안산

안산 is a mountain that is seriously right next to my apartment. In English it's Ansan.. 'San' means mountain so I'm assuming 'An' is the name of the mountain, but I don't know why... I had seen the mountain on the map, but wasn't sure how to get there. So last Wed. I decided to explore. I just started walking up and literally 1 block up is a path to get to the mountain, sweet! On the map it says that it's approx. 300 meters high which is just under 1000 ft to give you a little perspective. So on Wed. I didn't make it to the top because I wasn't sure where the path went and the sun was going down. It was really nice though, there was hardly anyone there and they have badminton courts (who knew that's how you spell badminton...) and random weight machines all over. I'll upload pictures soon, I've never seen anything like it. This afternoon I decided that I needed to get a little exercise and fresh air. I planned to hike/jog around the mountain for a half hour and come back. God had a different plan. Two and half hours laters I returned home haha. Here's what happened...

I had made it about half way up the mountain, this was farther than I'd gone on Wed. There were so many people there. It was kinda helpful though because I just followed everyone else. So I saw this man walking his dog and he looked to be caucasian and in his mid 50's maybe, so I said hi. He responded in English thankfully. We started a conversation and I learned he's been in Korea for 11 years now, but is originally from St. Louis. We continued our conversation and made our way to the top with his dachshund, Frank. He ask me about what I'm doing here and we talked about things around the area we live. At the top I finally learned his name, Ken and he pointed out a few places you could see. You could see for miles. I could even see my school. It was sweet. Anyway, he was telling more about places in the area that I should see. So as we walked back down he asked if he could show me how to get to a few places. I agreed and before I knew it I was a long way from my apartment...for a brief moment I freaked out. It didn't last long because Ken said he felt bad when he realized how far I was and offered to pay for my bus fare home (I didn't bring my bus card because I didn't think I was going that far). So Ken, Frank and I continued to walk and talk around the base of the mountain with is basically around Yonsei University. It was good to explore the area that I live in. When we got closer to my bus stop Ken offered to buy me a cup of coffee (it was getting colder out). We sat and chatted some more and I mentioned I was looking for an English speaking church, but wasn't sure how hard it was going to be. He laughed and said I should check out this church called Victory Christian Fellowship. Turns out he's a Christian and he sounds pretty active in the Church. He invited me to come tomorrow and gave me directions. Then he helped me get on the bus and I made it home feeling tired, but refreshed.

It's funny because one of the things I was going to do today was look up English speaking churches. Since I've been in Korea, finding a church has been on my mind a lot, but nothing had come of my inquiries. I've been trying to ask people, but nothing was happening.  Not only did I find one today, but I made a friend who invited me. What's also funny is that even if I had found a church on my own from the internet, I prolly wouldn't go unless someone came with me. Just when I wanted to give up, He answered my prayers and it's always in ways I would never expect. Thanks God!

To recap, I was reminded today that even if you make plans, God will probably change them, so be flexible and listen. You never know what could happen :)

~Krista ~