Havin a bad Korea day

Oh man. Yah, I admit it...i don't love Korea everyday. Last night I was up till 2 am with other anticipations in my more personal life, and then today school was a bit crazy. Then at taekwondo tonight I didnt do as well as my expectations. The instructor did say that I was flexible enough...but poor John got what I call the horrific stretch. Oh someone putting the physical pressure on someone else's body isnt my idea of fun, or Johns! Poor guy, I felt that almost as much as he did! Man, i feel like a control freak sometimes. Not so cool..and than that makes me more annoyed! Whaddya do. Go to sleep and wait for tomorrow.

SO the next issue is that I havent been learnign Korean as fast as I'd like. I just have to use my memory and practice and USe it more...I'm good at listening..but the speaking is another ting sometimes. It's good in a way because it makes me remember what it's like to learn another language, and the awkwardness of speaking it...and that makes me empathize with my students better. I've been somewhat guaging it by John, my co-worker, as we have arrived in Korea at the same time...and he's learnign faster than I am...darnit!

The next thing is that I'm trying to decide where the best website is for putting my albums of pictures. As you should know I love taking LOTS of pictures, as I think it really tells a story better than words at times. That might be because I'm such a visual person. Sometimes I think nothing gets through my head unless I visualize it or see it. That can be good and possibly bad at times. Whaddya do once again.

This past weekend (long weekend of the New Years Doggy - heh) I went to Mokpo, a coastal city about an hour away from Gwangju. I'm Sooo glad I went! The big attractions there were for me, the ocean, then Yundul mountain, and then the museums. It was sooo wonderful to be near the ocean again. It amazes me how powerful it is...the draw of it too.
Then I went on a taxi ride, with a woman taxi driver! cool! to the Yundul mountain, and the one place I wanted to go to was closed, and then across the road was a Buddhist monestery/temple, so I hiked up the stairs to that. Then I came back down and walked along the road when i heard music coming from the mountain. I looked up and tried to find the commotion...and decided that I shoudl go and check it out. So I went up one big set of stairs...then along 'stone paved' paths to more stairs and paths and stairs and stairs and paths to a statue, and lots of 'lookout' temple structures. The darker it got, and the higher I got, the more amazing it was.

Man, I'm sooo glad I came here to experience this..FINALLY! Another country and culture...why is it that I thrive on this? Dunno...but I love it. The mountain was also lit by lights that changed color. There's lots of lights that change color in Korea...on buildings...all of that..on mountains..anything. I love it!
So that was a night, and I walked down this hill to downtown. I swear everything in Korea in terms of what's in the stores is the same. But that's allright...then you know what you're gonna get anywhere! Ha! Then I took an adventurous taxi ride and asked for a jimjilbang (sauna) that was open 24 hrs. Some of the are open all night with sleeping rooms and some arent..so I had to make sure. Of course then was the time when the taxi driver, who was around 22 kept saying that I could stay at his house! Um...NOT! But thanx for the offer! ha haa.
A stay at the jimjilbang is definitely a thing that I wish everyone could appreciate! You go in for a nice shower, and srubadub, and a hot tub soak, and any temperature you want...well two or three temperatures anyway. A sauna in all temperatures..at least 4 or 5. Then get some clothes on (shorts and tshirts issued to you in the sauna colors). Then to find the place to sleep on a warm marble floor..ohhhh yeahhhhh! The only thing was that it was a bit noisier than I might like. There were families with brand new babies there all awake at midnight. Interesting how that works.
Sleeping on a hard warm floor is actually easier than I thought. At one point the room I was sleeping in was a bit warmer than I wanted, so I moved to another room. At one point, the cafe lady came to me and put a blanket and pillow on me...how sweet are these people?! A little later, I wasnt quite asleep...was somewhat tossing and turning, and then a mother and her baby on her back came in. There was a big window, and she stood there and sang her baby to sleep...and me too! I was thinking...how magical is a mother's lullaby...and how precious. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..............

The next morning was interesting to wake up to. There I was in a jimjilbang! IT wasnt so awkward after all. I got up, went to find a massage chair that wasnt being slept in by another person, and had a morning massage. NICE! THen down to have a nice long scrub shower, and hot tub...and on the road again!

I went for a walk after, and discovered I was a lot closer to the beach than I thought! It was so nice to be right at the water again. A father and his son was flying their kite there. That was neat.
Then I found a taxi, and went to the museums. WOW. The architecture was amazing. I ended up going to the Natural History Museum which was amazingly put together-combining great architecture with a wonderfully laid out display of everything from dinasaurs to insects of any type you can imagine.
THen back to the bus terminal, and back home. YAY.
Whew!
Gotta sleep now...till next time!