Springtime in Jeju

Views of Jeju from March 20th-April 10th 

I started uploading photos for this post during the mid of April (surprise, surprise a month later I actually posted).  Thus while it is May and still officially Spring, the photos above are representative of only a short period of this season here in Jeju (what we are currently experiencing in terms of climate is more like Summer… over the last 2-3 weeks we have consistently had temperatures hovering in the low to mid 20*s). 

The weather started to warm up here in early March which commenced the rapid blooming of both the Canola fields and the Cherry Blossom trees.  The canola flowers were present for approximately a month and a half, while the Cherry blossoms began blooming at the end of March, stood beautifully in their full glory for about 4 whole days, and then began to fall  like a gentle winter snow, all within a period of 3 short weeks (they are particularly sensitive to temperature increases). Needless to say, my morning runs through the park were actually something I looked forward to for a little while rather than being a thankless chore (I have been running consistently now, at least 4 days a week and there are no freaking results!!!).  It was especially beautiful on the days that the preschool teachers would bring their classes to the park and let the kindergartners play with falling flowers… I swear I caught a glimpse of young love in a couple of their eyes…

In order to appreciate the flowers in all their splendor, I spent a couple of weekends outdoors doing hikes, strolling through the streets and Jeju Arboretum (also known as Jeju Non-Spontaneous Plants Garden… check out photos from my “Dear Diary” post for clarification) and on the day of the Cherry Blossom festival which fell on the weekend of April 4th-5th, I had a  picnic at Jeju National University with Robyn and Soyoung despite a major Soju hangover from the night before (every moment here is precious!… I will not let my daily activities interfere with my relationship with Soju! [p.s. I am totally kidding and that relationship is finished... it just turned out to be too toxic for me].).  The picnic was lovely, but the festival was just another opportunity for vendors to sell things and for visitors to feel complete and utter clausterphobia as apparently everyone from the entire island decided to come and shop and perhaps frolick in the flowers for that perfect cutesy Korean photo.  I had enough after about an hour and decided to head home to recooperate in order to be in decent shape when I went to pick up Nicole from the airport (she was arriving in Jeju that same day).  Actually, come to think of it,  I don’t think I mentioned this at all prior to now.  My friend Nicole, whom both Robyn and I knew from University (she was actually my roommate as well during 2nd year!),  is now here teaching as well!  She came at the perfect time, because a week later, the Cherry Blossoms were completely gone, and all that is now left is a series of unassuming trees that bear no evidence of their temporary beauty.

Contrary to the deceptive name, Cherry Blossoms do not later bare any actual cherries here in Korea.  Apparently they are the same trees, however they are bred to be sterile and thus produce no fruit… probably just for their aesthetic qualities.  The rapeseed Flowers (also often referred to here as “Rape” with a perfume sold here in the Jeju Duty Free Shop of the same name… another example of Konglish gone horribly wrong) are also grown for their esthetic qualities and are not later cultivated to produce oil or any other product.  Jeju is after all a tourist destination, and while I am often in awe of a blatant lack of utility or resourcefulness of many aspects of Korean culture, the beautiful flowers of Jeju are certainly not something I am complaining about.

Buddhist Temple Stay

My true and sincere aim has been to update my blog weekly with the many experiences I have had over the past two months (three Mt. Halla hikes, the Rapeseed flower and Cherry Blossom festival, my third visit to Udo island, Buddha’s Birthday festivities, and my trek to Hamdeok beach and back via bicycle over a distance spanning just under 40kms round trip [certainly my greatest athletic accomplishment since winning 3rd place for Shot Put during Track and Field Day in 8th grade]). But the intention of continuous and consistent blog posts has come short of being even close to realized, as a result of many things keeping me busy on a daily basis, in addition to the high temperatures and beautiful weather we have been having here in Jeju which have regularly planted me beachside far away from an Internet connection or a computer (its the middle of May here, and I already have a pretty nice tan going). Tonight however, as I near the 24 hour mark of fighting sleep, I feel that I must update you on the events of the past weekend, because if I fail to do it now, knowing my track record, I may never “enlighten” you to this interesting experience (no pun intended).

Back in August (yes, almost 9 months ago exactly) I resolved to do 3 things while in Korea: 1) Learn to Speak Korean, 2) get into shape and 3) learn about Buddhism. I have been working on the first two tasks with sincereeffort (but varying degrees of success) since that time, however up until this weekend, my education in Buddhism was limited to books I flipped through and brief and broken conversations with lay Korean Buddhists. Nonetheless, this weekend was an exception when me and several other friends and acquaintances settled in at Yakcheonsa Temple in Seogwipo, for a 2 day, 1 night Buddhist temple Stay.

Yakcheonsa Temple is a part of the Jogye order of Korean Buddhism. Korean Buddhism or Tongbulgyo Buddhism has a distinct philosophy which upon its inception in Korea, sought to mediate the perceived internal inconsistencies of the Chinese Mahayana Buddhist tradition (which it is most closely related to), that shifted across the borders of China around 372 A.D.

These variations are less pronounced however, than the specific philosophical differences between Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism (the two predominant traditions throughout the world) which are divided more or less geographically between East and West Asia respectively. Mahayana Buddhism is distinct from Theravada Buddhism on several tenets but most essentially is perhaps a less esoteric Buddhism than the older and more conservative Theravada tradition (i.e. Mahayana is more inclusive as it asserts that the bodhisattva path is open to all people, not just those preserving and and strictly adhering to the original doctrine [i.e. Monks and nuns] and provides a specific path for striving bodhisattvas to pursue). A bodhisattva is an individual aspiring to achieve enlightenment and is considered a “future Buddha” as the term Buddha istelf actually means “enlightened one”.

Siddhartha Guatama, or original Buddha started out as a bodhisattva himself, and is not in fact a God whom we worship (though from the outside it may appear that way as it is his likeness that we see in the largest Buddha statues of Buddha halls and Shrines.These are used much like chants and mantras to help clear the mind and maintain focus during veneration and meditaion rather than for divine worship). Guatama Buddha was rather a living, breathing man who through his own reflections and experiences provided us with his Dharma path or the “Middle Way” to awakening or enlightenment (a path of moderation which avoids the extremes of self-indulgence and self- mortification).

 In early Buddhism, becoming enlightened or achieving “bodhi” carried a meaning synonymous with nirvana (the state of mind in which one is free from craving, anger and other afflictive states) though today, the two traditions of Buddhism disagree about the synonymity of these terms and other religious aspects of enlightenment such as a Godly awakening to the origin and functioning of the Universe. In fact from the small amount of historical information we actually have about Siddhartha Guatama, he never made any personal claims to some privileged esoteric  knowledge about God or the Universe at all. When describing his awakening to the 5 ascetics who became his disciples, he spoke simply of having a freedom of heart and mind from the compulsions of craving, calling this freedom the taste of Dharma. What Buddhism has become today in terms of a major world religion, is all a fact of scriptural interpretation.

Buddha’s Dharma is what we now consider a set of teachings or four enobling truths to be acted upon; those of anguish, its origins, its cessation, and the path leading to its cessation. He said that anguish was to be understood, its origins to be let go of (its origins being craving for something other than what is), its cessation realized and a path to be cultivated. These truths were not set out as 4 propositions to be believed (though they are often laid out that way), nor are they a series of linear steps to be progressed through in order to achieve awakening. Instead, they are a complex group of interwoven phases which must be acted upon in their own particular way, but together are a single continuum of action (i.e.one does not exist without the other). According Guatama Buddha, only through knowing these truths could a person truly become awakened.

This is where the aspect of meditation comes in…. clearing ones mind and being with ones self and all of the mundane realities we are usually distracted from observing while indulging in daydreams, fantasies, and thoughts about the past or the future, is said to be the key to living an awakened life. By spending time in meditation it becomes evident that most often we are fleeing the present (try to sit for even 5 minutes with the intention of thinking about nothing but what is presently around you). This avoidance of the present is actually a reluctance to face change and the difficulties that are part and parcel of it.  These difficulties can be translated into “anguish”… and this is where the Dharma path comes into play.

Whether enlightenment means seeing the world and living in it with a new set of eyes by letting go of craving, or it actually is an insight to God and the interworkings of the Universe, are things I do not currently know and can’t be sure I ever will know.  However, I went into my temple stay experience with an open mind knowing that the people that devote their life to this path in a religious way (with all the rigors involved in attaining their desired end), will probably be leaning toward the latter.

While I must admit the clergy was quite forgiving in terms of our own etiquette and behaviour on the temple grounds, no matter how appealing a life free of anguish may sound, the boddhisatva life is perhaps less than enviable. Out of the 24 hours we spent at Yakcheonsa temple, at least 10 were meant to be spent in silence, 4 were spent in veneration and though 6 were set aside for sleep, it was more like only 4 were actually realized… and this was only how we as visitors spent our time there.

We arrived on the temple grounds at 2pm on Saturday, and after checking in we were immediately taken to our communal room to change into more conservative temple clothes which consisted of simple Korean working clothes called Garot. Temple etiquette dictates that one not wear bright colors, excessive accessories, heavy make up, or revealing clothing. While Garot is certainly loose and comfortable, it is a far cry from being conducive to the temperatures during the summer months on a subtropical island, and again this is what we as lay Buddhists had to wear during our visit, while men who have achieved monkhood spend their days in layers of cotton robes. We were then taken into the Buddha hall where we received a short welcoming speech and a lecture on how to sit, bow and what posture to take to meditate. We were also shown by some willing (and unwilling) participants, how a monk is reminded of their goal if they begin to doze off during what are sometimes 13 hour long meditation sessions (it involves a long, flat bamboo stick and the shoulder area of ones back). We were then taken on a tour of the temple grounds. We were shown the temple and its shrines, an underground meditation cave and an ancillary building showcasing 500 of Siddhartha Guatama’s followers who too reached Buddhahood.

After our tour, we were taken to a meeting hall where we were given the opportunity to participate in the monastic eating practice of Balwoogongyang. Balwoogongyang refers to Korean Buddhist dinning etiquette where “Balwoo” refers to a bowl appropriate for the proper amount of food, and “Gongyang” simply means eating temple food. Balwoogongyang is not only a way of consuming food, but also part of Buddhist discipline. Through this practice, people share food and elevate their community’s unity by reconciling equality (all monks eat the same food at the same time in complete silence).  Additionally not even a single grain of rice is wasted in order to be mindful of the overindulgence afforded to some areas of the world, while hunger and starvation are what is prevalent in others (food is also considered necessary for the sustenance of life and not for physical satisfaction amongst the Buddhist clergy). Silence is commanded to the extent of refraining from making noise with ones bowls in order to remain focused on a clear mind and to maintain a practice of mindful eating. Our meal, (of course vegetarian to remain aligned with the Buddhist precept of “non-violence”) consisted of cabbage soup, rice, kimchi, bean sprouts, seaweed and two styles of pickled radish. Soup and rice were served from large communal pots, and the side-dishes were offered on a large platter to be shared equally with the four individuals neighbouring most closely to you. A stringent and timed, step by step process was dictated by the crack of a bamboo stick as the whole process was to be enacted in silence. To view an outline of the practice similar to the one we participated in see: http://koreaitour.com/koreaitour/english/experience_duringthemeal.htm

After dinner we reconvened in the Buddha Hall for the Evening service called “Yebul” in Korean. This practice takes place at the temple 3 times a day and is enacted in order pay homage the Triple Gem or “Tiratana”. The Tiratana refers to the Buddha (the enlightened one), the Dharma (the path) and the Sangha (the followers). Through this service, one commemorates the Buddha, remembers the lives of the many people who have followed Buddhism and makes a vow to follow their footsteps and to follow Buddhism with sincerity. The Yebul thus consists of the “Yae- bul-mun” chant and a series of bows used to bring about clarity of mind. We then seated ourselves in front of the Buddha shrine and spent some time attempting Seon (Zen) Meditation. Doing Seon meditation is to empty all thinking activity and bring oneself to the here and now and ones original nature (a task I can not say I was very successful at.. I spent most of my time thinking about how to stop myself from thinking). I’m not sure how much time actually passed, but despite my lack of mind clearing abilities, the crack of the bamboo stick shocked me out of my calm and relaxed state and back into the reality of the outside world. I think a peaceful feeling remained with all of us for a little while, and after the head monks closing remarks, we were all in awe of the beauty of the lanterns lit up outdoors, as we turned around and it was suddenly night.

The next two hours before we headed to bed were spent in free time, a question and answer period with the monks and a very summer-camp-like activity where we learned how to paint the likeness of the Buddha with water color paint. I am not certain of the significance behind this activity, however depictions of the Buddha are after all reminders to stay focused, and perhaps the activity of painting his likeness is an activity to help bring about that kind of clarity.

Bedtime was at 10pm and we were separated into 3 gender segregated rooms (there was a much higher ratio of girls than guys), and attempted to fall sleep as quickly as possible on blankets placed over the overheated hardwood floor. It felt like I had just fallen asleep when we were awoken to the clanging of the traditional wooden Buddhist instruments (called MokTak) and the accompanying Buddha venerating chant being hummed in unison by the even earlier rising monks. It was 4am, and time to dress for the morning service.

Morning service was much like the evening service aside from the 108 prostrations or bows we performed upon its conclusion. At about 5:30 in the morning, this activity left us all exhausted and in a sweat because each prostration is conducted by half bowing with hands positioned heart-center, kneeling on to a cushion on the floor, bowing fully forward with forearms and head on the ground, resuming heart-center position and lifting oneself to standing using only our legs… all 108 performed within a matter of less than 10 minutes… and all enacted with the intention of remaining focused. Needless to say my legs were quite sore the next day, leaving me wondering how an aspiring monk can complete 3000 of these before becoming a member of the clergy. Again we bowed to the Buddha statue as we departed the Buddha hall (as is proper etiquette when entering and leaving) and another beautiful surprise was before us as we turned around, the Sun was up and it was day.

Breakfast was next and consisted of much the same elements as the dinner the night before. My hunger was the only thing that enabled me to finish the mundane meal before me, and being the unawakened individual I am, I began to pitty the monks for their inability to enjoy such worldly pleasures as delicious food.

After breakfast we had another Q&A session withthe head monk who provided us with some basic concepts about Buddhism, and life as part of the clergy. Surprisingly a monk of the Jogye order enjoys relative freedom with holidays of as long as 2 months a year. The particular monk we were speaking with had the opportunity to travel to something like 60 different countries – bill footed by the Temple. Though this aspect of monastic life sounds rather exciting, much of his travels were dedicated to religious training and meditation retreats in which he would spend the majority of the day aside from sleep in deep meditation and self reflection.

At 9:00 we participated in a traditional tea ceremony or “Dado”. This was another opportunity for self reflection, and even with something as simple as a cup of tea every detail was attended to from the water temperature, to the way the cups were first rinsed and warmed, to the aroma of the dried tea leaves as they were placed into the teapot with a small amount of water, the amount of time the tea was brewed, its color, to exactly how the teapot was held, the tea served and then mutually enjoyed. Making and drinking tea is in line with the Buddha’s original doctrine as the posture taken while drinking tea closely resembles Seon meditation posture. Participating in a tea ceremony is supposed to provide yet another opportunity to practice Seon while having the pleasure of enjoying the tea itself. To see the step by step process, see: http://www.tongdosa.or.kr/english/templestay/program.asp and scroll to the bottom of the page.

After this we participated in a walking meditation ceremony in which we were each given a MokTak (a traditional instrument made of wood) which we too clanged in unison, and to which we chanted a Buddha veneration. Though this activity was supposed to be yet another method to clear the mind, it was slightly more comical than peaceful as most of us were in a Zombie like state, unsure of exactly what we were chanting (it was obviously all in Korean) and the loud repetitive sounds were doing more to strum a nerve, causing a bit of a headache for me, than to provide an opportunity for concentration. Nonetheless, it was an experience unto itself, and just another glimpse into the rituals and activities which the monks participate in on a daily basis.

After this event, the experience at the temple stay began to wind down in terms of spiritual and ritualistic eduction. We took some free time to explore the temple grounds, took a small nap, cleaned the rooms in which we slept, ate lunch (which again mirrored the contents of the previous two meals and was thus something I completely avoided this time) and then entered the Buddha hall one last time for the closing ceremony. The monks thanked us for our diligent participation as we did likewise for their time spent with us. We took some “commemorative photos” as a group (and as I believe Robyn pointed out, none of us would be surprised if we end up on next years temple stay program Brochures) said goodbye to the monks, and were on our way back home ready to appreciate living in the moment… specifically those moments right before sleep nestled comfortably on our own beds.

Though the experience did not leave me feeling particularly more spiritual on account of the large number of people and the inevitable dynamic that a first time encounter with something foreign and unknown creates, it was certainly an experience I am so thankful to have had and to have learned from. If nothing else it has inspired me to learn more about Buddhism as both a religion and a philosphy, and to perhaps reflect on my own views of religiosity, spirtuality and what awkening actually means. Thus far, I must say that as a world religion Buddhism seems to be the one I would be willing to align myself most closely with. However, having said that, it is the original philosophy which impresses me and not necessarily the ideologies and belief systems that have have become associated with it. This is where alignement with one religion or another becomes tricky, thus I intend to move forward from this experience not as a self proclaimed Buddhist, but rather an individual with a great amount of interest in Buddhism, while remaining weary of delving blindly into any form of ritualism or faith.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2298544&id=120804479&l=a2d02b030f

Happy Birthday and Goodbye!

March 7-14:  Katarina and Hugh’s Week of Goodbyes and Birthday Celebrations

It has now been just over a month since Katarina and Hugh (and baby Bubak) left and both Robyn and  I miss them dearly.  These two individuals made the first portion of our stay here in Jeju more comfortable and memorable than either of us could have ever imagined.  Their kindness and generosity has been unparalleled, and to show them our love and appreciation, we wanted to send them off with a bang.  Saturday March 7th was a Surprise Goodbye party hosted by Robyn and I,  to simultaneously celebrate Kat and Hugh’s advancing age (JUST KIDDING) and to highlight Katarina’s skills in cradle robbing- Hugh is 5 whole days younger.

Unfortunately the Surprise was slightly botched because they were both supposed to arrive at once, but due to a miscommunication of sorts,  we “SURPRISE”d Katarina all by her lonesome, and then some 5 minutes later, subsequently “SURPRISE”d Hugh when he and Jenie arrived together.  No matter, the rest of the evening unravelled famously with Robyn’s ever popular Jello Shooters and my Oatmeal cookies- all 100ish of them baked batch, by batch, by batch, by batch, by batch, by batch…. by me and Jason in my toaster oven…. over a span of 8 hours… now that’s love.  The highlight of the evening was likely the elaborately wrapped gift box containing many a travel necessity, newlywed sweatshirts (it’s common in Korea for couples to dress in matching clothing when they’re newlyweds, and since living in Korea was Kat and Hugh’s several-year-long honeymoon, it only seemed fitting) and the priceless and ever-desired Obekwan necklace and keychain (Actually you canput a price on them… a whole 50 cents.  Obekwan are 500Won coins we had made into the respective accessories).  

Two days later we continued the birthday celebrations on Katarina’s actual birthday- March 9th, at Bagdad with a lovely dinner and a stop in at “Photo Maru”, our favourite place to get airbrushed glamour shots taken while wearing Disney ears and clown wigs. And finally, after another 5 days (once Kat and Hugh and Bubak had already moved in with me before they made their great departure back to Canada), Hugh celebrated his Birthday in style wearing a Farmer’s hat all evening, drinking tea and playing board games in my lavish apartment (let us not mention the classy photo of me when Hugh let me borrow it).  It certainly was no frills, but it was another great night to remember.  

Only three evenings thereafter and Kat, Hugh and Bubak were on a plane back to Canada…. or wait, first to Seoul… and as a result of first flying on a domestic flight, they didn’t realize that THEY FORGOT BUBAK’S MICRO CHIP DOCUMENTS until they were already on the mainland!  For a minute it looked like I was going to have one last Hoorah in Seoul with them because Bubak would not be able to enter Canada without these papers (i.e. I was going to fly to Seoul to bring them to them), but as luck would have it (I kinda would have liked to see them again), we found a delivery service capable of delivering the docs just in time for their  final departure. 

And that is how Jeju ended an era. We all miss you here so dearly… it’s just not the same… already counting down the days ’til we reunite back home.

xxxooo  

Jeju protest

I am interrupting our regularly scheduled programming with a non-chronological post in order to make mention of a march I was witness to this afternoon.  Since I can’t speak Korean and though I can read it, I can’t understand it, I was lucky that I happened to be with my director at the moment the protestors walked by the city hall area.  He was able to explain in brief terms what the issues at hand were all about, and it is actually quite appalling. 

 While I can understand the shame that a face-saving culture may feel when crimes against humanity are commited by their own people against their own people, it is appalling that in a highly developed, democratically run country, the re-writing of history can still actually be an issue.  I am well aware that what we learn about the world through the News is always percieved through someone elses eyes and  is always angled to accomodate share holders and viewership (just look at the portrayal of Barak Obama on America’s most highly viewed news netowrks as he has returned from the G-2o meetings in England, apparently what was most newsworthy was whether he adhered to proper etiquette upon introduction to the Queen), however a blatant re-writing of history is something I believed existed in only the most repressive societies with autocratic or totalitarian regimes.

Mr. Byun told me that his own father was among the people marching in protest of the current Conservative governments attempt to cover up the attrocities commited by the Conservative capitalist ideologues against the Communist minority in Jeju in the late 1940’s. Hundreds of Southern Communists were killed for their alignment with the North’s Socialist liberators and thousands more unafilliated civilians were murdered in the process.  Myoung Bak’s current government is attempting a “burning of the books” for the modern era, renegging on the previous governments commitment to understanding and admitting the aweful truths of the last half century in Jeju… if humanity is not given the opportunity to admit to and learn from its mistakes, history will continue to repeat itself and the ancestors of those lost, Mr. Byun and his father included, will never have the opportunity reconcile with what was stolen from them.

Hallim Park

February 28, 2009 (nice for the time of year, huh?)

This is more of a “visual” blog entry as the beauty of the plants and animals speaks for itself.  My good friend Jason and I took a 40 minute drive in the good old towner (a van equivalent to clown-mobile) to the east end of the island to a botanical park called Hallim Park at the end of February.  We got to see a variety of plants and animals NOT native to Jeju… basically it is just a tourist attraction that the founder proudly advertised as a development to bring business and money to Jeju.  For this accomplishment, he is revered in an almost heroic way as there is a giant statue of him at the entrance to a small museum chronicling the creation of the park… apparently he had quite the green thumb… I guess gardening goes a long way in these parts.

Busan 3

In order to make the task of updating everyone about the events of the past month I will do up several, event specific mini-blogs.  Chronologically, the first occasion to make mention of,  is me and Katarina’s February20-22 trip to Busan (and yes I know, I promised to update directly after the weekend, yet its been over a month now… but I am sure its not anything you all aren’t used to by this point).  Yes, much as the title of this post would imply, this was my third trip to the city… but I’M NOT apologizing. I love it there, and I have to admit it’s probably not the last time I will visist.  It has nothing to do with the tourist attractions, or historical sites, but purely because of the unpredictable things that tend to happen there and the general atmosphere of the city… (realistically, the span of six or more blocks dedicated to nothing but thrift stores and the occasional boutique, may also have something to do with it).

Contrary to the schedule, window shopping was an unrealized item on the itinerary, and despite the amount of restraint and self control I did demonstrate, it’s a miracle I didn’t have to buy another bag just to lug all of my stuff home. I watched “Confessions of a Shopoholic” last night, and some flashbacks from that weekend resonated with me as I watched Rebecca Bloomwood rooting through all of the bargains at the Sample Sale (though her one pair of gloves cost what my entire shopping spree did).  I was actually very good for most of the weekend, but once we hit the 10hour mark in the shopping district (yes.. actually… but over a span of two days), my urge to “buy, BUY, buy” could no longer be kept in check (someone recently told me that there have been some evolutionary theories suggesting that women’s “natural propensity to shop”  is a result of some biological urge to comodify for the sake of genetic protraction… I am not wise to the details, but for all current intents and purposes, I will buy it -no pun intended ). 

Other than shopping, Katarina and I spent one evening in our hotel room getting drunk and celebrating Kat’s acceptance into her PhD program, off of ONEbottle of cheap wine, like a couple of teenage school girls.  For any of you planning to visit Myeondong (correction Nampodong, Myeondong is in Seoul) on a Friday night, opt for the Korean table wine a la Love Hotel… apparently what we thought was the bustling downtown district, shuts down at 10pm on Fridays.  No matter, we had a great time and also had the opportunity to discover Hugh’s incredibly thoughtful gesture hidden in Kat’s makeup bag…. he sold his bicycle and left the profit in a little envelope for Katarina to spend on a lovely celebratory breakfast and dinner for the both of us the following day.

In between these indulgent, culinary events and most of our time spent perusing the 1,000Won bins of the used clothing shops, we also encountered the usual, unusual Korean (or other) things (or people) such as a bare breasted statue feeding her naked baby situated on a deserted side street directly next to a convenience store (see exhibit A below),  Big Bang, Korea’s biggest pop quartet being on scene at a sporting store endorsing some product… seriously, being there in that moment gives us a major bragging rights (Exhibit B), a couple of Japanese tourists who asked us to take our pictures with them, just by virtue of being foreigners (Exhibit C),  a waving, bike riding delivery man (Exhibit D), the owner of Market Fresh who informed us the business was going under and wanted to personally take us on an evening drive around the shores … a little strange, but I think he was using us to practice his English (Exhibit E), the top I will be wearing to my next formal event (if you’re lucky, maybe even to your wedding lindsey)-sweater included (Exhibit F), an ad for… you guessed it… a HOSPITAL (exhibit G) and last but not least, Katarina’s awesome, out of this world virtual horse race which I almost got a hernia watching and video recording (Exhibit H).

Our weekend consisted of shopping, eating, cafeing, arcading, more eating and more shopping, and then from all the shopping we had to get our pedicures done.  God it’s sickening… but it was so good.  I look at it this way… first of all, I single handedly kick started the Korean economy, and with the way the Won has waned in the last few months, my 20o,000₩ weekend probably cost me in the upper limit of $12.

Thank you so much Kat for such an awesome weekend… thinking back makes me miss you even more.

T-130 days ’til I’m home!

Hey everyone, I am sitting in my favourite cafe right now with every intention of updating you on the events of the last month, but I have realized that a proper update is going to take several visits to Jaeng-E as I have just looked through my photos from the last month and there is over 600 of them to go through to post.  I have been MIA since I last went to Busan because I was trying to make the most of my time with Katarina and Hugh who left this beautiful island to pursue bigger and better things a week ago today, and as a result of my time spent with them,  I’ll have many an adventure to report once I get everything sorted through. 

I have to admit, it’s been quite sad without them, but I am faring relatively well considering they were my family away from home.  Luckily I still have Robyn and some other good friends here on the island to take care of me, and so the separation anxiety probably hasn’t hit me yet because my mornings have also been occupied by my new exercise routine, correspondence that was long overdue (sorry mom), and the cleaning that was necessary after having 3 extra bodies livining in my apartment for 5 days (Kat, Hugh and the love of my life Bubak,  moved in with me between their contract end dates and their day of departure) .  I have had a little more time to think in the last week though, and that has been hard (when my mind is left to its own devices, a depressing reality about the privilege I have in life and how I am not using it to its greatest potential  always tends to set in, leaving me feeling guilty and a little depressed about the state of the rest of the world), but I suppose that kind of thinking really isn’t a bad thing because it’s important to recognize where there is need for personal improvement and act on it.  I think that if anything good can come from Kat and Hugh leaving, it will give me more time for self reflection and I can focus my energies on figuring out what exactly I am going to do with my life and if I am going to adhere to the original plan.  (To stay or not to stay in Korea is the very first question).

In any case, I will certainly be updating more often as I have a lot to catch up on and a lot to look forward to in the coming weeks, so expect to hear from me again very soon.  For the time being I am formally letting you know that I am alive and well and am sending my love to everyone.  I hope everything is great back home.

xox Michelle

Fire Festival

Another week has gone by and I don’t again know  how the time has flown.  I constantly have so many activities going on that I rarely have time to breathe let alone update my blog.  I am actually currently at work on my one hour break, after what was a wonderful morning catching up with two of my favourite girls in the world, talking to family, exercising and packing for Busan again.  Yes, I am now headed to Busan for the third time in what is now almost 7 months of being in Korea.  As I mentioned in my last post, Katarina and Hugh are leaving in just over 3 weeks (WAHHHH!!) and Kat and I are heading to the mainland for one last ladies weekend.  Itinerary: window shopping, drinking, cafeing, perhaps museum hopping and getting in some good quality time together before the Kuruc/Durant duo leave Robyn and I on this island to our own devices.  Too bad you couldn’t come too Robyn!

I’ll be sure to write an updated post regarding our activities early next week, but before I leave, I wanted to briefly mention my whereabouts last weekend.  So where was it that I spent my Valentines day last Saturday, February the 14th, you ask?  Well, Burning down an orum actually.

In Korea,  after the (Lunar) New Year,  several provinces celebrate The Fire Festival, which literally involves the torching of an entire hill.  Though this custom has a long tradition, and a history I don’t know much about, the basic idea behind it is to burn out any traces of bad from the previous year, and present a clean slate for the present and the future. I think it stems from old farming practices, but a spiritual/symbolic aspect has been interwoven into this custom too.

To set the hill ablaze, dozens of people with torches walked in a procession toward the Orum, and upon the end of the countdown, the hill was set on fire with the added help of fireworks and other flammable substances.  The event was really quite spectacular and was made to look a lot like a Volcano exploding… something that is fitting for where we are, considering the fact that we are living on a Volcanic island with a dormant Volcano, smack-dab in the middle.

Despite the freezing cold that evening, the event was quite amazing and I am glad I didn’t miss it.  Near the end, there were also traditional singers and dancers dressed in Hambok which I will post photos of when I return. 

Have a great weekend everyone, TGIF, and hope to talk to you all soon!             xox

Michelle

Ammendment: From my guidebooks and a little bit of research on the internet, I have confirmed that the origins of this Festival are indeed  found in early farming practices which used the yearly razing of old grasses to maximize the space on which to graze herds of cows. Jeju-do has traditionally been an island of Farmers and food producers, and while the island is certainly lush, it is incredibly small and covered predominantly by trees and local plant life privy to a mountain ecology and not large or even moderate scales of farming. Even today there is a clear lack of green pastures and thus the burning of  these dry grassy fields became a useful practice for raising the quality and increasing the size of graze lands, eliminating pests and even paying hommage to the fire God of the local poltheistic religion. In Jeju-do specifically, the people believed in the purifying and metamorphic powers of fire and thus through this tradition, the people hoped to pacify the fire God who could help bring the people propsperity and fertility. The Jeongwol Daeboreum Fire Festival translates to: Great Full moon and actually takes place on the first full moon of the lunar New Year. I would argue that the timing of this tradition undoubtedly held both agricultural and symbolic/religious significance relating to starting anew.  Here are the additional long promised photos.

WARNING! This one’s a “dear diary”…

I have now updated the blog with some of the most crucial photos.  To see the full albums, scroll to the very bottom of this Web Page and click on one of the five “Mom and Niki in Korea” folders.

The long awaited post has finally arrived and I will be amazed if anyone actually gets through it… it is 8 pages long and perhaps (or certainly) documents more than anyone cares to read. However the purpose of this blog is also to provide me with something to look back on when my time here is over.  So either grin and bear it, or wait until I post the photos (but with my track record you may be waiting a long time).

Also, I started writing last Thursday with the naive idea that I could finish in one evening, so I am including my thought processes of that day as well (just to solidify the “dear diary” status of this post). You should also know that after writing the first part of that post, I ate 3 more chocolate bars in one sitting and thus have this week been out for a run 4 times. Cold or no cold. It had to be done.

It is Thursday night and I am in my resident position (in my bed) thinking about what else I could possibly eat, believing that I deserve whatever my heart desires because I had a bad day with Young Jae again today. It reminds me of Tuesday night (the last day of my 4 day, Lunar New Year long weekend), an evening that I am not proud of, but one in which out of  what I believe was the anxiety of having to return to school and deal with Young-Jae the next day, I ate 3 chocolate bars in one sitting (and sadly no, they were not the bite sized ones, though I did have one of those too… don’t anyone dare comment).  To make matters worse, I literally busted a button off my pants earlier last week (while sitting) and because I am STILL sick (it has seriously  been 45 days) I have been leery of heading out for a run out of fear of over exerting myself and making matters worse again. 

Yes mom, I did go see a doctor… not for the cold specifically but rather for a minor eye infection for which I was prescribed antibiotics and 3 other sets of pills that serve only God knows what purpose (and yes I am taking them all despite my belief that it is a little more than overkill).  Unfortunately the doctor thinks the cold is viral and will eventually pass on its own, so as I continue to say no to alcohol, late nights and light to moderate exercise (and YES to chocolate)  I feel like I am turning into the Slovak version of Jaba the Hut on account of my immobility and insatiable appetite for junk (sorry for the stolen reference Kat, but you would understand if you could feel your body expanding as you spoke too). 

 Enough said, I am finished with the weight references because as we all know, it is clearly not healthy to have an obsession with ones appearance, especially in a day and age where we model ourselves against… models….  but I’ll also argue that having dinner and eating an Aero, a WonderBar and 3 Reeses cups  (plus a mini Coffee Crisp) thereafter… is unhealthy too (… again…  don’t say a word… you brought them for me mother).  Jinny and So Young argue that this common behaviour of mine results from some kind of void… in their eyes, one that needs to be filled by “the love of a man”…. I argue against this because that void has been thoroughly dealt with over the last year and any guy in my life is now a mere compliment to my already existing happiness and fulfillment.  But perhaps there is an ounce of truth to the void theory because I recently learned that Katarina and Hugh (and my little princess Bubak) will be leaving in mid March. Additionally, I am still dealing with the aftereffects of my mom and sister leaving… and what is the next best thing to love, family and friendship?  Well I would argue chocolate, so I will sit here eating more of it as I attempt to tell you all a little bit about Niki and Mom’s visit (I know it’s long overdue).

Well I guess I will continue where I last left off… that being Niki and I’s visit to Loveland. If you haven’t all figured it out by now based on Niki’s Facebook photos, Loveland is a theme park here in Jeju dedicated to the pseudo-artistic depiction of sex. I had never been there before myself, and to say the least the whole experience did nothing short of make me blush… particularly when we caught other Korean tourists taking pictures of us “participating” in the hands on nature of some the exhibits. Being a little shy in this department, I was surprised to find that of all of the things to see there, my favourite part of the whole gig was the“gift shop”. Not because I was feeling particularly inspired myself, but rather because in a fit of side splitting laughter, it inspired Niki to buy a pair of mens underwear (if you can call a white mesh g-string underwear) as a gift for a special someone… Kris. No, not for her boyfriend Kyle, bur rather for her Family/Other/Brother in law. Really though, I can’t think of a better Christmas gift, and I truly hope the gift-that-kept-on-giving as it sat on my coffee table for two weeks, continued to delight, when it was finally in the hands of its rightful owner.

  

 The next day was epic. Niki came to Korean lessons with me in the morning where coincidentally we were learning about family members. Niki learned that I am her “Onni” and I learned that she is my “Yodongseng” because brothers and sisters take different names in Korea depending on who is younger and older and whether the relationship is between siblings of the same or opposite sex. I don’t think Niki remembers how to say hello in Korean, but after her one lesson she learned “how many people are in your family?” with perfect pronunciation -which to my dismay, she continued to practice for the duration of her visit. The whimsical sounding“kajogi, myot myong i-eyo?” has thus (unfortunately) stayed with me ever since, and next to “How much does this cost?” more or less continues to be the only question I too know how to ask.

  

After our lesson, Niki walked to the Hogwan with me and decided to stay for the day to help me tackle the devils in disguise. I was surprised to see that the day elapsed almost without a hitch. If it weren’t for the behaviour of my last class, Niki probably would have left Korea calling me a liar because 4 out of 5 classes behaved unbelievably well. But thanks to Mickey’s usual antics in 6D (he continually tried to steal my chair out form under me and egged on the rest of the children who started playing catch in the middle of the classroom claiming that they “didn’t understand” the workbook assignment) the class was so chaotic that Niki bolted to the door almost as quickly as the kids when she heard the bell ring. When she walked back into the teachers office, Robyn and Jinny said that Niki’s pale skin and the expression on her face said it all. Lucky for us it was the last class of the day and Niki had no problem with following my usual “Week End Mental Health Retention Plan” -a bottle of Soju and a Dalk Galbi dinner for two (for one).

  

After a quick stop off at my apartment for the first part of the above plan, we headed to our favourite Galbi restaurant and were joined by Robyn, Jinny, Katarina and Hugh. After a delicious dinner which is probably the only Korean food Niki actually enjoyed next to Lotteria -Korea’s fast food chain, we all headed to Led Zeppelin to show Niki a proper night on the town. A few drinks at Led Zeppelin lead to us dancing up a storm and Niki befriending everyone in the bar, which in conjunction with our friend Emma, lead to the whole Bar’s evacuation to Nicole’s first experience at a Noraebong. As we headed out, there were literally 3 dedicated patrons left in the bar leaving us with something like 25 people in our private Noraebong room, and more pictures from those two hours than all of the remainder of Niki’s trip. The magic of this experience was enough to solidify Nicole’s 3 week love affair with Korean karaoke rooms and was also wild enough to have caused me to lose my senses (dancing and singing on the communal table) as well as my cell phone.

  

The next morning I woke up at 11am feeling just fine, ready to visit the Free Café with Niki, Katarina, Hugh and Jim on the West side of the island. The premise of this place is such that you serve yourself, and clean up for yourself and only pay what you can or what you feel fair on a voluntary basis (I.e your donations pay for the coffee and snacks and the upkeep). The fact that I was feeling fine when I woke up was somewhat strange a phenomenon, considering that Niki was feeling just a “little” under the weather and we had returned from Noraebong at around 5am. Once we arrived at this beautifully decorated little cottage, nestled in the countryside of Jeju at around 12:30pm, it became exceedingly clear that when I woke up that morning I had probably not yet been sober. This fact became even clearer when I twice had to use the beautiful washroom and computerized toilet for nothing remotely as pleasant as a comfortable pee or a perfumed bum powdering. Luckily, loitering was allowed on account of there being no real business for which to accommodate new “customers”, and Niki was in a similar state, so we spent a couple of hours sitting at the café and staring into space, enjoying the atmosphere until we had all recovered enough to visit the Green Tea museum about 5kms away. The museum was nothing special, perhaps more of a glorified gift shop than anything, but the accompanying tea fields adjacent to the museum were quite a spectacular site and made for some really beautiful photos. That evening was spent in a Game-Bong, where we decided to bring our own cards to play Euchre (the point of a Game-Bong is to rent games and play them in a communal area with the opportunity to be served food and drinks). I don’t know why we didn’t just stay in and play our Euchre game because we ended up looking like absolute lunatics, not just for bringing our own cards, but for disturbing the peace thanks to Niki’s perpetual usage of her spot on Slovak accent. I think I lost 15lbs that night just from laughing and we still aren’t quite sure, but Katarina may or may not have peed her pants. The evening coined such phrases as “life points”, “I’ve got your back, like bunny rabbit” and “Oh Ladino, no razors in Survivor reminds me of back home”. For clarification, please ask in person.

  

The next day, despite the rain, Niki and I headed off to the Jeju arboretum to take a stroll through the “Non-Spontaneous Plants Garden in Cheju Island” and a brisk walk up one of the orums or parasitic cones resulting from volcanic activity that formed the island 300,000 years ago (I.e. they were once mini volcanoes themselves). Unfortunately the weather was too poor to actually view Mt. Halla or properly see the ocean from the peak as I had hoped, but at least we got out of the house for some fresh air. After viewing the “non-spontaneous plants” Aka flora not native to Jeju, we headed to what I have heard many call a Temple food restaurant, but based on some reading I have done, seems more likely to be merely a vegetarian restaurant rooting from Buddhist influence (some sects of Buddhism believe that one should not eat meat or anything that is killed for the purpose of human consumption in order to keep with the precept of ahisma or non-violence. Thus, unlike the restaurant we visited, true temple food should NOT consist of any root vegetables because by virtue of pulling and using the root, it effectively kills the plant.). We ordered potato pancakes and soup with green tea dumplings and got several side dishes along with our main courses as is tradition at any meal hear in Korea. The potato pancakes were perhaps the only other food Niki truly enjoyed here, but to be completely fair, they aren’t much of a stretch from “zemiakove placky” which we grew up eating and are a staple in Slovak cuisine.

  

When we returned home, we started preparing for Christmas #1 of 3. Robyn was heading out to Taiwan for her holidays the next morning and thus we prepared a bit of a pre-Christmas, Christmas for her before she went so we could all enjoy some good food together and exchange presents. Everyone contributed a little something and Niki, Robyn, Jinny, Jason, Kat, Hugh, Bubak and I, all had a lovely dinner including a Christmas cake and homemade eggnog prepared by Miss “I can’t cook” herself (I.e. Robyn). Robyn spoiled us all with her gifts and the beautiful wrapping job on each and every present (those of you who have experienced a Christmas with me know all too well that I can appreciate a well wrapped gift perhaps more than the contents of it) and she took the “I can’t cook” to another level by making us each home made truffles. I also got a blender and Sippy Cup from Robyn and even Niki got a really beautiful gift which included a perfectly suited Konglish sweater outlining some biological/environmental principles in a way that only Konglish can.

  

The next morning, Robyn was off to Taiwan and Niki and I ventured through the snow storm by bus to the 5 day market. We spent a little under and hour there on account of the bitter cold but I think Niki got a good sense of what the place was all about in viewing everything from the clothing vendors, Adjimas selling Jeju oranges, rows upon rows of kimchi and spices, to stands selling pig heads and buckets of live bundagae (silk worm larva which are boiled, seasoned and eaten like a snack). We picked up the remaining necessities for our real Christmas Eve dinner on Wednesday (including 5 kilos of bundagae) and headed back to my part of town so I could get to work for the afternoon.

  

Monday and Tuesday were spent working and resting and perhaps a Noraebong session or two with various participants and Wednesday or Christmas Eve was spent listening to Christmas carols, packing for our trip to the mainland the following day and preparing for that evenings Christmas dinner at my place. It was so nice having Niki there because she made it truly feel like Christmas as we hand made schnitzels and reminisced about old times. Bubak hung out with us for the day in her little Santa/Reindeer outfit and helped contribute greatly to the Christmas spirit. The evening was a quiet “family” affair with me, Niki, Hugh, Katarina and Bubak, and it truly felt that way because Kat and Hugh’s warm hearts and kindness have made us feel so at home here in Korea that they have honestly become more like close family than anything else. The awesome presents we all got were secondary to the good food and good company and at around 9pm we even got a call from my mom wishing us a very Merry Christmas indicating that she had arrived safely in Seoul and was tucking herself in for the night at the Airport Hotel for the night.

  

The next morning, Niki and I slept in until around 11am, cleaned up the apartment and headed to the airport to meet our mama for our mainland adventure. We arrived in Seoul at about 4pm and were reunited with my mom whom to our surprise was awake and chipper and ready to celebrate Christmas number 3. Despite being in a hotel room, thousands of kilometers away from home, we had an amazing evening with wine and Christmas food, moms homemade Christmas cookies and even a tiny Dollar Store Christmas tree (thanks to Katarina) with several presents for all of us to open. I scored the jackpot for Christmas presents because between mom and Niki, I got all the missing Western staples I could think of for Christmas including what was probably 20kgs of cosmetics, books, medicines, chocolates, teas and other drinks, bread crumbs, light mayonnaise, oats and REAL COFFEE!! Despite living in a highly developed country, after being away from home for such a long time, the conveniences and commodities you take for granted every day become that much more valuable and every single item was appreciated more than anyone can imagine… (thank you girls so, so, so much again). We then put on the Santa Clause 3 and that immediately concluded our evening as we all fell asleep about 10 minutes into the film on account of it being one of the worst movies that has probably ever existed.

  

In the morning we headed from Incheon (a city of its own, where the airport is located about 45 minutes outside of Seoul) to the giant metropolis that is the capital city of South Korea. I was slightly concerned about the complexity of the subway system and the overwhelming number of people we would have to fight for an inch of space, however the transfer was unproblematic and relatively uncrowded considering that Seoul is a city of 10 million people and we were arriving on a week day. This was probably a result of good timing and Katarina and Hugh’s incredibly specific set of instructions, thus in no time we were settling into our room at the Emerald Hotel -one of many hotels in Korea known as Love hotels. Unfortunately the Emerald did not offer triple rooms, so to make our stay even more comfortable than what was already inevitable in light of lodging at a place where the rooms can be rented out by the minute, we (as in three cheap Slovaks) decided to share one room with a double bed. And yes we all slept in it together.

  

When we dropped off our things and paid up front for our room, we decided to head toward the Myeondong shopping area by foot to check out Korea’s most famous shopping district. As we walked for what seemed like a very, very long time even for Katarina’s standards (she was the one who made us the map, which indicated that Myeondong was walking distance and somewhere nearby was an information booth), I suddenly started to question Katarina’s cartographic skills, and as any true Slovak would, started to “lose my cool” when the information booth was nowhere to be found and mom being mom, started asking every non-English speaking passer by for directions to a place even more foreign to her. I called Katarina who basically affirmed that I was map reading moron as I completely misinterpreted where the two maps she drew connected. At this point we had gone several kilometers out, in the complete opposite direction and were now at Dongdaemun market instead.

  

In effect, the three Slovak girls were calmly suppressing their inner rage (I swear it’s a gene) as a result of being hungry and absolutely frozen because (as it happens), for the three days we were there, Seoul was blessed with a cold front reminiscent of the early stages of a Canadian winter. At this point none of us were really interested in the collection of large building complexes filled with Korea’s upscale boutiques, so instead of exploring one of worlds largest midnight markets (this collection of high rise shopping superstructures houses over 30,000 shops which are open daily from 10:30am-5am for a total of 18.5 hours), we decided to sit on the 9^th floor of one of these “supermalls” in a Korean fast food restaurant overlooking nothing more than the construction below. To add insult to injury, the soup my mom ordered ended up being more of a boiled bone with hot water poured over it than the hearty chicken noodle soup she was envisioning and thus the other Slovak gene, the “negativity gene” started to show its horns (don’t fight it mom, we all have it, and if you try, I’ll illustrate with the Miranda example).

  

Though she didn’t come out and say it, Seoul may as well have been dead to her from that point forward as the food was sub-par (and for a Slovak that hates seafood and spice, it really is), the architecture was boring and reminiscent of what grew out of the Soviet Bloc, the people were too pushy, the horking was unbearable and the weather was short of the balmy +10*C I think she was expecting (Though on many accounts I agree with you mom, I really am sorry that we fought and that my idiocy that first day left a bad taste in your mouth). To put it mildly (and excuse the pun), as a result of my map reading genius, I think that my mom and Korea got off on the wrong foot, resulting in the usual Momma + Michelle mother/daughter “brouhahas” that continued for the duration of the trip.

 

The rest of the evening turned out just fine as we finally made it to the area of our original destination, where we spent a few hours stuffing ourselves with delicious pastries and enjoying our double Espresso Machiatos at Café Themselves (apparently they have the worlds #2 barsita working there, but I can’t say I would have appreciated a difference one way or another because at this point in the game I am settling in quite nicely to my “Brewer’s Choice” Instant coffee Lattés and anything that is just a notch above, i.e. real coffee, tastes like heaven). The only other complaints put forth that day were during the night when I couldn’t sleep thanks to mama’s old man like snoring (unfortunately she had “a bit of a cold”), and when I irritated her and Niki for constantly shuffling and moving out of the bed for air. Unbeknownst to them (and I didn’t wake them to tell them out of fear of what they might do if I did), I was suffering a dual torture, because as they were snoring away in one ear, the “love” making noises of the next room filled the other.

 

The following two days in Seoul were much better. We got to explore Insadong (the folk art and antique quarter) where we had tea and Korea’s customary rice cakes in a traditional tea house, found a restaurant that served a mishmash of Korean/International food, and despite our best judgment, we even hopped on a hop on/hop off tour bus which took us around to some of Seoul’s main attractions. It actually turned out not to be a bad idea because we ended up seeing Namdaemun market (an open air market selling everything from overpriced Ginseng to $3 shoes), a restored Folk art village depicting traditional Korean architecture and displays set up to help you envision daily life, and even N’Seoul Tower (one of the worlds tallest buildings located on a hill which overlooks the entire city) from which we got to see the cityscape at night.

 

 Another reason why our visit to Seoul drastically improved was because Katarina and Hugh decided to make a surprise appearance and thanks to their familiarity with the city we ended up doing all of the very most important things (i.e. finally getting to Myeondong for shopping, directing my mother to where she could get a REAL steak and showing me where I could get my kg of Feta Cheese for the ungodly price of 18,000W).  As a result of their presence we also figured out which of the temples and palaces to visit and we ended up deciding on Geongbok Palace which is the largest Palace in Korea from the Joseon Dynasty.  None of the temples or palaces in Korea are in their original form due to Koreas history of Imperial rule, however 10 of the original 30 buildings have survived (with significant restoration) despite the destruction they faced during the Japanese occupation. Despite my hesitation (in Korea, once you see one temple, you have seen them all unless you have an affinity for history), and outright frustration about our visit (I basically knowingly behaved like a 4 year old, pouting and arguing outside of the palace gates because I was cold and hungry and blamed it all on Nicole), it was definitely worthwhile because the palace had a secret garden which was quite beautiful to see, and a free tour guide which put everything we were seeing into perspective.

 

We spent one more evening with Kat and Hugh and then woke up early the next morning (5am) to catch the first 4 hour bus headed for Gyeongju (and what a ride it was. Koreans on the road are scarier than Peruvians -EVEN when you’re in a bus, and additionally the driver -who gave us the pleasure of  clearing his throat empahtically and repetitively throughout the entire journey, decided to blast the heat so high that we were literally sweating and choking on the dry air).  I have already been to Gyeongju as all of my avid blog followers (mom and dad) know, however since the town itself is a Unesco World heritage site, Niki and mom really wanted to explore the place instead of visiting the DMZ (“Demilitarized Zone” which is a forrested portion of land between North and South Korea serving as the international border). And though the DMZ would have been my own choice, the idea of what lies behind the DMZ was too disturbing for my mom to come face to face with, especially in light of her own experiences with a repressive communist regime that in and of itself did not even come close to comparing with the injustices taking place in the North.

 

 Unfortunately Gyeongju in the winter is not what it is in the summer time and as a result Niki and mom missed some of the most beautiful aspects of what makes the town so charming (the lucious green grass and flowering trees at the tomb sites, the fields of Rapeseed Flowers and most specifically the wide fen covered in hundreds of beautiful lotuses). Despite this disapointment and several other setbacks like the loss of Niki’s camera and mom’s cold being at its peak over the two day period we were there, I think the ladies got a lot out of our visit and thoroughly enjoyed Bulguska Temple, Seokugram Grotto and the Folk art village where we literally bought 6 traditional tea sets and several other Korean mementos (for clarification of these historical/tourist sites, go back to my Busan and Gyeongju post from August).

 

 Heading back to the airport to catch our 4:30pm flight proved to be a slightly stressful event in light of the fact that it was New Years eve and we had plans back in Jeju (and additionally I am pretty sure our tickets were non refundable). To start the day off right, we missed the first bus back to Seoul and to make matters worse, moms non-essential luggage was being held at the Airport Hotel…. a different airport from the one we were to be departing from (clearly a MAJOR oversight in the otherwise meticulously planned 4 week itinerary). Even though we arrived back in Seoul at around noon (after what we thought would be rush hour), the dizzying tone of the subway system and the vast number of riders, became much more evident as the “Terminator” Aka Niki lugged our giant suitcase with 6 teasets and 90% of our clothes through the sometimes excruciatingly long, escalatorless passages, between connecting lines. When we finally arrived at Gimpo (the airport we were departing from), it was 2:45pm and I still had to travel a half hour there and back, back to Incheon to pick up the remaining luggage. An additional factor was that the “Airport Hotel” was not actually even right at the Incheon airport, but rather another 10 minute shuttle away. So what a normal person would safely do in two hours accounting for wait times between shuttles and subway trains, I had to manage in just over one.  As luck would have it, God was on my side that day.  The minute I walked down to the next level to catch the inter-airport train, the doors were just opening to the next departing shuttle as I made my way to the boarding platform.  When I arrived at Incheon, I literally ran from the bottom right corner of the basement, to the left-most corner of the top floor where the quarter hour terminal shuttle bus was waiting for me as I exited the door.  When I arrived at the airport hotel, Mr. Kwon, the concierge, helped me with the two suitcases down to the inter-airport bus stop, and the bus was literally there the very moment we walked up to it.  I arrived at Gimpo at 3:58pm and met Niki and Mom at the Jeju Air check in counter at 4:00… just in time.  When we walked through security and found our gate, the flight was just beginning to board at which point we all breathed a big sigh of relief.

 

 We arrived back in Jeju without any further stresses -except for the fact that we left Niki with the house Key, and Niki travelled back to the apartment with Hugo who drives safely like a normal human being, while Mom and I shared a cab with one of Koreas many Formula 1 taxi drivers. While speeding through the city limits at 80kms per hour, the man couldn’t stop staring at mom and kept relentlessly complimenting her beauty to me in Korean. While this normally would have been wildly flattering to Mamo, we wanted nothing more than for him to shut up and keep his eyes on the road and perhaps the speedometer as well. With love in his eyes, the man got us to our destination a good 15 minutes earlier than Niki and Hugh, yet despite the fact that, that extra 15 minutes would have been incredibly handy since 3 of us had to get ready for New Years Eve by 8pm and it was momentarily 6:45pm, we unfortunately had to wait for the arrival the keys while sitting outside of the apartment door.

 

 The rest of the evening was great. We started off with a few drinks here at my apartment, migrated to Bagdad for dinner where we also rang in 2009 with the company of Kat, Hugh, Jinny, Jason and Jeanie (unfortunately Robyn was still in Taiwan), and then after putting my poor exhausted mother to bed, we moved the party to Led Zeppelin until about 3am at which point our bodies could not stand another lucid minute, and we finally headed home ourselves.  The next morning Niki spent a portion of time worshiping the porcelain God, while mom and I lay comatose on our respective bed and couch until about 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Katarina then came over with the complete 6 seasons of Sex and the City and thats where the rest of our evening went alongside the best part of holiday lounging -enjoying the holiday treats.

The next day was Friday, and alas I had to go to work for one silly day until the weekend.  Niki and mom headed to Seogwipo on the South side of the island with Katarina and Hugh, and upon their return we all met for Dinner at an American Style restaurant called Youngu’s.  While the food was decent, it is still unclear as to whether Kat and Hugh got food poisoning or if they caught something from the servers, but it is safe to say that we won’t be going back because to suggest that Kat and Hugh were very, very, very sick, is a huge understatement.  Before we were alerted to the disaster that would unfold for Kat and Hugh in just a few short hours, we ventured to a Noraebong for a truly unforgettable evening.  Kat and I sang our usual Stevie Wonder duet,  Hugh and I sang some Air Supply with  some serious improv, Mom surprised us by singing to many a Queen song, and near the end of the night, Niki broke out the Celine and sang with so much gusto, that people were actually knocking on the door, probably trying to check if our Canadian claim to fame was actually in house.

Because of Kat and Hugh’s unfortunate situation the following day, it meant that the duo was out of commission for the weekend and the onus of showing the ladies a good time on their last weekend here was left up to me. And what a disaster I turned out to be in fulfilling that role. Saturday was supposed to be somewhat of a spa day where we were going to go get our hair and nails done. I took mom and Niki to a hairdresser I had been raving about to them without any prior personal experience, but rather just by virtue of the amazing haircut Kat received there for the whopping price of $10. We all went in requesting our respective hair cuts, and Niki and mom also indicated that they wanted “highlights” added to their hair which we believed was a universal term for the procedure. Jinny was currently not available for phone conference to confirm that they knew what we wanted, but they all smiled and nodded enthusiastically, which to us indicated that they understood our request. I don’t know why I didn’t clue in right away, but things looked fishy immediately when they started spreading blue paste all over Niki and mom’s heads without a cap or a foil in sight. At that point, neither of them looked concerned which may merely have been a result of my expressed confidence in the place, and thus (against my better judgement), I didn’t say anything and let the disaster continue in hopes that this was indeed some Korean method of highlighting hair. As the minutes passed and the color was starting to take its effect, the energy between the three of us became more and more somber and the tension began to build. Somehow mom broke through the language barrier and it suddenly became evident to them that mom did NOT want a bleach blond head and they immediately rinsed out the bleach, leaving her with hair that was definitely well cut, and color that looked decently touched up. But for poor Niki, we were at the point of no return. Things were too far gone to salvage the old colour, and as Niki’s head turned deeper and deeper orange, we all sat their pale faced, just hoping that the bleach blond would eventually appear. Well that moment never came, and even after a second full application (which the hairdresser had the nerve to charge us for), Niki was Carrot Top in Eastern European prostitutes disguise (I love you Niki, but even after 3 “just show me one more time, maybe my vision was bad”, there is no way of sugar coating it or putting it nicely). Needless to say, that was the end of spa day and we headed home for a couple of shots of Soju, because even for someone as easy going as Niki, the color of a Jeju orange on your head, is a bitter pill to swallow.

The next morning, Niki gathered enough courage and good will to leave the house and visit one more beautiful corner of the island before her departure. With a hat on head and a camera handy, we spent a few hours on Udo island, ready for any moment where the mood would strike and Niki would let her “golden” locks out from under the chapeau (Michael Buble style) for that perfect photo op. Jinny also joined us and while I had already been there once before, the scenery of the island was no less beautiful.  Upon our return, Katarina came over with a wonderful Mexican dinner for all of us to share (though unfortuantely she didn’t get to enjoy any of that culinary delight on account of being ill), and the three Bobala ladies went downtown for their last evening together.  We visited Town & Kitchen, my favourite tea house, and after spending a good couple of hours there, mom decided to head home for her beauty sleep, and Niki and I decided to attempt to relive the Noraebong magic just one more time.  No one came banging down the doors this time, but it was so much fun even with just her and I, that we ended up staying out until 1am (On a Sunday) singing the night away.  Since that night Niki, I honestly haven’t been back… it just won’t be the same .

The next day was Monday and it was a sad day indeed because it was officially time for Niki to head home.  Before her departure, we got to have brunch with Mr. Byun and Mrs. Kim at the KAL Hotel which was nice for us all because they served a fusion of Korean and International foods including what I believe was REAL cheese cake! Because I had to work, I couldn’t be there to see Niki off at the airport, so we met on my break to have coffee and to say goodbye.  I procrastinated the goodbye part so much that all it chalked up to, was a quick hug and a “talk to you soon” as we ran from the cofee shop to the Hogwan for my class that was to begin in about 12 seconds.  It was definitely a sad evening and a sad Tuesday that followed.  When I got home from work on Tuesday night, I asked my mom hypothetically where abouts she thought Niki might be at that point in her travels, and we both agreed that she was probably preparing to land for one of her fist stop overs in the U.S.  Well, we were wrong because about an hour later, we got a phone call from Niki saying that her flight was delayed and she was stuck in Tokyo for another night. The poor girl ended up in transit for something like 48 hours, but thankfully she eventually made it home safe and sound.

The rest of the week spent with mom was relatively anticlimactic.  We were both still knee deep in our colds and mom was physically and mentally exhausted from all the running around we had been doing over the first two weeks of her stay.  We did visit the 5 day market together and had a couple of coffee dates in the Shi-Cheung or City Hall area, but other than that our only big night was the Friday before she left.  We took her to a Black Pork Galbi restaurant (I am sure I have mentioned this before, but Black Pig is native to Jeju and it has a very unique and mild flavour) where it seemed as though yet another man fell in love with her because the Ajashi from the neighbouring table decided to join us to spend his time flirting with my mother.  Despite this semi-awkward  but truly hilarious occurrence, our dinner was delicious as usual, and it seems that we finally found a true Korean food that mom REALLY enjoyed.  we then headed to Led Zeppelin for one goodbye drink, yet the good wine and good company turned it into something more like four.  Mom met some of my friends and acquaintances from the other side of town, and as always, trumped me as to who’s company they preferred.

It’s unfortunate because it was just as she had to leave, that Korea really started to grow on her.  I think that my mother really is more of a creature of habit and familiarity, than she herself would believe. Wouldn’t you say mamo?  In any case, the next morning was mom’s day of departure and thanks to the insane snow storm we had, we really weren’t sure if the flight from Jeju to Seoul was even going to depart.  Luckily, the transfer from hereto Seoul and Seoul to Denver went without a hitch, yet much like Niki, all smooth sailing ended after the 2nd connection.  Unfortunately for mom, her flight from Denver to Toronto was delayed and as a result she missed her flight from Toronto to Timmins and had to spend the night in the airport until the next morning.  The fun didn’t end there however, because when she finally made it home, she was welcomed by a flood of water 3 inches deep in her basement… a scenario which could have been much worse had she been gone any longer.

And so (FINALLY) ends the story of Niki and Mom’s Korean vacation. When Niki got home she promptly visited our hairdresser Beata for a major fix-up and mom has had the pleasure of dealing with the insurance company in order to repair all of the damage in the basement.  I on the other hand have been doing little more than eating numerous chocolate bars and writing/attempting to write this blog entry for almost a month now. My next task is uploading the photos… lets see how long that takes me

Happy 6 Months to me (and Robyn)!

Hey folks, so I know this is ridiculous, but when you see the blog post I am preparing, it is more ridiculously long than its ridiculous lateness.  I am outlining all of my memories from Mom and Niki’s visit, and because it is now over a month past, it is a more difficult and time consuming challenge than previoulsy expected. Please acccept this, incredibly brief message as an intermediary for what is to come, knowing that I am thinking of you all, all the time.  Today is officially me and Robyn’s 6 month anniversary, so despite my tardiness in my official post, I felt it important to keep you all in the know.  This means that there are only 182.5 more days (give or take) until I return to you, and though I am still having a wonderful time, I am counting those days down until each and every one of our joyous reunions.

xoxox Love always and forever,

Mishka