Photos and such

OK, so I know I suck. I had all of the intentions of keeping up with this damned blog and writing out deep thoughts and trying to convey what life was like in Korea and all of that jazz but like most things, life just gets in the way. It would be one thing if I was lying curled up in the fetal position wishing I was back home but I don’t. No, I am pleased where I am and for the most part things are going rather swimmingly. I can’t bitch at all. The job is good (it is still a job but it is good and occasionally fun). I bought a new bicycle. I have free time and the last thing that I have felt like doing is sitting around typing out blog type things. Now, I have been writing snail mail and that has been rewarding in its own way. But that takes time as it involves the post office and envelopes and the rest of it. So I hope that those who scored them enjoyed the read.

So I guess what I am going to do is put together a bit of a slide show and I hope you enjoy it. I will try to include captions and the like. It is simply that I am a bit tired . . .Turning 39 has made me feel very old (just kidding!!) and the children asking me why I am not married really makes me want to start a family (just kidding).

I guess we can start with the guy building my bike. He runs a little shop in the center of town and he gave me a very fair deal. He also is a total gem when it comes to helping me my rides in order. We call him Mr. Five Junction as that is where the shop is located.

One of the longer trips I took was back to Gyeongju to check out the cherry blossoms. I made the ride alone and without the aid of a map. Never a good idea.












Ending Dynasty village that is actaully inhabitated by up on sort of the wrong road I came to a village Yangdong. It is traditional Chosen period village with farmers and others who live and work in the community. From what I gather the oldest building there is around 450 years old and they often use the place as a movie set. Naturally, the day I showed up there was a photography club there and soon I had dozens of lenses pointed in my direction - as if they had never seen an scruffy American on a bicycle before!!







There were men and women in period costume and everyone was snapping photos like there was no tomorrow.



I joined in the fun as well. I really didn't want to feel left out.









There were guys doing calligraphy and everyone was crowding around them trying their best to get the perfect shot. Personally, I had no idea what they were going to do with all of the photos that they were taking. I guess they all had blogs too.


































In the end I left there and continued up the road to Gyeongju. I got there really late, had a bite to eat and then started back home. The entire trip was 50 miles and my ass really hurt. I am thinking about buying a new seat for my Fisher. I did see some cherry blossoms but I really didn't understand all of the fuss. It was pretty but not traffic jam pretty.

The bicycle that I rode to Gyeonju is my old bicycle. "Why in the hell does one need two bicycles?" Fair question. It has to do with my 'hood and the hills therein. Pohang is surrounded by these really cool hills and they are a joy to ride. The problem with my Fisher is that it is too big to play on those hills. I know this due to the spill that I took on it . . . Ah, I now have a rough idea of what it feels like to be hit in the side with a ball bat. So after biting the dust I bit the bullet. Here are picts from where we ride:


















































































































































































































The guy in the photo is a Canadian teacher by the name of Gordon. He is a very good rider and is a really nice guy. He has been riding in this area for about six months and he knows these trails really well. He and his wife, Joanne, have been teaching in Korea for about four years. Sorry to say, the both of them will be moving back to Seoul at the end of the summer.

As one can see, the terrain is varied to say the least. It is interesting, some times sort of spooky, but it is a great deal of fun and I love the fact that it takes only about five minutes for me to get to the mountain from where I live. Depending on how much time we have, we can ride anywhere from 1-3 hours. After that sponge leg sets in and it is time to hit the showers.



Since I am taking a yoga class my friends, ever freaked out by the fact that I am single, have decided that I should be dating my yoga instructor. I will grant that she is a very nice lady but there are some serious language/communication issues in the mix - like major league serious. But I go to class and we occasionally do hang out. A couple of weeks ago she thought it would be good for us to Gyeungju to see the blossoms. So I made the return trip, this time by bus. The Koreans are obsessed with these blossoms . . .I guess the whole nothern Michigan thing doesn't translate too well. They think it looks like snow when the wind blows through them . . . they haven't really figured out that snow is a pain in the ass either.

Well, it was also the opening of the Korean Rice Cake festival and it was rather amazing to say the least. Folks were getting real excited about their rice cakes. Seriously excited. The following are photos from that adventure.
















































Homeboy with the hammer is mashing rice into the paste that they use to make the rice cake which really isn't like a cake but more of a soft, chewy cookie. Some are better than others. The best ones are really good!!



















This is actually a Chinese rice cake and it kicked ass. But it turned out that this was not only about folks getting their eat on. It was also about getting their drink on with various kinds of traditional Korean beverages . . . Dat fire water will lay folks out!! The stuff in the big jars is ginseng mixed with God knows what. They were passing out shots of this stuff in little paper cups and everyone was simply slammin' the stuff. Mix and match, no one cared. They simply wanted to try as much as they could. Needless to say the crowd was rather wobbly . . .



























































































Even the yoga teacher likes to get her geek on!!







On the whole it was a lovely day and there was tons of walking and lots of eat and I am certain that I will return to that city over the summer as there are many temples that I want to see. Plus it is only a few hours ride now that I have a better map and a solid idea of what I want to see..


























The last two photos were on the way out of town. The one is of Bo near the water fall in the center of town. The other . . . well, for a society that really has no hand guns they sure seemed to want to practice their shooting skills . . . I simply liked the picture on the van. I am sure I have seen that guy swillin' at The Eastway . . .








































Well that will have to do it for the moment. I hope eveyone is doing well and that the spring is warming up things . . . looks like summer is going to be a real bitch if you need to buy gas. Sorry about that. Oh well, I guess that is what happens when you put a bunch of oil men at the helm . . . (Sorry Jim).

So things are going well here. I am keeping busy and entertained . . . for the moment, that is enough. Take care of yourselves and please play nice.

Peace,

sh

RSVP

Irony is a tough sell. Either you get it or . . . well, you are left in a state of befuddlement. I got the post card and it looks like a really fun gig. I can't tell you how cool it is for you to find a woman who is:

A. Willing to put up with your bullshit (Not specifically "yours," everyone carries a bunch of silly idiosyncrasies with them);

B. Is willing to get involved in our family (Dan was warned!!) to any degree;

C. Is fun enough to create cool invites;

D. Actually is willing to create a joint website with the fifth-grade carved into the tree "FOREVER" in the title and who, somewhere in the recesses of her heart, actually hopes it proves true.

Plus, from what little I have seen, she is a looker and everyone seems to really enjoy her company. So you did:

(The following could be said in the voice that Heath Ledger used in Brokeback)

Real good boy, real good! Shuck dem oysters and rope dem steers! YEE HAA!!

Although I really do love cousin Will, he is not an INCENTIVE for me to come to Cali. You, and your lovely bride to be, are the only incentives that I need. Besides, I am all "clean" now – this is where irony, to any degree, really raises his ugly head – and I am oooh so scared of the temptation that his presence would afford. Why just seeing him would be like a shot of sweet "H" right to the main vein. Just kidding. I'd smoke dope with him, and with you for that matter; piss on SUPER SOBRIETY. I just can't get all fucked up any more. RATS! DOUBLE FARTS!!

But that is an off topic matter. One between me and my creator (I am currently reading The Brother's Karamazov and once you wade through the first 200 pages it starts to get really good and extremely thought provoking. In fact, last night, before I finally drifted off the sounds of Air (used BITLORD to score all six albums – man, that thing is fuckin' addictive and really fun to use – currently listening to the new Donald Fagen as I write this, the new Willie Nelson is cued) I was reading all about love in that book and came across the following:

Love is a teacher, but one must know how to acquire it, for it is difficult to acquire, it is dearly bought, by long work over a long time, for one ought to love not for a chance moment but for all time. (pg 319)

Although that was not the image that I was looking for I think I sort of liked it anyway. Here is the good bit and the one that really stuck:

Much on earth is concealed from us, but in place of it we have been granted a secret, mysterious sense of our living bond with the other world, with the higher heavenly world, and the roots of our thoughts and feelings are not here but in other worlds. That is why philosophers say it is impossible on earth to conceive the essence of things. God took seeds from other worlds and sowed them on this earth, and raised up his garden; and everything that could sprout sprouted, but it lives and grows only though its sense of being in touch with other mysterious worlds; if this sense is weakened or destroyed in you, that which has grown up in you dies. Then you become indifferent to life, and even come to hate it. So I think. (pg 320)

At this point you are supposed to mutter something akin to: Dude, I was only wondering if you were coming to my wedding, I didn't want a fuckin' lecture in Russian lit! Fair enough. I am totally with you there. But don't you think that it is odd and sort of mysterious that you could find a woman who would fulfill the previously stated ABCD? I mean that is sort of cool, no? You sprouted in MI and she sprouted in CA and now your vines will intertwine and . . . Well, I guess the point is that you (the both of you) should never lose touch with the mysterious and miraculous that is involved in two people meeting. Or something like that. I guess I added the love passage as a reminder that love is indeed work so never give up . . . You get my point.

Am I still living large? Well, I am living larger than I have ever lived in the states. I am paying my bills, digging myself out from the wreckage of 20 + years of wretched behavior, meeting some interesting people, I like still like my job and my schedule is much better now that it has settled into something normal. I found a group of guys to go biking with and we hit the mountains that surround the city. They are not Cali-like mountains, more like the hills that surround the Pennsylvania turnpike as you work your way towards the east coast. They are beautiful and the terrain is varied – forest, high plains, bamboo groves. I try to ride at least three days a week (the other days I go to Yoga class – I am sort of dating my Yoga teacher but that is weird as her English blows, my Korean is minimal and, as I am a REALLY verbal creature (long rambling talks are my real hard-on in life), the problems with this situation are numerous (on the plus side she knows lots of cheap and good restaurants)) and I ride with a couple of other guys who have all of the skills that I really lack. One of the problems is that my beloved Gary Fisher Hoo Koo E Koo is a bit too large for what I am trying to do with it. When I bought the bike I explained to the salesman that what I wanted was an urban assault vehicle and for that purpose it has proven perfect. After I bought new tires and hit the mountain, troubles ensued.

I have crashed numerous times; once one to the point of thinking that I should ponder cross stitching or knitting. It is simply too big for what we are tying to do. The mountains are filled with hikers and there are numerous stairs, roots and other obstacles that prove rather challenging; so far I have had to buy a new chain and new brake pads. I am getting better at climbing and they say that I am fearless on the downhills – yes, I do go balls out and this is a serious problem. So what do I do?

It is at this point that you get to call me a "fuckin' punk." OVER AND OVER AND OVER!!

I decided that I would buy a new bike. The only brand that doesn't get marked up via Korean taxes (my Fisher new in the states MSRP $950, here $1600 – ON SALE!!) is Giant (world wide their prices are pretty consistent) and the bike shop here in Pohang will sell it to me at 15% above his cost – the man's gotta eat. So after much thought and much wrangling (back to the cowboy thing – saw BROKEBACK on Sunday, what a great film although I thought CRASH was better) I decided to buy a Giant Anthem 3. It should arrive today. I am super excited. I guess we all need a hobby and this is mine.

So I made a choice: your wedding or a new mountain bike. Sorry, but you we sold out for a piece of Taiwanese aluminum. Shiny. Black. Not the greatest components but I can upgrade. I looked into tickets and it was going to cost me $1100 to swing the Cali trip. I figured that would totally tap me. As it stands I am now totally tapped but I am hoping that by making this investment – YES, ALWAYS THINK OF A BIKE AS AN INVESTMENT – I will avoid killing myself on Chung Po Mountain. I can also turn my Fisher back into the urban destroyer that it was meant to be and I will be totally pimpin' – city bike, country bike. In reality I could buy a fuckin' used car for what I am paying for the bike but who in the fuck wants to own a goddamned car?

So I am begging forgiveness. It would be great to go back to the states for a week or so but I also only have 10 days vacation and I want to use them when/if my Mom comes over here. I have also been told that if I don't use them, and never call in sick (no sick days so far), I can use this fact as a bargaining tool when it comes time for me to negotiate my new contract. As it stands, I am going to stay for at least another year. There is no reason for me not to. That is one of the other reasons (LIKE I NEED A FUCKIN' REASON!!) to buy a bike as I figured that I could easily use it for the duration of my stay. My Fisher is a fuckin' beast and it should need minimal care so I am good to go for the moment.

I have been told that the key to survival in Korea is that one needs a hobby – a girlfriend who works in an opium den would be a plus – and cycling is not a bad one. The guy who runs my favorite coffee shop is the one who brokered the deal with the bike shop and he one of the guys with whom I ride. So I guess it is a survival thing. Plus, everyone loves new toys.

Yes, the eloping thing would have been a swell idea but man, you would have PISSED people off!! You guys are doing the right thing and everyone will have a party to remember. That is the key.

Like I said, I am sorry that I can't be there but I had to make a choice.

Back to Dostoevsky: for a long time I really did feel like I hated life. I didn't enjoy it. I didn't enjoy where I was or the situation that I was in. Now I don't feel that way. I feel connected to my little community and this is only after six months. I seldom felt that way in the big Nap and for now it feels right being here. The point is that once you feel that life is good and beautiful and connected then it is a wonderful thing to behold and precious; don't let go. I am envious that you found someone to love and to whom you will present to the world as yours. That is really fuckin' cool man, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. If they do, well, fuck 'em and feed 'em fish heads as they don't have a clue as to what they are talking about.

Now I have to go and see a man about a mechanical horse.

Please take care and I promise to call before the big day.

Much love and keep in touch.

Yours truly,

scott