tea diaries ~~~~~ groooooovy

Seoul, South Korea

I'm sitting in a wonderful motel overlooking the art street of Insadong in Seoul - our own computer and my little mp3 player connected to the laptop speakers. It actually, feels like a dorm room. :)
In all honesty, I've been sick as a dog for the past week. It's coolldd out here, and running about all crazy-like hasn't given much rest time. I know, I know, it's my fault - and yeah, it probably is. But the good news is that I'm getting better now, and Jennifer and I are in the "oh-my-god-its-really-going-to-happen-like-tomorrow" stage of planning our trip to Thailand, and more specifically Thailand's little island of Koh Chang, which we hope will look something like that paradise in The Beach.

I'd like to talk a little bit more about the hiking around Namsan. There are paths that lead up and down and around the mountain range from all directions, side paths and unmarked paths and all sorts of ways to wander. We followed tiny sides with names like "Sitting Buddha of Yongsil" to find Buddhas hewn out of solid cliffsides bigger than we were, or motifs of the Buddha and bodhisattvas carved as line drawings in rocks. As I said before, one of the cliffs had a path up and we ate lunch on Buddha's head - accompanied by a skull !! Looked like a dog maybe, it was dog sized. At the "Grand Buddha" we met a couple of older Korean men sketching the Buddha carving, sitting on rocks on the edge of the mountain, rolling mountainsides with mist and trees behind them ... This, and my experience at Mt. Songnisan back in the summer with Fulbright - definitely two of the best days in Korea.

Today Jennifer and I did some wandering around Insadong, stopping in at a great restaurant for bulgogi, writing postcards over hot cups of tea, and walking around art galleries. I've been trying to get to a place with a card reader for my camera, or maybe even a photo shop to get the pictures onto CD. They might be easier to find in Thailand. At any rate, sorry for the lack of pictures.

I've been paring down my packing now that I don't have to lug around warm clothes, and I decided to actually use my smaller backpack, the hefty day bag, for the next month around SEAsia. I've started growing a bit of a beard, and I'm mailing my razor to Jeju along with my extra t-shirt, books I've read, and other miscellaneous junk I haven't really been using. Just got word back from the professor that I've been in touch with that the monks know we're coming to the community to volunteer. But of course - beach first. Thailand, baby. Oh my god. :)