Back on the Horse

I do apologize to those who read my blog on a semi-regular basis. I have fallen off the course because I fell into a deep rut that I could not really pull myself out of. I had some great weekends that I thought would help me find myself back. As great as those weekends were for me there was something wrong, it may have been a relapse of homesickness. Spending so much time with my family and friends effected me more then I had realized. The thing that really brought me out of my rut was unexpected. On Tuesdays I spend some teaching time on an island about an hour boat ride away. The trip there didn't seem too fruitful, it had some really rough waves. I feared that I would have to spend the night at the island again. I taught through the day. I heard some rumors that the boats were no longer sailing because of the weather. I asked my one of the teachers and they confirmed that there will be no boat back until the next day. I was instantly flustered. Then as I walked down the hall to get some air, one of the teachers runs after me and tells me that the boats are running again. I was pleased to hear the news. I finish out the day until about 3pm ish. I start leaving and saying goodbye to everyone. Then one of the teachers pops her head out and says in Korean, from what I could tell, "the boat isn't going anymore." I see my supervisor call the dock and looks at me and says that I have to spend the night. I was instantly angered. There was nothing I could do so I followed as asked. I stuck around playing on the internet and what not. I ate dinner with some of the other teachers and then went back to playing on the internet. I finished up playing about 11pm ish at night. I was walking back to the place I was sleeping and I see the teachers outside smoking. They pull me over and try very much so to communicate to me in English. They spent about 10 minutes try to ask me if I wanted to join them for a beer. Seeing that I had nothing else planned that night, I said yes. These men had very basic English skills, but through out the night they made jokes in English and tried to make conversation with me in English. This was a very heartwarming gesture. I tried to talk to hem in my very limited Korean, to help. We spent about an hour talking about the same things and laughing at the idea that we can't really talk to each other. That was what really brought me out of my funk. The being said I have much much to catch you up on.

Back in Korea
So I was officially back in Korea August 15th and I had to make my way back to my area. My flight had landed late in the afternoon and it would not be possible for me to actually get back into my town. I decided to make my way to Jeonju and spend the night at Stan's place again. I arrived into town about 12am ish because of travel time and what not. What I had feared the most was that I would have severe Jet-lag. The past 2 weeks at home I had a fight with jet-lag that lasted for about a week. I thought that would be the case once I got back in Korea, it wasn't. Once I was able to settle down at Stan's place, I was able to sleep like a baby. I also had learned that I would have an extra 2 days off from vacation. So I had a nice 4 day weekend.

Sunday I was able to get home pretty fast. I settled down and unpacked everything that I had brought with me to Korea. After a short unpacking party by myself, I headed down to the beach to relax. One of the hashers informed me that he will be stopping into my town on Tuesday and leaving Wenesday morning. So I had that to look forward too. I basically spent all of Monday preparing for their arrival and sleeping on the beach. Tuesday rolls around and they give me a call. I spend the day with them eating food and showing them my town. They were all really down to earth people. They really loved the town and what it had to offer. I was just glad to have company to talk too.

Wednesday rolls around and I had classes to teach on an island. I found out that I would have to travel to the island 3 days in a row via boat. I didn't mind because I did not want to spend the night on the island itself. Every time I spend the night there I appreciate my little town even more. The same thing happens on Thursday. Normal classes and what not but I have news that I may have Friday off because the school may close for some reason. Then later that day I find out that I do have work on Friday. Luckily the weather was getting bad and they preemptively closed school. So I was looking forward to a 3 day weekend. As things worked out my friend Stan had planned to come visit me at my place over the weekend. So he comes to my town around Saturday afternoon and we go off exploring the area and what not. I introduce him to the local foods and specialties.

Saturday rolls around. He and I had grown tired of just sitting on the beach. I told him that there was a local water wall that I wanted to visit. I had wanted to see it for a long time but never had the opportunity or the company to come with me. So we take a taxi to the base of where the waterfall is located. We get dropped off and start walking. We find a small temple with amazing art work in it.


So we continue hiking and run into a melody of great scenic quality. Here are a few just to drive the point.





So that is what we encountered on the way to the falls. I was excited to see the falls itself. I would always see pictures of the falls everywhere. It looked big and gushing and what not. We hiked to the falls about an hour from the base. We get up to where we need to see it and yeah.



That is what I got. I am not saying it wasn't beautiful. I enjoyed the sight of it and what not. I was just disappointed when I got there. Stan was amazed by it. So much that he jumped into the water and started swimming in it. After a while in the falls, we look at the map. We see that there is another temple in the area about 6 km away. I thought, OK the trail is probably the same as the rest of it. I thought it would be flat land straight to it. Again I was wrong, we had to travel up and down the local mountain to arrive at the temple. This was no easy task for me especially because I have a crippling fear of heights. So Stan had to help me through some of the rougher parts. Basically through it all, this was the best part.



That was taken at the top of the mountain. The greater the obstacle the greater the reward. We finish the mountain and the temple that was connected to the mountain. We looked around took more pictures and left. Another one of my friends had decided to come down to hang out with us. So by the time we grabbed a taxi and headed back to my town she was there. We all spent the rest of the day on the beach.

Monday rolls around. Stan and I decide to head out to a open air sculpture area in my town. We check it out and the it was pretty cool. Some of the statues were interesting and complex. It took the artist much skill and time to make all of those sculptures.


Just an example of some of the sculptures.


Well, that was a lot to talk about. There are a couple of weekends that I need to talk about. I will take a break for now.


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The End




It's not the journey it's about the road that you take.


-Cezar-

Back on the Horse