I usually go to the orphanage two days a week. Saturday and Monday. On Saturdays several friends from my church go to work with the pre-school aged children. Typically we try to teach them some stories from the Bible. (It is a Christian orphanage, and my church has been working there for the past several years.) Sometimes those regular plans get changed.

Living in Korea has challenged me in several ways. But perhaps the most difficult to overcome is how schedules can be changed so suddenly. And many times, decisions aren’t made until very late – something that makes Westerners really nervous. As an example, the day I write this is about 5 weeks before the Winter English Camp that I will have to teach. However, no final decisions have been made about location, content, schedule, which students…etc. And until it actually starts, nothing is set in stone.

So sometimes we experience this with the orphanage too. Today I showed up with my friend at about 10:45. But along the road, I kept seeing all these kids filing out carrying boxes full of stuff. I asked them where they were going, and it took me a while to figure out that they were going to have some sort of “sidewalk sale.” We thought it might just involve the older kids, but soon, all the adults workers were bringing EVERYONE outside. So, we just turned around and went to this street corner. Sure enough, the kids were selling tings. Old comic books, candy, notebooks, pancakes, roasted squid, etc. It was really bizarre. Initially we thought that maybe they were doing some more fundraising for the new building, but that just didn’t seem right. Every kid had a little chart where they wrote down each transaction, and had my sign my name. 100원 for candy, 500원 for a chocolate-covered banana, 1,000원 to through water balloons at a high-schooler’s head… strange.

So I asked one of the 5th graders: “오늘은 왜 많은 물건을 판매해?” (Why are you selling so many things today?)

-“경제 공부” (Economics study)

-“경제 공부 대회?” (is it an economics study contest?)

-“네” (yes)
-“1등 사람이 어떤 상품을 받을거야?” (What prize does the 1st place person get?)

-“50,000원” ($50)

Sorry there are no pictures of this event! I wasn’t prepared for it!