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Published: January 24th 2010
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The $7 down jacket was the story of pursuit this past week. In my last minute packing I decided I didn't need to bring mine. Then, well, I realized that although I can live in the woods and not wash my clothes for extended periods of time, I can't do that in civilization. In order to stay warm I was wearing everything I brought. Now I'm rocking it ghetto superstar style in my new puffy!
I can't believe its been a week already. The only way I've know how to travel is to become completely immersed in whatever country I'm in. I'm finding it a bit hard to do this round. Guess I'll be learning a new way to travel now! I do find it incredible how adaptable people are. I'm again reminded of the fact that the best way to learn a language is to go to that country. My goal is to be able to read Korean by the time I leave. I won't understand what I'm reading, but that's ok. Baby steps right?
One of my favorite things about traveling is the unpredictability of it all, or maybe more accurately the flexibility. This past Monday I
was taking out the trash and contemplating what I would do for the week. Now, taking out the trash normally isn't a big feat. But in a foreign country its a different story. The next thing I knew a Korean woman named Myung Ae had opened my trash bag and was elbow deep in it. I couldn't just stand there staring, listening to her explain in broken English and Korean what I had done wrong. So, I joined in. When she was satisfied that all the trash, food scraps and recycling had been properly sorted she invited me to her apartment for tea. She didn't find it at all peculiar to sort through someone else's trash. Later in the week she used my Korean phrasebook and found the phrase for predestined. That's how she saw it. For several days Myung Ae, her son and I traveled around Gyeongju. Maybe I'll never see her again, but I'll won't forget the feeling of humility that overcame me while watching her dig through MY trash!
Yesterday Lindsey, Jeff and I went to Busan. In order to go bouldering we took a bus, then the subway and then a taxi/bus to the top
of the mountain. Normally I don't get motion sick, but driving down a windy mountainside with a bus load of sweaty Koreans did the trick. At one point I told Lindsey I was going to puke in the hood of her jacket. We were smashed in the middle of the bus, holding on with one hand to the overhead railing while swinging back and forth trying not to fall over. There were so many people I couldn't see out the side of the bus. Somehow I held it together...I knew if I threw it would have a cascading effect that would most likely ripple through the bus. Oh fun times!
Korea really is an amazing country. My stomach has finally adjusted to the mad amounts of new spices and foods I've been shoveling in. Something that I find surprisingly good are the dried sardines. I'd never eaten a sardine until last week. I figured I'd give it a shot even though the idea of eating a little fish, head and all, was a bit grotesque. They're just chewy though. Two days ago I found a box of corn flakes. Let me tell you I've never been more happy to
eat a bowl of those in my life. I just couldn't do another meal of fermented veggies or salty curry. Even for breakfast I've been eating curry and rice.
Oh and thanks Kate and Anne for the Blind Pilot CD. I've listened to it a time or two on my ipod...ok maybe like 20 times. But who's counting.
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Dixie
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WOW
This is so interesting, I can't wait till you write again. You should write a book, you're informative and witty about it.