While at the historic site we all went to mass and sat underneath large tents. In all honesty, it was nice but HOT. Oh, and my group was seated right next to the sewer drain. Gross. But tolerable. Because....
The altar of mass by the sewer drain.
Our chairs at mass by the sewer drain. Look at our cool backpacks!
THIS WAS THE DAY WE SAW THE POPE!!!!
Whoa, I got excited there. I didn't mean to shout. Please forgive me. But it was an exciting event so my emotions get a little out of control. Let me tell you all about it!
After mass, followed by a delicious lunch of beef soup, we made our way back to our bus and returned once again to the giant tent in the middle of the Korean countryside where we had mass the day before. Before entering everyone was warned that security would be very tight and it was...for Korea. We were scanned and had our bags checked. You know, normal things that Americans do before going to a college football game. After going through security and hitting the bathroom we made our way into the tent. But right before we entered I was stopped and interviewed by a Korean news station! You're just going to have to believe me that this happened. I tried finding video of it once but I couldn't and didn't care enough to keep searching. I suspect it never aired. But for one brief moment, I was almost famous. Remember that when you tell your friends about this blog. "She almost was shown on Korean television!" Finally, we made it inside and found our seat section on the floor. And then, we waited. For a very very very long time.
Group photo before going to wait for the Pope.
People just waiting to see the Pope.
These were the volunteers for the entire event. At this point in time they're dancing to a song. They knew so much choreography, it was insane. And they totally wore the same shirt every day. Grossss! Not really, they probably had multiples. Good job volunteers! You guys were the best!
I understand why we had to wait for so long because the Pope is super important and security is important and corralling thousands of people is not easy. But waiting is boring. We all sat around and talked and visited. Then, it happened.
The Pope came! After a few false alarms he finally, finally came. He walked up the aisle and I was about 5 feet from him, with roughly 4 people between me and him. I saw his face up close for a quick minute as I jumped in the air to see. He was smiling and shaking hands and seemed really happy. Look at the great photo I got!
That's him in the white hat. National Geographic should probably be calling any day now.
This at least gives you an idea of how close I was. Close but not that close. I didn't feel comfortable pushing and shoving in to get closer. That felt like a bad idea. But I still saw him! Very cool. If you ever get the opportunity I highly recommend it.
The Pope (should I capitalize that? I'm gonna go with yes) walked up to the stage and took a seat in his special chair. Then three people from three different countries spoke in their native languages to the Pope and he listened to a translated version on a headset. The Koreans had everything translated for them but I was just kind of in the dark. I think it was mostly questions about life and their countries and things of that nature. After the young people were done with their speeches, they met the Pope and kissed his ring (after which everyone FREAKED OUT with jealousy {FREAKED OUT means collective gasp in this scenario}), and maybe had their heads touched by him. The Korean girl did not kiss his ring and that also caused a FREAK OUT! I don't know why she didn't because I'm fairly certain these people would have been prepped beforehand. Maybe she was just nervous. This actually bothered me because I kind of had second-hand embarrassment for her. She was representing all these young Korean Catholics and right in front of them all made possibly a huge mistake (cue Arrested Development quote {sorry}). But then later she hugged the Pope and I felt better. Who knows, maybe they talked and he was cool with it. I'm happy she got the hug, though.
The boy from Hong Kong kissed the Pope's ring and then hung a scarf around his neck (kind of like a soccer scarf? I think it was the "symbol" that people from Hong Kong had brought with them) and then kissed each of the Pope's cheeks and then TOOK A SELFIE WITH THE POPE!!! Omg that was a maaaajor FREAK OUT! Koreans love selfies. Is that a stereotype? Yes. Is it true? Double yes. They love them! So you can imagine how jealous they were to see the greatest selfie ever being taken right in front of their eyes. I too, have never been so jealous of a single selfie. And I take them all the time now. Because I live in Korea and I'm trying my best to adapt to the culture. Not because I'm a crazy narcissist or anything...*coughcough*
After those three people were finished with their speeches and selfies, the Pope got up to give his speech. It was in English but then he felt compelled to speak from his heart in Italian. He asked everyone if this was okay because he said his English wasn't good. Everyone was like, "No! It's good!" But everyone was also lying. His English isn't that good. And Koreans know because they study English for a billion years of their lives.
So what did the Pope say? I have no idea because it was only translated to Korean and there is only so far I can go in translating Italian to English. So now we all will never know...
A thousand photos of the Pope that are all better than the one that I took. A few of them were taken by one of my team members!
Just kidding, you can read it all here on the Vatican's website! The entire speech! In English! How convenient is that?! Good job, Vatican.
Eventually the Pope had to leave and everyone was super depressed because of course they wanted this to go on forever. But the man has a schedule to adhere to. So we lined up at the gates again, more photos and waving and smiles, and then he was off.
Overall it was a really, really cool experience. It's hard for me to describe, truthfully. There were a lot of emotions involved for everyone around me. But mostly it was just cool to be surrounded by so many people I shared something with while still being in a culture completely different from my own.
Any questions for me about seeing the Pope? I will answer any and everything!
Great experience, Taleen. I once saw the Pope, too. It was John Paul when he was in Des Moines. That was in 1979. He said Mass. But it was at Living History Farms and there were thousands of people, and the only way I really knew it was him was because we had binoculars. So you had a great vantage point. What was the third country represented, besides Korea and Hong Kong? Were you interviewed in English or Korean?
ReplyDeleteLove,
David
So cool that you got to see JPII!! The third country was maybe Cambodia? There were lots of Asian countries represented so I can't totally remember. I know it was a country that doesn't have any saints, because they talked about that. And I was interviewed in English, thankfully. They asked if I could speak Korean and I said no, not really because there is no way I could have done an entire interview in Korean. Too scary!
DeleteI saw the Pope in 1979 too! I don't remember seeing you there though David....
ReplyDeleteDenise
I didn't know you were there, either. I was living in Ames and went with a friend from my Briar Cliff days. Who did you go with?
DeleteDavid
Wow! I never realized so many family members had seen the Pope! Very cool!
ReplyDeleteI was at Briar Cliff and they bussed us to Des Moines to see the Pope. Mostly all I remember is the sea of people. But it was a neat experience.
ReplyDeleteDenise