Making New International Friends

My church over here in Dublin runs a ministry called "English Corner." Every Friday afternoon the church opens up its doors to serve a free lunch and speak conversational English with foreigners who are here trying to learn or improve their English. I am one of the many native English speakers helping out. I have been so blessed by this ministry in the few short weeks I have been involved. I love meeting people from all over the world and although speaking English with foreigners can at times be frustrating, awkward, tiring, and even scary (for a shy person like me), it is really fun! Last week I made my first friends from South Korea, a girl and two guys. The girl's English name is Jenna (most Asians will adopt an English name so westerners can pronounce it) and she is the sweetest and most joyful girl. She has been here just a few months and is a Christian. We have started meeting together on a weekly basis to read the Bible. She shared with me that she struggles with understanding Romans so we are going to tackle it together. The two guys I met, Kim and Soo, came over today to watch the Manchester United soccer game with Matt while I made lunch. I wanted to make them something they had probably never had before so I made them big old taco salads. They didn't know what they were but they seemed to like them a lot (I had to keep from laughing when I saw them eating their tortilla chips with sour cream). I also made chocolate chip and M&M cookies and sent them home with a bag. It was really fun having them over and learning about South Korea. They told me they don't eat cats there but dogs are considered healthy, a delicacy, and good to eat when you are sick! It was also fun hearing their impressions of Ireland. They think it is very strange that we don't take our shoes off when we go into someone's house and they think carpeting is also very strange.

I also met some guys from Iran this week who go to my church. They were very interesting and a bit intimidating to talk to. Halfway through the conversation I was shocked to hear them say that they love George Bush and that they wanted McCain to win the election. I really thought they were joking with me at first but they were dead serious. They told me the Iranian people all love George Bush because of the way he looks at the Iranian people. My church has a handful of Iranian members and hosts an Iranian service in Farsi every month. I hope to go next time and get to know more of the Iranians who are fascinatingly different than any other nationality I have interacted with. Praise be to God for calling his church out of every tribe, tongue, and nation!!