Last Weekend in Jinju

This weekend was my last in the Jinju area until I head home for part of my winter vacation. With the holidays now in full swing, it's becoming more and more difficult to hang around here during my free time. I think part of me will be excited to come back after winter vacation, but as of now, I need an extended amount of time with friends (in Korea and the States) and family.

That's not to say that this weekend didn't provide some highlights. On Saturday, I visited my friend Sarah in Busan for the day. Due to a clumsy injury, we hadn't gotten to meet up with her when we went shark diving at the aquarium, but the day in Busan was an easy and convenient way to escape Jinju for a bit. We had some great noodles in the biggest food court I've ever seen and coffee later on. Later, I went back to the Haeundae Beach area and got some pictures that I wasn't able to on my last trip there.

Sunday turned out to be one of the most bizarre days I've experienced in Jinju all year - I finally caved and agreed to attend church with my host family. I've been deflecting my host mother's persistence for the past few months, but she told me that my host sister had a "music performance" this Sunday. I thought it would be a nice gesture to go and support her. After realizing that her music performance was a thirty second mashup of an out-of-tune violin, flute and piano manned by elementary school musicians, I knew the day wasn't going to go as planned; I didn't know what I was getting myself into. It's difficult to describe all of the awkward situations I was put into but I'll try to paint a picture of one that stands out.

A conversation between me and the church minister:

Minister: "Do you know Jesus Christ?"

Neill: Surprised pause. I've never met the guy but I hear he's alright. "Yes, I know Jesus Christ."

Minister: "Are you Christian?" Eager look on his face similar to a dog when they know you have a cookie in your hand.

Neill: "No, I'm not Christian." At this point, it's clear where this conversation is going.

Minister: Disapproving look. "Oh, why not?"

Neill: Scrambling to change the subject. "My parents weren't religious so they didn't raise me Christian."

Minister: "Well, I hope you will come back and find Christ"

Neill: "Thanks. Where is the bathroom?"

This is as close to verbatim as I can remember but you get the gist. This particular church seems very pushy about imparting their religion on others which is exactly why I resisted attending in the first place. After this conversation and the hour long worship in which I couldn't understand one word, my mind was made up about my future at Korean churches. My host mom will just have to deal with it. Did I mention I was there for five hours?!