First Low-Key Weekend in Two Months

For the past nine weeks or so, I've been travelling out of town or had signifcant events that consumed my two days off each week. This weekend, though, I was very happy that I didn't have ANYTHING to do! Well, I didn't have any plans or things I had to do. Saturday I was downtown and came across some ajummas and adjoshis (older women and men) drumming and dancing in the park. Les and I went to check it out, and I was suckered into dancing with them. It was fun until they gave me a bite of food and a shot of soju and THEN asked me for money. All I had was man won (10,000won; about $10) notes, so I gave one of them expecting change. The change I got was a "Oooh! Very good!" from the ajumma and a big smile. Sigh. Oh well. I like to think that my man won is going to support the ajumma and adjoshi merry-making association of downtown Seoul. We'll see if I'm offered an honorary membership....

Sunday Les and I spent some time at his local playground trying our balance out on the slackline. A slackline is a long piece of nylong webbing stretched tight through a system of carabiner pulleys. It's friggin' hard! But, after a few hours I finally managed to stand up on the darn thing--major accomplishment for me! Throughout the afternoon, we attracted several groups of small children who were amazed at our ability to walk across a "tightrope" like people in the circus. And when I say "our ability" I really mean Les's ability--like I said, I spent a few hours just trying to stand up on it. But thankfully, Les was quick with the camera and snapped photographic evidence before I fell off.

Scars and Such

So as some of you know by now, last week I had an "undefined mass" removed from under the skin of the back of my left shoulder. )I'll find out biopsy results this week...I'm confident they will be fine.) The first few days after the surgery were quite uncomfortable and sore, but I'm feeling much better now--only the occasional stitch-itch.

This weekend I visited a friend who, the week before my procedure, had something much more significant done--he had melanoma removed from his back, and had some skin grafting done. We thought it would be fun to compare scars and bandages--obviously he won. But here's a peek at my goods for those who are strong of stomach.

More Meet n Greet Shots

KOTR Spring Meet n Greet

So this past weekend was the Korea on the Rocks Spring Meet n Greet. Les, Sarah (one of my awesome co-workers) and I headed to Seonunsan Provincial Park, and holy moly was it fantastic! We camped, had a campfire, ate ginormous beany-cheesy burritos for dinner and banana-walnut pancakes for breakfast, drank, and, of course, climbed. That's where it got really good!

For the first time, I was able to lead an entire route. Essentially this means that rather being protected from a rope tied to me from above (easiest way of climbing), I carried the rope up with me and clipped it to the rock as I climbed, which is more difficult and technically more dangerous because the possibility of bigger falls increases. But Mom, Grandma, don't freak out...I was on a super easy route and did well. This was a really big accomplishment for me--I am super proud of myself! Here are some pics from the weekend.

I Dunnit!

This past weekend, Geoff hosted a murder mystery party. It was set in 1973 Hollywood, the night before the Oscars. I was fancy-pants director RJ McKullen; Sara was Sophie, a has-been actress looking for her come-back opportunity; Scott was Mark, Hollywood's new IT guy; Les was Derek Lamoose, a ridiculously flaboyant costume designer who has never won an oscar despite 9 previous nominations; Geoff was Brian Columbus, Columbus Studios producer, and Shan was his wife, Cynthia, who handled the PR for the company. We all tried to dress up in 1973-esque, and I think we did a pretty good job! As it turned out, I was the murderer....my artistic vision can never be compromised, even when being threatened with blackmail..... ;)

Easter

So this Easter, while I didn't go to church, have a big, delish-y meal, or even watch my tradional "Ten Commandments,", I did manage to have a fantastic day with one of my best friends here. Les and I went climbing at Ganyeon, a place we had been to before. We met up with a guy who is new to KOTR (Korea on the Rocks), as well as a few other members. It was a beautiful day--gorgeous when the sun was out, and just chilly enough to make you want to zip up when it would hide behind the mountains. I climbed well that day, making it up two routes I've never tried before. The Easter bunny even managed to stop by and drop off some Easter eggs for us...

There were only two minor snags in the day. The first was a totally unexpected rain moved in and caused us to pack up early. That was quickly remedied with some dak tori tang (some kind of ah-maz-ing chicken soup...it's seriously one of my new fav's). The second surprise came when Les and I bought our train tickets to return to Seoul. The only space left was "standing room". So essentially we sat on the floor, totally exhausted, for two hours on the way home. It wasn't all bad. We each bought a beer and passed out. True, our butts experienced a new kind of sore when we finally stood up again, but overall, it was a fantastic Easter!

Korea in the Spring

Spring blooms are in full force here in Seoul. The mountains and "green" space (I say that sarcastically, as Seoul has entirely waaaaay too few/teeny green areas) are coming alive after a long winter sleep. While many people are fans of the cherry blossoms, I'm partial to the magnolias. I think they are so graceful--they almost look like white doves in the trees. The small pink-purple ones are beautiful too. We see those most often in the mountains. They are so delicate--like tissue paper flowers. These pics are all courtesy of Les and his affinity for macro photography. Thanks, buddy!

Korean Mountain Shamanism

Since I've joined my climbing gym, Jung, the gym owner and fancy-pants world-renowned ice climber/mountaineer, has included both Les and I in many of the gym's climbing trips and activities. It has been really great getting to know other members--all of whom are Korean. Les and I are the only whities there. Anyway, two weekends ago, Jung invited Les and I on a trip to one of the mountains here in Seoul. The special thing about this trip, though, was that it was going to involve a Korean mountain shaman ceremony.

Now because I'm a nerd and like to research stuff, I did a bit of reading before we left. Essentially Korean mountain shamans believe that every mountain has it's own spirit or life force. Paying homage to that spirit and respecting it will ensure you a safe adventure while on the mountain enjoying her beauty. Should something bad--or even tragic--happen to you, shamans believe it was because you must have done something to disrespect the life force of the mountain. Fankly, I think this is all really cool stuff, and I think it has some merit behind it too.

Once we got up on the mountain, the temps started dropping, it was time for the ceremony. They had covered a table with white paper, and displayed candles, incense, soju and other traditional Korean alcohols, climbing gear, fruit, rice cakes, nuts, meat, vegetables, and even the head of a pig. Oh yes, kittens, you read that right. A head-o-pig. That kinda creeped me out, but hey, I'm just the visiting resident here. Of course I didn't understand anything that was said during the ceremony, but Les and I each took a turn waving a bowl of makoli (Korean milky alcohol) over incense and performing two Buddhist-style bows where you kneel down and put your hands on the floor and then your head on your hands. After each of us went, Jung said to us "You have now met your boy/girlfriend." What he meant was that because we paid tribute to the mountain spirit, the mountain will now protect us and always be with us. It was fascinating. I'm really happy I was able to not only witness something like that, but actually take part in it. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera on that trip, and Les's camera batteries died, so we were only manage to scrape this one picture out.

Korea vs. Uruguay at World Cup Stadium

So to celebrate Les's 26th birthday, a few friends and I surprised him with tickets to the Korea vs. Uruguay game at World Cup Stadium a few weeks ago. It was a blast! Koreans really dig their soccer--everyone in the crowd new chants and was doing the wave, there was drumming, ginormous flags....yeah. They dig it. I wasn't sure how good or bad our seats were going to be, but luckily they turned out to be ASSAH (awesome, in Korean)!!! We were in the second row right behind a goal. Sadly, Korea lost 2-0, but both goals were scored on our end. To round out the night we went to a fundraiser for Cambodian orphans. Ok, so we went to a bar and there just happened to be a fundraiser for Cambodian orphans going on. Look at it however you want, but I like my humanitarian angle...