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Lora and Len's Korean misadventures

(October 2nd, 2007 - 12:25PM)

My Auntie Lora and Uncle Len recently got back from a trip to Korea. They've posted their travel journal on this blog, as they don't have their own. Here goes.

Part 1

We are having a great time in Korea. Thinking of you all. Wish you were here. We have seen the most wonderful things. It is a magnificant trip. Tell your mom we are okay and we have had such incredible adventures. It took us ages to try to get this e-mail out. Finally, we tried this technique. Hope you get it okay. This whole trip is heavenly. This evening, at dusk, we visited a Buddhist temple. The buddhist monks beat the drum for all living creatures with skin. They rang the bell 33 times for the dead in Hell. They beat on a large wooden fish for all the things in the sea and they hit a gong for all the things that fly. There was a huge Buddha over 100 feet tall covered in bronze. Incredible! The other parts of temple were exotic in deep reds and filled with beautiful lanterns with prayers for the dead hanging from them and large gilded Buddhas. I gave prayers at the temple for the safety and prosperity for all of you. You would not believe the things we have eaten!!!!We have such interesting tales to tell.

Part 2

You are there. We are here. We are all together. We are one. Peace and Harmony.

It's raining today. Typhoon is reported to be coming in. Batten down the hatches. She's going to blow. We climbed to the top of a mountain today way up in the clouds (Where in the fog are we??) to see the enormous Buddha of the Western Paradise. What was I thinking when I allowed them to cut off my hair????? We went to a fishing village. Went to see the market place filled with wonderful food and food products (fish, spices, garlic, fresh herbs and garden veggies and of course buckets of kimchi. And as a matter of fact, anything else you can think of is there! In the land of tea it seems I am becoming addicted to coffee. Yes, I can't get a cup of tea if my life depended on it so I am resorting to coffee for my caffeine kick and am now finding I can't do without it. We are having a terrific time. Wish you all were here. Tomorrow another city, another temple. We will be home soon Buddha be willing.

Part 3

Hey, a small dog came up and bit my leg and when I tried to "shoo" it away it bit my fingers. Ouch! What is up with that?? Bad Karma. But I'm not sure which of us has the Bad Karma. Anyway, the dog was plump and may end up in the soup pot soon so I think my Karma wins. ??Maybe?? But we'll see when the Ten Kings make the final judgement. The drum at the temple may be beating for me. "Don't ask for whom the drum beats. It beats for thee."

Love and positive energy,

P.S. We have just been informed snakes are poisonous and they bite in these here parts. That could have been useful information as we trudged up to a mountaintop grotto in the fog and made our way over a creek and through a forest in complete darkness on a temple excursion. Do snakes bite at night? Or in a fog? Do you have any idea how dark the woods can get at night? I do. DARK!

Part 4

Hopelessly lost in Jagalchi Fish Market Nampodong Street Busan

We turned around to get a picture of fish in a tank and "Poof" we were all alone in the mega fish market with hundreds of thousands of fish, crabs, octopi, shellfish and hundreds of thousands of Koreans none of which could speak English. And, of course, we can not speak Korean. It was obvious we were out of place being the only two white people in the vicinity. We were like two white noodles (heads) in a large bowl of seaweed soup. We stood out. It was an unbelievably anxious ten minutes as we stayed put, tried to keep our cool (don't panic, breathe) and waited for our fearless leader to come find us in amongst the hordes of seafood and people in the torrential downpour. Believe me one wrong turn and we would never have been seen again. Did we know our hotel? No. Did we know the company that is entrusted with us here in Korea? No. Did we know our guide's full name and phone number? No. We were gone. Lost. Somewhere in an endless labyrinth of a fishmarket with all our worldly belongings in a van somewhere.

Part 5

Eating around a short table cross legged on the floor is not as much fun as one might expect. First you have to get down there and that is an ordeal in itself. You sit and wait for the waitress. You wait till she sets the table. You wait till she brings the food. You wait. Eating rice and small bits of pork off a plate with chopsticks hunched up over a table is difficult.

Part 6

Now I can continue with my next story. The computer shut me down. Forced censorship by a machine.

Eating with chopsticks over a ten inch high table is an exercise in muscle control from the tips of your fingers to the tips of your toes.

Finally, the meal is over, the bill is paid and it is time to go. HELP!! I could not get up. Our tour guide said I just needed to stretch. Yeah, right! The muscles of my legs were locked in a permanent pretzel. All feeling and sensation had been lost. Signal to unwind that was sent to the brain did not compute. PAIN. This kind of activity may be good for a young spry thing but don't try it at our age.

How am I even going to be able to sit, pray, chant and meditate for four straight hours at the temple? Twice?

Our travellling buddies, a couple from Vienna Austria, say

"Not to worry. After two hours you lose all feeling and you no longer have any pain."

Oh, great. Nirvana after two hours of excruciating muscle spasms. They also told us that if you don't look like you are meditating seriously enough the Master hits you on the back with a stick.

?!What?!

The fun is going out of the vacation.

Part 7

To eat or not to eat? That is the question. We were walking to the Four Headed Buddha when we saw an old lady cooking a wok full of squirmy black worms on a braisier. Our guide, Chae, said it was one Korean food he could not eat. The smell makes him sick. So we begged him to eat one for the tourists. We got out our camera but he refused. We begged and begged but he said that it would make him throw up.

"That's the Korean picture we've been waiting for!"

Auntie and Uncle

Part 8

Chae, our guide, has been to Europe thirty-two times. Thirty-two times!!!!!! We have been whittling our lives away. We are going to have to go into super overdrive to get in all the things we need to see in this lifetime. I know the Buddhists believe in reincarnation but there seems to be some ambiguity about that. There is a Heaven and a Hell and Reincarnation. I question. I ask. I can't get answers. I guess it is best to live to the fullest here on Earth, in this lifetime, and not too worry too much about the next one.

Part 9

Resorted a few days ago to fractured/pigeon English. It is easier to get questions and points across. The Queen's English is just not quick and efficient enough for these here parts. Pantomine has become my new way of communicating. And I am not good at it.

Part 10

Sleep, perchance to dream. We need sleep. Sleep sweet sleep. All night the T.V. screen has been on. It would not shut off no matter what we did. Sometimes we would get a reprieve but after a few minutes it would come back on again. Quite a bright night light, I must say. Wow! The light even etches through one's eyelids.

Part 11

Food-what have we been eating?

noodle soup- a weak ginsing broth with thick super glutonous,slimey noodles

cabbage

rice, rice, rice, rice, rice, rice

pickled radish

garlic a million ways a million times

watermelon, oranges, a bit of pineapple

eel, octopus,abalone (covered with HOT sauce)

very unusual vegetables-ferns, squash root

pear apples

Kimchi

seaweed-22 various types

bean curd

strawberry jam and toast (strangely tasteless)

I need meat, chicken, fish. None to be offered. Where is the McDonald's? Oh, no! I can't believe I just asked that.

I need a salad. A silly little salad. Please!

A sandwich. A silly little sandwich. Please!

Part 12

Charisma

That special something that can be seen in a few no matter what the culture or nationality. No matter where you are in the world you can recognize it immediately. There she was, about 25 years old, and when she turned and looked our way-Charisma. She raced to communicate with us as fast as we were drawn to her. Maybe that is what is meant by "enlightenment". There are those that are lit up and attract all the rest of us like moths to a flame. Some people's personalities are lit so bright that the charisma is obvious and transends race, language, religiion, culture, age, nationality, and gender. Amazing!!

Part 13

I now know what it means to be wired. Oh, my, too much coffee. My entire body is pulsating. Can't sleep. Neurons sparking. I've sworn off coffee. Tried some Korean ginger tea. That is hot stuff! Makes your eyes water and brain ooze but at least you are not jangled.

Part 14

Clothes make the man (or woman). The Koreans are such well presented people. The women are well dressed, neat and tidy, prim and proper. The office men wear white long sleeved shirts with a black tie and black pants and black shoes. When it was lunch time thousands and thousands of men poured out of the buildings dressed in identical attire. Not a purple, blue or green shirt among them. No grey, red or saucy orange ties. All the same but in the heat and humidity, where Westerners look wrinkled, wet, dirty, and unkept, the Koreans looked cool. Oh, so cool, crisp and clean. Inspiring!!!

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