Sept. 26 - Sept. 30: Countdown

Assssaaaaahhhh! This week I officially began the final countdown until I leave Korea...one month to go! I am so excited, but now can feel the heat on me a bit to get out and do some sightseeing and kick my social life back into high gear!

Wednesday night was the kick-off for the countdown. I had dinner with Kelly to celebrate her birthday, commemmorate our eleven month mark, and catch up on some lost time. Thursday night I had wine night with my good friend Jessica. And now Erin and I are planning for a fantastic three-day weekend of beach and sightseeing five hours south in Busan, Korea's second largest city.

Also, I am extremely excited that I am now the proud owner of my very own rope, quick draws, slings, webbing, yada-yada-yada...basically a nice rack of climbing equipment so that I no longer have to mooch off people. Of course, I am leaving in a month, but I could not pass up the deal. My climbing buddy has decided to do a "midnight run" from his job because he scored a teaching position in Spain, so he offered me all this fairly new equipment for the sweet price of $200.

Unfortunately, there will not be a chance to play with my new climbing gear on this weekend's trip to Busan. For about a week I have had a major, sharp pain through my chest...so bad I thought my poor little boob was going to fall off. Thanks to the internet, I have self-diagnosed myself with "Costochondritis." It is a fancy name for a pulled chest muscle, and frankly, I like saying I have it. However, I am starting to lose faith in my diagnosis, as the pain gets worse and worse each day, to the point that I have difficulty breathing, regardless of the fact that I have taken a break from any upper-body exercise.

Oh well...the weekend should be a fun time!

Sept. 21 - Sept. 25: Lazy, Lazy, Lazy!

There's nothing better in this world than having a 3-day work week. Unfortunately, the three days seemed to drag by...it now feels like ages since I was in Seoraksan! Of course, I was feeling quite refreshed from my camping and climbing weekend, so I managed to make it to Friday without too much coffee.

Thursday night was a leaving-due party for one of my friends in Sanbon. It was sad to have to say goodbye, but it actually was exciting to think that I will be the next one to go! I cannot wait! These next five weeks will be here in a flash!

Friday night I went out with some of my soccer pals. I am really finding myself trying to make an effort to put an end to my anti-social ways here in Korea. Ever since I started climbing, I have devoted most weeknights to the climbing gym and weekends to traveling. Now that I only have a few weeks left, I am trying to spend time with some of my old friends that I have frankly set aside along the way.

Saturday I went with Erin down to the Icheon Ceramics Village. Ceramics and whatnot are definitely not my thing, but the pictures in my head of a quaint little village and exotic pottery in the middle of Korea sparked my interest. However, upon arriving (and after numerous transportation mishaps and headaches), we found that the famous village consisted of just a few small shops and straight-from-the-factory, mass-produced bowls and plates. I was miserably bored, but made it up to myself later with a visit to the Baskin-Robbins.

I did not get home last night until 10:00 pm, but I was in the mood for some fun. I went to a "70s Party" in Pyeongchon (and it absolutely killed me that since I had no time to throw together a costume, I did not get to dress up), giving me the chance to see many people I have not seen in ages. We later headed to Itaewon, finding ourselves at the end of the night dancing (and sliding) on the slippery dance floor at the infamously grubby Polly's Kettle. I finally made it back home and into bed as the sun was rising.

Today I did nothing. I had great plans to do some Seoul sightseeing, but instead I sat around in my pajamas all day, eyes fixated to my computer screen. Hey, at least it gave me a fine chance to catch up on all my blogs!

Seoraksan National Park

A lovely view over Seoraksan National Park. 

I just got back from one of the best weekends I have ever had in Korea! Friday night, immediately after work, Erin and I booked it to the bus station just in time to make the evening's final bus to Sokcho city on the east coast. With it being the first day of the Chuseok holiday weekend (Korea's equivalent to Thanksgiving), we were expecting traffic. However, it was a little hard to believe what should have been a 3 1/2 hour drive turned into eight hours of highway hell. We finally arrived in Sokcho around 3:30 am, found a 24-hour sauna to call home for the night, and fell asleep.


Buddha guarding the Seoraksan entrance. 


My climbing buddies: Erin, Josh, and Sonia. 

We awoke to a rainy Saturday morning and met up with two climbers we met on an online Korean climbing forum, Sonia and Josh. Together the four of us took the bus to Seoraksan National Park, unarguably the most beautiful and pristine of Korea's numerous national parks. We hiked about an hour up to a little mountain hut, which consists of numerous wooden platforms for sleeping and large windows showcasing spectacular sweeping views of the mountains and a stream. We were feeling lazy, but finally forced ourselves out into the rain for a late-afternoon hike. We came back to the hut, made dinner, and passed out for the night.


So excited about climbing, it shows on my face! 

Sunday morning we hiked about two hours with all of our climbing gear to the great Ulsanbawi rock wall. Unfortunately, we found that there was no sport climbing to be had there. We hiked back down the mountain, through the forest, over a river, and on to a different climbing spot, this time getting lucky. As the sun was quickly setting, we each only did one climb (I actually succeeded in finishing one of the hardest and most dangerous climbs I have ever attempted...Yay!) before strapping on headlamps and hiking back the two hours to our hut. Once we got back, Erin and I had a quick dip in the cold rivers of the stream, ate dinner, and fell asleep early.


Nothing like the gurgling sounds of a stream to get you in the mountain mood. 

Monday morning we headed back to the previous day's climbing spot for a full afternoon of climbing. We got to take in the beauty of the area with it's waterfalls and gorgeous mountain rock. Unfortunately, we came to Seoraksan just a couple weeks shy of the changing colors of the leaves, but it was still a fabulous sight! That night, Erin and Josh left, as they had to work on Tuesday, and Sonia and I dragged our aching bodies back to the hut and into bed.


Trying to conquer the great overhang. 

This morning started out sunny and clear, but as we were leaving Seoraksan, the clouds began to roll in. I refused to let this put a damper on my day's plans to relax on Sokcho Beach, though. The beach was a gorgeous stretch of clean white sand, and Sonia and I were pleasantly surprised to find the cool ocean water to be a deep clear shade of turquoise. Miraculously, after lunch the sunlight burst through the clouds and we were blessed with a couple hours of quality tanning time...this was the first time my body has seen the light of day in a year, so it was actually more along the lines of quality "burning" time, for me.


The beautiful water at Sokcho Beach. 

When we had had enough of the beach, we hopped on a bus for Seoul...this one actually only took 3 1/2 hours, thank goodness. Tonight I feel completely refreshed and well-rested...and ready to tackle my final month in Korea!

Sept. 12 - Sept. 16: Hurricane Madness

This past week found me glued to my computer, shocked at the state of my country. Many of the images I saw and stories I heard of Katrina's destruction were extremely difficult to believe! I think the worst part was hearing how terrible a job the government did in handling the situation. Thinking of bodies that became so badly decomposed to the point that they will never be identified makes me want to slap the officials who gave the order to push them aside.


What is so enthralling about this? 

Hearing about the need for volunteers has really pressed on my heart. I will be in the States for two months with relatively nothing to do, so I am looking into volunteering in Louisiana...or even Texas, depending on what kind of havoc Hurricane Rita puts on the south. Of course, this is all very dependent on how much money I have. I really need to find a way to make some extra traveling cash, but I would feel very guilty for not volunteering for at least a short stint.


Pole dancing with the girls... 

Thursday we took the kids on a field trip to a huge outdoor arboretum. The kids were mesmerized byt the various plants and trees, and I could not pry myself away from the Venus Fly Traps. Simple pleasures never cease to entertain me. I was just happy for a morning of not having to teach!


Little Cutie Ellen. 

Tonight I leave for a four-day trip to Seoraksan National Park...I am so excited to get out of town and do some climbing!

Sept. 5 - Sept. 11: The End is Near!

Well, this past week it began to dawn on me that my time here in Korea is nearly finished. I find it so hard to believe that I have been here almost eleven months now! It's amazing how quickly the time flies.

After many back-and-forth phone calls and e-mails with my parents, I decided to scrap my plan of going straight into traveling after finishing my contract. I will now leave here as scheduled on November 1st and spend the holidays with my family in Georgia before flying to Southeast Asia in January for a few months of backpacking. Knowing that my funds are not quite where I want them, not to mention the fact that I would go stir-crazy after two months in the backwoods of the South, I requested an extension of my teaching contract for one month. Unfortunatly, Mr. Moon shot that down very quickly, as he is looking to replace Chris (who also leaves November 1st) and I with a couple. So, it looks like I will have to suck it up in Georgia for two months...perhaps I will try to get a temporary job to keep my busy and fill my pockets.

Once again I discovered the honesty of the Koreans this week. Amazingly, my wallet was taken to the Anyang Police Station, albeit without the 10 bucks I had inside. I was thankful to get it back, but of course I had canceled all the cards and the wallet's contents were basically worthless at that point. It was nice to get my gym card back, however.

Friday night I went out for Vietnamese Pho Soup with my best buddy Chris from the soccer team, and we ended up in Sanbon for a marathon gabbing session with a few people that did not end until daylight. I was exhausted Saturday, but managed to let Chris drag me around Dongdaemun as his shopping assistant. Of course, we were both feeling less than energetic, and we finally called it quits after his failed attempts of finding jeans that fit. We made our way to Itaewon for a lovely dinner, then back to Sanbon for another rooftop party. I happily crashed into bed early that evening, purely knackered!

Sunday afternoon I made the long journey south to Cheonan for a soccer game. Why oh why do I put myself through this? My coach never acknowledges my existance. Fortunately, I was the only sub, and I got to play most of the entire half. Unfortunately, we lost...the ref was a complete idiot, not to mention we were terrible!

Next weekend is a four-day holiday! I cannot wait!

Aug. 29 - Sept. 4: Lost Wallet and an Unwanted Visitor

Well, you would think I would have learned my lesson a year ago when, just two weeks shy of leaving the States for Korea, I managed to "misplace" my wallet into someone else's hands during a night of celebrating Oktoberfest in Los Angeles. After dealing with random charges to my credit card and trying to replace everything that was lost, I vowed to always keep a close eye on any future wallets.

Unfortunately, this past Wednesday night I proved my irresponsibility once again by leaving my wallet on a bench in Anyang. I realized it about ten minutes later, but of course by the time I ran back to the bench, my wallet was gone. I was stranded in downtown Anyang and forced to call my ex-boyfriend to save me. After spending an hour on the phone till 2:00 am with various US credit card companies and Bank of America, everything was settled....but what a pain in the neck!

Friday night Erin and I went out for a birthday party of two of my soccer buddies, followed by an evening at the Rockssin for open-mic night, followed by a bit of booty dancing at the Techno Bar until the wee hours.

It was tough, but I got up Saturday morning and met Erin at the train station with my new red bag. We took the train down to Ganhyeon for two days of climbing. I had an awful day of climbing thanks to my exhaustion, but we did meet some other great foreign climbers, including a girl in the airforce who had just completed her first Ironman competition the preceding weekend.

I got the shock of my life Saturday night while preparing for bed. I discovered a hole in my food bag and a chunk of apple missing. Thinking I had zipped the bag into my pack's zipper, I began pawing through the pack in search of the missing apple chunk. I then pulled out a t-shirt (my favorite one, might I add, that I bought in Belize) and discovered a massive hole through both the front and back.

I was still naive, and just after Erin noticed the shirt and muttered, "Tiffany, I'm scared!", we caught a glimpse of a furry brown creature doing cartwheels in my pack. Erin and I both squealed in terror, and I threw the bag down. A tiny mouse scurried out of the opening, took a look at us, and ran back into the bag. Of course, this encouraged more screams from us silly girls. Finally, Erin grabbed a big rock, I kicked the bag, and we watched Mortimer streaking away in terror, missing Erin's attempt of killing it.

After a restless night of sleeping in the great outdoors (every slight sound awoke us in terror of expecting to find our sleeping bags infested with mice seeking revenge), we had a wonderful day of climbing.

Two things I learned this week: #1. Never remove my wallet from my bag and #2. Never leave my bag unzipped when camping.