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| Sabuk summer rain |
A lot. And also not a lot. It seems like it flew by.
As the lillois were leaving for Busan and Jeju, beautiful summer rain poured down on us in Sabuk. I love summer rain. I hope that by the end of summer, I will have at least one chance to dance in the rain.
The next day, the sun shined down upon us and I was brimming with energy. As visiters from the outside, my friends inspired me to take a closer look at Sabuk's history. I discovered a whole new part of this town, full of abandoned buildings and exploding green gardens. And the coal memorial where the nice man lets me take tons of beautiful free postcards. So psyched to finally have postcards of this place! I've decided to work on a Sabuk documentary with my students next semester. I'm not quite sure how I will undertake this experimental project, but I'm pretty excited about it. It will give me a chance to work on something interesting with my students and to get to know the place where I live better. Of course, at one point we will be in bitter cold winter...
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| Sabuk abandoned apartments |
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| Sabul coal lift |
The first week of July brought more sunshine and positive energy - I was feeling pretty good. The school staff took a 2-day trip down to the Yeosu Expo. I wasn't too jazzed about the expo itself as its pretty much a huge, flashy show of watered-down tidbits from various countries around the world and over-the-top water and light shows. Some Koreans eat this stuff right up. Anyway, I enjoyed the company of an American and Korean teacher.
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| Yeosu Expo playtime |
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| Yeosu Expo nightshow |
The trip schedule was packed pretty tight with lots of driving, but we enjoyed the pension near Jiri mountain and the carousing. Koreans, especially older Korean men, take everything out through drinking. Random violence, expressing controlled anger, can overtake even the calmest of people. Russians do this too - I'm not a fan of this cultural aspect, but it is what it is. Hopefully, the younger generations can learn to deal with their problems while sober and save the drinking for genuine fun times. Who knows.
This was my second visit to Jeollanam-do and it's still the most beautiful part of Korea that I've seen. Damyang has a lovely tree-lined walking trail and a big bamboo forest. It's famous for bamboo and all kinds of fruits. We had a great meal at a restaurant for lunch - that day was one where I really appreciated Korea again. Wanting to communicate with the Korean teachers who hardly speak English, I was pushed again to do some intense language study on the bus. These moments come not so frequently nowadays and even though I'm studying, I'm not sure my skills are improving at the moment. Hopefully, more opportunities will arise.
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| Totem Poles along the Damyang forest walk |
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| Damyang Bamboo Forest |
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| Damyang lunchtime |
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| Damyang view |
When we got back that night, the middle school foreign teacher and I hung out with the high school science teacher and my badass girl students who win in national science competitions. They were taking pictures of the moon with the telescope. It was a really nice moment of being part of the community. I'm also proud of the science teacher who I feel works hard to elevate the girls' self-esteem and passion for science.
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| Sabuk moongazing |
The next day, we had our yellow belt taekwondo test which was not ideal but less stressful than I imagined. I'm not good at taekwondo - I just have to accept this. But I do my best and I keep my body moving and healthier than before. It is a cultural experience that I would not get anywhere else.
The lillois were flying out the next weekend, so we had to have a proper goodbye, which meant getting smashed at a noraebang and watching the sunrise while stumbling around Hongdae on a Friday. I was joined by a new Japanese WWOOF friend and her Finnish buddy.
We were supposed to head back to Hansol, the Namyangju farm early the next morning but of course that was postponed until the afternoon. It was another amazing weekend at the farm, this time under the monsoon. We weeded the hell out of the strawberry greenhouses and some people painted the burgeoning compost toilet. At night, we sang songs around a fire with the puppy running around. My favorite part is how the farmer is not only genuinely interested in sharing his passions and his work, he tries to bring out the magic in each person he meets. Truly wonderful.
Then, I had a weekend in Seoul to myself. (Now cancelled) Mark Kozelek was playing and it's always a joy to see just him and his voice and his nylon-string guitar, though the show in Hongdae the night before was probably better.
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| Dongdaemun (East Gate) Seoul |
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| Cheongyangni, Seoul train station |
The semester was coming to a close and I was restless - it seems I did nothing at all of value until Jisan Rock Festival the last weekend in July. There, I saw amazing shows by Radiohead, Korean metal bands and the highlight, one of my favorite legendary bands - The Stone Roses. I hardly took any pictures. It's all memories now. I was really looking forward to this festival and parts of it were really good while other parts were lonely or overwhelming. But seeing this music, the affirmation of life, was worth all of it.
And that's about it. Next up is Jeju.
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