Yonsei Korea

One Night in Morioka During Summer Outreach Trip to Japan
By Min-sun Sung

This summer, I went on an outreach trip to Japan for ten days by train with my church group of about 60 people. We make the round train trip from Fukuoka, the southern part of Japan, to Sapporo in Hokkaido Island, where is the northern part of Japan in seven days because the JR Pass is valid for only a week. We transferred five times straightly going to Sapporo, where we stayed one and a half days, and four times returning to Fukuoka spending almost 36 hours on the train each time to reach Sapporo and turn back to Fukuoka within the available period. Some Japanese told us in surprise that no other individuals even had planned the long train journey across the country since the railroad had been built in Japan. One day, after we had departed from Hakata Station in Fukuoka and transferred three times already, we got off the train in Morioka at 11:35 pm. Since the running hour was over, we had to spend the night and take the train again the next morning, but we did not have enough money and there was nobody we could contact in Morioka to get a room for the night. It was dark and drizzling outside, all of us were exhausted with fully packed heavy backpacks on our backs and baggage in our hands and we had no choice but to stay in the station. However, when we were standing in front of the waiting room in a commotion thinking what to do, the staff of the station suddenly appeared and asked us to go out saying that they had to close the station and nobody could be inside at night. The leader of our group and people who could speak Japanese tried to talk them into compliance letting us stay though they were stubborn. After about one hour of persuasion, we were finally allowed to stay in the waiting room. About 60 people and our belongings were crammed in the room, and we put all the plastic line-shaped chairs aside to make room to lie down. We also put our traveling bags in the middle of the room to separate the males from females. Though the floor was cold and the rugs laid on it were not thick enough, I managed to sleep deeply with thankful heart. When I woke up the next morning, I felt cold and my left shoulder was almost paralyzed in intense pain and I could not get up for a while until my friend massaged my shoulder. At that moment, I felt I was in a dream, but soon, reality comes to my eyes with tangled hair and scattered backpacks and suitcases. We had finally spend a night on the floor in a foreign country! Moreover, quite many of us, including me, even washed our hair with warm water in the bathrooms there. I felt actually Japan is a very rich country, since Korean bathrooms in stations only have cold water. After that night, our journey restarts and we went on to Sapporo and got back to Fukuoka by train. Above all, the dreamlike night in Morioka and tough train journey let me know God's protection and guidance for us through hardships. I was sure that He made the way before us and He was with us in peace and joy, for I was happy regardless of the difficulty we faced and felt strong spiritual energy, such as willingness to worship and pray, beyond the exhausted body. Japan, which had been the most unfavorable country to me and many Koreans, came to my heart as a friendly and memorable place for my life.

Working Holiday in New Zealand
By Hung Gyun Kim

I have been to New Zealand to do working holiday from August of 2000 to August of
2001. The reason why I decided to go to New Zealand was to become mature with independence and live for myself abroad before my graduation. Additionally, I did not want to follow the normal way of life, such as graduation, work and marriage. That was why I went to New Zealand, although my parents did not want me to go there. After arriving in New Zealand, I started the language school at first, but I was interested not in improving my English but in making foreign friends with lots of culture shock. It was unforgettable time to meet beautiful people and do various activities that I had never done in Korea, for example, skydiving, bungy jump and swimming with dolphins. However, the tough situation started after the language school, because I had to look for a job to make money for living, for I found only 600 NZ dollars was left in my pocket. It was not favorable for foreigner, especially, who is Asian with poor English skill, to get a job. In spite of it, I did not care how many times I failed and what kind of job I got. I kept the purpose to go there in my mind all the time. Thanks to the mind, I could work at a lot of places such as a orchard, a few restaurants, a club and a hotel. Even though every work was hard physically and mentally due to the boiling sun, the annoying boss and overtime work, all was precious for me, because I could broaden my sight and open my mind to the wide world. After completing working holiday in New Zealand, I became mature spiritually, although my English skill wasn't improved as much as my spirit. However, I am satisfied with it, because that was my original purpose to do working holiday in New Zealand. I strongly recommend that everyone who has kept living in Korea go and experience overseas once at least. Then, I am sure that everyone can find himself.