The Hunt Is Over

In my seemingly endless search for a pair of trail running shoes to replace the oh-so trusty, durable & mind bogglingly lightweight New Balance MR790Z3's I've finally been fortunate enough to pick up an equally light yet sturdy pair of kicks. After wearing the MR790's on numerous adventures spanning multiple continents, they have finally worked themselves into a less formidable role as simple 'around town' shoes (I think they had a hand in my issues as they don't seem to offer much in the way of necessary support for the knees). Having spent a couple weeks scouring Gumi's finest retail outlets only to be disappointed by either lack of selection, style or appropriate size, I rolled the dice & made a quick Sunday trip to Daegu in search of some replacements.

After mildly 'mastering' the Gumi bus routes after valiantly huffing it to the train station on foot a couple weeks ago, I was able to figure out the train schedules & get a ticket on the 6:10 south to Daegu. It's definitely nice to be able to spend 7,200 Won (just over $5) in transportation cost b/w the bus & train - certainly a big fan of low cost, quality public transportation!

Anyway, I knew my time was fairly limited, seeing as I needed to catch a train back in order to snag a bus from the train station before the stopped running for the night. Otherwise I'd be huffing it back to my neighborhood at midnight. Fortunately, I was able to gather a little intel before I headed out & discovered there were a multitude of shops & shoes stores right outside the Daegu train station (much like in Gumi), which meant it should be a quick 'in & out' trip.  Especially considering there was a HUGE department store literally in the train station & they had tons of great options but they closed at 8.30 so I'd be pushing it to check out all the other stores & get back before they closed if I couldn't find what I was looking for.

Inevitably it seemed, however,  my efforts may be again fruitless as I was striking out w/proper sizes, styles, etc. Then I moseyed into the New Balance store & nearly struck gold! They had a couple pairs I'd been eyeing and the price was much better than I'd seen anywhere else over here. Although I liked the NB shoes, I was really in search of the adidas Kanadia 3TR's - a great shoe, very lightweight & versatile but seemed to offer more support which would go a long way in helping the old knees feel young again on the various upcoming hikes I've got penciled in for the coming months. 

adidas Kanadia 3TR

I opted to keep searching for the Kanadia's as I'd found a pair in Gumi that were perfect except the size - no matter what country I'm in, if all you have is a 7, we're definitely not doing business! The frustration mounted as I was able to find plenty of the Kanadia's but they were mostly all the same style/color, which weren't what I needed. The ones I was looking for were extremely breathable - the material offered great airflow throughout the shoe - & would dry quickly but all anybody had was the crappy leather version. They weren't terrible but I knew they'd never work for what I was planning on.

Nearly three hours had passed & I was still empty handed. I had, however, met a few extraordinarily helpful Koreans who enjoyed the challenge of assisting 'the American.' As it seemed all might be lost on this excursion, I decided to wander back to the NB store for one last look & try on a couple of the pairs I'd seen. It was ridiculously busy earlier & I couldn't even manage to get my hands on the shoes to test the weight, let alone get any help on sizes/colors or trying a pair on.  Upon my return, the crowd had dissipated tremendously, allowing me to get some help, try on a few pairs & ponder the options.

I weighed the options b/w a couple of great, higher end trail running shoes, sat back, relaxing as I figured I'd finally found a quality replacement, even though I was bummed about striking out on the Kandias. I was still pretty excited about getting a good pair after being so close in Gumi, just the wrong size. As I was churning the details of the decision in my head, I caught myself checking out some of the other shoes on the display wall & found a terribly gaughty pair of hiking boots done only the way New Balance can do them, especially here in Korea. The guy who was helping me noticed me eye-balling the kicks & asked if I wanted to try them on....oh, sure, why not!

To my surprise, they were unbelievably comfortable, extremely light weight & offered plenty of support w/out being to restrictive in terms of necessary mobility. I took a while to tread around the store w/the boots on & w/each step, I felt more & more confident these ridiculous looking things might just be the perfect replacement. I had two options for color, though & neither one really excited me all that much.

The first was a do-do brown looking thing that probably would be alright but I've never been a big fan of turdy looking earth-tones, especially not when it comes to footwear & these definitely fell into that category. Something just didn't jive w/the color scheme but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. The second option was almost worse than the first but on a completely opposite end of the spectrum....brutally obnoxious yet delightfully vibrant blaze orange.

I had a serious decision to make, as of this point I'd gone all in on the boots over the shoes & it came down to choosing the lesser of two less than appealing colors.  The employees were giving the clerk who was helping me a healthy dose of ribbing as he attempted to make a truly concerted effort in communicating, best he could, in broken Korenglish (needless to say, my attempts weren't any better).

I pretty much got the gist of what he was saying & apparently he was picking up a little bit of what I was laying down because I had come to a decision & he was in agreement that it was a good one. To show his gratitude for my patronage & witty banter, he threw in a pair of NB socks as a gesture of appreciation, I think - or he really felt like I needed some new socks. Either way, the decision was made, the transaction was completed & the boots were feeling more & more perfect.

New Balance MO625HOB

I had the opportunity to wear them out when I went to Geumosan last weekend & they performed better than expected. They were definitely light weight & sturdy. Overall, I had no issues w/my knee whatsoever, which was a welcome relief and they were comfortable & breathed well all day.

I had done a little research after the purchase & apparently this striking shoe is only available (at least for the time being) in Korea. NB offers similar styles back in the states but I wasn't able to find this model....might have to pick up another pair before I head back stateside or if anyone absolutely wants a pair for themselves, let me know, I'll gladly grab some more.

With a triumphant feeling bubbling inside me & a definitive glow of confidence & conquest showing on my face, I opted to celebrate this festive little occasion the best way I knew how....I dove face first into a delightfully scrumptious Whopper w/Cheese! I even opted to wash it down w/a good old Coca-Cola (I rarely eat fast food & it takes a very special occurrence for me to suck down a soda - needless to say, I was geek-ed out on sugar & tossed & turned till about 4am).

If this great find weren't enough, upon getting my return ticket at the train station, I stumbled upon an American serviceman, who'd been stationed at Waegwon (about half way b/w Gumi & Daegu) since October. He was just kicking it outside the ladies room w/a couple cold ones waiting for his fiance to finish her business. I asked about the North Korea threat & he said that's pretty much all they do is drill & practice for the worst case scenario. Part of their training is ensuring the safety of the numerous American civilians scattered throughout the country....nice to know we're a top priority if things do get hairy over here.

Anyway, he mentioned he was from Illinois & she lived in South Carolina, somewhere in the Western part of the state, near the Georgia border. Winds up they were headed to the US Embassy to get married the next day, how cool is that!

I'm not sure if it was a sugar rush, the giddiness of the new kicks or simply an opportunity to speak real English to a true blue American (most everyone I've met are either Canadian, British or South African) but it might possibly have been the most exciting 15 minutes of the entire weekend!

She had come over to visit him for 10 days & was heading home in a couple days. They wound up being a cordially polite couple but I'm sure I acted like a lovestruck schoolgirl the whole time.  And because of this simple conversation I realized how deprived I've been not interacting w/people I have something in common with - in this case, simply speaking English.

Interesting the things we take for granted, huh?  Be well, people!

Monkey Teacher

Small portion of a larger article on some of the things to expect when teaching in an Asian country:

Many Asian children find red and blonde hair and hairy arms and legs to be fascinating and can’t resist tugging on it or rubbing their hands on it....

I suppose it dawned on me but I never really grasped the inevitability of this until recently & it's quite ironic since the weather has warmed up, I've been able to shed some of the many layers I was donning on any given day in the classroom as a means of keeping my core temperature at a respectable level yet with this new found freedom, another, more interesting development has taken place - arm hair has become exposed in a slight capacity and this has turned into quite the fascination amongst the kids.

Now, I've always been a fan of having some scruff on the face as I just don't really like the clean shaven look & the ordeal of having to use a razor EVERY DAY is terrible (oh, how my life is such a struggle). The slight stubble has been a thing of curiosity amongst the kids & they'll occasionally sneak a rub of my face to really get a feel for the wonder of facial hair.  The fact that I also eat a few bananas every day, has helped to supplant in their little minds I most certainly must be sprung from some primal line of evolution but haven't fully shed the monkey side of things. Thus, the little ones have begun to call me monkey teacher.


As Spring has attempted to peek it's head around the corner, the temps were in the high 60's a couple weeks ago & I opted to remove my fleece to reveal a short sleeved polo but what really got the kids in a tizzy was the hair on my arms. They were absolutely enthralled w/it & would do anything in their power to find an excuse to stand near me & cop a feel. I decided to give the kids at the Sangmo school the opportunity the next day & the results remained the same....sheer infatuation!

At various points, at both schools, I had kids knowingly holding my arm/hand, rubbing the hair & attempting to twist it in their fingers or caressing my arm like a precious little puppy. The whole time, I'm thinking to myself....is today the day I'm fired? I mean, something like this in FL & I'm all over the news, tapped as some sort of creepy pedophile but Korea is certainly a different beast.  It's probably not a terrible thing but I suppose it could be deemed inappropriate; either way it's pretty funny how excited these kids get over something completely different than they're used to seeing! They've also taken a liking to my brownish blond hair, especially since it continues to get longer (last haircut was the day before I left Tampa, so maybe Dec 11th - I told Sarah, the girl who trims my locks, I wasn't going to get it cut until I was back) & even though it's not as 'spikey' as usual when it's much shorter, I can still usually get some great messiness going on & they often feel the need to touch, rub, mess it up or just try to get it to stand up straight, which it's usually able to do quite naturally.


So, I've made it a habit to wear long sleeves, which is justifiable as it's still only in the mid to high 60's over here. The real dilemma comes when the heat & humidity of summer set in & I'm forced to make some serious wardrobe decisions (they do have AC, though, so I'm sure I can get around it for the most part). Guess we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it.

I have found it quite interesting how they are so intrigued by my blue eyes, too. Some of them think it's some sort of crazy, demonic thing I've got going on but either way, it makes me chuckle. They're such curious little kids looking to figure out why I have such a peculiar look, so much different than themselves. The video below is from a day when they really took an interest in eyes, mine particularly....

Either way, still having a blast, learning plenty about Korea & it's unique culture....

So, with that - Monkey Teacher, out!

Festive Regardless

This one is long overdue....I start a few blogs, get carried away living, working, exploring or (most recently) recovering, then subsequently find pieces a few weeks expired but still feel compelled to finish them, regardless of the time that's passed since it's inception. I suppose this could be blamed partially on the improved weather - i.e. I can get out & play more frequently! 

Either way, here's one from nearly a month ago:

St. Paddy's Day has always been a rather lucrative day for me, given my chosen professional side job as a bartender, especially in recent years at MacDinton's Irish Pub in Tampa where the word insanity fails to adequately describe the severity of the debauchery amongst patrons or the sheer hours working behind the bar instigating said debauchery.

This year, however, was a far cry from the 18+ hour days of recent memory & was certainly a far less lucrative endeavor financially speaking. Rather than attempting to hunt down an order of corned beef & cabbage, I feasted on a couple very non-Irish meals.

Two of the girls from the Otae-dong school (Tues/Thurs) called me in the morning to see if I wanted to have lunch, as my social calendar was pretty wide open, they made their way to Sangmo (my neighborhood) and the hunt was on for a sufficient place to dine. Oddly enough, I'm literally surrounded by dozens of little restaurants but apparently nobody eats out for lunch. After wandering around for probably 30 minutes, we were finally able to find a place. Not surprising, it's menu consisted of traditionally Korean food w/pork & a various assortment of vegetables being the popular favorite, as expected.

I get a kick out of many of the restaurants, since many still 'allow' smoking in them. It's not especially common to have people lighting up regularly but regardless, it happens occasionally & seems to be no big deal, even though the girls did make a point that the culprits in this case were students (college) and simply didn't have much respect for the other patrons or the restauranteurs....wait till touchy, feely, PC really takes hold here, then they're in for it! Either way, the food was pretty good & something I've become more accustomed to consuming regularly.

James, had recommended we all have dinner together that night, so it seemed like another opportunity at fumbling through a chopstick endeavor but to my surprise, we wound up at a place downtown, near the train station that served pizza & pasta; a couple of my favorite entrees. There was a slight Korean influence to the food but overall a solid 'Western' meal. Most of their pizza's are either cheese or cheese and abstract veggies but they also have one with pepperoni's, so I was a pretty happy cat!

The pasta was, well, pasta. Spaghetti to be more specific. However, in both the pasta dishes, they had infused it w/clam shells & it wasn't bad but I don't see myself becoming a regular fan of taking my Italian favorites this way, it certainly offered a unique flavor, though! It's become customary, apparently, for the Director's to pick up the tab for these staff dinners but the restaurant had a wide array of delectably enticing desserts, so I grabbed a chocolate cake & brought it to school the next day for all to enjoy. It seemed to be a huge hit & it I've come to realize chocolate, in any capacity, is a favorite treat for Koreans any day!

As I have mostly forgotten my intended purpose of this blog from when I started it nearly a month ago, I do know that St. Patrick's Day isn't necessarily a world wide phenomenon yet but I did wear my green & threw out a few random Happy St. Paddy's Day to some confused natives who mostly nodded & smiled.

Who knows where & with whom I'll be celebrating next St. Paddy's day but I'm certain I'll enjoy it, as usual!

What's In A Name?

Every student acquires an English name upon entry to any sort of English Academy like mine, which is part of the gimmick of learning the language....I suppose very similar to adopting a Spanish, French or German moniker as so many of us high school students toiled through the mandatory number of credits to legitimize our 'understanding' of the language in order to suffice collegiate eligibility in a foreign language (still not sure why foreign languages aren't learned at the elementary level but it's not really my call, now is it).

Usually most kids start soon after their kindergarten graduation (ridiculous concept). The thought behind this is there are two subjects of utmost importance a Korean can learn in school. First is Math followed closely by English, although many Koreans, it turns out, don't do much w/their English skills  after completing college but I haven't fully figured out why just yet. Honestly, it seems like quite a waste of time, effort & money to spend all those years learning a language to rarely use it after your early 20's....

Back to the point - as the new crop of students roll through the doors, I've been fortunate enough to give a few of them their official English names & have wanted so badly to endow them w/quirky, off the wall tags like Tre, Qua$h (cash), Smooth, Chee-eese, Louscious, Bodhi, Funkdubious, Boniquafefe, Fahrvergnügen, Lafawnduh, Weezy - you know, some of those classicly American names people tend to shy away from for some reason.

Leah & I used to joke about peculiar kids names and I've still got a few in the arsenal but it's certainly been expanded since my time at Middleton as well as multiple viewings of the video above. Unfortunately, I can't pull the trigger for some reason & it's a serious bummer. I would absolutely love to give these kids really unique names but I just can't bring myself to do it.

Sidenote: at the Otae-dong school they let the kids pick their own names from a list & one kid actually picked Sonic....now I'm not sure if I'm more impressed that he had the gusto to go w/a name like Sonic or that it was even on the list in the first place.

Not sure if it's the sheer torture they would have attempting to pronounce them or the rigors of having to spell a few of them regularly but either way I just can't do it. Instead, I've bestowed the kids w/names of good friends or family. Only problem is the significant difficulty Asians have pronouncing the letters R & L as well as a few more complicated phonetic sounds like Ch & Sh, which have caused serious hurdles in the name game. 

In the end, I suppose the little munchkins wouldn't really know the difference but I guess knowing my personal humor would be lost on nearly everyone, everyday; taking the more mature path to simple, common names is probably the best route but come on, who wouldn't love to call on Falafal, Sonic or Funkdubious from time to time!

I did actually pull off naming a kid Timmy yesterday and rest assured I will ALWAYS call on him in the same voice Timmmmmaaaaaaayyy uses in South Park.

Oh, the simple joys!

Looks Like....Walks Like....Sounds Like....Must Be A....

DUCK!

I had the pleasure of enjoying smoked, then grilled duck today & it was fantastic! As per the usual Korean dining experience, there was an abundance of vegetables in various forms & a smattering of the usual seasoning suspects to make them just spicy enough for a farm boy like me (although I didn't delve into some of the more sweat-inducing goodies available).

The ladies said the duck would taste like chicken but I think that must be a universal joke. To me, it was more of a smoked hog flavor than chicken but what do I know; it was good eating, regardless!

The lunch conversation shifted a few times but one of the 'hot topics' was that my director at the Otae-dong school (Tues/Thurs) is being replaced or stepping down at the end of April. Not sure (and I didn't think it was necessarily my place to ask at this point) whether she was the owner & was selling (my previous presumption) or if their was someone else pulling the strings & she simply ran the school.

Two reasons were given for the change in leadership. The first was the low number of students compared to where they probably should be. The second is the lack of significant structure to the 'curriculum.' They did also mention the director's inability to speak English had become a hindrance in her ability to do her job - I did find this quite intriguing initially but she still seems to run the school fairly successfully in a broad sense, I suppose.

Then again, there doesn't seem to be much of a method to the madness. It seems to be very loose in control & discipline but I have a blast the two days a week I'm there. I have noticed, unfortunately, only a small percentage of the students are really able to speak much English. They have, however, become masters of the monotonous routine of the lessons, which basically consist of a word test every day (key words/phrases from the lesson in both English & Korean), a couple pages of listening, tracing, writing & occasionally speaking the words/phrases & finally a touch of phonics to broaden their 'knowledge.' I've taken things a step further and have the students read the dialogue, vocab words & key phrases individually to gauge their abilities, as well as help them with any trouble words or letters (yes, l and r).

It's humorous, as part of the lessons, we use a CD. The kids know the instructions verbatim & usually mimik them every time. They also hum along to the little jingles b/w each section of the CD's lesson. Needless to say, I've caught myself in mid shimmy a time or two, while the kids just giggle at my sweet moves!

I'm anxious to see what happens & how significant a change this new director brings to the school. He's apparently a law school graduate who's been a math teacher for 20+ years....interesting career path but I suppose the financial benefits of a career in law in Korea might pale in comparison to the level of somewhere like the US. Or maybe the teaching profession is a lucrative endeavor over here (even though I've been instructed not to discuss my salary w/either Korean or Native English teachers).

OK, back to the duck, kind of....it was superb, the veggies were what I've come to expect & as is tradition, we were treated to duck bone soup at the end of the meal. I wouldn't say it was good, although it was pointed out that the third and fourth spoonfuls taste better than the first; which there was some truth to it. Regardless, it still tasted like what I could only assume hot, dirty dishwater might taste like after stewing in the sink for a day and haphazardly submerging a bone and some spring onions for enhanced flavor.

As we choked down the few spoonfuls of soup, our waitress brought us a traditional after dinner drink. It was non-alcoholic as we had to go to work but for some reason the name escapes me. There was significant trepidation after suffering through the duck bone nonsense but I was pleasantly surprised by it's cool, sweet taste. Apparently it's some sort of milky white, chilled rice drink that at one time was a staple after nearly all meals but has ultimately been replaced by the very Western custom of coffee. Not being a coffee drinker, I will be happy to suck down a few glasses of the ricey goodness at any meal from here on out. The only drawback was the saturated, gooey rice particles floating in the bottom of the glass I nearly choked on as I threw back the last swallow. Sneaky bastards used the color of the drink to blend in but either way, a great way to wash down the nasty aftertaste of the soup.

Before we departed, I mentioned how much food there always seems to be at the end of every meal I've eaten out & whether or not the restaurants or customers give much thought to it. Cindy commented that it's just the way they operate in South Korea. Often the leftovers are fed to pigs or chickens if not immediately thrown into the trash for the cats to rummage through.

I was struck w/a bit of perplexity as Cindy made a rather insightful statement about the amount of wasted food in South Korean and the little effect it has on the population even though just across the border, North Koreans are literally starving to death. This brought a slight chuckle from the ladies but I'm still pretty surprised by their blatant disregard for even providing a doggy bag or something. There really is enough extra food b/w the various salads, veggies, soups and few portions of meat that remained, to provide, if nothing else, a nice little snack after work.

There was no more talk of waste & I was sworn to secrecy about the impending shift of power at the school but either way, I had me some duck & man, was it good!

There should be a few more blogs in the coming days as I'm putting the finishing touches on a few rough drafts I've started, so check back soon if you don't get an email from me.

Be well ~ namaste!

Random Musings....

**The recent events/tragedy in Japan has allowed me to contemplate a few things in life, as well as appreciate the friends, family & opportunities I've been fortunate enough to have had thus far along the journey of life. Out of curiosity, I inquired about the relevancy of concern in regards to earthquakes having any impact on the remainder of my time here in South Korea. James seems to think that, although minor quakes are somewhat regularly, I should not be worried. He mentioned that Japan lies directly on the edge of a major tectonic plate, which has to do with their more consistent & severe quake activity, in relation to other parts of the Eastern/Asian world.  Although, he said that he read in the paper today that South Korea should expect to experience a larger than normal earthquake in two to three years as a result of the major one in Japan. Here's hoping it's later rather than sooner.

**Even though most people live in apartments of one size or another (most are giant suitcase type structures), I have seen the occasional house but most of them are nearer to the base of the many mountains rather than in the immediate business districts & urban areas (no, not ghettos). Most are fairly simple but occasionally I'll see one that is a throwback to more traditional Korean homes. Most, however, are basic brick & mortar set ups.

Actual 'houses' are in short supply

**I talked about the driving habits/techniques/peculiarities of Koreans but realized tonight that I failed to mention one major occurrence. When it's dark out, obviously everyone drives w/their lights on but for some reason (I'm guessing respect or safety), most cars kill their lights when they come up behind someone waiting at a traffic light or intersections & occasionally when they are driving through intersections (I think to warn oncoming traffic from different directions but it seems dangerous). They also do this as they are driving up a hill, which is quite common, since much of Korean is mountainous terrain.

**Exercise in Korea is rather interesting. From what I've noticed, every city park has some form of equipment intended to help the citizens stay in shape. Ironically, the ideal physique in Korea is that of a smaller, thin build. Men don't necessarily work out to 'get ripped' but rather to maintain their health, whereas the women rarely participate in any type of fitness programs aside from yoga, running or biking & even then, it seems rare. Many of the children do enjoy sports & happen to be quite enthralled by soccer, basketball, swimming & skating (inline & speed) but it's very uncommon to see huge, muscle bound Koreans parading around. Tae Kwon Do is an especially popular way for the Korean children to stay active after school.

Exercise equipment everywhere

 
**Not to be alarmed, the knee (as usual) was feeling fine by Monday - I can only assume it's going to be a recurring theme on future hikes but shouldn't slow me down enough to warrant scrapping all the destinations I've got planned.  I'm certainly anxious to start spending my weekends gallivanting around various destinations, especially since the seasons have finally begun their shift to spring - temps in the high 50's & low 60's the last week or so. I do expect a few cold, windy days mixed in over the next month but the warmer weather is certainly welcome!


**I'm an avid golfer & was excited to bring my clubs w/me (although I opted not to) so I could play a few rounds on some of the courses. Koreans seem pretty fanatical about the game & there is a strong contingency of professionals on tour w/Korean roots - more so on the LPGA (Women's tour). Since arriving, I have seen one actual course but scattered all over are 'country clubs.' These are basically fancy driving ranges w/a putting area & a hefty price tag....might just have to rent clubs at one of the real courses & take my chances!

       Golf course sighting near the end of the video

A 'Country Club' near my house

**I am supposed to have dinner at an Outback Steakhouse (there's a surprisingly large presence in Korea) sometime in the next couple weeks w/the ladies from the Otae (Tues/Thurs) school. They say the menu is very Westernized, so I'll hopefully be face deep in some garlic mashed potatoes, Mac N Cheese & a juicy steak - so excited! They were very impressed that I'd eaten at the original Outback; I just keep wow-in em!

**Although roughly almost 60% of Koreans are Buddhist, the Christian faith has established a solid foothold (nearly 30%)  in the religious psyche as well & man they love neon signs! Looking forward to spending a weekend at a Buddhist temple; should be a very spiritually enlightening experience, although I don't think they've bought into neon the way the Christians have.

Neon for Jesus?

**I see many elderly people walking the streets & it appears they are rummaging through the garbage but upon further inspection they only take plastics, paper & cardboard type items. When I asked James about this, he said of the elderly never had an opportunity to save or invest for their retirement & the burden of caring for their financial needs falls one of two places: 1) Their children take them in, care for & support them the best they can (which it sounds is often the case but a significant strain on their wallets) or 2) They live on the little money they have while collecting recyclables, which they stockpile in various locations around the neighborhood. Occasionally the city comes around, collects it & pay the people for what they've gathered. James said it amounts to AT MOST 10,000 won (almost $10) a day. Much of this isn't due to failure of financial institutions, a housing bubble burst or corporate greed but rather the communist regime decades ago when North Korea controlled all but 10% of the entire Korean peninsula & these people simply didn't make money/save money & had a deficiency in dependable job skills.  It's a generation that's been stuck in an unfortunate circumstance & simply do what they can to survive.

The recycling area is about 30 seconds into the video

   One of the elderly I assume collects recyclables for cash

**Can't say thank you enough for the cards, care packages & goodies I've gotten! It's not only a great surprise to get 'mail' but the contents have been awesome....thanks, Mom, Leah, Cara, Brenda, Tyson/Sheryl, Teri & Michele (only one has been lost in transit, that I'm aware of). Mom mentioned that when she was at the post office, the lady said South Korea wasn't 'accepting' packages but I got hers, so I'm not really sure what that was about.

That's probably enough rambling for tonight, it's late & I gotta get some ZZZZ's.

Ain't What They Used To Be

I fancy myself a fairly fit &  healthy guy but I've never been a fitness guru, let alone a gym rat for any significant amount of time. I have always been active, involved in various sports & aside from the occasionally engrossing show, never watched much TV - hell, I haven't had cable for probably five years & in that time, I doubt if I've turned a TV on more than a dozen times. 

The closest I ever came to being a fanatically, die hard, workout junkie was in '04.  Had a pretty good routine - plenty of cardio, weight training & Bikram yoga (yoga in a really hot room). I felt great, probably looked as healthy as ever & was mostly conscious of what I was eating....never been a fast food or junk food guy & mom always had tremendous, fresh fruits & veggies from her garden nearly every meal. I kinda feel like living on the farm taught me to eat well from an early age.  

Anyway, since I've gotten here, there's been plenty of down time & the opportunity to really streamline my diet further, due in part to what's available. I also make an effort to put in a couple good workouts a week, I walk everywhere (a handful of cab rides due to frigid temps or late nights at a bar downtown) & hit the trails every weekend.  Although I only do a serious hike about once a month. I've also been bustin out 150 push-ups a day, so I feel like I'm in decent shape. 

Regardless, a couple years ago as the family was gallivanting through Europe, Scott (younger brother) & I decided to take a hike into some mountains behind our cabin in Stryn, Norway. The whole trip had been epic up to this point & I'm always up for a nice walk in nature & I had a sneaking suspicion that the views from high up on the mountain would be even better than the ones kicked back in a chair on the front porch of the cabin sippin' some suds. Long story short, we never quite made it to the summit as we ran into a precarious snowfield & weren't necessarily equipped to make a final push to the top. Plus, I'm pretty certain something could have gone terribly wrong, even though it was a picture perfect day & all the factors were in our favor. Unfortunately, this also meant tremendous instability on & beneath the snow with way too much threat of an accident to risk going all the way. 

 

Feeling adventurous outside of Stryn, Norway

As we weighed the options & made one last ditch effort to find a possible access route to the top, we were scampering rather feverishly as the day grew longer & our sunlight wasn't going to last forever (summers in Norway are great for many reasons but the fact there is sunlight for something like 18 hours just add to the appeal; do yourself a favor & visit!) and we hadn't exactly planned on making an entire day of it, so our rations were pretty much non existent. In my haste to find a route, I was looking ahead & around rather than down, where I was planting my foot. 

 

Situation we faced w/snowmelt, rocks & fancy footwork

Now I'm not sure if paying attention would have helped in this case but either way, I wound up stepping on an extremely soft patch of snow, my leg crashed through & I wound up tweaking my left  knee pretty bad between what looked like, from my vantage point, a couple of quite hefty boulders. Given my frenetic pace & the tricky games gravity can play, my momentum insisted on carrying me forward, while my immobile leg said otherwise. I can definitively say I heard a pop but I do know that whatever happened, hurt something fierce & the hike down was torture (but I was a trooper & strapped on the ski's the next day for some July 3rd skiing adventures)!

 

Seriously simple, yet majestic beauty

Back to present day, I occasionally feel some pain in my knee when I've done some serious hikes & it usually only happens when I'm heading back down & the pace is probably quicker than I should be moving. Well, as I made my way outdoors & into the mountains again this weekend, I was not only able to soak up a little sunshine, work up a good sweat, scramble some serious vertical terrain & inadvertently muck up  the knee once again. It just so happened, on my way back down, I planted my left leg rather quickly after twisting my right ankle in a loose rock. 

 

Video about half way up

About the time I realized I should really get moving

The 'easy' path that gave me so much trouble

Eye of the Tiger?

Views were great, regardless of losing daylight

                                              

 

Near the top, contemplating continuing or heading down

I obviously know better than to stay out too late in the wilderness (especially one I am relatively unfamiliar with) but it was such a gorgeous day w/so much to explore & snap pictures of that I allowed time to slip away from me. When I realized the sun had nearly dipped behind the range to the West & I'd chosen a new route down, which meant unfamiliarity, I was hard pressed to make good time so as not to have to face some of the impending possibilities of maneuvering in unfamiliar territory at night.  

Needless to say, the hike down became ever more arduous with every step but I was fortunate to have brought along a walking stick to aid my efforts if such a predicament were to arise. As the sun made it's descent behind me & the westerly mountains, my pace remained just quick enough to make necessary progress while the unknown path seemed to be working with me, as it was a fairly gradual grade, for the most part. I think it's actually used quite frequently bike mountain bikers (like the one I'd seen up there about a month before) but it still was no walk in the park & if you've ever done any hiking around amongst even mildly serious terrain, you know eventually you'll run into some steep grades, which is exactly what I encountered on numerous occasions. I felt fortunate as I'd had the foresight to not only wear extra clothing but also pack some edibles for consumption along the way....thanks mom, Cara & Leah for a few of the goodies I enjoyed - there's certainly something to be said for a well timed Snickers & granola bars!

Halfway down I stumbled upon a large cemetery w/a view

I've obviously survived the 'ordeal' but certainly need to figure out what causes the discomfort in the knee....maybe it's an after effect of the Norway incident, maybe it's just the fact my body has been battered throughout years of sports, exercise or simple wear & tear but they're ain't what they used to be. This might be something I have to deal with for the duration of my time over here, as there are plenty of great mountains to hike around & explore that I really don't want to miss out on b/c of a bum knee! I have been to the doctor a coupe times since getting over here (once for the mandatory physical exam & once cause of some serious congestion), so I could always look into checking out the affordable health care system they have in place here in Korea....

The home stretch....hello civilization!