Week III: Green tea and So Ju

I have now settled in to more of a routine here in Korea, and the time has begun to speed up. A day in the life of me consists of waking up a little before 6:00am to catch the subway and be at the Do Jang and ready to train at 7:00am with Hong Sa Bom Nim. We train till about 9 or 10 and then I return to my hostel to do some homework/sleep/run erands or I go sight seeing to one of the many sights in Seoul until 1:00pm when I have language class for two hours. Then I get some lunch and study until I have to go teach the kids at 6:00pm and train in the adult class at 7:30. After Soo Bahk I usually get some dinner with the Soo Bahkers or some other friends. On the weekends I have been going out a lot and then sleeping during the day or hiking and visiting temples. Yesterday, I went off exploring in the mountains by myself and stumbled upon some really amazing experiences. After coming out of the subway it took me a good thirty minutes of wondering the streets of a relatively poor neighborhood just to find the trail. When I finally did find one there signs in Korean directing me to some temples. I hiked up the steep road and after about 40 minutes came upon a pretty small temple that was not a tourist attraction but an actual temple. The monk was a little surprised to see this young foreigner wondering onto the temple grounds. We greeted eachother and after I looked around for a while he invited me in of some delicious green tea flavored with other herbs and flowers. I wished so much that I could speak Korean, he tried to ask me some questions and all I could do was look confused. It was still pretty amazing. Then we exchanged goodbyes and I left in search of another temple. I followed the signs and the path began to narrow and steepen, eventually I found myself climbing an extremely rocky "path" with a little stream running next to me. When I reached the top there were some shabby old buildings and a monk sitting in a lawn chair. He greeted me and motioned for me to look into this little cave where I could hear chanting and drumming. There was some sort of ceremony going on in there. Once again I wish I could communicate and ask all the questions I had. I decended the mountain and made my way home. It is amazing what you can find and stumble into if you just go exploring by yourself. If you are guided by someone all the time you are limited to their experiences and you will never have a unique experience, this is what I have discovered at least. Last night I went out with my Bolgarian friend and some of her friends, drank So Ju and sang kareoke all night, such is life in Korea. The Korean holiday of Ju Sok is tommarrow so I have three days off of school and Soo Bahk it feels good to rest a little. Wishing you were all here!