Diary ng Gwapo sa Korea (DGK)

 Today, is my first time to witness a Korean Wedding program, and it is also a reunion at the same time. Shin Hyunjin is a nursing student from Sahmyook Health University. Then together with their group they had a mission trip in the Philippines way back year 2018. Because of AUP-Community Extension Service Office, I was able to become a volunteer and help them with communicating to the community people and coordinating the event place for medical mission. When I arrived here in Korea, I communcated with the Mission Trip 2018 people and fortunately Hyunjin will be getting married soon. So he invited me to attend his wedding. And of course I accepted the invitation because I am free during Sundays. And it will be my first ever Korean Wedding to attend. So earlier today at 7am I go down to the cafeteria to re-heat the food that ate Melody gave. But i found out that Jipsanim was there cooking food for us. I thought there will be no food today because it's Sunday and all of the student...

 Grabe yong mga nangyari today, as in grabe talaga! ung halo-halong emotion sa na feel ko sa isang araw. Pano ko ba to sisimulan? Hehehe meron kasing bad news at good news. Pero syempre diary ko to, mag sisimula tayo sa morning. Normal lang naman ung morning ko, gumising ako ng 6:30am kasi inadjust ko na ung alarm ko sa 6:30am, dati 6:00am yan pero dahil wala na kaming jogging preparation for hike, it's up to you kung gusto mo gumising na maaga at mag jogging. Pero ako tulog is life, kaya binago ko ung alarm ko at 6:30am. Pero ang call time sa Cafeteria at 6:50am, dapat 7am nasa Cafeteria na ako at ang mga students para sa morning devotional. So after ng breakfast chill lang talaga ako, kasi 9am pa naman ang sports time, at dapat 10minutes before 9am nasa school area na ako kasi sasakay ng bus papunta kami sa Hanam Youth Center para sa sports time. Dito nag simula ung shocking at surprise emotion number 1: Bigla tumawag si Teacher Joseph, (Korean Teacher yan sya na ang subject na t...

 Wala naman masyadong nangyari kahapun, so hindi na ako nag sulat... kaya ngayon nalang tayo mag update ng mga bagay bagay... hahahaha Maaga paala ako gumising today, actually hindi talaga hahaha ginising ako ni Pastor kasi nakalimutan ko mag alarm kagabi. Meron pala kaming usapan ni Pastor (Pr. Kim Sung Min) na punta kami ng Wonju para kunin ang mga bookshelves na pinag lumaan sa isang church around Wonju--nakalimutan ko ung exact place, basta was Wonju. Ang usapan namin 6am ang alis namin, pero dahil nga nakalimutan ko i-adjust ung alarm ko from 6:30am tulog pa ako. Then narinig ko nalang meron kumakatok sa door ko, bigla ako na alimpungatan then nag tanong "Pastor?" sabay kuha ng short kasi naka briefcase lang ako matulog hahahah. Kumuha ako ng bagong damit, tapos basa lang kunti ng buhok, pero ayaw ma ayos ng buhok ko halata na bagong gising, so nag suot nalang ako ng sumbrero. hahaha  Nag lagay lang ng kunting sunscreen, then nag suot na ng medyas for the go na agad. mga...

Kabagi--Sunday night, nag decide akong mag sulat ng blog everyday na, kahit wala nman masyado highlight yung araw ko., Basta mag susulat ako kung ano nangyari sa buong araw ko, para pag dating ng panahon, ay ganito pala ginawa ko that time. heheheh ang cute lang! Sabi nga sa title ng post na to, Free Monday: No class, pero merong faculty meeting. Hahaha okay na rin kaysa buong araw na class. So ayon na nga medyo late ako bumangon sa higaan ko, kasi late ako natulog kagabi. Kahit na 630am ang alarm ko, pinatay ko parin sya kasi kulang ako sa tulog. Dahil nga inayos ko ung blog ko kagabi, at nag decide na ako na i-public na sya soon. Nakatulog ako ulit pero mga 720am siguro kumatok si Tr. Joseph sa room ko para invite ako mag breakfast. "Tr. Jero? breakfast?, would you like to eat breakfast with us" Then because I want to sleep more, I just say "I am good, I have breakfast". Then I went back to sleep. Heheheh At 8:30am I rush my self to prepare and eat my breakfast. I...

 Chill lang ngayon kasi Sunday... so hindi ako gumising ng maaga... Pero ung alarm ko always naka set ng 6:30am, so ang ginawa ko pinatay ko nalang ung alarm... tapos may isa pang alarm ng 7:00am Hahahha pinatay ko nalang din tapos natulog ulit. Mga around 9:30am siguro hindi na ako maka tulog kasi ang liwanag na ng araw sa bintana, silaw na silaw na ako. Pero hindi parin ako bumabangon sa bed, chill chill lang... hahaha  At nang biglang nag chat si Ate Melody kung gusto ko ba daw sumama sa sementeryo, may dadalawin yata... Eh sino ba naman ako para humindi... forda go ang reply ko... sabi nya mag ready na daw ako at aalis na anytime soon. Hala, wala pa akong kain tapos hindi pa ako naliligo... Mabilis lang na hilamos at preparation lang sa mukha with matching moisturazer lang tapos sunscreen, pwde na to... Tapos meron akong chocolate chips tapos soya sa ref pwde na to breakfast. Then nag chat na baba na daw ako.. Hindi ko pa na ubos ung chips iniwan ko nalang. Hahahah Imagine...

 So dahil nga wala ung mga student namin this weekend, ibig sabihin wala din kaming church service dito sa campus namin. Monday pa ng gabi babalik ang mga student so medyo mahaba habang weekend to. Umalis kami sa campus 9am na, tapos nag lakad lang kami pa punta sa highway para mag hintay ng bus pa punta sa Subway station. Medyo matagal ung waiting time ng bus kasi madalang lang ung bus dumaan dito.  Anyway, pag dating namin ng Subway station, nag transfer pa kami ng ibang subway line, kasi papunta kaming Seoul particularly malapit sa Samhyook Health compound, malapit lang dun ung Filipino International Church, hindi ko ma remember ung name ng location.  Mahina talaga ako sa location name. Pero mga pass 10:30am na kami  nakarating sa church... patapos na rin ung lesson review nila so, hindi na rin kami naki join sa discussion, understand naman nila kung bakit kami na late kasi medyo malayo kami sa church, pero kasalanan parin namin kasi hindi kami umalis ng maaga,. h...

 Just a normal day today, nag expect na ako na mapapagod ako today kasi full ang sched ko pag Friday. Tinatamad pa ako gumising kasi nga masakit katawan ko dahil sa sports day kahapon, pero syempre dapat makita ako dun sa morning devotional at 7:00am, nakakahiya naman kumain ako na hindi umattend sa Morning devotional. Kaya ung alarm ko na 6:30am nag snooze ng nag snooze hanggang 6:50am, tapos mabilisang hilamos lang tapos ayos ng buhok, tapos moisturizer then tint sunscreen lang sponsored by Belo, hahaha then kunting lip balm para fresh looking ang morning... After breakfast at 7:30am nag mabilisan lang na shower, tapos change outfit na for the teacher kunwari. Tapos kunting tambay lang kasi 9:00am pa naman class ko, mga 8:40am ako baba dun sa school. Kasi medyo distance din ang dorm papunta sa school so need ng 10 minutes na mabagal na lakad, ung chill lang na lakad, habang na fe-feel mo ung malamig na hangin sa umaga. pagdating ko sa Teacher's office, kunting preparation lang fo...

Dahil 1 month na ako dito sa Korea, pwde ko na masabing routine na to, kasi na gets ko na ung everyday life ko dito or yung Daily Routine, unlike first 2 weeks ko, medyo nangangapa pa ako. During my first week, early wake up ako talaga, mga around 5am nag aalarm na ako para mag prepare ng self. Kunting emote emote lang, tapos prayer then basa kunti ng devotional book then shower na agad, tapos prepare na sa sarili for the go outside, kasi hindi ako na orient ano oras ang wake up call, ano gagawin sa morning or what not.  Basta, gising lang ako maaga para mag observe, plakado hitsura ko pa-impress kunwari, parang everytime na lalabas ako sa room ko parang may event lagi, naka tint ang moisturizer, may shade din ang sunscreen, tapos naka lip balm, naka ayos ang kilay tapos ung buhok maayos na para bang dinilaan ng kalabaw sa sobrang ayos. 1st and 2nd week merong wake up call ng 6:20am then jogging at 6:30am, akala ko for the normal routine ito, hindi pala... na realized ko na prepara...

 To be... Ang dami nangyari sakin during this weekend, pero parang tinatamad ako mag kwento today, Hahahah Maybe soon, I will retell a story here... Tulog is life kasi

This is our full 2nd week here in Korea, and the ECKC (East Central Korean Conference) group of missionaries would like to officially welcome us here in Korea, so they set up this date because today is supposed to be the Mission Day of ECKC. Actually, we are 10 new missionaries this year--2025, but only 4 of us is assigned here at ECKC 1, there is 2 more at ECKC 2, so they have their own welcome party, because they are a bit far from Seoul. Because Tr. Joy will send us to the venue with her car we did not rush ourselves to prepare and leave Dongsung Academy. We just take our time because of course we have car and Seoul is not that far. When we arrived at ate Sheryl's Mission Field, we chikka a little, then help her to prepare one of the room that she is using to teach as our welcome party venue.  The first part of the program is Devotional. We started it with singing and then a typical worship service with opening song, opening prayer and then special song, before I start to share ...

 This will be a very long story, kasi nag dagat at nag gala pa sa National Institute of Ecology muna bago mag punta sa Jirisan, pero hindi na natin i-detail yung don sa dagat. Baka bukas ka pa matapos mag basa. Ibang story nalan siguro un. AFTER breakfast mga 8:30 am siguro nag gather na kami sa harap ng school, tapos nag check lang ng mga gamit ng mga student then nag bigay ng kunting reminder sa lahat baka may nakalimutan lang, then loading ng mga gamit sa bus tapos umalis na after prayer. Nag stop over lang kami ng isang beses para sa mga gusto mag gamit ng toilet. Then at 12noon naka rating na kami sa Seocheon para mag lunch.  Mabilis lang na lunch, kasi punta pa kami sa National Institute of Ecology. From the name itself, about sya sa ecosystem. There you can find different ecosystem and biom in each different places all over the world. You can see there plants, from different places, animals and all. I will post or upload video complilatioin about that, para deretso na t...

Medyo nga tinamad ako mag post ng diary natin for this past few days, hahahha medyo jetlag pa ang bebeboy nyo.. Hahaha joke lang... adjusting period pa eh, gusto ko sana everyday tayo mag journal dito pero parang ang dami kong ganap everyday kaya pagod na mag sulat ng diary ang gwapo sa Korea. Anyway, this was my first weekend in Korea , and ang dami agad nangyari! I arrived here sa Korea on Wednesday (May 21, 2025) , and the very next day, ang sumalubong sakin ay ang  whole-day Sports Day at Hanam City Youth Center . Hhahaha ang saya diba? laro laro lang the whole day. The place was amazing— complete facilities sila beh for different activities like climbing, basketball, other ball games, cooking, singing, reading room, and they even have a Zumba room ! It was such a lively and well-equipped space. Napaka amazing talaga nila... Meron kaya ganito sa Pinas? I hope so meron sa ibang part ng Pinas na hindi ko lang siguro alam. They said this kind of full-day Sports Day happens once...

 I wanna compile my experience here in South Korya, marami nakakatawa experiences and new learnings. Ito yung time na di ko inakala makakarating ako ng Korea. Hindi ko sure if okay ba mag Tagalog nalang ako dito sa story ko or English ba? hahaha mas madali kasi mag kwento pag Tagalog. I'm gonna start this story right here at Incheon Airport . But if you want me to share how I ended up here, I’ll write another blog for that—about my missionary journey here in Korea . Our flight was on May 21, 2025 , and I think it was around 7:00 AM . Of course, we had to be at the airport much earlier to settle the travel tax and pass through immigration. We left Silang, Cavite at around 1:30 AM , and we arrived at the airport by 3:00 AM . Most of us were new to traveling abroad—except for Ate Charisse . After we weighed our luggage, we headed straight to the check-in counter to begin the process. I was picked up at the airport by Teacher Kwon (Social Studies Teacher) and Teacher Melody (co-miss...