April and May in a Nutshell...

I am clearly not very good at this whole blogging business... buuuut, in my defense, my school decided to give me both a month long illness (April was therefore, not very fun) as well as legitimate work that keeps me occupied for 7.5 out of the 8 hours I'm at school. So, with that said, this is going to be bits and pieces from my travels around Korea over the last two months.
The 6th of this month marked my 7 month here! While I can't believe I'm over the half-way point, let's just say that I've been here long enough to:
1.Wear through my first pair of house slippers.
2. Learn how to read and write Hangul (the Korean Alphabet).
3. Eat Kimchi with breakfast on more than one occasion
4. Become skilled at sharing my food with co-teachers (a big custom in Korea)... this sometimes entails cutting a muffin into 6 equal parts which isn't always easy!
5. Embrace the local custom of holding strange women's purses on my lap whilst seated on the bus. (This is a friendly way to help people out who have to stand while you sit...and since theft isn't really a problem around here, it's seen as totally normal and acceptable.)
I've been told by my co-teachers that "I'm so Korean" because in their eyes, I've learned just enough of the language and have embraced just enough of their customs so, really, after 7 months, I'm practically a local!
Apart from the Korean ways that I've embraced, I've also embraced the rich Expat (Expatriate) life Busan has to offer! After three months of having a whole lot of fun with the night life, I decided that it was high time to branch out a bit. You'll be happy to know that I'm now an active member of a book club, writers group and chess club. Ha! Dorky I know, but I've met some quality expats and locals along the way. Also, because the weather has been warming considerably, I've been playing a lot of
volleyball as well. A group of 30 or so meet at a beach called Gwangalli every Saturday and Sunday for hours (and I mean 6 or 7 hours) of non-stop games. Aaaand finally, also with warm weather, comes much more rock-climbing and hiking. This last weekend, a fairly large group from all over S. Korea met for a massive bouldering session in the Geamjeong Mountains. I'm piss-poor at bouldering (which my body reminded me of with 4 days of incredible sore-ness) but it was still great being out with quality people.
My travels outside of Busan have been limited to little weekend getaways, though there have been some mid-week adventures due to a few random Wednesdays off. I'm also lucky enough to be apart of the public school system because the BMOE (Busan Metropolitan Office of Education) periodically offers free cultural day trips.
The first of these cultural day trips happened on the first of May and was to a historic town called Hadong for their annual "Green Tea Festival." I loaded onto the bus and randomly sat next to an awesome girl from South Africa named Marie. Though it was lovely hanging with Marie, I would say the tea festival was mildly entertaining at best. I did partake in a traditional tea ceremony which was fun and ate a delicious free lunch. (I should point out that here in Korea, there is such a thing as a free lunch!)
Wednesday May 5th, marked Korea's Children's Day where students and teachers don't have to come to school. Wanting to take advantage of the holiday, Kayla, Tori and two guy friends Eric Rosenthal and Trevor Renfro packed up on Tuesday night and loaded onto a bus bound for Jinju which is about 3 hours north/west from Busan. We spent the night with our friend Mark Littlemore and on Wednesday, woke up bright and early to hike Korea's second tallest mountain Jirisan. The hike was uber long with MANY a stair to climb. I should point out that any popular trail in Korean is going to have:
a. stairs
b. handrails
c. clocks and lamp-posts thrown up at the most RANDOM of spots
d. and as I've mentioned before, HOARDS of people
We all persevered and made it to Jirisan's peak called Cheonwangbong which sits at 1915 M. Like most peaks, it was not a place to hang out at for long as it was bitterly cold. So, after snapping a few quick photos, the group quickly turned around for home. The whole hike took about 6 hours so we had just enough time to get down, shovel some Bibimbop in our mouths and jump back on the bus bound for Busan.
The following weekend (Sat., May 8th) Dong Il (my go-to Korean climbing friend) organized a group of about 8 of us to climb on Ga Dog Island, an hour outside of Busan. After parking and gathering the gear, we set off for a trail that would take us to the back side of the island (only accessible on foot or by a boat taxi. It was a 30 minute climb through beautiful greenery and sketchy scrambles (luckily someone had gone through and set up ropes to help). After emerging from the dense brush, we were met by 30+ sport climbs and one solo water decent (meaning a wall that is directly over water so there's no need for ropes as a fall would land a person in

water). I think the whole group was left a little speechless for a second but that was quickly replaced by excitement as we all rushed to check out the climbs and set up the gear. It ended up being a very long and awesome day and we all vowed to return with camping gear and make our next trip out there a little more substantial.
The week of the 17-19th I partook in "interviews" at middle schools around Busan. What this entailed was asking up to 60 students 5 questions and then judging their answers. From this score, the student would then either get a certificate of completion or fail. According to my co-teachers, the certificate doesn't do a whole except maybe act a resume builder (middle school students in Korea do in fact need to build their resumes in order to get into top ranking high schools). I felt SO bad for some of these kids. I had one little girl who couldn't stop crying because she was so stressed about the test. In my opinion, this was just one more example of unnecessary stress that Korea's education system puts on their youth.
The weekend following the interviews was Buddhas Birthday. For this holiday, I got a Thursday afternoon and Friday off (much more useful and convenient when trying to get out of Busan). After getting off early at 11 AM on Thursday, I booked it for the Sasang Bus terminal where I caught an Express bound for Gangneung. Gangneung is in the north-eastern province of Gangwondo where Jenny Badewitz, an old friend whom I've know since middle school, lives with her boyfriend Ty. I made record time and pulled in around 7 PM. We had fun hanging together that night, though it was far too short because the following morning the two of them left early for some island camping. (check out their blog to get the whole story: http://jennyandty.travellerspoint.com/ as the whole weekend didn't exactly go according to plan.)
At this point, my new friend Marie comes back into the story as she invited me to spend theweekend with herself and 15 other people
from South Africa (and one random American thrown in the mix) We all stayed at a the Seorak Resort, 20 minutes from Sokcho and though it was a random group, we all ended up getting along great! On Sat. we split into two smaller groups and hiked around the BEAUTIFUL Seoraksan National Park. I have to say, it was hands down the most amazing place I've visited since coming to Korea. Jagged exposed rock, a raging mountain stream, beautiful and thick forests... really, an awesome experience! It was a great weekend with great people. The most interesting part about the whole experience was realizing that most South African's prefer to speak Africans (which I thought was more of a second language in their country, rather than a first) I also realized that I had never heard Africans before. It's an interesting language which blends a lot of Dutch and local African tribal dialect (or, at least that's my understanding). Luckily they either spoke English to accommodate me and the other American there, or, one of them would translate for us. The funniest part was realizing that words I understood when they spoke Africans were not the English words, but the Korean ones.

Wed. June 2nd was another holiday... "ERECTION day!!!" (Election day). Everyone had the day off, so on Tuesday night, a friend a fellow climber had a massive going away party... going away parties, as you can imagine are a pretty common occurrence around these parts. On Wed., I took advantage of the sunny weather by going out for a nice jog with my new buddy Ben Koss. Ben is training for a marathon so I've become his jogging mate on those days when he needs to take it easy.
I've learned that one thing I can always count on in this country besides random days off are festivals... so, this last Sat. was Busan's Sand Festival with massive sand sculptures honoring countries around the world. I went with my good friend Ellen. Ellen up to this point, hasn't received the lip service she deserves. We met at our Korean class nearly two months ago and made the happy discovery that we're neighbors. This has allowed for many a long conversation in buses, on walks and over dinner.
So, back to Sat. We met one of Ellen’s friends for a great dinner and then watched an "International" dance performance, followed by our own dance performance at a local bar. A great night. The next day I prepared a MASSIVE 'merican style feast for MiSook and her sister, daughter and niece. Here's what was on the menu:
PB&Js
Grilled Cheese
Ants on a log
Watermelon
Potato salad
Chips and salsa
Homemade hamburgers on English Muffins (bun's are hard to come by in this country)
and finally
Home made Choc. chip cookies (thanks to Ellen's oven)
The whole meal was a huge success (though there was WAY too much of it!) After dinner the five of us went to a local Nori Bang (Song Room) where the little girls put on a solid performance of K-Pop songs (Korean Pop). I thought I could get out of there unscathed but alas, they insisted I sing. I picked Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer" which I thought for SURE the older women would know but alas... I was all alone. Then Mi Sook wanted me to sing Piano Man, which I did but as many of you well know... neither song was a very pretty thing to see (or hear rather).
That's basically it (without most of the details). I've had the last three days to lounge because all of my students are on a field trip, so its been pretty quiet around these parts. They're all coming back tomorrow (sigh) but I think that rather than fight their lack of attention (which is only natural after three days out of school) I'm just going to show them some Simpsons episodes... aren't I SUCH a dedicated teacher! Anyway, thanks again for reading!

March wanderings

Tuesday the 2^nd was the first day back and, in typical Korean form, everything was very last minute… meaning the class schedules hadn’t been decided yet (though all of the students are at the school) so, that basically left me with many hours at my desk with not a whole lot to do…why not blog!

I’ve had an interesting last two weeks starting on Friday when Mi Sook invited me to spend the day with her and then go out to a birthday dinner for her daughter Seung Hee.

We started by grabbing bibimbop (a rice dish served in sizzling hot stone wear) and the seeing Lovely Bones (awful!). After the movie, she took us back to her house and put out a nice spread of snacks! Her daughter Seung Hee came home shortly there after and the three of us daintily nibbled slices of apple from mini forks. These she left in the “western” non-pealed style rather than peeling it which is customary in Korea (they literally peal everything). Her son recorded the final performances of Kim Yu Na, Mao Asada and Joannie Roulette, the three figure skaters battling for gold. For those of you who didn't following the Skating portion of the games, Yu Na is Korean, so it was a proud moment for Mi Sook and her daughter that she won the Gold! A side note tid-bit, her nick name is ‘Queen Yu Na’ because although she is only 19, her fame in this country is so massive, she has two full time, professional body guards with her at all times. Her face is plastered on busses, billboards and in commercials. I honestly CANNOT imagine the sort of pressure that girl was under to win!

After the performance, Seung hee and I tried a few of our own Skating maneuvers on their wood floors before the three of us headed to Vipps, an incredibly popular Korean Steak restaurant (similar to Outback).
I wrapped up a little Park City candy bar, pin and book mark my mom had sent for my students (thanks again Mom!) and gave it to Seung Hee as a little birthday present. It was so cute to watch her! She didn’t want to rip the paper (though it was just an old Dynamic Busan News Paper) so it took her a solid five minutes to peel away the tape! After she admired her gifts she rewrapped everything so it looked like she hadn’t even opened it. Haha, again, so SO cute!

Saturday morning I woke up at 4:30 to meet my friend Julia for a three plus hour bus ride to the Uljin Snow Crab Festival at Hupo Port. We unfortunately (stupidly) missed our morning bus but still managed to arrive at the festival by 1 that afternoon. I was impressed by how many people were there. Though most were Korean, all advertisements for the festival had a solid group of westerners enjoying a crab leg with huge smiles on their faces. It was, after all, an “International” event! Many samples were sampled, booths visited and street snacks purchased by Julia and I. We made the last minute decision to sign ourselves up for a sunrise boat ride (that was free) leaving at 6 AM the following morning. An early morning but again, our thought was “Hey, its free!”

We finally decided to eat a real meal of crab (rather than mere samples). The first tent we visited was jam-packed people huddled around tiny tables with gigantic plates of crab carcasses and emptied Soju bottles. The cold and alcohol gave people's faces a happy glow as they enjoyed themselves. We found a seat and Julia (a Korean American who speaks decent Korean) asked how much for two crabs. 60,000\ (Roughly $60) was the answer… A little rich for our blood, so we said a polite “no thanks” and decided to try another tent down the way.

At this new tent, I watched as Julia asked a woman dressed in uniform how much for a meal; the woman gave Julia a funny look but after speaking rapid Korean with her co-worker, we suddenly found ourselves seated with two bowls of a rice and a HUGE pile of Snow Crab in front of us! We sat there stunned not knowing what to do… but Julia finally pieced together out we were in the Mayor’s tent and the food in front of us was free as a “gift” of sorts! We had only just begun to eat when a group of Business men all dressed to the nine strolled in. We stood up and after many bows, they all sat around us and with Julia acting as the translator, we all exchanged pleasantries. Such a great experience! The whole meal ended with shots of Soju and a photo shoot with the group. We couldn’t help but laugh as we left in wonderment that our crab dinner went from having a 60,000\ price tag to absolutely free!

Finally at 6 that night, they had their grand opening ceremony complete with Korean Hip-hop dancers, Ojimas singing in mini-skirts, and a skit by three middle school student boys in English who in my opinion, did a pretty professional job of it! There were fireworks, sparklers and neon lights galore… this little town definitely went big for the festival! Finally at 7:30, Julia and I decided it was time to find lodging (considering it was dark and the sky was looking a little ominous). I hadn’t booked anything ahead of time because I assumed that with Julia’s Korean skills, we wouldn’t have a problem finding a place... which would have worked of course except for the other mass loads of people doing the same thing. After only finding only booked motels, I started to get seriously worried… whiiiiich was right about the time it started to rain. Julia however, stayed calm explaining that we could simply stay at the local Jim-jil Bong which is again, their version of spa. I have to explain, it is, I've come to learn common practice for people to sleep in the "common room" of a Jim-jil bong because most are open 24 hours and a flat fee (of as low as roughly $4) allows you to stay as long as you'd like.

It took some hunting and many stops to ask for directions, but we finally found the place. Initially, everything was great! We got our pajamas from the attendant (again, mandatory at Jin-gil Bongs), and headed for the girls locker room. Still freezing, I warmed up in the public baths before meeting Julia in the common room. Other families were camped out eating, drinking and a few already fallen fast asleep on mats with their heads resting on foam blocks. I happily found the “Women’s Napping Room” where there were only two or three other ladies sleeping. Finding a nice little spot, I put my ear plugs in, my eye shades on and covered myself with my jacket absolutely determined to get a solid nights sleep. Weeeeell, no more than an hour later, I awoke to utter chaos as kids ran and screamed around me, jumped over me and flicked the lights on and off… I was also dripping with sweat because during that time, they had turned on the floor heaters and the room felt more like a sauna rather than a napping room. Such a bizarre night as I continually foundy myself ripped from sleep, half conscious, then drifting off again, only to start over with the next wave of activity.

My alarm sounded at 5 and I literally had to stifle my laughter as I looked around me. Over the course of the insane night, every square inch of the Women’s Sleeping Room had completely filled with people. They of course had run out of mats and head rests, but most didn’t seem to mind as snores and heavy breathing reverberated loudly from the walls. After very carefully navigating around and over the bodies, I had to again keep from laughing as the hallway and then the women’s locker room, was more of the same. I felt like I was at some twisted summer camp or not to be morbid, a concentration camp!

After returning our pajamas, Julia and I hoofed it for the peer (a 30 minute walk or so). The biting cold coupled with a tea bag filled with coffee grinds (found at any Korean 711) helped with the waking process. As we walked toward the water, I noticed many foggy car windows and realized those people who couldn’t room at the hotels or Jin-gil bong, made do with car camping. I also noticed many cars had their engines running (in order to blast the heat), so I couldn't help but think that as uncomfortable as my night was, at least I was warm!

Once at the waters port, it didn’t take long to fully appreciate being up at that hour… right around that time, many of the fishermen and women were unloading their catches (which is an impressive thing to watch)! Each individual works quietly and skillfully on whatever their task might be. Some untangling lines, others pass fish from boat deck to shore while others still clean, organize and box the fish and crabs.

The moon was nearly full, so we took a moment to watch it set behind distant hills, knowing in an hour, we’d also be watching the sun rise from the horizon. Finally getting to the dock, a group of 20 or so loaded onto an old (but sterile) fishing boat. What struck me as odd was that almost immediately after shipping out, a group went straight below deck to sleep! Haha, maybe they were just some more car sleepers who decided that the free boat ride was their ticket to an hours worth of warm uninterrupted sleep.

Though it wasn’t the most amazing sunrise, it was great just being out on the water and there’s something extra special about a quiet Korea as it’s a rare thing indeed! The crew laboriously brought out a gigantic pot filled with whole crabs simmering in a vat of ramen and spices. We were all treated to Dixie cups filled to the rim with crab legs sticking out (and endless refills)! It certainly was a great ending to our little morning jaunt!

As we pulled up to the port, a woman who was there with her husband and their two daughters started talking to us in PERFECT English. She introduced herself and Eunseon and asked where we were from and what we planned to do while at the festival. We explained that we wanted to visit the Seongnyu-gul caves (gul actually means caves in Korean), but that first and foremost, we needed to find some breakfast. She asked one of the deck hands for recommendations and he mentioned a fish soup restaurant (Korean’s don’t really do the whole breakfast food thing). She explained that her family needed breakfast as well and asked if they could join. “Of course,” we said! Eunseun again turned to speak with the boatmen and suddenly Julia and I found ourselves ushered into one of the boatman's cars and heading to the restaurant. At first I thought he was joining the breakfast party but once there, he pulled away and that was that (apparently Eunseun had talked him into acting as our temporary chaperone).

Over our meal, Eunseun graciously offered to take Julia and I to the bus depot where we could catch a bus to Seongnyu-gul. She then offered to pick us up again from the caves, as they were going in that direction to visit a famous Buddhist temple. It was yet again, another example of Korean hospitality! We all loaded into their sedan (with the father sitting in the passenger seat and one of the girls on his lap.) Saying our see you laters at the depot and promising to text them when we were done, Julia and I loaded onto a bus, arriving at Seongnyu 45 minutes later (we both slept the entire way!)

It was of course, jam packed with people... and once in the cave’s entrance, there were silver walkways, lighting and signs to guide you through what at one time was a raw and amazing natural thing. Even with all of the human junk, it was still beautiful and at the same time, pretty entertaining. To explain, the signs were of course there to warn walkers of low stalactites and obstacles in the way, but they were also there to label some of the columns. What was entertaining about it is that there was a label for the Virgin Mary, Adam and Eve, the Buddha, a Witch and many more all of which, no matter how great the imagination, didn't really fit. It's like they wanted to cover their bases and honor all the major religions (even the black ones) and give each a rock in the cave.

While the cave was HUGE, I was to learn later from Eunseun that we saw a mere third of its entirety. The exit was a cramped tunnel of sorts where I was literally hunched butt to feet, hopping along to get out. It made me wonder A. how all the little Korean grandmothers hobbling behind me were going to manage and B. if a cave like that could ever operate in the USA. There were some tight spaces that I don't doubt a less than svelte American citizen could get stuck ... resulting in a lawsuit I'm sure!

As promised, once we were once done with our extreme spelunking expedition, Eunseun, family and sedan were there waiting.

I was totally impressed with the drive! It was, literally, the first real beauty I’ve seen since coming to Korea. The road wound up a valley and steep, wooded hills jutted on either side with exposed cliffs and below, pumped a rocky river. I learned that the eldest of the two daughters had had health problems for most of her life, so this was the family’s first overnight trip outside of Seoul, their home. It’s not surprising then, that the girls excitement surpassed even my own!

The temple itself was beautiful and sat nestled in another side valley. This I learned from Eunseun, is somewhat unusual for Buddhist Temples as most rest on the hills, not between them. I appreciated its location because, not only does it sit off the main road, there’s an additional 20 minute walk to its entrance. With the 6 of us sipping complimentary tea, Eunseun, who is Buddhist herself, explained many of the symbols and translated many of the historical fact plaques. On the walk back, Julia, Eunseun and I were having a nice conversation when quite unexpectedly, Eunseun announced that she NEVER thought she would marry. She explained that a year in North Carolina during her early 20s had convinced her she wanted to live in the US forever. “But my husband talked me into coming back to Korea,” she explained. “And then he basically proposed.” She went on to say that she didn’t know if she would ever love him, but she did know that he would make a good father! I was very surprised that she told Julia and I this!

After finally getting a chance to reflect on my weekend, I would say it was certainly action packed and interesting!

That Monday was the Samil Movement day, a national holiday honoring Korea’s first stand against Japanese rule (in 1919). I decided to take advantage of my day off and go for a hike near my apartment. Amazingly, I saw very few people on the mountain… what I did see however, was a medium sized animal that looked like a cross between a kangaroo and a deer bounding through the brush! Its odd look coupled with the fact that there are so few animals in Korea, made me feel like I had just seen a mythological creature and had me seriously wondering if maybe I was seeing things! (It’s the only time I’ve ever wished for other hikers around!) I’ve since looked up “mammals in Korea” and not surprisingly, there were few mammals to scroll through… so when I saw a picture of the Siberian Musk Deer, I knew the mystery was solved!

**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_musk_deer

Considering this Musk Deer is listed as “threatened” I feel really lucky to have seen it! It has been over-hunted in the past because its musk gland has a pretty high price tag attached, selling for about $45,000/kilogram.

That Wednesday, I woke up to snow actually sticking to the ground! I’ll admit to being just giddy as a school girl as snow is unheard of in Busan (which is probably why the city called a state of emergency!) Classes were canceled though teachers were still expected to come in. The head of the English department Mr. Beh called to explain the situation. I had some time before I needed to go in, so I decided to do some exploring and check out the snow situation. Ha! So SO funny! In 20 short minutes, I witnessed people with umbrellas battling the wind and snow flurries

(if water is falling from the sky in any form, Koreans see a need for umbrellas!), cars trying and failing to make it up snowy hills, old men using broken pieces of wood to shovel, the local fire crew out in their full firefighting get-ups dumping piles of salt here and there (they aren't familiar with the sprinkle method I guess) and by far the best scenes of all: kids going CRAZY throwing snowballs and playing!

I called Mr. Beh back to explain that no buses were running and he told me to “stay home and be safe.” “Ok Mr. Beh, if you say so…” (YEEESSSS!) I put the PJs back on, and cuddled in my bed quite happy with the thought of getting a snow day… weeeell, then came the bombardment of texts and calls. First, my new co-teacher Yaz Pak called to tell me that she was really sorry but a meeting originally scheduled on Thursday had been rescheduled for noon that day and that if I could, it would be good if I made it. And then text messages from Mrs. Kim telling me about the meeting as well. I decided to brave the roads and made a 40 minute trek down steep snowy sketchiness to catch the bus. Of course the "meeting" ended up being teachers just going out to lunch and once it was done, everyone was told to go home... Ha!

So SO typical!

The next two weeks were a blur of getting back into the swing of things with school. My first lesson was on the Olympics which was fun (the students knew a great deal about the athletes and events) and my second lesson, focused on Mr. Bean which they all LOVED! The weekends have been pretty social these days with bowling (there was an hour wait as bowling is QUITE the past time in Korea) a couple of birthdays, a pub crawl (unlike Tori and Kayla who went all night, I begged out at 1 AM), and this last Sat., a St. Patricks day party at a local bar with darts, pool and a brief bit of live fiddle music. I went on a freezing cold climb outside with Dong Il, my 50’s something Korean friend mentioned earlier. We went to a wall nestled near the Gumjeong fortress with another climber named Andy. I was only able to do one climb before I couldn’t handle the cold anymore and headed home.

I continue to do a lot of solo exploration. My theory is that I have far more interactions with

locals when I do things on my own (I think maybe a solo traveler looks more approachable... or mabye I'm just more receptive.) For instance, this last Sunday I took an hour bus to a neighboring town called Changwon where the Gyeongnam Art Museum had an art expo for their new Contemporary Taiwanese Art Exhibit. Although I thought I had done the proper research before getting there… I soon realized there were some holes. For starters, I didn’t know which side of the street to stand on to catch the bus going to the museum. Asking a woman at an information desk, she indicated that I needed to cross to the opposite side of the station. As I headed outside to do just that, I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see this young woman in her black pat and leather pumps running to catch me. She took my arm, led me first to the closest bus stop to check their map, then to a cab driver to (I assume) ask for directions, then 100 yards down the way to an underground walkway, then to the other side where she proceeded to wait with me for the bus. When it arrived she led me on, chatted briefly with the driver and waved goodbye from the curb! Ha! Yet another example of amazing Korean hospitality (though I could have managed) it was so thoughtful of her and I appreciated it!

Alas, the museum itself took a mere 45 minutes to walk through. I was happy I went because for one, I can check off one more town in Korea as visited and two, some of the pieces were fantastic!

After the museum, I found a Japanese tea house and hung out for another hour journaling/reading before heading back. On the city bus en route to the station, a girl behind me tapped my shoulder saying she “wanted to help me.” “What?” I asked. After many attempts, she finally explained that she wanted to tell me when the bus got to the station so I could know when to get off. Haha, I thanked her and we spent the rest of the time making small talk. I found out that she was a nurse in Changwon but really hoped to study in America (hence wanting to practice her English with me I think) and before I got off, she got my e mail so we could stay in touch. Just another friendly Korea interaction to put in the log book!

That Monday I went to Costco (yup, they have one Costco here! Its like their huge packaging offers me a little reminder of home) with my new friend and co worker Yaz Pak. She is AWESOME and I’m happy to have her sit next to me at school. She spent a year in Paris studying, 2 months in Alaska building trails (unheard of for Korean women) and random weeks here and there visiting the US so she's been super interesting to get to know! I definitely look forward to getting to know her better!

On Tuesday I went for another hike near my apartment and found a shrine glowing with candles. It was nearly 6:30 PM by that point and getting dark so most people had gone home, but to be sure, I took a quick look around before creeping over to the entrance to have a look inside. There was what looked like the broken remains of a huge dragon creature with the tale winding around the caves perimeter. Above the glowing candles hung a drawing of an old man (neither Buddhist or Christian) so, the only thing I can think is the shrine might be honoring a mountain God of some sort… the goal is to get a Korean friend up there for them to yay or nay my theory. Tucked in cracks were little mats and pieces of Styrofoam that I’m thinking people use to kneel on.

The next day I told Mi Sook and Yaz about it and Mi Sook’s theory is that it’s for older Koreans who tell their ‘wishes’ to this “God” of sort. It’s very superstitious and a sort of nod to Korea’s past. Another nod to their past that I’ve seen recently (with the warmer spring-time weather) are Ojimas and Harmony’s (Grandmothers) crouched on the hill-side with little plastic bags filled with the roots and greens they gather. It is another reminder to me how much Korea has changed in the last 50 years… the last 20 years even! Its amazing to think that before 1965, Korea was incredibly poor and it wasn’t until the 1988 Summer Olympics held in Seoul, that their economy really took off! It is not surprising then that the older generations still hold onto their traditional methods of survival.

Yesterday, myself and a group of teachers went to visit our old vice principal at a new, very large school that he transferred. (It's policy for Principals, Vice Principals and teachers to transfer schools every four years.) Our meeting ended up being a four hour process of drinking tea and eating rice cakes in his office before migrating over to a Japanese sashimi restaurant where the Principal drank many many glasses of Soju, becoming ever merrier telling countless stories (which Mrs. Kim was kind enough to translate).

Alas, this last weekend was not all that fun because Friday afternoon I caught what's known as school cafeteria food food poisoning... NOT fun! On Sat. I had thought I was doing fine and decided to visit a pottery village with my friend Olivia. On the bus ride there I discovered that I was actually still feeling pretty piss poor. It was too late by that point and in the end, it was an interesting side trip where we shared tea with the potters wife for a good long while and she explained the traditional Korean way of making pottery. So, though I was feeling not so great, it was still worth it! Sunday, I was legitimately feeling better and attended a Calligraphy class with Tori and our friend Trevor at the Buddhist Hongbeop temple (the same place we took the Kimchi class).

That's about it so, thanks again for reading!

Spring Break

Ah yes, back in Busan... Friday the 5th marked my first day back with my students and it was a little rough for two reasons: 1. They had come from a 35 day vacation so they were all still locked in vacay mode and 2. They knew there would two short days of school before their three week spring vacation! I think teachers and students alike saw school as a bit of a joke and no one seemed all that committed to being there.

This of course wouldn't have been a problem except that I actually bothered to create a lesson plan and after seeing the following fly across my classroom:

I realized it was a pretty big waste of time. I'll give the boy some credit, at least my lesson went towards a nicely crafted airplane (it flies remarkably well!)

Apart from their fine paper airplane skills, my third grade students certainly demonstrated their creativity with a short movie they made in their film class (which Vice Principal Hwang broadcasted for the school). Basically, the entire film was about a gun fight between two groups in the halls and classrooms of the schools (yes a GUN FIGHT with extremely realistic guns at that!) Ha! Considering a 12 year-old girl in New York was just arrested for doodling on her desk, I don't think this would fly in the US. Once I gave it some thought, I realized that this is probably a pretty common movie theme amongst the boy filmography students. Basically when these most kids aren't studying, down-time goes to their computer games with guns and killing being the central plot. This movie was just a live version of what they love to play at home. I'm sure they had a blast (and at least they were getting some exercise while filming it!)

Though Thailand was an amazing experience, I needed that first weekend to decompress from all the activity, people and of course, the travel. I did some solo exploring of the city on Saturday and on Sunday, was invited on a hike with a new friend named Seung Chul. Seung Chul, interestingly, is my banker at a local Korean Bank here. After many meetings of signing up for an account, online banking and rewiring my debit card so it could work internationally, we basically became friends and discovered that both he and I enjoy hiking! Seung Chul grew up in Busan, so his knowledge of the trails here is quite extensive.

It ended up being a great experience! We met at the Subway before heading up a trail on Geomjeong Mountain (the same place that Jer and I had our goat-eating experience.) On our way to the trail head, we passed Busan’s baseball stadium. We started chatting about how popular baseball games are in Korea and he told me a story of visiting Boston and attending a game there. Not knowing much about the Baseball scene in the US, he casually showed up to Fenway minutes before a game with pitcher Edgar Martinez. A couple on the street offered to sell him a ticket and he talked them down to a mere $10 for it. Seung Chul explained it wasn’t until later that found out about Fenway and Martinez’s fame, but even knowing how this, he still prefers baseball in Korea because “the fans are crazy here!”

We navigated a number of trails on Geomjeong, all the while battling throngs of weekend hikers (its unavoidable). Though it can be frustrating at times, hiking in Busan is always an entertaining experience! I have to paint a picture of a typical Busanite hiker. First of all, MANY are ojimas (middle/upper aged women) who wear coordinated hiking get-ups, backpacks, hiking poles and a fair number even opt for the face visor:

(The ojimas don't quite look as stylish as this model.) There are of course men as well, with the grandfatherly types typically listening to radios. The men also usually sport equally fashionable hiking outfits with large backpacks as well. Initially, I was baffled by their packs wondering what they could be filling them with, but I soon realized they're mainly for picnicking purposes. Groups will gather on rocks with spreads of food in front of them complete with little burners for hot dishes and of course, cups of Soju and Makali!

Knowing the picnicking part of the hiking culture, I came prepared with apples, green tea and cookies but my little spread paled in comparison to the hull that Seung Chul brought. He generously shared Gimbop (a Korean sushi roll of sorts), clementines, power bars, chocolate and Yang gang (a red-bean jelly bar of sorts).

We had a good time swapping stories and I certainly learned a great deal more about Korean culture. For instance, I told Seung Chul an experience I had had crossing a street a couple weeks prior. I was on my way to Tori's house and decided to cross an intersection though there was a no walk sign flashing (its SO hard for me to wait when there are absolutely NO cars on the road!) There were two ojimas on the other side however and when I passed them, one smacked me in the arm saying something in Korean! I was so stunned it took me a couple of steps past her to realize what had happened and by that point, it was too late to react (though I'm not sure what I would have done or said to her anyway.) Seung Chul observed that its a hard business being a foreigner in Korea. In this particular case, he said that these women probably saw this act as a sheer disregard for Korean law. But on the other hand, it's just as likely that if I had not crossed, another Korean might look at me and scoff thinking “silly foreigner, she is so strict, she doesn't know that she can cross when there are no cars on the street.” So according to Seung Chul, it's a bit of a lose lose situation!

Finally, I lamented to Seung Chul that when walking down the street, I can never tell which side to walk on. Some signs in the subways will specify that all traffic should be on the right side (like in the US) but, it doesn't seem to matter as I still end up playing chicken with oncoming traffic. “It doesn't matter” he said, “really, I'm not lying, everyone feels this way!” So, that answers that question! I guess I'm doomed to battle the crowds for the rest of the year (it really is quite confusing at times!) We said our good-byes on the subway and I'll look forward to exploring some more hiking trails with my new friend!

Considering my school is poor (I just barely talked them into giving me $40 for a pizza party the last day of English camp), they certainly wine and dine the teachers quite well! I enjoyed three lunch outings with all of the teachers and staff the last week of school, one of which was another sushi/raw fish meal at a nice Japanese restaurant. After so many meals with my school, I was feeling like a bit of an expert and didn't expect any surprises at this lunch... that is, until, the live sea worms came out! One of the women delicately picked one up with her chopsticks and smiling at me exclaimed “mashisoyo” (delicious)! As it wriggled its last stand, she swiftly put it in her mouth, chewed and swallowed. “Ohhhh,” I said, “wooow, uh, maybe later...” I think live sea worms will have to be added to the list of Korean inedibles which is as follows:

1. Dog (I don't care that my students categorized this as a “meat” when we were studying food, I just can't...)

2. live octopus (its just seems pretty inhumane)

and now,

3. live worms.

Because school for the students ended on Tuesday, the teachers were able to leave after lunch on Wednesday through Friday. I used my afternoons for some more exploring of the city. The first order of business was to pick up the latest copy of “Dynamic Busan,” Busan's local English paper. I wanted this particular edition because they published a little article I wrote in their “Opinion” section! It was mostly a fun project (and something to fill my time at school) but I was happy to see it published none-the-less. Here's the link for anyone interested:

http://dynamic.busan.go.kr/sub/news_list.jsp (page 2)

On Thursday afternoon, I arranged to meet some people for climbing at a gym 15 minutes from my school. Well, of course my luck takes me to the wrong gym (I learned later there are two in the same area). Using directions from Koreaontherocks.com I navigated my way to a nondescript building, down the stairs to a basement flat walled room with colorful (and some home-carved) climbing holds. I was met by a 4 ft. nothing Korean woman who spoke absolutely no English. After five minutes and the help of a white board, I discovered they didn't really let people climb by the hour (rather, people were expected to get a 50/mo. membership). But, because I had my own shoes, she decided I could climb for free!

I was the only one there, so this woman (named Jom ok Kim) could focus all of her attention on me! She followed me out to the floor and using a bamboo stick (simular to the ones my fellow teachers use to discipline their students) she began to point out the holds for various routes. She would point to one hold saying “orun-son” (right hand) and then another “oen-son” (left hand) or “orun-ball” (right foot) and “oen-ball” (left foot). Once I was on the wall, there was lots of laughing from both of us as I desperately searched for the little colored pieces of tape telling me where to go next. Still using the stick she would point to a hold, yelling “yogi, yogi!” (here) and then we would both laugh some more. Speaking in rapid Korean, she would correct my form but after realizing this was pointless, ran to the back and emerged a minute later wearing her own (mini) climbing shoes. Jom ok ended up being a beautiful and, because of her height, creative climber. I enjoyed a solid hour of climbing with her where a common language wasn't necessary to curse particularly difficult holds or, once again, laugh when someone (mostly me) fell off the wall. It was a memorable experience to be sure!

The following night, Tori and I decided to be cultured and attended a Flamenco guitar performance by a Spaniard named Marco Socias. Here's a Youtube link of him in:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bC4gbldnC90&feature=related

He was fantastic but the performance was long! Two funny twists to the evening. First, we showed up expecting to pay $30 but ended up paying, um, nothing. I guess they decided to let the public in for free (perhaps they didn't quite get the turnout they were hoping for) and second, the performance wasn't just Socias. Intermixed were various Korean performers doing anything from singing Italian opera to playing traditional Korean instruments. Because we had been there since 7:30, Tori and I finally slipped out of the concert hall at 10:30 though Socias was still in in the full swing of things.

On Saturday, Tori, Olivia, Kayla and I braved a Korean bath house and Ginga-bong (not sure on the spelling with this one). I say braved because for the bath house, one is completely naked! I should explain first that the public baths are HUGELY popular in Korea... and so is not shaving/trimming. But because we were the minority, it was us and our western ways that were stared at.

The first order of business at the bath house is to find a free shower head and stool to sit on (naked) and give yourself a good scrub. They provide a little plastic bowl and towel (used soap is even readily available though I opted to use my own) which you use hunkered under one of these shower heads... which, I forgot to mention, only come up to about belly-button height. The low set-up makes sense I guess because it gives you easy access to your plastic bowl and scrubbing towel. Once cleaned, everyone migrates over to the baths which range from freezing cold to nearly 110 degrees. Again, because this is so popular, the locals have figured out how to do it up right. You'll see women chatting casually, sipping an iced beverage brought from home, enjoying the high powered jets or herbal soak available.

After the girls and I had had our fill of the baths, we put on the pajamas provided by the spa and headed up to the Ginga-bong which is separate from the baths. I guess I should specify that because the baths are done naked, the men and women are separate, but the ginga-bong is totally co-ed and actually, seemed to be a popular place for families and young couples. Here's a decent picture of what you might see at a Ginga-bong:

All ginga-bongs are different but the one we went to had various rooms meant to be “good for health.” So, the first room we enjoyed was a warm wooden room filled with salt rocks that you're meant to lay on. Next door was another hot room with plain rocks (which we skipped), followed by a refrigerated room (also skipped that one), and finally decided on a sand-box type area filled with marble sized beads to lay on. They were surprisingly confortable, so we chilled there for quite a while. (Next to the young high school couple totally entwined with one another... for such a conservative country, I see an awful lot of PDA.) Though there were many shocking parts to my first public Korean bath house experience, I knew that it wouldn't be my last visit to the spa!

Tori made a last minute decision to visit Taiwan, so the following week was mostly spent with Olivia and Kayla. I went on a couple of solo hikes around my apartment, another spa trip for a little soaking and a painful but needed “Sport massage” by a VERY strong Korean Ojima, and finally met up with the climbers I had tried to meet the previous week. We arranged to climb outside which I was VERY happy about! It felt good to be in that scene again and hopefully once things warm up a bit, I'll be doing a lot more of that!

Well, thats basically it, this weekend I've planned a little trip to a town three hours away called Uljin where they host an annual Snow crab festival. It will be myself and my long lost friend Julia for a weekend of eating delicious crab meat and fresh sea food! Monday is a holiday here, but on Tuesday its back to the grind-stone as the new term starts. I'll be saying hello to my first year students and saying goodbye to any days off for a looooong time (sniff, sniff).

Thailand!

Thailand, an 11 days to remember! Alas, the flight getting there was as well (which is never a good thing when flying). We chose China Air for their cheep prices… and ended up paying for it in the end.

Due to a delayed flight in Beijing, we missed our connecting flight in Hong Kong and spent the next 3 hours with a representative trying to get on another airline en route to Bangkok. He finally found a flight for us… but not our luggage.

We arrived at 12:30PM with the clothes on our backs and immediately called our hotel to apologize for the four hour delay, begging for another transport. To our surprise, Mr. Smit from the Heritage Sathorne Hotel, already stood waiting at the designated meeting spot, with a name-sign reading “Mr. Alison Lewis” (Ha! I guess that’s me). Apparently, he had been there the entire time!

Once in our room, we wasted no time crawling into bed only to crawl back out promptly at 7 AM for a cooking class at the Silom Thai Cooking School. When we arrived, there were 14 other eager westerners ready to learn the art of flavorful Thai cooking. Our ultra feminine and ultra sarcastic instructor Nusi (he was what the Thai's call a Lady-man), gathered us together and commanded that we follow him to the market to buy fresh ingredients. Each person was handed a basket which Nusi soon filled with lemon grass, fresh fish, Thai Basil, Kaffir Lime leaves, Finger Ginger, freshly grated coconut, peppers etc… the shopping list felt endless!

At the school (which was nothing more than a three roomed apartment that Nusi and cleverly converted) we clad ourselves in brightly colored aprons and got to work preparing the ingredients for cooking. The dishes we prepared were as follows:

Fried Noodles Thai Style (Pad- Thai- Sai -Kai)

Spicy Shrimp Soup (Tom- Yum- Gung)

Green Curry Paste (Nam- Phrik -Kang- Khiao- Wan)

Green Curry with Chicken (Kang- Khiao- Wan- Gai)

Northern Chicken Salad (Laab- Gai)

And for dessert:

Rubies in Coconut Milk (Tub -Tim- Grob)

(If anyone wants the recipe for any one of these dishes, just let me know!)

Nusi proved himself to be quite a character! His favorite phrase was “Cooking’s fun!” in the middle of shelling shrimp, laboring over a mortar and pestle or any other task he clearly didn’t enjoy. Another favorite activity of his was to make snide little comments about our incompetence (though, I think this is a pretty common habit of many chefs… his feminine hand gestures and lisp simply made it all the more entertaining!)

After our class, we headed back to the hotel where we hoped our bags would be waiting... unfortunately they were not. The good word from Dodi, our go-to hotel attendant was that they would arrive by 2PM that day. To kill a couple of hours we decided to sign our selves up for a famous Thai massage. Finding a brochure at the hotel, we had Dodi call for us. Once he was off the phone, he explained that the masseuses would arrive at the hotel in 45 minutes. Tori and I decided to use the time research train tickets on the lobby's computer while Andrew headed up to the room to shower.

Two Thai men and one woman arrived in 20 minutes not 45 (the one and only time I experienced locals operating on anything other than Thai time, i.e. 15+ minutes late). Realizing Andrew wasn't ready, Tori headed for the elevators... aaaand the three masseuses followed her. She tried to explain that she was just getting her friend. They smiled politely and proceeded to follow her into the elevator. At the room, Tori yelled to Andrew and ran back down to wait in the lobby. The masseuses however, stayed waiting at the door. Andrew emerged, gave the three a smile and a Sowadeeka (hello) before he too headed down to the lobby. We all stood in a circle looking at each other wondering what to do about our masseuses still upstairs. Dodi came over and finally explained that the massages would be done in our room. “Ohhhhhh,” we all said “wiiiieeeerd” we all thought.

Heading back up to the room the six of us gave a nervous laugh before opening our door at which time they handed us a baggy pair of Thai pants and shirt to change into. Laying down on our beds, each masseuse began working us. For those of you who have ever received a Thai massage, you'll know that this is an appropriate description. You really get worked! There is much pulling and twisting where limbs will be stepped on and backs clapped (a famous audio experience always included in a Thai massage). All in all, I would say, although a little odd (and painful at times) it felt good especially after our long day of travel.

After our bags arrived, we set off for the famous Chatuchak (Saturday) Market which covers 35 acres with over 5000 stalls (thanks Wikipedia for that). After hours of looking at goods and battling with crowds of people, we took a Tuk-tuk (a motorized rickshaw of sorts) to Kosan Rd., yet another famous attraction where backpackers LOVE to hang. Tori and Andrew decided to start their Thailand trip out right with a mouth-full of scorpion… yes a SCORPION! I decided against trying any myself, but not to be left out of the fun, opted for an ant salad instead. I kid you not, it wasn’t bad! Honestly! Tori and Andrew said the same about their crunchy scorpion but I’m skeptical as both seemed mighty excited for a beer afterwards.

Sunday marked our second full day in Thailand! Though most people opt for a quick breeze through Bangkok on their way to other, less congested areas of the country, we were waiting for Kayla who was scheduled to arrive at 1AM Monday morning. To escape the city’s congestion ourselves, we decided on a day trip to a small town called Ayathaya two hours (by train) North/East of Bangkok. Ayathaya is known for its ruins and temples. Everything is so spread out however, it was necessary to hire a Tuk-tuk driver to shuttle us around. Returning to Bangkok, we grabbed dinner before heading to a Moi Thai fight.

Before Andrew proposed this idea, I had never heard of Muay Thai fighting. In order to make an educated decision, I decided to read-up on the sport before committing to a three hour fight. The article I read described the rhythmic live drums that accompany the fighters who use the music to time their hits creating a dance-like quality to the fight. Because common moves are kicks with the shins to their opponent’s torso, training for a Muay Thai fighter often includes kicking a tree trunk in order to deaden their nerves (which I CANNOT imagine). Other common moves are jabs with the elbows and knees. There are typically 5 rounds that last no longer than 3 minutes, though the ultimate goal of the fight is to knock your opponent out. Finally, the article described the manic fans in the audience and the pulsing energy. So, though I have never been one to watch fighting of any kind, this article painted a dynamic picture and I decided to go. Weeeell, the Muay Thai fight I experienced was slightly different for two main reasons: 1. I think there were about 30 spectators… total and 2. I’m pretty sure some of the Muay Thai fighters were no older than 10 years old weighing 80 lbs. soaking wet. It was still interesting to watch this “hard martial art” that is so popular amongst the Thai people!

We visited a Night Market and finally met Kayla (who didn’t arrive until nearly 2:30 AM on Monday). The next day we really embraced the tourist scene with a river tour of the city. One of two highlights was the Wat Pho Temple with a massive reclining Buddha spanning 150 ft. long and 52 inches high! So beautiful! Walking around the Wat, visitors are met with the echoing sound of metal on metal. Finally, when I rounded the corner at the foot of the Buddha, I discovered the source of the sound came from from people dropping 'satang' coins into 108 brass buckets lining the wall facing the back-side of the Buddha. The number 108 is sacred with many Eastern traditions and my understanding it that with Buddhism, it represents the 108 afflictions a person is considered to have. Therefore, this number can be found many places. Besides the 108 buckets, there were also 108 images of the Buddha around the temple.

The second highlight was the Grand Palace which is a large compound of buildings with Gold encrusted towers, ornate tile murals and sculptures and royal guards on every corner. We hired an old Thai man to tour us around. He was very sweet but I'm pretty sure he made up most of the tour. For instance, there was a series of figures looking like:

When I asked what they were, he explained that they were deer-women. When I told him the bottom half looked more like a lion, he simply said “no, it is a deer.” I of course had to look it up and sure enough, its a lion. He was still an entertaining old man, even if some of his facts were clearly wrong.

After our tour of the River, we headed to the train station where we caught a night train down to Surat Thani. It was an ooolllldd rickety rusty thing, but it did the trick (and only got as to our destination an hour late... a good thing considering we were operating on Thai time). From Surat Thani, we then bused and boated over to an island called Phi Phi Don, finally arriving close to 5PM. Though it was nearing sunset, we all be-lined it for the beach and after much floating in the water, Andrew and I played an awesome game of frisbee with two locals! (Haha, probably the highlight of my day!) Later that night, we enjoyed performances by some talented fire-dancers. Tori, Kayla and myself even tried our hand at jump roping a massive rope on fire. I only had to get a little singed once before deciding it should probably should be left to the professionals.

The following day, we rented a long boat to explore Phi Phi Ley, Phi Phi Don's smaller sister where no one lives but MANY people visit. (It also happens to be the place where Leo Dicaprio's 'The Beach' was filmed.) We stopped for an amazing snorkel in crystal clear water before moving on to the well known Maya Bay. Enroute to the bay, I noticed seemingly random bamboo scaffolding against the rocky cliffs. Asking our guide, he explained that Thai men harvest swallow nests to sell to China where they turn it into a nest soup! I had never heard of this but here's wikipedia's link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird's_nest_soup unbelievable what some cultures consider a delicacy (or even edible for that matter!)

I should add that while the whole island was gorgeous, the throngs of people kind of detracted from its beauty and the bay was no exception. Its waters were completely congested with long boats, sail boats, speed boats of every kind, not to mention the hundreds of people wading, walking, and sun bathing. In Thailand, if you see a tourist, you can bet there's a tour guide not far behind. During a quick snack break at a hut there, Tori met one of these guides who introduced himself as Soon. Soon soon LOVED Tori (or at least her boobs) and even began singing to her with his rolled palm-leaf cigarette dangling from his mouth in a Raoul Duke fashion. Luckily Tori is one to find entertainment in any situation so she patiently let him carry on in this ridiculous fashion solely for her own amusement (and by default, the amusement of everyone else close enough to watch!) He finally had to get back to his guests, so in one final (and long) embrace, Soon left us.

Once back on Phi Phi Don, we grabbed our bags and carried on to Raleigh Beach which although it's a peninsula, is only accessible by boat. Raleigh East is known for its limestone and consequently, its amazing rock climbing! My bags barely touched the wooden floor in the bungalow before I was singing the four of us up for a guided climb the next morning. The four of us went to bed early that night and awoke promptly at 6AM to watch the sunrise. It was quite beautiful, but what made it most worthwhile was the quiet peace that hung over the beach. Tourists were still sleeping and even the hotel personel hadn't quite emerged for their morning chores yet. It was one of the few quiet moments I had there, which unfortunately had more to do with the areas we chose to travel, than anything else.

After breakfast, we met our guide Sue (“how do you do!”) who ended up being great! Although neither Kayla, Andrew or Tori had ever climbed, they all did an awesome job! Kayla and Tori especially took to it and really impressed me with their mad climbing skills! After our four hour climb, followed by a much needed lunch, we decided to work our legs a little with a hike through the jungle. At one point we took a wrong turn and stumbled on a dilapidated hotel with six Thai men sitting in the midst of the rubble with tools spread around them. (From what I could tell, it looked like they may have been hired to rebuild the place.) They smiled broadly when they saw us and called us over to smoke with them which we kindly declined. Ha! It didn't look like their employer was really getting his money's worth with this crew! We finally found Tonsai, the beach we were searching for. It was a much less congested but equally beautiful version of our beach but again, only accessible by boat, or in our case, after a long hike up and over the mountain. It is also possible to access it from the the main beach Raleigh West when the tide is low enough, allowing for a scramble over its rocky shore.

The following day we again supported Thailand's transportation companies and via speed boat, bus, and ferry moved onto our next and final destination, the island Ko Pha Ngan. We arrived quite late and got to our hotel even later. It took our truck 45 minutes to even pull out of port's parking lot while it waited to fill every available seat. This is a pretty standard practice, as most public transports in Thailand will wait until they are filled to the gills before going anywhere (which accounts for much of the Thai time delays). We finally rolled into the Village Green where we meet the owner Ben, a Brit who fell in love with Thailand 20 years ago and has stayed ever since. We shared beer and pleasantries with Ben before heading off to bed. The following morning we rented scooters (my first time driving a vespa alone!) and begin to explore the island. I almost hate to say it, but this was one of my highlights from the island! Because of the lush and hilly terrain (not to mention the insane drivers and poor road conditions) it makes driving there quite exciting!

Later that evening, rain started to poor in a monsoon-like fashion. This only posed a problem because we were attending the infamous Full Moon Party that night. I have to explain this a little. The Full Moon party's conception was in 1985 when a disco club on the beech arranged a small party for 30 or so travelers staying in the area. Word spread and more people started showing up to the island with each full moon. Present day the beach plays host to nearly 30,000 tourists a month which is an amazing feet considering the size of the island. Some come for the dancing, others for the drugs and others (like myself) come our of sheer curiosity (and because their friend Andrew just HAS to go). Tori, Kayla and I did a good job of sticking together and even amidst the insanity, I had a fun time of dancing and people watching.

Andrew and I watched the sun rise together and to see the beach in broad day-light was an experience in and of itself. People hung everywhere; on steps, benches, towels, etc... some clothed, others not, some bandaged, and other still, wandering about in a daze still tripping on, whatever they were tripping on. Trash (mainly straws and discarded buckets once filled with red-bull, alcoholic mixtures) lay strewn everywhere, but even with the sun marking a new day, the music still pounded and people still danced on podiums seemingly unaware that the party was over.

We finally arrived back at the Village Green and took a solid nap before meeting up with some other friends from Busan we had met at the party.

The following day, I finally enjoyed the beach with much swimming, reading and relaxing. My trip in Thailand has been such a whirl-wind journey thus far, it felt good to do nothing but enjoy the ocean and sun.

The following day we said our good bye's to Ben and via truck, ferry, bus and plane finally landed in Bangkok's airport only to find our 1AM flight delayed until 6AM. Long story short, Air China is officially the devil and our flight pains getting to Thailand paled in comparison to the ones getting home. Luckily I had many good memories from our trip to sustain me though the misery of traveling home. Thailand, like I said, will certainly be a trip I'll remember forever for the good, the bad, and the characteristically Thai I experienced there.

Unfortunately I had no time to decompress from our trip. Landing in Busan at nearly 6 PM, the night of the 3^rd, (after nearly 36 hours of travel and delays), I had obligations to go to school the morning of the 4^th and plan lessons for the following day. The school system has an awkward schedule because though the students were just off for over a month for winter vacation, they only had three short days of school and graduation ceremonies before another three week Spring Vacation. To keep this entry solely dedicated to Thailand, more to come later on that first weekend back on Korea's soil and the following two weeks of Graduation, lunches with teachers and new Korean friends.

As usual, thanks for reading!