My First Weekend sa Korea
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 a month, but they usually have Sports Day every Thursday morning. Regular yan beh, every Thursday morning ang schedule nila so, wala kami class ng Thursday.
I just observed how things work here. On Friday, I continued observing the English classes for different levels—Middle School 1 to 3 and High School 1. I only observed High School 1, not levels 2 and 3.
Then around 3:00 PM on Friday, it turned out to be their scheduled cleaning time. All students are expected to cooperate and help clean their assigned areas. Ako naman as a missionary teacher here, I was based at the church, since that’s where I’m supposed to assist the pastor in preparation for the worship service tomorrow. So I just helped with cleaning and continued observing for my first weekend here in Korea.
The next day, during the Sabbath School program—before the Divine Worship service started—I was introduced in front of everyone. I gave a short speech, thanked them for the warm welcome, and told them I already felt like I wouldn’t be homesick, because I already felt like I belonged here.
After my little emote-emote speech, I bowed in front of everyone, para kunwari magalang. 😅
Ang gwapo ko sa terno na blue coat diba, mukhang formal? 😂
Well, that’s just for show—so they’ll think I’m a formal person. Hahaha! Syempre, pa-impress tayo para magustuhan nila tayo. Kasi, what if hindi? Baka pauwiin ako sa Pinas nang wala sa oras! 😅
Anyway, they’ve been super supportive and very welcoming so far.
Now, here’s the highlight of my first weekend in Korea: After everything that happened during the Sabbath morning and Pathfinder activities in the afternoon, around 5:00 PM, Pastor Kim (Sung Min) told me that we’d be having dinner outside. Apparently, it was the last day of one of the outgoing teachers, so they decided to have a farewell party for her—and at the same time, a welcome dinner for me! 🥹 So off we went to Hanam City, and after a 30-minute ride, we arrived at the restaurant.
We ate at QooQoo, a sushi and salad bar with unlimited servings! Sa sobra dami ng food beh, hindi ko alam kung ano kakainin ko. Hahaha, anyway this is an exclusive dinner out lang, together with the outgoing teacher, ako, si Pastor Kim Sung Min tapos asawa nya then si Teacher Joseph--Dean ng boys dorm 🥗🍣
At around 7:30 PM, I was shocked because it was my first time being outside that late usually kasi pagkatapos ng dinner at 6pm nasa room lang ako pero not until today I am still on the road, and yet the streets were still bright! There was still daylight—it looked like around 5:30 PM back in the Philippines. 🌇
When we returned to the school, they walked me back to the boys’ dorm because it’s a bit of a walk from the gate. As soon as I got there, one of the students handed me an envelope and said:
"Teacher, this give to you...(with Korean accent)"
He gave me the envelope, and I could feel that it had money inside. I kind of poked at it, and yep—it definitely felt like cash. And then I looked at the student with a face with many questions-expressions 😅
Then he said,
"Teacher Lee Daeho gave me, to give to you because you were not here."
Dzaii, first week ko pa lang sa Korea, wala pa akong klase meron na akong stipend agad? binigay nila ung for the month of May. Kasi every last week daw pala binibigay ang Salary at pinilit nilang ibigay sakin ng ganong oras kasi Sunday bukas baka daw need ko ng pera for the Sunday is free to gala. Hala, 4 days pa lang ako dito tapos meron na stipend. Hahahha apaka amazing.
Sinabi ko nalang sa sarili ko "Hoy, grabeeee... I wasn’t even rushing to get my stipend!"
(Just to clarify, I receive a stipend here—not a salary—because I’m serving as a missionary, not a regular worker.) So I was honestly surprised when, even though it was already late at night, they really went out of their way to make sure I received it. Nakaka-touch talaga.
I didn’t go out on Sunday since I didn’t really know where to go yet, and I didn’t have anyone with me. Ate Melody had gone to Jeju at that time, so I chose to just stay in the room, rest, clean the CR, and do some laundry. Hahahaha. 😅
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