Intense Temple Stay

I still can't access any of my photos, but hopefully I will get that all sorted once I get to Beijing tomorrow.  In the meantime I wanted to write a quick post about my recent temple stay experience at the Golgulsa Temple near Gyeongju.

I went into the temple stay anticipating 24 hours of relaxation and meditation to recharge after camp ended.  That wasn't quite what I got.  Golgulsa is the home of the Korean martial art, sunmudo.  On the evening I arrived we had a 90-minute training session complete with kicks and jumps.  That followed a vegan Korean meal during which we were instructed to leave nothing on the plate.

After the training session it was right to bed as we had to be up at 4:00am to walk up a steep mountain to the shrine on top where we participated in the morning chant session.  After the chat session we did both seated and walking meditation.  The walking meditation was my favorite part of the stay as we paced slowly down the mountain in a silent straight line just as the sun was rising.  We then had a short break before breakfast (during which I napped) and then had another vegan meal, which marked the first time I had ever eaten kimchi for breakfast (not a rare occurrence for most Koreans.) 

Breakfast was followed by another 90-minute sunmudo training session, but "luckily" this one featured mostly yoga poses rather than actual martial arts.  It was still pretty tough and my legs almost gave out after the 50th back bend we were instructed to do.  Following the training was more meditation and 108 poses, which is a lot harder than it sounds.  After what seemed like forever, we were done and were allowed to hike back up the hill to watch the actual professionals do a sunmudo demonstration.

The last event of the stay was a traditional Buddhist ceremonial meal.  I will explain more about this when I have some more time, but you not only had to eat every single thing on the plate, but also clean all your bowls with water that you were then required to drink.  I actually didn't have too much a problem with drinking the nasty dirty bowl water, but I did have to choke down my seaweed soup.  I am not a fan of seaweed.

Once I can get some photos posted I will show you the fancy outfit I got to wear as well as the beautiful surroundings of the temple.  Next time I write will be from Beijing!

31st (or 32nd) Birthday

My computer is pretty sick right now so that's why I haven't been able to update the blog in quite a while.  I tried to get it fixed when I arrived in Seoul on Friday afternoon, but apparently it needs a new video chip, which would take about a week to replace.  I am leaving for Beijing on Wednesday so the guy at the computer store said I should just try to deal with it there.  Hopefully it will be back up and running soon.  Right now I miss it and am very sad that it is so ill.

In any case, I never shared the adventures of my birthday two weeks ago so that is what I will update you on first.  Unfortunately, most of my pictures are on my camera and as I am currently using the hostel computer I'm not sure that I can upload them.  I took the photo that I have attached here with my iPhone so the quality is not very good.  I will try to add more photos once my computer is (hopefully) working again.

My birthday started out very lovely with gifts from several of my coworkers waiting for me at my desk in the morning.  My friend, Steve, gave me the traditional "flea market" fare, this year featuring a child-size pink "Hello Kitty" t-shirt and a bright pink beach hat.  My friends, Sarah and Bill, gave me candy and other small odds and ends.  I hadn't told the students that it was my birthday so I wasn't expecting anything from them. I kind of thought it was information that I could pull out of my bag of tricks if they were misbehaving.  My coworker, Luke, spilled the beans, however, while loudly singing "Happy Birthday" in front of my class on our way to lunch.

Once we got to lunch I could hear whispering and scheming and knew the kids had gotten wind of the intel.  At snack time when I tried to go into my classroom to get something out of my bag, the students forcibly blocked my path and I was clearly on to what they were up to.  Once I got back from the break, they had decorated the whiteboard, written me birthday notes and cooked up a whoopie pie cake with the help of the counselor.  The notes were very sweet and one or two almost made me cry.

After work I had a Skype chat with my parents and aunts and then some friends and I went down to the local bar where my coworker, John, surprised me with a fruity cake from one of the "French" Korean bakery chains.  I celebrated a bit too hard that night and paid for it the following day while suffering in the sweltering heat on our annual field trip to an amusement park in Daegu.  I made it through in barely one piece and crashed pretty hard once we got home.

Once again, my camp friends helped make my birthday a special day while I was far away from home.

New Features

I have added a super awesome (read: pretty cheesy) logo to my blog that was created for me exclusively by my "graphic designer" cousin, James.  I am a founding member of the Super Cousins groups, which basically includes my cousins, their wives (yes, only my male cousins are currently married) and their kids on my dad's side of the family.  That hopefully explains the reference to "Super Cousin Jen."  Check it out in the lower righthand corner of the page.

I also added a mobile formatting feature to the blog so that it's easier to navigate than a regular website from your smart phones.  I checked it out on my phone this weekend when I was able to get wifi at the bar and it looks pretty cool.  You can also change the setting to view it as a normal webpage, but the mobile formatting makes it much easier to browse on the go.

Enjoy the new additions!  Actual new post coming soon.

Musings on Korea

Time for a few musings on Korea...

I know that these are things that many non-Koreans have already thought so I am not being at all original.  However after a long, hard week of teaching 9.5 (one kid went home mid-week sick) 11 and 12-year-old Korean children, this is what's on my mind right now.

Knives
Can I ever be fully comfortable with an eating style that doesn't grasp the necessity of the knife as an utensil in everyday life?  There have many times while eating in Korea that I have thought to myself, "gee, I really wish I had a knife to use right now."  The only time that I have ever seen the existence of knives in regular usage is when steak is being served.  At least Koreans realize that it is then darn right essential.

There are also quite a few occasions in your average meal when chopsticks can't replace the functionality of a good ole' fork.  I have elaborated on my challenges with using chopsticks at length in the past so I won't bore you with it all again.  To be fair, I at least recognize the chopstick's place in the Asian cultural and historical landscape enough to respect it as a proper eating utensil.

At least Koreans know better than to mess with the spoon as an essential utensil.  How else could you possibly eat soup? (Well, I guess you could sip it, but you see my point.)

Korean Age

I had a student who celebrated her 13th birthday yesterday at camp.  She actually turned 12.  On Tuesday, I turn 31, but in Korean minds I will already be 32.  That's because--in case you don't know--they start counting age on the date of conception in Korea.  It doesn't seem to much matter that the gestational period for human beings is nine months instead of twelve.  Why anyone older than 18 would want to age themselves an extra year I will never know.  In any case, on Tuesday, I will be celebrating my 31st and 9 month birthday.

Kimchi
Do Koreans really believe that this is the magical life-sustaining substance that they make it out to be?  Eating kimchi is seen as the epitome of healthy living.  It has (apparently) been known to keep Koreans from growing fat, aging, getting cancer and even contracting AIDS.  In their journal entries on the topic of "How I Stay Healthy," all my kids made sure to stress how they eat kimchi in order to stay fit and ward off illness.  One kid even admitted that he doesn't much like kimchi but that his mom makes him eat it presumably for its health and medicinal purposes.  I say this as someone who actually likes kimchi when it's done right.  There truly is a difference between good kimchi and bad kimchi and the camp dining hall hall kimchi definitely falls into the latter category.  Regardless of its purported health benefits, I have one other kimchi-related complaint (aside from the fact that it's served at at every single meal.)  When I ask my students their favorite vegetable, many of them will respond "kimchi."  Kimchi is not a vegetable in and of itself.  Cabbage is a vegetable and kimchi is a pickled version of it.  So when I ask them their favorite vegetable, the students' proper response (in English) should be "cabbage" and not "kimchi."

Squid/Octopus
Why must squid and octopus be in absolutely everything?  I am generally rather seafood-averse so I might be a bit biased when it comes to this issue.  However, it seems like they always manage to somehow sneak it in there and I don't discover it until it's alright way too late. Squid is vile.  My position was further strengthened after reading an article about how even after they're killed, squid's muscles can contract and twitch (even in your month) if your food comes in contact with soy sauce.  This article was accompanied by a video of a recently-killed squid jumping off a plate right as a diner in a restaurant was about to dig in and eat it.  I couldn't bring myself to watch the actual video because I was certain it would give me nightmares, but if you want to check it out, here's the link: http://gawker.com/5828154/horrifying-squid-comes-to-life-and-jumps-off-plate.  Truly horrifying.

I realize 90% (or to be accurate 75%) of these observations were based completely around food, but that's probably because I just came from eating an epically unremarkable dinner in the campus dining hall.  It may not be good, but at least it's free and backpackers' budget friendly!  I won't be able to take advantage of that perk pretty soon.

Almost Three Weeks Down!

The third week of camp is almost finished and I. am. exhausted.  I know that I probably always try to do way too much, but I figure that I can stand to be really tired for four weeks if it means that I can relax with some extra money in my pocket once it's all finally over.

I have to be honest that as the end of camp draws closer, I am starting to get a bit nervous again about traveling on my own.  In Jinju, I know my way around and have good friends to help me navigate the unfamiliar language and environment.  I'm not even sure exactly where to go from here.  I know I have to get on a plane to Beijing on August 31st, but between next Saturday and the end of the month I have complete freedom to do whatever I want.  It's a bit overwhelming to figure out exactly what I want to do.  I know that I have to go up to Seoul eventually, but I don't know if I should go to Busan or somewhere else first.  I know that I want to do a temple stay, but I'm not sure where.  I will also probably visit the sister church of my childhood church in Connecticut.  I obviously need to sit down and figure out exactly when I want to do what.  I'm just kind of running out of time!

Camp Carnival

Today was carnival day once again at camp.  The kids all sell used items at a flea market and the teachers act as "carnies" running games that the kids can play to win a prize.  It's supposed to be a nice, easy, fun day that is a break from the normal grinding routine.  However, it inevitably ends up being complete chaos with the students running around yelling and tripping over themselves to buy the "hot items" before anyone else gets to them first.  I have to admit that I am rather glad it's over.

After work, I finally got the chance to go for a short run around campus for the first time since I arrived.  I feel like I've been so busy that I haven't had any chance to exercise.  In addition to my 12-hour-a-day camp duties, I agreed to take over one of my co-worker's twice-a-week private lesson with a group of engineering graduate students for the month.  It's a good way to earn some extra pocket money, but it leaves me pretty exhausted on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  Since we had a shorter day today, it was great to get a work out in after dinner.  I have to admit, though, that it's really nice not to have the pressure of training for the marathon on top of everything else this year.  At least if I don't get the chance to run, I know it's not going to bite me in the butt somewhere down the line.

Before I left for Korea, I spoke to my most recent employer about the possibility of working a bit as I travel, casting for TV show I had been helping to produce about people making international moves.  I think one of my English co-workers and his Spanish wife might actually make a good fit for the program.  I have yet to approach them about the possibility, but the wife has a background in film production so she may actually be up for it.  Within the next week or so, I'll have to bring up the idea just to see what they think.

Tomorrow morning it's back to the normal camp routine.  The good news is that this week has been flying by so soon we'll be almost halfway through the four weeks.  Hopefully there will be something fun to do this weekend (and by weekend, I mean the one day we get off on Sunday.)  For now, it's definitely time to head off to bed.

A Dream Fulfilled

A year ago, while on the way down from Seoul to spend my second summer teaching English at a summer camp in South Korea, I made a big decision.  I was going to finally pursue a long-time dream of mine to travel around the world.  And I was going to start while I was still 30.  Over the next year, I did my best to save my money, research all of the travel possibilities and requirements, get all of the necessary vaccinations and medications and find someone to take over my apartment for a year.  With the amazing support, though admitted concern of my family and friends, I pulled everything together at the last minute.

Then just over a week ago, three weeks shy of my 31st birthday, my dream finally came true.  I flew once again to South Korea to teach English for a month and make some extra money before embarking on the rest of my adventure.  At the end of August I'll be taking off on my own for a 360° spin of the globe.  You're welcome to come along for the ride.