New Year's in Jirisan

Our last school break for some time, Lunar New Year's, was 2 days at the end of January. We figured this might be our only chance to hike the whole ridge in Jirisan National Park. Jirisan (지리산) is close to Jinju and straddles 2 provinces. It has Korea's third highest mountain, Cheonhwangbong, which is 6,283'. The ridge has about a dozen different shelters which you can reserve online (in English!) and you have to stay in them, no tent camping allowed. We had been to the Hwaemsa temple and the park entrance before and the weather was mild and the ridge was free of snow. So for our vacation we made reservations in 3 different shelters and imagined a leisurely stroll along a flat ridge, basking in the winter sun. We did not prepare for snow, and Kevin was even wearing jeans, one of his few pair of pants. We did not pack much cold weather clothing (as we don't have much period). The plan was to wake up early Saturday morning and bus to Hadong, then Gurye, the the Hwaesma temple entrance. As we had just worked 3 long weeks, along with hapkido classes, Saturday we slept in late and contemplated not even going. Let's just be lazy in Jinju all weekend. But once up and out of bed the antsiness kicked in and we packed. We didn't leave our apartment until 1pm, so I figured there was no way we would make it to the park before sunset. I was adamant about not hiking at night. I pictured hopping from huge slippery boulders and that, coupled with my crappy headlamp and general woosiness, led me to believe we would just stay in a motel at the base of the mountain and hike extra far the next day. Thank god we didn't do that.
So when we finally got to Gurye, this tiny town in a valley surrounded by mountains, the weather had turned nasty. Our view of the mountains was obscured in fog and it was even snowing in the town. I still refused the idea of hiking in the dark. Kevin got very frustrated and we argued about this. Finally while separating in the bus station for a moment, a young Korean came up to Kevin and he was studying the wall map and started asking questions. He told Kevin that you could not hike at night and he was due at a farther shelter that night. So I, smug in my haha we can't even hike at night attitude, was quite content on passing the evening in a warm minbak. So we jumped on the next little bus to the temple where 2 other men had big backpacks. They were hiking to Nogodan, the first shelter, that night no matter what. our new friend, Lee, said he was going to join them. So a crew of 3 Koreans was hiking in the night. I relented and said okay let's go too.
So before we started I bought a new headlamp and the Koreans convinced us to be "izon" they are like mini-crampons, little metal spikes that strap to your shoes. I was wearing my trail running shoes, Kevin his new Timberland boots which are hardly water proof. The other guys had gore-tex pants, gaiters, hiking poles, all the hi-tech stuff, and they almost scoffed at Kevin's jeans. However we started up the road to the temple, and as we attempting to find the trailhead and truck drove buy and told our companions that we were going the wrong way. This added to all the confusion so we headed back down to the town. After more discussion with a restaurant proprietor, our crew decided we could take a taxi around the backside of the mountain and do the short cheaters-hike to the shelter. But alas, the windy mountain road was closed, due to snow! Okay it is winter, we are starting to realize. We are frustrated and Kevin and I said we were going to stay in town until the morning. The other guys deliberated, smoked cigarettes, and said they were still going. But they were not speedy about it. We sat there for like 20 minutes and the restaurant man drove us back up the road to the temple and pointed out the trailhead. About 7:15 pm, pitch black, and we were finally on our way!
Now in good weather a fit person can do this hike in about 2 1/2 hours. It is straight up. No switch backs. There are stone steps (Koreans have been hiking in these mountains for thousands of years) that seem to climb forever. There was a light dusting of snow as we started which only increased with elevation. I think we climbed almost 4000' feet.

Kevin and I did pretty well considering we are not in top shape. We kept getting ahead of the other guys toward the end, but it was nice because they were so insistent about staying in a group. I think they had one smoke break on the way up. They were beat at the end.


So by 10pm we finally stopped climbing and had gained the ridge hooray!

Kevin and Lee on the ridge

We still had 1 km to walk on the road which had about a foot of snow on it. Thankfully there was a shortcut and we rounded a bend and saw the blessed shelter. The wind was raging and it was -13 degrees Celsius. We stumbled into the kitchen which was in a separate building from the shelter where 2 guys were attempting to sleep. The kitchen was not heated but it was much nicer than outside. We all commenced boiling water and we all ate ramen noodles for dinner. The shelter employees were not too pleased with our late arrival but we actually had reservations. I got really confused because he told me that women slept on the second floor so I stepped over a rope on the staircase and was wandering around the second floor where every door was locked. Turned out he meant the upper loft in the main sleeping room. We tried as best as we could to be quiet and settled down into an (un) fitful sleep. Thank god I brought earplugs. I have never slept in a room with that many people, I don't think, especially with numerous older men who can cut down huge forests while they snooze.

TO BE CONTNUED

guys always fixing in their hair

This struck me as quite funny and I just noticed it but Kevin said he always sees it. Now we knew people here in Korea and concerned about their appearances; they are terrified of getting even any sort of weight on their bones and good skin seems to be essential. Lots of women completely cover their faces with white foundation which to us looks kinda creepy. And peoples' hair always looks good. While walking with Joe in Seoul on New Years it was freezing and he said, "Look at all these people. And not one of them is wearing a hat because they are too worried about static." I looked at our group and we all had nice warm winter hats on, oblivious to how we looked. We are about functionability I guess, if that is a word. Plus we really don't give a damn about how we look. Kevin and I brought so few clothes that we wear the same pants in a row or don't really do much with our hair. Here, however, they must view us as barbarians. Or worse.
So yesterday in the subway and bus stations I observed no fewer than four guys approach the mirrors that our everywhere and sit there and fix their hair. Now I am not talked about a quick glance and a little sweeping action, I am talking full-fledged standing there for a bout 4 minutes moving the hair into place. A lot of guys have these haircuts which must be like gelled into place, it's hard to describe but they have varying lengths of hair arrayed around their face. So these guys sit at the mirror adjusting the most minor detail from the front, sides, and backs. One guy I watched for a while completely amused. He was about to walk away when he began adjusting his pants then stepped forward again to adjust his mop more. Then I saw 2 other guys doing the same thing, but no girls! It was just funny to me because most guys I know (my brother excluded) would never be caught dead looking in mirror like that in public, or don't even look at mirrors periods. And guys doing that in the states are risking being though of as, let's say, fruity. I don't know why it was so funny but it was so that is that.

Acupuncture and Hapkido

So I have not written in a while because it seems the initial shock of being here is wearing off and we are getting quite used to things. We are both learning some basic Korean vocabulary, the essentials, like numbers and such, and we are starting to feel like we know our way around town.
Last week I bought a Samick guitar, which is a supposedly Korean brand but mine was made in China. Figures. And I got a Kevin a small bass amp to go with his free bass. So at the store the lady not only lowered the price for both objects, she threw in an amp cord, guitar strings, a case, and a capo, which the capo alone in the States is like 20$ and I am always losing mine. So now we have bikes and instrument. I also got a yoga mat and have been attempting in the mornings to follow some basic youtube videos because my right shoulder has been bothering me a ton since we have been here.
About that- I have always felt some tightness in that right shoulder blade, and when we got massages in Lava Hot Springs last fall the woman really hit the sweet spot. But since I have been here it has grown into a near constant pain, and times it feels like it is burning. The yoga should help eventually but I wanted something else.
Enter acupuncture. Yes, the needles sticking into your body. I have never thought about doing it because I have always felt pretty healthy and plus at home I would assume it is very very pricey.
The teachers who were here 1 year before us, a Canadian couple, apparently got acupuncture done quite often. Kevin messaged one of them who told us where they went. It is on the other side of the river and the directions were pretty vague. We knew the neighborhood but not where to go, at all. We were supposed to find Oxford Academy (hopefully the sign was in English) and the Oriental Medicine Clinic would be nearby.
So yesterday morning we took the bus over to said neighborhood, Juyakdong, and started pretty much wandering around looking for this academy. We walked both ways for a while and figured, whatever we'll find it later. Then Kevin happened to ask a younger teenager, in English, if he knew where Oxford Academy was. The kid spoke very good English and he said he could see the school from his house, about a 10 minute walk away. He let us follow him and showed us the school and we found the clinic.
It was on the second floor and we took our shoes off upon entering and slipped into the "health feet" sandals provided. Two women came out smiling and we tried explaining acupuncture. Then we mentioned the names of the Canadians and they both smiled and nodded and everything was good. Next however she asked for our insurance cards which we have not yet received. Nope. How about alien registration cards? They are in the mail. We figured we were defeated but the woman called our school and apparently go the okay. We waited a moment then were ushered into the actually doctors office who spoke a little English. I told him where it hurt and I laid down on a bed in his office and he started rubbing my shoulder until he found the sweet spot. He was good. So then off into the little patient area with several beds with curtains. I laid on my stomach and the woman came and pulled up my shirt. I couldn't see anything that was going on. She then stuck four different little suction cups around my shoulder, turned on a heating lamp, and then this weird machine began to send heat and pulsate around my shoulder. This was the "physical therapy" part and it was niiiice. So this for a while and I can't see anything still. Then off came the cups and the doctor was back there. He stuck about 6 needles along my shoulder blade. Only 2 of them even registered any feeling, a slight pain, and I think that was because they hit the sweet spot. "10 minutes," he said. Kevin meanwhile was on another bed undergoing the same procedure except for his neck was his problem area. So we laid there on our stomachs then out came the needles and now times for "suction" which I have since failed to understand but all I know is that they stuck a device on us which took blood and left a hickey-like mark.
So we didn't have our insurance cards yet and I talked to our director Erica who informed us that we would be reimbursed later. And guess how much this fantastic treatment cost? With the brief doctor consultation . . .In the States I would imagine like 200$ and most insurance companies would probably not cover treatments 6such as this. Here, it was about about 37$ for both of us. We went back in the morning for a repeat of the same deal and since we had no consultation it about about 25$ total. Ridiculous. I didn't care about insurance coverage.
So that was acupuncture. My shoulder feels better but it is definitely not perfect so I will return probably after I get my insurance.
Now Hapkido. What is it exactly? Everyone knows about karate and maybe taekwondo, hapkido is in the same family and geared towards self-defense seemingly, as well as almost gymnastic like flips and jumps. We watched some videos on youtube of guys jumping over 10 other people. Kevin joined hapkido last Wednesday and was given the white outfit (with a white belt) and a rec order-type flute called a "danso." Every hapkido session starts with playing the danso for about 10 minutes. It is hard to play at first since you blow into the end which has a notch; it's not like a recorder here you just blow into a hole but you have to find the exact spot and blow over and through the little notch. Kevin came home with these objects and we suddenly felt very Asian. So he went to two classes, coming home with tales of somersaults, different kicks, and breakfalls which is when you fall flat forward or backward and spread the impact throughout your body, tucking your chin to your chest, so it doesn't hurt. He also jumped and then tucked in a shoulder to roll into a somersault and learned a few of the different kicks. Aside from you this you do some warmups, push ups and leg lifts and stretches and just sounded like fun so Friday I tagged along. The instructor spoke enough English from teaching the Canadians before and he went out of his way to make sure we understood what was going on. First we entered his office and sat on some cushions and he gave me my uniform, we changed then I had my danso lesson. The irony is that we played
"arirang" the most famous traditional Korean song. In my college years of illegal music downloading I had downloaded some traditional and, what I thought was, Japanese music and I had had this song on my computer for years and never knew what it was. Then I started hearing it everywhere, this traditional melody, and it turns out it is Arirang and we practice this song on our danso. The fluting came easily to me enough but at times it just wouldn't come out. But we both tried. For about ten minutes we did this then the hapkido started. Monday through Friday I think they do different activities, and Friday happened to be pretty easy. We warmed up, ran around some, then piggy-backed different people back and forth. The female instructor, a tiny and veeery flexible girl named Min-young, had to carry me three times. She was tough. Then he did some kicks onto this pad the main teacher was holding and I was too busy concentrating about where and how my feet and knees were. Then for the rest of the class we just worked on stretching with a partner. We would attempt splits or backbends and have the other person push or pull on us until it was almost unbearable. Most people in the class could almost do splits while Kevin and I had our legs at just over 90 degrees. Stiff. So we pushed and pulled and groaned and stretched. Then at the the end we stand and do these little salutes, I had to introduce myself, which I tried in Korean and failed miserably, then we stand in a circle and close our eyes and say the motto : Justice, Love, Promise, I believe. And class was over. It was a great way to end the day, thought of school just beaded off us like water, and the workout felt awesome. We changed and bowed to our instructor who informed us that on Monday they were going to have a "beer party" after class. We are excited, a very authentic experience and hopefully new friends outside the school and foreigner realm.

Christmas and Vacation

The guardian of Hwamsa Temple.

So for Christmas in school we had a little kindergarten "party" which entailed Kevin dressing up as Santa and trying to distrubute presents to the children. Of course the teachers did not tell us how this supposed to work or that the presents were from the parents to go to specific children, or that Kevin was supposed to sit up front and the children come up in turn. Typical of our school and how we have no clue what is going on. Nevertheless, Kevin donned the whole outfit, replete with stuffed belly, in the hot school, which always hovers between 85-90 degrees (or is freezing.)

So here is Kevin all dressed up.

And his grand entrance for the kids, unfortunately my memory card was full so I didn't get the whole deal.

And the kids tearing off his costume, "It's Kevin!!"

Coco, in my class, very sweet.



So then they told us to go back to class with these riled up kids so I just let them color and I took some of their pictures.

Here is a video of Eric, who is my trouble maker, and Andy, who is very smart but likes to get distracted by the other boys. So now if they are bad I threaten them with a kiss, which they HATE.

So after school, facing our first vacation time since we have been here, and the first paid vacation of my life, we went out to dinner with our coworkers and the school bus drivers, who spoke no English. Erica, the ECC head teacher, asked me if I liked Chinese food. "Dumplings, egg rolls." Of course! So we went to this Chinese restaurant near our apartment and had at least 8 courses of who knows what, mostly seafood. I ate the shark fin, which was okay, but I passed on the sea slugs. We started having some beers, the and bus drivers were being typical Korean men with their soju and boisterous voices and jokes. One guy said we were "good-looking," but I think he was talking to Kevin as his behaviour later on displayed. Meanwhile I made good rapport with my female co-workers who had rarely seen me outside of work and they thought I was "cute." So the night was young and we were on vacation and did I sare say it? "Noraebang!" They all wanted to go so after our meal we trooped down the street to the local norae room and proceded to drink more and sing whatever we could. The drunk bus driver kept saying "Kiss-uh" to Kevin, I don't know what was up with that because I do not think he was gay, maybe he was trying to be friendly? So here is a glimpse inside the noraebang with Erica the head teacher belting one out:

We went home early and I went to bed as we were catching an early train to Mokpo. Ahhhh vacation. No kindi kids, no teaching, no responsibilities for days!
In the morning up early and packing small bags. We were excited and knew how to say train station, Yok, and we got a cab. I think we said Yuk because the cabbie took us to some random place then we kept saying Yuok, Yok, and he said, in English, "Jinju station?" I was paranoid we were going to miss the train but he turned around and we made it there with time to spare. So on the train to Mokpo.


Why? Who knows, just another city picked off the map, smaller than Jinju, located on thw West Sea, or the Yellow Sea (of China.)
The train ride was slow and long, but it was cheap, about 12$ each and we got in at about 2:30. We walked around for a bit, ate some street food, and checked into a 40,000 won hotel near the coast. It was a decent room but a little way from the center area. Then, since we were so hungry, we ate some pizza. And had a beer. The only kind of beer they had was budweiser. So we're sitting in this sea-food laden city, eating pizza and drinking Buds. We're chumps, okay. We walked along the coastal street and saw some of the weirdest things ever. Tons of live baby octopus. Sting rays, whole, sliced, dried, you could see their, how do you say, buttholes. Dried everything. We walked through the seafood market and it didn't even smell that bad. So many different kinds of things I don't even know the words in English and no one else appeared to be shopping. I don't know how all these people make money. We headed back early and hung out in the room, drinking some Max and watching the tube. Pretty lame. In the morning (Christmas Day!) we checked into another hotel 10,000 won cheaper and closer to town. We had some breakfast and took the local bus the the Mokpo Maritime Museum, which was pretty sweet.


Inside was a lot of ceramic pieces that had been recovered from ancient shipwrecks, and most of it was in near-mint condition. There were two actual ship hulls, one from the 11th century, the other the 14th century, which had been buried in the sand and recovered by divers in the last 30 years. One of these ships was huuuuge, filling up an enormous room built just to house to vessel. The exhibits were awesome; there were a bunch of old Korean ship-building tools, diaramas, etc.


Looking out from the maritime museum.
We went to a dvd-bang and watched a movie, our first experience in one. For 10,000 won you pick a movie and you give you your own little room and a couch to watch in. Mostly teenagers frequent these places to make out and have some privacy. We watched "Memoirs of a Geisha" and were in a very Asian move only to emerge from the room and realize we were (still) in Asia. So I found on the internet where most of the foreigners in Mokpo hang out which was a huge whole other section of town and we took a cab that way. It was about 5km from our hotel and we might have never known this area existed. There were several pedestrian only streets just full of bars and restaurants. We played pool at the P-club and wandered and wandered. We saw 2 Indians and one white guy and Kevin approached them to ask them if they lived there, etc. and the white man was kinda cold and rude and was like, We don't live here, we're here for one night, we're going back to out apartment, etc. An apartment for one night huh? Then we went into another bar where we were the only guests and four Korean girls waited on us and stared and giggled and they spoke no English so out with the phrasebooks and dictionaries but it was still too hard. Eventually we ran into the foreigner crew and drank in the New York bar of all places and ended up at the noraebang for a bit til we taxied back to our hotel exhausted and happy.
Okay this blog is getting too long-winded. In the morning we were tired and groggy and hung over. We ended up taking the afternoon bus to Gwangju, the biggest city in the province. I was beat so we just got a room right near the bus station for 35,000 won. It was pluuush, computer, big screen tv, free ramen noodles, and a complimentaty condom. Typical. Kind of love motel but classier. Oh yeah and all the hotels have full bottles of shampoo, lotion, hair spray, bug spray, toothpaste, hairbrushes, just their for your convenience, not little sample packets of soap and stuff but big regular bottles. I guess you can pack much lighter if you want.



Plus hotel in Gwangju.
Here we did nothing. In the morning we had our share of city life so we simply headed back to the bus station and tried to head towards Jirisan National Park. We took two buses, first to Suncheon, even though the woman and the ticket window didn't understand us because we said SUN not SOON but we got there, then another bus to Gurye which is a small town at the entrance to the park. At the bus station here was ran into a foreigner (!) a dude from England who taught in this small city along with 4 other non-Koreans. Soon we caught yet another bus to the entrance to the park. We walked about a mile up the road to Hwamsa Temple, which was spectacular. The sun was beginning to set and saw monks in their living quarters. One actually smiled and bowed at me. I swear.

Words cannot really describe the ambience and atmosphere of these temples. Maybe this video will help.

Sure there are tourists walking around snapping photos and laughing, but the serenity still reigns. Non-monk Buddhists approach the various temples and shrines and bow to different directions while Kevin and I looked on jealously. What an amazing religion. It's not about having to go a certain time of the week, or any time for that matter. It is a way of life that encompasses everything you do, think, say, feel. It is about peace with others, happiness with yourself, acceptance of differences. It's pretty wonderful.
Hwamsa has a long and rich history. It was founded in like 544 and has been destroyed and rebuilt throughout the years. During the first Japanese invasion the monks here became soldiers and martyrs defending Korea's very right to exist. Now it is still growing and they were building a new temple which looked exactly like the old ones.


Just waiting for some brillant paint job.

Adventure Weekend!

So we have been here for over 3 weeks and have yet to leave Jinju. Finally we decided to get out of Dodge and we did. We were going to go into the national park nearby but when we woke up Saturday it was raining. Let's go to the coast. It is only about 30 miles away, so we picked a town called Namhae which is on an island, Namhae Island. It is the third largest island in Korea but it has a bridge connecting it to the main land. We packed a few things and went to the bus station and soon we were zooming south. We go to Namhae town and walked around for a while. It is quite small and surrounded by huge mountains. Foreigners are rare here and lots of school children looked at us and laughed like maniacs. "Hello!" One lady outside the bus station was laughing crazily too and we weren't sure if she was laughing at us but she was by herself just standing there laughing. We were going to stay in the town but it wasn't right on the ocean so we decided to take a bus to some smaller villages along the coast. First we went to Mijo which is at the end of the road. We got there at about 4pm and walked around and were going to check into a motel but there was no nice beach in town. It was a fishing community and we saw lots of boats and two harbors.



The town is kind of on an isthmus and has the ocean on two sides. So then we decided to leave. We got on another bus and headed back up the road to Songjeong beach, which was quite nice and completely deserted.



There were some motels here but pretty much nothing else, no bars or restaurants. I wanted to go to the next town Sangju which was bigger and had a nice beach but it was already dark and we didn't know if there would be any more buses. So we walked the 4 km to Sangju in the dark along the winding highway and I was terrified of the Korean drivers, but we had Kevin's headlamp which we set to flashing and we made it to Sangju. Sangju is a little resort town with an awesome beach facing a u-shaped cove. We wandered for a bit then figured out we weren't looking for the word motel because people stay in minbaks instead. We saw the word minbak in several places and we eventually walked into this little courtyard and a woman came out immediately. We tried using my phrasebook and point at how much for a room, etc, but she just showed us the room and put three fingers in the air. 30,000 won, pretty typical. A minbak is like a motel except there are no beds; you sleep on padded quilts on the ondol, the heated floor, traditional Korean style. Success! We were starving and went to the restaurant nearby. This was a traditional place as well, take of your shoes, sit on the floor, barbeque your food on the table.

We ordered galbi (beef ribs) Success! We ordered maekchu (beer) Success! We were feeling pretty good about ourselves and getting buy with or books and wit. Dinner was awesome, we had all sorts of little side dishes, salad, kimchi, we grilled some onions and garlic, and we ate almost everything. My chopsticking is still week but I hope it is getting better. So now we wanted to party. The town was pretty quiet and we walked around without seeing anything open. Finally Kevin spotted some lights down an otherwise dark and quiet street. It was a hof, like a local bar which gives you food while you drink. We went inside. There were four people sitting at one table and no one else. They were already into many bottles of soju and were quite boisterous when we came in. "Soju?" the man asked. "No, maekchu." The owner woman was pretty drunk and she brought us 2 beers and then a ton of food which I didn't eat. She just kept coming over and speaking in Korean and bringing more food.
Then her friend would come over and speak more loud Korean and we would shrug our shoulders and say "No Korean." Then we said cheers in Korean (Konbae!) and everyone drank. Soon enough the two women were sitting at our table and we were trying to communicate through our dictionaries. The other couple joined us for a spell too adding to all the confusion. Then one woman got on her phone and I knew she was calling someone to come down. Soon enough, her daughter Ara came in to translate. Ara is from Sangju but goes to university in a big city and she was home for break. She obviously gets really bored in her quiet fishing town. When her mom called her, she said she had been watching tv and raced down to the bar to practice her English, which was quite good though she was shy. She told us we were the first foreigners to ever have been in this bar. More beers and soju. Ara's mom is a haenyo, one of Korea's traditional women divers. She dives to gather shellfish (I assume) for a living and this way of life is slowing ending as young girls have no intention to keep up the traditionl.
The women mix the soju with their beer, which was pretty bizarre like mixing vodka with beer. I knew a headache was in store for me the next day (it was.) We drank so much and they kept bringing more. Our tab was 30,000, pretty expensive but I think they charged us for everything, including what they drank. But they were nice. They kept telling us we had to come back. They asked if we could stay one more day. Kevin then busted out his one American dollar bill and gave it to the owner lady, who was wasted but loooooved her gift. She kept shoving it into her bra and then pulling it out to look at it again. I think she tried to tape it to the bar to show all her friends.

The ladies of Sangju.
We finally knew we had to leave so out we went, the three women in the doorway waving. It was still early and we were having quite a good time so when we passed the noraebang we knew we had to do it. Noraebong is a karaoke bar, but you get your own little room with two microphones, tambourines, couches, and a huge book of songs, some in English. So here Kevin and I am, drinking more beer and singing karaoke to ourselves. And Kevin usually doesn't like to sing. Eventually our time was up and we were back on the streets and hungry again. We went into this market that had other drunk people in it and we got sausages and chips. Our minbak had a gas stove in it, so Kevin went and cut a branch of a tree in the yard, carved a stick, and cooked all the sausages over the gas flame

Sometimes Kevin is quite resourceful

Drunken fest. Pass out time.
The next morning my head was pounding. We wanted to go to this Buddhist temple high on a mountain above Sangju. It's called Boriam. We strolled down the beach for a while and saw tons of tiny shells.

Then we went to the bus stop and were stared at by an old lady, and we told her we were going to Boriam and pointed. She nodded. We got on the first bus who dropped us off at the intersection to the temple. It was drizzling and pretty cold so we decided to try and hitch. The first car pulled over. It was a couple with a young daughter. The mom sat with the girl on her lap up front and they drove us to the temple. There was a huge parking lot at the base and you can either drive or walk 4 km up the steep road. We wanted to ride with the people but we had to wait almost an hour. The man bought a bunch of food and they gave us a bottle of water and some crackers. In the meantime we watched tv (yes) on their gps screen. The car was pretty plush and the people were so kind. Eventually we got to drive up the mountain and park. We thanked the people and paid 2000 won to enter the temple, then we had to walk 1 km up more before we got it. Boriam is almost 1000 years old and is literally on a cliff at the top of Geumsman mountain, 2000 feet above the sea. It was very foggy so the view was diminished but we could see Sangju and the ocean below us. The temples were scattered about and first we went to the very top of the mountain and saw the view from an ancient lookout post. Next we checked out the temples. People were praying to Buddha statues and it was quite refreshing to know the Christians haven't gotten to everyone in Korea.






We were up there about an hour then we bought some incense and took a shuttle back down to the first parking lot. We didn't know how we were going to get to Namhae bus station so we started walking and trying to wave down cars. A few went by then one stopped with a couple and their 2 children. We had some difficulties explaining, and they said they were going to Jinju so we got in. The man spoke pretty good English but I was tired and shy so I let Kevin do the talking. They drove us back over a different bridge and dropped us off in Sacheon at the bus station. They went out of their way to find the place and got lost in the meantime. They were from Ulsan on the eastern coast and had been touring around that part of Korea for a little vacation. They were so considerate and kind, it was very pleasing to meet such nice people. So we took a bus back to Jinju and home, exhausted and we couldn't believe all these things happened to us in about 28 hours.

annual part

Yes this is our annual "part" as spelled by our Korean director. On Saturday we sacrificed one of our precious weekend days to attend the kindergarten class party. It was over 3 hours long with no intermission. People were sleeping in their seats or outside smoking and bitching. A lot of parents were excited but, as we were the greeters and distributers of programs, a lot of parents looked pissed off that they had to be there and their minds were elsewhere. Busy Koreans. Here are some photos

"Zack" one of my students who is seriously absolutely insane.

Kevin and Daniel, our South African co-worker.

Here is my kindi class' performance.

The Obama Factor

The election was over a month ago . . .

We were excited after the election knowing we were traveling abroad with a new president coming to America. We figured people would jubilantly accept us and tell us how they loved America and Obama. And you know what, we were right.

So the only other foreign teacher working in our school is Daniel. He is a black South African. I have never really met anyone from South Africa. We went out to dinner with him the other night and he had some really interesting tidbits and info to impart.
First of all, he said he was one of the first black guys in Jinju, our city. When he arrived in the school the students called him a monkey and looked to see if he had a tail. One time some children saw him on the street and they started running the other way. You know what he did? He chased them, in full view of other pedestrians, older Korean women and whoever happened to be out at the moment. Two Korean kids running full speed in front of a dark African. Who knows what the onlookers thought. In due time he caught the two children and asked them why they were running. He said, "Look at my hand. How many fingers do I have? Five. How many fingers do you have? Five as well. How many eyes do I have? Two. Same as you." Then he gave them candy and sent them on their way.
Kevin and I were dumbfounded. We still couldn't believe the part about the students looking for him tail.
Another student, one of my special students who is very bright but also very sheltered, always asked him why he was black. And his response: "Why are you peach?"
Then he told us about how the students reacted to him during the American lessons. Some students took to calling him Obama. He said, then, after Obama won, the children starting reacting to him in a more positive way. He said, "Because a black man becomes president of the United States, I get respect."

One of the few black people in our city, in a xenophobic nation where adults will scarcely hide their amusement with foreigners, a black South African living in Korea gets more respect because Obama, a mixed-race Hawaiian/Chicagoan, becomes president of the USA.
How is that for a more global world?
It is interesting to ask our students about the American elections. Despite their young ages, most knew at least some of what was going on and all like Obama. When I asked them what the Korean media had to say during the seemingly endless saga, they simply said, "That it was good." Even without knowing or understanding the greater details, everyone thinks, "Oh, this is good." Koreans had huge parties on election night (well, it was the next day here) as did most other places in the world. Americans living here got to join in equally with all the revelry. I taught a class of three older women, the "housewives" class they call it, and of course the election came up. "Did you, ah, choose - Obama?" they eagerly asked me. "Of course." Smiles and giggles, nods of agreement. I wonder what they would have done if I said no.
So last night we took a taxi home and for the first time met a cabbie who spoke some English or at least wanted to. When we told him where we were from he said, "Ah, America! I love America." Kevin and I smiled at each other. "President Obama, America, yes, very good," he said. There it was. Our dream of traveling in the world, being greeted as common partakers of a great event that happened only a month ago, when the whole world smiled and sighed in relief. Even in a world half a day away.