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