Walking... and Thinking...

I was handed a stack of essays to judge today. They made for an interesting read. The topic was mass media and the question was whether or not younger generations are effected more by mass media. Students unanimously stated that they believed younger people were more affected. The students cited examples such as the prevalence of cyber culture, how young people aren’t given the tools to critically think, and how information (however bias or accurate) is just a mouse click or remote control click away. I was thinking about this as I was walking home from work today and I noticed these small black creatures jumping around my feet. I knew that they were either bugs or frogs, but I couldn’t tell which and they would move so quickly I wasn’t able to see. I noticed a slightly larger black creature covered by ants. It was a frog. So logic would have dictated that they were then probably frogs, but then I took maybe 6 more steps and one of the jumping creatures stayed put long enough for me to notice that it was indeed a cricket. I just laughed to myself. It is so incredible how taking in this seemingly little incident just reflects how the human mind can operate.

My favorite snack in all of SoKo is back!!! Persimmon! They come in two forms here. Hong si (thin skinned with a super juicy inside… ie ripe… My personal favorite) or kam (thicker skin with a crisp inside)… Both are delicious, I just prefer hong si… A six pack is only 2,000won right now ($1.80)… I’m going to stock up… I put them in the freezer and eat them kind of like popsicles! The first time, last year, that a friend served them to me this way, I was addicted.

I am not sleeping well. That is the only conclusion I can draw from my current situation. I have bags under my eyes and time is zooming past me at an unreasonable rate. It was a blink and some stretching and the day was gone. Now I am barely blinking and it is mid-week. Terrifying. I need to change this. I need to ground myself more. I need to sleep.

Jamie and co. come from the US in a week and a half!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!! I am so excited! It is going to be such a whirl-wind experience! We are going to Jeju and Samcheok. We will be in Jeju for Chuseok (arguably the biggest Korean holiday… A day of ancestor worship), which will be very different from last year (when I went with a group to Gyeongju) and equally exciting. Getting tickets for Jeju the weekend of Chuseok was a pain in the ass. We are currently slated to take the over-night ferry on Friday from Busan and then a plane back from Jeju to Gwangpo (which I had never heard of)… It will be a solid adventure for sure. I’m just looking forward to being around them!

I’m camping this weekend in another province, which is very exciting. Outside of Seoul, Samcheok, and Busan. I have only travelled inside Gyeongsangbuk province. I am looking forward to the b-day celebration that is surrounding the camping excursion…

I was looking up yoga stuff on youtube and stumbled upon a really beautiful Sun Salutation (it is kind of like Surya Namaskar B in Ashtanga Yoga) It is by a group called Yogaslackers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1xcDEEzhvlc

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