춘곤증 - CHUNGONJEUNG - SPRING FEVER

Today, one of my students, James, a business man, did some extra homework. Seeing how tired I felt and looked this week, he decided to explain to me the Korean concept Chungonjeung - Spring Fever. I had heard of this before, but thought it was more a superstition (or excuse for laziness) than something with a scientific background. Looks like I was wrong.

Below I have written out James' homework. For authenticity I have left it unedited. It's very interesting.



This is not a specific term. It's a temporary symptom when beginning of spring season. The main reasons are as following.

Chungonjeung 춘곤증

1. When the spring season comes our body needs at least 2-3 weeks for it as the temperature degree increase. We easily feel fatigue this period because of our body's unbalance state.

2. Our body requires vitamin B, C, etc for regeneration. It we can't supply these we might feel tired and sleepy.

3. Many environments of our life change in this season. For example graduate school, enter the new school & company, new class, new classmates. All of these cause stresses.

4. As the day time is longer sleeping time is shorter.

ROAD FC

Yesterday some friends and I went to Road FC, Korea's MMA league. It's very similar to UFC and almost all the same rules except that there were no elbows and kneeing a downed opponent WAS allowed. Interesting. The venue was the Jangchung Gymnasium where Judo and Taekwondo were hosted at the '88 Olympics. There was a decent attendance, though not a full house, and many of the spectators including the noisiest, were westerners (Americans I guess). Overall it was a pretty good show. An amateur section first, seven fights. And then the pros later, seven more fights, stretching out over five hours. They had octagon girls and famous Korean comedians to entertain us between fights.
Most of the fighters were in the lower weight classes as can be expected. So there weren't many knockouts, but there was plenty of heart and technical skill. Even one substitute fighter who took his fight on two days notice against an opponent fifteen kilos heavier. He lost, of course.
There was some international competition; two Japanese, a Brazilian and a Canadian, but mostly Koreans.
One of the cool thing about events like this in Korea is that you can bring in your own food and beer. My friends stocked up on convenience store Cass before the fights and I a bottle of Gatorade.
The other cool thing about this event was the Korean audience. Most of my western friends and I have the opinion that Korean guys are a bit feminine and quite vain. Many of them seem to spend an awful long time looking in the mirror and fixing their hair. Not to mention the masses of young to old men that are fashion-conscious, trend-following, hair-dying and cleanse-tone-and-moisturize-three-times-a-day-ing. So, to see guys with cauliflower ears, misshapen noses and not sporting skinny jeans with New Balance sneakers was a breath of fresh air.
The atmosphere was pleasant enough, even when Japanese fighters were competing. However, I guess there might be trouble occasionally as there were half a dozen police buses lined up outside.
I would definitely go back and hope the next event is soon. Our 25,000 won tickets (cheapest seats) were perfectly adequate as the stadium is small.

HOW TILL SPAKE NORN IRON

Every Saturday morning I teach a businessman called JC. We have a one to one class in a study room in my neighbourhood. He's a great guy, a successful entrepreneur and someone I learn a lot from.
Despite it being useless to his future business plans, JC is always keen to learn Northern Irish expressions and slang. In our last class, I spent the full two hours teaching him "how till spake Norn Iron". It was hilarious! JC's English is pretty good and he doesn't have a very noticeable Korean accent. But to look this Asian man in the eye as he greeted me with "Bout ye big lad', was very unusual. And even more strange and funny as he assaulted me with a barrage of insults - minger, melter, munter. He told me stories of firing stones at the peelers and getting lamped by his ma when he was wee.
I can't wait for the next class when he has learned all these expressions. His homework is to tell me about his childhood using Norn Iron. It should be interesting.

驛馬煞 YUKMASAL

This week one of my students introduced me to the Korean word yukmasal (驛馬煞). My Korean English dictionary says it is "a person with itchy feet". However my students and Korean friends have several different opinions on the meaning.

The word comes from three Chinese characters. Yuk (驛) means station and ma (馬) is horse. Sal (煞) has been hard for me to understand and I've received different answers when asking the meaning. It seems to be similar to "destiny", and a bit like "aura", and most likely something in between. Although I've also heard it described as "bad spirit".

This history of yukmasal is very interesting. Many generations ago in Korea, before having such an awesome transportation system, horse and rider was the main method of delivering messages. Like many other countries, when the government had a new policy, or tax, or an order to send to another town, the message was delivered on horse back.

En route from the capital, and scattered around the country, were yukmal (驛馬) - literally horse stations. These were places where riders could turn in their tired horse for a fresh one before continuing on their journey. And interestingly enough, my closest subway station, Yanjaeyuk, used to be a yukma.

At that time in Korean history, being a messenger was considered unfortunate. There was a caste system, and only low-ranking citizens did this work. Thieves in the mountains made the job risky. And of course, Korea's extreme climate ensured a likelihood of becoming sick.

Korea was an agricultural society at that time, though not nomadic like Mongolia. So people settled in one place, and any digression from that life was frowned upon. Still today, there seems to be a strong mentality here that a settled job is a good job. But according to my student, Jin, the world, and Korea, is changing. Now a man will go abroad if he has the ability too. And because of this, the once very negative meaning of yukmasal, is becoming more positive. Often used in a joking manner, it can even be seen as a compliment in some cases to indicate a person has traveled a lot for enjoyment.

This word has really intrigued me and I enjoyed many a discussion with students and Korean friends about it. Some of the quotes that came out quite impressed me,

-"After leaving home, you will not come back".
-"It's your fate to be so active".
-"Just follow the wind".
-"You have lots of wind". (I had to correct my student on this one.)
-"It's an inherited illness".
'"If you meet a beautiful woman, you can't keep the relationship very long". (Damn!)


These talimans are typical charms for people with yukmasal. They are carried for protection against evil spirits, disease and accidents. They are also extremely expensive when bought from a temple. So feel free to print these off and tape to your arm before your next vacation.

IT'S A SAXOPHONE

I started a new private class last night. It's in one of the fanciest buildings in Seoul, the Gangnam Finance Center. My new student seems to have a status on par with the building in which he works. Mr Park oversees the construction of power plants. In March he'll move to India to build natural gas power plant. I was contacted to get his English ready for dealing with his Indian partners and staff.
Our first class was a little stiff, as it usually is when I'm attempting to teach business English to people who know much more about business, and often more about English, than me.
About thirty minutes into class I heard a loud beep. And then a boop. And then a bope. I ignored the beep and the boop, but the bope grabbed my attention. I looked at Mr Park inquisitively. "A trumpet", I think he said. "A what", I said. "Oh, no, not a trumpet," he said. I smiled. "It's a saxophone!", "My boss is learning".
And for the remaining thirty minutes of the class we both tried to keep serious faces. Discussing reverse discrimination and workplace glass ceilings as his boss slowly, methodically went up and down the saxophone scale, I had to bite my inside lip a few times to prevent an outburst of laughter.
Once in a while I accidentally smiled. Probably not very professional, but I think we broke the ice.

LOCAL SCHOOL

Some of the students and our friendly guide.

On a day hike around the paddi fields outside Ubud in Bali I stopped to ask directions. While a young local lad helped me, Karol popped into an internet cafe for some seemingly urgent task. So I chatted with the local for a while and introduced him to the German girls we were with. Both the Germans are studying to be teachers and of course, I also 'work' in the education field. So of course that came up in our conversation. Learning of my interest in education and Balinese schools, the young guy told us his old elementary school was just a minute away and invited us to check it out.
Actually it was less than a minute away. We'd been unknowingly sitting right on the school's doorstep. Classes were in session when we popped in, but that didn't stop the teachers, principal and students from giving us a warm welcome and tour of the small and basic, but beautiful place. The principal told me that there used to be about twenty students in each class. But now, just six to eight. He said it's because tourism has brought more money to families so now they can send their kids to private schools instead of village public schools like this one. He said this is a good thing.
The kids were cute and friendly as all Asian kids seem to be. And the school seemed to be well harmonised with the tropical nature around it. One classroom, built separately from the others even was wall-less and surrounding rice fields and palm trees were visible just metres away. A wonderful environment to learn in (excuse the pun).

ROMANCE AND LIFE IN UBUD

I had to debate with myself about whether to post my holiday romance here. Fears of losing opportunities with perspective girlfriends down the line make me reluctant to talk of past encounters. And I'm aware that writing about such things may only give enjoyment to me, not to the readers, so I’m afraid I may just be indulging myself.
However, as I’m aiming for honesty and openness on this blog, and since this experience was such a big part of my trip, perhaps the best part of my trip, I’ll share my experience and some videos which don't really relate to what I've written, but give you a feel for the place.
A couple of nights before Karol was scheduled to return to London, he and I were having another of our fast-becoming famous "convenience store parties". Oh, and for your information, a convenience store party is one in which you simply buy your booze from the convenience store and hang around outside. Talking to any people that visit or pass the store is the goal. I play music from my smartphone, Karol does his funny dance, and we both use tons of Irish charm to get a fun party started with other fun people. Convenient store parties are great because
A. They're super cheap
B. It's much easier to talk to people because there's no loud pub music.
C. And, uh, they’re cheap.
Anyway I digress...
So, we were having a convenience store party in Ubud, Bali and the party was really happening. We’d a few people drinking cheap beers with us, mostly Europeans. The convenience store workers loved us (I think) because we were strongly promoting their special 2 Bintang Beers for 33,000 rupiah. We were also sharing our hip flasks of Jameson whisky, so the following meeting I describe is based on hearsay and flashbacks.
A young Asian girl walked past us with a yoga mat. I started chatting to her and found out that she, Sujin, lives just a few blocks from me in Seoul. Quite a coincidence considering the size of Seoul and that she was the only Korean I had met in Indonesia.
After seducing Sujin with my seven Korean phrases, including “you’re pretty” and “more rice please sir”, she joined our convenience store party. Success!
Actually Sujin turned out to be awesome. She had been studying art at Hongik University (Korea’s best), but got sick of it, dropped out (almost unheard of to do that in Korea) and moved to Bali. She was renting a beautiful bungalow just outside Ubud, spending her days studying yoga, painting, creating new types of art (using sea salt!) and hanging out with friends in funky cafes.
We all drunk together that night and although Karol seemed to hate her (I suspect jealousy), I really took a liking to her. By the time Karol left for London two days later, we’d become close and Sujin let me stay in her countryside bungalow for the next week. Following three weeks of cheap guesthouses, home-stays, Karol’s snoring and Ronan’s tickling, it was heaven to move in with a girl.
The next week was one of the best I’ve ever spent “on the road”. The place she lives is so peaceful and relaxing; with a natural green backdrop as you can see in the video.

It’s rare for me to feel relaxed in the company of a person or people without taking time to myself or finding “my space”. But with Sujin I was totally content without it. Even the simplest things like having a healthy, organic breakfast and Bali coffee on the veranda were so enjoyable. My usual attitude of eat quickly and “let’s do something!”, dissipated to the point where I might’ve even seemed lazy.
We had no routine to our days, but always managed to do something fun. Yoga class, meditation class, hiking in the rice fields, visiting the great cafes and restaurants she’d discovered in the last four months, or meeting her friends.
We often spent evenings alone on her veranda drinking hot whiskies made with lemon, sugar, cloves, cinnamon and the final bottle of the Jameson. Relaxing to chilled beats like The XX or Gotan Project, we watched fireflies dance around the palm trees below us.

I struck up a friendship with the owner of a new, but cheap arung (family-run restaurant) in ‘our’ neighborhood. A passionate artist, like many Balinese, he had decorated his restaurant so that it was like a living room and the atmosphere was very cozy and welcoming. We dined there several times and he always came to chat with us, showing genuine interested in both Ireland and Korea.
Despite being only twenty-three, Sujin was contemplating opening a Korean restaurant/bar. Her plan also includes making her own makgeolli (korean fermented rice wine). Anyone that knows about my life in Korea will know that I am absolutely crazy about makgeolli. I drink it almost every day. It’s so cheap and healthy and tastes great.
She had a meeting scheduled in the south of Bali with a Korean businessman to get some advice. Upon learning of my interest in makgeolli, she invited me to join. I gladly accepted and we took an overnight trip to Seminyak, a popular beach-town. The meeting was very interesting and I might write about it later.
Following that we walked along the beach and promenade keen to do the beach bungee jump. But at over one hundred dollars, we decided not to. We visited a trendy Spanish bar/restaurant on the beach, and I mean literally on the beach, with funky big cushion-chairs to sit/lie/melt on while drinking beers and eating tapas to house music and the sound of waves.
After a few beers we found a cheap and nasty room and then headed out in even more nasty Kuta, the famous beach and party place of Bali. I’d been here at the start of my trip, but hadn’t experienced the infamous nightlife. For all the beauty, tranquility and warmth Bali has to offer, Kuta has none of it. Drunken people everywhere, horrible-looking bar-girls (of the prostitute type), drugs sold openly and lots and lots of dodgy-looking characters walking up and down the strip, seemingly looking for prey. We hit a few clubs and Sujin enjoyed the dancing, but I found it hard to relax or drink in that atmosphere.
We spent the next afternoon haggling for cheap sandals, enjoying lunch beers on the beach and swimming in the big waves. And then shared a “transport”- private taxi with a German family, the father of which had envious haggling skills and got us all a great price.
The great thing about Sujin was that although we basically spent twenty-four hours a day together for that week, I never saw a bad side to her. She never got annoyed, and there are plenty of things to get annoyed at in Bali, not least the ogling eyes of locals and their comments. I never heard her complain, show any negativity or put anyone down. It was very refreshing and naturally had a similar effect on me.

And she was a wonderful, caring host. Always good beer in the fridge, nice organic food; plenty of cheese and vegetables. And generous too, often picking up the bill in restaurants, including in our most expensive eatery (the Korean restaurant in Seminyak).
And although Sujin will live her life in Bali and I in many other places, I’ll always keep those fond memories.

SOLO TRIP TO LEMPUYANG TEMPLE

Here is a video I made of a day trip I took just outside Amed in northeast Bali. They video and audio quality are not great as I recorded it on my phone. But hopefully you can get a feel for the place and the experience.

VOODOO IS ALIVE AND WELL

We stayed at a friendly place called Bukit Bungalows on Gili Trawangan. As we were there for several days we got pretty chatty with the young guy running the place.
One day he and I were talking in the garden after the usual omelet and Lombok coffee breakfast. I had heard people in Indonesia get married quite young and asked about his situation. He got married in his early twenties. His wife was seventeen at that time. This was interesting, but not surprising. However, what he told me next was very surprising.
He used to be a rice farmer in his home town. He earned 25,000 Rupiah for 8 hours work. That's less than 3 US dollars. But when he came to Gili Island and started working in tourism his earnings greatly increased. He was able to pay off his small house in just a couple of years. And, according to him, this caused one of the other farmers in his hometown to become jealous and start using voodoo on his wife. His wife, who lives alone in their hometown is now having mental problems because of this voodoo. Sometimes she just starts screaming or freaking out for no apparent reason.
So every time he visits his hometown, he searches his land for voodoo related items. He told me in voodoo to make the spells stronger, the person who is cursing the other often hides a magical item close to the home of those he is attacking to increase the strength of the spell.
I asked about the possibility of visiting the village elder for help because I'd heard of that being done. But he seemed reluctant to do so and said he would just keep searching his land.
I'm not sure what I think about all this and I'd love to learn more about Indonesian believes, but I'm certainly flattered that he spoke to me so openly. And for the following weeks in Indonesia I experienced a lot of this openness and willingness to share personal stories with strangers from Indonesians.

CULTURE SHOCK

1. Koreans sometimes drink an energy drink made from human placenta. I have met one Korean who self-injects this concoction twice aweek for energy.
2. I know one Korean lady who, although living in this dynamic capital city, had a 9pm cufew until she turned twenty (which was just a few years ago.)
3. I've met one person who has been a teacher in Korea and described her experiences using corporal punishment on students. And this lady is a very nice lady.
4. During the economic crisis of 1997 many men in Korea lost their jobs. Some were to embarrassed to tell their families, so instead, put on their suits every day and "went to work". Actually they had nowhere to go, so went hiking in some of the many mountains in and around Seoul (in their business suits.) Apparanty this still goes on somewhat today and can be seen if you hike during weekdays.

TOP TEN TOP TENS

One of the topics we did this week in my adult general conversation class was Top Ten Lists. For homework I asked them to prepare their own top ten list of anything they want, preferably something interesting. There were the usual lists of favorite foods and places, but lots of original stuff too. Here's my top ten favorites of my student's top ten lists in no particular order:

TOP TEN...
1. situations I can't bear on public transport.
2. surprising things about mosquitos.
3. most beautiful English words.
4. longest bridges.
5. accidents I have witnessed.
6. lies men tell women.
7. things that surprised me in China.
8. world's healthiest foods.
9. Korean foods that Japanese people like.
10. times/places I'd go if I had a time machine.

LOVE TEETH

I've been complaining to my students about my coming wisdom teeth. I had the uppers removed in Japan and maybe I'll need the lowers taken out here. I haven't been to the dentist yet becuase I'm already suffering too much with a suspected broken rib (thanks awesome boxing master!) and stomach problems (though getting much better). So surgery in my mouth is not what I want right now. I'll wait a while and hope it just goes away.
Anyway, my students taught me that the Korean word for wisdom tooth is 사랑니-sarangni, which translates as 'love tooth'. It's a sign that real love is ready to come in to your life. Hearing that really cheered me up. And I'd much rather be in love than be wise :)

BOXING: FIRST WEEK

Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse.... My first boxing class was on Tuesday. Despite the leg pain, I went again on Thursday where I got my shoulders slapped, feet kicked, and my own fist pushed against my face whenever I dropped my guard.
Saturday however was the icing on the cake (I hope). Although our 'master' hasn't taught me to punch or even defend myself yet, he asked if I wanted to spar a couple of rounds with him in the ring. Of course I thought I'd look weak if I declined so I 'enthusiastically' agreed. I jokingly told my friend to tell him in Korean not to break my nose. To which my friend laughed and said not to worry, he's just going to slap me around a bit. HA! Thirty seconds later blood was running down my nose. He caught me with a straight across the bridge of my nose. After a bit of towel work from my corner I was good to go again and managed to finish the first round giving him a cut lip. Second round I took another hammering, but not too many to the nose (he focused on my beer belly this time). To be honest, by the end of the second round I could hardly breath or defend myself so was mostly just taking shots and trying not to whine too much. And as hard as it was, I took a lot of pleasure seeing the bllod on his teeth when he took out his mouth piece, though I have a feeling I might pay dearly for that next time :(

[Photo: Don't worry, I'm still pretty ;)]

DEAD DOG II

When my little brother was here I took him to eat dog with a couple of Korean friends. I was very impressed that he was keen to try it. It was my second time and certainly easier than the first, but still not overly enjoyable.
Ronan ate three or four pieces. He didn't enjoy it, but tried his best, so I'm proud of him.

[Ronan with Korean friends Tina and Bria.]

BOXING: FIRST CLASS

All I have to say is, 'boxing is painful, so painful'. And I haven't even been punched yet!
Yesterday, my Korean buddy David (see climbing photos) and I joined Seoul Boxing Gym. My health club gym membership ended a couple of weeks ago and I decided not to resign. I hate gyms, I've always hated gyms and two years ago told myself I'd never go one again. I've always figured if your life is active enough you won't need them. And if you have to exercise, you should find a fun way to do it. But big city life changed me so I ended up lifting weights and running a treadmill like a hamster for months just to stop the over indulgance of big city life from killing me. But I've now decided that getting punched in the face on a regular basis will be better for my health...
A former student told me about Seoul Boxing Gym a while back and I decided to join when my gym membership was up. He told me it was reasonably priced, but warned me that the 'master' was a bit of a loose cannon and hot tempered with a habit of telling students "You're rubbish, just go home" (in Korean of course). But somehow this attracted me to the place more than deterred me. Images of me proving myself to my 'master' masked the realistic images of me vomiting in the toilet or passing out from exhaustion, or memorizing Korean for "I want my Mommy", in case of emergencies. I envisoned facing my master and replying to his scornful comments that "I might be rubbish, but I will not go home", or something really cool along those lines, even as he jabs a finger into my little beer gut.
Unfortunately though on the first day he wasn't mean enough to me for me to make my point. So I'll have to wait.
He did however grab my beer gut. Early on, before warming up he took a look at my paunch and then grabbed it. Instinctively I tensed up, but quickly reconsidered in hope that he would go easy on me. He laughed and gave it a shake. To which I replied 'mekju mani'-a lot of beer. He said something in Korean about not drinking anymore which I couldn't understand even when David translated it. Anyway, probably not important.
Then we did some stretching and he got us started on the jump rope. We had to do five rounds of three minutes each with a thirty second break between. There's even a real bell that rings at these intervals. Skipping mightn't sound that difficult, but you'd be amazed. And we had to alternate from one foot to the other and then at different angles. David and I were saturated in sweat by the end of the third 'round'. And in the fourth and fifth we were delirious and swearing, but too afraid to quit despite the cramps.
Then we got a short break followed by more jumping. This time though it wasn't with a rope. Just posing in front of the mirror in a boxing stance. It took about five minutes for me to get the stance correct. I couldn't understand the coach and David was too tired to translate so the big meanie resorted to pushing me and kicking my feet until the position was right. I laughed at these actions, but I was crying on the inside. Thought I felt better when I saw him do the same things to David. Ha!
Anyway, we then had another three gruelling rounds of trying to maintain this position while hopping up and down (like boxers?).
Then three more rounds of skipping even though we could hardly stand. Then he let us go home telling us we need to know how to do our own taping my tomorrow and and that today was just a gentle warm-up. I made some excuse about having a date and said I'd come back 'another time'. He laughed, but I could see he wanted to slap me. He said something about needing to practice a lot and reiterated his earlier point about alcohol intake, which I still didn't understand.
Now, the morning after, my calfs are a little stiff, but otherwise I feel good. And since I've already paid a months fees I might actually go back again. Watch this space...

COMPANY "WORKSHOP"

Our new manager arranged a weekend workshop for us last weekend. But unlike typical Korean workshops, we didn't do any work, it was just a retreat. We went to a pension two hours outside Seoul. A nice location in a valley with a little river. And we basically just drunk a lot of alcohol and ate a ton of delicious barbequed meat. A great way to start a new working relationship :)

Me, impressing my Korean co-worker with ability to walk on water.Co-worker Stephanie catching fish with her bare hands.Co-worker Tyler catching fish by hitting them in the head with rocks. Psycho!

IT'S THE PEOPLE YOU MEET

When we were in Gyeongju for the long weekend we found a wonderful little cafe called Yan's (the owner's name). We stumbled across this little family-run place accidentally while looking for another cafe. With it's second-floor balcony catching the afternoon sun we nested there for a couple hours to drink hand-dripped coffee and plan our hiking route for the following day.
From the minute we entered the cafe, I loved it. None of the corporate franchise big chain regularity that Seoul offers on every street corner. Just a nice lady behind the wooden counter packing coffee beans, Eric Clapton on the stereo and no other customers.
After ordering a Guatemala and Costa Rica coffees (how cultured are we??) we basked in the afternoon sun appreciating our find. Soon after, the owner, who is also the husband of the lady who served us, came out to introduce himself. A "cool dude" in all senses. Long hair tied back in a pony tail, though a little thin on top, he had the charisma of an old rock star. He cheerfully chatted with us in broken English while his wife brought the coffee and a big plate of cookies.
An hour later they brought us come complimentary iced coffee to ease our growing sunburn. And we lounged there quite contentedly until dinner time.
A couple of days later we returned to spend a rainy afternoon there drinking hot coffee and relaxing before our long bus journey back to Seoul. However, when we arrived the cafe was closed and no signs were visable indicating opening hours. We were so disappointed that 'our' cafe was closed. But with three hours to kill until our bus and no energy to be tourists we needed to find a suitable alternative. Dunkin donuts looked uninviting, but after five minutes exploring we'd found nothing else. Just as despair was kicking in I heard a car slow down and Tyler started talking to someone. It was Yan, the cafe owner! Where are you going, he asked me. To your cafe, I said, but it's closed (and I did my "disappointment face" which is internationally understandable). He told us that they open at one on Sundays, but he'll take us there now (12:30). So we climbed aboard his cool red SUV and hit the cafe where is wife was just opening up. It felt like a home away from home climbing out of his car and up the steps to be greeted by his wife.We settled down for a couple of hours and drank more delicious and super strong coffee to keep the rainy day chills away. Again we were adorned with extra cups of coffee and plates of cokies. Both Yan and his wife took time to ask about us, our lives in Korea and out hoome countries. And they also told us about their cafe, and daughter, who joins them each weekend night to play live music with her dad for the customers. Aside from the big vinyl record collection there was an allocated space with a few guitars, keyboard, other bits and bobs and a tiny stage.
My two Korean class friends later joined us to escape the rain and also got a hearty warm welcome. I really enjoyed being there. It wasn't just the free extra coffee or special attention I liked. Rather I felt as though they were just really nice people who weren't in the business just for the money. I really enjoyed meeting Yan and his wife and hope their business is successful and they are always as happy as they seemed to me.

MAKING WISHES

When I was a little boy, my Da always told me, "Don't wish your life away". I guess the meaning behind it (be happy with what you have) is a good one, but I took that proverb literally and haven't wished for anything in over fifteen years. I think we've all seen movies or heard childhood stories that highlight the tragedies that can come along with wishes being granted. So I ignored my opportunities; birthday parties, shooting stars, the 'wish-bone' from a roast chicken, etc.
But recently my philosophy changed and I decided it's ok to make wishes and to hope they come true. This change happened on Sunday when I was visiting Seoul's famous Cheonggechon for the first time. This stream is a popular place and has small bridges from where people toss coins whilst making a wish. So, shaking off my old sensibilities I prepared myself mentally and with a coin (borrowed from my good friend Hyangmi). The anticipation was actually kind of exciting in a childish way, as it I expected the outcome to happen immediately. I tossed the coin and made my wish "to fall in love". After making the wish, I actually felt kind of enlightened and light-hearted. This is surprising since usually any form of wasting money fills me with a heavy remorse :o(
This being Korea, there isn't the rule 'keep it secret or it won't come true', so I shared my wish with Hyangmi. Being the great friend she is, she also took a coin and wished for ME to fall in love. She also said she'd pray for me (though that just made me feel like a desperate case, haha) So let's see what happens...

BASEBALL AND LEARNING KOREAN

A friend took me to a Korean league baseball game last week. It was great. Although the soccer game between North and South Korea was fun and the atmosphere was cool, this experience blew it out of the water. It was the opening weekend of the league and the atmosphere was electric. The stadium was jam-packed with fans even sitting on the steps. Luckily we got a couple of seats and had a good view of the game. I'd only been to one baseball game before and that was the Totonto Bluejays back in 1994, so I wasn't too knowlegable about the game. But my Korean buddy explained it pretty well without making me feel like too much of an idiot.
Each of the teams fans had a set of cheerleaders and a guy with a microphone leading chants. This, along with the thousands of 'thundersticks' (the yellow inflatable noisy things you see in the photo) ensured rapturous cheering all over the stadium.
Once I was familiar and confident with the rules and 'my team' and no longer afraid of booing or cheering at the wrong time (and getting lynched by the crowd), I tried to learn the chants. I first learned the most simple. It is the players name (eg: Ii-Yoo-Kyoo) followed by 'hit' (an-ta). But the chanting must be co-ordinated with certain clapping of the thundersticks and other movements, so it takes a while. And also you have to keep up with the changes in player because there's no point cheering for a guy who isn't up to bat. Oh, and you should also be careful not to get carried away with the mood of it all and start singing along when it's the other team up to bat, because you WILL find yourself being eyeballed by all those around you even though you are a foreigner who doesn't know any better.Anyway, I got all this figured out by the seventh (of nine) innings, but just when I was confident, they changed to a new song (probably because my team was losing) and I gave up. Though all in all, it was a great and sunny day at the ballpark.

NEW EXPERIENCES (AND BEING MANLY)

Despite a lack of new experiences in my six months here in Seoul, I just had three this week. First was on Monday when I visited the ENT (Ears, Nose, Throat) doctor. Yellow dust has been causing me lots of problems with congestion and stuff. My new experience was a camera stuck up (way up) my nose with a live video feed to the big screen in the room. Although it was interesting from a biological point of view to see my inner nose, I did not enjoy the pain and vulnerable feeling. Actually it was kind of like torture, but I clenched my jaw and pretended I was in Vietnam (though I don't know why) and tried not to show my discomfort.
Second new experience was at the same doctors four days later when my condition had not improved. After spraying anesthetic up my notice (which apparently didn't work) he 'rammed' a little hoover waaaaaaaaay up there and sucked out mucus and stuff. This was deeper and much more uncomfortable than the camera. And didn't have the distraction of "look, it's your brain" on the live video feed. I didn't cry ('cuz I'm a man, right!) but my eyes streamed water and I was tempted to punch the kind doctor right in HIS nose. Admittedly, I did feel less congested afterward and he prescribed me some antibiotics (probably knowing if I had to come back again someone would get hurt).
And the third new experience was yesterday at a jimjilbang (kind of bathhouse/spa where Koreans hang out/pamper themselves). I've been to many before, but yesterday's place had a little pool full of those fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. Wow! What a bizarre sensation! Now, I've swum with piranhas in the Amazon (just reiterating how much of MAN I am), but when these things latched onto my toes and soles with the 'teeth'(?) I shrieked like a girl and nearly jumped ten feet high. It took a long time to get used to it and I can't say it was actually pleasant at any point, but certainly became bearable and I would do it again. A Canadian friend I was with didn't hold up so well and alternated between five seconds of girly giggling as his feet were submerged and several minutes of knees tucked up to his chest, feet out of water, saying 'I can't do it, I can't do it'. He says he's got super sensitive feet, but I say he's just not very MANLY.