that the beach is only open for swimming between 9 am and 6 pm. A police officer whistled when Abe went in deeper than his knees. Even if he couldn't swim, he still went in farther than he could as a missionary. While Brandan and Abe waded in the ocean, Becky collected gorgeous seashells on the beach.

 

This beach had a compressed air station to help clean sand off your shoes and feet.

Our original plan was to stay in Mokpo for a day and a half before taking a train to Seoul. However, we couldn't buy the train tickets to Seoul until we arrived in Mokpo. By the time we tried to get tickets, the afternoon trains to Seoul were all sold out and we had to get tickets for a train that left at 9 am. This meant we had about 17 hours to enjoy the city. Mokpo was Abe's last area to serve in and the furthest spot in his mission from Busan. Mokpo is much smaller than Busan. About 3.4 million people live in Busan and only about 225,000 people live in Mokpo. After checking in to our hotel, we walked to a movie theater to meet Abe's friend for dinner. The movie posters outside the theater advertised lots of Korean films and one American movie, Twisters.

This is a photo of the restaurant we ate at.

Here is a photo with Abe's friend, Kim Sungnam. Kim Sungnam is a hospital counselor. South Korea is currently experiencing a covid spike, as we are in the United States. Neither country is taking much notice of the spike, except Sungnam has to wear a face mask in the hospital right now. Brandan currently is encouraged to wear a mask, but not required. Sungnam and Brandan had very similar covid experiences, both even making it until 2023 before catching covid themselves. For dinner we ate dwejidueng garbijjin, pork ribs cooked in a delicious sauce along with the rice cakes called ddeok.

While Becky generally loved the side dishes, this restaurant brought us a plate of tiny anchovies which she left untouched.

Sungnam had planned to meet up with us for lunch on Friday. With that no longer an option, we crammed in as much as possible on Thursday night. After a short walk we stopped for Korean hot dogs.

Korean hot dogs are like American corn dogs, except the batter is a mix of rice and wheat flour. The hot dogs were filled with mozzarella cheese and sausage and topped with sweet ketchup and spicy mustard.

We walked along the waterfront. Mokpo doesn't have a beach, but it has miles of walkways along the ocean. It's a little cooler at night so it's the most popular time for being outside.

This sign was on the waterfront.

We watched a water and light show, synchronized to music. The show happens every night and the city adds fireworks for special holidays.

We ended our night with bowls of seulbing, one topped with blueberries and one topped with soybean powder.

Sungnam gave us beautiful fruit for our breakfast the next morning.

Another friend, Lee Dae Song, met us at our hotel before we left Friday morning. We had planned to have a longer visit, but our train tickets got in the way. Lee Dae Song has had many careers and is currently a middle school geography teacher. With his kids raised, he bought a camper van and is about to set off on an adventure driving across Russia and Europe, eventually ending in Iceland. We hope he keeps going and makes it to Oregon.

Walking to the train station, Abe bumped into a teaching friend named Choi Sang Guyn. Choi Sang Guyn is a mathematics professor whose friend is a member of the church and asked the missionaries to meet with him. Although he wasn't ready to commit to the church, his affection for Abe was apparent.

Abe and Gibson stopped to play on some rocking seats. Abe remembered one of his companions getting air in these chairs by spinning vigorously.