myfooteprints

autumn

stonesamurai — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:07:00 GMT

it's been almost a month since i returned from my two month vacation in europe. i've been kept busy with moving into a new apartment and with missions into the mountains for climbing with friends. i can't really fall back on that as an excuse for letting my blog go silent. nor even the fact that i haven't had an internet connection for most of the past three weeks. there seem to be phases when my desire to write, or to be creative in any number of capacities, sink into a lull and gather dust until i force myself to brush off the cobwebs and work on them. it seems my creative energies are not easily spread. and something i hadn't really considered before is how much energy i put into climbing. when i am climbing a lot, and am really stoked (read: passionate) i don't tend to have a lot of juice left for writing, photography or songwriting. i suppose there's no reason why that shouldn't be the case. climbing certainly does take a lot of energy. and when i'm climbing new stone, it certainly is a creative endeavour involving a lot of problem solving. that has been one of the most appealing facets of the sport for me. so the fact that i let my blog go silent should be a sign that i'm doing something else that i love, not that i have nothing to say.

and right now, i am loving what i do.

upon returning to sokcho, i was immediately thrown back into the world of bouldering. a world that had really inspired me in my early years of climbing back in newfoundland. i recall shane dooley and i going out on winter drives to search for boulders that we could climb in the spring. it wouldn't takle much to get us excited. a decent sized stone perched atop a hill on the expansive avalon barrens would have us wide eyed and smiling. we saw value in finding new problems to establish. we were the only climbers at that time who were consistently pursuing this bastard child of climbing. being unroped and exerting ourselves as hard as we possibly could held great appeal. the sessions of throwing ourselves at a problem until we could figure out a sequence could go on for hours. days. weeks. and the reward of finally finishing a problem became proportional to how much time it took to send it.

now, here in korea, some friends from seoul have opened my eyes to what's been sitting in my backyard for all these years. unio, aka the african, uncovered a gold mine of granite boulders in an area a mere 45 minute drive away. after gathering our crew of boulderers and making a few trips to this place, we all felt the magic of its potential.

climbers are an interesting breed. they will travel halfway around the world in search of stone if they know it's good. and what we've found is good. really good. korea has never been a destination for climbing, so the prospect of opening a new area for climbers the world over to enjoy holds great appeal. being 'the first' in climbing holds a lot of honour. being the first to climb a route or problem attaches your name to it for as long as it's there to be climbed. finding a whole area of unclimbed stone is then, a climber's dream come true. with climbers in korea, most of the koreans who pursue the sport stick to sport, trad or alpine, all involving ropes and bags of gear. the idea of throwing themselves on giant pebbles with mattresses is lost on them.

so we gladly pick up the slack and are busy developing this new area. and it's not only the stone that is quality. the setting is one of the most beautiful i've ever had the opportunity to climb in. and being one of those interesting climbers, i've done a lot of travelling myself in search of stone.

so we find ourselves in a unique position. developing a world class bouldering area that we both want to keep secret and share with the world. our plan is to develop it and document it until we've done what we can in the area and then spread the word once we feel it's ready for the climbing public. this will entail a published article in a major climbing magazine and potentially a video to distribute.

even after climbing in some of the most popular climbing areas in the world in europe, i find myself to be so excited to be back in korea that it makes me giddy. the prospect of staying in this quaint little mountain/beach town for another year or two seems not only possible, but desirable.

as i've said before: the life, she is not so shit.

the ropes in rodellar

stonesamurai — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 01:28:00 GMT

the sun bakes my arms as i sit in front of the laptop. roland's mac. like my own, it's battery is fried and dies in less then ten minutes when it's not plugged in. with the refugio closed until 6, i sit outside attempting to squeeze some productivity out of the rest of this rest day. a tweak shoulder neccessitated that i take today off. being here in rodellar with so much rock around and so many climbers heading off to the crags, a day spent not climbing is a painful ordeal.

though i've been busy formulating a plan for the rest of my time off, i find myself immensely bored after spending most of my day in front of a computer screen. it feels good to have an idea of where i want to go and what i want to do for the next month. i've shaped my plan to spend a few more days here, climbing the steep limestone cliffs of rodellar, and then to move on to switzerland with my freind, roland and his slovenian girlfriend, stella. roland has seduced me with the prospect of adventurous routes in the swiss alps. it's been awhile since i've been in an alpine setting. it is an inspiring environment.

owing to the fact that roland will need to start work, i will likely head to vienna to seehang and climb with nino again before making my way back to korea at the end of the month.

the sun on the computer screen is hurting my eyes and i can't be bothered to write more. out.

sokcho to vienna

stonesamurai — Mon, 3 Aug 2009 16:07:00 GMT

after 5 hours of bus rides, almost 20 hours on planes and a 6 hours on trains from munich, i arrived in vienna on aug 1st, 9:20pm. nino, my austrian friend whom i'd met in thailand, was there to greet me. much the same as i remember; one long dread hanging from the top of his head and a smile from ear to ear.

nino's apartment is close enough to the station that we could walk there in five minutes. despite living in downtown vienna, he's manage to score a huge, high ceiling apartment in a beautiful old building, rent free. his roomate's uncle owns the building and is waiting to renovate, so for the next two years, nino and his friend can stay there for only the cost of utilies. this is a twenty minute walk from central downtown with its museums, fine dining and tourist hooplah. redunkulous.

after a nite of catching up and shaping some form of plan for the next few days, we were up the next morning to take a train to bad vaslau, nino's hometown, where i met his mom and we procured wheels. the an hour drive to meet his friend, katy, at her beautiful home in the austrian countryside. we rally raced up through the valley, speeding by farms, high hills and a lot of limestone rock bluffs. these hills are the foothills of the alps. baby mountains. at our destination, we met some more of nino's friends. stefan, who'd dropped by nino's apartment the nite before. lanky with a tied bunch of long dreads and a quiet, friendly demeanor. sebastian, sporting a mohawk and some piercings, also friendly and jovial, despite the facade. christian, julian and his girlfriend also joined.

the half hour approach up the hill through the trees was a nice warmup before climbing. the weather here is rediculously hot right now, but the crag luckily was in the shade and had a small breeze that cooled the sweat off our brows.

i started with a 6c (11b) with a bouldery start that kept me thinking and had me climbing a little too tentatively. read that as 'i was scared'. next, we decided to push ourselves with something a little harder. a steep, pocketed 7b+ (12c) had me pumped and taking some big falls that was perfect for getting my head into the climbing game here on the rock here in europe. three attemps left me hurting, pumped, sweaty and very drained. despite a salami sandwich that katy had brought for me, i hadn't really eaten anything all day.

after a quick dip in the cold mountain stream, we drove back at mach 3 through the winding countryside to katy's house where she and her roomate, a talented chef, cooked up some delicious cucumber soup and very satisfying macaroni and cheese dish. eating outside, we stuffed ourselves, sipping cold austrian beer and watching a storm roll up into the valley. black clouds grew overhead as the wind picked up, sending bottles crashing over and us running for cover.

after a very restful sleep, i'm up early and getting ready for another day of awesome, beautiful austrianess. this place ain't so bad...

bugged

stonesamurai — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 20:58:00 GMT

a stomach bug i picked up last week had me incapacitated during my last weekend in sokcho for a good few weeks. though i didn't enjoy being bedridden for over 48 hours, at least i wasn't blowing a wad of cash on a final hurrah before leaving. which is likely what would have happened if i was fit.

a full four days after coming down with the bug, i'm only just starting to straighten out this evening. besides some toast, i've eaten barely anything since i got sick, but have been constantly staving off dehydration with copious amounts of pocari sweat (an generic asian sports drink). i am hopeful that i will be 100% by the time i jump on a bus on friday and head to the airport. europe awaits, as do my friends.

poised

stonesamurai — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:40:00 GMT

a tiger in waiting. still, but for a slow and steady sway of its tail. a flick of an ear. the motions. but the this tiger lays poised on the verge of action. ready to pounce. ready to throw off it's lethargy in search of a glorious feast. its stomach speaks up to harmonize the growl of its anticipation. and yet it waits...

i will be leaving for europe in 10 short days. they keep ticking off like the second hand of a well oiled clock. steady and sure. it seems like only a few days ago that i said goodbye to my friend josh. yet it's been over four weeks. i imagine my two months away will fly as quickly. but they will be two glorious months.

i will fly into munich, germany on august 1st. from there, make my way by rail to vienna, austria, where i'll meet up with my friend -a local- nino. we will hang around the city and possibly do some climbing as well. a few days of the historic birthplace of mozart and we will make the trip to salzburg to meet joa and his girlfriend, uschi. i am as excited to meet my old friends as i am to get my dirty paws onto european limestone. well... old friends may be a misnomer. i have only known them since i met them in thailand on ton sai last summer. and that was only for six weeks. yet the bonds that can be shaped when like minded people climb together are something that makes them feel like old friends. close friends at the very least. i look forward to getting to know them better. they put the invite out during that time in thailand and i promised them i would take them up on it. don't make hospitable offers to me lightly.

from austria, we will drive to neighbouring zurich, switzerland to meet roland, another of the ton sai family. then on to two crags in italy; arco and finale. aterwards, france; cuese and chateauvert. finally spain; siurana, rodeller and margalef.

i have my tick lists printed off and my pack list in order. a few more errands to take care of while i'm here in sokcho and i'm out for a solid eight weeks. like a kid on chritsmas eve, i'm trying hard to distance myself from the reality of my impending departure. i'm still enjoying my time here. the weather has been slightly more agreeable and i have good friends here who i enjoy spending time with. on sunday i went for a long overdue trek in the mountains of seoraksan. my beloved bakyard. it was a sweaty, exhausting 7 hour hike, but it left me feeling refreshed and happy about my fitness. climbing this morning as well as a dip in the sea (a frequent morning ritual) and more of the same tomorrow. the life, she is not so shit.

languid lethargy

stonesamurai — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:29:00 GMT

i've been languidly lounging in a lethargic lot as of late. and not just with keeping this little blog thing up to date with the going ons of my life. i haven't been climbing as much as i need to be to feel sane. the last few weeks was full of social gatherings, late nights and goodbyes. well only one goodbye, but it was a goodbye to josh, who was someone i'd spent most of the last half a year hanging and climbing with and we'd grown quickly into close friends. he'll be missed. with that said, i'm excited for him to hit up thailand and experience that place in all it's chaotic and sensory wonder. i know he'll have a blast.

as a prelude to his leaving, there were a lot of get togethers involving late nights and more than a few drinks. this also precluded early morning rises to get out climbing. my body and i were not on speaking terms for awhile. but with his departure, i've returned to a routine more in tune with the balanced lifetsyle that suits me. early mornings of stretching and meditation. food that is both delicious and healthy. and enough of the social side to keep me in touch with the outside. not to mention, i've been going to the beach every morning before work to swim in the ocean and bask in the sun. just one of the reasons why i choose to live in sokcho.

this weekend i have plans to go climbing up in the park with my old friend, bryan, who'll be visiting me with his wife and baby girl from down south. as much as i'm looking forward to seeing them, i'm as excited to get back on the rock and stretch myself out on some seroaksan stone.

goodbye to languid lethargy. and good riddance.

the end is the beginning is the end

stonesamurai — Thu, 7 May 2009 00:09:00 GMT

life is a parable of itself. a lesson to not take anything it does too seriously. it will all fall into itself in the end. the problem being that too often we misread its morals and paint ourselves in various shades of morality. we point our fingers in attempts to shame others into painting themselves to match our own mismatched tones of grey. everyone with an idea of what tone is the right one. missing the point entirely that there are no tones. just the black and the white. what is and what isn't. our judgments about how to interpret it just get in the way of letting it all be as it is. and as it isn't...

lessons

stonesamurai — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 12:22:00 GMT

i just watched a video that a friend of mine suggested i check out featuring a veteran rock climber speaking on ted talks about the 9 lessons he's gleaned from climbing over his climbing career (childs). i don't agree with everything he says and i certainly find most of his lessons to be fairly remedial considering what climbing is capable of teaching.

his list goes like this:

1. don't let go

2. hesitation is bad

3. have a plan

4. the move 'is' the end

5. know how to rest

6. fear sucks

7. opposites are good

8. strength doesn't equal success

9. know how to let go

he actually doesn't even refer to these as lessons, but as 'rules' which i detest on principal. rule 1 and 9 contradict each other. first he says don't let go and then he says know how to let go. O_o??

i don't agree with rule 3 that you need to have a plan. i think being able to make decisions on the fly based on careful attention and quick thinking is far more valuable. rule 7 is vague, even when he goes into talking about using oppositional forces. it just doesn't apply much outside the realm of climbing (which is what i think these lessons, or 'rules', should be doing). "fear sucks" gives no advice whatsoever. it's a negative statement that generalizes our fear. the truth is, not all fear is bad. being able to recognize what fear is warrented and what isn't, is a crucial skill for keeping yourself safe. "strength doesn't equal success"... of course not. thanks mr. obvious.

so this is what 35 years of climbing has taught you mr. childs? a drunk monkey could learn more about itself from climbing than this guy.

being a drunk monkey myself, let me give it a shot.

1. the ego is the biggest hindrance to doing anything well. our desire to look good in the eyes of others is a huge distraction to applying ourselves to the task at hand, whatever it may be.

2. pay attention. it is only through awareness of ourselves and our surroundings that we can begin to see problems for what they are, and discover ways to work through them.

3. know your fear. fear of the unknown keeps us from learning anything new. phantom (imagined) fear saps our attention from the task at hand. knowing when an arising fear is real and worth listening to is a valuable way to keep yourself from getting hurt.

4. use your imagination wisely. if you are wasting your faculty of imagination on worrying and concocting scary "what if...?" scenarios that leave you powerless to perform, you are obviously not applying that faculty to problem solving. the same goes for fantasizing.

5. perspective is everything. you choose how to see the world. is the glass half full or half empty?

6. be adaptable. our situation can't always change for us, but we can change to live in it. like the soft bamboo that bends in the wind standing next to the hard birch that cracks, inflexible.

7. the destination is the journey. don't try and rush through what you're doing to get someplace else. for better or for worse, you are here dealing with what's right in front of you.

8. failure does not exist. the only mistake you can truly make is the one from which you learn nothing.

9. breathe. as crucial in everday life as it is on the rock. watch your breath from time to time and know right where you are.

these are all off the top of my head and i feel like there is more i can add. they're in no particular order. but they are certainly all things that climbing has helped teach me. though obviously they can be picked up from just about any pursuit.

...as long as you pay attention.

to be where there's life

stonesamurai — Wed, 8 Apr 2009 21:43:00 GMT

climbing. food poisoning, a visit from friends from afar. an oasis concert. a few of the things that have been occupying my time.

though the seasons have been yo-yoing between winter and spring here, it finally looks as if the warmth is here to stay (knock on some proverbial wood). and with that, a somewhat regular climbing routine.

it continually amazes me at how serendipitously i meet climbing partners. no matter where i end up, i always manage to find someone who fires me up to climb. my current partner, josh, who's also a good friend and coworker at ecc, is strong, motivated, and cerebral enough to keep me asking questions about my own climbing. though he's pretty green to the sport, his enthusiasm and intelligence has him learning the ropes faster than i ever did. and luckily he has the benefit of a helpful mentor who has made enough mistakes to illustrate the severity of the risks involved in this sport we love.

two weekends ago i came down with a case of what i think was food poisoning during a climbing trip to ganhyun. i spent the whole day in agony with bouts of vomiting. though my stomache turned around by the end of the day, i was feeling out of it for the next few days. which was just in time for my friends from japan to come visit.

i'd bought oasis concert tickets for mike, andy and john, who were all friends of mine visiting from japan, to help celebrate their trip to korea. on the night before the show, we were all having drinks at a local bar. i'd told them i was trying to get some time off while they were here, but said i was doubtful that it was going to happen. as the clock turned over to april 1st, i set it up.

"sooooo!! it looks like i have friday off. we're going to seoul!!!"

"nice!!"

"april fools!"

"oh, you shit"

"well, i don't have friday off. but i do have tomorrow off. and thursday. and we're going to see oasis tomorrow nite."

i haul out the tickets to the boys gaping mouths and widening eyes.

"are these real?!?"

"yep"

i was nearly suffocated by bear hugs at this point.

we headed to seoul the next morning. ate some delicious mexican food and rocked out at an amazing show. oasis proved to be one of the best live performances i've seen.

since the boys headed back to japan, i've been getting back into my old routine. and a lot of climbing.

the last waltz

stonesamurai — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 04:14:00 GMT

one of my favorite songs from one of my favorite movies. "the last waltz" from the korean film 'old boy' performed by jung sung ha, a 13 year old korean guitar prodigy. matt, this post is almost solely for you. ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChpdohoLucs

discipline

stonesamurai — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 11:36:00 GMT

contentment. is that my excuse? laziness?...

this isn't the first post i've written delving into why i neglect this blog. i can never really pin it down. it's not as if i don't have anything to write. i've been active with the onset of spring here in sokcho. rock climbing adventures. get togethers with friends. teaching. perhaps it relates to my last post. that i really don't like sitting in front of my computer. or that i find too many distractions when i do. maybe i've shaped this blogging thing into a chore. something i feel like i must force out. maybe i'm just feeling antiexpressive these days. that i have no desire to share my thoughts on here. in my life outside this screen, i often go through stints of antisocial. like a turtle in its shell, i retreat from the world, an introvert. a quiet contrast to the extroverted me i can be.

with this blogging thing, i think that what it comes down to is a matter of creative expression. creativity is never a constant for me. my ability to explore the inner workings of my imagination to give birth to some thing or to some voice of expression is not always there. but i believe creativity can be nurtured. like any skill, it can be honed through constant practice. some of my most productive spurts of writing on here were when i made myself sit down and write, regardless of whether i felt the urge or not. i may just need to remind myself of the difference between a chore and good self discipline. let's see how that works out...

lull

stonesamurai — Sun, 8 Mar 2009 10:48:00 GMT

with my internet connection mysteriously gone for over a week, i came to an important realization: i don't like the internet.

now that seems absurd even to myself. i see the internet as a useful tool for easy to find information. a means of creative expression and sharing of ideas. a way of keeping in touch that is fast, convenient and all but free. it is a platform for media and entertainment without the mind numbing commercialism of cable tv. yet the mind numbingness is still there (and so, obviously is the commercialism). what is it with the internet? i've heard more than a few people refer to 'getting sucked in' to mindless web surfing. when i sit in front of my computer i always tell myself that i'll use my time productively and i won't stick around too long. i'll check and respond to emails. i'll write something on my blog. maybe upload a few pictures. i'll look for answers to any questions i've been having. yet hours may pass before i finally snap out of a monitor trance and ask myself, "why am i watching another skateboarder break his leg on you tube?!?" like cable tv, it is far to easy to get distracted by nothing.

so i find that when i sit down at my computer with the ostensible intention of being useful, i shift through emails without responding to any, pass over my blog without writing a word and fail to even open iphoto to sort through my mass of disorganized pictures. and the whole time i'm being busy in my unproductiveness, i feel antsy and anxious. i think of a myriad of other things i could be doing besides being plugged in.

so the answer to this whole problem should be easy... stay away from the internet. my two weeks off was blissful. i didn't even check my email for days on end. i was happy to not have to sit in front of the computer. but when i finally got around to opening my inbox, i saw i'd been inundated with facebook notifications and emails from friends and family. some of them were urgent. and thus my quandry. shirking the internet entirely would mean shirking my responsibility to keep in touch with friends and family.

i've been a little better at rationing my time on the internet. i now get up in the morning and enjoy a coffee while doing a crossword or sudoku puzzle. then some quite reading followed by a meditation. this is usually followed by a yoga routine or at the very least an intensive stretch. only after this morning ritual will i allow myself to check my email. and even then i try to make sure i make time for other tasks: cleaning my apartment. cooking some food to bring to school. this routine leaves me feeling good. almost as good as if i get out and go for a climb in the morning (which is my puzzle solving, meditation, and intensive stretch all wrapped into one). yet often i don't give myself enough time to do the things i set out to do when i sit at the computer. my blog has gone unupdated for almost a month because i haven't deemed it a priority when i get online. yet i've also managed to leave a slew of emails in my inbox unresponded to. am i really using my time on here wisely or productively? it certainly needs some work.

a work in progress

stonesamurai — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 10:43:00 GMT

the smell of rain soothes my tired mind. the scent brings me back to the spring days of my childhood. an innocent boy with innocent thoughts. hard to relate to that kid i once was. yet it remains some small slice of this person i've become. a fumbling man full of faults, fears and doubts. this constant work in progress.

child greg was an imaginative little boy. he had a closet full of imaginary friends with whom he would often share his thoughts and feelings. he loved to draw. he loved to build forts out of the cushions from the sofa, in which he'd sit with piles of books. he loved to get dirty, digging up rocks and stream beds to find some new object of fascination and wonder. a tiny beetle. a colony of ants. a dragonfly larvae clinging tenaciously to the underside of a slimy stone. child greg enjoyed school. he was fascinated by the colour of the world. he would spend hours pouring over pictures from his dad's national geographic collection, imaginging himself in those exotic locations. befriending gorillas. scaling mountains. escaping erupting volcanoes.

child greg, for all his aspirations of exploration, was a timid boy. he was often frustrated at his inability to relate with his everyone, which he assumed was necessary to make friends and be normal. in hindsight i'm happy that little greg didn't share as much in common with his classmates as he'd hoped. it pushed him beyond the boundaries of existence in hr. breton.

teenage greg remained timid. he shyed away from violence and aggression. he was awkward with girls. he fell in love with music. nirvana. the smashing pumpkins. metallica. each provided a thesaurus for his developing emotions. it also spurreed him to learn to play the guitar. which in turn provided an outlet for those new emotions. teenage greg had his heart broken. it callused his openness and trust in women and would cause problems for him down the road.

young man greg left home and was forced into a wider, wilder world. he was excited with his studies at the university, but his timidness held him back. his fractured interests made it difficult for him to settle on one field of study. it wasn't until a wiry haired british philosphy professor ignited a spark in him that he knew where his path lay. young man greg got a girlfriend which ended up being more of an education for him than university. it pointed out his selfishness. his stubbornness. his manipulatveness. things to which this day he works to iron out of existence.

young man greg also went climbing. although he did 'learn' to climb, it was more like he learned that he was a climber. always was. always would be. that new found passion would be the catalyst for the coup d'etat on timid. it would help him the develop the courage to face the world head on and to jump into the unknown with willing anticipation. that, more than anything else has brought me here. through a move halfway around the world. through a new career as a teacher. through another educating relationship. through countless travels and adventures. to back in sokcho. teaching. climbing.

ten years of climbing. i have had some minor scrapes and bruises. some torn muscles. and more seriously, a sliced achilles tendon and a broken back. oddly enough, the more serious the injury i've incurred, the more fired up and passionate i become upon my return. after a year off of climbing following the achilles incident, i came back to climbing revitalized and with a whole new attitude of appreciation and acceptance. after the back incident, i've come back once more to be even more excited and strong than i was when i was forced off the rock. climbing continues to be my greatest teacher.

mediation meditation

stonesamurai — Tue, 3 Feb 2009 13:44:00 GMT

january trips over itself and falls into february. it picks itself up and dizzily attempts to get its bearings.

the temps have been mild enough lately to convince me that spring has arrived. i wore naught but a t-shirt and thin fleece this weekend in seoul. today, the grey sky even sheds crocodile tears to complete the facade. is this february or may?

some mornings have been warm enough to go climbing at the local wall. stretching out in the welcoming sun has been a pleasant return to a passion i've done without since the accident in october. it feels good. natural.

with the turn of this month, i've upgraded my responsibility at work. accepting a supervisor position, i've now become the go between of the foreign teaching staff and mrs kim at the school. i'm not sure quite how i feel about the whole thing yet. i know supervisors have had rough times with the stigma that goes along with a position of authority. and being as un-authoratative as i am, i'm not sure if i'm in a better or worse situation to handle it. i do feel confident in my skills as a mediator. and mediating is esentially what this position is all about. informing the foreign staff of all the changes that mrs kim throws at us while trying to pacify and keep the peace. when it comes to "strong personalities" (mrs kim's phrasing), it is difficult for them to be accepting of a system that is contrary to what we know in the west. westerners tend to think their opinion matters and they have a right to be heard and to instigate change. to her credit, mrs kim at least will listen to those opinions (apparently something most hogwan directors are loathe to do), though she may rarely act on them. for the korean staff, there is no issue. they know the korean system. mrs kim is the boss and what she says is the way it's gonna be. the koreans will bite their tongue, swallow shit and do their job. this is a very difficult thing for a westerner to do. especially a westerner who's new to korea. and i've noticed it more particularly in american and australian personalities.

with a few new teachers showing up over the course of the next few weeks, it will be interesting to see how this position works out. all i know at this point is that i was in need of some more responsibility and challenge to keep me on my toes. so here we are...

the new year

stonesamurai — Fri, 9 Jan 2009 13:47:00 GMT

it has been almost a full month since i last posted. the last time i wrote was about the time jason left. which was also the about the time when i relocated into what was jason's apartment. i remained internetless until a few days ago.

so here i am. settled into a comfy apartment. winter settling into the tired bones of korea. sipping a coffee. my second of the morning. i feel my narrative voice may have ceased with lack of use. time to grease these rusted cogs...

after moving into sam ho building 101 apartment 202, my obsessive compulsive side took over and i took to cleaning, rearranging and settling into what is now my home. it had been eight months since i had a place to call my own. i enjoy the freedom afforded by traveling and being on the road. the adventures that come hand in hand with constantly moving. the friendships that grow when you can genuinely appreciate the hospitality of others. but after so long of mosquito infested bungalowes, hard floors and friends' couches, i find a yearning arising in the back of my mind. tucked neatly under a tiny fold in my lower cortex. a desire to dig a hole and settle in. at least for a little while. that nesting instinct is never too far away when i set off on travels. but the excitement of being in motion and the thrill of the novel always manages to keep it at bay. until the novel becomes routine.

so settling back here in sokcho, especially considering it's winter, has been a welcome relief for me. i have built a comfortable nest for the time being, to sit content through the winer cold.

though i am hardly one to just sit content.

three days before our christmas vacation was to start, sokcho was hit by a huge snowstorm that blanketed the town in white and brought it to a halt. ecc was closed and the streets were reduced to tiny pathways carved in the three feet of snow that had piled up in just 24 hours. the entire town could be found outside with shovels in hand to clear the roads. the lonely sokcho snowplow was responsible for clearing only the major streets. and even those not very well.

the day after the school closure, ecc opened again, but owing to the many complaints our director got from parents whose children had waited for hours for buses that ran late due to being stuck, she declared the school would be closed again the following day. christmas eve. which, for me was no great relief as i had already gotten the day off to go catch a flight to japan. i needed to go to finalize my korean visa by visiting the embassy in osaka. i was also planning to visit my friends in tsuyama.

though my trip to japan was brief, it was productive and very fun. it felt strange to be back in tsuyama again, a town where i had spent my last year in relative boredom, despite a good group of friends. many of the faces had changed since my departure, but i enjoyed good company at the christmas dinner at hijiris. two massive cooked turkeys with dressing and gravy and followed by a performance at taru, the old folk bar that was my most frequent haunt.

i managed to see almost everyone i'd hoped to see. mike, andy, miho, kyoko and yong su. i got my korean visa which finally let me work in korea legally. i retrieved my acoustic guitar and snowboard which i'd left in the care of mike. and i got to brush up on my japanese, which had fallen out of use since i'd left.

following my return, i attended and was honoured as a wedding singer at my friend, hyun sook's wedding. then it was time to snowboard. despite there not being a lot of snow and despite being concerned about the shape of my back after only a three month recovery time, i was stoked to hit the slopes again. the first day was promising. i took some spills but felt no pain in my back. and the boarding itself came back pretty quickly. there were four more sessions to follow and my body felt wrecked by the end of it. muscle fatigue in my legs. sore shoulders and wrists from multiple bails. and a bruised tailbone from a collision with another rider. but after a few days of rest i feel optimistic that my back has held up very well. though i think three days of boarding in a row may be pushing it at this point. a warning to not push too hard, too fast.

with school back in session, i am enjoying getting into the teaching groove again. i have students and classes that i enjoy and a staff that i get along with extremely well. josh, a friend and coworker, and i frequent a local video game parlour where there are about thirty couches, each with it's own 42 inch hd screen, an xbox 360 and a playstation 3 with a decent selection of games. winter is the perfect time for me to re-ignite my love of video games. and considering it's only 1500 won an hour, it's a steal of a deal. metal gear 4. gears of war 2. call of duty 4. grand theft auto 4. ninja gaiden 2. =fun times.

and a very contented greg.

winter quietus

stonesamurai — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:46:00 GMT

with the coming winter, sokcho is settling into change once more. as the countryside exhales it's last breath for year, so too the town shrinks. a few of my close friends have moved on. one of the harder aspects of the teaching abroad lifestyle. but a healthy reminder of the transitory and impermanent.

robert and lisa, an quirky american couple from the states and whom i've only known for the brief five weeks i've been here, left for home on sunday. they're departure was premature and cloaked in sadness. and for more than the fact that i'd grown to appreciate their company and good humour. robert's father, a fit, young 54 year old, had a massive stroke and the family was informed he wouldn't last long. with that serious news, robert immediately made plans to finish his contract early and to head home to see his father off and help with the family's affairs. lisa, his doting partner, followed. their departure was quick, chaotic and painful and none of us were ready to see them go.

yesterday i saw off another close friend, jason, the californian, canadian spaniard. though his leaving was known (and certainly anticipated by him) it was a sad departure nonetheless. i had come to spend most of my time hanging with jason and i valued his humour and cerebral machinations. a clever, random and often debased sense of humour is something that isn't lost on me. i'm happy for him to be moving on, since i know he really didn't enjoy the teaching side of being here. but i can allow myself to be selfish enough to miss his presence.

with jason's departure i'm finding myself in the spirit of change as well. i've started shifting my home from this apartment to the apartment jason had stayed. although the apartment layouts are almost identical, though mirrored, i'm looking forward to living on the 2nd floor rather than the first and in an apartment that gets the first of the morning light through it's windows. my present apartment is dull and grey until late afternoon.

and with that thought, i get back at it.

the jaunt

stonesamurai — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 13:08:00 GMT

my footsteps are heavy on the newly lain sidewalk. a patchwork of maroon and faded banana coloured bricks. the air is crisp. a breeze mingles the chill from the not-too distant mountains of seorak with the not-too distant salt spray from the sea of japan. the scent of sokcho. a tired ginko leaf scurries underfoot to lean itself against the curb. it rests there indefinitely, exhausted. naked trees hold their arms aloft overhead. a deafeatist pose of quite indignation toward the winter to come. a surrender of sorts. i plod on through the remnants of a korean autumn. give a nod to the mountains poking their heads up beyond the cluttered skyline of apartment buildings and telephone wires. a nod of mutual understanding between friends. see you around. i'll visit soon. the rhythm of my footsteps reaches its crescendo and i step through the welcoming doors of work.

seoul jaunt and the subtle frost

stonesamurai — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 23:40:00 GMT

i was up at 5 am this morning. showered in my cold apartment. sipped half a cup of coffee before heading out the door into the freezing darkness of what felt to be the first morn of winter. caught a bus to seoul at 6. arrived just before 9. made it to the canadian embassy and back to the bus station by 10:30. had to wait over an hour for the next bus back to sokcho, which departed at 11:50. back in my apartment at just after 3:30. at work in time enough for my 4:30 class. which happened to be cancelled. as was my 5:30 class. as was my 6:20 class. :/

it has been the coldest day in sokcho since i arrived. on the drive home from seoul, i spied patches of ice in the muddy puddles of every rice paddy we passed. this well into the day at 3 pm. and the sun was blasting. for mid november, that's damn cold.

fitter

stonesamurai — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 13:54:00 GMT

ulsanbawi towers overhead, bathed in a golden light and a shiver runs up my spine. an impressive piece of stone, this rock has inspired healthy doses of fear in me on more than a few occasions. i recall mornings before work, running up the steep hour long hike to this behemoth's base with andrew. scaring ourselves witless. back in the staffroom a few hours later we would catch each other's eye while other teacher's sipped their morning coffees. they have no idea. days like that truly made us feel like we existed in a whole other realm of reality. and i guess we did. climbing can do that. push you to become something beyond yourself.

standing once again below the base and i'm excited at the prospect of being able to climb again. i can hold out. i can let myself heal. this rock isn't going anywhere. for now, it feels good to be out stretching my legs in the crisp fall air in this beautiful park. the first bit of real exercise i've gotten in a while. my back is a little achy, but i'm considering the hike, i'm pleased with how's its held up. this has been a good test of how well i'm healing. i'm anxious to get back in the midst of seorak, losing myself in its traversing and intersecting trails. i'm just about ready.

forays in the darkroom

stonesamurai — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:15:00 GMT

it's always a very stimulating time to be immersed in a group of strangers. that first impression, a flashbulb of insight. then, with each word spoken and gesture made, with each reaction to a thought or joke cracked, a more refined image begins to materialize. new personalities begin to develop themselves in the darkroom of the mind, slowly bringing into focus finer and finer details of each stranger's nuances. each character's idiosyncrasies. each individual's peculiar motives. soon the stranger's are strangers no more. most will be cast off into the pool of acquaintances. a few will be tossed in the bin of unrelatables or unbearables. but once in awhile some stranger will manifest an image worthy of framing. an image that is not only agreeable, but magnetic. one that draws you. perhaps even inspires you. these strangers quickly rewrite themselves into friends. it is a very reassuring thought to know that the more pictures we take, the more chances we have of walking away with that perfect image we seek. it is rarely easy to find, but it is always worth the effort.