Life in Mokpo, Korea (February 2022)

Mokpo is my birthplace. With this fact alone, Mokpo is a meaningful city to me. But, I had two primary goals of deciding to live in Mokpo for a month. They are practice cooking and learning calligraphy.

Mokpo is known for its art, particularly Korean traditional art, including calligraphy. Calligraphy is one of the things to do on my bucketlist and I thought Mokpo would be the best city to learn calligraphy.

So I was introduced to the only Korean Hangul Calligraphy master in Mokpo. He and I happened to go to the same high school and he was a enior to me by three years.

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I had to practice a lot to get familiar with the use of the brush.

When I started writing some letters, my pen-writing skills was helpful.

I was able to write the Goong-style early on due to my time limits and I was highly complimented for good writing style.

I went to his studio almost every day to practice and to receive his coaching. I am so glad that I got started with the calligraphy. The question is whether I will be able to continue my practice after I mocve back to the U.S. We will see.

I walked around the city whenever possible even after I took buses for long distances. One of the memorable places was this bakery and it gave me a fond memory back to the 50 years ago. Then, this bakery was the very place for meeting people with decency. Now it is one of many bakeries, but at that time this was the very place. It is amazing that it is still in business and is doing well.

My cooking practice was also picking up the speed after my Jeju life.

But, the kitchen of the unit that I used was far too small for me to be able to practice cooking freely. Also, I had only a small round table for eating and often for the cooking table. But a small kitchen and a small space also was an experience. 

I grew up attending this Sanjung Church. The building has been transformed into a modern building from a stone-building, but it was standing at the same location as before. What a memory!

One of Korea's presidents was from Mokpo. He attended this Elementary School. They proudly displayed a boulder with his graduation inscribed on the founder. 

Meanwhile, SfK launched its e-commerce platform Shop4Impact.com on February 22, 2022.

While I was serving in Rwanda, there were approximately 11 missionary units one of which was Minsu Koh's couple .He was a vet doctor and she was an educator. They were staying in Mokpo and we had a joyous reunion. He attended a medical school in Rwanda and has become a licensed medical doctor in Rwanda to be able to serve more effectively. It was truly a great joy to see them in Mokpo because Mr. Koh was a 9-year junior to me in the high school we both attended.

One of the famous artists from Mokpo is Namnong. As I was walking around the city, I ran into his memorial place. It was closed so I could not enter, but it was a delight to see his memorial center.

One of the sites I remembered was Gat-Bawi, meaning a rock that looked like an old traditional hat for men. We used to go on a picnic when we were in school.

One of the unplanned activity I ended up doing was replacing an implant through a dentist who happens to be one of my high school alumni. Again, I saw him in 50 years and I could not recognize him. But, we had a pleasant time together on several occasions, like dinner at this restaurant. 

My life in Mokpo was a lot more than what this post can cover, but I will treasure my life in Mokpo, my birthplace. - Jeffrey