Fall is here!!!
Like most things in Korea, the change in seasons here appears to be all or nothing. Koreans are strong believers in "go big or go home" on just about everything, from education to drinking soju, to sports. If they do something they are going to go all out, which probobly explains why I teach children until 10 pm after they have already spent all day at school. Maybe seeing Korean men go all out on shots of soju and then seeing them passed out in the street is simply them as a product of their surroundings. It seems as though it was summer and then BOOM, out of nowhere it became fall, just as intense as the poeple who live here. The leaves have gone from green to yellow, red and falling off in less than a week. I went out hiking last weekend and was able to enjoy fall to it's fullest. I got up early on Saturday morning and spent the day in the mountains. Going back to the all out thing, most Koreans work on Saturdays so it was relatively mellow. It was an amazing day of hiking, the colors were brilliant and at times I felt as though I was in NM on a fall day, except for the sounds of Buddhist chanting coming from the temples in the mountains. Sitting on a big rock looking at the mountains and listening to the chants was one of those "holy shit, I am in Asia" moments. Life here as become kind of normal, but whenever I have one of those moments in freaks me out a little.

The following day I witnessed somthing I have never seen before... and probably never will again, the filming of a Korean movie. This picture is of a very famous Korean actor, and this is an actaul scene from the movie. Our friends were sitting outside a restaurant drinking a few beers when the movie took over the street. We ended up having prime seating to witness a movie we didn't understand and close up views of famous people we have never heard of. We did watch the actor shake hands with a teenage girl who proceeded to scream and run away, with all her friends shrieking and following. When the boys first called us to tell us to come over I was a little upset because we were just about to "bake" cookies (or cook them on a grittle on the stove since there are no ovens in Korea) and watch The Office... but just as they told me "I would have been sorry if I had missed it".

Sketchy Climbing PIctures:



Koreans are amazing climbers. They climb very gracefully and are really strong. Unfortunately some of them seem to have a different idea of safety (not just safety meetings) than myself. Last weekend we saw these two things occur within in a couple hours. This draw which is left stuck open was the first bolt on a run-out route. The dude's belayer was watching him and did not bother mentioning that his first piece of protection was worthless. Rachel tried to communicate the problem, but without success...so she took a picture. The second picture speaks for itself, would you want this dude belaying you? I have noticed that lead belaying is pretty sketchy here. Many people stand about 12 feet away from the way and leave an extra 4 feet of slack in the rope....that adds a scary amount of extra rope into a whipper, transforming it into a potential mega whipper.
So thanks to all of you who I have climbed with in a safe manner, I am glad to have people who don't set me up for the mega whipper.

I miss my car, but at least I will never go bald!

This past weekend I had one of those moments of realization about how different my life is now. It all started when I was packing for a climbing trip and I was trying to fit everything into my pack and debating over what I was going to eat for dinner while camping. I decided I did not want to try and carry food and a pot and utensils in my pack on top of climbing and camping gear...so I figured I would just buy food there. (walking though the crowded subway with a huge pack intensifies the "get out of my way" phenomena by 20) For some reason all this reminded me of how easy it used to be to go do stuff. I always kept all my gear in the back of my car and leaving for the weekend was just a matter of throwing clean clothes and some grub up in the mix. Now it is a matter of packing as much as you can into a pack, catching the subway to the bus, and then a taxi to the crag. The feeling of nostalgia rang ever stronger when that evening the people we met there pulled a bbq grill, pork loin, wine, camp chairs ect. out of the back of their car. Meanwhile Rachel and I quietly ate our instant rice and mixed with tuna(which was only hot because teh woman at the store microwed it for us), because that was all we could find to eat. Public transport has been my life for the past year and in a lot of ways I really love it...like it being good for the enviroment, but sometimes I just really miss my car and being able to come and go as I please. I miss the road trips and adventures, the funky smell of my car after being full of stinky climbers. I guess it's just one of those things that I take for granted back home and will really appreciate when I get back.
I may not have a car and many of the other luxuries of being home, but at least in Korea I am learning really valuable life lessons, like all the things that could possibly kill you. The latest thing I have learned will protect me from something a little less serious than the fatal fan death: balding.
So I may have mentioned how anal Koreans are about getting wet...or rather the importance of staying dry when its raining. Now, I lived in rainy Oregon for quite a while, but before coming to Korea I had never owned an umbrella. In Korea it is unheard of to go out in the rain without your umbrella. Rachel and I were both curious about this, and when we are curious about something we look for an opportunity to bring it up in class and ask the kids. Rachel had her opportunity and found out the following: It is extremely important to carry an umbrella when it is raining because the dirty rain will make you go bald. Why, might you ask, is the rain so dirty? The response: dirty air from China makes acid rain which makes you go prematurely bald. (Everything here is the fault of China, usually it's dirty air). I re-affirmed this theory with my students, so there you have it, carry an umbrella if you like your full head of hair.
I posted links (on the side bar) to a half hour documentary I saw tonight about North Koreans escaping to South Korea. It was heart-breaking, and reminded me that I am living on a very fragile penninsula. The presidents from the two countries had a peace summit last week and are signing a peace agreement, although I am not sure how exactly that will work unless North Korea undergoes some major reforms. Hope for the best I guess.

The second Discover Korea day happened today. I am really behind in grading and Rach is a little sick so we decided to stay somewhere in our neighborhood. For the second week in a row we visited a Buddhist temple, this one is only a ten minute bus ride away from us (how we have never been there before, even on accident is beyond me). So in the past year I have visited quite a few Buddhist temples, but I have to say that this one might be my favorite so far. It is located right across the street from the chaotic COEX Mall, sits quaintly below skyscrapers. There was just something about it that made me feel relaxed though. There are about six different meditation halls, each one had a monk there chanting. There is also an outside meditation area, this part was my favorite. There is a ginormous statue of Buddah towering over a marble meditation area. They have meditation pillows there that you can use as well. rach and I decided to try out our quite rusty meditation skills. It was really nice, even if I am not a good meditator. Just being outside in a beautiful place listening to chanting. Sometimes I feel as though city life is so quick and easy to get lost in, so I think this is going to be my new sanctaury...since the "wilderness" in Korea seems to be opposite of a quiet sanctuary.