Some Pictures From Sunday (Oct. 29th)

Sunday I went with a few friends to the EXCO (exhibition building) to check out the International Oriental Health Expo. We drank lots of different teas, and had free massages, and tried out the crazy-only-on-the-other-half-of-the-world health and relaxation products (look at the crazy sauna chair that Scott's sitting in)! Maxin and totally relaxin dude (early 90s)!!!
We even got to try on some traditional Korean outfits reserved for special occasions. I felt like the pimp of Korea!!!

PRESENT TENSE

The present moment is intense-
everything beyond human thought occurs within one nanosecond

Living intensely in the present is intensely intense

Live in the moment

Live intensely

Matt's Inner Insights...
Starting right now and continuing throughout my time spent in Korea, I will attempt to share with you some insights on life. Take them as they are, my personal thoughts and inner experiences presented to you as best as I can through the restrictions of printed English language...


The apartment is so small
filled with only the few possessions that could fit in a suitcase
The walls are bare
Plants fill the window- absorbing the energy of the sun and humid air
illuminating their life into the narrow home

The roommates-
the swift, precise moving red ants that have shared this space for months, if not years
They irregularly commute to and from work up the wall, floor, and desk
enjoying each moment- filled with purpose

This is the apartment.
Overflowing,
Filled with life energy- not possessions
Filled with purpose-

Error, Error, Error.... BEEB BOOP BEEP!!!!

These are pictures from Matt's ultra-top-secret blog posting that you can view by going down to the archives on the right of this page. Then click on October. There should be a blog titled "FUN-FUN OFF-ROAD MOUNTIAN DAY"

CRAZY-CRAZY FUN-FUN OFF-ROAD MOUNTAIN DAY!!!

NECESSARY BACKGROUND INFO: I met a friend from the USA (named Nick) who is madly in love with this Korean girl. This girl's parents own a mountain in the country(How do you OWN a mountain?!?), me and Scott (another foreign friend) were invited to go with them to their mountain. The weather was around 20C when Nick picked Scott and me up in this (soon to be) father-in-law's big, black SUV. He assured us that we'll need the 4 Wheel Drive!!! We got some impossibly delicious ice cream cones and hit-hit-hit the roady-road-road...

Points of interest:

1- THE OFF-ROADING- We did some crazy, "I THINK WE'RE GONNA TO DIE", off-roading up this beautiful, secluded mountain. Don't worry, I'm still alive (see photo).

2- OWNERSHIP- The Dad DID actually own the mountain! The only (barely drivable) path to the top of the mountain was fenced off by a chain. We used a key to get through (KOREAN FACT- If you have the key to the only way up the mountain, then you own the mountain).

3- THE VIEW- When we arrived at the quaint, little mountain cabin and got out of the SUV, we were were like a bunch of speechless school boys watching porno for the first time. Incapable of sensible conversation, we just kinda stared and uttered "Wowww!!!" and "OOOoooo". This is what unimaginable beauty does to the human brain!

4- THE HISTORY- The mountain was the site of one of the most important battles of the Korean War. The allies held it and although Daegu was surrounded it held it's own. Many young solders lost their lives on the mountain fightin for freedom. RESPECT!

5- THE GRAVES-

I've mentioned in a previous blogy-blue
that Korean people are buried on the mountain do.
This is true, Scoobie-Doo.
Let me tell you...

We saw so many graves on our hike to the summit. The Koreans are buried under these large mounds of dirt. Since there is often rock under the soil, the body is buried above ground- thus the large mounds of dirt. On the Lunar Holidays Chosuk (Thanksgiving Day) and Seollal (Lunar New Years Day), the families make a full meal, hike up to the graves with the meal, and then they set it out and pray for their dead ancestors (RESPECT!). All Koreans do this, it doesn't matter if their Christians, Buddhists, or Whatever...
We came across so many different graves, some were of unknown soldiers, some were unmarked, others were Christians, some were Buddhist, some were couples, some were old, some new, some had alters (for the food) and some had big granite vaults. It was a really moving experience- the peacefulness of the graves coupled with the stillness of the mountains!

THE MEAL- We had a Traditional Korean BBQ, with grandma's handmade bean paste and fermented soy soup, pure mountain water, meat (Bulgoggi) with mountain grown lettuce, and for dessert we dug up sweet potatoes and cooked them over the fire. We ate it as the sun was setting over the mountains.

THE WAR MUSEUM- On the way home we stopped to screw around on the tanks at the Daegu Korean War Museum.

Am I ever enjoying Korea,
PEACE!!!

The Tranquility Was Ill'in Me,
Wit da Beauty of da Buddhi!!!

WORD!

Dat Dat Dat.... Dat Dat Dat... SHAKE DAT BUDDHI... SHAKE DAT BUDDHI

Over the short time I have been in Korea, I have been to many places and have already seen many things. Out of all the mindblowing things I have seen, none were more aweinspiring and beautiful than the Buddhist temples.

Most of ancient Korea has been destroyed in the many wars that have taken place on Korean soil. Since Korea lies on a peninsula between the Superpowers China and Japan, they have been conquered, raped, pillaged, and sacked (basically screwed up, down, and all around) throughout history. Most people that are familiar with modern history know that Korea was conquered by the Japanese before WW2... then there was the Korean War.... but most people don't know that they have been continually conquered throughout earlier history by the Chinese and the Japanese! Man it must suck to be raped, never mind being pillaged, and sacked!!!

Anyways, this pretty much left Korea void of the old architecture that is stereotypically Asian... the only exception seems to be the temples. So far I've visited three:

Jikjisa ("sa" means temple)
Famous for its temples with blue tiled roofs. Check out the crazy carved wooden dragon!

Beomeosa
A seventh century sanctuary in the mountains above Pusan! (sorry no pics)
I even saw what is claimed to be a fragment of Buddha's bone!

Donghwasa
The most famous temple in the Daegu vicinity. It is located on the beautiful Mt. Palgongsan which towers over Daegu. It also contains a Giant stone Reunification Buddha that is one of the biggest Buddhas in the world!

HERE'S THAT SUNSET.... WOW!!!

Pics From Jirisan!!!

Poisonous Snake Attack at Jirisan National Park

This Saturday I got up early because I was going on a road trip to Jirisan National Park. Jirisan is probably the most beautiful and famous of Korea's National Parks. It's kinda like the Banff of Korea. The biggest draw is the mountains which are the largest in mainland Korea! I was really excited because I was told that the leaves on the trees will be turning colour.

Stephanie picked me up early and I told her that I was excited to see some Korean wildlife- bears, birds, snakes. She said that I would have to watch out for the snakes because there are many poisonous snakes in Korea! We proceeded to pick up her boyfriend, Young, and another Korean teacher, Jamie.

When we got to the mountains I was a little disappointed- all the leaves on the trees were still green. We put our stuff in the condo and we were off to hike the famous Jirisan! As we drove to the mountain I saw many graves; it is a Korean custom to bury the dead on the side of the mountain. Many of these graves have beautiful mountain views and large grave stones and alters. The car continued to navigate up the twisty roads to the top of the mountain. To my surprise, the higher we drove up the mountain the more colour the leaves had. We parked the car and climbed about 5 KM up the mountain until we reached its peak (the mountains are really not that high in Korea compared to the frickin huge mountains in Canada). When we got to the top the leaves on all the trees were red, yellow, and orange! We ate lunch on top the mountain and just enjoyed the scenery and the clean, crisp air! We climbed down the mountain just in time to catch one of the most amazing sunsets I have ever seen. When we got back to the condo we had a traditional Korean BBQ and way too much to drink!

The next morning I woke up to a blood curdling scream....
I thought I must still be dreaming so I went back to bed. Then another loud scream.... this was not a dream... it was coming from just outside my bedroom door....
Half asleep, I walked out of the bedroom to check it out....
It was Stephanie and she was screaming hysterically... "SNAKE, SNAKE!!!"
"Where?" I asked
"Behind the curtain" She replied.
She then took off and ran out of the condo in her bear feet screaming (going barefoot is frowned upon in the Korean culture).
I tried to look behind the curtain but was too freaked out...
Within seconds some random, old farmer-Korean-guy barged in and kicked the curtain down. Out slithered a freaky-freaky lookin, two foot long snake!
The beige snake with brown and black spots lunged at the random, old farmer-Korean-guy...
But the old farmer must have had many encounters with a snake of this nature because in one swift blow with his staff, he had killed the snake!
Then, with hardly a word spoken the man was gone...
Close call!

Random, old farmer-Korean-guy.... YOUR MY HERO!!!

KOREA AT WAR!!!...... NOT YET!!!

Almost every email I have received over the last few weeks mentions the current escalation of tensions between North Korea and America. I understand its big international news, but the South Korean people seem less concerned. Why???

Well, first of all, George Bush's government and the US media are almost obsessed with creating unnecessary fear. The Korean media is much more well rounded and they look at the issue at many angles, they are less about "OH NO WE'RE GOING TO DIE" and more about "THIS IS REALLY A SET BACK FOR SOUTH KOREA". Really when you think about this approach it really is a more rational way of looking at this conflict.

Secondly, they have gotten used to the crazy antics of Kim-Jong-Il, the crazy, dictator of North Korea. He is constantly doing ridiculous things that only a crazy, obsessed with power, super secretive, dictator would do (like wear knee high socks in the shower). Most of the time it doesn't make front page news in America so the West really doesn't freak out like it is doing right now. The South Korean people are so used to living right beside such a crack head, that they don't really loose too much sleep over his current antics.

Thirdly, the nuclear test that North Korea conducted was declared unsuccessful by Chinese, South Korean, and Japanese tests. That is that the certain level of nuclear, sub-atomic particles that would usually be present at a successful nuclear test were not found. The USA government has said that they "believe" that the test was successful but have not shown the American people any scientific proof on the issue. They said that it many take another few weeks when they will have the scientific proof.... then why scare everybody now? Even if they did have a successful test, they still have no method of delivery (they don't have a rocket that can carry the nuclear warhead).

Forthy, I know that North Korea isn't the sanest country on the block but the USA has been using some pretty "tough guy, USA, rah rah rah!!!" language when it comes to North Korea. I think that Kim-Jong-Il might be a little freaked out that the mighty-might US of A might be a comin'. Remember Bush's state of the union address a few years ago, when he called North Korea the "AXIS OF EVIL". He's been subtly threatening North Korea for years now. I think North Korea might think the USA will blow their weak, little, communist country to bits. I mean, they marched into Iraq with very little proof (I still don't know why, Weapons of Mass Deduction?) and fucked that country up. The USA only started too stop the tough guy talk and the subtle threats when they realized that North Korea might have nuclear capabilities. It's kind of sad that the USA only admitted last week that they will not start war with North Korea. Its almost hypocritical when you look at some of the threatening language George Bush used to describe North Korea over the past 5 years! It's also sad that a country with opposing views with the USA (like North Korea) has to develop a nuclear bomb before they feel that the USA will get off their backs. I believe that this will only cause other countries to developing nuclear capabilities in the near future (i.e. Iran) just as a security measure so the USA doesn't jump up their ass!

Well enough with the ranting. I think everything will be OK; at least the South Korean people think so. It really doesn't even effect life at all in South Korea. When they start panicking, I'll start panicking. I think a student that I teach said it best "Kim-Jong-Il just needs a little love!"

Below these pictures of me running, I have a rather entertaining post of my second trip to Pusan!!! Check it out!!! Yeah!!!

It's me running in the 5th Pusan Ocean Half Marathon!!! Can you find me in the crowd of Koreans???

BUSAN WILD ADVENTURE TAKE 2!!!!!!!!

It was the Korean Thanksgiving (Choo-suk) last week so I only had to teach for 2 days, Mon and Wed. It's a really big holiday here!

My friends from Chinon
named Ron and John
Invited me
to go to Pusan

I got a little taste of the "beach city" last weekend and I liked what I tasted so...

I accepted the invitation to go back to this beautiful city on the coast. Scott and Arthur, friends of mine, also came for the fun. Here are some of the highlights...

Oct. 6th...

THE UN MEMORIAL CEMETERY

This was Arthur's idea, his father fought in the Korean war. When we got there the guard would not let us in and said that it was closed. After loitering around for about 5 minutes, the guard waved us through! It was an awesome experience seeing the graves of 600 Canadians that lost their lives fighting for freedom in the Korean War. The five of us left the memorial with frogs in our throats, our eyes a little cloudy, and a feeling that we should not take life for granted!

DRINKING ALL NIGHT AT THE BEACH

Since it was Choo suk, the Korean's were shooting off fireworks from the beach all night long. It was a sweet night of chillin and drinkin! The temp must of stayed at 20 C all night. Yeah!

Oct. 7..

STAR WARS ART AND SCIENCE EXHIBIT

In the morning we woke up and completely, absolutely nerded all over the place!!!
We went to check out this exhibit that had original stuff from all 6 Star Wars movies...
It was on loan from George Lucus and contained tons of original artifacts used in the movie... HOLY NERD!!!!
It was nerdingly mind blowing for such a nerdy Star Wars nerd to see such a display of Star Wars nerdery!

It had all original costumes, weaponds, prototype drawings, story boards, rare sketches, models, and tons of other items generally worshiped by Star Wars nerds. Some of my favorites included... Some of the life size vehicles they used to film the newer movies (episodes 1-3), the original Chewy costume, very early prototype sketches of Star Wars: A New Hope, and the original models of the Imperial Star Destroyer (with faded paint and a few coffee stains!!!). I think I almost nerded my pants when I saw this stuff!!!

HANGING OUT AT THE BEACH ALL DAY

It was hot (26 C) and sunny so we went right from the Star Wars Exhibit straight to the beach! We swam in the blue-green ocean for hours. No Koreans were in the water only foreigners. The Korean's said the water was too cold... not true. In fact, the water was warmer then the Canadian lakes on the hottest day of the year! We invented a game called "Windball Extreme" and it drew a crowd of curious Koreans. I imagine they were wondering why they haven't come across such a fun game before (see http://www.ronniea.blogspot.com/ for more details of the game and the trip!!!).

HAVING A SPA AT THE HOTEL

We were going to go to a Korean spa. My friend Scott attended one last week and gave us the skinny on the Korean spa. He said that it is a whole bunch of naked Korean dudes walking around. There's a steam room, shower room, shaving room, and jaccuzzi room. He said the Korean dudes are always checking to see if the rumors are true. We split a deluxe room at the Jamjalee. It was slightly more pimp than the room I had last week! It had a Projection TV, two queen size beds, a couch, and a full Spa/bathroom with 3 separate areas; a steam room, shower room, mirror shaving room, and a jaccuzzi (It only cost $18.00 per night/per person!!!). Why would we pay for a spa when we have one in our room!?!

So we did the most logical (and gay) thing that we could think of ...
we all got naked and used the steam, shower, and jaccuzzi!
Looking back it sounds incredibly gay but at the time it seemed like a good idea!
Well, nobody dropped the soap, everybody kept their hands to themselves (yes, even Ron), and the relaxation factor went through the roof (so did the gay factor).

DRINKING AT THE BEACH ALL NIGHT
(see above)

Oct. 8...

BEOMEOSA TEMPLE

We visited this really old Buddhist temple (678 AD) that was built on the top of a mountain. The name "Beomeosa" means " Temple of the Fish from Nirvana" ... deep Eh!!! We totally peaced out as we meditated and prayed at the many shrines, surrounded by ancient architecture, paintings, and stone artifacts!

After we thoughtfully discussed and reflected on these experiences, a mantra came to mind...

"Increase the peace in your niece's crease"

PICTURES!!!!

Here are some pics from my Pusan Adventure!!!
I couldn't take anything with me during the race so I don't have any pictures from the race! Note: the 3 "hanging on the wall, bathroom showerheads"

Marathoning and a Whole Lot More!!!!!

So I ran my first race in Korea and this is what happened....

I got up late Saturday morning, packed all my marathoning essentials, and started my solo journey to the beautiful coastal city of Pusan (Busan). First, I had to bus downtown to pick up my new, broken digital camera. It only cost $33.00 to fix the whole flash mechanism at a Nikon Repair Shop!!! Then I took another bus to DongDaegu Station where I boarded a bullet train (the KTX) that would take me to Pusan.

CRAZY THING #1-
I have never been on a train in my whole entire life (excluding Calgary's Sky train) so the whole thing was pretty exciting (small, simple things like this always seem to excite me). When I boarded the KTX, I was surprised at what it looked like inside- the interior resembled the inside of an air plane but there was lots of leg room and flat screen TV's that hung from the ceiling. As soon as I sat down and got comfortable, I looked up at the flatscreens and guess what I saw...
A program on... that's right ... SASKATCHEWAN!!!
I couldn't believe it! I was on the other side of the world and sure enough I'm watching some program on a Korean bullet train that's talking about Eastend, Saskatchewan, Canada!!!!


The train got me to Busan Station, then I took a subway from there, transferred once, and BAM... I was on the Haeundae Beach in Busan. I walked down the long beach before I hailed a cab that was to take me to a motel nearby.

The motel was reserved a few days ago, by phone, by my co-worker, the Goddess of English/Korea, Stephanie. She said it would be a nice place, it would be close to the marathon, and it would only cost $50.00... but really I did not know what to expect because I have never been to a motel in Korea.

CRAZY THING #2-
So I hailed a cab to the JAMJALEE HOTEL. Within a few short minutes I arrived at my motel. It looked quite classy from the outside so I was excited to see my room. When I got up to my floor the lights were all dimmed, and a light flashed above my room door. I walked to the door, turned the key, and walked inside..... Wwwwhhat????
I'M STAYING IN A SEX MOTEL!!!

This is the deal with accommodations in Korea. I was told that there are hotels, like the Marriot, that are pretty much the same as hotels in Canada... Including the $130.00 a night price tag!
There are also motels, that are much cheaper and are also very nice. Since most people in Korea have relatives or friends that they stay with when visiting the major cities, the main users of the motels are either business men (who wanta have some fun!) or couples (who wanta have some fun!). The motel industry isn't really geared to marathon runners!

Sooooooo... hears what my room was like. To the left was a enormous bath room area. There was a separate room for the toilet (the biggest toilet I have seen in Korea so far), then a giant area where their was a big bath tub, and a "hanging on the wall, bathroom showerhead" area with not one "hanging on the wall, bathroom showerhead" but 3 (now that's luxury!!!). And to top it off guess what was hanging above the tub....
A SEX LIGHT!!!
This light was controlled from the tub and turned different colours like a mood lamp.

The bedroom had a widescreen plasma TV with a full surround sound system, a new computer with internet access, a fridge, a queen size bed with not a mint but a condom on the pillow, a "classy" pornographic picture on the wall, and of course ... more sex lights!!! The most important thing was that it was clean.

I looked around for a bit, dumped my stuff off, and went searching for a pasta restaurant (pasta is a marathoners must have the night before a run). I found a TGI Fridays about 4 blocks from the Jamjalee that over looked the ocean. The $19.00 pasta was horrible but I ate every last noodle (it was the first time I've had pasta in Korea). After stuffing myself, and taken in the ocean view for a while I went back to my motel, I was exhausted from my busy day and went right to bed... It was only 8:30pm. I had to get a good rest, I really didn't feel 100% and the race was at 9:30Am the next morning.

I woke up at 7:00Am and I didn't feel 100%, my throat was a little sore, my stomach was a little unsettled and I felt as though I might be fighting some illness... or maybe it was just my nerves. I couldn't even take my customary pre-marathon shit!

After a long while on the giant Korean Shitter I gave up, gave my self a short reiki treatment, ate a breakfast of 5 bananas and 3 convenience store cakes , got in my marathon gear, and hailed a cab to the marathon site. The program said that I had to be there at least one hour before the start time so I left at 8:00AM.

When I got there it was a lot bigger then I expected. Many tents littered the grounds and there was a big stage at the far end. I didn't really know if I needed to get my racing chip activated or whether it was already active so I followed this random Korean Guy around for a while. He wandered around the team tents then around to some of the other tents. After stalking this poor Korean for about 25 minutes, I came to the conclusion that the chip is already activated.

CRAZY THING #3-

So I wandered around and noticed that there was a tent that was giving free massages. I thought I better take advantage of this because all the other massage parlors in Daegu look a little shady. As I approached I noticed that the tent beside it was giving free acupuncture treatments!!! Me being the curious guy I am, into all the crazy alternative health crap, thought ... what the hell give it a try. A Korean guy beside me said that it will balance my body before the run. I've never had acupuncture before so I was a bit nervous. I found a korean man working the tent that could speak a little English and sat down. He touched my hands and felt my pulse then asked me if I was experiencing problems with my stomach (yes), with my liver, and some of the glands in my throat (yes) then he stuck about 15-20 needles into my two hands and told me to leave them in for 15 minutes.

So I hung out around the tent waiting to get the needles pulled out with about 20 or so other Korean dudes, all geared up in their marathon gear- head bands, GPS systems, technical gear, tinny marathon shorts, and their hands elevated, looking like pin cushions, all the while there was thousands of Korean's in the distance being lead in a group aerobics-like stretch routine by a tinny woman with a shrieky Korean voice.... did anybody say "GONG SHOW"

CRAZY THING #4-

After getting the needles pulled out of my hand I could hear singing somewhere behind the acupuncture tent so I go and give it a look-see. Guess what I saw....
just when I thought it couldn't get any weirder...
the tent was full of about 30 people, they were kneeling and singing in Korean, and at the front of the tent was a priest in full church robes!!!
I'm not fricking shiting you!!!
He was in the middle of mass- he was blessing the bread and wine!!!

I haven't got to church in Korea so I though I better get in on this (Korean's sure know how to give themselves an winning edge!). I sat in on the last 10 minutes of the mass and even got the Eucharist!!! When the priest got to me he raised the bread and said in English, "Body of Christ"!!!

After the pre-marathon mass I saw everybody start to walk to the starting line so I followed. Everybody chanted something in Korea for about 20 seconds then the race started.

The course was beautiful. About half of the 21.1KM race took place on this big ass bridge that hung right over the ocean. You could feel the humid, salty ocean air coat your lungs and body as you ran. The scenery was breathtaking... the water was a clean green-blue and the sky was overcast. The sun only poked out for about 20 minutes (ideal running conditions sans the humidity).

I found out at the 16 KM point that I was only running at a 2 hour pace.... this was not good... I think I was enjoying the scenery a little too much so I picked up the pace for the last few KMs and finished the race at 1:55:57. My official time was text to my handphone (cellphone) about 2 hours later! It wasn't a great time for me but considering my soft training and the humidity, I feel it was a good time. A good sign that you ran a good race is that your legs frickin kill the next day... this happened to me!

Anyways, after the race I went back to the Jamjalee Motel and was greeted by the manager who said "check out now!". So I ran upstairs and jumped in the shower. In the shower, while lathering my sore body with soap it occurred to me that I didn't even really use any of the cool stuff in my room, I hadn't even turned on the widescreen TV or stared hopelessly at the wall porno!! That sucks... I need to use something to make it worth my while right? Right?

So in my glory, I turned all three "hanging on the wall, bathroom showerheads" towards me and in a display of complete ridiculousness I turned on the sex lights.

I stood in the shower, sore and in pain from the hot water burning the blisters on my feet and the chafe marks on my legs and under my arms, with three "hanging on the wall, bathroom showerheads" spraying me with water as the bathroom turned from red, to blue, to green!!!