It's a small world after all

Hmmm. where to begin this one. Since my last (and only) post, my days have been split fairly evenly somewhere between the mark of absolutely rotten, and ecstatic joy. The reason for the former was due to the "Korean sickness" as it is so called by the people who laughed at me when I was seeking peer diagnosis for my seemingly benign ailment.

"Everyone gets sick in Korea!" they said,

"Not I" I retorted, knowing full and well that my fruit and vegetable laden diet has kept me from sickness in the past.

"Well, everybody gets sick in Korea, the viruses are different here."

Hmmm, I thought, I hadn't given much consideration to that idea.



As it turned out, the sore throat was only a precursor to the abhorrent feelings that would plague me the following day. My coworkers were right, even my immune function was of no match for this Asian version of the common cold. Although the Koreans have attempted to model parts of their society directly off that of the United States (clothing, social mores, even the dreaded rap music, which they don't understand), fortunately for me, their medical system was not a part of the plan in their scheme to imitate western culture.



When I arrived at the doctors office, and instantly made a fool of myself by removing my shoes, and then after a few minutes and a few odd stares and laughter, being gestured to put them back on (you take off your shoes most everywhere in Korea, except this particular doctors office, perhaps it was part of his greater plan to become more western) I made it back to see the doctor who (I had previously been told by coworkers, spoke excellent English) spoke all of about three words of English. After being probed in the throat for what seemed like an eternity and passing a series of other examinations that included everything but anal probe, I was finally given the correct diagnosis.... "you sick," by doctor Wangzou. After a shot in the rear, and an obscure breathing treatment, I was given the presciption and showed to the pharmacy (next door). The Korean medication, (which honestly I was hesitant to take, as I had no idea what the pills were, that the pharmacist, who spoke two words less of English than doc Wangzou, gave me) turned out to work quite well, and I was better within a few days.



Following this less than desirable situation I was awarded what I had hoped for most upon my arrival to Korea... other climbers. The Saturday following my sickness I was aimlessly wandering around on a side of a mountain looking for rock climbers when after about 3 hours, and the desire to give up, I found my proverbial pot of gold (or as it was, a bunch of sweaty climbers on a big rock... to each his own, I guess). Meeting Jason, Corey and Park Cheoluyeoung was a blessing that I had been longing for; to meet some like minded amigos in the ROK. Following our climb, and promises of much more in the future, I departed and came upon the Yaksu temple (photos below). As it was my first Asian temple that I had seen I was dumbfounded at the intricacies of the needlework and the what must of been countless hours that went into the elaborate decorations inside the temple, which I did not get photos of out of respect to the locals that were praying there.



So here comes the strange part. Yesterday, a massive group (15 in all) met up to do some bouldering in Guseo-dong. Upon our arrival and the ensuing 45 minute hike up the mountain, we began to introduce ourselves. A guy named Charlie asked me where I was from, and upon mentioning that I was from Kansas, he quickly replied "what's with all the Kansan's here?" Instantly my interest was peaked. Although we were all kind of spread out on the trail, I made my best effort to ask who gather everyone's attention and seek out these elusive 'Kansan's." After the tomfoolery that was my attempt to locate the Kansan's I got a reply from a couple named Jeff and Lindsey. Upon introductions we quickly got to the point.



"So, what part of Kansas are you from?" I asked, thinking, that regardless of their answer, I was still super excited to have friends here from my home state.

"Overland Park" they replied, naturally, my excitement was intensified.

"Yeah, we went to the University of Kansas, and Blue Valley High School."



I was astonished, I had met people that attended the same High school as me, half way around the world! In utter disbelief, I responded that I too had attended the great home of the Tigers, and immediately their excitement exploded.



"That is really bizarre." Jeff repeated over and over to himself as the realization sunk in.



By the end of the day we had shared many stories of our high school and college experience and looked forward to much more comradery, as had been gained throughout the day with all the climbers. Among the other highlights of this day were getting to climb with (ok, watch) a professional climber show us his technique, meet a bunch of new friends, and afterwords, share a traditional Indian meal at "Wazwan," my new favorite restaurant in Korea.



Yep, this whole Korea thing is turning out to be pretty cool. Hopefully I can abstain from any injuries and get in many more climbs with all my new buddies.



I took a couple of short videos (quite poor filming) of the professional climber getting the first ascent of this boulder (I forgot his name), and another video of everyone that was there. They can be found here.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6yHNJqUx7k



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whfFhvPwCvM



It should be noted that this line was very difficult, only two people sent it all day. Hard to tell difficulty of a climb in a video, it was said that this was about V5-V6, but it had a real shoddy foot hold, and a nasty little overhang at the beginning.



Oh, I also threw in some photos of some of my youngest students, they are two of my favorite.



Overall, it has been a really positive experience, I am very fortunate that I have met so many like minded people that are super interested in climbing.

PICTURES HERE: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2318919&id=16808105&saved

Land of the Morning Calm!

It's been a week since my less than graceful entrance into the Land of the Morning Calm or Korea if you will. Today 3-1-09 I spent the morning checking out the markets of Seomyeon where I purchased a variety of fruits and vegetables that will surely last me a whole 2 days if I'm lucky. Upon my return to Deokcheon, with spirits high (due to the unusually nice weather) I decided that an afternoon hike would be a good way to spend a Sunday. Upon strapping on my hiking boots which I thankfully included in my aggregate of random items brought over in my larger-than-allowed-by-airline, could stuff ten midgets in duffelbag, I packed my bag and headed off for the mountain. What I thought was going to be a short 45 minute or so hike turned into a 4 hour extravaganza. Upon reaching the top I was rewarded with (with the exception of the grand canyon) the most spectacular view that I have witnessed in my brief 24 years. Standing on the top what appeared to be the tallest mountain around I was able to see the entire town of "Dynamic" Busan. What a treat. Not in all my extensive hiking in Utah, Arizona (excluding the aforementioned view) and Nevada had I seen a sight like the one that lay before me. And apparently I was not the only one to think that hiking was a good option for this glorious Sunday afternoon.

It is well known (to those that have any interest in South Korea) that Tae Kwon Do is the national sport of Korea, yet I can assure you, that hiking must be a close second. For a country whose terrain is comprised of 70% mountains, the Korean people sure do know how to take advantage of it. There were droves of Koreans, (I was the only foreigner to my knowledge) out hiking, however only a few managed to summit. And these few took every opportunity to question my nationality, and upon discovering it, to further question my prerogative of choosing such a strenous form of afternoon entertainment. As it turns out, speaking with a Korean man who appeared to be my age, I learned that at least in his minds eye, all Americans were "lazy couch potatoes" as he so eloquently put it. His inquistive nature hit the pinnacle when he seemed to seek a source of proof for this "non-traditional, not seemingly lazy" American. So, he asked in his broken English, if he and his friend could take their picture with me. Of course, my strong desire for social integration with the people of this great land prompted me to not only take my picture with them, but insist that they capture a photo with my camera as well. After all the photography was done, and a few more conversations in broken English were had, it was decided that I would return to the not so quiet, tumultuous urban landscape that is Deokcheon. And so I went, descending upon the city that will be my home for the next year, happy that I would soon be given another nice day in which to explore more of the Korean country side; and even happier that I could dispel any notions of American's general laziness, even if it was only for two of the millions of Koreans who inhabit the peninsula. However, when they do show the picture to their friends, they will afterall, probably just say that I was Canadian. Oh well.