A cool breeze

The temperatures here for the past 3 or 4 months have been hot enough to cook most Newfoundlanders alive. Daily highs range from 35-40 celsius with high humidity, if it weren't for the air conditioner in my apartment and at the school I'd have perished weeks ago. Plans for outings and dining are partly based on the selection of places with good "aircon". I've gotten somewhat used to it by now so the air conditioner is set at a chilly 25 celsius, I can see that when I go home to visit I'm going to be wearing winter gear in June.

Yesterday we had a bit of rain, not the torrential downpours that have occurred during the summer rainy season just a little lightning storm. The temperature dropped to an almost livable 25 celsius. I can wear long pants again without turning into a walking steambath!

Strange days

Okay, this has not been an average week (more about that later.) I've been feeling a bit out of place this past week, sort of like a foreigner in a strange country, ha ha! Very unusual for me though, I haven't felt homesick or anything like that since I left Newfoundland last year and this is past my 6 month mark now. I was starting to think that I was born to live out here, somewhere else.

This week has been a bit different. I felt kinda alien this week, strange customs that don't usually bother me here started to rankle, kinda like in the Doors song "People are Strange".

Last night, at the height of this feeling of strangeness, the lady who runs my neighbourhood convenience store, and her friends, invited me to sit and eat with them in front of the store. It was completely unexpected, interesting, strange and touching. I dined on the curb outside the convenience store with three ladies who spoke no English and felt I was finally part of the neighbourhood. I know I'm one of very few foreigners in my neighbourhood that's seen by daylight (again, more on that later.)

Thus began a whole cycle of even more strangeness so far today. A feeling of blissful, near-perfection that is almost unbearably easy but yet, somehow, unnerving. I know that I probably shouldn't question this strange grace that I feel today, but it's so calming that it's making me worry. This morning I was the first teacher to arrive at school.

Actually now that I think about it, the whole cycle of difference really began yesterday morning when I walked part of the way back home with the Korean teacher who teaches Chinese language classes, I've been here for six months and I didn't even think she could speak very much English (and my Korean is still too piss-poor for conversation beyond buying lunch), but yesterday we walked and had had a conversation for about 20 minutes. She just dropped by now and got my name and phone number, I'm not sure why but it's all part of the strangeness of this thing.

Jirisan National Park

This past weekend Keith, Duane and I took a bus to Jinju, a nearby small city (the size of St. John's.) We wandered around a bit and got rooms for the night in a yeoinsuk, very cheap, $10US including a fan and a TV. The rooms are bare concrete cells with a thin mat to sleep on, which is actually pretty good for the back. The only problem is that with no air conditioning the room temperature was around 40 celsius. Turning on the fan made it feel like a convection oven! A couple of times sleepy folks rattled my doorknob looking for their own room, so I never did get much sleep.

On Saturday we got a bus to Ssangyesa, a Buddhist temple that sits at a trailhead for a mountain peak. The hike up the mountain is about 7 km of upward climbing, the hardest part is the giant manmade stairs made of boulders for the first part of the trail. I was exhausted at about the 4.8 km mark, the lack of sleep and proper breakfast took their toll, and so I stopped to make tea while the others went on ahead. They came back shortly because the trail to the peak would have taken too long and we'd have missed our bus back to Busan.

Korean hikers are friendly and they usually say hello or sometimes stop for a chat. It's a nice change of pace from the daily insanity of city life. Next hike I'm going to carry an extra mug in case we have a guest for tea.

Snowboarding, hiking and blogger truancy

Hey all,

I've been running around doing stuff outside in the hot, sticky summer air. I've been up and down Geumjeong mountain 5 times now. Geumjeong is the biggest mountain in the city and has some great scenery. I've been taking photos but my laptop crapped out and I have no easy way to upload them, I'll work something out.

On Monday my friend Seyoung (a lovely girl who shares my birthday) took me snowboarding at the new indoor ski hill. I never thought I'd enjoy seeing snow so much! Of course, snowboarding for the first time was a great laugh, I spent most of the morning on my ass. My buddy Duane told me that I should pad my tailbone to prevent some agony later. I didn't heed that advice but luckily I only landed badly a couple of times. The surprising thing is how stiff I was a couple of days later, I need more exercise than walking, I think.

This coming weekend I'm off to climb Jiri mountain with some buddies, I was supposed to go last weekend but I woke up at 0630 thinking that I was late for work and jumped in a cab and went there (not a first for me :) .) So, I missed the bus and didn't go. This week we leave on a Friday night and do an overnight hike. Should be a great trip!

Sorry for the infrequency of posts, I really should post more often but I've been running around like a mad thing the past couple of weeks. I'll get some more photos up soon, promise.