I suppose I should start witht the dream; There were many random dreams that didn't really mean anything, then, I switched to being in a skate shop. I was surrounded by highschool students and said to myself "man I missed out in my youth, I miss being young". I grabbed my skate board and walked out of the shop into the night, which is funny because I cant skate to save my life. After getting to my car in a somewhat chipper mood I threw the skateboard into the passenger seat and walked around to the driver side. However, I looked at the road in front of me, only to be confronted by a shadowy figure walking toward me, that, looked like a thug. I began to panic and say to myself (oh shit, oh shit, oh holy shit), and woke up. At first I didn't really think this dream was of any significance, because I have bizarre nightmares from time to time due to the food I eat before bed. Yet, in truth, this dream pertains to some of my greatest fears and also a dangerous life theme, that, I sense is currently taking strong root in my spiritual life and physical life.
The skate shop and what I said inside it represents the decisions I am actually making in real life. Many of which were sacrifices for my academics and future career. Some were out of arrogance and fear. It represents the fact I have abandoned all of my friends and community, thus put myself into to a place that requires me to think long and hard about these decisions. The dark shadowy figure represents the enemy that wants to continue moving me away from the truth and truth bearing community. It also represents the danger of the decisions I am making, the danger of being alone and without friends or community. The enemy wants me to dwell in fear, self hatred, and do things for respect, rather then be the person I am, which is something I was made aware of while on choir tour. However this is but one lesson I learned on choir tour. In retrospect there were many lessons, many truths, and many moments where I felt God reaching out directly to me.
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Twenty four hours before we were all supposed to leave for Korea our choir president sent out an email, which stated Harold (our choir director) was in the hospital and experiencing renal failure. It was the biggest shock anyone could have possibly experienced aside from a loved one passing away. There were questions shuffling around such as "is tour canceled?", "what does this mean spiritually?", "what does this mean for the group?" etc. Harold was perfectly fine two days earlier. The following day everyone showed up in the music building's parking lot with their luggage because tour was still a green light. The dean of music along with the vice president of the school greeted everyone and additional information surfaced: the only reason that Harold was taken to the hospital, was, because he had a routine checkup. Doctors did blood work and it showed that his kidneys were functioning at 6 percent. If Harold had went to Korea he would have most likly died.
After loading all of our luggage the choir circled up in the parking lot. Choir members stood on the inside while family members and friends stood on the outside. We opened in prayer for the trip and the dean along with the Vice present gave a short commencement speech. We left shortly after. The whole experience was 24 hours after finals were over, so no one really had any time to decompress from school or other stresses already taking place in their life. Even so, the bus ride to LAX was enjoyable. When we arrived at LAX it finally set in that I was actually on my way to another country. The entire year prior it just felt like a hope, a wish, a impossibility, something so unreal I couldn't possibly expect it to actually take place. Now, I regret feeling this way about the trip and have taken it as a lesson among many others: I need to have more faith, truth, love, and believe in things that seem unlikely to come through. I need to stop playing it safe, I need to embrace God's plan.
After arriving at the airport all of us boarded the plane, which was a Boeing 747 400 series. The group was allowed to all sit together, so we took up the entire back section of the aircraft. The plane provided movies and basic entertainment and so everyone was fairly quiet. Many people fell asleep. Toward the end of our journey our president announced we would be singing two songs, and so we opened up in song once the hit the tarmatt in South Korea. After getting into the terminal we went through customers and were greeted by a huge Korean Banner! It was a shock to many of the guys, and the beginning of what we would end up experiencing on the entire trip - fame. Pictures were taken in front of the banner and then many of the guys went to get their currency exchanged. I walked over to a small shop to buy a bottle of water and got my first purchasing experience. The shop owner didn't speak english, but used hand gestures and was very polite.
While on the bus driving toward our hotel I was amazed by the city, there were huge buildings everywhere and trees covered the landscape. When we arrived at the hotel it was dark outside. After getting off the bus all of us met up in the lobby and our president addressed the choir, telling us our rooms and call time. When everyone unloaded their luggage they moved to the 5th floor, which is where all of us stayed. By the end of the night the 5th floor was a dorm hall, all the doors were open, people were walking in and out of each others rooms, and it remained this way for most of our trip. It was an awesome experience because when I transfered to APU I missed out on the freshmen experience of living in a dorm. It was like God crammed that year long experience everyone normally goes through into one whole week! There was also another guy in the choir who felt the same way. I could not have possibly asked for a better experience while staying there.
The following morning everyone woke up pretty early and met in the main lobby. We had our first Korean style breakfast, which had rice, qual eggs, kimchi, and some spicy sauce. I remember feeling tired and a little jet lagged, but the food wasn't bad, and everyone seemed to be equally awake. I remember sitting on the floor eating, thinking that it was unbelievable we had made it, and I was excited even while being tired, which rarely happens. We didn't have a concert the first day, instead the bus took us downtown and we were free to explore a market. I couldn't stop taking pictures, everything was so clean, and beautiful, and unique. The shops were small with store owners standing outside holding signs, and the streets were crammed with people. There were even small cart venders selling fried foods and other snacks. I also noticed there were no public trash cans.
All of us broke up into groups after getting to the center of the market. I went with one of my favorite friends, Nick Smith, and my room mate, Matt Lindsley. We roamed around the streets checking out as many shops as possible. After walking around for about 3-4 hours we went to find a place to eat, and finally settled on a restaurant that was in a small upstairs balcony. It was a place where you choose the meat you want to purchase and then you cook it yourself, a new concept I had never encountered before. The waiter brought us various sauces, spices, and things to add into the meat while it was cooking. It was a little pricy, but totally worth the experience. Me and Nick shared a plate of beef and Matt bought some spicy soup. After we finished eating we walked over to get ice cream from this place that was selling it inside long tubes of rice stuff, Matt ended up nick naming them something I cant repeat. We also checked out a book store, and met up with the other guys.
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During the tour we were also blessed to sing at a radio station, and we visited the Demilitarized zone. The trip really renewed a level of spirituality and joy that I hadn't experienced in awhile. It was amazing to feel the privilege of touring another country, experiencing deep bond's between my fellow brothers, However most memorable, was singing at the universities and high schools. Students seemed to eager to hear our music. Some of them even held signs with our names on them.
In short, it was an experience I will never forget.
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