my grand adventure has been turning out quite splendidly. except for the Etaewon part, but i knew the district was going to suck.

i went to Youngju yesterday to talk to the Kun-sunnim (head monk) about coming back in the winter to teach english at the temple to a group of children. at first i was hesitant about saying yes for a variety of reasons, but then i realized that it would be a great way to break up the boring wisconsin winter (with boring korean winter!) and maybe i can bring my little brother along. and they are going to pay for all of the expenses. so i just said yes, and i told them i would bring my little brother too. but i havent told him yet.

it was a really nice one day stay. i woke up early to meditate but the monks weren’t even awake yet at 5 so i did 108 bows on my own. it was refreshing. the mountains in all of their foggy veiled splendor were fabulous as the sun peaked over the summit. one of the sunnims then took me on a little field trip to a nearby temple which happened to be one of the oldest in korea, and housed the oldest wooden structure in the country. it was simply stunning.

i left carrying way too many vestiges of their love, and my committment, in my backpack – prayer beads, portraits of Boddhidarma, and a few buddhist calendars.
then i boarded the train to Seoul and three hours later i was making my way through a ginormous and confusing subway system. luckily it was only three stops to my destination, and they were fairly simple to navigate. as i am going on a DMZ tour tomorrow with the USO at the base near Etaewon i decided i would brave it and experience the army-district myself. (my roommates were pretty opposed to the idea when i mentioned us going together – but i feel like this place has something to teach me! how can i come to korea and leave not knowing nothing about the US army, their role and lives and influence here? i’m a natural sociologist. i had to come…) i had dinner at a random little western place where i enjoyed a salad, cold beer and a quessadilla with the sunshine and warm breeze blowing through the window. its going to suck to be underage again when i get back to the US.
but really, Itaewon is a shady dive. i finally really feel like the korean people around me hate me for a valid reason. i dont feel like a minority anymore, but i feel like a jerk.
so here i am, at a (nearly) empty jimjilbang below the hamilton, i will wake up around 8am and catch the subway a few stops over for my tour.

more on all this later – my rented internet time is up…..