the Bonghwang-dong

no, i'm not writing about dirty things... this post is about the area in gimhae known as bonghwang-dong (dong being akin to 'hood). this is a historically significant area that has recently been renovated to increase it's importance. basically gimhae has been home to people since the bronze age and this particular area housed the ruling class of the Geumgwan Gaya period. it is also the site of the first archeological excavation in korea (in 1920).

really it's a nifty little park now. i'd never visited it though it's been in the back of my mind since fall. i pass by it all the time and today i was walking by and decided to finally check it out.

a map of the whole area. i basically walked around the whole thing in about 30 minutes.

at the front entrance (bottom left of the map) there is a big field where kids play and families picnic. to the right of the field there's a little 'lake' (more of a dirty pond...) which is sort of neat because it has a traditional boat sitting in the middle. on the shore there are raised houses in the style that would have been here hundreds of years ago.

see the boat? and the house? there's a walkway that goes out over the water.

here's a better shot of the boat. (it's actually filled with water.)

i veered into the wooded area to walk around the whole area. when i got to the top i found the Hwangse Rock. i'm lucky the area was renovated in the last few years because that meant signs in korean, english, and japanese, so i could actually learn about the area.

the hwangse rock.

the rock is significant because the son of the prime minister of the Garak period hung out here with his girlfriend, before he knew she was a chick. they played the "urinating game" (whatever that is) here, of course, she couldn't pee standing up and had to trick him using a peice of bamboo. i know, it sounds really weird. here's what the actual sign says:

Hwangse was the prime minister Hwang’s son at the time when the King Gyeomji (Suk King), the ninth king of Garak, governed the country. The prime minister Hwang and Chul were friends and made the promise that if they had a son each, they would be sworn brothers and if they had a son and a daughter respectively, they would be married. The prime minister Chul told Hwang the lie that Yeoeui was a man when the Hwang’s family was ruined.
Hwangse and Yeoeui was brought up together. One day Hwangse suggested the urinating game to Yeoeui. Yeoeui evaded the crisis by using hemp stalk. This game happened at the place call the Hwangse Rock now.
Yeoeui became feminine as she was growing up. Hwangse doubted her sexual identity so he suggested her that they went to the Geobuknae for a bath. Yeoeui was at a loss for the suggestion and confessed the fact that she was a woman. Finally they made a promise to be married.
Afterward, Hwangse got married to the princess Yumin according to the order of the King in compensation for winning the war with Shilla. Yeoeui missed the general Hwangse and was dead. Hwangse also missed Yeoeui, became sick and died at the year when Yeoeui was dead. And the sad legend that the princess Yumin left home to the mountain Yumin and became a Buddhist nun has been handed down.

uh, ya, ok. sorry for making you read that... but it's kind of funny isn't it? (on a side note i wonder about the translations of historic sites in canada and if they sound as bad in other languages as the korean ones do in english...)

the bonghwang-dong is also home to the Yeoeuigak. a shrine to Yeoeui.

up the stairs to the shrine.

and a little further there is another area with raised houses and other traditional buildings.

raised houses and semi-underground buildings were typical in the Gaya period.

this was a neat little area. you can't get in any of the buildings, but they're neat to look at. i'm going to put up some more pictures on my flickr account if you're interested. that's pretty much the bonghwang-dong. it was a nice walk on a beautiful day with a little history lesson to boot!

it's happenin'

i'm going to japan next week for two days!!! i know it's only two days, but still, i'm going to JAPAN!!! when is the next time i'm ever going to be able to hop over for the weekend? probably never... so i might as well take advantage. i picked up my ferry tickets today - it's a three-hour ride from busan to fukuoka - and i also booked my hostel - Khaosan Fukuoka International Hostel... i know it won't have enough time to do all the things i would like to, but i'll try my best!

i also made my trip to immigration to fix up the re-entry on my visa and amazingly there were no problems. i was in and out. since i was in busan i figured i might as well check out the nampo-dong area (one subway station over) since i had never really been there before. it was a really cool area with lots of shopping and street vendors. it seems like an area where you can get anything...

from dried squid...

to kimbap and other street food...

to neck ties...

and don't forget the "feminism fashion" !!!

this was just a neat statue i happened upon.

i didn't even see all of the area, i just wandered around for an hour or so. there were clothing stores, camera stores, outdoor stores, shoe stores, anything you could possibly want. i passed by three different mcdonalds, two pizza huts, a kfc, and many other restaurants. i was hoping to find a subway, but i still don't know if there is one in busan or not... the two things i wanted were the two things i didn't find - a video game store and a subway restaurant. oh well... maybe i'll find them in japan!

my illness was compounded by the not-at-all-fresh air in the city. i bought a face mask and wore it on the trip home, but i felt like a moron... we'll see how it goes... i might wear it and i might not... it just feels weird to have it on. the illness isn't gettin any worse, but it's not really getting better yet either... so all i can do is hope for the best!

to the doctor we go again...

went to the doctors today since i've been feeling like crap for the past five days. my chest has been tight, my nose running like a race horse, and i was having trouble breathing. turns out that the asian dust has affected me more than thought... at least that's what the doc said. i have mild asthma and allergies to the air - that's why i feel like crap all the time.

so he prescribed me an inhaler and some pills (not sure what those are). i looked up the inhaler online before using it and it seems ok. the same thing i'd get if this were happening back home. so yay! ummm...ya. anyway, the good news is that i'll hopefully be feeling better soon... the bad news is that i really am allergic to korea... just like that very first doctor told me in september! i'll either have to limit the amount of time i spend outside or get one of those face masks like the locals... think i'll feel pretty stupid wearing one, but if it's going to help... then it might just be the only option. i am certainly not going to stop going outside! so, coming soon, pics of me "going native" - i promise!

off to immigration in the morning so keep those fingers crossed there are no problems!

not so cool school

you have to read the previous post "is it friday already" for this to have full impact... so go do that.

now, isn't school #2 so cool? i swear that thirty seconds after posting that my co-teacher from school #2 called. i shouldn't have answered. keep in mind it's 8PM here... turns out that the principal decided today that i should actually go to school and sit around and do nothing all day!!! WTF??!?!?! my co-teacher told him there is nothing for me to do, that the computer doesn't even work, and that i'd already been told not to come in, but NO, he insisted that i have to be there. so i told her that i'm taking a sick day - which is no lie, i am sick... and that i'm going to the doctor tomorrow... which i was planning on doing anyway... along with going to the bank etc...

i told her to make sure that i don't have to go in next week when everyone else in the entire school will be away on a field trip... since that's when i'm supposed to be going to japan. fuckers. i'm so pissed.

this is one of the biggest problems with foreign teachers in korean public schools - they don't understand that a little bit of leeway with the foreign teachers goes a long way. that we don't have the same work load as the koreans and spend half of our day sitting around doing nothing to begin with... so why not let us enjoy korea a little more and give us that time off? it wouldn't bother me so much if there weren't so much disparity in the system... like i said at winter vacation about people going to thailand for a month or more... and i was at school every day. anyway... i digress...

co-teacher just called back and said that it's ok for me to "take a rest" tomorrow. she also asked about next week and he said that if i wanted to go to school that i could, but if i didn't want to then i didn't have to. what does that mean? is it some kind of passive aggressive attempt to get me to go sit there all day? when she said goodbye, she told me to have a nice trip... i mean it's pretty obvious, isn't it? sit around with nothing to do? or go to japan? let me see... ...

is it friday already??!?

it sure feels like it! i don't have to go to work until monday!!! plenty of time for me to get over whatever new korean disease has taken over my body! i hope anyway...

why don't i have to work? is there a national holiday? perhaps a "ped" day as we used to call them in high school? nope. school #2 is just really awesome. tomorrow is the last day of mid-term exams and being the wonderful people they are, have told me that i don't need to bother coming in since there is nothing for me to do. if only school #1 would do the same... i have three days of sitting around next week during their mid-terms. if both schools were cool, then i'd have eleven days off!!! i could have gone somewhere really cool with that much time... but alas, my school ain't cool... (ok, sorry so cheesy...)

anyway, that accounts for thursday, what about friday? saturday is school #2's "birthday" - yes, schools have birthdays too! (ok, maybe only in korea, but with the way they count birthdays here, i'm not surprised.) since the big day falls on a saturday this year, they've given everyone friday off! yay! so i have a four day weekend ahead of me... what to do? what to do? not much.

i've got a bunch of daytime errands that i need to take care of - bank, immigration, shopping... you know, important stuff! (ha..) well, immigration is important. i need to get my visa 'fixed' so i can go to japan next week. when i got my visa, they issued me a single entry, which means i'm only allowed to use it to get in the country ONE time.... ergo, if i leave the country i will have to re-enter on a tourist visa and it will be illegal for me to work.

so i have to go and pay them another 50$ to make my visa a multiple entry. like i didn't pay them enough in the first place. i would have to do it for thailand in august anyway, so i might as well get it over with now... i'm just praying there aren't any problems like the last time i went to immigration... and i won't have a korean with me this time either. here's hoping i can wrangle my way through the korean immigration system for a second time! keep your fingers crossed for me!

Popping Penguins

YAY! got to school this morning and was informed that my popcorn machine FINALLY arrived. my co-teacher had actually called to cancel the order because it was taking so long... and i was certain i'd never get it! but it came!!!! YAY!!! it's the cutest thing ever... and in true korean style it's shaped like a penguin!!! (of all things!)

in all it's penguin glory

first pops!

it's fast and efficient!

anyone who knows me knows how much i LOVE popcorn... i can't live without it. i've been eating the microwave kind for years, but they don't have any light or fat free here in korea... i've gotten so used to light and butter free that i can't really stand the stuff anymore, so this is the perfect solution! i can put whatever i like on it! (usually kernels flavour powder, but i'm all out and waiting for more to arrive from canada... hint... hint... ;~) anyway, just so happy... at least one good thing happened today.

another day, another school

started my "after school" class today at a new school - we'll call it school #3. there are some problems with the contract that need to be sorted out, so i haven't signed one yet... maybe i shouldn't have taught the class... but whatever...

i don't like the class room they've got me in. it's cold and there is this HUGE desk that i have to stand in front of. i don't like being 'seperated' from the kids desks... it's like having a giant barrier between us... anyway, they're little monsters just like every other school/class that i teach.

it took twenty minutes to take attendance! the co-ordinator of the program worked really hard to write all their names in english letters for me to read, but it would have been easier in korean. the pronunciation was all off and half the kids didn't know when i was saying their name because i was saying it wrong. i asked them for the class list in korean for next time. i'll be helping them choose english nicknames anyway, so it won't really matter, but it'll be good to know their korean names too.

i'm sure they were just all really tired from a long day at school and that is why they were little hellions! but the class didn't go well at all. i'm in there by myself with 30 kids that don't really speak or understand english... so it's going to be a challenging semester.

i asked them to think about why they want to learn english and be prepared to tell me next week. i don't know how many of them understood and/or will actually do it... but even if a few of them do it'll be a step forward.

so, that's it for today... my cold didn't make the longer day any easier and i didn't get to they gym either (boo-urns) i'm just too knackered... i'm going to bed early tonight!

i am losing my face!

for the last month and a half i have been working on losing weight. this is a lifestyle change more than a diet, and it's working. i have lost just over twelve pounds - which is a healthy rate. but more than losing that i have apparently "lost my face" - this according to a bunch of various koreans.

the first time i heard this was back when i first arrived in korea. i wasn't well. i wasn't eating and i guess i was probably a little depressed, so i lost a couple of pounds. one day i walked into school and one of the teachers who sat across from me said, "you have lost your face." i didn't get it at first and she had to try and explain that it looked like i had lost some weight. that was an interesting conversation! i didn't quite believe her, but then my pants were too loose. i started to gain back what i had lost (unhealthily ?is that a word?) so decided to give getting healthy and thin a real shot... so now that i've been at it for six weeks, it's nice to hear that i've lost my face, since that's what i'm going for!

anyway, just thought i'd share that with you all, since i find it a hilarious saying. i've heard this from about five or six different koreans, so it must be a direct translation of some korean saying... lost your face... ha! not to mention the correlation with "losing" or "saving" face that is such a big deal here... they do everything they can to save face and i'm losing mine!

**
on another note, i have another freaking cold! what is up with this country and the germs??? i'm sure it's all the contact with kids... who knows how often they wash their hands? at least i have a light week this week... only three days at school #1... school #2 has exams and then the school birthday - both of which i have been told that i need not attend! thank you! and it'll be the same the week after... only three days! i'm going to Japan for the weekend!

picture posting insanity...

and another walk...

as promised... since the weather was beautiful today i took pics on my lunchtime walk. i won't narrate like i did the other day but rather just let you imagine. the walk today took me about an hour - so i'm only posting a tenth of the pics that i took - 110 in all... enjoy!

the front entrance of school #2.
the wall blocking in the school and the pedestrian path next to it.
the "big" street i have to cross on my walk... i go up the little alley across the street.
another pedestrian street. the funny looking wall is a "kindergarten" or as we call it, daycare.
a pretty park.
a typical korean house. (though most koreans live in apartments... and this house is probably divided.)
a funky front gate.
one of the roads i walk down. the mountain is to the left.
a neighbourhood garden... i'm sure in a month this will be full of veggies!
koreans LOVE recycling and will go through the garbage to pick stuff out... i was surprised when this man looked at me and thought he might get angry that i was taking his picture, but he didn't.
the depanneur!
what's wrong with this picture?

couldn't resist. these kids must have done something really bad to have to spend the entire lunch hour standing with their arms in the air! the girl on the floor is writing lines... god i HATED doing that in high school!!!!

well, there's another little glimpse into my life here... i'm off to facebook now!

yup, i joined...

i feel like the newby in a cult. i finally joined facebook. all these people have been going on about it for ages... i kept saying there was no way i was going to join yet another personal profile messenger type thing... they eat up your time and you end up not having a life... but the last straw was today... and so, i'm out there - again - in cyberspace. i never use my "myspace" and figured that maybe the same would end up happening with facebook, but it's a much better program.

i'm really liking it so far and have found lots of old friends that i haven't talked to in years. i'm even part of a group for my elementary school!!! anyway, i'm working on getting lots of photos up there... i love that i can upload directly from my iPhoto program... awesome! and it's so much faster than so many album sites out there... now i just need to get everyone i know to join! argh! see? i've been sucked in!!! and you! yes, you. you know who you are... it's all your fault!

***
in other news, this blog has seen over 4000 visitors since late november 2006! yay! and the country list continues to grow...

my hand is healing VERY well... for those of you concerned... thank you for all the well-wishes.

guess that's it for updates... nothing terribly interesting happened today. a bunch of kids got caught smoking on the roof of the school... but that's pretty normal... hopefully i'll have something interesting for you soon... as promised, and weather permitting, we can take another walk together tomorrow! ciao!

let's take a walk

so i've told you before that i've started going for a walk on my lunch break. today i (finally) remembered my camera so we can take a walk together!

this is the wall below the playground when you leave my school. the kids aren't allowed to leave school grounds, but when a ball goes over the fence one of them has to run down here. there are always trucks parked here - i assume their drivers are eating lunch at one of the restaurants across the street. we turn left at the end of the wall.
these are the bottom steps of the climb up to gimhae college. you'll get a better view of that soon.
this is the school (fourth floor) from up the steps. i caught a kid climbing on the fence here last week... looked like he was going to jump the four storeys down to the field. but i made him go back to school...
when we get to the top we turn right towards the college. it amazes me that they have any students! with a hike up like this... the nearest bus stop is still an eight minute walk from school... all uphill... where the two roads join, if you look to the right:
there is this really nifty area with rocks. there's a river down there, i can't wait to see it in the rainy season! right now there isn't much more than a trickle. these formations are all over the place. i guess to keep the water in check and not flood everyone's houses... even though basements don't exist here.
a little further up above the rocks, we have some pretty trees. the leaves are still all growing, this place will be gorgeous in a week or two.nah, don't go up there, it's just another building... keep going to the right and we can see some nature!
walk down this path for a bit, but don't go too far... it's a dead end. but there are some pretty flowers. and though you can still hear the screaming kids (even this far away...voices carry in a valley...) it's rather peaceful. at the end of the path, turn back and we'll come upon another of those rocky areas...
kind of pretty isn't it? the water is really dirty... and i sometimes wonder if isn't sewage... at least it doesn't smell bad.
this is the lower part of the rocky area - across the water... you can walk across a strip of cement and climb up the rocks. keep going and turn back onto the road.
just before we hit the first rocky area, we turn left down this path. looks like a path to nowhere again, doesn't it?
well, it isn't. it leads to some stone steps that take us down here. walk along the path to the end and turn right.
then it's down the stairs (hard on the knees - they're pretty steep) and back to school!
and when we get there we have our regular welcoming party "teacher! teacher! hello!!" these girls meet me everyday and we chat for a bit.
they always cover their faces... it's supposed to be so that their faces look smaller... ya... ok... anyway, they're sweet if a bit loud... they try.

hope you liked the walk. it takes me about twenty minutes... probably just about how long it took you! see you next time! on thursday i'll post the walk i take at school two... there's less nature, but a very interesting neighbourhood.

thieves

somebody STOLE my umbrella at school today. f*!%ing kids!!!! i mean, WTF? it was in my 'shoe box' which means that someone opened the door (which has my name on it) and took it out. i didn't leave it lying around, it was IN my shoe box... what's next? my shoes? no one at school seemed to think it was a very big deal. but i do. i just bought it. not to mention that this means there are thiefs at our school... you'd think someone would be at least slightly concerned about that. but, no! it's just the waegooks umbrella. i bet if a korean teacher had something stolen they'd be searching every kids house. argh. just pisses me off.

i have been offered the opportunity to teach extra classes at another middle school for ten weeks. it'll be two classes on monday afternoon from 3:30 to 5:15. they're going to pay me very well for it, so that makes me happy. though it will be a lot of work - four days with five classes!!! and i'm already complaining about having three! but it's only ten weeks and the money is too good to say no. i can teach them whatever i like and apparently they're pretty good. grade three... but i'll deal. they want to take the classes, so maybe they'll actually be really good... anyway, starts next monday, will let you all know!

signing off. happy monday!

goodbyes in ulsan

went to ulsan yesterday to visit with kat and say goodbye to chris. he's leaving korea on thursday to begin a new adventure with the peace corps. i met chris in september while i was visiting kat. we were at the local WA bar having a beer. i felt a presence next to me, looked up and there was chris. he looked like a deer caught in the headlights - we were the first foreigners he'd seen in two weeks! i knew that feeling... so i asked him if he'd like to sit down... the rest as they say...

the night we met chris... so happy to see other waegooks!!!

so, last night was the big "leaving party" in hogye, ulsan. i took the bus there in the afternoon - standing room only, so i sat for a lot of the trip on the front step of the bus!

me on the floor of the bus.

the crazy part is that one of the teachers from school 2 was sitting in the front seat! so i had someone to talk to for the hour and a half long journey. when we got to ulsan, he drove me to kats house too, so i didn't have to take the bus for another 45 minutes! sweet!

the party was being hosted by an irish guy named dara. he lives in a three room house! it was really cool. sorry no pics of the house, it was night and i didn't get any good shots. to make things interesting he bought ten brightly coloured balls that we were all playing with all night. it was kind of weird at first but turned out to be really fun just kicking them around the living room.

chris and dara

me with a ball

chris and rachel

me and chris

overall it was a great night. i met a lot of new people and had the chance to see my buddy chris one last time. he's off to mongolia for two years, so who knows when i'll see him again! anyway, adieu chris, you may be gone, but you certainly won't be forgotten!

rain, rain, go away...

when i woke this morning i knew it was stormy. the sunlight usually streams in and wakes me up - sometimes a full hour before i have get up... grr.. but today i only woke up four minutes before my alarm, which is set for the latest possible time that i can get up without being late for work.

before leaving i looked out the window. sure enough, it was overcast, but it wasn't really raining. i grabbed my umbrella and headed out. i started thinking how great it was that i have these fancy hiking shoes made with gortex *guaranteed to keep you dry - or so they say. i figured this was the best way to see if it's true... a fifteen minute power walk in the rain. as i was walking the rain started getting heavier until finally there were just massive drops of it. i couldn't believe the size, i've never seen anything like it before. is this a glimpse of what is to come in the "rainy season"?

anyway, there was thunder and lightning and the whole deal along with the fat raindrops... but with my awesome shoes and umbrella i managed to stay relatively dry. the only part of me soaked when i got to school were the bottom half of my jeans. fun. my feet were toasty and dry though... so i guess gortex works!

the clouds cleared away by lunchtime (yay!!!) and i was able to go for my daily walk, which was great... but again, i'm kicking myself for the camera... figured it would rain all day so i didn't bring it again :( oh well... i promise some pictures soon!

just a matter of time...

today was a pretty good day. it was sunny on my walk to work, and i remembered why i always tell myself to bring my camera everywhere and then promptly kicked myself for leaving it at home!!! oh well.

third period was the national english listening test for the grade two's. so i was free... but i wasn't really. i teach five classes a day at school 3, my co-teacher agreed that it's a lot and we came up with a solution. (sorry if i've written about this before) one period in the day i have "off". what this means is that i visit a class that i don't normally teach, just to say hi and meet them. this is great for me because it's only about 20 minutes - and then i'm free - it's also great for the kids, because they all feel cheated that i'm not their teacher. i feel like a rock star again! (when i first arrived i was bombarded with "i love you" fifty thousand times a day, a round of applause and cheers every time i entered a class, and kids who were just crazy (like in the beatles videos) to meet me. it feels good.

anyway, today third period i got to go to a grade three girls class where i actually knew one of the students from my winter camp. it was really nice... we just chatted and i told them the "i'm fine thank you and you story" (might get around to posting it if i remember. it was nice. then i had over two hours to kill before my next class. so i went to the doctors down the street and had my stitches removed - i know it's a bit early, but it's healing really well and they were really starting to bother me... it went well, even the one that was embedded in my skin... it only bled a little.

at lunch i went for a 30 minute power walk and discovered that i can be on the mountain in just a few minutes... that's tomorrow or next week... see? bring your camera everywhere!!! anyway, i'll take some pics of my typical lunch time walk soon and post them for you. the afternoon went smoothly and i got to leave half an hour early! went to the gym to discover i have lost another three pounds!!! for a total of 11.3 lbs... YAY ME!

so, i guess it's been a good day... things are looking up after weeks of 'badness' the sun is shining again... i knew it was only a matter of time... this weekend is chris's going home party in ulsan, so i'll have some pics of that next week... sad to see him go... but change is just a part of life.

the trip you don't want to make...

one of my stitches has been consumed by my skin... that might be a problem when they take it out. stupid doctor.

i guess i still haven't actually written about the hospital... according to one of my students korean hospitals are either "really good" or "really bad". i guess i ended up in one of the latter. oh well, lesson learned, right? but really, when it's a emergency do you have choice?

the hospital was kind of dark inside when we got there. it wasn't even 7 PM so i'm not sure why it was so dark... the lights may have been turned off or simply insufficient, i'm not sure. i walked up to the counter and there was a young man. he didn't speak any english, so it's a good thing i had the korean man with me... even though he didn't speak english either. at least they could communicate together and the korean man knew what was wrong with me, so he explained. they wanted my passport, which i didn't think to bring, but he was relieved when i handed him my health card. (which isn't really a card, but a peice of paper).

they brought me around a corner, down a short hallway, and through some doors into the "emergency" area. a couple of nurses were standing behind a counter. i showed them my hand and made a stabbing gesture. one of them came from behind the counter and pulled me toward a gurny. "sit down" at least there was some english. the gurny was covered in that brown fake leather that so many couches are upholstered with. no sheet. no giant roll of paper. nothing. just the brown fake leather that has probably seen thousands of other patients. ew.

i sat holding my hand and looking at the floor. it had spots and splotches of dried blood all over the area that i was in. ew. i couldn't beleive it. but i knew at that moment that i wasn't "in kansas" anymore... and that i had to watch carefully to make sure the proper hygenic precautions would be taken with me. the nurse came over and took my blood pressure, making sure to ask me "mensa?" what has my period got to do with anything? but she wanted to know when i had last had it. i told her.

a couple of minutes later a man came over to me, i'm not sure if he was a doctor, nurse or orderly, but he grabbed my hand, opened the wound (which by this point had stopped bleeding) and walked away. a nurse came over and started putting all kinds of things on various trays. she looked at me and told me to lie down. i started to, but she pointed at my feet and said "shoes". (what IS it with the shoes???) so i took them off and laid back but still watched her to make sure the utensils, needles, etc... were coming out of sterile packs. they were. thank god!

a few minutes later another man - the doctor i assume since he stitched me up - came over. he didn't even look at me, let alone say anything to me. he grabbed my hand. i looked away. the next thing i knew i was experiencing more pain than i had when i stabbed myself. he was anesthetizing my hand to give me the stitches, but it felt (again, i wasn't looking - not good with stuff like that) like he had jabbed the needle straight into the wound. it must have sounded like every emergency room horror story, because i was screaming like freddy kruger was after me. i've heard people scream in situations like that, but never imagined i'd be one of them. it hurt. a lot. anyway, finally, or thankfully, my hand went numb, and he started stitching me up. he didn't ask first if it was frozen, just started stitching. i guess he didn't care either way, or maybe he knew.

i could feel the stitches going in because they were pulling on my hand. it kept moving involuntarily and the doctor was getting visibly aggravated by it, but still said nothing. a few minutes later it was over and he just walked away, never speaking a single word, or looking me in the face. way to make a foreigner feel better in a bad situation. the nurse told me to make sure and not get it wet for TWO weeks. "what?" i said. i didn't beleive her and i know it's total crap, but i made sure there wasn't a communication problem and counted out fourteen days on my fingers. she nodded. what a load of bull. then i was alone on the fake leather gurney.

no one told me to stay or what to do, so i got up to look for the korean who drove me. i couldn't find him. i didn't know what to do. was i supposed to pay? there was a sign that said "cashier" but no one had given me a bill. i wandered around the reception for a bit wondering what i should do. the nurse came up to me and gave me some papers, one of which was the bill, the other a prescription for i-didn't-know-what. (painkillers) i paid the bill without hassle, and looked around again for the korean who drove me. i didn't think it was possible that he would just leave without me, but his car was gone.

i walked out the back door and into the pharmacy across the street. the korean man found me there... he hadn't left after all. i filled the prescription, picked up some gauze, and then the korena man drove me home. i finally ate my dinner - it was half cooked when everything started - and the rest as they say...

the thing that bothered me the most was not the blood on the floor, or the pain of the needle, but that the doctor didn't even look at me. fine, if you don't speak english, but everyone (in my experience) can at least say hello. every other doctor i've seen since in korea has had some grasp of english... you'd think that a person in medicine would have picked up a little somewhere... so i can't imagine that he didn't look at me because he was shy of his english, so then what was it? bad bedside manner? a hate-on for foreigners? i don't know... either way, it made the experience a lot worse than it had to be... now i have the fun task of finding a way to get the bloody things out of me! and with one of them grown over, that is sure to be another exciting tale.

wise words

i don't ever do this, but i'm posting a forward that i got from a friend. i really liked it and rather than send it on, i'm posting it here...
**
An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water.

At the end of the long walks from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do.

After two years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house." The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side?"

"That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them."

"For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. You've just got to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them.

SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on you side of the path!
**
i know it's kind of cheesy... but it's also pretty good advice...

Easter Sunday at a Buddhist Temple

well, darn it if i didn't go to church this easter! they may not have been celebrating easter but it was holy ground nonetheless! i was supposed to hike up the mountain with kiwi Dave (these are the dave's i know, i know, these are the dave's i know ;) ...) but i just wasn't up to the task. we were already up there when i realized i wouldn't make it to the top, so we went to Dongrim Temple instead. there are actually three or four temples on Sineo Mountain (the one next to my house that i'm always going up). i went to dongrim once before but my batteries died when i got there so i didn't actually look around, but i had the opportunity to get a good look yesterday.

125 steps to the landing, another thirty or so after that... gotta work to get to the temple!

me and the giant bell. they have these at all temples.

detail at the top of the bell. isn't the painting gorgeous?

the giant Buddha at dongrimsa. (sa is korean for temple)

part of a chandelier that i found in the back of the main building at dongrim - i guess they got new ones!

one of many "little" buddha's. (well, they were about my height...)

at dongrim we could hear chanting coming from the forest so we followed the sound. what we came upon was a sort of rest area with parking and a map of the mountain. there was a guy offering help and suggested we go to the next temple up - Eunhasa - which is where i thought we had just been... so we headed further up the mountain. there were tons of koreans out in their hiking garb - which is hilarious because half of them just drive up then walk a half a kilometer on the road... this is hiking in korea!!!

anyway it only took about five minutes to get to Eunhasa. i found out that it's one of, if not the, oldest temple in the area, hailing from the time of king suro. the chanting that we heard was coming from there. they had loud speakers set in the trees broadcasting the ceremony that was going on indoors. we didn't go in as we were unsure of the procedure or etiquette of it all, but the chanting was quite beautiful.

the steps up to eunhasa.

offerings left at the temple.

the bell (in the background) at eunhasa.

some of the "hiking" koreans at eunhasa - they were posing for their friends, so i took advantage...

i took 130 photos yesterday... i could've taken more, but dave was giving me funny looks the whole time! (thanks dave!) he doesn't even OWN a camera!!! some people just don't understand... see the name of my blog? anyway... it was a nice day - a three hour hike/walk in the mountain and seeing another bit of korea... i only have four and half months to get it all in.

stay tuned for the story of my trip to the hospital last week for stitches... like i said, not a trip that anyone wants to make. the hand, btw, is healing nicely, i think it is anyway... i can type a lot easier now... but it still looks a little gross. wanna see? WARNING: the following pictures might be kind of gross for some of you! (but i know you'll look anyway!)
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the day after it happened.

today - the swelling has gone down considerably.

ciao!